Dreams Of The Medjai

Ardeth rarely spoke; he spent most of his concentration on staying in the saddle and Jessa was always at his side, ready to help when needed.

By the morning of the fifth day, the warriors knew it would only be a matter of a few hours before they reached their destination, and quickly they changed into the nomad disguises. Ardeth ordered his remaining men to wait outside the city limits, not wanting to attract any more unnecessary attention than they needed.

They maneuvered through the crowded streets of the city, past the vendors, carts and open market, until they made it to the city hall with a few minutes to spare. It took both Rasheed and Amin to help Ardeth dismount and the two friends stayed by the chief’s side as the small group made their way into the building. Jessa had been walking behind the warriors when Amal spotted her and quickly he ran over.

“Missy Travers, praise Allah you made it!” Amal exclaimed and flashed his toothy grin.

Jessa couldn’t help but smile in return as she asked if he had ready what she had requested. Quickly the little man nodded, although puzzled by her request. And together they walked into the hall, following the warriors as they made their way to the main courtroom.

At precisely noon, five men filed into court and sat behind an old wooden table as one of them called out for Ardeth Bay to make his appearance. And for the next hour, Ardeth was extensively questioned regarding the charge against him and the events that happened the night in question.

He answered them but only telling half the truth, especially when questioned about the Medjai and a few men on the panel sensed his reluctance as if he were lying.

“Mr. Bay, how did you and your friends find the American expedition? Tell me you didn’t know of their camp, that you merely stumbled across as you traveled, eh?” asked one of the men.

“Yes, we did. We asked for some spare rations from one of the guides so we could continue our own journey to Cairo.”

“And you knew nothing about the Medjai attacking, as Mr. Gaines has claimed,” the official persisted.

“I know not of the Medjai, except from legends and folklore that our fathers and grandfathers have told us. Surely you remember such stories?” Ardeth now questioned the official. Some of the men on the panel nodded their heads in agreement, fondly recalling the thrilling stories of the desert warriors. “It seems the caravan was attacked by a group of desert bandits, of which I had never seen before until that night.”

“So you tell us that you’re not a Medjai, Mr. Bay, and yet the markings on your face and hands suggest otherwise. How do you explain that?“ accused one of the men.

“These are the markings of no particular tribe, Mayor.” Ardeth paused, feeling an overwhelming weakness sweep through him, almost making his knees buckle. Somehow he kept standing. “They are for more....vain purposes.”

Jessa appeared at his side and took his hand, squeezing it as if he could gain strength from her touch.

“My purpose,” Jessa boldly stated to the panel, “I think they’re attractive.“ And she winked, causing some of the men to chuckle as she made sure they understood her meaning. Ardeth squeezed her hand back in silent appreciation.

“And you are the American, Jessica Travers?” assumed another man.

And then the subject shifted from Ardeth to Jessa and the panel started to ask her questions.

“You can tell us what happened the night your caravan was attacked?”

“Yes, and it was Brian Gaines who killed my brother, not this man,” she firmly stated. “I saw what happened after Adam was murdered.” She told them of events after finding Adam’s body, stressing Brian’s lust for treasure, his threats to her and making sure each man in the panel knew of the validity behind her statements. And stressing the point of Ardeth not using a gun that night.

“Miss Travers, you’ve explained quite well your side of the story,” the mayor spoke up again. “But what we don’t understand is how you can be so sure it was a bullet wound and not a scimitar that killed your brother. Your friend, Mr. Gaines, was quite specific in telling his version. What evidence do we have to believe you except your word?”

Jessa had been waiting for this, and quickly asked the panel if they would momentarily join her in the other room, for she had the very evidence they were asking about. The intrigued officials and Jessa disappeared for five minutes, leaving Ardeth and his friends to wonder what was happening.

When they reappeared, the men silently filed past the warriors as a smiling Jessa rejoined them and moments later, the Mayor declared that all charges were dropped and the case was dismissed. The evidence provided left no doubts in their minds as to who was the real killer.

Astonished, the warriors turned to Jessa and Amin couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer.

“What did you do?” he asked.

“Simple. What I added onto your message to Amal was for him to retrieve my brother’s body. He had taken care of it the whole time. And when the panel saw the evidence of the wound, they had no choice but to clear Ardeth of all charges.”

“Again, it seems I am in your debt....” Ardeth started to say but suddenly his legs gave out and his friends caught him, quickly bringing him outside, as Jessa following close behind with Amal.

They brought him around to the side of the building and made him sit down on a small stone bench, as Jessa quickly checked the bandages. Amin and Rasheed decided their best course of action was to rent out a few rooms at the hotel nearby, so Ardeth could be given some more time to recover his strength. And the two warriors left to make the arrangements, leaving Amal, Jessa and Ardeth.

Satisfied Ardeth was in no danger of bleeding, she asked Amal if he could once again take care of her brother’s body and the little man ran off, only too happy to oblige. And very glad to see his trust in Jessa had been proven correctly.

“Jessa...you’re free to go,” Ardeth stated softly, his head leaning back against the stone wall and he swallowed hard from the pain. “You can return home, if you wish.”

With a soft smile on her face, Jessa bent down and adjusted Ardeth’s robes, covering his Medjai clothing. She thought about it for a moment, debating on whether she should listen to her head or her heart. But in the end, she knew it was useless for somehow, she had fallen in love with the warrior. And it was this conclusion that was making her smile.

“Why would I want to return home? Seems to me, you owe me an awful lot,” she answered, teasing him. “I guess we’re just going to have to work out some way of you paying me back.”

Ardeth wasn’t sure if he heard her correctly. “I’m to repay you?”

“Yeah but on how you do, I guess that’s something we’ll have to think of....on our way back to your village.”

“You want to come back....with me?” he asked, still uncertain but needing to hear her reply for reassurance.

“If you’ll have me.”

Ardeth grasped her hands, staring down at her in disbelief. “I can’t promise you anything except it will be a hard life to live. I am a Medjai warrior first and I must uphold my sworn duty as chief to my people. But what I can promise is my love....”

“Then I’ll hold you to that promise and offer the same in return,” she replied, her eyes shining with happiness.

Ardeth started to smile but stopped, his eyes widening in alarm as he saw someone come up from behind Jessa.

“Hello Jessica,” a hate-filled voice growled.

“Jessa, behind you!” he cried out but too late, as Brian rapped Jessa on the back of her skull with a gun handle and caught her as she fell. He had a malevolent gleam in his eyes and when Ardeth tried to stop him, he brought the pistol down and slammed it onto the warrior’s head.

Ardeth fell but somehow remained conscious, watching in horror as Brian turned and ran back into the crowd, the limp body of Jessa slung over one shoulder.

“JESSICA!” Ardeth bellowed and tried to stand.

As they were coming back from the hotel, Amin and Rasheed heard their friend’s roar of anguish and came running, their scimitars drawn and looking for the enemy. They quickly ran over to the fallen chief.

“He took her! Gaines was just here and took her!” Ardeth bellowed again and Amin took off in the direction he had pointed, while Rasheed did his best to stop the bleeding on his friend’s face.

In what seemed like a lifetime, the two friends waited for Amin to reappear and the warrior did so several minutes later, his face already telling what Ardeth didn’t want to know.

Jessica was gone.

He stood alone on the crest of a dune, dressed in full weaponry, his black Medjai robes billowing out in the breeze that came from across the sands. His scimitar was poised, ready and yet he was not in battle.

Instead he eagerly waited for the vision that had always greeted him before, the mirage of Jessa to appear but nothing was happening.

Frantically, he searched the expansive horizon, willing her to come to him in his dream. He extended his arms out in a silent plea and called with his heart and soul.

“Jessa!”

Silence was the answer and he fell to his knees, a sense of loss so keen it felt like a wound to his heart. He dropped his head in grief and let the scimitar fall from his fingers, no longer the warrior but a man who believed he had lost what his heart had desired the most.

~*~

For the next three months, Ardeth’s recovery continued and he was almost back to full health, the wounds finally starting to fade. And Rasheed secretly wondered how much longer it would take for the scars hidden on Ardeth’s heart to heal as well.

After Jessica’s disappearance, the solemn group of warriors returned to Ardeth’s village first, and while his people celebrated his return, their chief slept for seven days. When he finally was able to move around, those closest to him already saw a change they hadn’t been expecting. And speculation was that it had to do with the American woman that had saved his life. The gossipers, who before talked about their chief’s lack of sleep, now wondered if they would ever see him smile again.

Amin visited often, as he and Rasheed tried to keep Ardeth occupied with training exercises used to rebuild his strength. Each night after an exercise, Ardeth would fall into bed, wishing he could dream again of Jessa but nothing came, and he would wake the next morning still feeling numb over her abduction. In some small way, he blamed himself for her kidnapping, although Rasheed and Amin had disputed his claim time and time again. They pointed out no one had known Gaines was still in town and that the American had attacked without warning.

Time passed by and the activity near Hamunaptra ebbed and flowed, depending on how well equipped the expedition was and who was the guide.

One night, after a particularly exhausting training session with Amin, Ardeth was on his way home when Rasheed intercepted him.

“My chief, I bring news.”

“Go on,” Ardeth sighed, flexing his sore shoulder to ease some of the discomfort. Amin had fought like a bull during their session, and while both men enjoyed the sparring, Ardeth would never admit it still hurt like hell.

“There is a small group of people, heading towards Hamunaptra again. More Americans.”

Ardeth swore softly under his breath. His desire for a hot bath and then sleep was powerful, but his duty as a Medjai chief was much more, and duty won out in the end.

“How much time do we have?”

“We must leave tonight,” Rasheed answered and then followed his chief to the stables. The two men mounted their horses and Ardeth looked around in surprise for the rest of his warriors.

Rasheed quickly explained. “It is a very small group, perhaps two or three Americans. I believe we can handle this on our own.” Then kicked his heels into the stallion, and galloped away before Ardeth could question him.

With a shake of his head over his friend’s odd behavior, Ardeth quickly followed him and the two friends raced through the night towards the new arrival’s camp.

~*~

“Are you sure I’m doing the right thing by being here, Amal?” Jessa asked. “How do you know he still wants to see me?”

“You must trust me and in Allah, Missy,” he said. “Fate had brought you here once again and although it may not seem like it, you ride to your destiny.”

Jessa didn’t how to comment on that, so she lapsed back into silence, pulling her makeshift turban higher around her face.

During the three months since Brian had kidnapped her from Cairo, it had been hell. He had brought her back to the States, with the intentions of somehow recouping his loss of the gold from Hamunaptra. And the only way he could do it was to use Jessa as his source of means, and steal from the substantial Travers bank accounts.

He waited two days in Jessa’s home, keeping her a prisoner under lock and key as he planned on how to accomplish his robbery.

Then on the third day, Brian released Jessa from her prison and tried to force her to do his bidding. He had obtained the necessary paperwork from the bank and that night, demanded she sign her consent on the transfer of funds to his newly opened account. Jessa refused and they argued, Brain having no qualms about hitting a woman.

She fought back like a wildcat and after landing a solid punch to his jaw, ran upstairs to Adam’s study and to the small pistol she knew was hidden in the desk there.

Brian ran into the room a few moments later and the two of them squared off with the desk between them, each determined for the outcome of this to be in their favor.

“Do you really think you can win, Jessa? Is that it?” he taunted, then his eyes bulged in shock, for Jessa had pulled out the gun, his black heart within her sites.

Then Brian gave a humorless laugh, the sound of it making her skin crawl.

“Typical Jessa, always overestimating what your capable of doing....”

“Typical Brian, always underestimating the power of a woman,” she coldly responded and pulled the trigger.

Death captured Brian’s look of disbelief as he fell to the floor, his sightless eyes staring into the beyond and nothing.

“That was for my brother, you son-of-a-bitch.” She leaned against the desk for a moment, relief almost making her sag to her knees. The nightmare was over, Adam’s death avenged and she finally felt a sense of closure. Without a backward glance, she stepped over his prone body to call the police.

For the next two weeks, they investigated her claim of kidnapping, attempted theft and the shooting, finally clearing her of any charges, ruling that Jessica had shot Brian in self-defense.

And in the weeks that followed, she did what she needed to do, wanting to return to Egypt and Ardeth as quickly as possible. The accounts were closed, the house sold, and with some of the funds, she set up a scholarship in Adam’s name at the same university that had wanted to hire him as a professor there.

Then she chartered a flight to Cairo and by some miracle found Amal, who agreed to guide her back to the desert.

Now as they were well into the second day of the trip, Jessa stared having doubts about doing this: did Ardeth still care for her the way she thought he did? What if he didn’t want to see her, what if he was married? The endless possibilities tormented Jessa and her troubled heart, yet she did what her instincts were telling her to do. She was going back to find the man that she loved.

And Jessa always followed her instincts.

By nightfall, they made a small camp and Amal estimated that maybe they had another day’s ride before they would encounter any Medjai. Jessa looked skeptical, especially since she had been searching the surrounding landscape, looking for the familiar site of the riders dressed in black.

They ate a light meal, then Amal decided to tell Jessa of his many adventures as a guide over the years, enjoying his role as storyteller and how intently his audience listened.

A little while later, Amal had sent Jessa inside her tent for something and she heard the distinct sound of a several horses whinnying. Not sure if their unexpected visitors were hostile or not, she immediately grabbed her loaded gun then cautiously crept outside.

~*~

Ardeth and Rasheed came across the small camp somewhere around midnight and the chief was surprised to see such a small expedition. He questioned his second-in-command on the size of the party but again, Rasheed said he thought perhaps one or two Americans were more like it.

Before his chief became more suspicious, Rasheed volunteered to approach the camp from the west, leaving Ardeth to approach it head on, near the campfire. And silently, the two men dismounted and separated.

As Ardeth came closer, he was certainly surprised to see the guide. “Amal, what are you doing here?”

Before the little man could answer, suddenly Jessa came out of her tent, her pistol ready, her face set with the intent of shooting. She stopped dead in her tracks and stared in open-mouthed shock.

Ardeth looked wonderful, dressed in full Medjai attire, his scimitar already poised in reaction to a perceived threat. From the warm glow of the campfire, Jessa could see he was almost restored to full health, favoring his one side ever so slightly. His hair was a little longer, face a little leaner but his shoulders were still as broad as she remembered them.

“Ardeth?” she breathed, still unable to comprehend him being there.

Ardeth was rendered speechless for a moment, a cry of surprise locked in his throat as his mind slowly reacted to the woman standing in front of him. Never had he imagined or dared to hope that he would ever see her again, and yet there she stood, no more than a few feet from him. And damn if she wasn’t pointing a gun at him once more.

“Jessica?” he answered.

“Yes,” she said lamely and holstered her gun.

“Why are you here?” He sheathed his scimitar.

A question that had been plaguing her since she left the States not so long ago, as she had struggled to push past all the sadness from the past few weeks and now as she stood in front of him, she suddenly had the answer.

“Well, seems to me someone here still owes me for saving his life.” A small smile tugged one corner of her mouth. “I thought we were working out the repayment plan or something.”

“I am to repay you?” His eyes widened with surprise then suppressed laughter at her cleverness.

“Yes, although I thought we could go back to your village to discuss....the arrangements.” She paused, an unusual hint of uncertainty in her voice. “That’s if you still want me.”

In response to her last question, Ardeth could wait no longer and suddenly, he held out his arms wide open.

Jessa needed no further encouragement and with a small sob of happiness, threw herself into those strong arms, feeling them tighten around her in a warm embrace.

Then they were both talking, and kissing, and Jessa was crying because she had dreamt of this moment but was so afraid it wouldn’t come true. And Ardeth was murmuring to her words of endearment, mixed in both their languages, swearing to Allah he would never let her go again and then thanking Allah that he had seen fit for Jessa to return to him.

Rasheed and Amal stood off to the side, away from the two lovers to give them enough privacy and smiling at each other over the success of their plan. It was the little guide who had sent a message to Rasheed days in advance prior to Jessa’s arrival in Cairo. And the two men had planned all along at how they could get the warrior and the American to meet once again.

“Now I understand,” Rasheed quietly stated, as if he suddenly figured out the missing piece to a puzzle.

“What?” Amal asked, certain he hadn’t missed anything.

Rasheed smiled broadly and pointed to his friend. “The dreams of the Medjai.”

Ardeth woke up alone in bed and immediately sat up, looking for his wife. A quick glance around the room showed the doors to the balcony open, the long sheer curtains gently blowing in the night breeze.

Silently and on bare feet, he climbed out of bed and went searching for Jessa and found her, just as he thought, standing towards the far end of the patio, looking out over the quiet city as it slept.

He came up from behind, gently encircling her with his arms around her expanding waist, his face nuzzling her hair. He inhaled the sweet fragrance that was uniquely her own, savoring it as he kept it close to his heart.

“Habibti (my love), what are you doing out here? You should be resting,” he whispered in her ear, unknowingly sending shivers of delight down Jessa’s spine.

“I know but I was thinking of Adam,” she whispered back and Ardeth caught a touch of sadness in her voice. She reached up and cupped the side of his face, bringing it closer as she leaned into him. “I still miss him very much.”

Ardeth said nothing, instead he tightened the circle of his warm embrace, knowing Jessa still needed to grieve over Adam’s death. He knew time had a way of easing pain but some hurts took longer than others.

And Jessa’s life since returning to the desert had been less than easy.

While the Medjai chief accepted her into his life, his people were less than enthusiastic especially when they learned the couple was to be married. Resentment among the women and suspicion among the men were common but with a willingness to learn and adapt, gradually Jessa found her place within the tribe and eventually within the people’s hearts. She displayed an unending source of patience, sense of humor and loyalty that left no doubt that she was indeed Ardeth’s true mate. She earned their respect by standing by her husband as he and his warriors continued their vigil over Hamunaptra, and she was determined as they to keep the secret buried there.

There were still some rough moments, old habits die hard and Jessa would find herself questioning the elders of the tribe on their decisions, something the old men weren’t used to. But in time, as with all things, came understanding and acceptance. They learned to value her opinions and she learned restraint. Now Jessa’s outspokenness was a source of amusement to the elders, and they would tell Ardeth to keep his wife at home, preferably tied up so she could do no harm.

“Are you happy here, Ageela (wife)?” he asked, brushing back her hair from her neck. He sounded like a little boy, unsure and awkward as he waited for her answer.

Jessa found that endearing and turned slightly in his arms, looking up at him and smiling. It was filled with such love, Ardeth felt his heart beat accelerate in reaction.

“Of course I am, Habibi (my love).” And she told the truth, which was from her heart. Then she took his hand and guided it to a certain spot on her belly, a secret smile curving her lips. “I want you to feel something.”

A few seconds later, Ardeth was rewarded with a couple of lusty kicks.

“Merciful Allah, is that the baby?” His eyes were wide with shock and pleasure at the feel of his child moving within his wife’s stomach.

Jessa laughed at his reaction. “Aiwa, that’s your son. It seems he likes to keep his mother up at night now.”

“How much longer?”

“I’m guessing sometime within the week.” Jessa said, mentally calculating her due date and thankful that Ardeth had brought them to Cairo in time for the birthing.

“And how can you be so sure it’s a boy?” he asked, puzzled to the certainty he heard in her voice.

Jessa laughed and Ardeth smiled in return, he loved the sound of her joy.

“Because dear Yawfar (husband), I had a dream.”