The Valley of Kings and a Queen

Chapter 23

My heart is still racing when Grey sneaks up behind me, "So, what'd I miss?" I bite my lower lip trying not to expose what just happened.

"Nothing," I say, not turning to face him trying to remain relaxed even though my heart is still pounding in my chest.

"Glad it's me here, not someone else aye," Grey mocks as if he knows what just happened between Finley and me.

"You know that I can't stand not being away from you for too long," I tease trying to keep our conversation lighthearted and preventing him from asking any unwanted questions. "He went through the wall with a cat," I say casually as though this happens to us regularly. Grey slowly walks up to the wall and pushes on it answering the question we already guessed the response to – he nor I are not able to go through because we were not the ones who were summoned by the King. Grey curses under his breath clearly frustrated that he no longer is useful in this part of the quest.

"So, you think we should stay here and wait, or...cause if this is going to take too long," Grey grumbles on, and I roll my eyes at him. We stare at the wall for a long while as tourists begin to flood the exhibit. Foreigners from around the world from American to European to Asian decent marvel at the burial tomb's majestic aura. I wonder where the tourists think that I happen to be from. Do I still have a strong tell-tale look of an American? Or have I started to blend in with my British companions?

Grey and I wander around the exhibit's parameter studying the hieroglyphics on the wall and the treasures out on display for almost forty-five minutes when a security guard starts to follow us from a distance. The guard was dressed in a military uniform and armed with a rifle. Where was he when that serpopard attacked us? The guard begins to glare at Grey and I harshly as though we were tomb raiders contemplating the best time to rob the pharaoh's grave. Trust me officer, we already have too many mythological creatures hoping to bury us in the grave, why would we need actual militia men after our lives too? Or worse, the pharaoh's apparition haunting us and seeking revenge on our lives.

"I think it's our time to move on," I suggested Grey my head nodding towards the guard without looking at him directly even though I knew his focus was still on us.

"I guess you can only stay so long in an exhibit without becoming suspicious," Grey affirms.

"What about Finley," I murmur, "we cannot just leave him."

"If anyone can handle himself on his own, it's Fin," Grey reassures me, "he's strong, cunning, and beyond brave." Grey's eyes swelled with pride. Not a haughty selfish pride, but a pride filled with deep love and respect for a loyal confidant. "Not to mention he's almost as striking to look at as me," Grey chuckles to himself leaving to roll my eyes at him something that I have become quite accustomed to doing.

"But won't he think we just left him," I ask, unable to prevent the worry flashing through my eyes.

"No, he knows we can't stay in one place for too long, and knows we wouldn't leave him if we didn't have to," Grey grabs my hand and pulls me out of the exhibit heading up a wooden staircase through the rest of the tombs and out of the east wing towards the entrance. We exit the catacombs and enter back into the barren valley covered in limestone and sand. "So where to now?" I looked at my watch. It was almost three o'clock, the Valley of Kings closes to the public in an hour, and I refuse to leave without Finley.

"How about we just explore the gift shop in the meantime," Grey suggests. I nod in an agreement, and we wonder through crowds of tourists meandering around the entryways to the tombs and take the tram back towards the place we originally bought our tickets at. We peruse through the souvenir stands that are set up filled with various statues, trinkets, and cheap jewelry. The statues aren't just that of the pharaohs but there are some of the Egyptian gods and goddesses. I see myself- well Isis with her feathered wings spread out and crowned in wondrous glory.