Chapter twenty-four

A long walk…

The party swiftly exited the town as the sun disappeared over the tops of the sandy dunes. Their haste was to avoid being spotted and interrogated as to the strange happenings of the night before. Luckily they ran into no one, and the way out of the city was clear and easy. They mounted their camels just outside the city, but now Sasaki joined Takmet on his. Only once the city was out of sight, disappearing behind them, did Takmet speak.

“Any objections to going directly to the palace from here?” He turned and surveyed the group behind him, slowing his mount.

“Well, we should get there as soon as possible so that we can figure out where Yakumi went,” Chloe suggested, queasy.

“Good point,” Mandi agreed.

Rei shook her head. “We won’t find her unless she wants to be found. You don’t understand as much as I do, though even I don’t know much. She could be anywhere.”

“True,” Chloe said thoughtfully. “But I know I’m still tired, and these camel rides aren’t doing anything exceptional for my health. I say directly to the palace.”

“I second that,” Ami piped up.

“And I’m sure you’re for it as well, Takmet,” Hotep added, giving Takmet a slightly mischievous, knowing look.

Takmet raised an eyebrow and cracked a grin. He glanced back at Sasaki. She shrugged, winking at him, and said, “It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Like hell it doesn’t,” Hotep muttered, smiling. In a louder voice he said, “All right, let’s go home. Like Chloe said, these camels can get tiring after a day or two.”

Takmet smiled and nodded to Sasaki. Then he turned back to the group. “Brace yourselves.”

Instantly the world around them swirled and melted away, causing their stomachs to drop. Then the desert surroundings stabilized and the palace appeared, solid and unwavering, bathed in crystal clear moonlight.

Chloe wavered dangerously on her camel as her face paled even more. “Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea,” she moaned.

Takmet gave her an apologetic smile. “I am sorry. There wasn’t exactly any other way to arrive so quickly. Just think that if we had not done this then you would have faced another day or two on camel-back.”

Chloe’s faced turned a couple more shades of green.

“On second thought, don’t think about that,” he said sheepishly.

Hotep blinked a couple of times. “Whoa. I didn’t know you could do that, Takmet. Did I miss out on some fun when we were younger, or what?” He smiled.

The Rei spoke. “That was a little unsteady for two of you transporting.”

“You could do no better,” Takmet retorted.

“Really! You two are as close to gods as mortals can be. I think you could have made it a little smoother.” Rei smirked as her brother opened his mouth to rebut her comment, but he only closed it again and threw her a look.

“Forget it,” Takmet said, trying to be serious. He snapped the reins and his mount responded quickly, spurred forward. As Sasaki looked back, Rei stuck out her tongue. Sasaki smiled and did the same, making a face.

Hotep blinked. He sighed and shook his head. “Women…”

“What’s that, Hotep?” Rei appeared, grinning, right in front of him.

“Oh, nothing!” he said quickly. He didn’t want to get into any unnecessary trouble with someone who could be so unpredictable. And she was a genie after all.

“What are we standing around here for?” Mandi asked. She urged her camel forward to follow Takmet and Sasaki, who were already far ahead. Ami followed her lead.

Hotep and Rei began to follow. Rei grabbed the extra camel that had been Sasaki’s. Chloe, on the other hand, was slowly bringing up the rear, trying to keep her stomach in its proper place.

Hotep looked back at Chloe and felt a pang of sympathy and guilt. He pulled away from Rei and dropped back to ride next to the sick girl. Rei, realizing her company was gone, looked back, about to demand his return. She caught herself and smiled as she saw Hotep put his hand on the reins of Chloe’s ride and say something inaudible. Rei turned back to the palace and sped up, leaving Hotep and Chloe behind, and alone.

*****************************************************

Chloe kept her eyes shut, trying to imagine she was somewhere else. It seemed her stomach threatened to dismount the camel on its own. She felt the camel toss its head. Chloe opened her eyes and saw Hotep had grabbed the reins.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Me? Oh, I’m fine. It’s my stomach that seems to have a problem,” Chloe grumbled.

Hotep smiled and rummaged through the folds of his cloak. His eyes lit up in triumph as he withdrew a few dry and crumpled leaves an offered them to her.

“Chew these.”

Chloe blinked. “What good will chewing dead leaves do?” Suddenly the crumpled leaves began to expand and regain their green color before her eyes.

“Chew them,” Hotep ordered again, a slight twinkle in his eye.

Chloe took them from his hand, staring at him, astonished. “How did you do that?” she asked as she put the leaves in her mouth.

“We all have a little bit of magic,” he answered.

“Takmet taught you, didn’t he?”

“Guilt by association. Yes, he did. You pick up a few things after hanging around with such a magic-oriented guy for…How long has it been? Nine years?”

Chloe’s stomach began to settle. “You’ve known him a long time.” She let her gaze lose its focus as she fell into her thoughts. “I met Sasaki only a couple of years ago. Now I’ve realized that I don’t really know her at all.”

“Well, that’s neither your fault nor hers. How was she to let anyone know her when she didn’t even know herself? Answer me that.”

“Good point, but your logic makes me dizzy.”

He grinned. “At least it’s not your stomach.”

Chloe blinked. He was right. “Wow. That worked pretty fast. How did you know that would work?”

“I get woozy after being on a camel for too long. Not as bad as you, though. You have a condition much worse that I do. I can go at most about half a day, so I try and rest before I reach my limit.”

Chloe thought a moment, now riding comfortably for the first time since she and her friends had arrived in Egypt. “Do you and Takmet talk about everything? I mean, since you’ve known each other for so long?”

Hotep looked up at the moon. “Certainly not everything. There are still things he is not comfortable talking to anyone about. Even me. I suppose we have an understanding. It hurts for him. Me? I have nothing interesting to tell him, or not to tell him as a matter of fact.”

“Have you talked about Sasaki at all?”

“Not much actually. We’ve talked about all of you, come to think about it…Well, Takmet didn’t need to say anything in the first place about Sasaki. I knew he wouldn’t have admitted anything even if I had asked. He was in a relationship before that blocks his ability to talk about interest in another girl. It nearly broke him…”

“I see,” Chloe said, resigned to the fact that she would never get close to Takmet. Maybe she’d have a chance in the future.

“Oh, sorry!” Hotep said quickly, seeing her expression fall suddenly. He should have realized earlier. Hotep rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “I never thought that… Oh, Ra, kill me now…” Hotep said, covering his eyes.

Chloe blinked at him and started to giggle.

“What?” he asked, looking up.

“You’re too funny,” Chloe smiled. “Men at a loss for words are one of the funniest things to me.”

Hotep looked at her, bewildered. “Funny? You’re joking.”

“Nope. But I wonder why you haven’t been joking at the moment. You always seem to have some impish comment to add to every situation.” Chloe cocked her head to the side, waiting.

Hotep looked up, rubbing his chin. “I haven’t been, have I? Hmm… strange. Well, I don’t really see the appropriateness of one right now.” He smiled. “And besides, I don’t know you well enough to know how you’ll take it, like I know Takmet.”

“Well, at any rate, don’t worry about that before. I’ve given up on Takmet already. I just thought it would be nice to have something that others unknowingly flaunt.”

“I know what you mean. Do you know how jealous I am? Here he’s got one, two, three, four…,” he counted on his fingers, “No-six women that he gets to take care of. My only thought is: ‘Aren’t I your best friend? Aren’t best friends supposed to share everything?’”

Chloe smiled. Men, she thought. Their minds are always on the same thing. “Well, you have one to yourself at the moment.”

“So I do. Wow. I haven’t really been alone with any of you, with the exception of Sasaki, and then only briefly.” A realization flashed. “Rei…That little minx. She left us alone,” Hotep said as he looked ahead and saw the group just arriving at the palace.

“What did she think to do by that?” Chloe asked, a hint of a smile on her lips.

“I really wish I had no clue…but I do. Unfortunately when she gets an idea like this she won’t stop.”

Chloe nodded. She knew what Rei wanted as soon as Hotep brought up her name again. Chloe herself was adept at setting up such encounters. “Shall we indulge her then?” Chloe asked as she reached over, grabbed the front of his cloak, and planted a firm kiss on his lips.

Hotep was, needless to say, taken aback. However, he did not pull away until he regained the balance he had lost when Chloe grabbed him. Hotep pushed her away gently.

“No, Chloe. I refuse to be a kickback from a broken heart. It never works like that. I know,” he said.

Chloe was taken aback and ashamed at the same time. She looked down. Blatant rejection. No hesitation. He put his hand on her shoulder.

“You’re leaving soon anyway. You don’t want to start something you won’t be able to continue.” He put his arms behind his head and stretched, his familiar impish grin returning as he said, “Besides, you wouldn’t like my lifestyle. Lowly palace guard, no money to speak of…I’m messy, nosy, some would even call me a bother. My humor has been known to cause significant injury.” He turned and looked at her. “Did I mention that I snore?”

Chloe turned her eyes to him, still facing down, and cracked a smile.

Hotep removed his hands from behind his head and slumped. “And I can’t even make you laugh at what a horrible guy I am. I’m even more of a failure than I thought.” He sighed.

Then Chloe did laugh.

“C’mon,” Hotep said. “Let’s catch up before Rei starts spreading something irreversible.” He snapped the reins and the camel jumped ahead of Chloe’s. She smiled and followed.

******************************************************

When Hotep and Chloe finally made it to the stables, the group went to meet with Seti, where they told him what had happened. He was happy for Sasaki and Takmet, but his expression grew serious as he listened to what had come to pass with Yakumi.

“If we don’t know where she is, we can’t do anything about her,” the pharaoh said calmly. “We’re just going to have to wait.”

“That is what Rei suggested,” Takmet agreed. “She will only be found when she wants to be.”

“Which she will eventually,” Rei added, “because she wants to destroy you.”

“We never did anything to her,” Chloe protested. “Why does she want Egypt anyway?”

“Who knows? When she shows up why don’t you ask her?” Rei asked sarcastically.

Chloe shot her a glare.

They talked for a while longer, still figuring that waiting would be the best thing to do. Ami fell asleep at the table and that reminded the rest of the group how tired they really were. Seti noticed and sent them all to bed. Rei returned to her bottle tonight. Takmet led the rest of the girls to his room, which they still had been using. Mandi helped Ami stay awake on the way there.

When they arrived the girls went to the door, opened it, and went inside sleepily. Sasaki was about to follow, but before she disappeared behind the door Takmet grabbed her hand. Sasaki turned and looked at him quizzically and immediately understood the expression on his face. She exited the doorway and stood there, holding his hand, blushing slightly.

Ami popped her head around the door. “Coming, Sasaki?” she asked drowsily.

“I would like to talk to her for a while,” Takmet answered, eyes still on Sasaki’s face.

Ami smiled, nodded, and disappeared, shutting the door behind her.

Takmet gently pushed Sasaki up against the wall, hesitantly closing the distance between them. He kissed her cheek softly and whispered, “Stay with me tonight….”

“But my friends…” Sasaki began.

“They are asleep already,” he smiled.

“But I--” she began again, but Takmet’s mouth over hers prevented her from finishing. When he backed away Sasaki let out a shaky breath and said, “I’ll go.”