Thirteen
TIME passed, slowly at first, agonizingly slowly. Ahmose's absence left a bulging hollowness in me that only the sound of his voice could fill. The first few weeks were the most difficult. Ahmose left with the army, and I hadn't heard from him since. Some nights I would wake up terror stricken from a nightmare. In some dreams he was butchered in a far away land and would return in a coffin, in others an unknown figure would slip a cobra into his sleeping quarters while he slept. I worried for him so often I no longer even considered if I was still safe while he was away. Had I given him ill advice? The Aruna passage would seem like a suicidal mission, the narrow passage that wound through the mountains would expose them to ambush. But carved into the walls of Karnak, the Canaanites wouldn't expect His Majesty to take such a bold route. They would wait for the Egyptians along the northern and southern routes, expecting to ambush them there. Ahmose didn't know this, and I prayed he would trust me.
One morning I awoke to the beautiful winter daylight, and decided to be useful and learn a new hobby. Under Iset's instruction, I began lessons of the lyre. It was a small harp-like instrument that I held to my breast and plucked the strings as I learned a melody with the royal girls. In the evenings, she was gracious enough to tutor me in ancient Egyptian, so I could communicate more freely around the palace. I found a friend in her as well as Menefer, my sweet servant.
Menefer spent most of her time with me, keeping me company and helping me with Egyptian words, though as a servant, she couldn't read. I would help her tend to her brother, the small boy I often saw her with; he was not her son, like I had previously thought. Iset helped me with reading and writing hieroglyphics, and soon my grasp of the language was that of a toddler's.
One afternoon, I was in my chamber plucking a soft melody with my lyre when Menefer came in with a letter. "It's from Pharaoh," she panted, trying to catch her breath.
I snatched the letter from her and tore it open. It had been little over a month since Ahmose left, and I was desperate for any news from him. I read over his letter and sighed in relief. They had taken the Aruna passage and conquered the Canaanites easily, but the remaining rebels had locked themselves away in the city, so the Egyptians would camp around the walls and starve them until they surrendered.
"Much of the chaos is over now," I read aloud. "My duties of kingship have kept me from writing you all this time. I hope you will forgive my tardy response. The weather is so beautiful during the winter and the heat of the desert does not scorch the land as it does in the summer. I hope it will make travel easier so my letters can reach you faster. I have missed your company dearly, and hope to return to Thebes soon."
Menefer brought me ink and plenty of papyrus, and I began working on a letter to send back to him. I didn't really know what to say to him because my questions had been answered when I read his letter. He was alive and well, and the Egyptians had smashed the Canaanites; he had trusted me.
My life since he had left hadn't been very exciting, and I was afraid my letter would be dull. But I wrote anyway, about my friendships with Iset and Menefer, when the truth was I missed him much more than I let on.
Another month passed, and Ahmose wrote me nearly every week. As the days went by, I would wait anxiously to hear from him, to know he was all right. But I couldn't stand the silence, nor the gnawing feeling his absence brought me.
The day he returned was one of the happiest in my life. I passed down the halls and was drawn to the courtyard by the cheers of the Egyptians as Pharaoh returned, celebrating their victory over the Canaanites now that they had officially surrendered. Over the balustrade, I watched the royal procession led by Ahmose in his golden chariot. He was pulled along through the crowd by two black stallions. He waved to the crowd and they tossed flowers upon the road as he passed by. I watched him vanish as the procession continued through the city.
I went back to my chamber and played my lyre, trying to ease the frantic thumping in my chest. Ahmose had finally returned, and for the first time in nearly three months, I had glimpsed him in the crowd. I wanted to go to him, to throw my arms around him, but I wanted to give him space and allow him the chance to come to me instead.
An hour passed, and I was now pacing the room to try to calm my nerves. My stomach was roaring with nausea, and I started at every sound that passed my door. I was so anxious to see him after all this time. But as more time passed, my excitement turned into dread and I began to worry he had forgotten about me.
There was a knock on the door that startled me out of my thoughts, causing me to drop my lyre. It landed on the tiled floor with a loud clank.
"Kara?" a sweet voice called. My heart sunk; it was Menefer. She slowly opened the door and peeked inside. I picked my lyre up from the floor and sat it on the table. "His Majesty has summoned you. Are you ready to go?"
"He wants to see me?" I breathed, my heart overcome with joy. I had missed him terribly, but now that I had the chance to be near him, why was I so afraid? "I can't go to him now!"
I was probably a coward for avoiding him for a little bit longer, but I convinced Menefer take a walk with me, and it eased my nerves. We walked down the corridor and under the tall columns that were profoundly decorated with pictures and bright colors. Tapestries flapped in the wind, and the scent of incense carried lightly on the breeze.
We went to the garden where it was quiet, the only sounds coming from the birds that had taken refuge in the canopy of the Cyprus trees. There were flowers everywhere, their scents wafted around us sweetly in an intoxicating breeze. There was a lone bench by the pool and we sat on it as we gazed out over the warm water.
"I am troubled," I said, and Menefer plucked a flower and fondled its petals.
"What ails you?" She tucked the yellow blossom in her hair. "Do I look pretty?" she asked.
"Yes," I replied. "You look very beautiful."
She smiled and tapped my hand. "What has you so disheartened today?"
I bit my tongue and considered my words carefully, because I wasn't sure what I felt, if anything at all. "I am very fond of Pharaoh," I answered.
She smiled, and a gentle breeze tasseled her thick black hair. "Yes, I know." She gave me a knowing grin. "It is obvious. Whenever you hear his name, you waver like a blushing maiden."
Heat rose to my cheeks. I hadn't realized my infatuation with him was so obvious.
"I believe he is fond of you too," Menefer said. "Before he left, his eyes were always on you, safeguarding you like a silent protector. He always appeared ready to jump in front of you and take an arrow to the heart."
"He's a good man," I said, dwelling on her words as they rattled through my head. "I'm sure all the women desire him."
Menefer laughed and kicked her feet in the pool, splashing water into ripples. Cool bumps grew on my skin, afraid of what her eyes had probably seen. She knew everything that went on here. I hoped she wouldn't tell me something about him I didn't want to hear. "Usually a man with his beauty would take advantage of it and lay siege to all the women in his court. But Pharaoh is not like that at all. I think he's lonely, or perhaps he is waiting for something. I cannot tell." I sighed in relief.
I heard voices coming from one of the halls. I spied Thutmosis in the corridor heading our way. He was trailed by a couple of his guards. I grabbed Menefer's hand and started to make a run for it as he advanced down the hall and caught sight of us in the garden. His obsidian eyes glared at me, causing me to recall the night he had offered his mistress to Ahmose.
He passed by us without a second glance. The haughty way he carried himself sent a jolt of bitterness down my spine. My body cringed.
Menefer didn't seem to notice. "How much longer will you keep Pharaoh waiting? It has been months. He must be tormented by your delay," she taunted.
I wasn't sure what she meant by tormented, but the coy grin she suddenly gave me caused my cheeks to burn.
"Please come along now, he is waiting for you," Menefer replied, taking my hand. She led me from the garden and down the long hall to Ahmose's quarters. The walk didn't last long enough to calm my pounding heart. She started to open the door when I stopped her.
"Wait," I said, and hesitated in the doorway. "I'm afraid to go in."
"Why?" she asked, taking my hands in hers.
I drew in a deep breath and tried to swallow my heart back down into my chest. "I've missed him dearly," I answered. "But I am afraid he doesn't feel the same as I do."
"You won't know unless you go in," she said, and ushered me to the door.
I paused after knocking, hearing Ahmose's warm voice call from within.
"I wish you the best," Menefer whispered, leaving me as I opened the door to his chamber. My heart pounded so violently, I thought my sternum would break.
I stepped inside and found him at a table, glancing over some scrolls. He turned to face me when I came in.
"Kara," he sighed and lifted me into his arms and spun me around. "I wanted to see you immediately, but first I took the liberty to clean up. I didn't want to present myself to you with travel dirt on my clothes and sweat on my skin," he explained. "I hope I am not too late." He held me in his arms for a moment longer before releasing me.
"Truthfully, I thought you had forgotten me," I said.
"I'll never forget you," he promised, brushing my cheek with his fingers.
"You are alive and well, that is what matters most," I replied, and wrapped my arms around him again. He winced as my hands brushed along his back. I withdrew from his arms immediately. "Ahmose?"
He grimaced, and lines of strain formed along his forehead. "It is all right," he breathed. "Just a flesh wound."
"You're hurt!" I cried.
"During our final days of battle in Megiddo, a swordsman struck me from behind. It is a minor wound, I promise," he explained.
"Let me see, please?"
He gazed at me for a long moment before slowly pulling his tunic over his head. He turned away from me, and carved along the muscles of his back was a jagged gash. It was swollen, and the pink abrasion was prominent against his bronzed skin.
"It's infected," I gasped. "We need to cleanse it with ethanol."
"What?" he whispered sharply, and glanced swiftly at me over his shoulder, as if I had just spouted an incantation.
"Beer," I answered. I started for the amphora on the table when Ahmose stopped me.
"Do not worry yourself with my injury. I will have a servant dress it," he said.
"A servant?" My eyes wandered over Ahmose's well-defined back as I visualized another woman running her hands over it. My stomach suddenly knotted jealously. I reached out and brushed my fingers over the small of his back. He shivered. "You would rather have a servant do it? But I am a scientist. The servant's knowledge of treatment cannot match my own."
He chuckled, "If you want to do it yourself, you may do so. But was it not you who declared you are my equal? I did not want to offend you on my first night back home."
"In my time, I could have been a doctor," I replied. "It would be an honor to tend to your wound." He smiled at me over his shoulder. Using the beer in the amphora, I cleansed the wound and covered it with skin numbing oils. "How are you?" I asked, wondering if his moment in battle had changed him, if he had spilled any blood. My fingers wandered over his back, though I had finished dressing his lesion.
"I am well, now that I have returned. The journey to Megiddo was wearisome. Tonight, for the first time since I departed, I will rest. While away, I was uneasy. My thoughts always drifted back to you. I worried you would not be here when I returned. I was afraid you would return to your world." I pressed my cheek into his back, savoring the sound of his soft breaths. "You occupied most of my mind, and my heart."
"I've missed you," I whispered in Egyptian.
Ahmose turned around, surprised that I had spoken in Egyptian. His amber eyes suddenly burned brightly. His lips parted like he wanted to say something, but instead he drew me against him and fiercely pressed them against mine. He swept me up into his arms and led us to the bed, never taking his lips away. They were soft, luscious, and hungry...hungry for mine.
My mind went numb, my senses became dizzied; all I could focus on was the fire that burned on my lips, and the longing that wracked my frame as he touched me. I held him against me as I trailed my lips over his, kissing him until the world around us spun.
We fell on his bed with a soft thud; his hands tangled in my hair, and mine in his. The hunger in my throat was unbearable as I clung to him, pulling more of his weight down on me. His lips left mine and trailed over my cheek, ghosting down my jaw to my throat. Locked under his gaze, I shivered against him. If this was all a dream, if my time with him in Egypt was just an illusion, I would rather die than awaken.
But I would have to awaken eventually...return to the twenty-first century when the crazy drugs finally kicked in. I would be lulled out of this world, and I would have to say goodbye to him.
"Ahmose," I whispered. He pulled back, sensing my unease. His breathing was erratic, and his cheeks were flushed. Sweat formed at his brow as he gazed down at me.
"We won the war because of you," he panted and leaned down to kiss my cheeks. "I led my army through the Aruna passage just as you had instructed. Surely I would have taken an alternative route had it not been for you... Their army outnumbered us by a considerable margin. The rebels would have defeated us if we hadn't caught them by surprise. You saved Egypt; you saved me. You changed my path." He nuzzled my throat and rested against me to calm his frantic heart. "Everything was as foretold in my vision."
All I wanted was to hold him against me; cling to him until my arms grew weak and tired, until exhaustion gripped us both and I had no choice but to release him. But I knew my time in Egypt would eventually end, and I couldn't bear to fall in love with a man I would have to leave someday.
Ahmose kissed my lips again, lacing his arm beneath my shoulders to pull me closer to him. But it felt like he was trying to pull me inside him, to gently hold me in his heart. He drew away, breathless, "I was afraid you would disappear from Egypt and return to the twenty-first century before I had a chance to see you one last time." He ran his fingers along my cheek. "You are trembling," he gasped.
What little senses remained kept me from melting in his hands. He was so beautiful I didn't have the strength to push him away. I ran my fingers down his sculpted chest, feeling the muscles tense beneath my fingertips.
Then I pressed my palm against him in protest when he leaned in to kiss me again.
"Ahmose, we cannot be together like this."
His eyes suddenly lost their light and he parted his lips to question me, but I continued.
"You and I are only friends..." I tried to explain, reminding him of the promise we made to each other the night we met. "This kind of intimacy is not appropriate for a friendship, but for a romance."
He fell silent for a moment as my words rattled through his brain. Then he leaned down to whisper in my ear, "Let us have a romance."
I shivered. Tears were in my eyes now. If only he knew the conflict that raged within me. It was cruel, being so close to him, knowing we could never be together. "That cannot happen."
Ahmose pulled away from me, and sat quietly at the edge of the bed. I crawled over to sit next to him, lacing my arm around his.
"I'm sorry..." I began. "Every night, I am terrified. I lay down in bed to sleep, and I expect to be in the twenty-first century every time I wake up. I don't know why this dream has continued as long as it has...but soon, I know I will wake up. And when I do, I dread having to part ways."
"Kara, this is not a dream," he tried to remind me.
"Then I must be crazy, because this cannot be real. Ahmose," I reached out and grasped his strong shoulders, squeezing them gently, reassuring myself I could touch him. "You lived thousands of years before I was even born. You were a king of ancient Egypt, and then you died. You are not real."
He placed his finger to my lips to silence me. "I am real," he pleaded. He took my hand and placed it against his chest. "Can you feel my heart?" Beneath his taut skin, I could feel the vibration of his heart beating behind his sternum. "Dreams are illusions. If I am only an illusion, how can you touch me?"
Brain tumor, I deliberated. "I don't know," I confessed. Ahmose seemed dissatisfied. "Say, for argument's sake, this is real. How did I come here? And how would I remain here, if you and I became involved with each other? The force that brought me here will likely send me back home. It is dubious to believe this is permanent."
Ahmose sighed, realizing I was right. "You have told me you want to return to your home, and that means you and I will have to part ways eventually. Therefore, a romance between us is ill fated," he trailed off. He groaned as if the next words pained him, "When that day comes, our pain will be lessened if we remain only friends."
"I'm glad you understand," I replied quietly.
"We can still enjoy each other's company," he said, turning to me. "But knowing I cannot have you makes me want you even more. Hathor must be punishing me." Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of love.
"You are not being punished," I replied solemnly, though I wondered if my words had any truth to them. I reached for him and placed my palm on his shoulder, and felt something slip from my gown. It clanked to the floor, and Ahmose leaned over my lap to investigate.
"Kara, what is that?" he asked sharply.
"Ahmose, look!" I gasped and picked the object up from the floor. Ahmose, alarmed by my outburst, rose from the bed. "It's my I-pod!"
I had completely forgotten about it. I had found it a few days ago in the pocket of my jeans when I was going through my things. I wanted to show it to him. I remembered sticking it my pocket that day, which seemed so long ago, when I was still in the twenty-first century. I showed him the little pink device.
"Is this another object of science?" he asked, intrigued by the white earphones that wrapped around the small pink I-pod.
"I wanted to show this to you. Would you like to hear music of the twenty-first century?" I waved for him to sit back down. I untangled the earphones and placed one of the bulbs in my ear, and the opposite in his. Eagerly, he glanced over my shoulder and watched as I turned the device on and scrolled through my play list. I came to a personal favorite and the music flooded into our ears.
I wondered what Ahmose was thinking. He was motionless beside me, and his face was blank. Then his expression turned sour. "Who is this songstress? She is singing in gibberish!"
He couldn't understand the lyrics because they were in English and not Latin. I grinned, "Lady Gaga; she's my favorite."
"Lady Ga-Ga," he repeated. "The language is strange."
"This is the language I speak in my world. Normally, where I'm from, we would not speak to each other with the language you and I are speaking now," I explained.
He fell quiet beside me, trying to make sense of the lyrics to Marry the Night.
"Do you like it?"
"I am...unsure," he answered as the track continued playing. "It's interesting." A few more moments passed, and there was a knock at the door. Ahmose went to answer it, and spoke briefly with a guard. He turned in the doorway and said, "I hate to leave you so soon, but there are some things I need to take care of. Will you have dinner with me this evening to celebrate our victory?"
"Yes," I replied.
He held onto the I-Pod, reluctant to leave it.
"Would you like to take it with you?" I asked. He placed the bulb that had been in my ear into his own and smiled. He mashed one of the buttons and grinned as another track began to play.
"I will see you later," he spoke loudly over the music in his ears before leaving.