Theodosia

c h a p t e r f i v e

K N O C K  O N C E  F O R  Y E S

Theodosia left the beautiful woman's exhibit shortly after Teddy fled, leaving the woman disappointed. She wasn't altogether surprised Teddy couldn't do it, after all, he had been watching her for Gods only know how long with that pair of binoculars. And since Teddy had disappeared, and Larry hadn't given her what she wanted, Theodosia decided to try her hand at moving the giant rock slab on top of Ahkmenrah's sarcophagus.

Spoiler alert – it wasn't working.

"This thing is immovable!" she shouted to the silent tomb. "Who puts a slab of rock on top of a glass encased exhibit, anyway?"

She had tried lifting it with her sword, but since her sword was created for a museum exhibit, she almost bent it, and she was entirely unable to move it on her own (as she suspected she wouldn't be.) The only way she was getting that piece of rock off the casing was if someone helped her move it – and since Teddy thought the Pharaoh was evil, and Larry thought Teddy knew best, she had no one to help her.

Unless, she asked another Spartan to help her. But then she would be going against what Larry wanted. But if the Pharaoh turned out to be good, then maybe it wouldn't matter, because they would realize there was no reason to lock him away anyway.

But if he was evil, then they would have been right, and Theodosia would have been the one to let him free.

She was truly at an impasse.

Even though her gut told her that Ahkmenrah wasn't evil like Teddy thought, what did she really know? She had spent her entire existence locked away with exhibits from the exact same place as her – she didn't know anything about the Egyptians. For all she knew, Ahkmenrah was a tyrant when he was alive.

But then, it didn't say that on his plaque. Wouldn't that be noteworthy?

Theodosia had no idea what to think. She couldn't figure out who was right, her or Teddy. She knew the other nightguards made it their hobby to lock away exhibits for their own personal reasons, and a Pharaoh would be very hard to control. Keeping him locked in a box meant he couldn't get in their way, and all they would have to do was lie to Teddy, and he – and his nobleness – would forever assume the Pharaoh Ahkmenrah was an evil scoundrel.

Thinking about it made her head ache. All Theodosia was sure about was the feeling she had in her gut, and that feeling told her Ahkmenrah wasn't actually evil.

And she trusted herself more than she trusted anyone else.

Ahkmenrah was silent in his sarcophagus, but the silence was beginning to become haunting.

"Ahkmenrah?" Silence. "I have an idea that might make this less of a...one-sided conversation. I can ask you questions, and you can hit the top of the sarcophagus once for yes and twice for no – oh no, can you even use your arms?"

Theodosia was startled by a knock on the box.

She laughed, "So, I guess you can. Do I...bother you?"

Two knocks sounded from inside the sarcophagus. No.

"Oh, thank the Gods," she sighed. "I was worried you found me annoying. Agnes says I can be annoying, and that I ask too many questions. But Helene says she thinks I'm very bright for such a young person, and since Helene is older, I believe what she has to say. Agnes is always criticizing everyone anyway."