Ancient Love

Part 2 Chapter 2: A Lost Love

The next night, Larry decided to take his son Nick with him to the museum. After Tilly arrived, the three of them went around the museum like usual and opened all of the exhibits for everyone. After sunset, Ahkmenrah's tablet brought everyone back to life for the night just like always. Everyone came out of their exhibits and roamed the museum. "Hey Lancelot, are you good talking to ladies and impressing her parents?" Nick asked Lancelot. "I would say I am. Why do you ask young Nick?" Lancelot asked him. 'Well, there is this girl from my school and she invited me and my dad to have brunch with her and her parents tomorrow and I need some advice. I really like her and I think she may like me and I really want some advice and ideas so I make a good impression on her and her parents." Nick said worriedly. "Alright. Here is what you need to do. First, you need to slay a dragon. Next, acquire the finest horses to present to her" Lancelot started to say before Elaine interrupted him.

Overhearing their conversation and Lancelot's terrible dating advice, Elaine scoffed. "You are seriously taking advice from a guy who wanted a married woman?! You are better off taking advice from someone who knows more about being a true gentleman." She interrupted Lancelot. She then paused to think. "What about Ahkmenrah? He had a wife and he seems like he would know a thing or two. I am sure he must have some ideas!" Nick, Lancelot and Elaine then walked to the Egypt exhibit where Ahkmenrah was standing near his tablet.

They walked in and past the guards. "Hey Ahkmenrah." Nick said to him as they walked in. "Nick, Elaine, Lancelot, how nice to see you. What brings you here tonight?" Ahkmenrah asked them as he turned around to greet them. "So Ahk, Elaine tells me that you were once married. Tell me about your wife." Nick said to Ahkmenrah. "My wife?Why do you want to know so much about her?" Ahkmenrah asked him. Nick then explained the situation as Ahkmenrah listened carefully. "I see. Have a seat." Ahkmenrah said as he motioned for them to sit down on the floor. "Well for starters, she was very kind and was always willing to lend a hand to those in need. And she was a true vision of beauty. Both inside and out. Especially on our wedding day. I remember before we were married, we used to go horseback riding at sunset around the palace and city or we would go swimming and play in the water, or on some nights, we would go to the Nile and sit in our favorite spot by the water and just enjoy being in each other's company. Or on the rare occasion that we didn't feel like going out of the palace, we would lay down on the couch or on our bed in our room and just cuddle and talk." Ahkmenrah said to Nick as he stared at the walls. "Okay so, horseback riding, swimming, sitting by the water and talking. What else did you two do?" Nick asked as he was trying to remember what Ahkmenrah had just said.

"How did you guys meet?" Nick asked. "Why do you want to know that?" Ahkmenrah asked them. "Well there girl at my school, she's in my History class and she is super into romance and stuff like that and I want to impress her by talking about that stuff." Nick explained. "I see." Ahkmenrah said to him. "Well, we met when we were very young. I was eight and she was seven I believe. My brother and I were being taught and quizzed about the Nile from our teacher and she was picking papyrus reeds and checking the fish traps in the Nile for some of the villagers. As my brother and I were following our teacher, I saw her fall into the river out of the corner of my eye. Since our lesson and quiz were over, I snuck away from them to see if she was alright. When went over to see if she was ok, I noticed that she was laughing when she tried to stand up. When I asked her why she was laughing after falling into the river, she just smiled at me and told me that it was because the little fish were nibbling at her feet. When I reached my hand out for her to try to help her stand up, she pulled me into the river and we started playing right there in the river. She would splash me and then I would splash her. And for once in my life, I felt like I had someone that I could call friend. Of course I had Craig, but that was about it." Ahkmenrah explained. "So what happened after that?" Elaine asked him. "Well after that, I heard my teacher looking for me and she looked over to her side of the river and tried to run off. I asked her if I would ever see her again. And that is when she came up with an idea. Each time we were at the river looking for each other, we would leave a note in a specific bottle that we passed back and forth. It had a rock tied to the bottom and a papyrus reed tied to the top. So when we were done reading the note that the other person left and after writing a reply with our own note, we would toss it in a specific location in the Nile. That went on for ten years." Ahkmenrah added to the story "Then what? When did you see her again?" Nick asked him. "Well, at the time, neither of us knew who we really were. So when my father told me that my brother or I was arranged to marry the princess from the North, I knew that I had to see her again. So, when it was my turn to reply, I asked to see her again and told her to meet me in three days after dark at the spot where we met. Three days passed and I was finally able to see her again. After she arrived, I gave her a bracelet so she would always remember me and I made her promise that she would never take it off." Ahkmenrah said as he rubbed his arm. As he was telling the story, more people came in and sat down to listen. "The next day, my brother and I were introduced to the princess and her parents. After she greeted my brother and I, it was in that moment that I knew that she was the lady from the Nile. After that, we all had a glorious feast and after that, both of our parents left the room and my brother and I were then escorted to the room that was prepared for the three of us. Along the way, my brother got distracted and left me to walk into the room alone. After a few minutes of me being alone, she entered the room and she decided to sit across from me. She didn't realize who I really was at first, but the moment I first saw her, I knew who she was. After she sat down, I took off my deshret and then she realized who I really was. After my brother and I got to spend some time with her, our parents summoned us back to the throne room and after we were escorted there, they announced that I was the one that was going to be the one to marry 'the princess' as they put it" Ahkmenrah said as smiled happily. "Well don't stop there! What happened next?" Tilly exclaimed. "Well after that, we got to spend some more time alone together and just fell deeper and deeper in love with each other. Some time later, we ended up getting into a fight over a misunderstanding caused by my oldest friend Craig that almost caused us to call off the wedding. However, we eventually came to an understanding and made up. And after that, everything was great. We would wake up together, spend most of our day together and then she would fall asleep in my arms at night." Ahkmenrah continued. "Any free time that we had, we spent it together." He finished saying. "So what other kind of things did you do with her?" Nick asked him as he took out his phone for notes. "Other than talking walks around the palace and city, going horseback riding and watching the sunset, we enjoyed reading together and she would often read to the young children at the school." Ahkmenrah said as he tried to remember everything they did together. "She sounds like she was an amazing person" Nick said. "She was indeed. She was and still is love of my life" Ahkmenrah said."I miss her more and more everyday." He said with a sigh as he rubbed the engravings on the ring that he had. After Ahkmenrah turned around to put the box down somewhere safe, everyone looked at each other sadly before they all nodded in agreement with each other. "Hey guys, I hate to be that guy but, the sun is about to rise so we have to get you guys back to your exhibits." Larry said as he stood up and ushered everyone else out of the exhibit.