Warrior's Queen

Chapter - 9

"O'Connell does not want to believe he flies like Horus towards his destination," Ardeth lamented later that night to Jasmine and Jonathan. The three were huddled together, giving Rick and Evie some much-deserved privacy. Jasmine understood how much the loss meant to Rick and Evie, and this privacy was the least they could give to them.

"You are telling me? He thought I was insane when I first told him the truth." Jasmine snorting in laughter, reaching over to stroke the magnificent bird at the same time Jonathan spoke eagerly, "Yes, yes, very interesting...Tell me some more about this...gold pyramid."

Jasmine gave Jonathan a look before shaking her head and narrowed her eyes towards him trying to make him stop.

Giving up, Jasmine snuggled closer to Ardeth, feeling his warmth sweep over her. She was content just staying by his side, hearing him speak with the accent she adored so much.

Ardeth shifted, swinging one arm over her shoulder as he began the explanation. "Well, it is written that since the time of the Scorpion King, no man who has laid eyes upon it has ever returned to tell the tale."

"Where is all this stuff written?" Jonathan wondered in awe. Noticing the gold stick that Rick had stolen from him earlier fall next to him, he reached out and grabbed it quickly. "Got it!" He hastily shot a look at Izzy, who was too busy checking the map to see that his prize had gone missing.

Jonathan smiled at Ardeth, showing off the stick to him. "Pretty nice, eh? This is all I have left in the world. The rest of my fortune was lost...to some rather unscrupulous characters, actually."

Jasmine snorted at his exaggeration.

"If the curator reacted to it the way you say it, it must be very important. If I were you, I'd keep it close," Ardeth suggested.

"My friends, the gods couldn't take this away from me," Jonathan reassured him dramatically, not realizing that his raised voice had caught Izzy's attention.

A struggle immediately ensued as Jonathan tried to hold onto the stick tightly, but Izzy was eventually successful in taking it back. "Keep your hands off it," he warned Jonathan.

"Those two," Jasmine muttered. She wanted to say more, but soon her mouth formed a yawn instead. After dealing with so much in just one day, she was exhausted.

"You must be tired," Ardeth echoed her thoughts, lowering his head so he could kiss her on top of her head. Jasmine's cheeks felt warm as she tried to say no wanting spend more time with him but her eyes keep drooping. "Get some sleep. I will alert you if anything happens." Ardeth said with a smile shifting so she could sleep more comfortably.

Smiling gratefully, Jasmine closed her eyes, and it didn't take long for her to fall into the world of dreams.

Ardeth sent Horus off to deliver a message to the other Medjais the following morning. As Jasmine watched the bird soar off into the brilliant sun, she stepped next to him. "How have you been these past few years, Ardeth?" she asked hesitantly.

"I must have trained more than I have ever done so in my life," he admitted. "Only training allowed me to not concentrate on anything else. You should have seen how I was then. Ami gave me Horus to take care of so I could do something...more useful."

Jasmine smiled fondly, imagining the elegant woman scolding Ardeth for wasting his time.

"And speaking of training..."Ardeth trailed off.

"I noticed that you didn't go offensive when you were fighting, you were more into defence than offence. You are strong, why not use the strength?" He questioned, confused