A Dream Of Egypt

Chapter 2
Home Coming

As soon as the plane touched down in Cairo, the feelings of fear crept back under her skin. She hesitated as much as possible hoping that if she didn’t leave the plane, the bad news would just disappear. But she knew it wouldn’t. So Anna stood following the line of people from the plane. She was assaulted by voices, so different from that her dream that she was almost overwhelmed. Her hands tightened around her carry on bag and she looked around trying to find her father in the crowd.

When she spotted him, she could only smile. He looked like something out of the movies, one of those explorers dressed in white complete with the safari hat. His arms enveloped her and the feelings she had buried reappeared,

“I’ve missed you papa.” she said with a sudden sob and he tightened his arms,

“I’ve missed you too.” he whispered straightening his arms so she was at arms length. He smiled sadly, “I wish it was under better circumstances.” he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her through the airport and into the streets of Cairo.

The streets were the same as they had been since she was a child. The same shops, the same people greeting her and her father. She suddenly saw an image of herself at a little shop down the street. A woman who used to baby sit her owned it. She paused and looked where the small stall used to sit.

Anna saw a small girl in pigtails laughing and holding a piece of jewelry in her tiny hands,
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“Grandma Irisi*? Can I have this? Please?” she flashed bright blue eyes at the old Egyptian woman before climbing into her lap when beckoned,

“perhaps when you are older child. It is very old relic… it should not even be here.” her voice shook and wrinkled hands took it gently from the child’s grasp, “there is an interesting story behind it. Would you like to hear it little one?” the girl nodded grabbing onto one of her own dark pigtails and stared up expectantly. But the story did not come right away. There was a far off look in the soft brown eyes before the story started,

“It’s said that this necklace once belonged to the wife of a high priest… of course most did not take wives, but he was the cousin of the pharaoh.” she began glancing at the girl whose eyes had gotten impossibly wider, “The pharaoh had taken one wife, something that, in those days did not happen. And his wife was to have a child, but when it came time for the child to be born many problems arose. In the end the pharaoh lost his child and wife. He was devastated and vowed to never take another wife. So he told his cousin, ‘you take a wife of your choosing. If you are given a son, he may take my throne when I die.’” the old woman paused in her story as a sniff came from the girl on her lap. She took a moment to soothe the girl before continuing, gently rocking the girl,

“The High Priest accepted with a heavy heart. He loved his cousin and had prayed for him a son. And now he, who had never loved before, was being asked to choose a wife. He was given reign to choose any one he wished and from that day he began a search. He searched high and low but could find a woman who caught his interest.

Then one day he was in the marketplace, gathering items he needed. It was an odd sight as he usually sent a servant to retrieve such items. But that day he felt the need to go himself. And he was glad he did. He was on his way back when he was entranced by a set of deep blue eyes… much like yours.” she said offering her a smile,

“He was frozen in his tracks. Never before had he seen such as beauty. She did not truly see him, her eyes had instantly gone to the ground. You see she was a servant of a local merchant. But the High Priest didn’t care. He had chosen who he wanted. He approached the merchant but the man had refused to release the girl from his care unless she would agree to go with him. But the girl had grown up with the merchant and was reluctant. So the priest decided to court her.

Over the following weeks he sent gifts. Rare flowers, precious silks and gems. The young woman was flattered by the attention and the merchant encouraged her to accept the High Priests offer. So, she agreed to meet him. The High Priest brought one last gift to give his intended. This necklace was said to be enchanted by the gods, given to a pharaoh’s wife many years before. The pharaoh gave it to his cousin, to give to his chosen wife so that the gods may bless them.

It wasn’t long after that meeting that the pharaoh married the two. He was happy to see this union, and happy to see his cousin had indeed given the girl the necklace. It was not long after that the pharaoh was celebrating with his cousin. They were expecting a child. The months passed and his wife swelled as the baby grew. He could always be found with her marveling at the life they had been blessed with. Indeed the gods favored them. But alas their love was also a cursed one. The priest did receive a healthy baby boy, but at the cost of the woman he had loved.

He spent many of his days alone after that, until the pharaoh dragged the man from his solitude. He had ordered a great burial chamber be built for the woman in the valley of the queens. She would be buried along side the greatest queens that had lived. The High Priest after the funeral had taken the necklace and tossed it into the Nile. It was lost for many years, but then my ancestor found it and it has been in our family for many years after that.” she finished noticing only then that the girl had fallen asleep. Irisi chuckled lightly,

“Sleep little Anna one day you will know this story well.”
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Anna snapped out of her day dream as her father tugged her into an awaiting car. Neither spoke as the car pulled through crowds heading for Cairo’s best hospital. It was only when they were half way there that her father spoke again,

“We’re not sure what happened. She was fine… one moment. She was at the dig site.” he was staring blankly out the window, his sentences were short as if he was trying to make sense of it himself,

“She called out to me before she… her whole right leg was swollen. We didn’t know what was going on. We took her to the emergency room. They weren’t too concerned. A scorpion sting. They’d seen cases like hers. She would be alright. It was hardly fatal with the anti-venoms and such. But she’d been getting worse, they can’t figure it out. She can’t breath very well… they don’t have much hope.” the final words hung in the air, and Anna realized then what the man in her dream had been saying. He’d known what was going to happen. She shook her head, how could he have known? He was nothing but a dream. And a dream is nothing more than her mind in overdrive. She lifted her hand to wipe at the tears on her face. Like in her dream, she was crying without ever knowing she’d started.

The hospital wasn’t a busy place, a few tourists suffering from heat exhaustion and a few older people sat in beds. It was quiet, at least to her own ears. She had blocked out all the sound focusing on following her father to the room down the hall. She paused just on the threshold of her mothers room eyes threatening to spill again. With a shuddering breath she passed the invisible line into the room. Sound returned in that instant, and she forced her body to her mothers bedside.

Time had changed the woman before her. No longer was her skin perfect, wrinkles marred the perfection. Mostly from the stress of work, and some from missing her daughter. The Egyptian woman was still beautiful though. The wrinkles weren’t enough to mark her as old, and no doubt she could still turn a few heads as she had when Anna was younger. The usual soft black hair was tangled and greasy and her eyes were closed in sleep. She glanced at her father who was holding the woman’s hand. Slowly she grabbed a brush from the bedside table and maneuvered to carefully run the brush through her mothers hair.

Her father watched silently tired blue eyes watching the exchange sadly. As she ran the brush through her mothers hair she began to hum. It was a melody she’d heard only once in a dream. One that had featured the same man it always did. He was listening to someone play it and she had picked up on it as if she’d heard it played hundred of times. It was one of the most haunting melodies, joy tinged with grief and bitterness. Why it had come to mind now, she wasn’t sure.

Her mother’s eyes fluttered open and a smile graced the still soft lips,

“Merit*, my little one. You’ve come home.” her voice was weak and Anna tried not to show the fear she felt, or let it sound in her voice. But the use of the second name her mother had given her gave her a bit of strength,

“Hello Mut*.” she said with a soft smile pressing a kiss to the woman’s forehead. Her mothers hands took her own and pulled her back to the side of the bed where she could fully see her daughter,

“So young, and yet so grown up. I have missed you so much Merit. My beautiful daughter.” the woman tightened her grip, and looked to her husband. She nodded to the bed side drawer and Anna watched her father pull out the necklace she’d remembered just an hour before,

“Irisi wanted me to send it to you… but I never got around to it. She said she’d promised it to you many years ago.” Anna took it and turned it in her hands. She felt a strong connection with it, as she had so many years ago. She understood it less now then she did then. For a moment she was transfixed then her mothers hand slackened it’s grip and she panicked, only to find the woman had fallen asleep yet again. She calmed down and looked at her father before excusing herself to the hall. As soon as she stepped out she broke down in tears.

She had been gone so long, it seemed not only was she losing her mother but she had lost the woman that had taught her so much about her own history. It was a bit much to take in all in one day. Her back hit the wall and she slid down silent tears shaking her frame

It wasn’t long before she composed herself and entered the room again. Her father had stood,

“Come on. We’ll have to stay at the site tonight. Your mother would wring my neck if I left them alone another day.” he said softly leading her from the room after allowing her to place another kiss on her mothers forehead.

The ride to the site was quiet, Anna dealing with everything that had happened in the day. The necklace was clutched tightly in her grip, cutting into the smooth skin of her palms. The sun was still high when they stepped out of the truck that had taken them into the wide open valley. Her father was greeted by many workers, all asking for news. He shook his head indicating nothing had changed. When that had finished the men who had known her since she was a baby offered her hugs.

She remembered them all vaguely, but her mind was in so much of a fog that she couldn’t quite remember. She offered smiles but none of it reached her eyes. Their own eyes held pity for the girl, but she didn’t notice. She slowly walked from them to where her dream had began that morning. They weren’t much farther now then they were when she was young. A number of factors had contributed to that. They had lost their grant money for a while, but had finally managed to get it back only a few months ago. There had been some sort of mix up, that her father had never really told her in detail about. She sat on the incline that led to the stairs she had seen in her dream and simply stared.

The Egyptian desert had always been an odd calming agent for her. The wind that blew seemed to draw out her emotions and take them away, as if they had never been there. It was even more calming here. This place was a graveyard in essence. A place where important queens were laid to rest. She stayed where she was for a long time, long enough for the sun to start to drop below the horizon and the temperature to fall rapidly. She stood at her fathers call still staring out over the land.

She was about to turn when something else caught her eye. In the fading light she thought she saw a young woman walking across the valley. But she blinked and she was gone, as if she had just been a spot across her vision. Frowning she turned heading into the tent her father had told her would be hers for the evening.
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*Irisi- means fashioned by isis who is an Egyptian Goddess
Merit- means beloved
Mut- means mother and refers often to the mother goddess of the same name.

Thanks to my reviewers. You make me happy. And a happy me is a good me. I don’t have a Beta which is obvious from the horrible grammar errors. I’m creative, that’s about the extent of it.

Ok so chapter two done. And just so you guys know, I’m kinda just going with this. I don’t know a lot about Egypt so some is research and some is me making stuff up. I’ll try to be as correct as I can be, but I am going to take some liberties. I don’t know Egyptian, though I would LOVE to. Yet with my track record with languages it’s probably better that I don’t. Me + Languages = Major FAIL. But eh, I’ll work on it. So not much is going on in this chapter, the little side story took up most of the room. That’s why I cut it off where I did. I didn’t mean for it to take up so much…. I’m almost tempted to make a whole other story just from that. Dig out the details and what not… I don’t know tell me what you think. Review.

Oh and this will be the last chapter for a couple weeks. I'm heading home for break tomorrow. I'll try to get the next chapter typed up but i'm not saying it'll be done! Ok enjoy and later!

Cassandra R