Disclaimer: I do not own the Mummy. I simply own Husam and Miss Hunting...and her father, I suppose.

Author's Note: I would like to extend a very large apology for taking so long with this update. I moved very recently and we had trouble getting our net up and running. Add to that my stress from work and job hunting... it just doesn't end well for anyone. I hope that this chapter might start in the process of making up for things.

Brunette;; As always, thank you so much for a wonderful (and honest!) review. I took what you said to mind for the last chapter and did insert a little bit of dialogue in there. And yes, I still have to work out/explain/get through the whole issue with pledging and forfeiting, but as that is a part of the plot that, I am hoping it will help me by working itself out in the proper manner. If it doesn't, well I'll just beat it into submission. And don't worry about the review being too long. I loved it. I really do appreciate every time you comment!

Lady Minuialwen;; I know, but I have hope/faith in him yet. He's not dead yet which means he has a chance! I hope...

It was still dark out when the four men and their female companion left the museum. I watched the city from one of the upper floors, hugging myself. It didn't quit seem real. It seemed too fantastical for a novel or one of those silly dime stories that the driver used to tell me about before we had come to this country. A part of me was still certain that I would soon wake up and find that I had somehow managed to dream it all though how I could ever concoct such a story was beyond me.

"You should not be out here alone." I jumped a little, my fingers tightening on the railing that separated the second floor from the great expanse that looked down on the first. I did not need to turn to know who it was. "Or do you think so little of what has been done for you?"

"Are you quite done?" I asked as I forced myself to turn around and face Ardeth Bay. "I have had enough of your insults and brutality for one day. I'm tried. I'm confused. I'm afraid and the only person who seems to care about me has said that he gives up his life for mine. I do not think little of him, but you are another matter entirely."

The warrior in front of me actually looked surprised for once. I felt a twisted bit of pride at seeing that look.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I should like to go home."

When he looked at me, for a moment, I was almost certain I saw some emotion visible in his eyes, but then it was gone. I dismissed the thought as foolishness. I should be surprised if this man could truly feel emotions. "You will stay here for the time being." The tone of his words allowed for no argument.

I was not surprised, but I did feel angered at his assumption that he might order me as he saw fit. "You do not control me," I said shaking my head. "And though I thank you for your hospitality and for your patience with myself and my ignorance, I do need to return to my family."

He started forward and I felt my heart make an odd leap as it began to pound. There was something so intense in his eyes that I did not wish to defy it. "That is where you are very wrong Miss Hunting. When Mahir pledged himself to you. Though you may not understand the significance of that, we do. And as you are in our land and he has forfeited his life for you protection that makes you my responsibility and under my control as you would so subtly put it."

"You cannot keep me," I managed in a quiet voice as I stepped back. "My father-"

"Shall see you returned to him once this is done. Until that time comes, I would ask that you respect our knowledge of the situation and do what you are told." I felt, for a moment, as if he wanted to add something, but the feeling faded as he turned away. "I shall expect to see you join us shortly."

The order in his words were implicit. I hugged myself tightly as I looked away. Some defiant and childish part of me wanted to defy him or to yell at his retreating figure. And yet another part of me felt that he was right. I did not know what was happening to the world around me. For all I knew, it was simply going mad. I had no control over it.

Below, I watched as Husam came into my view, looking around the particular exhibit he had stepped into as if he was looking for something. I might not like or even trust the other men who had been thrown into my life, but I had come to trust Husam and I did not wish to believe that he would put me into a situation that would ever bring me harm.

I moved towards the stairs slowly, surveying the cases around me carefully. It all seemed to lifeless, the displays. The scrolls and the tablets, the papers and the busts. Even with the knowledge that had been given to me, the things around me seemed more unreal than anything. I was not sure what I expected to happen as I moved to one of the busts and rested my hand gently on the cheek, but there was nothing. The Earth did not move. Time did not seem to still. It was merely a piece of history that had been lost for a time before it had been found and brought forward.

The past held no interest to me.

Sighing, I went back down the stairs jumping and pausing as I heard the front doors slam open once more. I frowned as I moved forward, expecting to find that the motley group had returned for whatever reason they saw fit. I was more surprised than I can describe when I saw my father standing there instead, a frown creasing his features.

"Bey!" he snapped looking around the museum visible to him. I stood frozen on the stairs as his eyes swept over me and continued. I expected them to snap back to me, but there was nothing. It was as if I did not even exist in my father's eyes. I was not sure why that upset me so, but I found myself sitting on the stairs, more than a little stunned as I watched Dr. Bey emerge with Husam from one of the exhibits.

Dr. Bey stood quite admirably under my father's scrutiny and leering features. "I am afraid that the museum is closed. You will have to return at another time sir."

My father's displeasure became more evident as he leaned back, almost trying to appear casual. "I highly doubt that our business is something you would wish to discuss during normal hours Bey," he pointed out. His eyes slid back and finally noticed Husam. I could see the recognition and was able to watch it grow into fruition and then rage as my father realized that his daughter's guard was at the museum.

"I expect her in her room and you gone by the time I get back to the house," my father ordered before looking back at Bey. "Now are you going to show me into your office or should I lead the way?"

The curator seemed to consider that for a moment before turning to Husam. "See Mr. Hunting out. We still have preparations to finish." I doubt that my father had ever been so dismissed before in his life. Though I imagine that many would have given much to shove him out of the door the way Husam did as he gaped at the audacity of Dr. Bey.

s/3040941/1/The_Zombie_Reaper