The Life and Times of Bonnie Chance

The Challenge

"Algon! Release me now!" Memphis yelled, straining against the chains that were holding him. "You will have to pay a very high price for your actions!"

"Pharaoh, please calm down!" Minue said anxiously, worried he was going to hurt himself. "Your wounds will reopen..."

"Algon, you coward... You're only good at attacking from behind!" Memphis yelled. He remembered Algon laughing as he said the Nile's daughter belonged to him now. "My god!" he gasped. "Minue, have you heard any news of Carol?"

"Your Majesty, I haven't heard anything..." Minue said.

"Did anybody escape? Did anyone get to communicate with General Honshu?"

"I'm not so sure about that either..." Minue said with regret. Memphis was frustrated.

"Is Carol all right? I'm so worried for her..." Memphis said. They heard the echo of footsteps. "Ah! Someone's coming! Probably the guard! Who is it? Show your face, I really do hate hide-and-seek games!" Jamali stepped into the light. "Huh? Jamali, why are you here?"

"Your Majesty, please lower your voice..." Jamali said, holding a finger to her lips.

"I've already set you free and let you return to your home... Why did you go into this dangerous place?" Memphis asked, concerned.

"Once I heard that you were captured, I just..." Jamali said, hugging him.

"Jamali, don't worry about me... Can you help Carol escape from here?" Memphis asked.

"Huh!?" Jamali said taken aback.

"Please... Please help our queen! We'll be very grateful for your help!" Minue said.

"Jamali... please... Right now, you're the only one I can trust..." Memphis said urgently.

"Your Majesty..." Jamali said.

"Carol is the guardian goddess of Egypt... Her life is much more important than mine..." Memphis said.

"What!?" Jamali said, shocked. She recovered quickly. "I will try..."

"I knew that you would agree to help!" Memphis said, relieved.

"Thank you," Minue said.

"Okay, I have to leave now," Jamali said. "I don't want to be discovered by those soldiers! Goodbye!"

"Thank you, Jamali... Please let me know as soon as possible!" Memphis said. "Fortunately, Jamali is intelligent, appealing... and is an Assyrian... Hopefully, she'll be able to contact Carol and help her escape! As long as Carol can return to Egypt... I will be satisfied! By they, I won't be afraid of what tricks Algon has in store for me!"

Jamali snuck out past the guards.

"Damn that girl... Even though Memphis is in that kind of situation, he's still only worried about her... and he even asked me to help her out!" Jamali muttered angrily. "And Algon too! To him, having Carol is like owning gold! Damn it! What is that she has that I don't?"

—∞—

"..." Izmir was waiting on the shore of the Tigris while his soldiers continued to search for Carol and Bonnie.

"Prince! We've searched in all the bushes, but found no trace of the Nile's daughter," Kurush reported. "However, two of our men were knocked out by Ishtar's daughter and a man!"

"Where was this? Where were the girls when this happened?" Izmir asked urgently.

"No, Carol wasn't there. It was only Bonnie and that man who were present," Kurush said.