Chapter 2

"Your majesty, have you hear about what happened at the river!" The priest said entering the queen's private chambers.

Queen Tuya looked up from the scroll she was reading. "I don't have time for gossip Natneteru," she retorted disinterestedly. Upon seeing the eagerness the priest's eyes, she continued, "but if you find it so important as to come and find me then I will hear it."

"Thank your majesty," said the Priest. "Your son was apparently seen driving into the Nile to save a young woman whom, some say, just appeared in the river." The priest and Queen shared a knowing glance.

"Take me to her at once."

My head was pounding. My whole body felt like someone had piled weights on my chest then run me over. What must Jack think of me falling into a fish tank?" I rolled to my side expecting to see the floor of the aquarium or a hospital room. Instead, I was greeted by decorated walls and memories of a man pulling me on to the deck of a boat. There was a noise from the end of the bed. A short, balled man and a woman draped in gold and white fabric were eagerly staring at me.

Both began to speak in that strange language but stopped short when they saw my confusion.

The woman began talking very quickly to the man and pointing at me. My unease only grew as the man the walked closer to me motioning at the women to remain where she was.

Smiling kindly, the man points to an empty space on the bead, obviously intending to sit.

The regal woman continued to watch me intensely, as the man leaned over placing his hands on my temples and began chanting. Now normally I would have been more freaked out, but this was kinda low on the list of weird shit I was now going off for today.

I did my best not to make eye contact with the woman across my room, so looked at all the inscriptions and drawings on the walls instead. My vision swirled and all the hydrographic and other inscriptions glowed gold.

Then it all went black.

I was falling through the sand. I tried to scream but no noise came out. I looked down expecting to see the ground soon, but there was just a dark pit. A hand broke through the sand and reached for my face. The ower of the hand had the head of a crane that stared back at me. His hand covered my face and a gold light blinded me. When I opened my eyes, I was back in the ornately decorated room.

"Hello, my dear," the priest said warmly.

I just stared at him dumbly like the fish I saw earlier today in the river.

"You're quite the talker, but I am sure that will change." He said. "I am Nabneteru Tenery, a high priest. And this", he motioned to the woman who now stood close to my bed, "is Queen Tuya."

She said nothing, just continued to look me up and down. Wait did he say, queen? And a priest. My brain was running a hundred miles an hour.

"Where am I?"

The priest sighed with relief. I guess he wasn't entirely certain I could speak until at this moment.

"My dear. You must have come for faraway to not recognize the Great lands of Pharaoh. You are currently in the Palace of Pharaoh Seti on the banks of the Nile."

Pharaoh, I thought, as in the Kings of Egypt? I looked to my left and scamper to look out the window. There's no way I am in... But there my thoughts ended.

I saw a river surrounded by lush gardens, and a temple on the other side with massive columns rising to hold up the roof the sone roof. I turned back to the room. Trying to control my breathing.

"This is what the gods have sent me." Queen Tuya finally burst in. "What are we to do with a silly girl?"

"I do not claim to know all that the gods' plans my queen," Nabneteru replied trying to placate the queen.

"Why don't we give..." he paused realizing he didn't know my name.

"Natalie," I said as calmly as I could.

"Why don't we give Natalie some time to recover from her ordeal. Then perhaps, we can continue our conversation later." The priest's eyes seemed to plead with the queen. But before she could argue a young girl walk into the room with a towel, I supposed to clean the remains of the river off of me.

"I beg pardon your majesty," she said bowing, "I was told to come to tend to our new visitor."

"Yes, very well." Queen Tuya replied shortly. She gave me one final glace before exiting the room.

As soon as the door closed, the young girl raced up to me. "We must get you cleaned up, you smell like a farmer. And you must tell about the Queen, and what it was like to be rescued." Her lists her questions and comments continued as she worked to fill my bath. She could not be more than nine years old. The warm water felt amazing, and just as I started to drift away one of her comments jolted me back to my new reality.

"What do you mean my audience with the Pharaoh!" I sat up in the copper tub.

"He said he wishes to speak with you. Imagine, you get to meet the Pharaoh and the Queen. Some people get all the luck." She said as she brushed my hair.

Yes, I thought, I wish I was one of them.