Page 50 of Ra
Dr. Clement watched, smiling as he nodded. “My Azenath. He is watching Azenath.”
Chapter 12
The auditorium was dark, the only lights lit up the stage and the podium. Dr. Weaver stood at the podium, making her customary welcome speech to all who attended this evening. And many attended. Every seat in the building was filled. Behind her on a raised dais, sat the throne of Ra. The protective glass display case enclosing it had been removed, and red velvet ropes had been strung around it to keep anyone from touching it. It was not only a beautiful artifact, it was the perfect artifact. It spoke of royalty, luxury, order, and the standards of the day.
“You were right, Ra,” Azi whispered.
Ra didn’t answer.
She turned to look over her shoulder at the man who stood so close to her that she could feel him breathing. He was focused on Dr. Weaver — laser focused. “Ra?”
He didn’t seem to hear her, but his gaze was narrowed, his every sense not aware of anything else in the building but Dr. Weaver.
Azi gently raised a hand to caress his cheek.
Quickly his eyes shot to her and he forced a smile.
“I was just saying you were right. The throne is the only artifact that can do justice to the tomb.”
“Temple,” he reminded as his gaze wandered back to Dr. Weaver.
“Is there a problem?” she asked, looking back at Dr. Weaver before returning her attention to Ra.
“How well do you know that woman?” he asked.
“Fairly well, at least professionally. She’s my boss.”
“What name does she go by now?”
“Dr. Neti Weav… wait, what?”
“And now, if you’ll assist me in welcoming our own Dr. Azenath Clement to the stage, we’ll get to the reason you’re all here this evening — the Tomb of Ra,” Dr. Weaver said.
Dr. Weaver looked over to where Azi waited backstage, just out of sight, beckoning her with a graceful wave of her hand.
Azi was still looking at Ra, waiting for an explanation.
Ra, his gaze glued to Dr. Weaver’s, placed his hands on Azi’s waist and gently pushed her forward. “It’s time.”
Azi stumbled a bit for a few steps before she recovered, and realized she’d not be getting an explanation at this very moment. The applause went up, filling the auditorium, and she forced a smile to her face as she made her way to the podium. She took her place and smiled at everyone, reminding herself to make eye contact with everyone she could to make them feel more seen in the sea of faces. “Good evening. Before I begin my presentation, please allow me to thank you all now for being here. Chances are that once I lose myself in the history of Ancient Egypt and the times that I probably should have been born into, I’ll forget to do so later, and you’ll all be making excuses to sneak out of the back while I stand here droning on and on and on about how magnificent it was.”
The room filled with laughter.
Ra wasn’t one who laughed.
Neither was Dr. Weaver.
They were locked in a battle of wills, both having recognized the other for exactly who they were.
Ra’s expression had shifted into one of anger, and he was growing more angry by the second.
Dr. Weaver’s expression was one of amusement. It was almost as though she was trying his patience, his control, determined to see if he’d managed to learn anything in his eons of silence.
“And let’s thank Dr. Neti Weaver, as well. Without the assistance and support from the Department of Antiquities, none of the recent discoveries, the Temple of Ra included, would have ever been found.”
Everyone applauded again, and Dr. Weaver made a quick semi-bow before she exited the stage — on Ra’s side of the stage, as murmurs began to filter around the room.
“That’s right. You heard me correctly. What everyone, including me, has been calling the Tomb of Ra, I have long believed to be the Temple of Ra.”
