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AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess
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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 6221983" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter 70 "The Grand Vizier” (Episode Two, Chapter Thirty) - Saturday, September 10, 1882, 5:00 P.M.</strong></p><p></p><p>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?"</p><p></p><p>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."</p><p></p><p>"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.</p><p></p><p>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."</p><p></p><p>"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." </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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?"</p><p></p><p>"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?"</p><p></p><p>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!"</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>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."</p><p></p><p>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."</p><p></p><p>"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?"</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>"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.</p><p></p><p>"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."</p><p></p><p>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."</p><p></p><p>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?."</p><p></p><p>"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?"</p><p></p><p>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."</p><p></p><p>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." </p><p></p><p>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."</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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."</p><p></p><p>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."</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>"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. </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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?"</p><p></p><p>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."</p><p></p><p>"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</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>"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.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 6221983, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter 70 "The Grand Vizier” (Episode Two, Chapter Thirty) - Saturday, September 10, 1882, 5:00 P.M.[/B] 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. [/QUOTE]
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AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess
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