Dreamer

Chapter 3 - The Tablet of Ahkmenrah

Fair sense = Sounds right.

"Perhaps now would be the time for me to show you."

I looked up at him, a new flame of curiosity beginning to flicker inside of me. Ahkmenrah bowed slightly to Larry. "If you'll excuse us, Larry, but I believe it's time to give Fayetta a proper explanation from the ground up."

Larry nodded. "Yeah, okay." He then turned to a few unbelievably small men and began chastising them for arguing throughout our discussion.

I took Ahkmenrah's arm as he began to lead me back through several corridors. Soon we were walking through a dimly lit hall with extremely high ceilings, two enormous guards' gazes constantly following me as the King escorted me into another room-an exhibit, I believe they call them.

Pure gold seemed to make up the walls of the room, even the ceiling, and a gold catacomb surrounded with glass rested in the center. Embedded in the wall directly behind the catacomb was a golden palate with the bottom left corner missing a chunk.

Ahkmenrah released my arm from where we stopped near the doorway and walked over to the palate on the wall, pulling it out of its place and holding it carefully as he made his way back over to me.

"This is the Tablet of Ahkmenrah," he told me, running his fingers along the nine smaller palates. "This is what brings us to life at night."

I look away from the tablet and up at him. "But why aren't we alive during the day? Shouldn't we constantly be living?"

Ahkmenrah held the tablet in his right hand, but let his hands drop to his sides. "Because we're not actual people, merely duplicates." He sighed, clearly trying his best to explain this concept to me, so I didn't interrupt. "We're copies of historical figures living in a museum, a place where current people come to learn about our culture and lives before we died."

I look down at my arms and towards my legs hidden under my dress. "So... We aren't real?"

"Well, this is my real body since I was buried in that," he pointed to the catacomb, "but you and the majority of others here are made of some sort of cloth-like material."

I nodded slowly, taking a deep breath. "Okay, I can deal with that."

Ahkmenrah put a hand on my shoulder, causing me to look at him strangely. Physical touch during my time was never quite appropriate unless it was formality or from kin. "Don't worry," he assured, knowing that I was still stressing the magnitude of the situation. "You'll get accustomed to it."

As much as I appreciated his consideration and concern, I shook my head. "That's not what I'm worried about." He raised an eyebrow in question. "How is this whole 'dream' thing going to work out? I mean, please don't be mistaken that I'm ungrateful for your help, but if I wasn't awake for a while after I was supposed to, then how can I control it?"

Ahkmenrah's expression softened, and he removed his hand from my shoulder. "Well, because I am a king and you're very well possibly a descendant of a Master, then I could link our dreams to hopefully help figure things out."

I nodded, then another question occurred. "You can do that?"

He nodded with a smile, then turned to the door, linking our arms once again. "Like I said, the Masters were temple priests, so I knew them fairly well. Because I'm a King, they would speak with me in dreams for ultimate privacy." We left the large hall, and as he spoke, began to lead me back to my room--or exhibit. "Their frequent visits taught me how I could do that, so maybe I can teach you."

"That's fair sense."

Ahkmenrah smiled and opened a door for me, one that led to the smaller halls behind exhibits. Our walk became silent after I thanked him, and our arms released one another as my door came into view.

"Thank you," I said, lightly setting my right hand on the door knob, turning my body to face him.

"For what?" Ahkmenrah asked, staring at my hand.

"Everything." I answered plainly, then grinned. "I was so confused when I started off here. But now, not so much."

"It was the least I could do." He smiled warmly, taking my left hand and bowing, placing a gentle kiss on the back of my hand. An immediate burning sensation erupted where his lips met my hand, and as he backed away I could still feel his soft lips upon my skin. "Until we next meet."

"Uhm... O-of course." I tried to shake the flustered feeling that had taken sudden hold of me as I entered the room. I sat down on the bed, trying to figure out why I felt that way about such a simple farewell gesture. I laid down, folded my hands across my stomach, falling asleep with my hand still tingling where Ahkmenrah's lips once were.