❝death is only the beginning.❞
Mara El-Masri's fascination with the long-ago world of ancient Egypt started with the stories her stepfather would tell her when she was a child. Her brother Talib El-Masri is missing, left after their mother's funera...
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THE EARLY MORNING SUN RAYS fell across the flat, and gave Mara just enough light to study the crown better than she had the day before. No one but she was awake so early in the day. She sat at the table with the crown in front of her and Talib's empty bag on the chair beside hers, eyes fixated on the ancient object before her. The image of the curious, fascinating crown had scarcely left her mind since Talib showed it to them.
The first thing she had done when she woke (after changing from her nightgown—brought to the flat with the rest of their luggage by Ardeth—into the dress she wore now) was quietly take the crown out of the bag to examine it further. There hadn't been much time to do so the day before with how quickly Talib had put it away again.
A radiant crown. She could still hardly believe it and it sat in front of her at this very moment. It was such a fascinating discovery, the first of its kind. Where had Amin Qadir found such a thing? She'd likely never get the answer, but she supposed it didn't matter much where he had found it if he was truly planning on somehow using it to bring back the forgotten ruler. Perhaps there was something on the crown that could give them more insight into his motives, as well as the motives of the ancient, nameless ruler. Maybe there was something that would remove Talib from his most-wanted list as well.
It was not long after she sat down that she heard a door open. Mara looked away from the crown to see that Talib was coming out of his bedroom. He stopped short at the sight of her at the table, blinking twice, and then remarked, "Still an early bird, then?"
As he sat across from her, Mara replied, "You're up rather early yourself. I seem to remember hardly seeing you before noon."
"You are exaggerating things, big sister," Talib said dismissively. "It was ten at the latest. Besides, the threat of impending death usually makes one sleep with one eye open."
"Don't say things like that. We're going to find a way to fix this."
He sighed heavily, glancing around the room. "Maybe I should put my faith in you lot. You managed to stop the apocalypse." At least he didn't seem entirely displeased that they were here anymore. She gave him a tense smile. He gestured to the crown. "See you've got the crown out."
She nodded, reaching forward to touch one of its seven points. "I thought I'd study it and see if there's anything that can help."
