"Haha, wow, you sound like you really mean it!" Kadrios was delighted. He never
came to Lost Desert because he abhorred commercialization of ancient cultures.
The soldier moved swiftly across the intervening space, and Kadrios soon found
himself in a tight grip, his left paw painfully tucked up between his shoulder
blades.
"I said, 'silence'!" the soldier grated as he pulled Kadrios' arm into an impossible
position.
Kadrios struggled, frowning, "Eh, don't you think you're taking the role playing
a little too far?"
The soldier released his grip, grabbed Kadrios by the scruff of his neck, and
spun him around, lifting him slightly so that his hind paws were barely touching
the ground.
"Worthless one! Do not speak!"
Another soldier came running across the sand.
"Korint! You were right!" He stared in disbelief at the now confused schoolboy.
"I wonder where it came from? Look at the odd clothes it's wearing."
Korint didn't answer, he just glared at Kadrios, as if daring him to say one
more word. Kadrios bit back the words of curiosity he was about to utter, opting
to shut his mouth with a snap instead. Obviously things were more serious than
he had first supposed.
The other soldier shifted uncomfortably, "I think you had better put him down
Korint. He did come out from between the Great One's paws. Maybe it's a child
of the great one."
Korint's eyes widened in horror as he dropped Kadrios to the ground, where
he lay with all four ears and his tail, sprawled. Kadrios made a quick guess
as he straightened himself out. Rubbing his shoulder, he began speaking.
"Yes, yes, the Great One sent me here to speak with the Pharoah."
Korint looked at him suspiciously, but there was a spark of doubt, possibly fear in the soldier's eyes.
"All right," he said curtly, "we'll let the Divine Hatshepshaisha herself decide your fate."
Kadrios shook all four ears, surely he had not heard that correctly. He stared at the two guards, his amazement written clearly across his features. Realising they were growing dubious about their decision, Kadrios composed himself in what he hoped appeared to be a commanding presence.
"Take me to the Queen of the Desert!" he squeaked, hoping they didn't hear the note of fear in his voice.
Both guards responded to the words, bowing their heads before him. "Your will, Great One's Child."
After a short journey across the desert and up a broad palm lined avenue, they were soon approaching the magnificient palace of the Pharoahs. A wide terrace ran across the front of the monumental building, soaring columns carved with ancient gods and the feats of the Divine One Herself decorated the entrance. Each bas relief, announcing to all who passed that a great and fearsome warrior ruled these lands. Most significant were the images of Hatshepshaisha raising her flail over the heads of hoards of suppliant enemies. Kadrios' eyes strained to take it all in as the guards hurried him into the spartan throne room.
"Your majesty! We bring an mysterious intruder. He appeared from the sky and stepped forth from between the paws of the Great One as he reclined on the desert sands."
Both soldier stopped and pounded themselves on the chest in salute. A group of people were gathered around a table filled with sand and small carved figures. Kadrios knew that they were making battle plans, and that the figures represented actual soldiers in a future military operation. He wanted to stare, but instead he had to pretend to be the son of the sphinx.
A young and energetic Aisha emerged from the crowd at the table, and Kadrios felt himself pushed from behind. He fell flat on his face, as was evidentally intended. Remembering what he had read in history books, he stretched his paws toward the queen, and extended his earstalks along the floor. The traditional pose of submission.
A pair of dainty feet came into his field of vision, each claw painted with powdered lapis lazuli and lacquer. He heard a soft laugh.
"Please stand." She had a rich voice, filled with intelligence and humour.
Kadrios scrambled to his feet and regarded the pharoah with wonder. She was a tall Aisha, dressed in a simple robe, her only adornment a simple gold head band of a serpent wound around her head, with its head surmounted by a small round disk, the sun. She regarded him with calm almond shaped eyes, a small smile played around her lips.
"Come walk with me, 'Great One's Child', I need some air." She gave him a little wink and held out a delicate paw.
Kadrios reached out and was amazed by the strength with which she grabbed his forearm. Her grip was exceptional, then he flushed with surprise. Hatshepshaisha was, after all, one of the greatest warriors who ever lived. She noticed his confusion and gave a knowing little nod.
As they left the palace, Hatshepshaisha let go Kadrios' arm and turn to him with a forceful gaze.
"You're not the son of the Great One," she stated, casually running her paw along one earstalks, bending it over.
Kadrios jumped with a little start. "No your highness, I'm not."
He felt a little ashamed for deceiving her. Kadrios wanted this powerful aisha to like him. He had so many questions, and he had already lied to her. Seeing his dismay, she laughed and whacked him on the back, nearly knocking him off his feet.
"Hahaha," her laughter this time was raucous and hearty, "I like you, kid, you've got a quick mind."
He smiled weakly at her as he bent to pick up his cap. This queen was not quite what he expected. As he stood up, Hatshepshaisha grabbed him by his paw again and nearly dragged him off his feet.
"Come on!" She blasted, "I feel like a chariot ride, and we have to get you out of these silly clothes and into something more appropriate."
He followed her meekly to a low wooden building and noted the scent of fodder in the air. Apparently stables haven't changed much in the past couple thousand years. There was a small series of rooms where the stablehands slept, and a tack room with some extra clothes in it. Hatshepshaisha grabbed a riding kilt and went to change in a stable, leaving Kadrios to get dressed in the tack room.
"I'll see you out in the yard as soon as possible," she ordered.
When he got out to the stable yard, the Pharoah herself was strapping her chariot to the uni who was standing patiently as she worked.
"A little tighter on the left your highness," he said, as if he was talking
to an equal, and not the queen.
"Oh, sorry about that Yiyi," she responded, tightening the harness. "Better?"
"Not bad, for an amateur," he whinnied at his own joke as she smacked him on
the shoulder.
"Feel like an extra passenger today?" she asked him, Kadrios was surprised
that she would ask permission.
Yiyi snorted, "Of course! I'm strong as a horse you know!"
The chariot ride was exhilarating, and Kadrios marveled at the way the Aisha
and the Uni manipulated the clumsy looking chariot, so that it seemed a natural
extension of their bodies. Initially he had been nervous, because she used no
reins to control the Uni, but he soon realised the Uni was in control of his
job, and the Aisha was free to use her bow to its greatest effect. He watched
in amazement as she fired off a volley of arrows and each landed neatly in the
bales of hay that were lined up for just that purpose. Kadrios whistled in appreciation
and gripped tightly onto the sides of the chariot.
Hatshepshaisha nudged him with her pointed elbow, "Not bad, eh?"
Then she asked the question he had been anticipating with dread.
"So, where are you from?"
Kadrios gaped and tried to think of something to say. Something that would make sense. It wasn't that he wanted to lie, he just wanted to say something reasonable. As he was casting about for a plausible explanation, Hatshepshaisha brought the chariot to a stop.
"I um, I well, I'm from the future," he managed to stammer.
She looked at him, a long, cool, critical look. Then she smiled.
"All right," she said, "that wouldn't have been my first choice if I was trying to hide something, so I'll accept that."
Kadrios breathed a sigh of relief.
"You see, your Majesty, I was just sitting in the shade of the Sphinx's paws, reading my book and before I knew it an abyss opened beneath my paws." He paused uncomfortably, remembering what he read. "It was a book about you..."
To be continued... | 
