Bes watched the girl that now lay unconscious in his arms. She intrigued him. Her skin and hair colour, as well as her clothing, and her language were new and foreign to him. And in the twenty-three summers since his birth he had never witnessed such display of disrespect towards any members of the Royal Family.

His brows furrowed together, studying her, as he wondered why she had no protection while being out in this heat.

His gaze turned towards the open wound on her left arm. It was swollen and blotted with dark patches. Blood trickled out of the bite wound. It was then that he realized that her breathing was becoming shallower. If he did not get her to the healer soon then her soul, her ka, would soon meet with Anubis and her heart would be weighed before the God of the afterlife guided her to Duat, the realm of the dead.

He contemplated leaving the stupid girl in the sun to suffer, to allow the sand to bury her body deep where it would never be found, but something told him not to. His mind replaying the events that had just happened and the way she attacked him. The way she spoke in that strange language, her voice was soft and melodic, even if she was angry.

Before he could think more on he heard a familiar voice in the distance. Ripping his gaze from the woman to where he saw his most trusted vizier and childhood friend, Amun, riding towards him.

"My Pharaoh! Why are you all the way out here and not back at the meeting? It is imperative for you to be there." Amun chastised. Bes couldn't help but feel enjoyment at seeing him frustrated, relieved, and exhausted all at once.

"I just went for a stroll, the meeting was beginning to bore me and I needed to walk around." He paused at the look on Amun's face and sighed. "Alright, I needed to take one of the horses and enjoy being out of that cramped little tent. Stop blabbering already."

"As much as I detest you going off on your own, you, at least must inform someone where you are going! If something happened to you my King-."

"You may cease. You need naught worry about a thing. I am fine."

Amun had to disagree when he saw the blood on his Pharaoh's lip, the slowly forming bruise on his side, and the unconscious woman that lay in his arms with an open, swollen, bleeding wound on her forearm.

"Do not worry? You are fine?" Amun asked, flabbergasted. "Do I dare ask, who this might be, my King?"

The king's eyes flickered back to the woman, noticing that her temperature has risen within the moments that she fell unconscious.

He shook his head, looking up at Amun. "I do not know, I came upon her wandering around the desert with no protective covering, with naught a possession except for the strange looking satchel. Another intriguing thing, Amun, is that she does not speak our language."

"What language does she speak? Latin? Some form of Greek perhaps?"

"If it is Latin or Greek it is no dialect I have ever before heard."

Amun nodded his head once, "Alright. May I ask how you came to holding her in your arms and why you look as though you have been attacked, my King?"

Bes glanced at him, a slight smirk playing on his lips. If it was anyone else he would not allow them to speak to him freely. Though, even if Amun was not permitted to do so, he was always bold and would do so without caring about the consequences.

"As I said before, she was walking through the desert, speaking to herself. Our encounter...was interesting to say the least, even though it was not on the very best of terms."

Amun's brow rose. Usually the Pharaoh's meeting of new people never went as well as one would hope.

"Do I dare ask what happened?"

"She was being disrespectful." Bes replied, shrugging. "I whipped her and in turn she attempted to engage me in a one-on-one battle, saying something to me in her bizarre language. She then left me there lying in the sand and when I chased her with my horse and dismounted she fell and that is when she was bitten by a cobra."

"She is not dead?"

"No. Her breathing is shallow, her skin is almost scorching to touch, and she is sodden with sweat. She will not last long if we leave her here."

"Since when do you care for a peasant, especially a woman no less?"

Bes pretended to not hear the question as he gave his own inquiry. "Do you know of a way to dispel the snake's poison from her body?"

"One treatment that is known is to suck the poison from the wound, though you must take care not to swallow any of the poison that is pulled from the wound," Amun started uneasily, clearly seeing, but not commenting, that Bes had clearly already tried this method. "Another treatment is to ask one of the palace physicians to perform an expelling spell on her."

"Which one would make the most improvement?"

Amun shrugged, "I am not sure, my liege, though trying to suck the poison out is not a course I would take, not unless you wish to risk getting poisoned as well."

Bes didn't respond to what Amun said but requested his assistance as they helped her onto his horse. Once situated Bes turned to Amun, "The royal guards will come back to the palace while we have more important matters to deal with."

"She attacked you, my Pharaoh!" exclaimed Amun, eyes wide. "Are you really going to allow her to step foot into the palace after what she has done?"

"Did I ask for an opinion, Amun?"

"Uh, n-no, my King."

"Then why do you question me?"

Amun bowed his head respectfully, "I apologize, my Pharaoh. I am merely trying to protect you, should anything happen."

"Your concern is not warranted."

"But my-"

"Would you rather have your body become nothing more than something for the rat's to feed off of and for the prisoners to fear in the dungeons?" Amun's ears rang from Bes' powerful voice bellowing across the land. He would not be astonished in the least if the dead were awakened.

"N-no, my King," Amun gasped, fear was evident on his face, "But we have been friends since childhood and I am your most trusted vizier?!"

"Remember to whom you speak and with what tone. Your mother may have birthed you, Amun, but it is I who allows you to live."

"Yes, my Pharaoh."

"Now, you will tell the guards where I have gone."

Amun acknowledged the Pharaoh's words with a single nod and hastily took their leave into the East.

Once Amun was out of sight Bes gazed down at the woman's face. Even though her outer expression was a peaceful one he knew that she was fighting for her life. Why he was saving her was something that intrigued even him. But maybe that was just it.

She roused his curiosity.

xXx

It was not long before they finally reached the palace gates. He noticed the quizzical looks he received from the guards as he passed through. He ignored them as they quickly galloped towards the stables and upon arriving he was met by the stable hand, Jedhep, who helped Bes carefully manoeuvre himself down onto the ground, never allowing the woman to slip from his arms.

The guards held the large double doors open, hurriedly making his way to his bedchamber. His voice was booming as he demanded one of the young maids to find one of his physician's as well as the palace seer, telling them that their presence was needed.

Inside the bedchamber he laid the woman gently on her back, careful with her swollen arm. In the dim light of the torch on the wall he saw that her dark hair clung uncomfortably to her unusually hot skin. He could hear her ragged breathing and that was when he began pacing the room back and forth.

Patience was not his forte. Nor would it ever be.

It felt like an eternity passed before the doors to his chamber opened, revealing Tenbi, his personal physician, Tallimore, the palace seer, and the young maid carrying a few necessities needed to perform the expelling procedure. That was if the first option of suckling out the venom hadn't worked.

Upon reaching their King they bowed their heads and dropped to one knee before him.

"Rise. I found this girl out in the desert without any protective covering and she has been bitten by a cobra. You will treat her."

"My Pharaoh, cobra venom is the most dangerous of-"

"Save her life or I shall end, not only yours, but your family's as well."

"Y-Yes my King."

Bes turned his attention to Tallimore. "I request your assistance on finding out where this girl is from. Can you do that?"

The elder gentleman bowed respectfully. "I can, Pharaoh."

Bes stood by his balcony, a little ways from where the girl laid, watching and waiting as they set to work. Tenbi examined the bite, the cuts Bes had made to try and extract the poison, nodding to himself, silently, before he placed a parchment spell firmly over the wound and began chanting, old prayers to the Gods for strength and healing, lowly. His eyes were closed for a moment or so before he carefully lifted his hand, making certain the parchment stayed on her skin, before wrapping and tying pieces of linen, soaked in a special healing ointment, around it.

Even as he watched all of this Bes took note of how Tallimore's face scrunched up in question, making his way over to him. "My Pharaoh, where did you say you received her?"

"I did not receive her, Tallimore." Bes replied softly, "I found her walking about the desert muttering to herself in a language I did not know."

Tallimore nodded. "It does not surprise me that you would not know the language that she speaks."

Bes stared at him questioningly, "And why is that?"

"This girl is a gift from the Gods."

That had his attention. "What?"

"She is from neither this country nor this point of time."

"What are you babbling about?"

"She is from the future, my King." Tallimore stood in front of Bes and kneeled down. "I am not certain of the exact period of time she is from but might I suggest that once she is well enough to walk that she come to the field of magic in order for the barrier between tongues be lifted."

Bes nodded, not able to fully grasp the concept of someone from the future being there. "That can be arranged."

Tenbi came up to him then and knelt alongside Tallimore. "I have done what I can, my liege," the physician said. "She is going to be unwell for at least a couple of days but will become stronger as the spell and herbs begin to take full effect."

Even though Bes did not speak it, his expression showed his utmost gratitude which to them was astounding. For rarely did it happen. After dismissing them, Bes soon found himself standing next to the bed, staring at the woman, trying to figure her out.

As if they had a mind of their own, Bes' hand brushed a stray hair from her forehead, tucking it carefully behind her ear. Curiosity about her was building to an almost frustrating level.

Just where had she come from and why was she there?

5C%5C%J\�JBGG