Kaira, Priestess of the Desert

Ardeth Bay looked at the raggedly dressed woman before him. He did not know what overcame him to help her escape the slavers in the square and bring her to the room he occupied, courtesy of a fellow Medjai follower. He remembered seeing the auctioneer’s block, frowning in distaste at the terrible practice of selling people, even in this age of enlightenment. He had been trying to push his way through the crowd when a willful beauty had stepped forward on to the stage, her hands and feet bound in chains. The proud lift of her head belied the tattered clothing she wore, her straight black hair and almond shaped eyes marking her as Egyptian born.

Ardeth had debated about buying the girl to give her freedom back to her, when at once the chains had been taken off and the decision had been taken from him. With amazing skill and speed, the mysterious girl fought off two guards outweighing her by at least hundred pounds each. Seeing her run in his direction, he immediately ran for his horse, mounted, and swept the girl away from the chaos that had become the square.

Now, the girl seated before him, Ardeth debated on what to do with her. Currently her eyes were surreptitiously fixated on the lamp beside the bed. From her body language, it was obvious that she wished to explore the fixture but was unsure of his intentions, so therefore stayed where he had placed her. To put her at ease, Ardeth pulled another chair up and began to question her.

“What is your name?”

“Kaira, priestess of the Temple of Isis, guardian of the Amulet of Bast. I know you serve Pharaoh as a Medjai warrior but I do not know your face, for I know that if I had glimpsed it before I would likely never forget it.”

Ardeth was startled, not only by her boldness but by the titles that she included after her name and her casual identification of him as a Medjai. A priestess of Isis? Guardian? No such temples existed anymore, nor had he heard of such an amulet. And how had she known he was Medjai? This sounded like something the Elders should hear.

“I am Ardeth Bay, of the desert Medjai. May I ask how you know of my people?”

Her brown eyes flashed and Ardeth realized that tiny flecks of gold sparkled out from those coffee colored eyes.

“I spent much time in Pharaoh’s court, my father having been his most favored general. It is after his death that Pharaoh took me in to raise as his own. He was kind enough to educate me in many things. It is the markings on your brow that distinguished his bodyguards from all others, the Medjai known to be the best warriors and most loyal. It is for these reasons that only the select few were chosen to serve Pharaoh in this way.”

Ardeth focused on keeping his features expressionless, while on the inside he was aghast at her words. Either this girl was muddled in the head or…

“Kaira, what is the name of your Pharaoh?”

She gave him a startled look, as if he were mad not to know the name of his sovereign.

“The people call him Neb Kheperu Ra, which means ‘The Lord of forms is Ra’. I have never called him this, though; he insisted I refer to him as Akhenhamun. Ardeth, why is it you do not know Pharaoh’s name? And where am I? I know that those swine held me in a ship, so I know that I am far from my home. And if this is so, then what are you doing here and not protecting Pharaoh? Did he hear of my abduction and Baka’s treachery, then sent you here to rescue me?”

Ardeth gave a mighty sigh, he had no answers to give her. He needed to get her back to Egypt and to the Elders, they would know what to make of her. Ardeth looked back at the girl before him. She was scantily clad, her clothing made of a very thin cloth that had tattered all too easily at the hands of the slavers. She had a tattoo of the eye of horus on the back of her right hand, just below the thumb. Her jet black hair was straight but somewhat snarled from her voyage, the black kohl that outlined her beautiful eyes was smudged out of its carefully drawn lines. The slavers had taken much of her jewelry she had said, but were unable to get one ring off her left middle finger since it was now too small to take off. It had hieroglyphics on it he could see, but he could not make out what they were from his position. His eyes traveled down her slim, golden frame. The girl was slim but lean, every inch that he could see was sculpted out of muscle. Her breasts were not large but were high and firm, a perfect fit for his palm.

Ardeth shook himself out of his reverie. Concentrate on what is at hand!

“Kaira, I will escort you back to Egypt, but you must do everything as I say no arguments. Are we agreed on this?” In the back of his mind, Ardeth added that he would be taking her to his people, to the Elders so that might hear her story and make some sense of it.

Kaira contemplated her options. She hated being told what to do; even Pharaoh had had a time of it, trying to control her. Although, things could be considerably worse than to follow this handsome man back to her homeland. His honor and strength were great, more so than any other man she had encountered.

“I agree to your terms, Ardeth Bay of the Medjai. On one condition.”

“And what is that?”

“That I have a bath and fresh clothing before we begin our journey.”

Ardeth grinned at her presumptuousness, “As my lady commands, so shall I obey.” With a great sweeping gesture, Ardeth walked out the door to procure these things.


He waited downstairs, in the main room of the small abode, for Kaira. He had thanked the family for their kindness in letting him stay, as well as the clothing they had lent to Kaira. Ardeth was about to go back up there to see if she had drown in the bath when the vixen whisked into the room.

Bathed and clothed in the black robes of Arabic women, Kaira was beautiful. The veil covering the bottom half of her face only accentuated her lovely eyes. Ardeth stood and, once again thanking the family, led Kaira outside to his horse. They would ride to the docks, then board a ship heading for Cairo. The trip would take three days. Thank Allah that he had brought much coin with him.

When they were about to board the ship, Kaira froze. Ardeth looked down to see if she was alright and saw the look of fright on her face as she gazed at the steam ship. Her hands grasped for his. Ardeth put his arm around her to comfort her. She looked up into his face.

“Ardeth, what is this monstrosity?”

“It is a steamer, a large ship that carries many people long distances. It is quite fast.”

Kaira swallowed hard, “I think I may have traveled further from Egypt than I first thought.”

Ardeth closed his eyes at the fear in her voice. Fear was something this little warrior was not used to feeling. He urged her forward onto the ship.

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