They lay on their cots, side by side, gazing into the other's eyes, hands tightly clasped and leaning over to kiss and then kiss again.
"Go to sleep," Ardeth kissed her one last time then turned over. Soon his breathing was slow and even, leaving her free to think.
I wonder what this meant, she thought, if it meant anything. It cannot, can it? He doesn't fit into my world and I do not fit into his, yet we have had an affection for each other all our lives. We are two adults, free to do what we want—I could have refused him, but I did not want to. Where do we belong, anyway, where does this belong?
"In the desert," came a voice in her head, startling her. She looked around, wondering where the voice had come from, but afraid to know the answer. She could not deny that the words were probably true.
She rolled over on her side, resting her head on her arm. Fatigue washed over her and when she drifted off to sleep, she did not even realize she had closed her eyes.
She was gazing out into a night sky full of stars more ancient than time itself. As she watched a strange sight came into view, a crowd of people moving steadily, almost rhythmically, proceeding in the dead of night, but to where? This is strange, she thought, Egyptians feared the darkness, what are they doing?
The light of torches reflected off shiny metal helmets and spear tips. Oxen with gilded horns tied with ribbons pulled a great sledge on which rested a shiny golden coffin. A parade of women mourners followed, their black hair greyed with ashes and beating their bared breasts as they wailed.
They headed to the doorway of the hollowed-out chamber which still had fresh chips of limestone laying around its entrance. A high priest stood at the head of the procession, he wore a linen kilt with a leopard skin tied around his shoulders, his shaven head seeming to reflect the light of the torches. He entered first, saying something she could not understand, no one had ever heard ancient Egyptian being spoken.
As priests swung censors of burning incense around the sarcophagus four men brought in the coffin and slowly lowered it in. Unguents heavy with the scent of cedar were poured over the coffin and wreaths were laid carefully on top of it.
The priest seemed to bark an order and a group of slaves wrestled the sarcophagus lid into place. Grave goods, some glittering with gold, were brought in and placed in the tomb for the use of the deceased in the afterlife. Slowly the procession filed out and guards stood by as the last of the possessions were placed in the tomb.
Then, suddenly, darkness. She heard the rattle of lime chips and rubble being used to fill the corridor. The doorway was sealed with mud and inscribed with the seal of the three jackals that guarded the dead.
She opened her eyes and sat up, seeing nothing but the darkness of the cave. The cool air now seemed cold as she felt a frisson of cold air sweep down her back like the touch of a finger. This tomb, which had at first seemed a welcome refuge from the heat, now began to feel dark and sinister. And she was cold.
She rose from the cot and went to their pile of clothes and wrapped Ardeth's outer robe around her, but she still felt the bone-chilling cold. And worse, she became aware that something was in the cave, something that hid from view but had touched her, it was watching her making sure she knew it was there.
"Why are you awake?" Ardeth asked her crossly. She looked over and saw him sitting up on his cot, "You should be resting."
"We have to get out of here, we're not alone, something, I don't know what, is in this cave. I had a dream, or maybe it was a vision, I don't know. I saw mourners, priests, and a gilded coffin on a sledge hauled through the desert and brought here. He must have been someone important, but I saw no name, I even saw the seal of the necropolis placed on the entrance. There must something special about this tomb and a reason why the deceased did not give his name, even for the last rites."
Ardeth sighed and pointed towards the entrance, "See that?" She looked and saw a beam of light shining into the tomb from outside. "We cannot leave, the sun is too hot to travel. You are over-excited. Come here," he said in a voice that brooked no refusal, "I am worried about you. You have never been prone to flights of fancy, now you see an Egyptian funeral? It will be evening soon, and we can leave this place then."
"Something is in here, Ardeth, it touched me, it spoke to me." Reluctantly she went over to him and let him hold her in his strong arms. "I knew something was in here when we came in, but I wanted to be wrong. If we don't leave soon, I'm afraid it's going to follow us."
"Do you think it has anything to do with what we are carrying for your father?"
"Oh, I don't know, I don't know if I want to know. Maybe it's just the djinn of the cave, yes? Didn't your father tell us stories about that?"
"Do not be afraid, I will protect you," he tightened his arms around her, "Nothing can harm you while you are with me. Now, let us go back to sleep, and then when we wake you will have your wish and we will leave."
His words might have convinced someone else. Even though his arms were comforting she was still afraid and not knowing what she was afraid of making it worse.
Despite her fear, his warmth helped soothe and relax her. Maybe it was nothing. The idea of what her father might be up to had her on edge, maybe that was the problem and nothing more.
Ardeth's hold loosened on her and she slipped out of his arms and went to the bright spot on the cave wall where the sun hit. There was enough light for her to be able to see the tall figure illuminated by the spot of sunlight.
It was a man with a strange animal head dressed in the linen kilt worn by the pharaohs. The head had a long, hooked snout and strange erect, rectangular, animal ears. In his hand, he held an ankh—the sign of life.
"Oh my god," she said to herself, she had seen this figure before in books and carved on the wall of a temple and she recognized it. "Set," she whispered, "he could have been one of the high priests of his cult, but why in a tomb where he was so honored did he not wish to reveal his name?"
She thought back to what she had learned at the Sorbonne. Egyptian religion believed in dualities, every god had his or her opposite. Set had been jealous of his brother Osiris and had killed him, the sister of Osiris, Isis, had brought him back to life and conceived their son Horus. Set had been worshipped in ancient Egypt for hundreds of years until the cult of Horus had replaced him.
She padded back to her cot, Ardeth's robe trailing behind her. She needed to sleep so she could think clearly. She lay down and wrapped his robe tightly around her and was asleep before her head even touched the cot.
She woke when Ardeth gently shook her, saying, "Dinner is ready, and I want my robe back. Get dressed and eat, then we can leave. I wish to be out of this place, I want to be in the clean desert air, hurry."
She handed him his robe then heard his sharp intake of breath. "Ardeth, is something wrong?"
"Something has happened to your back, stand up so I can see better," he held out his hand and pulled her up. She felt his finger trace something and where his finger went her back began to burn.
"What is it?" she tried to look over her shoulder but could not see it, as the burning grew worse. "Put something on it, please, it hurts. There's a bandana in my saddlebag, wet it, and use it on my back."
"Sssstt," he hissed, "There are three large scratch marks on your back, such as an animal would leave, but I know of no animal that would leave marks like this." He got the bandana, wet it and bathed her back, "Does it hurt?"
"Not now, the water helped. "Let's get out of here, please, can't we eat while we're riding?"
"No, just eat and we'll leave. I promise."
They ate quickly then lead their camels out of the cave. "This place seemed like such a refuge when we first found it," she said, "Now it feels sinister and I have never been so glad to leave a place in my life."
Why then was it on her mind as they rode across the desert in the night? She remembered the ancient Egyptians placed great importance on names so that one might exist in the afterlife. Why would someone deliberately erase their name and risk their immortality? It didn't make sense.
She was glad that Ardeth, unlike many whom she knew, could remain silent for long periods, breaking it only when he had something important to say. She needed this now to gather her thoughts and to come to the decision she had been pondering since they left her father's dig site.
The north star was at its zenith when they stopped to make a brief meal. She slid gratefully from her camel and stretched her back. The long hours she was spending in the saddle were beginning to tell on her, she was not used to spending hours on camelback.
Ardeth seemed to take a long time to find a place for them to camp. He rejected first one site, then another. Finally, he found a place with an outcropping that would provide a small amount of shade as the sun grew high.
"Here," he said at last, "This is as good a place as any—what are you doing?" he asked as she began to loosen the straps on the camel that carried their supplies and the bundles that her father had given them to carry.
"I'm going to see what Father gave to me to carry that he would not take himself. That's what I'm doing."
He put his hand on her arm, "The tent first, then we will look."
She shrugged her shoulders and went to help him. When the tent was ready, he withdrew the bundles she was looking for.
"Here," he said and handed them to her, "Are you sure you want to know what they contain?"
Her answer was to kneel in the sand and untie the twine that held together the canvas that wrapped the smaller one. She opened it up and removed pads of cotton and linen packing.
"Oh my god," she said softly then covered her mouth with her slender hands.