As his voice trailed off, he reached into his book bag and brought out "Sakhmet
Tales". Hatshepshaisha looked at it with intense interest, and took it from
his paws.
"A book? This is such fine papyrus!" She opened the book and marveled at the
pages. Seeing the printing, she looked at him with curiosity.
"This is an odd scroll, all cut up and sewn together. Handy though, easier
to carry around. And look at these glyphs, so even, so perfect!"
"Um yeah," Kadrios said, then muttered something about the invention of the
printing press.
"What was that?"
"Oh, it's a long story," he replied. "Do you want to know what's in the book?"
Hatshepshaisha sat down on the back of the chariot, her sandalled feet sprawled
in the sand. She patted the spot next to her, inviting Kadrios to sit.
After hearing the tale she looked thoughtful, then her brow furrowed with anger.
"That's just a pack of lies," she finally said. "I chased Taye out of the Lost
Desert five years ago, and I haven't seen him since."
Kadrios' ears twitched with excitement, "I knew it! I knew that wasn't accurate.
My history teacher always tells us 'history is always being rewritten.' Someone
changed the story!"
"Yes, I caught Taye and a few of his cronies trying to gain support to overthrow
me. They said that I was bad luck, a female king. They said that I would poison
the earth I walked on and the fact that I refused to marry, just made their
case stronger. When I discovered their plot, I sent my guards to arrest them,
but someone must have tipped them off. They ran off into the desert."
"When I read about you, I was so amazed. You're such a good warrior, and so
smart. I knew that book was wrong." He looked at the Pharaoh, her chin was in
her paws and she was still looking across the hot sands.
"I'm going to have to do something about Taye," she said, quietly, "and then
I'll have to do something about an heir."
She turned her bright amber eyes on Kadrios and smiled at him. Taking his paw
in hers, she gave it a little squeeze.
"Thank you stranger," Her expression was soft, yet there was a hardness that
made Kadrios feel almost sorry for Taye and his gang.
She gave a little laugh, and stood up.
"Well, Kadrios, we should see about getting you back to the Sphinx. Perhaps
we can find you another door in time to slip through so you can get home."
She leaped up dragging Kadrios to his feet. She took the arrows from their
quiver, and shook the case over her outstretched paw. A small, heavy object
fell out and she pressed into Kadrios' paw.
"It's not much, I know, but I want you to remember me." She smiled.
Kadrios gasped as he looked down at the little lapis and gold scarab that was
now his. It had ruby eyes and was obviously very valuable. He held it out on
his palm.
"I can't take this, Eternal One."
"E-eternal One, because you will never be forgotten. I-I mean, y-you're in
that book."
She smiled and closed his toes around the scarab. Gently, she stroked his cheek.
"Eternal One... haha, I'm going to have that added to my titles." She shook
her fist at the sky and laughed, her strong, sharp teeth flashing. "That should
irritate my enemies!"
Hatshepshaisha wheeled the small chariot around and called to the Uni to run
toward the monument in the distance. The vehicle was handled so skillfully by
the Uni, Kadrios felt like he was flying through the air.
All too soon he was standing at the very spot he had been found by the guards
a few short hours before. He gripped both the Pharoah's paws in his own.
"I wish I could stay, see how it all works out," he said, "but I have so much
schoolwork due tomorrow, and I really have to get good grades. I'm going to
be a history professor when I grow up."
Hatshepshaisha smiled, "just be sure to stick to the truth, okay?"
"You bet," he said. "Well, I've one more report to write, and if I don't get
back, I won't do you justice."
She socked him in the arm. Wincing slightly, he rubbed at it and thought, that's
going to leave a nasty bruise.
Kadrios took a step back as a small vortex of sand crossed the desert and began
to swirl around him.
"I'll never forget you!" He called.
Her voice followed him across the millennia. She was laughing.
"You had better not!" She called back.
Kadrios arrived in a whirl of dust.
"I wonder if that was the same wind that left the ancient desert with me?"
He wondered.
He couldn't be certain, but he thought he saw a winged figure with a thick
book.
He rubbed his eyes and looked more carefully. He distinctly saw a faerie, she
wore stylish looking glasses, and carried a book that looked suspiciously similar
to the one gripped tightly in his own paw, in one delicate hand, and an old
fashioned scale in the other. On the scale were a feather and a scroll, each
balanced the other perfectly.
It amazed him to think how thin was the line between the past and the present.
"Oh, there you are!"
He looked up at the white Lupe, who was standing on one of the sphinx's great
paws. He gave her a little smile.
"It's time to go, you know," she informed him, somewhat peevishly. "I've been
looking everywhere for you."
"Okay, I'll be right there."
He stood in the lengthening shadow of the sphinx, closed his eyes and attempted
to imprint every moment from his afternoon. He felt a fleeting sadness, mingled
with the excitement of a secret that only he knew. Taking one last deep breath,
Kadrios returned to the bus, where he took his seat next to the white Lupe.
She gave him a heavy nudge, "ya won't forget me will ya?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Well, I looked after you, so you're my friend now!"
He smiled, "Uh, OK, yeah. Of course we're friends!"
A few days later Mr. Pengelly called Kadrios into his office.
"I don't normally return student papers personally Kadrios." He tossed four
folders onto the desk, fanning them out. "These could have used another rewrite,
the bones are good, but you haven't really given them as much thought as you
could have. They don't hang together in some spots.
Kadrios opened them one by one: B, B, B, C+.
"So much for my perfect streak," he thought.
He looked up at the teacher, "I gave you one on the "Sakhmet Tales" too, sir."
Mr. Pengelly's face was grave. "See, that's the thing, Kadrios. I think you
put more work into this one, more than all the others put together." He drew
out the yellow folder from his drawer and tapped it on his desk. "Unfortunately,
you didn't stick to the facts. What were you thinking when you wrote this?"
Kadrios shifted from foot to foot, and stuck his paw in his pocket. He felt
the now familiar weight of the scarab, he ran a forepaw toe across the smooth
surface of its head.
"Well sir, I tried really hard to make it factual as I could."
Mr. Pengelly's face was grave, "but Kadrios, the facts from where? None of
your ideas were supported by facts from that book."
Kadrios gently took the report from the teacher's paws and opened it up. It
was covered in Mr. Pengelly's small neat script. It was graded with a C.
Kadrios looked up at his teacher, a small smile playing about his lips.
"History, sir," he said, looking straight into Mr. Pengelly's eyes, "is all
a matter of perspective."
The End
This story is dedicated to Kadrios92, the Pridelands
Aisha. | 
