protected us. "She has no right to blackmail you."
She
meant Tala Rachid.
"You said that she was at the hotel to make sure we were okay," I reminded him. "That she meant to call the police if we didn't show up."
"But she did not call the police."
"From what she told us last night, I get the feeling they would dismiss any complaints from her as same song, new verse. You may not have noticed, but the police didn't even act that concerned when
we
filed a complaint, and Egypt has supposedly taken a hard line about protecting tourists."
Ever since that tourist massacre in the Valley of the Kings , which Lex had mentioned in his cheerful, "Visit Egypt,
Land
of
Danger
and Death" speech before I left.
"I did notice it," admitted Rhys, trying not to pay attention to some of the people on the trolley who took exception to our standing so near each other. Apparently my wearing a wedding ring didn't mean as much when he did not. "And you are right. It is strange."
"Not if they've already dismissed Tala and Jane as emotional, malcontent females who think they're above the law, and Hani as a rightfully indignant patriarch. Trying to smuggle Kara to safety didn't exactly help their reputation among the local authorities."
"Can you blame the women for it?" challenged Rhys.
I imagined what it would be like to have a child—and what it would be like if someone, even her father, stole her from me. What it would be like if even the law was against me.
Laws be damned. I'd defy death to get her back.
"No," I said tightly. "No, I don't blame them in the least. But I'm really
not
an expert on international custody. If I'm going to help them—"
"This is it," said Rhys, of the stop. It was easy to rec-ognize because the modern train depot stood across the street from an ancient Roman amphitheater that shone white in the sun, anachronistic amid the dusty cityscape. We got off the trolley and dodged traffic to the depot, despite the longing look Rhys cast toward the amphitheater. Only when we entered did he ask, "So you've decided to help them after all, have you?"
"I didn't decide." Since he had to stay and work—there was more to the reclamation project than diving—I gave him a quick farewell hug, whether or not people approved. "Hani Rachid decided for me."
If that man thought he could bully me into submission, he clearly did not know Grailkeepers.
Since I'd missed the most recent Turbotrain's departure, I had to take an express to Cairo . It felt good to be out and unchaperoned, reading up on Isis . After almost three hours, it deposited me back into the chaos of the afternoon city, just in time to hear the haunting, city-wide call to prayer, chanted by muezzins from minarets and broadcast from loudspeakers. Almost half the people around me immediately stopped, unrolled prayer rugs to face east, and began to pray, right there in the Ramses Station.
And to think they did this five times a day!
Somewhat chagrined by their devotion, I felt guilty for heading out—but I had my own strange brand of religion to pursue.
Helping Tala with Kara, so that she would help me find the Isis Grail.
I visited not just the British but the American Embassies, trying to find even a hint of hopeful news for Jane. It wasn't to be had. Overseas custody disputes were ap-parently a larger problem than I'd known—and it wasn't just in the Middle East but Mexico, Austria, Germany, even Sweden. Jane wasn't the first person to find herself in this situation, I was told, and she would not be the last.
"That's just how it goes," said one clerk, supremely unhelpful. "Shouldn't the family resolve this?"
But how was a family supposed to resolve anything, when only half had all the power?
Was this why I'd avoided marriage for so long? I got back to the Ramses Railway Station in time to catch one of the sleek, red-and-black striped Turbotrains, which cut my ride by almost an hour. That was still plenty of time to slide Lex's wedding ring off my finger and
She
meant Tala Rachid.
"You said that she was at the hotel to make sure we were okay," I reminded him. "That she meant to call the police if we didn't show up."
"But she did not call the police."
"From what she told us last night, I get the feeling they would dismiss any complaints from her as same song, new verse. You may not have noticed, but the police didn't even act that concerned when
we
filed a complaint, and Egypt has supposedly taken a hard line about protecting tourists."
Ever since that tourist massacre in the Valley of the Kings , which Lex had mentioned in his cheerful, "Visit Egypt,
Land
of
Danger
and Death" speech before I left.
"I did notice it," admitted Rhys, trying not to pay attention to some of the people on the trolley who took exception to our standing so near each other. Apparently my wearing a wedding ring didn't mean as much when he did not. "And you are right. It is strange."
"Not if they've already dismissed Tala and Jane as emotional, malcontent females who think they're above the law, and Hani as a rightfully indignant patriarch. Trying to smuggle Kara to safety didn't exactly help their reputation among the local authorities."
"Can you blame the women for it?" challenged Rhys.
I imagined what it would be like to have a child—and what it would be like if someone, even her father, stole her from me. What it would be like if even the law was against me.
Laws be damned. I'd defy death to get her back.
"No," I said tightly. "No, I don't blame them in the least. But I'm really
not
an expert on international custody. If I'm going to help them—"
"This is it," said Rhys, of the stop. It was easy to rec-ognize because the modern train depot stood across the street from an ancient Roman amphitheater that shone white in the sun, anachronistic amid the dusty cityscape. We got off the trolley and dodged traffic to the depot, despite the longing look Rhys cast toward the amphitheater. Only when we entered did he ask, "So you've decided to help them after all, have you?"
"I didn't decide." Since he had to stay and work—there was more to the reclamation project than diving—I gave him a quick farewell hug, whether or not people approved. "Hani Rachid decided for me."
If that man thought he could bully me into submission, he clearly did not know Grailkeepers.
Since I'd missed the most recent Turbotrain's departure, I had to take an express to Cairo . It felt good to be out and unchaperoned, reading up on Isis . After almost three hours, it deposited me back into the chaos of the afternoon city, just in time to hear the haunting, city-wide call to prayer, chanted by muezzins from minarets and broadcast from loudspeakers. Almost half the people around me immediately stopped, unrolled prayer rugs to face east, and began to pray, right there in the Ramses Station.
And to think they did this five times a day!
Somewhat chagrined by their devotion, I felt guilty for heading out—but I had my own strange brand of religion to pursue.
Helping Tala with Kara, so that she would help me find the Isis Grail.
I visited not just the British but the American Embassies, trying to find even a hint of hopeful news for Jane. It wasn't to be had. Overseas custody disputes were ap-parently a larger problem than I'd known—and it wasn't just in the Middle East but Mexico, Austria, Germany, even Sweden. Jane wasn't the first person to find herself in this situation, I was told, and she would not be the last.
"That's just how it goes," said one clerk, supremely unhelpful. "Shouldn't the family resolve this?"
But how was a family supposed to resolve anything, when only half had all the power?
Was this why I'd avoided marriage for so long? I got back to the Ramses Railway Station in time to catch one of the sleek, red-and-black striped Turbotrains, which cut my ride by almost an hour. That was still plenty of time to slide Lex's wedding ring off my finger and
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