AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess

This. Is. Awesome!

Chapter 70 "The Grand Vizier” (Episode Two, Chapter Thirty) - Saturday, September 10, 1882, 5:00 P.M.

George Eastman is standing in the room out of the way of the medical team when a group arrives at the door consisting of Mina, the Princess, several ogre bodyguards, and a large red-headed man with a full beard. Ruby, as the Princess, grabs the large man's arm tightly. She leads them immediately up the stairs to the royal suite. Her heart leapt in her chest when she saw George but she kept to the ploy, for now. "What is going on?" she asks the medical team. "What is the status here?"

One of the Frenchmen approaches. He introduces himself as Louis Pasteur, a physician and biologist, and says "Your husband was gravely wounded, but though a combination of skill, magic, and his own force of will he is much better now. We sought to get him to safety as quickly as possible." The French leader Daguerre approaches and says, "General Orabi is less than pleased with our actions, having wanted to stay and fight, although by all accounts his forces had lost this day. Despite the defeat, they did afford themselves very well, inflicting considerable damage upon the enemy's forces. It is unlikely that the British will attempt to move beyond their current fortifications in Kassassin for the immediate future. My photographers were able to capture much of it on film, we can show you later on once we have developed and chronicled the pictures."

"Yes, yes," Ruby waved her hand, her lip trembling, "But when can I see him?" She was genuinely concerned for the General but this would take her considerable acting skill. Her eyes began to fill with water. Dr. Pasteur says, "I would not want to overly excite him more than he already is, perhaps it would be best if you waited to see him. I could deliver a message to him from you if you would like." Ruby looked to the tall redheaded man's eyes to judge if this would be acceptable or not.

The real Princess nods. She then makes a gesture to the opposite side of the room where George Eastman is standing. George had been keeping an eye on the odd party that had entered, noting Mina's presence but Ruby's absence. He notes the doctor's report as well as his own observations with a slight shake of his head. He notices the gesture from the red-bearded man and with a quizzical look heads over to the burly man. The burly man moves aside, placing Mina between him and George. Mina smiles at George and says, "Welcome back. I trust you had an eventful day."

"There is never a good war nor a bad peace" quotes George. "Yes it was an eventful day, a day of blood and bullets, death and dying. And of course of close calls for the leaders. How did the princess take the news of her husband's wounds, which were fortunately not so bad that he was in danger with our rapid rescue." says George nodding towards the princess. Mina states, "The Princess has been beside herself with worry for most of the day. We did our part to keep her distracted. We only heard of his wounds ten minutes ago, but seeing that he will recover seems to have helped ease her mind."

Looking around at the room crowded with physicians, soldiers and Frenchmen, Mina adds "Perhaps we should continue this conversation back in my room. We should include the Princess." "I am glad to hear her worries have been allayed." George states. With a curious look at Mina as to why the princess is needed for this conversation George adds "Very well, let us retire there" he adds without voicing his curiosity. They head up to Mina's room. George notes that the burly lumberjack joins Mina and the Princess. George notes the lumberjack and shoots Mina a quizzical look, but the answering look from Mina forestalls further discussion until they reach the room.

As Mina opens the door to her room and they all file in George waits until they are all in before asking Mina "Ok, what is going on around here. And why is Paul Bunyan here and where is his blue ox? And where is Ruby? By Zeus's left ball I can't keep up with where that girl gets to at times." The tall burly bearded man replies in the voice of Princess Neferka "Why would this Paul Bunyan's oxen be the shade of blue?" George gives a pause and answers slowly "Because he found Babe, his blue ox, frozen in the snow and the ox had turned blue and after you, I mean Paul, found him and thawed him out he retained that color ever after. Your highness." adds George with a small bow. "Now if you are the princess, whom may I ask is the princess?"

"That would be the girl you can never keep up with George Eastman." Ruby sauntered over to her fiancé. "Before we explain though, is everything okay with you? You were near all that fighting?" George bends down to kiss Ruby and realizes it is the princess' face still and looks to Paul Bunyan and stops. He shakes his head. "Oh yes quite fine. Several hundred feet over the fighting, though we did see the attack, though not the actual combat, that injured your husband Your Highness" George adds to the lumberjack. "Now, could someone please explain what is going on here?"

Ruby says, "Good, I was worried about you George. Now... what is going on... it's a long story. But first... Princess, are you ready to return to your natural state? It seems more and more unlikely that anyone will get kidnapped." Mina says, "Well, I for one was never fond of this plan, but we're really not sure of anything that the King is or isn't doing." "Wait, who was getting kidnapped? And why is Ruby the princess, and the princess is a lumberjack. Unless....." a look of dawning comprehension comes over George's face "Constance!" she says sharply "I want the truth and I want it now!"

"Okay, okay, I was getting there! Geez..." She turned to the lumberjack, "I suppose for now then I will stay you. I just thought you might want to see the General, to check on him." She turns back to George. "The Princess and the General were convinced that the King would try to forcibly return the Princess to the Palace. They asked me to go in her place and to try to convince the King to support their union. I agreed to do it, obviously. I think I look good as a Princess, no?" George didn't smile. "So, as soon as I would get into the Palace, the magic would wear away and then I would be me and I would try to convince the King that they love each other and that the war should cease."

George pinches his forehead. "Do you have any comprehension of the danger you were subjecting yourself too? Of the danger you placed yourself without alerting me, of asking your betrothed? And for what? To convince a head of state that love conquers all? Had the king run out of windmills? Look Ruby, I admire your courage and willingness to help the princess here, but allowing yourself to be kidnapped in this country is inviting trouble I don't think you understand. Now obviously the attempt had not happened. Tell me why you felt that convincing the king would stop the war."

Ruby shrugged. "The Princess asked me to do it. How could I refuse her? And you were off taking pictures so it's not like I could just send a little birdy to ask you your opinion. So I just made a decision." The lumberjack speaks up, "Do not blame her Mr. Eastman, it was entirely my doing. Ahmed and I both feared my father would abduct me. I could have had a servant girl impersonate me, but that would probably have been unsuccessful, servants do not have the bearing of a Princess. Your intended clearly does, and you of all people know her power of persuasion. If she could not sway my father, nobody could."

"Don't change the subject young lady. Why did you think you could convince the King to stop the war?" retorts George to Ruby, still peeved. She replies, "Just as the Princess said. Why, George, don't you have faith in me that I can do it?" The Princess interjects "Mr. Eastman, I am confident that my father would not have harmed her." "I have faith in you my love, it is other people I have less faith." replies George "Your father would not have harmed her princess? I would hope not, but if he was willing to kidnap his own daughter, then who knows what he would do once he discovered the ruse?"

George gives a sigh "Ok, well it sounds like that plan is shot now. The general is wounded, though not that bad. So how do we proceed now? Perhaps Ruby and I will head over to the palace. We should be able to gain access and talk to the king." Their conversation is abruptly ended when somebody in the hallway outside of the room shouts "It says that she is inside," in Arabic. The door to the room then abruptly opens despite being locked.

A trio of middle-aged men stand outside of the door, all attired in brightly colored elaborate silk robes with gold and silver embroidery. One is holding a wand, another is holding a golden lamp and the third a scimitar with a jewel encrusted hilt. The one with the thin mustache and holding the lamp steps forward with a smile on his face. The Princess softly whispers the name "Grand Vizier Azam" just loud enough for Ruby and George to hear.

"Azam," Ruby starts in her best Princess voice, "How pleasant to see you. To what do we owe this honor?" The man exclaims, "You traitorous child! Your father wishes to have a word with you...NOW!" Ruby says to Azam “Oh, is he coming here?" The Egyptian wizard exclaims, "No, you are going to him." "That remains to be seen" replies George stiffly.

"She is no child, but the bride of another man now" retorts George, who while still angry about the circumstances is forced to play along. The man holding the scimitar turns to George and states, "Are you Orabi or Neferka’s Barrister? If so, you should know that King has the authority to annul that union under certain circumstances. By Egyptian law, his Highness now has sufficient grounds for such an annulment. The cowardly Ahmed Orabi fled to France moments ago upon our arrival here. The man has therefore abandoned his bride, leaving the country entirely with no assurances given of ever returning, and therefore he has no further claim to her."

Ruby states, "What is this you speak of? He has not abandoned us." The man with the Scimitar steps forward and says, "Princess, as you are already aware I am the legal advisor to your father and fully knowledgeable in all Egyptian law. Ahmed Orabi has fled Egypt for France, with no indication that he plans to return. That meets the definition of abandonment. The marriage will be annulled unless General Orabi appears before your father by this time tomorrow to reclaim you."

Ruby turns to the Princess and her grandmother. "Please go confirm if the General has left the hotel, please." She nods toward the door. The men step aside to allow Mina and her 'bodyguard' to go and confirm what the trio of King's wizards have stated. The trio then move closer to Ruby and George, with the man with the scimitar casually stating to George "I studied law at Oxford, where is your degree from?."

"Harvard" replies George coolly. "And yes, I shall be the Princesses legal counsel if necessary. And I would suggest you put away that pig-sticker while we are in mixed company. "Quite cleaver of you to threaten the man with arrest then when he seeks sanctuary against unlawful persecution use his absence to annul his marriage for purely political reasons." George looks the man up and down and turns to the princess "Does you father always employ eunuchs as legal advisers?"

Twenty minutes after her departure Mina returns, minus her burly red-headed bodyguard. She is accompanied by the French diplomat Passy. Mina tells 'the Princess' and George "When these Egyptian wizards arrive Mr. Daguerre used a Transportation spell to bring himself and General Orabi to his estate on the outskirts of Paris. According to Mr. Poincare, Mr. Daguerre can only use that spell once a day, so the soonest they could return is tomorrow. It is likely that Mr. Azam knew that fact before giving his 24-hour ultimatum."

Ruby nodded. "I understand. This is a ploy of my fathers to get his way." She looks to Mina and caught her eye, sensing that the real Princess was safe. She stepped forward. "Very well, I am ready. I request that my advisers and protectors come along." She waved her hand at Mina and George. Passy interjects, "No, the Princess should remain here." "Passy?" The Princess looked at him questionably. He exclaims, "Do you not see? It's a trap! They seek to force Orabi to walk into the King's palace to reclaim you, where he would face certain death. We can reach a peaceful truce between both parties if you remain."

The Grand Vizier says, "Your words mean nothing Frenchman. You claim neutrality in this conflict, but that neutrality ended when your colleague took Orabi away. You are clearly on his side." Passy replies, "Not true, both sides had previously agreed that if a General was wounded in battle we French could take them to safety. General Orabi was still being treated for the wounds that he sustained in battle when you arrived. Our actions are therefore still covered under that agreement." The Grand Vizier turns to his colleague, the scimitar welding attorney for a ruling. "The man shakes his head and says, "Unfortunately he is technically correct."

Passy says, "So take me instead to go and see your King." The Grand Vizier says, "My orders were quite clear, the Princess goes with me." "It will be alright, Passy." She turns back to the Vizier. "We all go, including the Frenchman." "Have you gentlemen a warrant to compel the Princess to accompany you or is this merely a thinly veiled kidnapping?" asks George dryly.

The Grand Vizier laughs and says, "Kidnapping? You may have a law degree from your Harvard College sir, but you clearly have no understanding of Egyptian Law. He could order her presence as either her father or her King. Furthermore, she offered to come on her own just minutes ago, to which you were a witness." "Yes, I did say that," Ruby commented. "This man is just trying to help. He will accompany me back to the Palace."

George's eyes flash "Coercion is not lawful, king or not. English colonial laws still apply here, and therefore does the tenets of common law. And yes it is kidnapping if anyone is ordered to appear without their consent, whether lawful or not without due process of law!" George ends rather emphatically. "However seeing as the princess as acquiesced to the king's request" George infuses this word with malice and vitriol "I will not prohibited it, but I will insist on accompanying her. Since men here are willing to break open locked doors without announcing their presence or intentions, and indeed insist upon brandishing weapons at the princess."

The third wizard who has remained silent until this point moves forward and places a metal brazier in the center of the room. He casts a spell upon it and a small but bright fire erupts in the center. The man then sprinkles a pink powder over the flames, with the smoke from the fire then changing to a pink hue. The Grand Vizier orders the other to get into a circle holding hands as he then recites an incantation. The three wizards as well as George, Ruby, Mina and Passy then vanish from the hotel room in Zakazik, reappearing in the midst of a great auditorium with elaborate tapestries on the windows which afford an excellent view of the city of Cairo.

As she had been told, the magical object that Ruby had been wearing giving her the Princess disguise ceases to work, with her own body returning. This creates an added distraction, as Ruby is far more well-endowed than the royal woman, causing the dress to rip, exposing her breasts. George calmly removes his jacket and stands in front of Ruby as she puts it on. George then turns to the three wizards with a looks of 'now what?' "Oh! excuse me," Ruby says, taking George's coat, covering herself.

She steps toward the men. "Ruby West," she bows, "I was sent by the Princess." She paused to let them take in her words. "Now would be a good time to take us to the King." The Grand Vizier's face turns all shades of scarlet as he exclaims, "An imposter! Throw them all into the dungeon!" The trio of George, Ruby and Mina find themselves immediately surrounded by a group of eight guards, five welding scimitars the other three standing further back with each pointing a rifle at one of the three Americans.

"To the dungeon with them" the Grand Vizier exclaims. "When the King is interested in hearing about his daughter and what she has to say, I'll be waiting to see him. She's sent me with a message," Ruby says calmly. The Grand Vizier calls the guards closer and says, "Take them to the dungeon but do not torture them until I give the command. I will confer with the King." Ruby states, "If he requires proof, tell him that the princess herself gave me her item to make me look like her. I am sure he will recognize it." George grins as Ruby calls the Viziers threats. "On what charges are we being imprisoned, though thankfully not yet tortured?" asks George a little too calmly. No response is given as they are marched away.

Forty-five minutes pass with the three of them in isolation, but their surroundings are hardly what one would call a 'dungeon'. It was situated in the first basement floor of the palace. The upper windows along the south wall did have iron bars on them. They were locked in, with a guard outside. However everything else more resembled a posh hotel room. In addition to comfortable furniture, it had a well stocked library with books in English, French, Arabic and Spanish, and even a bar. The bar had tin cups rather than glasses and lacked anything alcoholic, but did have a variety of fruit juices, water and chilled goat’s milk. A platter of cheeses and basket of fruit had been left for them. There were also a pair of adjacent bathrooms, one for men the other for women, both of which had both hot and cold running water.

Ruby poured herself a glass of sweet juice and grabbed some grapes. "Well, I guess it could be worse, right?" She popped a grape into her mouth. "I'm sorry I got the two of you in this mess." Mina replies, "His Highness is known for his temper. Waiting a while after he found out that his daughter had tricked him might be for the better." "I just hope he BELIEVES that his daughter tricked him, and doesn't think we kidnapped her ourselves. And of course, here's to hoping he'll listen to little old me," she grins.

The door is thrown open and a group of fifteen armed guards are standing outside. A very tall burly Ogre attired in purple and silver robes stands there and announces in a surprisingly high voice "Her Majesty, Queen Isis Neferka Hatta Nakkathia, wishes an audience with you. Come quickly, she hasn't much time." For once Ruby keeps here mouth shut and does what she is told. She quickly fluffs her hair then follows the guards.

Walking through the corridors Mina whispers to Ruby and George, "This could be awkward. She happens to despise me." Ruby raises an eyebrow and smirks, "Really Nana? And why might that be?" She replies, "A long standing grudge. Around a half-century back my fiancé Andrew Dawson, your real Grandfather, accidentally killed her uncle." Ruby's eyebrows shot up, this time in surprise. "Really? What happened?"

Mina says, "Well, the killing itself was intentional, it was the circumstances behind it that made it accidental. Andrew and I were in Cairo in the middle of the night on an archaeological search. We had just vanquished a mob of zombies, barely escaping with out lives. This guy then staggers and shuffles out of an alley towards us. He was waving his arms to his side, his eyes were glassed over and he groaned incoherently. Andrew naturally assumed him to be another zombie. Instead, as we later discovered, it was just a very drunk Egyptian."

"Hrmm, a member of the royal family, drunk and alone? Sounds odd to me. But then if you hang around you Parker women enough, nothing sounds strange." grins George, giving Ruby's hand a small squeeze. "But it has been a while perhaps time has eased that pain." says George hopefully

They arrive at the end of a corridor and reach a large stone archway. A large male ogre armed with both rifle and scimitar stand to either side of the door. A middle-aged woman in a harem-girl outfit stands before the doorway and says "Please follow me." Once Ruby and Mina have passed through the guards move towards each other to block the doorway, preventing George from going in. Ruby nods and follows, so intent on looking forward she doesn't see George not follow behind.

"I beg your pardon, but you seem to have inadvertently stepped in front of the door gentlemen. I am sure this is a misunderstanding, but that is my future wife who went through the door and I intend to follow her." says George cheerily. The woman leading Ruby and Mina stops and returns. She tells George, "By the decree of the King, the only males who are permitted to enter the Queen's wing of the palace are eunuchs. But if you insist upon accompanying these women that can be arranged." She gestures to the ogre on the right and states, "Kabou is very skilled with his scimitar. He can perform the castration on you without any further delay." Ruby exclaims, "Oh no, that is definitely NOT happening. Just wait here George, we'll be okay." She nods to the woman to lead them forward.

Chapter 71 "Trouble on the Water” (Episode Two, Chapter Thirty-one) - Saturday, September 10, 1882, 3:30 P.M.

Everyone is loaded onto the ferry barge and set off from the shore. The boat continues it's trek across the river. The oarsmen/polemen are situated at the bow, stern, and the other two along the port (left) side of the boat, helping to steer it through the murky water. Abby notices something highly unusual, namely water coming up over the starboard boat rail near the bow and not in it's natural liquid state. The water itself appears to be contained within a quartet of opaque cylindrical shapes, each a foot in diameter spaced a half-foot apart from each other. These four cylinders are all rounded on the bottom and flow down from the rail towards the interior floor of the boat, not unlike the way that a snake would slither down a tree.

Abby was the first to spot these strange watery containers, which now reach nearly to the deck of the boat. Cetan unpacks the other Frenchman holding him by the feet and prepares to swing him like a sack of potatoes at one of the cylinders. As he prepares to swing he also notices another quartet of the same watery shapes coming over the starboard aft side of the boat. He notices for the first time that towards the bottom front of each cylinder is an opaque shield approximately nine-inches in diameter. He then suddenly realizes what he is looking at....each quartet are the fingers on a pair of giant hands made of water.

Cetan says," Rene, dispelling this thing would be a good gesture showing us we can trust you." "Alas, I am not sufficient in level to possess that spell," the man Rene rather sincerely replies. “I will do what I can." He throws a Magic Missile spell, which strikes one of the fingers and causes the translucent skin to break, the water pouring all over the deck of the ship. However, the other seven fingers all remain firmly intact.

Cetan asks Abby, " Do you know how to swim?” One of the shepherds calls out "I cannot swim!" "Nor can I," his companion exclaims. Cetan tells them to look for something that floats, they might just need it. He then drops the sack of potatoes and pulls out his rifle, waiting for a good target so he won't put holes in the boat if it is just an illusion of some sort.

Cetan fires into the knuckles of the hand, now visible above the top railing. The non-magical bullets do penetrate the skin but simply pass harmlessly through the water and exit on the other side. The magical skin then seals back over it, having lost a mere pittance of water with each shot. Hoping for better splashy damage, Cetan grabs an oar and whacks the massive watery hand with it. The skin parts to allow the non-magical oar to pass through it, sealing up afterwards.

"I used up about everything I have magically back at the ambush," Abby said, deceptively calm. She then cast a cantrip, freezing ray, at the watery limbs. "Little tricks will have to do." While a small segment of the finger turns icy, the overall effect is negligible. The boat starts to shake a little as those inside feel the watery thumbs and palms of the hand beneath the boat. Abby followed the spell by trying to shatter the now icy part with a blow from her sword.

The spell does cause a rupture and the water flows out but it is too little too late as the boat begins to rise up from this side. Not sure how to fight the watery hand, Abby looks around for whoever could be casting the spell causing it, tossing up a detect magic cantrip as she does so. Before she can see anybody or anything the side of the boat rises up and totally flips the craft over. The shepherds scream and the half-dozen sheep let out a loud "Baaah"

Cetan helps the shepherds get to and puts the Frenchman up on the capsized boat. He looks to see how far it is to shore, whether the water thing inflicts any more damage, if anyone is in trouble, which way are the sheep are swimming, whether the water is moving or still water, and if there are any crocs to worry about.

The Frenchman who had been tied up has somehow managed to get free of all of his restraints and chooses to swim to the furthest shore despite it being a good 400 to 500 feet away, the other shore being around a third that distance, approximately 150 feet away. Meran's companion appears to have been injured by the boat flip and she is holding him up against the capsized craft. One of the other shepherds has also managed to grab the boat, but his companion is flailing away in the water ten feet off and screaming "Can't Swim" whenever his head surfaces. Three of the sheep are attempting to swim, the current washing then downriver by the current and closer to shore. Two of the others appear to have already drown and the sixth is nowhere to be seen. This part of the river is heavily traveled, so there should be little to no threat of crocodiles.

Cetan attempts to save the struggling shepherd. The centaur swims rapidly across the water and is able to reach the drowning shepherd, which grabs onto his back. Rene surfaces near Meren and works to help her lift her unconscious companion onto the upturned bottom of the capsized barge-style boat. The other Frenchman continues to swim towards the opposite shore, now being at the mid-point of the river. The passenger ferry had also been crossing the river and is around 100 feet away from him, turning towards him now.

Confident in her ability to swim, Abby got herself righted, noted their fleeing prisoner, and looked again for whoever might have cast the spell. The only place that appears to have been in range is the passenger ferry, although it could have been cast by any one of the seventy-five or so people on board. After a good look she then swims after the whiny artist. She notes that for a man whose "life was destroyed" by a minor injury, he appears to have no trouble now in using it to swim. Cetan also swims after the artist.

Abby saw Cetan swimming behind her and swore. Last she looked he'd been helping Meren. She thanked whatever god, goddess or demon that had kept her from wearing anything like a skirt the last few days. "Someone has to stay with Meren!" she shouted. Glancing back, Rene and Meren's companion appear to have successfully gotten the other two shepherds on the upturned bottom of the boat. Meren apparently also thinks that things have stabilized, as she has stripped down to just her undergarments and is diving in to go after the trio of sheep paddling in a panic over 100 feet away from her and letting out "Baah" sounds when they can.

She cast a simple daze spell toward the artist hoping to slow him down, then turned to go back and help the Egyptian druid. "Catch him!" The spell works, as he ceases his forward momentum. The passenger boat has closed to around fifty feet from the man and is continuing in that direction. A white man on the passenger boat lowers his hands towards the water (and out of sight of the Egyptian passengers). He then casts a spell, with six magical missiles flying forth from his fingertips across the water. They split into two trios, with three striking Abby (for a combined 11 points of damage) and another three striking Cetan (for a combined 12 points of damage).

Another hit like that and Abby would be sucking in river water, and that was NOT what she wanted to be doing. Magically she was almost finished, but she would not let the "artiste" out of this if she could help it. Abby took a close look at the man who had cast the magic missile, trying to fix his face in her memory and note if he was one of the men who had ambushed them earlier. Then she used her last bit of magic to throw an Acid Splash toward the fleeing man.

The acid hits the man and he cries out. This however, has the effect of getting the Ferry Captain to increase the speed of his steam-powered craft and several of his crew to get ready to throw life preservers to the man who called out. The man who had cast the spell melds back into the crowd on deck. Neither Cetan or Abby are able to reach the boat before it pulls the Frenchman up onto the deck. But the boat then continues forwards to apparently rescue the two of them as well.

The low, frustrated growl that came out of her throat surprised even Abby. There was nothing more annoying to her than not knowing what to do, and this day had been too full of uncertain choices. She imagined letting the passenger ferry pick her up. It seemed sensible at first. They would have the French under their eyes. But they would be under the French's thumbs. Getting to the Palace late was better than being taken prisoner by those French. Probably under the guise of helping them, and Abby was unwilling to start a fight amongst so many innocents. Strange as it would look, Abby started swimming back toward Meren, unwilling to become the prisoner of the French on the passenger ferry.

Going with the current Abby soon reaches a point where she is equidistant (40 feet) to Meren and to the overturned boat. At the boat are Rene, the three shepherds and two of the four boat operators, all sitting atop it. The other two boatmen have swum to the nearest shore. Meren is swimming rather swiftly after the trio of sheep that are still 85 feet away from her. These sheep are nearly to shore, where a small group of Egyptian boys are wading out to catch the animals. Cetan waves the rescue boat / ferry boat on to the people in most need those on the capsized vessel, and swims full speed toward Meren and Abby.

Cetan swims swiftly and arrives at shore simultaneous to Abby and not long after Meren. The boys who had pulled the sheep to shore are nowhere to be seen, the animals being gone with them. However, there is a very wet trail indicating the direction they went off to, which leads to a cluster of poorly built houses and shacks. Abby says, "Meren, do you want to track down the sheep? We should be quick about it if you do. With those Frenchmen on the passenger ferry we should get to the Palace as soon as we can." She says, "We have to. Two, probably three, drown. We cannot arrive at the palace without live sheep for the King's ceremony. But neither can my imposter."

Cetan runs along the wet trail to recover some sheep, if one is left with the poor that's ok with him. If this is another attempt by the French, Cetan is going to start killing some Frenchmen. With at least one sheep he'll attempt to get the sheep, Meren, Abby, and himself to the palace as quickly as possible. As the Ferryboat rescues their comrades from the overturned boat, Meren, Abby and Cetan set off following the tracks left by the trio of sheep and their youthful captors. This leads them into the slums of this part of Egypt, where the tracks end at a busy street where a herd of goats was ushered by more recently than the travel of the sheep.

Cetan makes a couple of wide circles to try to pick up the tracks, hear a bleat, or spot a sheep. Meren says that, given the neighborhood, the sheep have probably already been butchered. She says most people in this part of town seldom if ever get to eat meat, and having three sheep fall into their midst was too much of a temptation. He suggests they go to the palace and explain what has happened to the sheep, and what we suspect the French are up to. Meren says that without the sheep the people at the palace will have nothing to do with her.

Abby looked at her, confusion plain on her face. "That makes no sense. They would just ignore you? It wouldn't occur to them that if you've arrived without the sheep that something went wrong that they may need to know about?" Meren replies, "We're shepherds, livestock herders, not the upper crust of society. When we go to the palace it is through the servant's entrance, and no further than the first wall. That is where the cooks take the sheep from. Without any animals why would they even let us in? I doubt they even know my name."

Cetan states, “We need to tell them why you have not arrived with the sheep, and trust the guards to do their job.” Returning to tributary, they arrive to find the still capsized boat tied up along the shore. They tell Meren that the passenger ferry deposited her four companions on the opposite shore. While they are talking Cetan hears a very faint "Baaa" sound emanating from beneath the capsized vessel.

The boat’s men have to gather up a dozen others to get enough strength to flip over the boat. Beneath it is one very soggy and totally exhausted sheep. Meren casts some spells onto the animal to revitalize it. They then have to locate another ferry to get the people and animal across the tributary, where the other three shepherds and Rene are waiting on the other side.

As the group heads toward the palace, Cetan asks Rene what he thinks the artist will do now? Rene replies, "I do not know. When we got onto the ferry boat he was already gone. Cetan also asks if Rene knows who would be powerful enough to create the water creature that attacked us?" He replies, "Egypt, and the whole Arabian lands for that matter, are filled with powerful wizards. It could have been any one of hundreds. Or it could have been somebody with a powerful magic item that controls water elementals." Abby says, "Or it's your group who attacked us earlier today, still trying to impersonate Meren and get into the Palace," Abby said, too frustrated to even pretend at diplomacy anymore. Rene says, "I wish that there was something more that I could do to earn your trust. I am only trying to help matters."

They soon reach the palace and head around to the rear servants entrance. The gate is shut and blocked by a quartet of armed Ogres wearing ornate tunics with leather skirts, similar to garb worn by the Romans. Their outfits include the traditional shields and swords normally associated with Roman centurions, but they also have pistols on their belts and modern rifles over their shoulders. Meren says, "Something is wrong, normally the elite guard are only stationed at the front doors." Abby replies, "Friends of ours were trying to get word to the King to warn him. Possibly they got through. Possibly it's something else. The only thing we can sure of is that the King is wary of something."

They approach. One of the Guards moves forwards and draws his sword. He rattles out a four-sentence long speech in a language that neither Abby or Cetan understand. Abby extended her arms in front of her very slowly, palms up. In Egyptian she said, "I'm sorry, I do not understand your language." A little louder she said, "Meren, can you translate?" She says, "No, I know some Ogrish languages, but the elite guard use a unique dialect." Rene says "I am somewhat familiar with it, I am a linguist by profession, and could I help?"

"You could try", Cetan says to Rene. Taking a defensive stance he points to the sheep and says to the guard in all the different languages he knows, "We brought the sheep". The Ogres clearly do not understand what Cetan is saying to them. Rene steps forward and states a sentence in their native tongue. The lead ogre responds with a single sentence reply. Rene paraphrases the translation to for the others saying "I told them we were here to deliver a sheep from the royal flock. He replied that they were not expecting us."

Cetan states, “Tell them we were ambushed and think there is a plot against the King. We would like to tell them everything we know so they can better protect the King.” Cetan whispers to Abby, "Now we will learn what side Rene is on." Rene rattles of several sentences and has a short exchange with the lead ogre. The ogre then turns and sends one of his men into the palace. Rene replies, "He says this is above his station, that he needs to get a supervisor." Cetan says, "Good work Rene", not sure what level of trust the French two leg deserves.

The ogre soon returns, accompanied by eight other uniformed ogres including one wearing several medals and officer insignia. The one with the medals also speaks in the foreign tongue and the other eleven ogres all raise the their rifles at the party. A rifle apiece is focused upon Abby, Meren and the other three shepherds while six rifles are pointed towards Cetan. None are pointed towards Rene, who steps forward to stand beside the ogre officer with a smirk on his face.

"You son of a bitch," Abby said though gritted teeth. "At least I know I can still tell a murderer when I see one." Belloq smiles and says, "Yes, too bad. You could warn them Miss Marsters, if only you spoke Nubian."

Chapter 72 "Audience with King Haker Takeleth VI” (Episode Two, Chapter Thirty-two) - Saturday, September 10, 1882, 7:00 P.M.

George does not have to wait very long with the tall Ogres before he is approached from behind by a pair of very well dressed gentlemen who appear to be around his own age. The first speaks to him in English with a thick French accent stating, "Hello, you must be Mr. George Eastman. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Edgar Degas." The other states in a rich deep voice, "And I am Jean Baptiste Faure."

"Well gentlemen, my face or reputation precedes me. It is my pleasure to meet both of you celebrated artists. I have enjoyed both of your work. I had the opportunity to hear you Jean several years back on a trip to Paris. But we are a ways from Paris gentlemen. I know Jean Baptiste is an avid collector of art, but what brings you men here?" asks George genially.

Degas replies, "We are traveling with two colleagues, Maria de Guzman, the former Empress of France and Victor Duruy, who had been her late husband Napoleon III's biographer. They brought me along to paint the King's portrait and Jean to sing for the Egyptian Monarch. They are hoping these efforts would put the King in a better mood during their attempts to convince the King to end this war. I must say, Mr. Eastman, your assisting his rebellious daughter to join with the enemy has not helped very much."

George smiles dryly. "Aren't all daughters rebellious?" he quips. "While your friends’ efforts to help the king relax are admirable, as is their mission. I can assure you that the actions by the princess were undertaken with precisely the same aims. They merely involved a different methodology. In any case gentlemen, how about a drink as we wait? I can tell you I have been in worse prisons." George may reconsider those words when a group of a dozen armed Ogres surround the trio.

Meanwhile, The three women proceed down the hallway. Two more male ogre eunuch's stand before an oak double doors which they open to allow the trio to enter. They go inside a vast room magically lit room with walls covered by brightly colored silk tapestries. The marble columns in the room are also covered with bright silk. A sunken pool is in the far corner with several beautiful young women who resemble Neferka being bathed by female attendants.

A pair of middle-aged women who had been seated on large pillows near an opium pipe stand. Both are attired in Egyptian-style silk dresses with gold and silver embroidery. One woman is Egyptian and attired in blue, the other looks European and is attired in Green. Stopping before them Mina bows first to the Egyptian and says, "Your Majesty", then to the other woman also bowing and saying "Your Majesty". Ruby mirrored her grandmother and bowed to both women respectfully, saying "Your Majesty" to each. This was definitely not the time to be rude. She waited for one of the women to speak.

The Egyptian woman says, "So I see that you never change Willamina Hamilton. You still insist on continuing to interject yourself into places uninvited and stirring up trouble. So, are you going to explain to me why your daughter Alma was impersonating my daughter?" The other woman states, "Now Nikki, you are once again jumping to conclusions. We don't know the full story yet, although I suspect that the deception has something to do with the recent marriage. I was told that Americans were witness to the nuptials in Zakazik."

Mina smiles and says, "Thank you Maria, it has been way too long." Turning to the Egyptian Queen she says, "Queen Nikkathia, my Granddaughter Constance can speak for herself." Ruby steps forward and with a respectful bow of her head she speaks. "Yes, your Majesty, I can speak for myself. And I should begin by telling you that my grandmother doesn't really have anything to do with this. Fate would have it that while we are here vacationing in this beautiful land, I have become friends with you daughter Princess Neferka. We've been spending time together, sharing meals and shopping, and she asked me to help her plan her wedding. She's a lovely girl and I respect her greatly. We have a lot on common.

This morning she feared she would be abducted by her father's men. She asked me to come here in her place, giving me this," she held up the Princess's ring, "To become her so I would be taken rather than her. She wanted me to vouch for her, that her wedding was not coerced but rather done out of love for the General. She's very concerned for her country, for her father, and for her new husband, whom she loves very much and very concerned about the war that now rages. Her wish is for the fighting to end and for her parents to support her marriage to the General."

The European woman says, "See Nikki, it is exactly as my colleague described it. This is love at its finest." The Egyptian woman says, "Bah! That's all you French think about!” The other woman laughs and says, "How true, but need I remind you that it was husband who was French, I am from Spain, and my mother from Scotland." Mina interjects, "Constance speaks the truth Queen Nakkathia. We are here to speak to your husband on your daughter's behalf." The Egyptian woman says, "Fine, you may attempt to do so. And if he orders your immediate executions I will not be surprised. Fifty years too late as far as you are concerned."

Ruby gritted her teeth at the dig at her grandmother. However, she was smart enough to know not to provoke a Queen. "Yes, your Majesty, you are correct, it IS love at it's finest. I witnessed the wedding and can attest to the true feelings the Princess and General free for each other. I've never experienced a ceremony like it. And because of that love, the Princess has been very conflicted as to how to aide the effort in ending the war because she also loves her Father and her people."

The Queen states "And a fine way of showing it! Marrying his enemy! Giving away her father's wealth in the city! Listening to these damned Frenchmen!" The Queen then turns towards the girls bathing in the pool and says, "Hurry up you two. I want you present when your father deals with this mess. Hopefully you will learn a valuable lesson about defying his will." Ruby says, "I don't believe the General wants to be the King's enemy, your Majesty. But I can understand why you would feel that way."

The two princesses are soon dressed in fancy attire and they fall in place behind their mother to head up to the throne room. Mina has Ruby fall back towards the end of the procession. They exit from a different doorway than the one they entered from. Ruby whispers to her grandmother, "Nana, who is that other woman?" Mina whispers back "She is Eugenia Maria de Montijo de Guzman. She was married to the French Emperor Napoleon III. She served as the Empress of France from 1853 until 1871."

They soon arrive at a vast hall with over 100 people in attendance. The King is seated on a throne made of solid gold with red velvet padding. Standing to either side of him are two older non-Egyptian Gentlemen in the finest of European clothing. There are two other chairs, one apparently for the Queen, the other with the Grand Vizier seated in it. George is not present. Ruby bowed before the King but said nothing, waiting to be spoken to.

The King stares at Ruby and says, "Impersonation of a member of the Royal family is a capital offense. Can you give me one reason why you should not be executed?" "I was only doing what a member of the royal family asked me to, your Highness. I have proof, if you wish." Ruby bowed while she waited for the answer. He states "Proceed as though your life depends upon your statement, because it does."

Ruby nods gravely. "I understand your Highness." She reaches into the skirts of the now too small gown and produces a folded up note. "Before I give you this," she nods towards the letter, "Let me introduce myself. I am Constance Grace West, also known as Ruby West, a singer from the United States of America. My grandmother is Willamina Hamilton Parker," Ruby waves a hand towards Mina, "Also American, though she has been a close friend of the British Military for years now. Your granddaughter seemed to think that alone would get you to at least listen to me.

Your daughter and I have become friends over the past weeks. She invited me to her wedding and she wanted me to convey to you what I saw. That is why she asked me to come here. What I saw was two people who are in love, pledging their lives to each other. It was surely not political nor was it arranged as a way to hurt you or your family, your Majesty. Your daughter is very concerned about you and her primary goal now is to make peace, peace between you, her, and her new husband and of course, the peace and prosperity of your people."

The King nods and says, "And so she felt that it was necessary to try to trick my trusted associate?", as he gestures to the Grand Vizier. The Wizard says, "Yes, from outside the room you were inside we detected the presence of the Princess. Once inside we mistakenly assumed it was the woman who appeared to be the Princess. One my associates was detecting for invisibility, and there was none. So does that mean that other person in the room with you, your Grandmother and your fiancé was actually Princess Neferka?

Ruby chooses her words carefully. "I don't think she was trying to trick anybody intentionally. Yes, she chose to not be what she considers kidnapped. She just felt that if she was brought here against her will that people wouldn't be... open... to hearing her side of the story. Your Majesty, I hope you can find it in your heart to at least hear what she has to say. If you've ever been in love, you owe it to yourself to try to understand. I don't know what god or goddess you follow but my Goddess, Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, believes in following your heart."

The King states, "False Gods do not concern me, only those deities of the Egyptian Pantheon matter in this Kingdom. So you admit that my daughter was present three hours ago when my Grand Vizier stated that the man who had abandoned her had a period of one day to stand before me or the marriage would be annulled. That ruling will stand, whether she is physically present or not. Unless Ahmed Orabi stands here before me within the next twenty-one hours this marriage will be declared invalid.

Princess Neferka was sent to Zakazik to act as my representative. If what you say is true, then the Princess instructed you of her own free will to impersonate her. So you were merely following a royal decree. If however, she was under some magical spell or being coerced into allowing that, then you and your two co-conspirators have violated the law and will be executed for it. She will have the same twenty-one hours as her supposed husband to appear before me to corroborate your story. I will send one or more of these Frenchmen to relay that message to her in Zakazik."

Ruby pulls out the letter the Princess has written and holds it up for a guard to take. "Here are her words in her own hand, Your Majesty. I do not know where she went or how your men will find her. 21 hours is not a lot of time but I suspect you already know that." She paused. "Since my life is already at stake, there is more." Ruby inhaled, a long, deep breath, gathering her wits. She looked to her grandmother for strength.

Standing taller she began, "I do not know who these Frenchmen are that you refer to. Nor to which Frenchmen you have been speaking to and trusting in their council. I would never dare to tell a King whom to trust. However, I would be remiss to not inform you that there is a plot against you, Your Majesty, a plot to assassinate you. Along with that, they intend to also assassinate the General and attempt to rule your kingdom through Princess Neferka! This plot comes at the hands of the French." Her eyes flicked to the Ambassador Queen. "Not all of the French are privy to this plan, it seems only a small faction of French are guilty of this heinous plot. I believe it has something to do with their own country being in turmoil over the public use of magic. I have some small details of how the French plan to carry out their deed, though I don't know much, I admit. So you see, Your Majesty, you and the General, your Son-in-law, have something in common."

The older Frenchman behind the King exclaims, "Preposterous! We would never wish you any harm your majesty." Mina interjects, "Yes Victor, knowing both you and Maria as I do, I truly believe that. However, my Granddaughter and I have received this information from a very reliable source. Specifically, it comes directly from one of the top eight members of your wizarding group." The King exclaims, "I have heard enough! Grand Vizier, take charge of the palace guards and immediately arrest all Non-Egyptians who are in this palace. Come back and see me once you have ascertained who is being truthful."

Ruby states, "Your Majesty, time is of the essence here! We have information that there are people hidden in plain sight using disguises- don't just check non Egyptians, check everyone!" The Grand Vizier says, "Do not worry your Highness, I will question the young lady first. She states, "Time is of the essence, let's go."

A short distance off, George and the Frenchmen are split them up, with a quartet each marching the man to a different room of the palace. The men do not respond to any of George's questions. He is waiting inside a sparsely furnished room for about 10 minutes when the Egyptian wizard with the law degree arrives and states, "Tell me everything you know about this assassination plot against the King, and the role that you and your French friends have played in this."

Ruby and the Grand Vizier do not travel far, merely down the corridor to a large room on the same floor. The Grand Vizier is accompanied by one of the ogre guards as well. Based upon the shelves and shelves of urns, bottles of various dried herbs and multi-colored liquids, and entire wall of filled bookcases, Ruby deduces that this is the man's own personal library and store room.

He sits in an ornate leather chair and gestures for her to take a set in a green-velvet low lounge-chair opposite it. He exclaims, "Well, what is the story young lady?" Ruby sits in the chair indicated. "I wouldn't exactly call it a story, Your Eminence, that would imply it was made up. The simple truth is, the Princess asked me to come here. She loves her husband and she loves her father and she is now torn between them. We became friends and I guess she feels I have a way with words." Ruby shrugged, "I guess that is true.

"I came here to Egypt with a group of friends. Some of them, like my grandmother, have a lot of experience and influence with different groups of people. At one point, some of my friends came across a camp filled with French. I suppose they have some sort of system where they rank their wizards by playing cards? My grandmother knows about this and could perhaps explain it better. The two French emissaries... Victor and Maria... I think they are a part of that. My grandmother has known both of them, I think, and she believes that neither of them is involved in this plot. One of the factions, one of the suites, so to speak, has decided to take matters into their own hands. Their own country is possibly deciding to not allow magic publicly anymore? I think. Politics isn't really my thing.

Anyway, I don't know all the facts but I believe they already tried to get two people into here using magical means. They were found out due to your palace's magical protections. From what I heard they were tortured and killed." Ruby gulped but continued on. "So they knew they needed to find another way. It kills me to say this, but I believe the actress, Sandra Bernhardt is one of the wizards being sent here. They chose her for her ability to use a non magical disguise, figuring she could get into the castle undetected if she was acting. I believe there was another man who was to go along with her? My Nana might remember his name.

They were also going to try to somehow get to the kings special sheep? I am afraid in this way I am unsure of most details. I believe they might try to use poison. If they poisoned the sheep the King could easily fall prey to the poison." Ruby tapped her lips in her way. "Is that everything? Oh, right, just that once the King and the General were murdered, they thought they would be able to rule Egypt through the Princess. I don't know how they were going to try to murder the General but let's face it, there are French people everywhere around here! And both the King and the General have been using French as advisers. Trusted advisers.

I know you don't know me and have no real reason to trust me. But I did hand over the letter from the Princess and I have been telling you the truth of all I know. And I truly feel there is urgency needed here. The disguised imposters could be in the palace now! As for the Princess and her marriage, she truly loves the General. I saw their love with my own eyes. And while I understand the King doesn't believe in my gods, I do worship the Goddess Aphrodite, and have been serving her the best I can. I have no doubt that they really do love each other and believe me, I would not have agreed to do this, Princess or not, if I didn't."

The Grand Vizier takes all of this in. He nods and says, "One element of your story rings true, that I should not trust these French. I have not, and have been advising my sovereign not to as well. However, as to this assassination plot, one part sounds false. It is not with conceit that I say that, quite frankly, their main target within this palace would actually be myself. While the King and General may be political leaders, in terms of absolute power and ability, there would be no greater threat in Egypt to foreign wizards than the most powerful of all Egyptian wizards."

Ruby pondered this for a moment. "Perhaps you are right about that. Is it possible they intend to target you too? You eat here, right? And even as powerful as you may be, poison would affect you just as it would anyone else? I don't even know about the poison thing, I just couldn't figure out any other reason they would want to get near the sheep. Can you think of any reason? What are the special sheep used for?” He replies, He replies, "The Royal Flock is used for feasts. The King had actually called for the shepherds to bring some of them here today as a contingency, so the cooks would have them in the event that either the war ends or he does recognize his daughter's marriage, either would be cause for celebration.”

She says, “If you don't mind me asking, why ARE there so many French here? And why have they been able to get so close to so many high ranking members of your government? I can understand the former Empress perhaps but all the rest? My fiancé went off with them today in their big balloon, why are they so eager to help? Except to put themselves in a position to affect large changes." He says, "They claim that they simply seek peace, and to preserve our ancient temples from war. I have not believed them. The six who have been here have been of some comfort to the King, I have sensed no ulterior motives from them.”

Ruby was quiet for a few moments. "At home, I have secretly studied with a wizard and also a bard, to try to learn how to use my own powers of magic. I know almost nothing is impossible. Is there any kind of magic spell you might have to root out the imposters?" He states, "This palace itself is protected from imposters, as you have already seen. And you are right about two trying to sneak in last year and being executed, although neither of them appeared to be French. As to rooting out this plot, we have called for the High Priest. He has a spell that can detect truthfulness."

She says, "I would check out those sheep if I were you... who knows what they could have done to them! And it's curious, about the two imposters, not being French. The only problem with the truth spell is that you need someone to use it on. And that means finding the imposters first. They could definitely look like Egyptians, the whole point of using actors is that they blend in." He replies, "No, we will use the truth spell on you, your companions, and these French here in the castle to see which ones of you, if any, are part of any assassination plot. I do not trust any of you."

Ruby shrugged. "We have nothing to hide. But I'm afraid you need to widen your search. Didn't you hear me say that they were using the best actress in the world to try to get in here? I'm not asking you to trust me and by all means, we'll submit to the spell, but don't stop your search with us. As for the other matter, is someone going to try to find the Princess?" He replies, "The Queen has sent one of her younger sisters to relay the King's message."

She replies, "Hopefully someone the Princess trusts. More importantly, I'm not sure how someone will get the message to the General. I think they off and took him to France." He smiles and says, "I'm sure that some form of magical communication will be available." The Grand Vizier concludes his interview with Ruby and she is brought back down tot he basement rooms where they had been earlier.

Chapter 73 "Good day for a breakout” (Episode Two, Chapter Thirty-three) - Saturday, September 10, 1882, 7:00 P.M.

Surrounded by armed ogres, Cetan just raises his hands and waits to see what happens next. Pox leaden blankets, bad beef, he's see it all before. The ogre officer barks orders at his men, then heads inside with Rene. The ogres march the Cetan, Abby, the four shepherds and the lone sheep through several corridors and down a long staircase into a sub-basement. They are locked into a large stone room, sixty-by-forty-feet in diameter with a fifteen-foot high ceiling. The room is lit by magical light.

Chains and manacles are situated on the dozen stone pillars placed every ten feet. Other chains and manacles are along the wall. Their captors however make no attempt to lock them up. The only other thing in the room are a series of buckets, half of them filled with water, the other half, based on the smell, are apparently for waste. The large oak doors have a small iron grate on them, where they see an Ogre stand on the opposite side once the doors are shut and locked.

Cetan tries to talk to the Ogre saying, "The King is in danger." in every language he knows. Just hoping "King and Danger" might spark something. The Ogre turns and yells through the grate in an angry voice. Although the words are not known to Cetan the meaning is clear: "Shut Up!" Cetan turns and says, “What'd you think Abby? Looks like I can provoke the Guard, maybe he'll do something stupid?”

Abby paced the cell several times, frustrated and angry. If it hadn't been for the shotgun pointed at her she could have used the comprehend languages potion. But at the moment the movement to draw it probably would have gotten her shot. But now... Abby poked through a couple of the seals to get herself a longer duration and began to talk quietly to Cetan in Nubian, pitching her voice to reach the guard. Sounding defeated and shamed she said, "The King will die because we failed. So many in his household will die. It's like the French knew we were coming to warn him about them." She sniffled, she hoped convincingly. "Everyone will die and we'll be stuck in this cell forever."

The guard outside turns his head and looks into the cell. It is not one of the guards who had marched them to this place but another one entirely. "You speak our language?" he states, clearly surprised by this. Abby looked at him for a moment, appearing to puzzle over his words. "Only a little. It is a... pretty language. My," she paused as if searching for the right word, " Mother's sister married an Egyptian man. He showed us a little. They talked too fast when we came here, I... failed to understand. The Frenchman (she used the English word for Frenchman) who brought us said he would speak for us. But he was false, and now the King will die because we failed. The French will sneak in and poison him."

He replies, "We can watch the French. They will not sneak any where near the King. The King from our home country will be here tomorrow, we will not let harm come to either of them." Abby says, "They were going to sneak in pretending to be Meren, the nature priest who was bringing the special sheep and some of the shepherds. We arrived with her, we were protecting her from them." He says, "Then their plan will fail. The nature priest and her sheep are in the room with you. We know you are here so you can not be somewhere else."

She sniffled again and looked at the Ogre hopefully. "Your King will be here tomorrow? Can your countrymen protect the Egyptian King until then? No one here will know the French are sneaking in with the sheep to poison the feast." He says, "Yes, our King was with the Egyptian King's daughter up in Zakazik. They are both expected to be here tomorrow."

"Thank you. But I am afraid that the French will know this, and will try to sneak in another way now. One we do not know about. But your words give me some comfort. But the King is displeased with his daughter. She married his enemy. Will he accept her and your King here when he is so angry?" The ogre replies, "I cannot speak for the daughter, but he will welcome our King. Egypt is currently in a civil war, he has need of my King's army."

Abby nodded and stayed quiet for a moment. "I am sorry. I am very afraid. I have fear for the King and the people here, and I have fear for myself and my friends. I do not know what the false man Rene told your countrymen about us. I know only that we are locked up and he believes he has won. That he stopped us from warning the King. I fear he still has surprises to reveal." In Nubian Abby said, "My companion Cetan can't understand you, I will tell him in my language what you have said. I thank you."

Then she turned to the others switched to English, saying, "The guard outside our cell says that his Nubian countrymen will protect the King. That since Meren and the shepherds are in here too that if others try to come in pretending to be them it would be known they are imposters. I'm still afraid that we haven't been taken seriously enough and the French may still sneak in and poison the King.”

Elsewhere, Ruby is returned to the cell she had been in before. Mina is already waiting for her there. "Nana! Have you been questioned yet? I must admit, the Grand Vizier seemed much more relaxed than he did back in the hotel. I kept my cool, you'd be proud," Ruby grinned. Mina nods and, for the first time in Ruby's memory, totally loses her composure. She says, "I had the misfortune of being questioned by the Queen. She made it clear that this is her opportunity to have me killed Ruby. We have to make sure this war is peacefully ended within the next twenty hours or we're dead."

Ruby's face dropped. "Well, that's not good. Would the King go along with the Queen even when we are proved innocent?" Mina replies, "Well no, he has the authority. But he's so angry over Neferka's wedding that unless she stands before him and begs his forgiveness...well...maybe we should try to find some sort of escape contingency plan." Ruby nods. "It would be wise to do so Nana. It's always a good idea. Between the two of us, and George, we will figure that part out. The Princess assured me that if things went wrong she would return here for me. But we'll see. So let's take a look around here." Ruby checks the locks and windows.

They quickly find that the bars on the windows are not only solid but there also appears to be some type of magical protection over them. Ruby checks the locks on the front bars. She realizes that she probably could pick the locks, but refrains as it is obvious from the sounds that at least two guards are on the opposite side of the door. She quietly says, "Nana, let's pay attention to when the guards come and go. We may need this information later." She squeezed her grandmother's arm. "We'll get out of this, we always do."

An hour has gone by when Mina head off to use the bathroom. She then calls for Ruby in a very excited voice. Ruby arrives to see her Grandmother lying on the floor. She calls over "Ruby, this two-foot-square section of floor sounds hollow underneath. It is probably a crawl space for the plumbing pipes and for the plumbers to work!" "Hmmm, that may work! Let me see." Ruby gets on the floor next to her grandmother and inspects the tile her grandmother pointed out.

After a while examining she uses some makeshift tools to lift up the tile and looking down, it appears that both women would have little to no difficulty in going. Mina comments "We should probably stay here until we know what has happened to George. Our escaping while he is still captured would not go well for him." Ruby says, "Yes Nana you are right. We should use this as our last resort. Even if we escape here it'll be difficult getting out of the city and if we get caught... well, I don't think they'll wait on those death sentences." Mina laughs and says, "I think that I could safely get us to blend into the streets of Cairo without getting caught." Ruby looks towards the door. "I do wonder what happened to George. I'm getting worried." "As am I," Mina states.

While the door to the plumbing shaft is still open Ruby hears the sound of distant voices coming from below. Listening closely, Ruby is almost positive that the female voice is that of her ally Abigail Marsters. Ruby listens carefully, waiting until some time has passed from hearing any guards. "Abby?" She calls out softly through the floor, not wanting to alert any guards. Although faint, Abby hears Ruby's call. It occurs to her that the ogre outside the door might hear Ruby too, and would definitely hear it if Abby calls back up. She tells the others, I “I am out of magic and my friend Ruby is calling from above." They see a grate in the roof, fifteen feet high alongside one of the pillars, that the sound is coming from.

Ruby puts her ear to the floor, listening carefully. She stills hear Abby speaking but not to her. "I'm not sure she can hear us Nana. But at least we know she's safe. For now." She sits up. "Do you have any spells that might help us now? I don't think I do." Mina says, "No, but if we rest for a while we could both replenish our magic." Ruby exclaims, "Rest? REST? How are we supposed to rest in here?? Too much is going on! I don't think I could sleep Nana, no, not at all, not until I know George and our other friends are safe." Nana says, "Well, I could hypnotize you into sleeping." She does so.

Sunday, September 11th, 1882, 5:00 AM.

Ruby and Mina awaken, hearing sounds outside their bedroom in the comfy prison they are trapped in. With assistance from Mina's hypnosis, Ruby was actually able to get a full night's sleep. Out in the living room, George is delivered to the room. The last twelve hours have been rather tedious for him, consisting of three hours of questioning by the French, eight hours of solitary confinement in a barren room (most of which he slept during), and then one more hour of interrogation. Frustrated with his answers, they returned him to this room.

George manages a weak and weary smile. "Hello my dear Ruby. Sorry I was a bit delayed in getting to you. The French had a few hundred questions to me' he quips with another nod to Mina "Alright in here Mina?" She replies, "Yes and no. We're on a tight time table. Unless the Princess and her husband appear before the King in another twelve hours or so there is a high probability that I will be executed, and possibly the two of you as well. Other than that I'd say that everything is fine."

George smiles again. "So, pretty much a average Saturday night with Miss Ruby West." George follows with a quick kiss for Ruby. "So we need to get out of here. I suppose you two have figured a way to get out?" Mina replies, "We believe so, and think that Abby and some of the others may be trapped here too." "Well, that will be good. So I think our first measure will be to find Abby. Once we are all together we must get out and fid the princess." replies George.

Ruby says, "I'm almost positive that Abby's down below. But she didn't respond so she may be more closely guarded than we are. As for the Princess, she did promise me she would show up here if there is trouble. And I believe her... mostly. If it's true, she's probably on her way here now. So even if we COULD get back to the City, we probably couldn't find her."

Mina says, "The Princess is not our responsibility, Abigail and the others are. That, and the fact that I wouldn't want to give the Queen the personal satisfaction of executing me." Ruby says, "We won't let that happen Nana, I promise. So I guess what you are saying is that you don't think we should wait, we should break out now? Break out, find Abby, and get out of here." "Sounds like a plan," she replies.

George asks, "Ok, so what do we know of the guard situation? How did we know Abby was below us?" "I heard her speaking. I whispered down to her but I didn't hear her reply so I assume she is being more closely guarded than we are. We can squeeze in here." Ruby points to the loose tile, "But I don't know where it will lead or how we get Abby out. The guards come in here to check on us every once in a while but they are constant so we should have enough time to slip out." "Ok, I think what we ought to do, is slip down to her room, bring her up the tunnel and then escape from our room since we have the lighter guard." suggests George.

Meanwhile, approximately sixty feet below, Cetan and Abby awaken as the Guards enter their cell to replace the water and waste buckets while bringing them a meager breakfast. In her dreams, Abby had been laying in the warm sun surrounded by the sweet scents of hay and heather. Cal had been next to her, talking idly about nothing important and holding her hand against his heart. It was a far cry from the dank Egyptian cell she woke in. In Egyptian she asked, "Is the King well?" She hears no response. She then notes that it is a different ogre now guarding the door, his back to the grate covered opening.

Abby said, very quietly to Cetan, "I need to learn my spells." She took a small book from the inside of her jacket and sat down. "If they don't question us soon, we're going to have to think of a way out of here. Ruby obviously didn't hear me answer her last night, so we may be on our own down here." She took the time to study, carefully selecting her spells for the day. Once that was finished, she broke another of the seals in the potion from Alsoomse and drank the small portion.

She spoke to the guard this time, asking very diffidently, in Nubian, "Sir, is the King well? Will we be answering questions soon?" He turns and in an gruff voice replies, "Yes, the King is well. YOUR attempt to murder him has failed. Now move away from the door if you know what is good for you. Your execution will come soon enough."

Cetan also meditated for a while. He asks Abby if she has a plan. She replies, "The only plan I've got is to not be executed in Egypt. I haven't got a clue how to accomplish it. But I heard Ruby, so we're not alone here. Since we didn't get freed last night after she figured out we were here, I can only guess she's a prisoner as well. I don't regret doing what we did, but I sure as hell don't want to have traded my life for the ones we saved. At least I hope we saved them. I don't know what that Rene bastard has been doing."

It takes Ruby, George and Mina minimal time to get the tunnel exposed and explore downward. Ruby and Mina easily make it through the nearly vertical passageway, using bed sheets as a makeshift rope. George manages it too with a little help from the ladies. They soon find themselves at downward "T" intersection, where the vent goes both east and west, with iron grates on the ground every 20 feet. Following smells (specifically the smell of sheep) they soon find themselves looking down into a barren cell fifteen feet below that has Cetan, Abby, a sheep, and four shepherds contained within it.

"Sheep? why do they have a sheep locked up? Surely they haven't been in prison that long" whispers George. "I have no idea why they have sheep locked up," Ruby comments. "But if they can't answer, we'll crawl a little further and see where else we can exit." Ruby leans carefully over the grate. "Abby... can you hear me?" she whispers as quietly as she can. "Look up."

Cetan nudges Abby and looks up, just in case she didn't hear that. "Hmmm, Abby not say'em much." Cetan whispers up to the two legs, "Cetan, have heap big plan. Me break'em down door, cast'em mist, and run like mad bear is following..." "Will you please, please quit with the pigeon English? I'm here, the guards have sharp ears," she said quietly looking up. She says, "We had a prisoner who betrayed us. He's somewhere in the palace probably trying to pull the plan off."

The others fail to hear here, having continued on through the horizontal ventilation shaft. They soon are looking down through a grate upon a corridor immediately outside of where Abby and the others are imprisoned. There is a lone ogre guard on duty. Ruby looks back to her companions, giving them the quiet sign. Then she softly mutters a few words, casting sleep upon the guard below her. Ruby’s watches as the guard falls back and slowly sinks to the floor. Those inside the cell hear the "Clunk" as he falls back and watch the back of his head disappear downward through the window.

Ruby shifts back in the shaft and looks over the grate separating her from her friends. "Well, that should help with our daring escape," she comments to those below in a louder voice as she works to open the grate. "Abby, it looks like you made some friends!" With Mina and George's assistance they manage to get the grate above Abby's cell removed. They are still fifteen feet above the ground below

Ruby peeks her head into the cell. "Morning, fellow captives. Good day for a breakout, isn't it?" she grins. She gives a look around the cell. "My, you all must have been very naughty, this cell is positively bare! Anything here we can use? Well, actually, first, Abby, have you made some new friends? I'm not sure we can get the sheep out of the cell here. Or the centaur." Cetan suggests that If fifteen feet is a problem he can help with that. Letting the two legs stand on his back should make it easy to climb up.

"I guess we're committed now," Abby said with a shake of her head. "You all don't let grass grow under your feet, do you? Meren, we got you into this, and I wish we'd been better prepared. I'll do my best to get you out, if that's what you want." Meren discusses the situation with her three companions in a language that Abby does not know. She then turns and says, "I will go with you, but my male companions will remain here to protect the animal."

While Meren discussed the situation with the others, Abby turned to Ruby. "I don't remember if you met Cetan earlier," she said nodding to the centaur. "He came in with Alsoomse on the train. Meren is the druidess and the men are the shepherds we came to protect. We stopped the plan from going off, but we had a prisoner who betrayed us at the Palace entrance. He know the language the guards spoke when we didn't. I have no idea what he told them but it got us tossed in here."

While Ruby moved ahead, George stayed at the grate where the guard was seen. George carefully lifts the grate out and surreptitiously peers down the hallway. If no one is there he will drop down into the hallway. George approaches the guard, who is sound asleep, but will probably waken once the spell is worn off. He notes that the lock looks aged, one that Ruby should have little to no trouble picking from this side of the door. George calls up quietly into the vent, "Ruby, I need you here to pick the lock on the door." George then searches the guard for perhaps keys, a weapon or some other means of securing the guard while keeping an eye and ear alert down the hall.

George finds six things on the guard: A key ring with four keys, a leather pouch with Egyptian coins, a large knife similar in size and shape to the Bowie knife, a statue of a Nubian deity, a piece of amber with a flower petal encased inside it, and a ring that appears to be magical in nature as it changes size when George removes it from the larger man's hand.

George takes the knife and quickly cuts some of the guard's clothing and binds his hands and gags him. He then gathers the remaining items and pockets them as he turns to the door, trying each of the four keys in the lock. The second key works. The group are immediately reunited. Mina asks about Ben and Alsoomse. George helps Mina and Ruby down from the vents.

As Mina asks about Ben and Alsoomse George quickly looks around the second "cell" and begins to inspect the hallway. The corridor ends 100 feet to the left. The rooms appear to be more cells. To the right the corridor hits a "T" intersection, the left being a narrower corridor with a dirt rather than stone floor and the right being a staircase up.

Abby says to Ruby and Mina, "They didn't come with us. They decided to see what they could do by watching the fanatic, Abdullah. I hope they got somewhere since we only managed to stop the immediate plot." "Wait, what plot?" asks George as he motions the group down the hallway. He holds up a hand to stop them at the end of the hallway as he peers around the corners, especially at what is at the top of the stairs.

Abby says, “Long story short, some of the French wizards planned on sneaking in to the Palace using mundane disguises and poisoning last night's feast. They would have killed the King and a lot of other people." She nodded toward Meren and said, "They meant to waylay the druidess and the shepherds and assume their identities to get into the Palace. We stopped that, but we had a French prisoner. He betrayed us at the door since he spoke Nubian and we didn't." "That bastard! He'll get his, before this is through," Ruby says angrily.

Ruby continues, "I guess now we try to get out of here. I wonder, should we go up back in the vents or try to get around out here in the hallways. If we do that, at the very least we need a plan, like getting some uniforms or something like that. I'm pretty good at being quiet but we have a big enough group of us that we aren't going to be really quiet." Mina interjects "Cetan won't fit through the air duct, so we're better off using the main hallway. I can cast a Sleep spell, should we run into more guards." She replies, "Well, I wasn't sure our new friend was joining us. If we get caught we will surely be killed. Where as now, there's maybe only a 99% chance of that. Let us check out the dirt path first before going up those stairs."

Chapter 74 "The Crypt of Nafita” (Episode Two, Chapter Thirty-four) - Sunday, September 11, 1882, 7:00 A.M.

Ruby leads the group down the dirt hallway. The path goes for around 100 feet, ending in a small room that looks to be used for food storage. Checking inside the wooden crates, Ruby finds them filled with corked wine bottles, urns filled with rice, urns of salt, and urns with ground wheat. There is another open door with a corridor off from the opposite side of the room, but based upon the cobwebs covering over the doorway it hasn't been used for months if not years.

Ruby holds up a hand for the others to stay and then she checks out the unused area. It goes for another 400 feet, ending at a wooden door. The door has broken off from the upper hinge, leaving a small crack to see to the other side. Shining her light, Ruby sees that it is a large crypt, with alcoves full of hundreds of skeletons and two stone sarcophagi in the center of the room. Ruby shivers but enters anyway. There might be another way out of here, she thinks to herself as she searches around the room.

There is no apparent main exit, but there are more smaller side hallways with several alcoves filled with bones. As she nears one of the stone sarcophaguses Ruby feels a wave of powerful magic wash over her, and sees magical auras radiating from the casket. This sensation has an air of familiarity about it, she had felt similarly to this before she was in a dream-like state and in the presence of the Goddess Aphrodite, although this also has a distinctly different feel to it too, an even mix of curiosity and dread.

Once Ruby regains her composure she takes a closer look at the stone casket without getting any closer, seeing that it is covered with Egyptian runes. She recognizes many of them from her recent trip to Zakazik/Bubastus as being the signs of Bast, the Cat Goddess. Part of her feels drawn to the object while she simultaneously feels repelled. Ruby hurries quietly back down the hallway to the others.

She exclaims, "I think there is something we should check out. I'm not sure it's a way out but... trust me, we have to check it out." She takes George's hand and starts pulling him down the hallway, motioning for the others to follow. When she pulls them into that room she says, "That casket, we have to look closer at it. Do you feel that?" Mina and George had followed Ruby. Mina exclaims, "Yes, I can feel it. Incredible power, but it does not feel like wizard magics." "Then clerical?" asks George.

"To me it feels like... not clerical magic but magic like when I saw the Goddess Aphrodite. Gods’ magic. That is why we should check it out." "So not divine but rather Divine" adds George with a grin. "Ok, let's check this out" As they move closer they all sense greater power. George definitely gets a sense of Clerical magic. Mina translates the Egyptian writing on the sarcophagus. "It reads 'Lady of the East, the Goddess of the Rising Sun, and The Sacred and All-Seeing Eye.' Those were all names for Bast. Atop the upper lid she says, "It reads that this is the crypt of Djeserit Mew-Shir" She pauses and comments, "That's interesting, the exact translation would be 'Holy Woman Kitten'. There is one other name below that, reading Nafita, daughter of Ussarken II. I recall that he was a Pharaoh during the twenty-second dynasty, approximately 2,700 years ago. That was the dynasty
when Bubastis was the capital of the Egyptian Empire."

Ruby furrowed her brows. "What does that all mean? I mean, that can't be the actual goddess Bast, so it must mean they wanted Bast to protect this... woman... then?" Mina replies, "I don't know. I am familiar with the language and who the Pharaoh were, but I know very little about the Egyptian deities." George says, "So late Old Kingdom. Bast worship would have been in full swing, before the solar prominence of the Middle Kingdom. So this woman may then have been a high priestess for Bast from that time? The question is why does it still radiate magic?" Mina says, "Probably magical items buried with her. But the stone casket it covered with other runes as well, most likely powerful magic to protect it from grave robbers. I do not know if it would even be safe to try to open without a High Priest or Priestess of Bast to cast the appropriate ritual first."

Ruby says, "What about that statue thing George has? Isn't that protection from Bast? Maybe he should take it out?" "Tsk, tsk Mina. When has your granddaughter ever done anything the safe way? Now we do have the Bast figure that we found in the temple, perhaps it can help us open it. I think I have the strongest affinity with Bast here from previous interactions with Bast's forces. At this point, we don't have much to lose. Perhaps Bast will bless us with a tool to save her people and the kingdom of Nafita." replies George. Statue in hand, George senses that the stone has a relationship to whatever is within the casket. As he holds it up he sees several Egyptian runes glow on the casket. The translation of the words come into his head as he reads them in the ancient Egyptian language, a sequence to disarm the traps. When it is done he feels that the casket is safe to open.

"What are you doing?" a female voice at the entranceway to the room exclaims. He turns to see that the question was raised by the druid Meren, with Abby and Cetan in the corridor behind her. "Why looking for the white rabbit, or at least the way to Wonderland." replies George. "We're looking for a way out," Ruby responds. Meren says to George with a voice of alarm "What is that you are holding Sir?" "An idol of Bast. A lucky cat's foot if you will. And I believe the lovely Bast is giving us the tools to help her protect the kingdom. That was always her role to protect the pharaoh and the kingdom. I believe Bast needs our help to save the king." replies George without taking his eyes off the casket.

George opens the casket, to reveal the mummified remains of a figure shaped like a teenage girl. Bright light glows outward from inside the wrappings. Based on the patterns of light it appears that the source of the illumination is in the shapes beneath of a wide belt, a wide necklace, and some type of think crown with a jewel in the front. Ruby, Mina, George, Abby, Cetan and Meren all feel a commanding strength from these objects as well as feeling instantly revitalized.

Abby stepped into the room and close go George. "Bast has seemed to take an interest in our mission. One of her priestesses was very helpful to us back in Zakazik. But have a care, Mr. Eastman. Your affinity could become a lot more than it is now. If you don't want to take the risk, I will." "Thank you for your concern Abby, but I already established a connection, and while it may yet manifest more than I realize, I am not willing to endanger you." replies George.

"I don't think it's danger so much as perhaps a commitment. A claim on you. But if you're willing to go ahead, I won't argue with you," Abby said, but she didn't move back, instead waiting to see what happened and seeing if she was able to read or translate anymore than Mina had been able to. "Well, she'll have to get in line behind Ruby then." replies George with a grin. 'I don't think even Bast wants to get between Miss Ruby West and her man" Ruby laughed. "Let's hope I don't have to fight a goddess. That will be one difficult fight!"

Ruby continued hesitantly. "Abby, have you had... experiences... with the gods before?" She says, "Not in particular. I've never had any kind of particular attachment to any of them. I felt very at home in Bast's temple though. Lots of cats, and I like cats," she smiled. Ruby nodded. "Good, then you are open to it? A lot of people aren't. Remind me later to tell you about the time I met Aphrodite. For now, it's good to know you are drawn to Bast. I feel drawn but also simultaneously repelled so I imagine Bast must know I am already aligned with another goddess. But perhaps this one has chosen George or you!" Abby says, "I'm open to it, but then again, there's not much in life I'm not open to. But I have felt rather... homey, near things that are connected to Bast. Who knows where life will take me?" she said with a smile.

"Forgive me Nafita, I do this to honor and serve Bast" says George as he prepares to remove the artifacts from out of the wrappings. Meren exclaims "Nafita! The Djeserit Mew-Shir!" Mina states, "You know of her?" Meren says, "She is legendary. She was a princess, the daughter of Pharaoh Ussarken II. During his reign a large invading army from the East sought to capture Egypt. The invaders outnumbered the Egyptians three-to-one, and the Pharaoh feared total defeat. His daughter was a Priestess of Bast, she offered to sacrifice herself to save her father's kingdom. Bast became manifest on Earth, taking form in Nafita's body. She fought and defeated the invaders. Unfortunately she also burned out the Princess's body, which perished once Bast returned to her own plane.”

Meren pauses then adds “There was a rumor that the current King's grandfather transported Nafita's crypt away from Bubastus when France's Emperor Napoleon invaded Egypt at the turn of the century. That rumor was apparently true if her sarcophagus is here." Ruby states, "Well, isn't that what is happening right now? I mean, the invasion part?" Meren says, "That is probably why the objects are currently glowing and why we spell casters are drawn to it. I doubt they've been in that state of illumination for the last 2,700 years, it would have been too tempting to open it if had."

Abby says, "We should be very careful with this Mummy. We must treat her with the utmost respect that we are able. Disturbing the dead is usually a bad idea." George takes a big breath. "Ok, Abby go ahead and say some words of sanctity, I will hold the Statue as I unwrap the priestess here to be able to get to these items." George intones in Egyptian hoping Nafita will understand the modern version. "Oh Great Bast, please forgive us as we disturb your priestess Nafita. We seek the artifacts she guards in order to save the kingdom of Egypt which you have always guarded. Allow us to use them to save this kingdom from the foreign invaders that threaten the royal family." say George as he unwraps the coverings.

Ruby helps George with the unwrapping in the most respectful way she can. It takes a solid half hour, but they are eventually able to get the three artifacts, all made of solid gold with blue and green gems worked into them. The largest gem is in the crown. George is able to physically touch the items, but when Ruby does she gets a slight jolt. "Well excuuussseeee me," Ruby comments, leaving the objects alone.

"Abby, care to give it a go? If not, George will have to handle all three." Ruby paused for a long moment. "Well, wait a minute. The last lady who wore all three died. So maybe that's not a good idea." She turns back to the others. "Do you know what each item was rumored to do?" she asks Meren. The druid replies, "No, I am sorry, I only know of the legend." Abby approached and delicately touched the gem in the crown, ready to assist George. "We really need to get moving, too. I think we've all forgotten that we're in the middle of an escape attempt."

"Oh no, I am quite aware that a few dozen Nubian Ogres are after our collective heads at this point. But you don't rush these things Abby. But if the crown lets you, lift it our and I will remove the belt and the necklace. Gently of course." replies George They no sooner complete this task when they hear the sound of distant weapons fire. The sound appears to be coming from outside of the palace and is primarily small arms fire, although a considerable amount of it.

Ok, now this is Ruby's kind of party. Ok, let's see what happens" says George as he puts on the belt. The belt continues to light up but George fells otherwise the same. Ruby steps away from magical items for the time being; she does a more through search of the alcoves, looking for any hidden doors she may have missed. "I think all the artifacts need to be together. Either in the casket with the Priestess, or on one of us. Either way, if they react in a way that can help, now is the time." Abby held the crown toward George. "I wish Sabah were here, she'd know what to do."

Mina says "Sabah may be the key to this. Zakazik and Cairo aren't that far apart if the train is still running. We should try to get a message to her if at all possible." Abby replies, "Then we need to get out of here, now. We can't move the mummy, and we've got the artifacts out. We should either take them with us, or leave them here, but we need to go. Things are getting worse out there." Mina says, "Let's take them, they seem to be allowing George to physically touch them. I saw telegraph lines alongside the railroad tracks, we could try to get a telegraph message to John Hardin back in Zakazik."

George nods and accepts the crown from Abby. He places the necklace around his neck but under his shirt, he covers the belt with his shirt as well. Placing the crown upon his head and holding the Bast statue in front of him George says "Ok let us see if we can find a way out." George concentrates on the statue and in his mind asks “Bast, please show us the way out”. Light projects from the crown towards a small alcove in the side wall with a small stone table taking up most of it. There do not appear to be any obvious exits there.

"Ruby, you seem to have a knack at finding hidden things, care to search the alcove there for an exit my dear?" asks George. "I'll check. We may have to move that stone table though." Ruby moves towards the alcove and begins checking it for traps and a way out. There is nothing obvious, although it is hard to check behind with the 400 pound stone table in the way. But with some rope attached the centaur Cetan is able to pull it out.

Once removed, Egyptian words flash into George's head and he recites them. The back of the alcove wall then glows and vanishes, revealing a six-foot wide corridor made of polished stone with a curved archway nine feet at its height. It is illuminated with magical light and extends as far as the eye can see. Despite the passage of centuries if not millennia since it was last used there is no dirt, rubble, moisture or evidence of insects or rodents.

Ruby exclaims, "Seems the goddess DOES want to help us! There is no way for us to go through and have them not know we went this way, as the stone table will be out of place. we'll just have to shut the door and hope they don't have magic to open it. Alright, come on everyone!" Ruby shoos everyone through the door, having George help her close it once everyone is in. "Alright, George I suppose you should go first, you're leading the way after all. "Ruby and George squeeze to the front and lead the group forward.

They travel for at least a quarter mile. The corridor ends with a stone spiral staircase up ending at a trap door. Light shines again from the amulet and the door rises. They exit inside of a stone temple, with depictions of various Egyptian gods on the walls. Meren says, "We are in one of the oldest temples in Cairo. This is the Priests’ prayer room." Once they are all out the door seals behind them. Mina says “I’m guessing that Bast sealed it at the other end too. That should throw off our pursuers.”

They careful exit the building, hiding and waiting whenever a priest comes by, and are soon outside. The gunfire is louder and they see that over 3,000 people have surrounded the palace. Several dozen men are firing rifles at the palace guard, who are behind barricades and firing back. Abby recognizes the man Abdullah as the group's leader. Ruby says, "I'd like to just get the heck out of here. But I doubt that is what the goddess had in mind when helping us find these items. George, do you want to ask for guidance again? Otherwise it may just be get out of here so we can live to fight another day."

"Last I knew it was the French, or rather a French faction that was causing problems. Did they instigate this? As far as I know we need the General and the princess and make the King see that the marriage is one of love and of political power. So with that in mind….Bast, show us the way to save this kingdom." asks George. George receives no further guidance, and the objects cease glowing now that the group are out in public where it would attract attention.

Abby says, "The whole situation is murky, but that's Abdullah the fanatic. Part of the French plan, the one that most of them don't know about, was to get him to attack the palace so the King's death by poisoning could be blamed on the attack instead. But whatever the reasons, he is here to kill the King. And probably has a French wizard with him. My first priority is to get a message to Sabah."

It takes little time to get to the Cairo telegraph office. However, they arrive to see that eight of Abdullah's followers have taken control of the office and are not allowing any telegraphs to be sent. Five of the eight appear to be young and armed only with knives on their belts. The older three have firearms, one with a single-shot musket, another with a single-shot pistol and the leader armed with a more modern six-shot revolver.

George studies the group for a moment then decides to try his hand at some deception. Staring at the "leader", the man with the six-shooter he whispers into his palm. Casting message at the leader: in Arabic "My faithful servant, this is the ghost of Abdullah, we have failed, they have killed me. Run and save yourselves!" A shocked look comes over the face of the leader. He walks around the room and whispers into the ear of the man with the pistol who whispers back. The man then turns to the other older man with the rifle and says in Arabic "Hokki and I need to patrol with our sons, you are in charge here." The two men and two of the younger men then depart.

Ruby says, "Okay, does anyone have any sort of weapon? I have a small dagger that's hidden, and my spells, that's about it. I will cast sleep on the remaining but it not might not work on everyone so we need a way to overcome them." Ruby glanced around, "I'll really need to get a gun sooner rather than later." "Prepare yourselves." Ruby gets herself into a position where no one in the crowds can see her and she casts sleep on the group. The three younger men immediately fall asleep. The man with the rifle looks around frantically while holding but not aiming the rifle.

Ruby exclaims, "Darn It! I thought that might happen. What should we do now?" "I'll handle this" says George. George staggers out of their hiding spot. He staggers slowly towards the remaining man. He shouts at the man in slurred Arabic: "Tariq! Tariq! Come have a drink with me my friend. We need to celebrate!" As George gets within arms reach he grabs the gun barrel so the stock swings up and hits the man in the head. George will add a few punches as necessary. The already confused man is unconscious by the second punch.

It does not take the group long to find the four telegraph office workers tied up and locked in a storeroom. They find the equipment is still in working order. The office manger comments to George, "I'm surprised they didn't cut the telegraph lines. They must have figured they would need this later to announce their victory to the world." While Abby gets her telegram sent George asks the manager "Is there another force of the Royal guards or loyal army whom we could telegraph for aid that could arrive soon?"

The manager replies, "The King has troops in every large community, I am certain that is why the rebels took control of here. There's Heliopolis five miles to the north, Gizeh ten miles to the west and Memphis twenty miles to the south." Abby pulled up another of the telegraph employees and nudged him over to the equipment. "I need to send a telegraph to Sabah, Priestess of Bast at the temple in Zakazik. If there's any way you have to note it is of high importance, I need you to do that too."

After having been held hostage and now rescued by the people making the request, the worker is more than happy to comply. He asks her for the text of the message. Abby took a moment to think, uncertain how much detail she wanted passing through other hands on its way to Sabah. Finally, she said, "Palace under attack by Abdullah. Crown, necklace, belt found, affinity for cats. Protected by us in trust for your lady. Need your help. Please advise." The man taps out the message.

Chapter 75 "Cairo Command Headquarters” (Episode Two, Chapter Thirty-four) - Sunday, September 11, 1882, 10:30 A.M.

It has been a busy 90-minutes since the party arrived at the Cairo telegraph office. Sensing a leadership vacuum outside of the besieged palace, George Eastman has taken control of the situation, setting up the telegraph office as his headquarters and communication center. With all of the city's Egyptian Army Generals and Colonels trapped within the palace, George quickly located the remaining highest ranking officer, Lieutenant Colonel Dhahabiya Hassan, and had him sent telegrams to all army camps and bases within three hours of Cairo by either foot, camel, horse, train or watercraft along the Nile.

A coordinated effort is now under weigh with approximately 5,000 Egyptian troops set to converge upon the city at around noon. Magical communications have also been sent to the Generals within the palace, letting them know that reinforcements are on the way and to do whatever they can to hold the building until early afternoon.

Communications northward to Zakazik have indicated that Abdullah's followers damaged the railroad bridge, so trains are no longer running between there and Cairo. Princess Neferka and her husband Ahmed Orabi apparently are planning to meet with the King in Cairo at 1PM, scheduled to leave Zakazik with the Frenchmen on a dirigible at 11AM. A telegraph message arrives from the Bast Priestess Sabah, indicating that she has received the message and she tentatively plans to join the Princess for her journey to Cairo. Sabah remains at the Zakazik telegraph office awaiting a reply.

Abby sent a message back for Sabah. "Your assistance needed and appreciated. Beware the French. Plot to kill King seemed limited and known to only a few French, but which few is uncertain. Yourself and one who saved Egypt long ago may be key to battle." The reply reads "I will be going as a spiritual advisor to the Princess. They need not know anything else."

Another telegram has arrived sent by Doctor Luiz Chernoviz from the port of Gibraltar, indicating that the ship Magnificence has made record time in crossing the Atlantic Ocean and is entering the Mediterranean Sea and heading towards Egypt. Meanwhile, the British forces and the Egyptian Rebel forces are all building up for a massive decisive battle tomorrow at the town of Tel-el Kebir, southeast of Zakazik.

Ruby comments, "You know, I have to wonder why we want to help people who would kill us if we saw them again. Of course, knowing the truth they would certainly change their minds about that." She glanced at her grandmother. "Well, at least for most of us." "So, what do we do now? Abby, should we let Sabah know she should accompany the Princess and General here? I mean, is there reason to have her here? The potential for life risking is very high at the moment."

Mina says, "How would she even get here? That dirigible is going to the palace. That building is surrounded by 3,000 people who want the King dead. I don't think anybody will be coming or going from that building." Ruby answers, "Well, how are the Princess and General getting in? They must have some sort of plan knowing the situation." Mina says, "The Frenchmen's balloon would be able to land on the Palace's roof, just as it did the hotel back in Zakazik."

Ruby replies, "That's what I figured. I am certain the clever Princess will find a way in. Now we need to figure out what we're going to do. I mean, I don't think we can stop that crazy crowd outside the palace." Abby says, "She's already coming as an adviser to the Princess. We got out of the Palace, I'm sure she can too. And don't forget that she's a priestess, she has magic of her own to use. As for risking her life, I don't like it either but she is dedicated to her goddess and Egypt. She's willing to take risks for them both."

Abby had another telegram sent, saying simply, "Cannot meet you at Palace. Suggestions?" The Priestess sends a reply "That is where the Frenchmen are going. With the train not running it would take me several hours to reach Cairo by horse." She sends back, "You should land on roof. May have to improvise. See you soon." Abby turned to Ruby and said, "You're right, stopping that crowd isn't likely to happen. And just the few of us probably won't turn the tide of the battle on our own. Maybe we should seek out a temple of Bast here, see if we can figure out how to use these things without Sabah if we have to." Mina says, "There is no temple to Bast in Cairo. There used to be one inside the main temple, which is where the tunnel out led us to." Abby says. "So that's a no go then."

George interjects, "Stopping the crowds is what I have been working with that Army officer about. That crowd are mostly Egyptian citizens who were riled up by that Abdullah, he only has a couple of hundred with any real weapons or training, and they've been the ones exchanging fire with the palace guards. The Army want to disperse the others without having to fire on them."

Ruby tapped her lips. "Well, I could try singing, the crowd is probably full of regular people and I might be able to fascinate them. However, I've never faced a crowd this large so it probably wouldn't work. Also, there is the pesky trouble of those people with guns." Abby says, "An illusion sounds like something to would help with that. Anyone here particularly good at them. Something terrifying enough to break the nerve of the citizens and set them running?"

Mina says, "That sounds like a plan. What should the timing be? George says that the army will be here in two hours." Abby replies, "I'd say to wait as long as we can. If we send them running too soon we give away that something is happening, but leave a large block of time for Abdullah to adjust his thoughts and tactics. The downside is that if it doesn't work, we don't have time to try something else."

Mina says, "The only 'something else' I can think of is for us to go back into the Palace the same way that we got out of it." Abby says, "What would be accomplish by doing that?" Mina says "If that is where Princess Neferka and Priestess Sabah are we may need to meet there."

Ruby asks, "Abby, what's this Abdullah guy about? Is he a spell caster?" She replies, "Sorry, Ben and Alsoomse were looking to Abdullah. I only know he's a fanatic of some kind, easily riled up." George checks with an Army communications officer who has been helping with the army coordination. He reports back that Abdullah is a low-level Priest, who was one a top tax collector for the King but was fired for keeping poor paperwork.”

Ruby says, "Well, I may be able to charm him. But my spell isn't very powerful so it might not work." George says, "The downside to Abdullah's background is that he not only has a person grudge against the King, but is also familiar with the Palace and all of its entrances and exits. He has his troops flanking the main front gate as well as the three rear entrances."

Ruby suggests, "I can't cast any illusions myself. But I could attempt to suggest to Abdullah that this plan of his isn't working. However, if he is a spell caster there is less of a chance of it working." Abby says, "Damn, I'm not much good at illusions either. Maybe we should just run past them naked," she said with a laugh. Mina says with a smile, "I've actually used that as a plan on three occasions in my lifetime, but I'm getting a little on in years for it to still be effective." Ruby answers, "You're still gorgeous to me Nana!"

Mina says, "Hmmm, the female distraction idea is still valid. Harlots perhaps." Abby says, "Do you really think that would pull the commoners away? Without knowing how Abdullah motivated them, it's hard to know how to get them to leave." Mina says, "Just brainstorming. Cairo has a red-light district and we still have lots of money that we brought and haven't spent. I was actually thinking about all of the commoners who are married couples, thinking to giving the women a reason to drag their husbands away from here."

George says, "According to the communications guy, he's convinced the crowd that General Orabi is right, that the King has sold out his countrymen to foreign governments." Abby says, "So we're on the right track with our plans. Religious fanatics are harder to shake. And if they were political fanatics, they would already have been with him. Scaring them away is the best option."

Abby suggests, "We could try to humiliate Abdullah, or make him look weak. A Reduce Person spell if we could get close enough. Too bad there isn't someone here to call him out to one on one combat." George says, "Hmmm, could we get Hardin here?" Ruby says, "That would work, he's amazing with those guns. But isn't he far away and would need the rain to get here?" Abby says, "He is. And if he had time to get here it works. I suppose you don't really need a good reason to call Abdullah out, just any reason at all." Mina says, "Loyalty to the King would be reason enough."

George gets to work with the telegraph operator and sends four separate telegrams. He soon gets replies from two and says "Okay, the bridge that is out is between Heliopolis and Cairo, just five miles north of here, but the trains were all here on the Cairo side. The railroad yard in the Sherkiyeh Province has a steam engine that was down for repairs but they think they can get it operational and over to Zakazik within the hour. We could get Hardin, Sabah, and anybody else in Zakazik to Heliopolis using that." Ruby says, That would help us considerably." Abby says, "Let's do that. At least then we have control of where they arrive, and they don't have to come in at the Palace.

Ruby exclaims, "You know, I'm getting tired of this nonsense. Where is that gun the guy George punched out had? I'll shoot the bastard myself. Then his followers will panic and hopefully they'll run away." Abby says, "And then his devoted lieutenants kill you. Probably no our best plan." Mina comments, "Well, there is always some merit it the direct way. I just wouldn't recommend it when he has three thousand followers with him."

Ruby says, "Didn't that guy have a rifle? I could shoot him from the roof of a nearby building. I realize this isn't the wild west but I can actually shoot a guy and I'm pretty darned good at it too. If it's not a rifle, we find a rifle, someone in this mob has to have one." Abby says, "Sniper shot isn't a bad idea. I can make it much more likely that you'll hit, as well." George says, "If you're serious about that Ruby I can talk to Lieutenant Colonel Hassan about getting you one."

Ruby says, "Why not? I mean, we're talking about all kinds of plans here that we can't accomplish easily. The illusion plan is solid but none of us can cast anything sufficient. Who knows when Hardin or Sabah or anyone else can get here. What else can we do? It's a simple plan, which I am sure will not be easy to carry out but at least it's something we can do. I'm not saying we have to do this plan but I'm throwing it out as an option. It's not elegant but it is doable."

George has an Army private go to find Lieutenant Colonel Hassan. He says, "Okay, but let's keep this idea to our close knit group and the Lt. Colonel. The more who know about it the greater likelihood of word getting leaked to Abdullah." Ruby replies, "Agreed. If Hardin gets here in time, he can do it or we both can try. I think Abby is right, we don't want to wait until the last second but we don't want to do it too soon. It'll take us time to get across the roofs anyway."

Abby says, "Sounds like a good plan. Getting rid of Abdullah should get rid of the citizens. His devoted followers will probably see him as a martyr and fight harder, but we should have enough reinforcements coming to negate that." Ruby answers, "Exactly. So, we need guns, ammo and the route we're taking. I bet it would be easy enough right now to walk outside in this mob of people to get to a closer building but I don't want to take the chance of something happening to one of us before the plan goes off."

Mina says, "An illusion at that point in time might facilitate the disbursement." Abby suggests, "A really large, terrifying man with a gun standing on a roof that isn't the one we're on, perhaps?" George suggest saving at least one illusion for when the dirigible comes so that it looks like more than one is coming, that will help protect the princess and demoralize the crowd more. George receives two more telegrams. He says, "Hardin arrived at the telegraph office, but Sabah had already left the building. I've sent him to try to intercept her before she reaches the hotel in Zakazik."

Lt. Col. Hassan arrives. George calls him into the room and shuts the door. He asks, "Do you have access to a good sniper rifle?" The Army officer replies, "Why?" Abby says, "The army wants the civilians out of the way before the reinforcements arrive, yes? We surmise that if we can make Abdullah look weak, or scare the citizens without harming them, they'll run."

Lt. Col Hassan says, "All of our best marksmen are with the Army at the front, they would have their best weapons with them. The only other rifle of that nature that we have is locked up in the armory, an 1881 Swiss Vetterli rifle that was personally presented to the King by the Austria-Hungarian Crown Prince." Abby says, "I don't know guns. Is that something we can work with?" Ruby exclaims, "What do you know, I know that model gun really well. I've had a lot of practice with it. If it's possible for me to borrow it, that will work and I'll do the sharp shooting myself." The Lt. Col. heads out to retrieve the weapon and ammunition.

George returns to the telegraph machines and announces that Hardin now has Sabah with him at the telegraph office in Zakazik. Ruby asks, "How far are we from Zakazik? I, uh, can't exactly remember." Mina says, “Zakazik to Cairo is around 65 miles.” Ruby asks, "How long will it take by train for Hardin to get here. Anyone know?" George replies, "He should be at Heliopolis by 11:30. He'll then have to get across the river. We can have the army send another train up from here to meet him on the other side. It'll be close, but he should make it here by noon."

Ruby states, "Alright, I'll take the gun and try to take care of this maniac. If Hardin shows up in time, all the better, he can do it. As for the illusion, Nana do you have any spells like that or know anyone around here that does?" Abby says, "I can do something simple, but it wouldn't have any sound." Ruby says, "Well, it's better than nothing and it's bound to work on some of the masses at least. Hopefully the sound of gun shots will scare off the rest. Okay, so guns and illusions. Anything else we should be worried about? Besides not getting caught by anyone from the palace?"

Mina says, "Well, I still have a fair amount of money and this city has lots of magic shops. I could spend the next hour seeing what else I can find that might be helpful." Ruby says, "That's a great idea Nana. But don't go alone, take someone with you. Now, why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?"

Chapter 76 "More than enough to create chaos" (Episode Two, Chapter Thirty-four) - Sunday, September 11, 1882, 11:15 A.M.

It has been a few hours since George Eastman, Ruby West, Abigail Marsters, Cetan and the druid Meren escaped from the jail cells beneath the royal palace. George Eastman has now taken command of the Cairo Telegraph Office, using that as his base of operations while coordinating the convergence of multiple groups to Cairo to bring relief to the beseiged palace King Haker Takeleth VI, where an angry mob of 3,000 are calling for the King's overthrow.

Working with the highest ranking local officer outside of the palace , Lieutenant Colonel Dhahabiya Hassan, a group of 5,000 army soldiers are converging upon Cairo from surrounding communities and expected to arrive within the hour. A sniper rifle has also been sent for, which Ruby West has volunteered to use. Telegrams have been sent to Zakazik, where several of the group's allies are now on a southbound train to Cairo. Meanwhile, it has been nearly a day since their allies Alsoomse and Fish were last seen in the community of Heliopolis, five miles to the north.

"We need to buy ourselves some time" mused George out loud. "Certainly many of those in the mob are there by coercion, threats or bribery. But few of them are armed and are merely providing cover for the true threats." George turns to an employee of the telegraph office "Tariq, quickly fetch me three or four local food peddlers, men with carts, bring them here quickly, within 10 minutes, I will make it worth their while" orders George.

It takes closer to fifteen minutes, but the vendors arrive, a total of five. There are three selling different types of Egyptian breads, one with marinated roasted chicken and lamb, and another with finger food comprised of leaves stuffed with rice and seasonings. Ruby raised an eyebrow at George. "Strange time to get the munchies, darling, isn't it?" “Oh my perfect houri, you know the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. And so though the stomach you will target the heart with your rifle." George replies to Ruby.

Turning to the vendors George quizzes each in Arabic determining the value of their food, and how much they have on their carts. With some mental calculations George estimates the value of all their food. He then offers double the amount to the vendors, paid in cash. George says he will pay the men and the have to go to set locations George tells them (which seem random but which George has picked out in a semi-circle around the gates of the palace.) The vendors have to go and merely call out loudly that they have free food, donated by Bast. And simply feed any and all who come.

Ruby replies, "Well, now that's a good plan my love. Hopefully the free food will lure away most of the commoners leaving who we're looking for behind." Ruby taps her lips in familiar fashion. "I wonder when Nana will return from shopping and if she has found anything useful to us."

Nana doesn't return yet, but George does receive word at 11:30 from the Heleopolis train depot that the train from Zakazik has arrived. That is followed by a telegram from Zakazik addressed to George Eastman with the sender listed as Princess Neferka. It reads: Mr. Eastman. The Bast Priestess Sabah informed me that you currently were at the telegraph office. I plan to leave for Cairo within the next hour with Ahmed and the French on their Dreadnaught. We were informed by my sister that we must appear before the King no later than Four O'Clock today to appeal for both Ruby's life and for our marriage. Were you given any assurances as to Ahmed's safety? And do you know where Ruby is being kept?

George quickly sends back a telegraph "Ruby is safely outside the palace as I am after being incarcerated. Mob has gathered and is threatening the palace gates. Have had no assurances about anyone's safety and am trying to prevent a wholesale revolt."

After a few minutes Neferka sends a reply stating: Glad to hear that Ruby is safe. Father is either lying to me or still believes you are his prisoners. I will probably still come to appeal for the preservation of the marriage. Ahmed should remain in Zakazik if there are no assurances to his safety. It is vital that the crowd be dispersed before our arrival as the French have offered our Father the firepower of the Dreadnaught to end the riots.

Ruby looks at the telegram and comments, "The king probably doesn't know we have escaped yet. I suppose he could be lying just to get the Princess there but my guess is he doesn't know. And we already have a plan to move out the crowd. I guess we'll just have to figure out what to do if some of the crowd decides to stay."

Turning to her fiancé she asks, "George, you were up in that balloon thing. Is there any way for us to disable them being able to use their weapons?" "Hrrm, from the ground it would be tough, inside the dirigible, yes you could disable the recoil mechanism and make it dangerous to fire." replies George. Ruby says, "It was just a thought. Trying to give us less danger to deal with, you know? I thought maybe one of our spell slingers might have something to help with that."

"If the Princess is on board then I don't want to mess with the airship. I think we need to disperse any threat so the French don't get too involved. Once the princess is here and on the ground we will disable that airship. I got a decent look at it once on board and am sure that if needed we can ground it," replies George. Ruby answers, "That's true, there isn't much we can do if the Princess is on board. I guess we just have to make our plan here on the ground work. Anyone else have any ideas or things we need to think about?"

A squadron of Egyptian army soldiers arrive carrying a large trunk. The Lieutenant in charge uses a series of keys to open it up. Inside is a pristine 1881 Swiss Vetterli infantry rifle. The Lieutentant says to George, "This was given to the King as a gift from the Prince of Austria-Hungary. It was shipped here directly from the Waffenfabrik Factory in Berne. It has been minimally used, only a short demonstration given by the Prince's bodyguard, and later a few shots taken by our chief sniper. He did not care for the rifle, due to the added weight of the longer barrel."

"Well, let me take a look here." Ruby saunters over to the box and runs her hand along the metal. "It looks to be in perfect condition." She lifts the gun up, feeling the weight of it. Memories flood through her mind, memories of good times she had with her old lover. He had been patient teaching her how to use the gun and she had been a quick learner. "Ammunition? How much do I have? It'd be a good idea for me to shoot it a couple of times before I have to be perfect with my shot."

The Lieutenant retrieves a pair of large boxes from elsewhere in the case and says, "These each contain 200 rounds. One is unopened, the other is almost full." Ruby answers, "Very good, that should be plenty.” "More than enough to create chaos for Miss West" says George with a grin. Ruby smirks, "Creating chaos when there is already chaos should even things out a bit, no?"

Ruby turns back to the officer and says, “Thank you very much Lieutenant. Now, does anyone have any suggestions as to where I might practice my aim without scaring the good people?"
The Lieutenant suggests the train depot a half-mile away in the direction away from the palace, and with the noise from the trains the rifle shots shouldn't be obvious.

"Hmmmm, that may be too far. I guess we'll just have to wing it! I have enough bullets, just in case... I do really wish Hardin was here." Ruby shrugs. "Alright, we should probably eat a little something ourselves, who knows how long it will be until we can eat again. I know I could use a drink."

Abby had largely left the other two to their own devices for the last hour or so while she studied. What she studied was particularly accurate, but the hand drawn maps of the surrounding streets were the best to be had at the time. She slipped out a few times to look at the buildings, trying to anticipate where the crowd might go and where it would bottleneck.

The placement of Mr. Eastman's food carts could be important. Finally words reached her ears; Ruby was saying something about eating. She turned to the others and took off her glasses, sliding them into a case and then into her pocket. "I could eat," she said, and wiped her forehead. "I'm famished, actually." Ruby collected some food off the carts and distributed to her friends. "I know it's difficult to remember to eat when things get crazy, so it's good to eat now. What have you been up to?" Ruby asks curiously.

Abby says, "We managed to stop the attack on the Druidess and the shepherds, but we had a French prisoner. Well, he had tried to claim he was on our side. I didn't trust him but Cetan seemed to so I figured we'd just keep him with us to keep an eye on him. When we got to the Palace he was able to speak the guards language and we couldn't. Since they had guns pointed at us taking some of Alsoomse's potion wasn't an option. Next thing you know I'm in a cell with a slop bucket." Abby shrugged. "I had a lot more fun back in Bast's temple with Cal." “OOhhhh fun times with Cal, huh? Who is this Cal? We have to talk girl, you've been busy!"

Abby says, "Even if we save his life, I doubt we'll be welcome in his Majesty's Realm any longer. Most Kings don't like it when you don't stay in their prisons to enjoy their hospitality." Abby popped a fig into her mouth. "I doubt any disguise but a full body covering would help either of us. We should dress like locals and move confidently. Most people won't stop us."

George soon receives a telegram from Heliopolis indicating that his friends have been ferried across the river where the bridge is out and are now boarding another train to take them the final five miles to Cairo. George receives another telegram from Princess Neferka. She indicates that this will probably be her final telegram and that she will be dispatching her Ogre bodyguard Mengesha to Cairo once a decision is reached about the audience with the king.

Ruby gathers more food for her friends as she talks. "Alright, so we have others coming to join us, we have a plan, or two, to scatter the crowd, we have report from the princess. I wonder what the king will do when he finds out we didn't stick around to see our heads on sticks." She pauses then laughs, "Well, you know what I mean. I guess now we wait? Soon enough I'll have to get into position. Does anyone know where we'll be able to find Abdullah? If not, we'll have to go searching very soon. I wonder, should we use some disguises? I mean, we could dress more like the locals to blend in."

Lieutenant Colonel Dhahabiya Hassan informs George that 600 troops have marched in from the west from Gizah and that the trains from Memphis with another 1,100 troops have arrived. The barges from the south with another 1,300 troops have reached the outskirts of Cairo on the Nile and will be here in another half-hour or so. There is still no word on the approximately 2,000 troops riding in by camel and horse from other outlying communities.

Abby says, "If they're arriving soon, we should get going. We need to get these civilians moved out before the soldiers are ready to move in." "Ah but here is the rub my dear Abby. When the troops arrive, yes they will help stop the revolt, but they are also under the king's command who as you said may want us to extend our stay with him." adds George. Ruby says, "So, I just want to be certain, we don't think we'll be able to convince this Abdullah to step down, right?" "Fantatics are usually fanatical. Their followers, not as much," Mina states as she arrives back at the office.


Abby says, "Any suggestions of stepping back would have to come from someone either extremely trusted by him, or a god or mystical source he trusts. If he's superstitious a serious of bad omens could dissuade him. But, we don't know enough about him personally to guess what could do it. And if the King's reinforcements have orders to... retain us, I guess we'll just have to become heroes of the realm. It's always in poor form to execute the people who just saved your Kingdom." "Aha! You're a genius Abby!" says George as he kisses her on the cheek. Looking only a little bit startled, Abby said, "Of course I am. I'm such a genius that fabulous ideas fly out of my mouth unnoticed by the minute."

George says, "Ok, Mina, what can you do with a nice illusion spell? I have a plan." says George with a grin well known to Ruby. Mina says, "You name it, I'll try it, but my illusions are fairly low in level and have no sound component."

She then holds up a bag and says just loud enough for Abby, Ruby and George to hear, "I managed to get seven magical elixirs when I was out shopping. Four are clerical healing elixirs, the others are an Elixir of Arachanid Movement, an Elixir of Animal Friendship and Control, and an Elixir of Physical Reduction."

Those inside the telegraph office now hear the sound of approaching horses.

Chapter 77, “What are we up against?” September 11, 1882, 11:45 AM.

The past two weeks, and past two hours in particular, have been busy for Lawrence Cantrell. This level of activity should be expected whenever you get involved in the operations of James A. Parker. From their very first meeting in Missouri in August of 1861, in the days surrounding the American Civil War’s Battle of Wilson’s Creek, it has been an interesting partnership between him and James. The current work of the AGELESS corporation promises to be more of the same.

So the acquisitionist expert found himself on a southbound train, approaching the city of Cairo, Egypt, in the company of three very diverse individuals. Lawrence had spent the past several days doing surveillance and spying in the city of Zakazik, Egypt. The previous morning allies Alsoomse, Abigail Marsters, Benjamin ‘Fish’ Trout and Cetan headed south to the community of Heliopolis to help thwart an assassination plot.

By late evening Cantrell and his companion, the famed American gunslinger John Wesley Hardin, still had not heard from their other three companions, the team’s leader Willamina Parker (James’s wife), Mr. George Eastman, and George’s fiancé Ruby West. They had last been seen at the Zakazik Grand Hotel, where Lawrence snuck back in disguised as an Egyptian hotel worker. While there he discovered that the three of them had been transported to the King’s palace Cairo by a powerful Egyptian wizard.

Lawrence discretely exits the hotel from its back entrance. He takes just a few steps when he sees a trio of men turn off of the main street into the alleyway with the hotel's back door. The leader of these men is a well-dressed Egyptian man wearing robes with gold embroidery and with a shiny shortsword on his belt. One of the men beside him is of average height, wearing plain cotton clothing, with a leather cape on his back and a revolver in his belt. He is also carrying a small silver chest with both hands. The third man is tall and burly, apparently a bodyguard, wearing dark leather clothing and with a massive scimitar strapped to his back.

They do not appear to have seen Lawrence yet. He looks around quickly for a place to hide. He ducks behind some amphora standing by the door. Carefully he peeks over the top to see what the men are doing and what that box is. The men do not see Lawrence and continue past where he is standing. When they were closest he sees that the box is solid silver with two separate locking mechanisms on them.

The men travel for another ten feet when a trio of ruffians suddenly appear at the end of the alley coming off from the next main street. The leader of these ruffians says in Arabic "Ah, people wishing to use our road need to pay the toll." The bodyguard reaches a hand up over his shoulder to grab the hilt of the scimitar that is on his back. Lawrence slowly draws his revolver. He slows his breathing and waits for the right moment to act. He doesn't want to reveal himself unnecessarily.

The scimitar is drawn and the large bodyguards steps forward, clearly trying to intimidate the three. It works on one, who turns and runs, but another draws his own sword (that is letting off a slight glow) and moves forward. All but ignoring the guard, he looks to the better dressed man and says, "Nice try Ahmed, but your boy here is no threat to me." Lawrence takes a deep breath and steps out from his hiding place. He levels the revolver at the man with the glowing scimitar. "Maybe not. But I may be. What are you doing here?"

The man with the sword stops and looks at Lawrence, who is still dressed as an Egyptian hotel worker. He says, "Well done Ahmed, a second guard. So you now appear to have us outnumbered, except that I know that Chaya will not take his hands off that box, so is essentially out of this. So we're evenly matched, three against three. Care to dance?" The well dressed gentleman replies, "You're a fool Hisham, you cannot win. And since you initiated this as a robbery we're within out rights to kill you all where you stand. But I will be generous, you may leave now with your lives."

The man with the sword replies, "A valiant attempt, but you made the mistake of letting me distract you with my sword. My associates now have guns upon both of your guards. It is you who cannot win." Lawrence says, "My dear fellow. How far do you expect to get? Do you think I was hiding here alone?"

The man with the sword exchanges glances between the well dressed man and Lawrence. The man says, "It seems that one of your men believes that, he just left." The man with the sword turns his head to look back, and as soon as he turns the better dressed man reaches over and grabs the box. This frees the other man to reach for the gun on his belt. Lawrence says, "The tables have turned. What say you leave now before someone gets hurt?"

The man places the sword back in its sheathe. He and his companions then silently walk away, keeping their guns on the others as they go. Once around the corner they apparently run based upon the sounds of their footfalls.

The well dressed man turns towards Lawrence and says, "Thank you sir. Did Sheik Antuf el-Heru send you?" Lawrence pockets his gun. "You're welcome there. No, he didn't send me. I just don't like thugs. I'm glad I was here to help. Did you know who those men were? They seemed to know you."

The man replies, "Unfortunatley yes, his name is Hisham and he is the son of a former business associate of mine. My name is Ahmed el Quatil. I apparently made the mistake of underestimating the number of guards I would need. That could still be the case. I am already indebted to you, but I will ask another favor of you. If you would be so kind as to accompany us back to my hotel I will see that you are handsomely rewarded for your time and efforts."

"Business can be a cutthroat game." Lawrence extends his hand. "My name is Lawrence. I'm glad to be of service." He taps his chin with his finger and says, "I have time to come along. In any case, Hisham may come back. We'd best leave now. Where are you staying?" The man replies, "I am staying at the Arabian Nights Inn, around a quarter mile from here." Coincidentally, that is also the four-story inn where Lawrence currently rooms. Lawrence says, "Excellent, sir. Lead on.

Lawrence asks, "Mr. el Quatil, what's in that box? It's got to be something for those guys to try a robbery like that. If I'm too forward, I apologize." He replies, "I will tell you once we are back at the hotel. No point in attracting more unwanted attention." Lawrence nods in agreement. "A wise precaution. Lead on."

The remainder of the walk tends to be uneventful. They head upstairs to the top floor, one floor higher than Lawrence's room. Once behind closed doors in a suite of rooms, the man has his friend carefully place the box on the dresser in the room. He turns to Lawrence and says, "A Sheik at the Zakazik Grand Hotel was selling various magical items. He mistakenly through the object in the box to be one that bestows magical protections from spells. It does do that, but that is but one power of the object, it is an artifact. The Sheik was less familiar with that, as he knows primarily Egyptian objects, and this is a powerful item that was made centuries ago by Russian priests for the Tsar."

Lawrence lets out a low whistle. "That's a Russian icon? I know plenty of people who would pay big bucks for a thing like that. How did you find out about it?" He replies, "I run an import and export business. Hashim's father does is well, which is probably why they recognized it for what it was too. Now, on to your reward."

He heads over to a locked truck at the foot of the bed while saying, "We visited the magic sale twice. I picked up some minor magical items the first time, when I first spotted the box and contacted my friend to verifty it. I'll let you have the choice of these baubbles that I brought back earlier."

He places on the bed a metal bracelet with a small blue stone, a small leatherbound book, a 12-inch diameter buckler-type shield and a quartet of horsehoes. He says, "The bracelet will allow a female wearer to control her emotions. The book provides enchanced prayers to Greek priests. The shield affords a one-tenth improvement in personal protection to fighting men. The horseshoes will allow the animal to take flight for a limited period of time. Make your choice."

Lawrence says, "Those horseshoes would come in very handy. Thank you, Mr. el Quatil. Now, if I may ask, what kind of icon did you find?" He replies, "That, my friend, is part of the question. This box contains an artifact that is but one of six in a set made for the Czar. What the specific powers of this particular one is remains to be discovered." Lawrence takes the horseshoes, says goodbye, had returns to his own room to fill in Hardin about what has transpired.

Lawrence and Hardin do not hear anything for another 12 hours, until receiving a series of emergency telegrams from Eastman from Cairo. The telegrams indicated that the trio escaped from the King’s Palace, which is currently surrounded by three-thousand rebels and anarchists seeking the King’s overthrow. The team had learned that fanatical leader of this group has been manipulated by a rogue team of French wizards into mounting this insurrection, in order to frame the fanatic in an assassination plot against the royal family. George is hoping that Hardin’s reputation might be able to intimidate this fanatic into disbursing his followers.

Hardin and Cantrell were also instructed to bring a Bast Priestess named Sabah with them. They found her with her bodyguard, who insisted on coming along, namely a charismatic Scottish nobleman named Callum Stuart. Stuart is a past associate of Hardin and Cantrell’s ally Abigail Marsters. A few days earlier Stuart, Abigail, Benjamin “Fish” Trout and Sabah’s cousin Hakar had worked together to rescue some British archaeologists that had been kept prisoner by the French in Tanis, Egypt.

The four boarded a jury-rigged hastily-repaired train in Zakazik, loading the party’s eight mounts in an attached cattle car. The train took them as far as Heliopolis, where the rebels had damaged the railroad bridge. They then crossed the river on a ferry and boarded a second train to take them the remaining five miles to Cairo. The train has barely stopped when a platoon of Egyptian Army soldiers help the quartet and their animals exit the vehicle, stating that they are needed at the Telegraph Office as quickly as possible.

Stuart indicates that he knows where it is located as he mounts up upon Ahote, a painted stallion whose names translates as ‘Restless One’. Hardin falls in line behind him upon Trooper, a massive black Percheron stallion, with Cantrell alongside on Moonbean, a large gray mare that served in the Confederate Cavalry in her earlier days. Sabah takes up the rear on Flurry, a light brown mustang. Tied on lead lines to her horse are the party’s four remaining mounts, the white Icelandic pony named Cave Dweller, the golden Appaloosa named Peta, the dark brown Thoroughbred named Nizohni and the silver Quarter horse named Sooleawa. They ride off through the crowded city.

Lawrence rubs his back. He says, "Oof. There's not much comfort to be had on those trains. Plus that smoke. I'll be coughing that up for weeks." He turns to Stuart. "Mr. Stuart. Are you sure this route is clear of rebels? We're not exactly traveling secretly." Hardin interjects, "That's why we brought the horses, the others will be on foot and most of them are just regular folk. They'll move out of the way of us."

Those inside the telegraph office hear the sound of approaching horses. Looking out the windows and down the street they see a quartet of riders comprised of Callum Stuart, John Wesley Hardin, Lawrence Cantrell and Sabah, with the party's four other mounts following up behind. Army soldiers move forward to take the mounts and the quartet dismount and enter the building.

Abby says, "Well Ruby, you wanted to know about Cal? There he is, the ass." Abby hurried to the door but then hesitated. Never before had she been discomfited by a man. Instead of choosing where to go, she stepped out of the door and then to the side and smiled at them all. Ruby claps excitedly. "Our friends! Just in time to be part of the revolution! I am so glad to see you all here, just to see you safe."

Abby says, "Well, it's about time you got here; things are moving fast. Glad you made it through safe. Sabah, have we got some things to show you." Lawrence bows slightly. "And hello to you too, Abby." He wipes his brow with a handkerchief. "That was some trip. But that story will have to wait. What are we up against?"

Abby replies, "A religious fanatic who has a lot of citizens worked up and following him. We're hoping to get the less committed to abandon him before the soldiers arrive. But considering I was told I was a genius just before you got here, I think Mr. Eastman might have a better idea than the one we were going with." Lawrence, "And "Well, we should go with both plans. As I learned in the war, you always need a backup plan. The fewer people that face that army, the fewer get killed. Heck, if we pull enough of his support away, the whole thing just might crumble." She turned to Sabah. “Before we finalize any plans, we need to show Sabah the items we brought from the Palace."

Ruby approaches Hardin and briefly explains that someone needs shooting. "I am very familiar with this gun and not a bad shot, however I'm certain I am not as good as you. Would you rather be the one taking aim?" He says, "Miss West, I'm now an attorney, no longer a gunslinger and certainly not an assassin. I am willing to confront this man and try to talk him down, but will plan to only use my sidearm for self-defense." "Think of it as character assassination, which I know lawyers are quite adept at." quips George.

Ruby exclaims, "Hey, I'm not as assassin either! Is it better to let hundreds of innocent people die in a war they really know nothing about? I'm not, so I'll do it, it's okay." "We'd better get going soon because we're going to have to figure out where this guy is." "George, did you say you had another plan of some sort?"

Mina has George send the soldiers and telegraph workers out of the building to give the group privacy (and keep outsiders from spreading word of what they found). Once the workers leave George presents his plan. "Ok, here is what I was thinking. Religious fanatics are the majority of the crowd, certainly the part that won't disperse. So let's give them a god! I will have Mina create a projection of Bast over the gates, perhaps I can rig up sound as well. At the least the sign of Bast should symbolism that the palace is under her protection and drive many away. if we can rig up either sound through a spell or some mechanical contraption, we should be able to have Bast tell the crowd to leave. Remember all we really need is to buy a good hour of these folks going away, if they come back, well hopefully we will have things all fixed up by then." explains George

Sahah states "Bast is the wrong deity, She would not have the effect on the crowds that you are seeking. She is no longer actively worshiped in this city, and most of the people are unfamiliar with her. Her closest temple is a full ten miles west of here, in Gizah." Meren interjects "You should not use the god Horus either. Abdullah's second-in-command is an elder priest of Horus. He would recognize a false projection of Horus and declare it as such." Lawrence taps his chin with his finger. "Hmm. Is Horus the patron god of this city? If not, we can use him. That should make our illusion strike closer to home."

"Osiris? Thoth? Ra! I Think we need to use Ra. Most powerful of gods, symbolic of the monarchy and hell we could use a sun. Oh better yet have a phoenix appear and then the eye turns into the all seeing eye of Ra as a burning sun." exclaims George. Sabah says, "Yes, that should work."

Chapter 78, “The Ambassador” September 11, 1882, 12:00P.M.

The group is interrupted by the arrival of three men who the Egyptian soldiers immediately let inside. Two of the three men are armed with rifle, pistol and sword and are wearing uniforms of the United States Marine Corps, with insignia of the rank of senior sergeant. They are clearly the bodyguards of the third man, a distinguished looking gentleman in his mid-forties immaculately attired in a freshly pressed suit. George looks up quizzically "Yes, may we help you?"

The man says, "Why yes, let me introduce myself. I am George Potwin Pomeroy, the United States of America's Ambassador to Egypt. I have an important communication to deliver to a Mrs. Willamina Parker and a Mr. Lawrence Cantrell." "Greeting's Ambassador, I suspected it was you by your escort, but these days I can never be sure. Now what is the nature of your missive to Mrs. Parker and Mr. Cantrell?" asks George without indicating that either person is here or identifying them.

Pomeroy says, "The Communication is directly from William E. Chandler, the Secretary of the Navy. He is personally acquainted with both, having met them back towards the end of the War when he was the Navy's Judge Advocate General. Sir, you are clearly not Mrs. Parker, and are too young to be Mr. Cantrell. If you could direct me to either of them I would greatly appreciate it." "Of course sir, as soon as you again inform me as to the nature of the correspondence, and provide acceptable credentials. In such tumultuous times one cannot be sure of impostors. You understand I am sure Ambassador." replies George cooly.

He states "This should satisfy your curiosity regarding my credentials." He removes from his jacket pocket an envelope containing his official Appointment papers, dated July 1, 1882 signed by President Arthur. Another paper is signed by the Egyptian King, accepting Pomeroy as the United State's official representative. He then says, "As to the contents of the communication, it is not up to me to reveal that to you. It will be up to Mrs. Parker and Mr. Cantrell whether they wish to share that with you sir. And on that subject, could I please see your passport and any other credentials so that I know who it is that I am speaking to?"

Realizing that the group lacks passports noting their official entry into Egypt, Mina steps forward and says, "He is my future grandson-in-law George Eastman. I am Mrs. Parker, and this should clear up the fact that I know William Chandler." She fishes through her satchel and removes one of several photographs clipped together inside. Handing it to Pomeroy she says, "This was taken in 1865 with my current husband along with Mr. Chandler and a pair of men with the last name of Lincoln."

Seeing the earlier picture of her with the former president and the current Secretary of the Navy alongside the current Secretary of War does appear to put the Ambassador at ease. She takes the communication and reads it over, laughing "It appears that James has been busy. The telegram from us stating that the Queen wanted to have me executed prompted him to exercise a countermeasure."

She passes the letter over to Lawrence and continues. "James Parker was once an officer in the Navy. Back in '75 when the corrupt New York politician William Boss Tweed fled to Spain we were dispatched to retrieve him. In order to make the arrest official James was reinstated to active duty and The Magnificence was temporarily made a Naval vessel. Lawrence, Roy Huggins and I were also given official Naval Commissions for that mission. James has apparently convinced our friend Mr. Chandler to do so again."

Pomeroy continues "Yes, Secretary Chandler has reinstated The Magnificence, now the USS Magnificence, to active duty with Mr. Parker as its Captain. Mrs. Parker and Mr. Cantrell are both reinstated at the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Your official duties and mission are listed as simply "Supplementary Service", which gives you a great deal of latitude. This is not to say that the King cannot still bring you up on charges, but doing so would now require him to go through lengthy and official protocols and could also spark an international incident with the United States. That said, how can I be of assistance to you?" Ruby exclaims, "Holy cow Nana, that's crazy!!!" Ruby looks at her with wide eyes. "There is still so much I don't know about you!"

Abigail interjects, "While that's lovely for Lawrence and Mrs. Parker, it's not really going to help the rest of us who decided not to enjoy the hospitality of his Majesty's dungeons. So we should probably still avoid him. But before we do that, we have some lives to save outside," Abby said. She wasn't sure about this Ambassador and how could interfere in what they were doing. A representative of the US Government may want to assume command, and for some reason that was sitting very poorly with her. Mina says, "Agreed, although it is me personally who the Queen has the longstanding grudge with, the rest of you were more-or-less collateral hostages."

Ruby turns to Pomeroy. "So, what exactly do you have at her disposal? I mean, a ship I guess? I'm not sure how that might help us in the middle of the desert." She pauses, then extends her hand. "Oh, I should introduce myself I suppose. I'm Ruby West, Mrs. Parker's granddaughter." He says, "We have one small warship docked on the Nile here in Cairo with a crew of thirty-one sailors and twelve marines onboard. There are two larger United States warships docked at the end of the Nile north in Alexandria."

Lawrence shakes Pomeroy's hand. "I'm Lawrence Cantrell. You have a letter for me?" Lawrence looks over the letter. "This is unexpected news. Thank you Ambassador. Looks like I'll have to walk a finer line now." He smile Mina says to Pomeroy, "I think that we can handle it from here, but please let me know the address of the Embassy that you will be at as well as which Dock the American Warship is situated at."

He replies, "The Embassy is just three blocks south of where we are now, a small structure made of white brick with an American flag on the flag pole outside. The ship is the USS Franklin Pierce, it is a two-mast paddle steamer, approximately 100 feet in length, docked to the southwest after the merchant ships loaded with rice." He and his marines then depart After Pomeroy leaves, Lawrence says, "Very interesting. The ship will be good to make a getaway. Could come in handy if we need some extra firepower." "That was... odd," Abby said finally.

She then gathered the items they had retrieved from the Bast Priestess and laid them out reverently for Sabah to examine. "We were as respectful as we possibly could be. Not being familiar with the rituals, I hope it was enough. Do you think this will help?" Sahab looks over the crown, belt and necklace. She exclaims with awe, "The vestments of Djeserit Mew-Shir. This is amazing. Where did you find them?"

Abby says, "There was a hidden room under the Palace. We found it while we were making our escape from the dungeons. Meren said there were rumors that the Priestess had been moved to the Palace from her original resting place." Sabah states, "These need to be put in their proper place, a temple to Bast. But we cannot do that with Champollian and those other French grave robbers about, they will just steal them as they have Bast's other treasures." Lawrence says, "We'll have to chase them off then. Barring that, we can make the vestments undesirable."

Ruby says, "Sabah, is there a way one of us or even you might be able to use these items to help us with our current problem? We're not interested in misusing anything, but this war is just the kind of thing the Goddess created these items for. Barring that, is everyone clear on our plan and theirs roles?" Lawrence interjects "Sorry, Ruby. My head is still abuzz from my return to the service. What do you need me to do?"

Sabah continues to examine the artifacts and says, "Do you people know the history of these items? They were used to bring Bast herself to Egypt to rid the country of Persian invaders. But doing so cost the High Priestess who wore them her life. It the present situation that dire?" Abby says, "No. Things here are unfortunate, but not desperate. We want to save as many lives as we can but not at the cost of others. Or yours. There are other options. Like Mr. Eastman's plan with the illusion."

Ruby says, "Alright, what I know is that I have to stop someone from doing bad things. We'll have to go out and find this someone, so I will need help with that. As to anyone else's plans, that is up to them. Speak up now people!" The group reviews what they have for equipment.

Ruby states, "Okay, we should keep the four clerical healing potions on different people, in case we get separated. How about Nana, George, Abby and Lawrence each takes one. I am taking the rifle. I would say we should attempt to break up the crowd with the food carts. If that doesn't work, at least it should thin out the crowd. Then we try the illusion? Who is casting this illusion we keep talking about? Abby? Nana? And then whomever is left after the illusion, well, that's what the rifle is for. I only plan on trying to take down the crazy leader and I will try not to kill him, though this may prove difficult if I end up at a long distance. My hope is if he falls, his followers will leave, leaving the gates clear.

Lawrence, George, Abby, Nana and myself will all take horses, in case we have to move quickly.
Sabah, Meren, will you be helping us? If so, what do you have to offer for our plan? How about you, Callum? As for the goddesses belongings, I hope it doesn't come to anyone having to use them. I'm not certain anyone here is even in the position to do so. We can deal with returning them where they need to go later."

Abby says, "That sounds about right. There's no reason not to try everything we've come up with, least invasive and damaging first. I can do a couple things. Either I can go with Mina and add sound to her illusion, or I can go with you, Ruby, and cast a spell on you that will improve your aim. So much that it's almost impossible to miss. Possibly I can do both, depending on the timing." Without realizing she was moving, Abby had landed next to Cal as she talked to the others.

George says, "Yes, it will all be sequential, food, then illusion, then rifle then troops. Hopefully by staging this as we have we can avoid the worst of the bloodshed. We still have the problem of the princess arriving by airship with the French, even if we disperse the crowd we have that to deal with."

Ruby says, "We need to hurry and get this all figured out. Nana, is there a certain spot you need to be to cast your spell? George, where do you have to be with the food carts or how is that working? Me, I just need to find this fanatic then probably get up to the roof. We need details people!" Mina replies, "I will need an unobstructed view of where you want me to cast it."

The food vendors have instructions on where to set up, they are just waiting for our orders to begin. I want the illusion set up over the gate the crowd is gathered in front of, so as long as Mina can see that we should be good. Ruby and Mina may be best up on the roof. We will use the carts first. Then the illusion. That should thin the crowd out enough for Ruby to spot and shoot the fanatic. That will hopefully break the last of the crowd. Then we can get to the gate ourselves and stop this thing" summarizes George. "I think once you two get in position, we can start"

Ruby says, "Alright, let's get going then, we still need to find the crazy guy. We just need to start doing... stuff. George, send these food carts out to scatter at the very edges of the crowd so we pull them away from the palace, okay?" Abby adds, "It sounds like there'll be some time before the illusion then, so the food carts have time to do their magic. I think I'd like to mingle with the crowds and see if I can spread some completely unfounded, and some founded, rumors."

Lawrence slips a potion into his pocket. He says, "The important part is stopping him. If the gods have decided that he die, then who are we to go against them?" Hardin replies, "Okay Mr. Cantrell, what do you say that the two of us go take a look-see about what is taking place?" Lawrence replies, "That sounds like a capital idea, Mr. Hardin. Let's make sure our pistols are ready, in case we need them." Once the pair makes their preparations, they set forth.

It is now high noon, and the food vendors are sent off, each with specific instructions on where to set up. Ruby and Mina head off shortly thereafter, accompanying them are two Egyptian soldiers (disguised as regular Egyptian citizens) with the sniper rifle and ammunition concealed inside large wicker baskets. They head towards the building with highest roof close to the palace's main entrance, where Abdullah has the largest number of followers.

George got the food vendors on their way after confirming again where he wanted them set up. He tells the men that if any should ask as to why the food was free that the temple of Bast is paying for it. He then puts on some white robes and a turban, wrapping as the merchants do, rather than the peasants. He applies some walnut stain to his skin and heads out to mingle with the crowd. So disguised he notes with some satisfaction the people leaving for the docks as well as those heading to the food vendors.

Callum and Abigail are now also both attired as locals, and head off to mingle into the crowds. They see that while the crowds have now grown to nearly 4,000 people, they have also moved further back, as the fifty or so palace guards have had time to construct better barricades and are keeping most of the people back with well placed rifle shots. About 100 armed of Abdullah's group have likewise barricaded themselves closer, behind objects facing the palace. These men take an occasional shot back whenever a palace guard shows himself to fire, but the constant gunfire appears to have now ceased.

Abby and Cal slipped into the crowd. She did some listening first, deciding what rumors would be best to spread and help shore up the illusion when it came. The five most talked about topics of discussion are: (1) The King's betrayal of Egypt to foreigners; (2) The possible rice shortage due to a smaller than usual flooding season; (3) The god Horus coming down to anoint either Abdullah or General Orabi as the next King; (4) Political unrest in Tunisa due to the French loosing control of their African colonies; (5) What Princess Neferka's wedding gown looked like.

Abby adds, "We may want to spread some talk about how the gods aren't pleased with Abdullah. Suggest the battle would have been started and won by now, maybe.” He replies, "While the Horus high priest is Adhullah's second-in-command it might be hard to convince people that the gods are not with him. Battle news is often unreliable and many people know it, without actually seeing evidence it would be hard to prove.”

Abby changes the conversation by asking, “So, how did your trip with the naked ladies go?" Callum replies, “The naked ladies were both twice my age, so I had little interest beyond their rescue. Truth be told, I have my eyes on a particular young woman, regardless of her attire." Abby says, "I was more wondering if they gave you the hard time about the manner of their escape that you were expecting. Ladies twice my age tend to be sensitive about that.

About what we overheard, can we use the possible rice shortage? Suggest there may be a run on rice starting? I don't know if any of these people would go running home trying to get rice if they thought they wouldn't be able to get it." Callum says, "I think you're on the right track, but I think we'd have to up the ante from just trying to get them to go shopping at the local market. Maybe something about the storages of rice stored in the city's warehouses down by the docks."

Abby says, "That's exactly what I meant. If there's a sudden run for some reason, most people will rush to get theirs before it can't be gotten anymore. I hate to mess with the economy like that, but we're looking to save lives here." She looked around, noting the definite lack of women. "I'm not sure how effective I can be here. Maybe we should just talk loudly to each other where we can be overheard." He says, "Well, I am fluent in the local language. Let us begin."

Abby led Cal through the crowd, listening not only for someone discussing the rice situation, but also someone who already sounded worried about it. She was looking for someone most likely to believe what they overheard. Once she found that person she stopped Cal and began to speak loudly in Egyptian. "My father and brothers wanted to come here, but the rice... There's nothing more going to the store houses. Then my eldest brother came home and said people were lining up at the storehouses to get the rice. They went there instead. They weren't taking the risk."

Continuing on and keeping this story up, it moves quickly through the crowds and approximately 10% of the people depart during the next fifteen minutes. Aiding Abby's efforts and priming the crowd, George stands and listens then mutters in Egyptian loudly enough to be heard "Ra will not be pleased with this" as he shakes his head and wanders off through the crowd only to repeat his mutterings again and again.

Abby had hoped to get a few more people to leave, but after another thought, she smiled. "What man with a sword can say he took out 10 percent of the enemy's forces in fifteen minutes? Now we just have to hope that things here wrap up before they can decide to come back." She took another look around, trying to think of another tactic, something else they could do from here. "I'm not sure what else we can do here. How much longer until the Princess gets here?"

Lawrence and Hardin make their way into the crowd. Lawrence looks over his shoulder and says to the gunfighter, "Let's try to get closer to that high priest. I want to see how he gets the crowd so riled up." "Right behind you," says Hardin. The High Priest is telling of Egypt's long history, and of how the Egyptian deities and the Pharaohs worked as one. He says that is no longer the case, that the current King no longer has the proper respect for the gods, preferring to please foreign kings instead.

Hardin whispers to Lawrence, "Let me guess. He's just the man to show Pharaoh the error of his ways." Lawrence nods, "Men who think they have the ear of the gods can be very sure of their themselves. It can be dangerous. Let's move around to gauge the crowd."

Meanwhile, Ruby squints into the crowd. "Can you see where this crazy man is? I'd like to know what he looks like before I have to... you know... This might be difficult with this large crowd, I hope the plan works to break them up a little."

Mina spots a man speaking to a group of around 300 of the crowd. She says, "That man, based upon his attire he would be the Horus High Priest, the man that is Abdullah's second in command. Abdullah is probably one of those two men behind him." Ruby sees the trio, the Priest in elaborate robes with a jeweled staff. Behind him are two men in simple but clean and well-made white Egyptian clothing similar to what she had seen the King's retainers and advisors wearing.

Ruby nods. "You're probably right. And I have an idea to put the question to rest." She motions to men carrying the guns. "Stay here please." She slips around a corner, out of sight and quietly mutters some words to herself. She comes back to her grandmother and takes her hand. "Come with me Nana and keep watch, I will have to be concentrating. I don't know if this will work or not but it's worth a shot."