+ 1.19.5: A New Beginning - Kind Of (Edited Version)

Al Simhara, Egypt.

A few months later.

“And over here on your left you can see the Great Pyramid of Giza standing majestic at roughly 138 metres. We’ll be visiting them tomorrow but now we take a break and meet back here in an hour.” Mohammed smiled politely and left the couple to marvel at the scene before them. Egypt and its history had always fascinated Azaria. All through her youth she had collected volumes of books retelling the lives of the great pharaohs and the infamous but beautiful Cleopatra; she had always wanted to visit the country. So when Jared came home a few weeks ago from work with the tickets as an early birthday present she didn't hesitate to take time off from work. Marriage was still far into the future for them. They just wanted to enjoy being together, travelling and living their life while they were still young.

They wandered around until they came to the market place. It was a furnace outside with temperatures having risen to 52°C however, the nights were relatively cooler and the lodge in which they were staying had air-conditioning. ‘Thank God for life’s little luxuries.’ She brushed away the little beads of sweat permeating on her forehead. Jared had wandered off to explore the market further, leaving her standing there alone. She glanced around trying to get her bearings right - the blistering heat had clouded her sense of direction momentarily – when her eyes fell on a tent only a few metres away.

She wasn’t sure what pulled her towards it but minutes later she found herself entering the fortune teller’s tent. The strong aroma of incense and jasmine tea hung in the air. The old woman shuffled her tarot cards absent-mindedly.

“Come. Sit.” Her gruff, husky voice travelled across the cramped tent and Azaria obeyed, finding the nearest chair.

Madame Matilda’s eyes found Azaria’s and the two women stared each other down for an eternity before the fortune teller mumbled the word ‘you’ in a low gloomy whisper. Her face kept its dead-pan visage while her eyes shifted down to the images flashing on her crystal ball. She saw the dark haired man with glowing eyes of gold who had visited her more than thirty years ago and this very girl sitting before her had appeared in her vision then. But she couldn’t have been more than twenty-five years of age. 

“I don’t really know how this works.” Azaria explained apologetically for having just sat there like a discarded dummy. The moment the woman’s piercing eyes fell on her she felt as if she had been dissected and left exposed for all to see. She unconsciously folded her arms across her chest as Matilda eventually pulled herself from her own chair and began to prepare a hot pot of tea.

Almost an hour had passed before Azaria emerged from the tent. She greedily took in the blast of fresh desert air, grateful to finally have escaped the stuffy tent. The more Matilda spoke of her past and predicted her future the smaller the tent seemed to get until it had shrunk to a black claustrophobic cloud that spat her out. She was wrapped in denial and disbelief over what the old woman had said. The truth she called it. Well it couldn’t have been any farther from the truth as far as Azaria was concerned. She pushed the session to the back of her mind and made her way back to the meeting spot.

“Where have you been?” Jared eyed her warily, demanding to know what she had been up to for the last hour. The international roaming on their phones hadn't been activated yet so when he couldn't find her he entered a state of panic. He had heard of the recent rise in tourist killings that was sweeping through the world and the last thing he wanted was to bring her back home in a body bag.

“Fortune teller.” Was all she said. She heard him let rip a grating laugh of incredulity. At least she wasn't abducted. He felt the worry ease of his chest rapidly.

“Oh come on Az. Those people are all just opportunists who love to swindle gullible tourists like you out of their money.” He put his arm around her and steered her away toward the tour bus.

"Mmh. Maybe you're right." She finally agreed. Her views on fortune telling were blurred: it was one of those 'I'll see it for myself' type of things. It was impossible for the woman to have known so much about her in any case.

“After all it was your gullibility that got you into trouble with that bloodsucker in the first place, remember?” He let it slip unintentionally.

She felt her jaw tighten defensively, careful not to let loose on her own rampage of disguised insults.

“Don’t shunt me around like I don’t have my own legs to walk with.” She brushed his arm off her shoulder and quickened her pace to walk a few feet ahead of him. She didn't know what had triggered her reaction; all she knew was that she was royally pissed at him for making such a statement. She had buried everything about her past in order to move on with her life. And now that Matilda woman and Jared, the one who had convinced her to start afresh, were opening up old wounds. Now it was as though she had asked Davrin to take her hostage and impregnate her; all because she had accepted a drink offer.


Please Note: This chapter has been edited since its last post so that it now makes sense. Thanks Val for pointing it out.