Egyptian Timewave

Chapter 15

The moment the door swings shut behind the guard, leaving her alone in the room, Abayomi's composure cracks. Her legs fold beneath her and she crumples to the ground. The burning of her knees, after hitting the stone floor, sends tears of confusion and disbelief trickling down her cheeks. She has no idea what is happening but this is not the Luxor she was in just a few hours ago.

So either she's dreaming, she's not in Luxor, or something even more impossible has happened. She remains sitting there against the door for several minutes, longer than it takes for the trickle of tears to slow and then to stop completely. It's only when the cries of birds spill in through the open-air window of the room that Abayomi looks up, finally taking in her surroundings.

Oh yeah, she's definitely not in the Luxor she knows. This room looks like it came right out of a museum recreation. If nothing else, the headrest instead of a modern pillow on the bed she can see in an adjoining room gives it away. Everything in the room, from the furniture to the carvings and decorations on the walls, it speaks of ancient Egypt, not modern.

For goodness sake, no modern nai has a gold-tipped mouthpiece like the one she sees resting on a basket, it would be far too expensive. Iron or steel is the furthest one could get. Abayomi steps over to the nai, skimming her fingertips over the rich wood with a featherlight touch.

It seems familiar, perhaps the one she just bought is in the same style? After a little more examination, Abayomi steps away from the instrument and drifts over to the window. It overlooks an expansive garden and courtyard. A few people are milling about amongst the plants, including one girl about her own age.

The girl is chatting with someone else as the pair walk in Abayomi's direction, a young man who looks to be only a few years older than the girl. Abayomi would place him in his early twenties. He's smiling warmly at her as she makes broad gestures with her hands, grinning. Just before they slip out of sight beneath the window, the two of them split apart, with the man going off on a side path and the girl continuing on into the building.

A bird dashes past the window to fast to be identified and gust of wind from its wings curls around her cheeks and sends Abayomi giggling. She pokes her head out to watch the bird's passage, but she finds she doesn't need to. It wheels back around to alight on the windowsill, cocking its head to look at her.

Abayomi smiles at the falcon, carefully easing back from the window to give it space. It hops to the very edge and debates dropping down, seemingly following her. She eases back farther, and it launches off the window towards her just as the door opens and someone new slips into the room.

Whoever it is makes a shocked sound, but Abayomi can't tell if it is at her presence or at the sight of the falcon now perching on her head, talons digging into her scalp. Careful not to unsettle the bird, since it clearly wants her to be its perch, Abayomi turns towards the new person, a polite smile on her face, if a bit tight-lipped.

"Hello-"

Her voice trails off at the sight of the other person's face. It's the girl she saw in the garden. It's not her presence, exactly, that unsettles Abayomi. It's that she seems to have Abayomi's face. The same shoulder-length hair, the same color eyes, the same expression of confusion. Her skin just appears to be a tiny bit warmer than Abayomi's, as if it is routinely exposed to more sun.

Which, to be fair, Abayomi doesn't live in Egypt, even if her family hails from here. The girl steps back towards the door as her expression slips from confusion into something more guarded, only to halt when the falcon screeches at her. She takes a breath, closing her dark brown eyes for a heartbeat before she addresses Abayomi.

"Who are you?" Even her voice sounds almost the same as Abayomi's.

"I'm Abayomi Nahr, and honestly, I think I'm just as confused as you are."

A smile flickers across the other girl's face. "I suppose we'll see about that. So, what are you doing here?"

The falcon on Abayomi's head shifts, a wing flashes out as it regains balance. "I was in Luxor, trying to figure out how I got to where I was, as I didn't have any memory of getting there, and then a guard found me and made me come here. I'm truly sorry for intruding, but they were quite insistent and they wouldn't let me leave."

The girl frowns. "So the Medjay thought you were me?"

Abayomi blinks. Medjay? That's not a word used anymore. "I think that would make sense. We do look disturbingly alike. But . . . I'm afraid I don't know who you are. Or where I am."

"You're just across the Nile from Waset, of course. I have no idea why you said Luxor, I've never heard of that place." Waset? The only Waset Abayomi knows of is the old name for Thebes, which eventually became Luxor. "More specifically, you're in Per-Hay, the House of Rejoicing. As for me, I'm Nebetah-Anippe, granddaughter of Amenhotep, the Pharaoh of Kemet."

Abayomi tries to speak through the buzzing underneath her skin, the swirling shock and panic. "Which Amenhotep?"

"The third, I suppose. One of my uncles is the fourth."

Abayomi sucks in a breath. "I'm in Ancient Egypt, is that what you're saying? Eighteenth dynasty?"

Nebetah-Anippe just blinks at her. "As I said before, you're in Per-Hay, just outside the town of Waset. The expanse of our lands is called Kemet, but I don't know where Egypt is."

Abayomi sinks to her knees, the falcon still wobbling atop her head. Her voice is dead, almost numb. "Egypt is here. Or it will be, in a few thousand years."

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Yes the falcon is necessary. What do you think of Nebetah-Anippe so far? What about Abayomi's reaction to finding out where - and when - she is? tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing out