The Valley of Kings and a Queen

Chapter 22

With their strength and speed, I'm not sure if I would be able to catch up to them. I use my staff to summon a cloud of magic that lifts me up. No longer held back by my speed, I'm practically floating just slightly over the sidewalk. I finally catch up with them. They are standing on a busy street attempting to flag down a taxi on the street.

Our driver's this old lady. She's modesty dressed wearing an Islamic black Abaya and a veil covers her head.

"Habibi!" The old lady exclaims. Hobby? Happy? I have no idea what she just said.

"Can you take us here?" Grey says frantically pointing to the Valley of Kings on his map. She notices and opens the back-side door for us. We slide in, but she seems to be in no apparent rush. I'm sandwiched between Grey and Finley, it's not the most comfortable arrangement. She slowly gets in the front seat turning on the ignition of her car. Is it just me or is everything five thousand times slower when time is of essence? I'm close to just reaching over the front seat and grabbing the wheel from her hands to take control of the vehicle when she finally pulls out onto the street. The traffic is horrendous, and I want to just pull my hair out at this point. Our driver leans back in her seat clearly used to all the congestion. We pass a bright orange road work sign that reads road work ahead. I sure hope it does, I instinctively think to myself. Why are half of my thoughts vine references?

Slowly we ease up to where road workers are doing some construction on the road causing three lanes to merge into one. After we pass the congestion, we are racing fast heading away from the hustle and bustle of the city area and into sandy plains.

"I think we're close," Finley says.

"How do," I stop mid-sentence as I notice the outlines of a necropolis in the distance in a dry valley. "The Valley of Kings."

"It's beautiful," Finley says in awe. I can't help but put his hand in mine and squeeze it in my excitement. Luckily, Grey's just staring out the window taking the whole site in.

"The valley also known as Biban el-Muluk – the gateway of kings," Grey turns toward us, smirking proud of the research he has done. I let go of Finley's hand before Grey has the chance to look down and take notice.

The old lady lets us out about half a mile from the entrance to the visitor's center. Grey pays her with some Egyptian coins. In return, she hands us a canister of doughy sugar-soaked pastries.

"Thank you," Grey says to the lady as she gets back into her car.

"Free snacks for our journey now this is what I'm talking about," Grey announces taking one from the can, and plopping one of the pastries into his mouth.

"It's a Kanafeh," Grey says passing the can to me for me to grab one. I bite into it – the outside is crunchy, but the sweet whip cream warms my mouth bringing my salivary glands to life.

"These are so good," Grey swoons, but Finley just knocks the desert out of his hand before he has time to place it in his mouth. "Hey!"

"We need to focus," Finley remarks, "We aren't here for a fun tour and snacks. We have someone we have to seek out."

"So, what's our game plan," I ask.

"We have to begin our tour," Finley says, pointing to the entrance of the visitor center that lists the pricings for official tours. We stand in line inspecting the visitors center. It's buzzing with all kinds of tourists. The center sells a variety of little trinkets that are similar to what you can find at the marketplace but asks for a steeper, more unreasonable price. Off to the other corner, vendors sell bottles of water, drinks, and snacks to appease tiresome tourists who have been here for the majority of their day.