Rendezvous in the Romanowskian Empire

4. Drape it like a pro

Coretta

The remnant of the electric compulsion was wearing off my body as I felt the last zing of electricity exit through my fingers and toes.

It felt as if I'd slept for the longest time as I stretched my arms, my body stiff, a yawn escaping me. It was then I realized that the air was different around me.

The whiff of roots and wet mud. With the hint of something, I couldn't point because I was experiencing it for the first time. Something beautifully raw and ancient. 

Ancient.

I snapped my eyes open, despite the sleep's grip, met by that ethereal silence which only proved one thing.

We reached.

Staggering, I stood with the support of a tree trunk, raising my head to see the sky was turning orange. By the quietness around, it seemed like we'd have to wait a little more to figure out if it was dusk or dawn.  

We. The thought made me hastily look around to see my teammates gathered around another tree a couple of steps away. Clutching onto my linen draping that was now smudged with mud, and my AI book, I walked over to them.

"Get down! Yeah, you can do it Mr Swarwoski!" Cheryl shouted, standing on the mossy floor of the forest. Dunkin and Aarmen stood with their arms flailed in a helpless attempt to catch him. 

I rubbed my eyes, looking up to see the most comical sight.

"Oh Lord, why me?" Lorenzo laughed nervously as he clasped the nearest branch of the tree he was stuck to.

Among us, he was the one to land on a thirteen feet tall willow tree. Its droopy dense leaves obscuring him from us. A slithery creature peeked its head a few feet from where he stood and I froze.

"Damn bro is that a snake," Dunkin muttered, passing a sly grin towards Lorenzo.

"Hey, don't alert him. If he'd know there is a snake, chances are he'll leap without a choice and end up breaking a bone or two. We don't have hospitals here," Aarmen mumbled, all while gesturing for Lorenzo to climb downwards. 

Suddenly, what felt like an uprising revolt reverberated around us. We whirled around to hear the distinct, deep accented voices emanating within the forest. Cheryl leered.

"Sexy barbarians! Yesss!" she hooted, her grey eyes brightening.

"She'll have a noose around her neck in no time if she doesn't tone down," Aarmen sighed, "does she even know what the heck barbarians can do if she is captured?"

"She would love all that. Last week she was dying to be Briseis from Troy," Dunkin added, "anyhow, by the looks of it, those guys must be Egyptians. I'm assuming by the willow trees and the acacia I spotted in the far corner," he said, swivelling around. "Typical Egyptian trees."

"Yes, but they are speaking Persian, not Egyptian," I interjected.

"Yes, Coretta is correct. The accent is heavily Persian, but then these trees..." Cheryl looked around. 

"We've still got to figure out the era, but by what we have found now, we are somewhere between Arabia or upper Egypt," Aarmen concluded.

"Yo, mates! The wild men are coming!" Lorenzo shrieked from the tree. The snake above his head hissed, finally catching his attention.

After quickly telling him what to do, we hid behind the large trees. Undoing the fine cloth wrapped tightly onto my body, I loosened it considerably.

We draped it in one of the fashions the ancient woman wore. Uncrossing the two corners of the cloth in front to tie them at the back for which I and Cheryl helped each other. Then we knotted the leftover ends of the cloth around our waist. Wooden sandals were already worn.