❝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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☾ ☽
THEY BROUGHT MARA back to Talib's flat and laid her on the bed she had been sleeping on these past few nights in Riyadh. By that time she had grown even paler than she already had been and seemed as though she was minutes away from dying. The others waited anxiously at her side while Ardeth worked as quickly as he could on the antidote to belladonna poisoning. When she was given it, nearly half an hour later, some color came back to her face and her breathing returned to normal.
Yet her eyes remained closed, and there was still no sign she heard anyone when they spoke to her. It would take some time for her to wake given her injuries, Ardeth had said when questioned by Talib, but one could see that he was wary and even doubtful about it. Her wrist was easy to set while she was still out, and her current state did make it easier to clean some of the blood and dirt off her skin.
She remained unconscious through all of this.
Now an hour later, Mara El-Masri still wasn't awake. She laid on the bed breathing evenly as though she were merely sleeping. The chairs from the main living area were dragged into the room and were now occupied by Jonathan on one side of the bed, holding her uninjured hand in his own, and Talib and Jamil on the other side. All were silent.
Ardeth had been outside the room this entire time. He wasn't family and it did not seem right to wait with them, nor did it seem right to leave them alone. He stood at the open doorway surveying the room.
Jamil noticed him after a minute and stood, which got little more than a glance from Talib and Jonathan. The man gestured further out into the flat, far enough away where he could speak quietly without being heard by them, "It's been an hour. Did the antidote not work?"
"She would be dead if it had not worked," Ardeth said.
"Then why hasn't she woken?"
"Any number of reasons. Qadir could have put something, another poison, in that cup aside from the belladonna, or the poison combined with her injuries could have made things graver than they originally appeared," Ardeth stated his theories as to her state. Both as well as every other theory he had thought of led to the same end. He added reluctantly, and as gently as he could, "Jamil...if she hasn't woken by now, it's unlikely she will. You need to prepare yourself."
Jamil stared at him for a long moment, the pain of a father in his eyes. He slowly glanced back into the room where his daughter lay dying. His daughter. "How long..."
"Hours, maybe. It's difficult to determine. If she's still alive at sunrise, I would be surprised," Ardeth answered his unfinished question. Jamil nodded and no longer met his gaze. He only stared at Mara. "I'm sorry. You, Talib, and Jonathan should say your goodbyes. She is a good woman. I'm saddened that this is her fate."
