Hiraeth | rick o'connell

two

Jonathan paced behind Evelyn as Ella stood calmly in front of the curator. She leaned over the desk and pointed to a cartouche on the map, "That cartouche there is the royal seal of Seti the first."

The older man sighed as he inspected it further,
"Perhaps."

Ella's eyes narrowed on the older man,  she had never particularly liked him but he was smart and there was no way he couldn't have known that cartouche. Her brother broke her train of thought as he peeked over her shoulder to see what she was looking at, "Two questions, who the hell is Seti the first? And was he rich?"

Ella sighed, it wasn't like their father hadn't obsessed over Seti's dynasty throughout his life. Evie did groan in annoyance as she explained, "Seti was the last Pharaoh of the Old Kingdom, he was said to be the wealthiest pharaohs of them all."

Jonathan grinned as he began to pace again, "That's good, very very good!"

The curator picked up the map and examined it closely as Ella piped in, "I already dated the map, it's nearly four thousand years old and you see the hieratics right there?"

She pointed to the small inscriptions and let out a deep breath, "This is a map to Hamunaptra."

The curator paused for a moment, filled with utter horror as the bright girl had finally found what he'd been trying to keep hidden. Then he scoffed before looking at the young woman in disbelief, "My dear girl, we are scholars- not treasure hunters. Hamunaptra is merely a myth."

Ella rolled her eyes as she planted her hands firmly on her hips, "Actually, I in fact am a scholar and treasure hunter."

Evie was deep in her thoughts, what on earth had her sister actually been looking for the past three years? She was broken from her thoughts as Jonathan butted in, "Are we talking about the Hamunaptra?"

Evie smacked the back of Jonathan's head as she let out an exasperated sigh, "Yes, idiot."

Ella chose to ignore the two as she brushed some hair behind her ear, "Everyone knows the story. The entire Necropolis was rigged to sink into the sand, with a flick of a switch. A city disappearing under the sand."

Her eyes shifted to the curator and her eyes widened as she saw him hold it dangerously close to the candle on his desk. He let out a not to surprised sound of shock as it caught fire and he dropped it onto the floor. The oldest and youngest Carnahan's fell to their knees as they rushed to put out the fire. After Jonathan furiously patted it out he picked it up only to find that there was a large hole in the middle of the map. He glared as he sputtered out, "You burnt off a part of the lost city!"