The pharaoh descending the steps to help the shaky Sasaki to her feet broke the shocked silence, his advisor looking upon the whole scene with frustrated anger and disgust.

The pharaoh supported Sasaki despite her fussing to let her go. “Are you all right?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she responded, turning to check on Takmet who was regaining his balance with the help of Chloe, Ami, and Mandi. The young pharaoh followed her attentive gaze to his friend, and he saw in that gaze something deeper that just concern for Takmet’s well being.

With Sasaki stable, he went to his friend, helping him with the offering of his hand.

“What in Ra’s name was that, Takmet?”

Takmet finally stood without his knees buckling. “I will explain, Seti, but not while Sekat is here.” He glared at his friend’s evil advisor, knowing that he already knew what had happened and why, which were two questions Takmet himself would like to have answered.

The young pharaoh gave Sekat a look that ordered him out of the room. The advisor stood for a moment, studying Sasaki as she stared back at him. Under her gaze he turned and vanished behind the still curtains.

Seti turned back to Takmet, placing his hands on his shoulders. “Now what in the world was that?”

Sasaki’s friends were just as curious as the pharaoh, now suspecting that the cause of Sasaki’s previous injures may have been her alleged savior. They stood by their friend, waiting for Takmet’s answer.

He looked at Sasaki, her eyes telling him to go ahead. They both figured if Seti didn’t hear it from him, he would eventually hear a twisted version from Sekat.

“I cannot explain it. That’s the second time it happened out of the three times I have touched her. The first was the first day I brought her here. If I even think of touching her, powerful whips of force crackle out of nowhere. This time happened by accident, and I would rather not have had Sekat here to see it.” He sighed. “Well, at least I know it was not a fluke, it’s there whether touch is intentional or not.” Takmet moved away from his friend’s grip.

“Why didn’t you ask the old Mage Marton about it when it first happened?” Seti watched his friend’s progress toward the huddle of girls.

“I had my hands full taking care of her and her friends.”

“More foreigners? Boy, four is a record month, let alone four in one day! Where did they come from?”

Takmet began to open his mouth, but Sasaki cut him off, surprising the pharaoh with her lack of fear. “You wouldn’t believe us if we told you.” Sasaki smiled nervously.

Seti looked at Takmet, taken aback by Sasaki’s rather forward behavior. Takmet put his hand to his forehead, sighing. “I was going to say that you weren’t from anywhere remotely near here, but I think he knows that now.” He glanced back at Sasaki who pulled back sheepishly.

“Damn right I do,” Seti said. He took his friend aside. “Where the heck are women allowed to act like that?”

“Beats me,” Takmet shrugged. “I figured they would be better off with me than with the normal supervisors of foreign visitors....”

“No kidding. I probably would have lost my patience with behavior like that in my group of women and had her beaten. Tell me, how can you not be insulted by such a girl?” Seti whispered.

Takmet shrugged again. “I never had a liking for all those quiet, ghostly women around the palace.”

“Yeah, I know, I know,” Seti sighed. “You’re looking for a partner in a relationship, not just a body who remains silent, does what you wish, and actually respects you. Sheesh, no wonder it takes a foreigner to expose your interests in women.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Seti put his arm around Takmet, like a brother. “Oh Takmet, you think I forgot about Kehsat?” Takmet stiffened. “Sure she was born here, but raised by wandering gypsies. She may as well have been born in another country.” Takmet didn’t respond. “And now this girl.”

Takmet pushed Seti’s hand off his shoulder and turned to him, slightly agitated. “I’d appreciate it if Kehsat was left out of this. And whatever you see between me and Sasaki simply does not exist!”

Seti stayed silent, smiling at his rebuttal. He thought Takmet would never get over Kehsat. “Well, if you don’t care for her, which is doubtful, then she cares for you. Very much.”

Takmet looked surprised at Seti’s words. He asked the pharaoh how he knew, but Seti refused to continue that aspect of the conversation. Maybe it would bring Takmet to his senses and the realization that he was past the prime age for marriage and needed someone on which to exercise all his inherent gentleness. Seti could not stand his friend’s general but usually indifferent acceptance of almost anyone, and his habit of caring for the palace cats as if they were people dumbfounded him, especially when he could be caring for any one of the beautiful girls that resided in the palace.

Seti supposed the cat thing was due to Kehsat, because she loved cats. When she left, Takmet really closed in on himself. The young pharaoh might not have been an expert on relationships, but he had developed quite a talent for discerning a woman’s desires simply by the way they looked at men, and Sasaki was no exception to the rule. No matter where she had come from, a woman was a woman. This one wanted more than he was willing to tell Takmet, and more than she knew herself. Even Kehsat, who was involved with him for over two years, never looked at Takmet like that. Close, but not exactly.

As Sasaki and her friends waited for the two handsome men to finish their hushed conversation, a palace kitten wandered into the room and cautiously sniffed the intruders to her palace world. Chloe loved cats but was allergic so never had one, but Ami disliked cats immensely. On the other hand Mandi had no problem with them. When it suddenly jumped at Sasaki, Ami backed up into a wall and Sasaki was thrown off balance, falling backwards into a pillar. The kitten lay purring on her stomach, Sasaki staring at the cute ball of fur like it was a demon. At the sound of the commotion, Seti and Takmet turned and found Sasaki sprawled against a pillar with the kitten in her lap and a surprised look on her face.

Takmet and Seti exchanged looks. Cats never did that and they both knew it, especially not that particular kitten, who hardly ever allowed Takmet such shows of affection, and practically despised everyone else. Sasaki tried to pull the cat off her lap but it clung to her skirt. “Uh, the little thing doesn’t want to let go...”

The kitten could not be pried off unless Sasaki wanted to tear her skirt, so she stayed on the floor. Ami remained in the corner of the room.

“Yeeaah.....,” Seti looked accusingly at Takmet for keeping all those confounded cats. “It’s Takmet’s, but he probably couldn’t get it to move anyway. Not his favorite, and he’s certainly not it’s favorite person. Well, could I get the rest of your names now?”

“Uh, Chloe’s right here, Ami’s huddling in the corner over there, and Mandi’s the one on my left,” Sasaki pointed them out while keeping a watchful eye on the purring kitten as if it might claw her eyes out. She had no problem with cats herself, but when a cat actually acts sociable, there’s something screwy with it.

“Well, welcome to Egypt. Where did you say you were from?”

“We didn’t,” Sasaki replied.

Seti was getting annoyed with her insolence. “So...?”

Takmet wanted to end this before Seti’s temper flared full force. “She says they are from the future.” He regretted saying it as he remembered Sekat might be listening, hiding behind the curtains.

“The future?” Seti asked Takmet. “How far?” The pharaoh looked back at the girls.

“About four thousand years,” Chloe answered.

Takmet and the pharaoh stared at her calmness as she answered the question like it was an everyday thing. Seti was inclined to believe her, what with their unwomanly behavior in his presence.

“Well, when I hear it from the old mage, then I’ll believe it. I suggest you see him as soon as possible,” Seti advised his childhood friend. There was something about these girls that put him on edge, especially Sasaki. “Feel free to ask for what you need from Takmet or myself, and be assured that I won’t tell anyone what was said. It would cause quite a bustle if it were to get out among the court.” Seti walked back up the steps to his high chair, rubbing his forehead as he felt a headache start, most likely from dealing with these strange girls and worrying about his friend’s future with relationships. He retired to his throne, waving apologetically to Takmet that gave him the cue to leave.

Takmet bowed sarcastically as he always did to make fun of their monarch-commoner relationship- though Takmet was as far from common as he could get- then turned to exit the grand room. The kitten that had been sitting in Sasaki’s lap suddenly decided to remove itself, allowing Sasaki to get up and Ami to progress forward a couple steps. The little ball of fur was content to follow Sasaki, forcing poor Ami to lag behind several feet as they all left the room.

As the great doors shut behind them, Takmet said, “That did not go exactly as it should have. Sekat knows something about you four.” They continued walking, heading back to their room.

Sasaki remained silent, thinking of Sekat and where she had seen him before. Maybe she had seen his other self in their own time. She shook that thought away. No, it wasn’t that. Mandi noticed Sasaki’s subdued behavior and put her hand on her shoulder with a worried look.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just that...that Seti’s-- I mean the pharaoh’s advisor is very familiar, but I can’t figure out from where.” Sasaki creased her brow, trying to find the lost memory.

“Don’t think too hard.” Mandi smiled. “You may fry the brains you have left.”

Takmet, hearing what Sasaki had said, added an observation. “It seemed like Sekat had seen you before, also, judging by the look on his face. Nothing ever upsets him.”

“You’re right. Nothing upsets me.” Sekat’s voice echoed from the shadows behind the engraved pillar ahead of them. He slid around the side of the stone, arms crossed, a smirk on his face.

Takmet halted. He stood in front of the girls, taking a quite defiant stance in front of Sekat.

“I’d like to speak to our guest, if you don’t mind,” the advisor smiled slyly.

“To whom are you referring, sir? We seem to have more than one,” Takmet spat, somehow managing to sound slightly respectful.

“To Sasaki. It’s not that the others are any less important, they have their own role in this.”

“I must suggest I go with....”

Sekat cut him off. “No, you should not.” Takmet clenched his fists in frustration and glared at the advisor. “Don’t get in my way, Takmet. I’ve had my eye on you since you were brought here nine years ago. I’m finally seeing the signs I waited for but feared at the same time. I won’t do anything to her here. I am bound by the same rules of courtesy as anyone in this palace.”

Sasaki passed Takmet, ignoring the looks on her friends’ faces. “I’ll be fine.”

The incredibly young looking advisor led Sasaki into one of the many empty rooms that lined the corridor and shut the door. Sasaki stood in the middle of the room, following the man’s pacing around her like a vulture.

“I heard that you were badly injured when you arrived here,” Sekat said with a knowing grin on his face. Sasaki stiffened as he circled to her back. The advisor lifted a finger and the back of her shirt opened, exposing her unblemished skin. “Now that’s a wonder,” Sekat said mockingly. “No sign of any injury at all. From my sources you weren’t fit to walk just last night.”

Sasaki kept her gaze forward. “I’m a fast healer,” she responded sarcastically, for she knew that he understood something that Sasaki had yet to discover.

“Are they all fast healers in the future?” Sekat narrowed his eyes, getting the expected response out of Sasaki as she stiffened again in surprise, clenching her fists. “And do all women act as disrespectfully to their superiors as you do?”

“You are not my superior,” Sasaki said through her teeth. “Just higher ranking.”

Sekat appeared in front of her, burning his vengeful gaze into her defiant one. “You best watch your mouth, for here, my word is just as powerful as that boy’s on the throne,” Sekat hissed. “You may find yourself healing several more wounds extremely quickly.”