Page 23 of Ra
“Perhaps it was a group effort. Perhaps even the scarabs helped to put you in the position you belong in.”
“Father, about the scarabs… the one you had made into a ring for me, there was a space in the wall, a hole actually that it exactly…”
“Azenath, I haven’t wanted to worry you, but my time is limited. This could be my last great hoorah. I’m getting a little older, you know, and it’s time for things to move along accordingly,” her father said, interrupting and steering her away from the subject of the scarab ring he’d gifted her when she was barely a teenager.
“I know, Father,” Azi said, thinking of him living out the rest of his days in the rehabilitation facility. “We could put off this tour for a while. I’ll get a nurse to stay with us and bring you home.”
“No, now, that will not happen. If I’m able to be a part of it, I will, if not, I’ll not hold you back by having to nurse an old man. You just plan your tour. Do you hear me?”
“I do, Father.”
“It will do my heart good to know that all is left in your capable hands.”
“You taught me well, Father. There’s no need to worry.”
“Oh, I know. I’ve watched you take the reins as I convalesce. You outshine me! And I’m sure with the help you have at your fingertips, there will be no stopping you. Which is why I have agreed on your behalf that the first lecture will be at the university on the twenty-second. I cannot wait to see the excitement buzzing around it!”
“The twenty-second! As in the day after tomorrow?!” Azi shouted incredulously.
“Yes!” her father said excitedly.
“I can’t do this the day after tomorrow!”
“Of course, you can! And you will! I’ve promised! It’s the opening presentation of a magnificent find that the academic world has been patiently waiting on as you and the Department of Antiquities took stock, cataloged, preserved! People want to know firsthand from the person who found it.”
“It’s not a new find, though. Everyone interested has known about it and seen snippets of the items found for a while now. I just don’t get all the excitement,” Azi said.
“It’s like stepping in an ancient world! People can’t wait to be taken there by you. It’s not been officially presented. All that’s been learned about it is that it’s beautiful. Pictures put out to the media by the Department of Antiquities show that. There’s not been a formal academic presentation.”
“They already let tourists traipse through it!” Azi half-shouted.
“Only because they desperately need money. Your tour will bring in an influx of funding. Do it well, my girl.”
“I will, Father,” Azi said, tiredly as she pressed her fingertips to her eyelids and rubbed gently to try to dispel some of the tension.
“I have to go! I have therapists waiting to make me walk the hallways of this facility to prove I can hold my own long enough to be beside you!”
“Show them how it’s done, Father,” she said, smiling gently.
“I always do!” he said happily, then disconnected the call.
Azi gently laid the receiver back in the cradle.
“He is very proud of you,” Ra said.
Azi, with her hand still on the telephone, smiled and nodded without meeting his gaze.
“He’s made sure that you will be at your lecture soon. It’s like pushing a fledgling from the nest,” he said decisively.
“Yes, only I’m not a fledgling. I’ve been giving these lectures for years.”
“Really? I was sure it was your first, what with the way you’re behaving.”
“Behaving?” she asked, looking at him defensively.
Ra nodded enthusiastically. “Behaving. Like someone who is unsure of themselves. Not confident in their abilities.”
“I’m aware of what ‘unsure of themselves’ means. That’s not my issue.”
