Gene of Isis

I gave a nod, although I could hardly wear the amulet in case Albray discovered how deep my feelings for him had really become. I dismissed him and immediately placed the stone aside. ‘What is it about humans that makes us want more desperately that which we cannot have?’

I’d had enough soul-searching for one day and my bed beckoned. I turned off my study light. I shoved the stone underneath my pillow, so that it would be close at hand but not actually touching my person as I lay down to sleep.

For someone so tired, my mind was awhirl. Every sound outside my tent now seemed amplified, although there was not much to hear. A few people were still laughing and talking in the mess tent. The moaning sound of camels carried on the breeze from afar and then I heard shuffling footsteps that stopped just outside the tent’s entrance —maybe two or three people.

I sat up to listen harder. ‘Is someone there?’

‘It is only your faithful servants, goddess,’ came the reply, which shocked me to the core.

Goddess! I moved to the flap and opened it, whereupon Akbar and his two associates bowed low to the ground before me. ‘Please get up,’ I begged them in a whisper, and although slow to comply, they did. ‘Can I help you in some way?’

‘It is we who are here to help you,’ Akbar informed me. ‘You are a daughter of Isis and we are sworn to protect you.’

‘I don’t need protection,’ I emphasised, ‘as you clearly saw this afternoon.’

Akbar disagreed. ‘The very fact that you are in the employ of C & M warrants additional precautions.’

‘Why do you say that?’ I was curious to hear his reason. ‘You are in the same company’s employ.’

‘But I am not a daughter of Isis,’ he argued.

‘I would appreciate it if you would stop calling me that.’ I feared that even our whispered voices would carry far in the silence of the night. Admittedly I was interested to know more, but my brain was already filled to overflowing for today. ‘Please, could we meet and discuss this tomorrow afternoon, perhaps?’

‘Of course,’ Akbar agreed. ‘A good night to you, princess.’ He bowed.

It was an effort not to roll my eyes in frustration. ‘Just call me Dr Montrose if you must persist in addressing me by a formal title,’ I suggested. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’

I entered my tent and made for my bed, but when I did not hear the men move off, I stuck my head out the tent flap to see them all seated with their backs to me.

‘Dismissed, guys,’ I added, hoping they’d take the hint.

‘You cannot dismiss us from our duty,’ Akbar said respectfully.

‘Then make like spies, and watch over me from afar.’ I pointed to the horizon.

‘Understood,’ Akbar conceded, and I immediately closed the flap.

Again I heard no movement, and I really started to lose my cool. ‘I said—’ I lifted the flap and to my great amazement, I found them gone. ‘Christ, what a night!’

I threw myself on the bed, and landing on my stomach my hand swept under the pillow to meet with the stone I had hidden there. Where did Albray go when I dismissed him, I wondered? Where did he go when I didn’t dismiss him? All I really knew about his life was where he’d met his end. He seemed to know everything about me and I knew nothing about him. ‘Not a very fair exchange,’ I considered. ‘I don’t even know his last name.’ It seemed Albray made an art of not giving too much away about himself. ‘But why?’ I pondered, unable to resist fiddling with the stone at my fingertips.

I had never before had a dream that I felt so completely involved in. Nor had I ever been so aware of dreaming in full, glorious, technicolour! The vibrancy of the provincial landscape through which I walked engaged me totally. I could smell all the sweet scents of spring flowers in the fields, hear the birds, feel the sun on my skin.

Beyond the fields, I came to a garden with a lovely fountain in the centre. Seated on the surrounds of the water feature was a very beautiful woman. Her robes were scarlet red and her long black hair fell straight to the knees of her long, sleek body. Before her knelt a knight—my heart sank when I realised it was my knight.

I was not close enough to hear their words to each other, but clearly Albray was pouring his heart out to this woman who stroked his hair with comforting gestures.

This is Lillet, I acknowledged, and looking down at my own form I saw that I was still dressed in the dirty jeans and shirt I’d worn today. How could I ever hope to compete with such a goddess?

Clearly my thoughts had resonance here, for Albray looked at me, obviously horrified by my presence. ‘Mia?’ He stood and let go of his confidante’s hands.

I did not wait to be humiliated further. I turned and ran back into the fields beyond the garden. I heard Albray calling after me, but still I did not halt. I just wanted to wake up, but how did I accomplish that wish?

Albray suddenly appeared before me and colliding with him brought me to a halt. ‘Now that you are here, please don’t go,’ he said. ‘I really want to speak with you.’

‘Albray, you’re real!’ I patted his chest and shoulders with my hands, unable to believe it. Needless to say, my sadness vanished in my joy at this revelation. ‘I can touch you.’ I laughed nervously about my dream come true. ‘I am dreaming, aren’t I?’

Albray nodded, amused by my excitement.

‘And are you dreaming too?’ I wondered.

‘No,’ he uttered, easing a hand behind my neck to encourage my face closer to his. ‘I’m living.’

Our lips met and I died with delight.

A crashing sound woke me, and when I saw Andre I moaned in protest at being dragged back to reality. Now I wake up, I thought, noting the irony in my present situation. I then had the horrible realisation that I held Albray’s stone in my hand. I quickly placed it on the table by the bed—my knight had probably perceived my little fantasy about him and I