Chapter 18
The meal that followed, though perfunctory, was like the food of the Gods to the starved mouths of the desert survivors. Jonathan stuffed the bread, cheese and dried fruits into his mouth ferociously, chewing with glee on the salted meats Izzy provided. He dipped the thin bread into a little honey bowl, suckling on the sweet nectar and groaning in delight. He’d downed at least a litre of water in the first hour, and after all this he promptly passed out under a pile of blankets on the floor. Rick and Evelyn ate far more slowly, gazing at Connie with worry, sipping at their water. They went through quite a lot of it, for even if they were worried their thirst could not be denied.
Ardeth ate too, but he ate little, choosing to drink more water. He spent most of his time getting more salty water down Connie’s throat, and mopping her forehead gently. He was so dedicated to this task that he did not notice Izzy step his way out of the wheel house, looking somewhat tense.
“Right… now you’ve all eaten, er…” He coughed, handing Ardeth a dirty old looking scroll. “Your friends wanted me to give this to you.”
Ardeth took the scroll, his brows knitted with thought, but there was some relief in his eyes.
“They’re coming to help you,” Izzy said, a little meekly. “All of them. I barely had time to tell them what happened and drop Alex off before they restocked the dirigible and sent me on my way to find you.”
“Thank you, Izzy,” said Ardeth, bowing his head. Izzy waved a hand at him with a little frown, modesty taking the haphazard pilot. Ardeth wore a shadow of a smile at this.
His eyes soon fell to the scroll in his hands, and as he unrolled it a smaller roll of paper slipped inside of it poked out. He read it, then moved onto the scroll. “This is the legend of Amarna,” he said, “I have not read this scroll before, but I have known of it.” He glanced up to a very curious looking Evy. “We must be in some danger if they sent this to us.”
Ardeth set to reading it, and the quiet minutes passed slowly. As he finished, he handed it to Evelyn, a heavy sigh leaving him. “Izzy… when you passed El Amarna, did it look different to you at all?”
Izzy frowned, rubbing his stubbly dark chin. “Now that you mention it… yeah. Looked like there was some digging goin’ on.”
Ardeth nodded slowly. “As I suspected.”
Rick frowned too. “What does the scroll say?”
“It tells the story of how El Amarna was built,” said Ardeth. “But more importantly, it tells of Akhenaten’s damnation by the Gods, how they planned his doom, and how the stray followers of Aten in other cities banded together to save Akhenaten’s soul.”
Jonathan had woken to the talking, scratching behind his ear with a grunt. After listening for a moment he cast a confused look about him. “Oh? How is that going to help us?”
“It’ll help us a lot,” said Evelyn suddenly, eyes flashing on the page, “And it explains why Akhenaten is playing archaeologist all of a sudden. Here -“ She pointed on the scroll. “It says that the Orb of Aten is the only way Akhenaten can save himself and the souls of his followers from eternal damnation. He needs the Orb of Aten to survive, and to try to create more followers.”
“What’s so special about this Orb?” asked Rick.
“Oh, it’s a perfect round sphere of smoky quartz, flawless and orange in colour,” Evelyn said, and with a glance to Jonathan, added, “Not worth very much compared to the other things we’ve found.”
Jonathan sank a little.
“And it belongs in a niche at the Altar of Aten, in the great chamber of the Main Temple.” Evelyn read further, finger dragging along the faded brown inked letters. “If Akhenaten gets his hands on the Orb, and puts it back in that receptacle, and says a prayer… prayer of -“
“Prayer of Reformation,” Ardeth provided.
Evelyn nodded and continued, “Yes, Prayer of Reformation, then he’ll wake the Aten and his old powers will be restored. He only has seven days to do this, and I’m sure that if he hasn’t found it by now that he will be getting pretty desperate. But he very might well have found it. Either way, we would need to be sure.”
Rick shrugged. “So we find it, we smash it.”
“No,” Evy said. “No, he’ll still be around, and then he’ll be dragged off into the Underworld where he’ll live in eternal pain and agony.”
“So?” Rick widened his blue eyes at his wife. “Honey - this guy tried to kill us!”
“No he didn’t, Rick,” said Evy. “He just wanted us out of the way. All the other writings of the Heretic King ever made indicated that he was essentially a good man - it’s not his fault that his Kingdom was ripped away from him. That’s why he’s so angry, that’s why he wants revenge. Besides - if we do break the orb, we will also damn the thousands of souls left behind by the destruction of El Amarna to the same fate as Akhenaten.”
“So what do you wanna do?” asked Rick, “Let him take over the world?”
“Of course not,” tutted Evy. “Here, it says if we replace the Orb in the niche, and recite the Aten Hymn of the Dead, then he will return to the blackness from whence he came, and rest for eternity, along with his followers. Rest, not agony. They deserve that at least.”
“I agree,” said Ardeth, “But keep reading, Evelyn.”
Evelyn nodded, her eyes travelling down the parchment. Her hand shot to her mouth and she gulped. “Oh my.”
Rick glared at her. “What?”
“Well, uh, should Akhenaten find this Orb that he’s after, he will have control of not only the Anubis Warriors with them, but er - well demons they call them - undead beasts called akephaloses... or would that be akephalii?”
“Honey - what the hell’s an ‘akephalos’?”
Evelyn smiled stiffly. “Uhm… it’s a Greek word… it's a… a headless wandering corpse. The only way to kill it is to separate its limbs from its body and stab it through the heart. What’s left of it anyway.”
Rick groaned, covering his face in his hands. “Oh brother.”
“Quite.”
Jonathan rubbed his hands together, smiling with a hint of panic. “Well, it’s easy then, isn’t it? Find this Orb and do the little prayer and it’s all over isn’t it?”
Evelyn eyed Jonathan. “We have to *find* it first. And then there’s the business with the Anubis Warriors all through the place.”
“Ah…” Jonathan slumped. “It always has to be tricky, doesn’t it?”
Ardeth looked up from his patient and sighed. “I do not remember a time when saving the world was an easy task.”
“Well what are we gonna do?” said Jonathan. “We don’t even know where to start looking.”
Rick shrugged. “We get kitted up and go in there.”
“Wh-what if it’s already destroyed?” asked Jonathan. “That means he’ll just get taken into the Underworld on the seventh day! M-Maybe we don’t even need to go back there!” There was an edge of desperation in the Englishman’s voice.
“And the Orb might *not* be destroyed,” said Rick firmly. “He might find it and then there’ll be nothing we can do to stop him. We can’t take that chance. We need to go in there and make sure he doesn’t do anything we wouldn’t do.”
“But why is it always us that has to do this?!” Jonathan cried. “I’m sick of nearly getting squashed and battered and stabbed and stuck with darts and buried in sand and pulled apart by boil-covered zombies and chopped up by creepy dog-men! I’ve had enough!”
“The answer to your question is simple,” Ardeth said to Jonathan. He was quiet then, and merely looked to Evelyn. Jonathan turned his eyes to Evy, who huffed and let out a whimper.
“You don’t think I feel bad enough as it is?” she said, “I’ve nearly killed you all, my best friend is unconscious and another power-hungry Mummy is going to take over the world - I simply did not ask for this to happen! I wasn’t to know about the curse and this is not my fault!”
“All right, all right, all right!” cried Rick over the top of it, rubbing his forehead wearily with one hand whilst pointing to his companions with the other. He pointed to Jonathan, Evy and then Ardeth, “You! Calm down! You! It’s okay honey. YOU! Stop provoking them!”
Ardeth bowed his head apologetically. “I was merely trying to point out that it is now our responsibility to put this creature to rest - one way or another - now that he has arisen from our disturbing him.”
“Right,” said Rick. “So… we need a plan.”
Evelyn wriggled in her spot uncomfortably, the whole discussion beginning to stress her considerably. “Well, it’s obvious what we have to do. We have to try to find the Orb.”
“Well, let’s stop yakkin’ about it and get to it,” Rick said, slapping his knees and standing up. “You know what they say; no time like the present.”
“Once bitten, twice shy,” mumbled Jonathan darkly, getting to his feet. “They say that too, you know. And what are we doing? Going off to get bitten again.”
Rick looked to Ardeth as he propped his hands on his hips just above his gun holster. “What about you then?”
Ardeth glanced to Rick like he’d grown another head. “I must stay here and tend to Constance.”
Rick ran his fingers through his straggled hair, and he knelt in front of the Medjai. “Listen, Ardeth, I know you’re worried about Connie, but if we don’t stop this guy then everyone is in danger, not just her.” Ardeth looked down to Connie, cradling her jaw a moment as she slept. There was reluctance in his eyes, and Rick put a hand on his shoulder. “We need you, Ardeth. Please… help us.”
Ardeth gave a heavy sigh, his eyes falling shut as he nodded. “Yes, of course… of course I will help you.”
Rick sighed with relief, looking to Jonathan and Evy behind him. “Right. Evy, Jonathan - we’re kitting up.”
~~~~~~~
Ardeth stood in front of Izzy, fastening blades and guns to himself, setting on holsters and bandoliers brimming with bullets. He spoke as he did this, voice dour and direct.
“You must make her drink every fifteen minutes,” he said. “Make sure there is a small portion of salt in the water.”
“How small a portion?”
“Enough to fill the dip in the centre of your palm.”
“Right.” Izzy looked down to his own palm, sticking his finger into it. “Every fifteen minutes…”
“Yes. Do not take your eyes off her. Check her breathing, and keep her cool. Make sure she is out of the sun at all times, and keep food ready in case she wakes.” Ardeth armed a gun in his hands and pressed his lips together. “Do not forget what I have said to you. If you do not heed my words and I will make sure you regret the moment you failed them.”
Izzy blanched, stepping back. “Awright, awright, no need for that, I’ll look after her, geeez…”
Rick and Evelyn exchanged a knowing look at this; they were in the middle of readying themselves as well. Rick shoved guns in holsters and even into belts. He also bore scimitars, given to Izzy by the Medjai, and daggers. Evelyn also wore these things strapped to her body, and she looked strangely comfortable with them on her. More strange than this, even haunting, was Jonathan strapping the same blades to himself. Unlike any time before, he seemed to have an instinct on where to place them, on how they should have sat. Now he held a blade in his arms, his hands wrapped in rags to the elbow, running a sharpening stone from blade tip to hilt, his eyes distant and his jaw set. There was no fear in his features, (though he was frightened to the bone) but a quiet acceptance. He looked more a soldier than a fool.
Ardeth stepped over to the pile of blankets and cushions where Connie rested, and kneeling before her, he leant to her, stroking her face softly. “Be well, ya hilwai,” he breathed, “I will return to you.” He brought his lips to her forehead then, pursing them gently, a frown creasing his brow at the coolness of her skin. He sighed, touching his brow to hers briefly before pushing himself away. “I am ready,” he announced.
“Good,” said Rick. “Then let’s go. We haven’t got a moment to waste.”
Ardeth nodded, following Rick and Evelyn to the rope ladder that clung to the curve of the floating dirigible. Izzy set it down half a mile away from Amarna, right in the direction of the path from the oasis south of Hamunaptra. As Rick, Evelyn, Ardeth and Jonathan disembarked, Izzy leant on the railing, frowning down at the intrepid warriors.
“Now you remember! The city’s THAT way!” He pointed in the general direction of Amarna. “And the very SECOND that the Medjai show up, I’m outta here!” He grumbled shaking his head and waving a hand at O’Connell. “Nearly getting myself killed because of you, crazy bloody American.”
Rick shook his head as the group set off for Amarna, this time well equipped for the desert clime. It was hard going in the broad sunlight, but with water and bread for twice their number stuffed into Rick’s back-pack, they didn’t feel it so much this time. They were quiet, and didn’t say anything as they approached the city. They were preparing themselves for the fact that they may very well not leave alive.
Soon they grew close to the walls of the city. Amarna, though half exposed, was still an awe-inspiring sight. There were a number of tall columns that survived being buried under tons of sand, and the main thoroughfare, lined with proud lions facing a great wall with the Aten upon it, and several huge statues in Akhenaten’s likeness, was battered considerably due to the shifting sands that had encased it all those years. Huge tall flat pylons reached up from the entrance of the Main Temple, and at the gate of the city. They were etched deeply with loving portraits of Aten, spindly arms reaching down from a round deeply cut disk, ankhs clutched in the delicate little hands. On either side on the pylons reached up the strangely crafted forms of Akhenaten and his family, hips bulbous, thighs large and curving, feet long and thin, arms equally as feeble. Between the pylons was an Aten-decorated lintel like they had seen before, and beyond them the temple had been unearthed far more than had been previous. Where before an enclosed and dark space was now great stretching courts that were open and free were bared, leading to another grand set of pylons similarly carved to the rest. Beyond this was the bigger, more intimidating temple they had been in before. It was clear now that unlike the rest of the buildings that were hewn and built from dirty yellow rocks from the earth, the temples were lovingly crafted from the whitest of stone. They were proud, strong despite their ruin.
Evy gazed at the ghostly courts before her, and then to the gates of the Aten Main Temple. “We must have walked straight past the opening pylons and into the temple… look at all of this… it’s beautiful.”
Rick narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the temple around him. “Sure. Let’s just try to find this Orb.”
Evelyn slowly pulled herself away from the sights around her, and she crept into the temple. Unlike the days before, the temple was eerily empty. Every bit of sand and dust had been cleared from the place, and it was chilling to see it so clean and free of detritus.
“He must have searched this place,” said Ardeth, looking about.
“We should have a look over anyway,” said Evelyn. “Just to make sure.”
Ardeth frowned, looking about himself. “I do not think that is wise. He would know this place very intimately, for he treasured this city above the good of
“Hmm… all right,” said Evelyn, stepping up to the altar, climbing behind two sarcophagi and some ceremonial plinths topped with empty bowls. Amongst a mass of delicate hieroglyphs inside a cartouche carved upon the wall was a small hollow lined with gold, a round pit carved into the bottom. Evelyn ran her hands along the cavity there, awe in her heart. “This is the niche.”
“Lovely,” said Jonathan with a strained smile. “Now let’s get out of here before something awful jumps out at us.”
They all agreed to this, and crept out down the sprawling thoroughfare towards the main city.
~~~~~~
Izzy cut up some bread and fruit, laying it next to the unconscious Constance. He then took a wetted rag, drawing and patting it over her forehead, and with a sigh he took up a tin cup, filling it with water and sprinkling in some salt.
“Do this, Izzy, do that Izzy. Fix the ruddy dirigible with nothing but your arse, Izzy!” He tilted up her head gingerly, trying to get the water down her throat. He wasn’t sure how Ardeth managed to do it, but he’d gotten an awful lot of water on Connie’s front rather than in her mouth so far. “What do they think I am? A bloody miracle worker?”
Constance, being unconscious, said nothing in response to this.
“Just a bit more,” he said, getting the rest of the cup of water into her mouth, and hopefully down her throat. “Now, I’m going to get some dried meat. Don’t you go anywhere.” He frowned and pointed at the unconscious woman before trudging off below deck. Just as he slipped down the trapdoor in the floor, he heard a scuffling. He jumped, glancing about him. All the talk of dog-men and headless demons had unnerved him enough, but being around O’Connell at the time during all this mess was enough to send him into a state of utmost paranoia. He narrowed his eyes, glancing about him. He waited for a few moments, but when nothing else happened he crawled down under the deck. He found the boxes of salted dried meats, and as he dug out a couple of softer pieces, the deck above him creaked. He froze.
“Connie?”
There was more scuffling - little footfalls. His mind suddenly leapt to pygmy mummies. He quickly berated himself after that. They were sucked up and long gone. He closed up the box of meat, and wrapped the rest in a clean swath of cheesecloth. He climbed up above deck, grumbling and kicking at the planks as he went, staring at his feet as he was wont to do.
“Don’t know why I bloody put up with it all I - AAAAAH!!!”
Body, person - THING - there! It took a moment for him to double take and register the short little thing person next to Constance as a terrified and open-mouthed Alex O’Connell.
“YOU!” he wailed, “What in the bloody BLAZES are you doing here?!”
“Cripes, Izzy!” he cried back, “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!”
“No!” Izzy pointed at him. “This isn’t about me, this about *you* being where you’re not supposed to! I left you in that ruddy tent back at the oasis! What in God’s name inspired you to sneak here and where the HELL have you been hiding?!”
Alex sank a little, looking down to the fruit in his hands. “I was hiding under the deck… and I wanted to help Mum and Dad.”
Izzy sighed, trudging over to the boy and sitting down next to him. “I think they’d be okay without you.”
“Last time they weren’t,” said Alex. “Last time if I hadn’t had been there, Mum would have been dead. Stayed dead I mean.”
A dawning look came over Izzy’s dark eyes, and he nodded slowly, patting the child on the shoulder. “I get it. Well - shouldn’t be too bad if you stay here with me, and leave the fighting to your parents, all right?”
Alex sighed. “All right.”
“Right. Now… what was I doing?” He glanced down, seeing the wrapped meat in his arms. “Oh - yes! The meat.”
Alex lifted his brows, looking a little pitiful. “Could I please have some?”
Izzy double glanced at the child. “What? You mean you’ve been trapped under deck all that time and you didn’t take any food?”
Alex looked sheepish. “I didn’t want you to notice I was here, so I only took very small bits, and hardly ate.”
“Go on then,” he said, laying down the meat with the fruit. “Tuck in. Doesn’t look like she’ll be having any anyway.” He pointed to Connie unconscious in the blankets. Alex frowned as he looked down at her, and he knelt on the floor next to her.
“I heard Ardeth before and he sounded worried. Will she be all right?”
Izzy looked to the child. Hope was in the boy’s eyes. He wondered if the same hope was in his own heart. He’d seen a lot of heat exhaustion cases from past clientele. Sometimes it slipped to heat stroke, and the end result of that wasn’t pretty. He plastered on a reassuring smile and thumped the boy on the shoulder.
“Sure, she’s just sleeping. Needs to sleep it all off.”
Alex’s eyes immediately narrowed, and he tilted his head. “I’m nine years old, I’m not stupid.”
Izzy glowered for a moment, before rolling his eyes. “Right, right. She’s still unconscious, all right? It’s not looking too good. Is that better?”
Alex looked to him, then to the lady next to him, and sighed. “No, not really, but at least it’s the truth.”
Izzy nodded, slapping the young boy on the shoulder. “Good lad. You stay here, keep an eye on her for a moment. I’ve got to answer nature’s call.”
Alex smirked a bit and nodded, looking down to the dried salted meat in front of him. His little stomach rumbled, and reaching forward, he began to rip into the food, tearing off a piece of meat, placing it on a metal plate with some sliced fruit and flat bread. He then poured himself a drink of water. He sighed happily, his guts twisting in anticipation. His hands almost shook as he brought the first portion of food to his mouth, the salty spiced meat a joy to his taste buds. He devoured the food hungrily; the flat bread was flavoured with sesame, the cut up apple and banana only a touch brown from sitting out for the past five minutes but still sweet and delightful. He didn’t realise that as he went, the chewing and the ripping released the smell of the food he munched on, the meat being most intriguing to a hungry belly.
He was so engrossed in consuming his food that he didn’t notice any movement next to him. Not until the pale hand dropped heavily on his arm.
“AAEEEEEH!!” He leapt up with a throat-ripping shriek, thoroughly spooked by all the previous talk of the Anubis Warriors, akephaloses and walking Mummies. It wasn’t until he stopped dancing on the spot and actually turned around that he saw that the unconscious blonde woman next to him was now wearing a tired smile, her eyes heavily lidded, but open.
“Dear me, Alex,” she breathed, “What a wonderful performance.”
“Connie!” he cried with glee, and ran over to her, wrapping his arms around her tightly in a hug.
Connie hadn’t the energy to do anything but blink with amazement. She hadn’t realised that the boy was that attached to her.
“Bloody hell, what’s all the screaming- Miss Adams!” Izzy raced over from behind the wheel house, collapsing to his knees in front of Connie and taking her hands, eyes closed and relief splashed over his likeable features. “Thank GOD you're all right.”
Connie sat up a bit, her smile widening. “Well… what can a girl say to such a reception?”
“Are you hungry?” asked Alex, “Here’s food - lots of food. And salt if you need it. And water.”
The little boy was very excitable, and no sooner said than done, he handed her a plate burgeoning with food.
“I was going to ask you if I could have some before you started wailing like a harpie,” said Connie, her eyes betraying her hunger. She ripped at the food like Alex had been, eating it slowly for it was all she had the energy to do. Had she the energy of Alex, she would have wolfed it down as fast as he had.
“I’ll get you some honey for that bread,” Izzy said, getting up and traipsing down into the deck.
Alex smiled at Connie as she ate, his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it on occasion. “I’m glad you’re all right, Miss Adams.”
Connie smiled faintly at Alex around a mouthful of flat bread. “So am I, dear. Say… where is everyone?”
Alex sighed then, looking down. “They’ve gone into the city. They’re going to try to find that Orb.”
Confusion splashed on Connie’s drawn features. “Orb? What orb?”
Alex got up, looking at the deck around him. He scratched his head, mumbling to himself as he searched the scene around him. Finally he dug about inside the wheel house, and with an “Ah ha!” he came out, waving an old manuscript in his hands. “They sent this for Ardeth. It tells all about the legend of El Amarna.” He sat down next to Connie, showing her the flowing Arabic script.
Connie sighed with a tired smile. “Alex, I can read exactly three words in Arabic. Train, toilet and food. And unless you can read Arabic, you’ll just have to relay the story to me.”
“I can read Arabic!” said Alex. “A bit. I should be able to remember most of this anyway. Let’s see…”
Alex read out what he could to her, fumbling on some words but being able to clearly describe the Orb of Aten and its function, and its role in the legend, all the while Connie eating heartily. After he finished reading the scroll, Connie was silent, a frown of thought on her features. Alex put his hand on her arm.
“Miss Adams, are you all right?”
Connie blinked, gazing at Alex distantly. “Yes… describe that orb to me again?”
“Round, Ardeth said it was about the size of a grapefruit. It was made of… here it is - smoky quartz. Orange in colour.”
A smile broke on Connie’s face and she shook her head. “It couldn’t be… it just couldn’t…” She jumped up, and then grabbed for the side of the boat, knees buckling underneath her. Alex reached for her, trying to help her up.
“Careful, Miss Adams, I can’t hold you up!”
“I’m sorry,” she sighed, “I think I need a little more rest before I go bounding about like usual.” She gave a weak smile and lowered herself back down onto the blankets upon the ground. “Alex, be a dear and get me my bag from the hold. You know what it looks like, don’t you?”
He nodded. “The impractical flowery one.”
She narrowed her eyes at the boy with a humouring smile. “Yes. Go on then.”
She heard him bump around down underneath the boards of the deck, and after a moment he returned, Izzy with him.
“What’s he doing?” he asked, pointing to the kid.
“Fetching something for Miss Adams,” Alex said. “Here…” He dumped the bag in front of her.
“Careful!” she said, “Aah.” She opened it, digging around inside the expensive luggage piece, packed to the gills with all Connie could manage to put in there. It wafted of flowery perfumes and clean clothing.
“What makes you think this is the Orb of Aten?” he asked, shuffling closer to her to get a good look inside the bag.
“I don’t think it’s the Orb of Aten at all, my dear boy,” she said, eyes fixed to the innards of her bag. “Though it sounds exactly the *same* as the Orb. Same size, same kind of stone. Flawless, too. Cost me a bundle.” She finally got a hold of it, wrapping a shirt around it and pulling it from the bag. She lifted it up. Alex gasped, and for good reason. The beautiful orb of smoky quartz burned gold in the bright Egyptian sunlight. Its orange and yellow hues were intoxicating, and they set a warm glow on Connie’s features.
“It’s amazing,” Alex gasped. “Where did you get it?”
“Antique dealer,” Connie said. “He said it was from around these parts… Cairo or Istanbul… somewhere like that. I’d say it originated from a quarry somewhere in
“Won’t this mean Mummy fella know the difference?” asked Izzy.
Connie pressed her lips together with a brash smile. “Maybe, maybe not. Currently, we need to get rid of the beggar, and an Orb will do to help us with that! Real or no!” She looked to the plate of food in front of her, and started ripping up some bread and meat. “Better fill up,” she said, “And then I’m resting. I have some fun and games in front of me.”
Izzy blinked at her. “Fun and games? Fun and games?!” He crouched in front of her, glaring at her with dark eyes. “You do realise what Ardeth would do to me if anything happened to you, don’t you?”
Connie’s eyelids fluttered a moment as she considered the question. “Well, he can’t do anything if he’s dead, now, can he? And he will be if we don’t beat this demented rotting corpse at his own game!”
“They’re both gonna kill me,” Izzy muttered, sitting down next to Alex and laying his head in his hands, “First O’Connell’s gonna ‘ave a go, and then Ardeth is gonna bloody-well finish the job.”
Connie smiled, laying down on the cushions and blankets. “I wouldn’t worry too much, Izzy. I’m prepared, this time!”
She was excited, and that made going to sleep a little harder than she would have liked, but her body seemed to be more eager for rest than she was, and in the end it won out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hello From Sunny Hamunaptra – Chapter 19