Chapter Nine
“The king’s chamber is toward the top, along with the queen’s,” Rhylie said, taking a step forward, wanting with all her heart to reach out and touch the stone structure before her.
“This one I wasn’t here for,” Sandro said. “You’ll have to enlighten me.”
“The great pyramid took almost twenty years to build, or so they think. The time estimate varies depending on the book you read. For almost four thousand years it was unsurpassed as the tallest man-made building in the world.”
Emotion clogged her throat as she stared at the structure. “It’s absolutely incredible, when you think about it. No cars or engines or forklifts to help them build it. All they had were pulleys and manpower, and a knowledge that goes far deeper than we’ll probably ever be able to find out. Of course, they were a very intelligent people, and had great engineers and astronomers who helped to line things up and plan things right. And, despite popular belief, most of the labor was done by peasants culled from the villages and paid for their work. That’s who built the pyramid.”
“That and aliens.” Rhylie glanced at the twenty-something American man standing next to her. She tried not to laugh as he nodded solemnly and repeated. “Aliens built the pyramids.”
“Right.” She glanced at Sandro, who shrugged. Then she moved into his arms, putting her lips on his ear. “Tell me there are no aliens.”
Sandro gave her a “well, maybe” look and her mouth dropped open. “I don’t know if they worked on the pyramids, though. As I said, the construction of this magnificent feat was before my time.”
She stared at him, dumbfounded, then shook her head. “You’re changing everything I’ve ever held to be true about the world.”
“Good. Learning new things is wonderful, if you ask me.”
“I’ve always said that, but when it’s things that make your jaw drop, it takes some getting used to.” Rhylie glanced back at the pyramid, trying not to wonder about aliens mixing with ancient Egyptians and pulling huge stone tablets from the quarry to the pyramid for placement.
The man next to her was spouting off what he termed to be evidence of the aliens building the pyramids as a gateway to their planets. He was discussing stars and the placement of the stone structure as Rhylie tried to tune him out and concentrate on what was in front of her.
This was something she’d never thought to see, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, an ancient structure that had withstood the blistering heat and winds of an unforgiving desert for more almost five thousand years. How was it that this still stood, yet the polar ice caps were melting?
“Don’t trouble yourself with questions that will never be answered,” Sandro said softly. “Instead, submit to the fantasy that brought you here. Let’s climb it and see the view from the top.”
“We can’t.” Longing for the days of yesteryear filled her heart. If they’d been in Victorian times, she’d be on the pyramid in a second, finding purchase in the rocks to be the first one in her party to make it to the top. But, years of people doing just that had damaged the magnificent structure, and climbing it had been forbidden for some time now.
She explained that to Sandro, who just smiled. “When you’re with a magical djinni who can see that no harm comes to the pyramid, and that no one will know we’re doing it and try to follow us, then there is no harm, is there?”
Rhylie tried to think of a reasonable way to refute what he’d said but there wasn’t one. Just as she hadn’t come to a reasonable answer to the question, she knew he would pose to her when her thirty-day vacation was up. Would she stay with him, or go? Her heart wanted her to stay, never letting go of the man who thrilled her, in body and soul. But, her mind wondered about that, wondered if she’d be doing the right thing. Of course, you never really knew, did you?
One of the things she loved about Sandro the most, though, was that he didn’t try to influence her one way or another. He didn’t spend hours telling her how she would be able to use her djinni powers for good, and help make the world a better place.
Instead, they’d spent four days in France, touring archeological sites and tourist attractions, and then making love whenever the whim hit. And it hit often. Sometimes, Rhylie felt as if she couldn’t keep her hands off him. And deep in her heart, she knew that if she left him at the end of their “contracted” time together she would never be able to live with herself.
She loved him with all her heart, but was it enough to compensate for the changes she would undergo? For plunging into the unknown? What if, heaven forbid, something happened to Sandro? He’d told her he wasn’t mortal, and could die. If that happened would she go back to being human, or would she stay a djinni? Would she want to stay Djinn if he weren't there to help her, guide her?
The only thing that would draw her to the supernatural world was the man standing in front of her, extending his hand, offering her a step up onto the first stone of the great pyramid.
“Are you sure we won’t do any damage? Remember, I work to preserve the earth, which includes preserving its history. I would hate to be the one responsible for more damage to one of the greatest achievements in the whole world.”
“On my honor, there will be no damage to the pyramid.” She nodded, then took his hand, putting her foot on the first row of limestone.
Excitement swept through her as they started to climb. This was something she’d dreamed of doing since she was a teenager. The history involved in the pyramid fascinated her, as did the Egyptian culture.
For the first time, though, she marveled at her interest, considering the Egyptians love of magical things, and their believe in the afterlife. She’d never believed in things like that. Not until she met Sandro.
Of course, they were also a highly skilled people, trained in the arts of science and astronomy. In that way, they matched her interests very much.
When they reached the middle of the four hundred and eighty-foot pyramid her breath came in short, shallow gasps. Sandro was beside her, his hand on the small of her back, his breathing normal.
“Would you like me to take us the rest of the way?”
“No.” She took a few deep breaths. “I want to do it on my own.”
He nodded, then ascended a few more blocks. The climb was long, and seemed to take forever. And she loved every second of it. The higher they climbed the more she marveled at where she was, and what she was doing.
Names and dates had been carved into the limestone, and she wondered about those who had been there before her, speculated about the view they’d had as compared to what she saw now: the sprawling metropolis of Cairo, which was nearer the pyramids than most people thought.
“It’s quite a sight, isn’t it?” Sandro was floating near her, his feet not touching the stones.
“Yes, it is?” It took her a few seconds to realize she was floating too, his hand in hers holding her tight.
“What are you thinking?” He leaned over and kissed her gently, his lips trailing over her chin.
“How different the world is now than what it was when this was built. Look at the skyscrapers, and the cars scooting everywhere. In ancient times there would have been a settlement of workers nearby, and various buildings scattered around. It just amazes me to think about it.”
He was behind her now, his arms wrapped around her waist, his chest warm and hard against her back.
“Tell me about your childhood.” She couldn’t see him, but she could tell her question made his eyebrows go up in confusion.
“What brought this about?”
“I just want to know. Call it natural curiosity.” Besides, she though, if we’re going to stay together for the rest of our lives, I want to know something about your past. During the time they’d spent together they’d never discussed it, except for him to tell her his mother, father, three brothers and two sisters still lived.
“My brothers and I fought, as brothers are wont to do. Magical fights can be intense, with different things being conjured up to use against your opponent. My mother used to scream at us when the axes came out.”
Rhylie turned her head to stare at him. “Axes?”
“Just small ones.” His grin made her laugh.
“I’m sure by small you mean, three, four inches? Baby axes?”
“Well, larger than that. But we made sure no one got hurt. That’s another advantage to being Djinn. You can use your abilities to make the axes disappear if you think they will go into someone’s flesh.”
This time she shuddered, wondering about the violent time in which he’d grown up. There was violence today, yes, but not brothers playing with axes as toys. Or at least she didn’t think so.
“We had a tutor for our lessons.” The tone of his voice let her know his memories were fond, and he was enjoying thinking about them. “She was Djinn, of course, and we used to play tricks on her, which would get us in trouble with our parents.”
“What sort of tricks?” This time he chuckled, pulling her closer to him.
“The usual thing, you know, making books and tables disappear, conjuring snakes to wiggle around her feet. Just normal, kids stuff.”
Rhylie burst out laughing, pushing her elbow back to nudge him in the side. “Conjuring snakes isn’t normal kids stuff.”
“I dare to say there are a few human children who have frightened their teachers with frogs, or snakes.”
“Not me,” she said, shaking her head. “I never did anything like that.”
“What did you do?”
She sighed, putting her hands on top of his and focusing on a car she could see driving in the distance. “Nothing that didn’t have a purpose. If I had a doll, my parents wanted me to learn the proper terms for anatomy, so that I didn’t call breasts boobs, or a penis a…”
“Cock?”
“Exactly. I didn’t do much playing. I did a lot of reading, mostly things my parents had found for me, to help me learn about the world and how it works.”
“It’s sad you had no brothers and sisters.”
“They would have been just like me,” she replied “I had cousins, but I wasn’t allowed to fraternize with them. My parents thought they were wasting time that could be better spent learning. At family gatherings, when my cousins were outside having water balloon fights, or playing baseball or kick the can, I was inside, listening to my parents argue about one scientific theory or another.”
“Don’t be sad about it, la mia stella.” He nuzzled the back of her hair, his sound of contentment making her smile. “What we’ve done in our lives makes us who we are. You can’t change the past, but you can move forward. In that spirit, I think it’s time to act out a fantasy for you, sweet one.”
“That’s what we’re doing right now, isn’t it?” A soft moan escaped her lips. “You said the fantasies didn’t have to be all sexual. Plus, we’ve lived out quite a few. In case it’s escaped your attention, we’ve made love quite often.”
“Nothing’s escaped my attention. Holding you in my arms is the most precious gift I’ve ever had.” He put his lips on her neck, sliding over her shoulder and making her quiver. “And we’ve lived out one fantasy.”
She relaxed into him as he captured the lobe of her ear between his teeth, biting gently. Desire spread through her; she knew what was coming next. She had very few sexual fantasies, really. They’d already done one, but the biggie was coming now, she knew, and the idea of it lit her body on fire, her folds instantly growing wet and swollen in anticipation of what was to come.
“Are we…staying here?”
“No, we’re going to Rome now, to the house I lived in for many years.”
“Your parents’ house?”
“No, little one. I just wanted something to set the right mood.” He was in front of her now, extending his hand. And she took it, not at all fearful to fulfill the fantasy she’d thought of, and buried deep inside her long ago.