Life From Your Lips (Ruby Rose fanfic)

EIGHTEEN (Ruby POV)

"How do you feel about that?" Iselen asks worried and I look at her bewildered because I don't understand what she's talking about, till the tilts her head pointing at the center of the Place de la Concorde.

"Oh, you mean the obelisk of Ramses II, the one the Egyptian government gave the King of France as a present in 1830... I don't know how to answer your question," I admit heaving a sigh and looking at the other side of the massive square, fixing my eyes on the tall obelisk made of pink granite that stood proudly at the gates of the Temple of Luxor in Thebes centuries ago. "My archaeologist side understands that moving works of art to other museums is useful given that more people can see them, this way, art is not a privilege only an elite that can afford traveling abroad enjoys. But my 'princess who was born in Egypt' side is furious watching the systematic plundering of the cultural wealth in my home country. Sharing a little is okay but I believe some governments took things too far in my kingdom."

"Understandable," my precious assistant smiles and leans forward to kiss my cheek gently. A sigh escapes from my lips while I look at her, so beautiful and full of life, holding my hand in this modern world. This is not a dream, even if sometimes it looks like one. "Can you read the hieroglyphs from here?" she asks looking up.

"No but I don't need it, I know what they're saying. Pharaoh Ramses II makes an offering to Amun-Ra, he also talks about Horus..." I pull her hand to force her to walk and Iselen obeys meekly throwing glances at the obelisk from time to time. "The Pharaoh was a thief too, you know. Ramses II..." I explain when she looks at me perplexed and frowning. "Actually, this obelisk was 150 years older than him, a different king carried it to Thebes from the quarry of Aswan and put his name on it, Ramses decided to erase those hieroglyphs and carved his own name on the stone, only deeper so no one could erase him ever."

"Well, reusing buildings and monuments was a normal thing to do..."

"Yes, but Ramses took the tradition to a whole new level. He stole many works of art that belonged to other pharaohs and took credit for them. My great-great-grandfather was smart... Let's go, baby, I don't want to be late."

"Why did you park the car so far away?" Iselen asks out of breath while running behind me on the sidewalk. "Where's Karim Slitine's office?"

"I was worried that someone could see us getting off the car if I parked closer although, to be honest, it's not that far, the problem is that this square is too big. He lives in the middle of Rue Royale, right in front of us. According to Miroslav, this antique dealer with bad reputation is the owner of an apartment on the second floor of a gorgeous 19th century building but the entrance door is in the backyard, we need to walk under a massive arch that was the old carriage entrance, then look for the second door on the left and go upstairs."

"It does make sense, if he's doing shady business, it's better for him to have a discreet entrance door that's difficult to watch from the street, although that's a problem for us because I don't know how we're going to... Nek!" Iselen shoves me against the door of a building violently and her mouth melds with mine while my confused mind tries to process the fact that I heard her saying 'fuck' in Ancient Egypt language. Well, I've heard her saying that word before, of course, but we were in my bed, in my palace of Thebes, and my fingers found her wet and hot core; on the contrary, listening to her swearing in my native language in the middle of Paris is a bit weird. Also, it feels odd that she's kissing me when we should be watching Slitine's building.

"What are you doing?" I whisper gasping for air when she pulls away slightly and turns her head to take a quick look at the street, cautiously.

"That's her... kat-takhat!"

"Iselen!" I complain staring at her with my mouth wide open, totally floored. "The ladies living in Kemet kingdom didn't blurt out things like that. Are you crazy? Where did you learn to say 'filthy whore' in ancient Egyptian language?"