Anubis
Anubis copyright c. 2015 T.A. Chase
Part Ten-
And for centuries now, they’d been warriors for their gods and goddesses. Throughout the years they’d lived, doing whatever they were bid, they’d learned how important education was to make a person feel like they were worth something.
“I’m impressed, Mr. Al Hazzan.” Jamil tossed a smile back at him before stopping in front of a door. “I haven’t met a lot of people in your position who would care for a museum guard’s son.”
Shrugging, Anubis entered the room after Jamil opened the door and gestured for him to go ahead. “A person in my position?”
Jamil cleared his throat, looking slightly embarrassed. “I guess I’m assuming you’re rich and I haven’t had good experiences with rich people thinking they can make decisions about my digs because they’re funding it.”
“I can see that, but I don’t plan on telling you how to run your dig as long as you’re obeying the rules and guidelines laid down by UNESCO.” Anubis held up his hand when Jamil seemed about to say something. “And so far I haven’t seen anything that makes me think you’re doing anything wrong.”
“Thanks.”
“Where are the jars?” As much as he didn’t want to see them, he glanced around the room to see where they might be. There were tables and shelves covered with boxes, fragments, chards and ceramics.
“Over here.” Jamil motioned to the far corner. “I had them locked up in the vault because I didn’t want to risk something happening to them. Only a few people have permission to touch them.”
Anubis took a deep breath, straightening his shoulders as Jamil unlocked the safe room. It was going to be hard, no matter whose remains were in those jars. He was afraid it was the Prince and the heir. He had no connection to the Prince’s wife, though he didn’t like the idea of her being killed either.
He watched as Jamil lifted a box from a back shelf then brought it over to the closest table. Anubis caught the gloves Jamil tossed at him before reaching in to pick up the first jar. He carried it to the nearest light and set it down gently.
Leaning over it, he held his fingers over the writing and traced the letters without touching them. He didn’t want to take a chance on wiping something. But there was still dirt on some spots.
“Can I brush the dirt off?” He didn’t want to overstep his bounds, just in case Jamil wanted to be the one who cleaned it.
“Here.” Jamil held out a small paintbrush. “This should work fine. I don’t think anything will come off that we don’t want gone.”
Anubis held his breath as he carefully ran the brush over the writing, doing his best to reveal the letters. There was a tray underneath the jar to collect the dirt and debris. It would be analyzed to make sure there wasn’t something important in it. Like paint or ink.
Once the letters were clear, he stepped back to exhale and said, “Do you want to take some pictures before I read it?”
“What?” Jamil jerked. “Oh right. Yeah, I should snap some then you can translate and write it down for us. I need to go grab a camera. There’s a notebook and some pencils over in that desk in that corner. I guess you can start the translation while I’m gone.”
“Fine.” Anubis watched as Jamil left before he went to get the paper and pencils.
::Are you ready for whatever you might find writing on those jars?::
He swallowed and nodded, even though he knew Isis couldn’t see him. ::I’m as ready for this as I’ll ever be. To be honest, I never really expected them to have lived after I was killed. Never trust your enemies.::
Isis’s sigh rang through his head. ::We all learned that lesson the hard way. Contact us if you need us. Your brothers are here for you, plus we all know what you’ve been through.::
::I will.::
He felt Isis leave his mind as he sat. After tilting the lamp so the light didn’t shine directly on the jar, but gave off enough reflection for him to still see the writing, he closed his eyes.
“Are you okay?”
Anubis jerked, not having heard Jamil return to the room. Thank God, I didn’t have the jar in my hand. That would’ve been disastrous.
“Sorry. I didn’t realize you hadn’t heard me come back.” Jamil touched his shoulder lightly then held the camera up. “I’ll grab a couple of photos then you can get working.”
“Okay.” He noticed how his hands shook, so he tucked them under his thighs. He’d have to get a grip. Jamil couldn’t know the jars were more than just an intriguing discovery for Anubis. “Did I do a good enough job cleaning it off?”
“Oh yeah. I’ll probably have some of my grad students go back through and do a more thorough cleaning, but it’s good.” Jamil snapped several pictures before stepping back. “I’m going to go download these on one of the museum’s computers and get them labeled. You get to translating.”
Anubis chuckled. “Yes, boss.”
Jamil joined in for a few seconds then he left again.
The laughter helped ease Anubis enough that he could look at the writing without being too emotional. He started translating it, the scratch of the pencil across the paper filling the room as he mouthed the words to himself. He didn’t allow time for himself to think about what it said. That would come after he was done.
Time slipped away and he was back in the anteroom listening to his prince talking with an emissary from one of the visiting societies. He’d stood in the background, watching for any sign of danger from the strangers, yet his prince’s presence was foremost in his mind. He always knew where the man was, even in a crowd of people.
“So what does it say?”
One Response “Anubis”
Awesome, TA…can’t wait for the next installment 🙂