It's minutes before Ankh notices Thea standing at the doors. Once he does he motions her over, his brow furrowed still. Thea walks over, standing awkwardly a few feet away. The man standing at Ankh's side glanced at Thea, appearing uncomfortable. Ankh and him whispered back and forth quickly for a few more moments before the man bowed deeply and hurried out of the room.

Ankh motioned for Thea to sit next to him, and clasped his hands at his lips. Hesitantly Thea sat. She didn't move, somewhat afraid to. Instead she viewed Ankh, hands in her lap.

He was dressed the opposite of how he had been the night previous. Now he was decked out in white. His nemes was white with turquoise stripes. On it's front was a gold serpent.  His jewelry were golden accents, as was his eye makeup. His eyeliner today was turquoise, also, which surprised Thea. She had assumed eyeliner would have always been black. 

Finally, Ankh sighed heavily. To her surprise he slipped off his nemes and wig in one fell swoop, placing it neatly besides him. He looked at her, lips pursed into a thin line. He flicked his impassioned dark eyes down to the food that laid before them. 

"Eat. Drink. The beer has been tasted already, it's not poisoned." 

Thea frowned deeply at how tired he sounded. She rested her hand on his forearm, causing him to look at her. "Ankh...what's wrong?"

For awhile Ankh said nothing, merely looked at Thea evenly. Then, finally, he responded. Ankh took a bit of clothe that had been sitting next to him; Thea had assumed it was a napkin. Instead he placed it in front of her and pulled back where it was folded. 

Thea gasped. A dead Egyptian cobra head stared up at her with two beady eyes. The head had been clearly ripped off, not showing the neat signs of being sliced. Thea's hands flew to her mouth.

Ankh covered it again. "There is good news, Thea, and there is bad news. I woke up to this in my bed, on my pillow, next to my head."

Thea had no words. 

"The good news is guards were posted outside of your door the entire evening. You didn't do this."

Thea was slightly wounded he had still suspected her, but only marginally. 

"The bad news, is, whoever did this has access to my room. Which means one of my own is going to murder me."

Thea swallowed thickly, removing her hands from her mouth. "What are we going to do?"

Ankh looked at her sharply in surprise. "We?"

"Well, yes! I'm not just going to sit here and let someone kill you!"

Ankh snorted. Very sadly he took a bit of her hair, twirling it around his index finger. If she didn't know any better, she could have sworn his eyes glistened with tears. "Thea--we are not doing anything." He released her hair, eyes falling to his lap. "While I appreciate the sentiment, I couldn't stand if anything happened to you."

"And you think I could stand something happening to you?" she retorted angrily. 

Ankh rose his head in surprise. Thea puckered her lips, glaring slightly. 

"I don't know what nk is going on," Thea said, saying the only word she knew that was a vulgar term for sex, "but I'm here now, seemingly transported through time. I'll be damned if I sit by and watch you die."

"Thea--"

"No," she said, voice trembling with conviction, "not on my watch and over my dead body."

Ankh viewed her in clear bewilderment and awe. He finally snapped out of it, reaching forward and taking up some grapes with a smirk. "And tell me, dear Thea, what you plan to do about it?"

He sounded amused, which only made Thea scowl more. "I don't know. Yet."

Ankh snorted. Thea flailed her hands over her head. "I'm not just some helpless feeble woman, Ankh!"

Ankh put his hand on her shoulder and looked at her evenly. "I didn't say you were, Thea. You're anything but."

Thea swallowed and licked her lips. Ankh didn't break the gaze, and she found herself lost in it. He leaned forward a little more, and her breath hitched. 

"I am just curious."

"Yes?" she squeaked.

"We've known each other for so little of time. Why are you so invested in me?"

Thea opened her mouth to reply but then shut it. Why was she? Her mind whirled, and anything she could think of would be mildly insulting. A feeling stirred in her, but she shoved it down because it was silly. To take the pressure off herself, Thea decided to retort the question.

"The same thing could be asked about you, Ankh. You seem awfully interested in proving my innocence." 

Ankh leaned forward. "Are you innocent, Thea?"

Thea felt her face explode into a blush. "Y-yes."

"Then what does it matter?" he murmured, leaning in farther still. 

Thea focused her eyes on Ankh's lips, lips that were thin and perfect. Lips that were very, very close to her own. 

"I'm just curious," Thea whispered, her voice shaking.

"I'm curious, too, Thea. Do you know what curiosity strikes me?"

They were almost kissing. Thea's eyes were large and her whole body was trembling. "N-no. What?"

Just then the door opened. Both of their heads snapped towards the sound. Ankh rose to his feet, his hands balled into fists. 

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.

The person stumbled on their feet, clutching their stomach. Thea got to her feet also, alarmed. The person stumbled to the left, then the right. Finally they fell onto their knees. Eyes rolling into the back of their head, they fell forward, face first, smacking against the ground with an audible smack. 

Blood quickly pooled around the man. Thea shrieked, Ankh bellowing for his guards.

~

Thea bolted upright in bed. She was covered in sweat, her nightgown clinging to her legs and the small of her back. As she frantically looked around for Ankh, she was baffled. Where was she? What room was this? Where was Ankh--was he safe, was he sound? 

Slowly the dream faded, and Thea realized she was at home in the safety of her bed. She didn't want to be though, she wanted to be back with Ankh. She needed to know if Ankh was okay. 

Beginning to cry, Thea laid back down, determined to go back to sleep. Before she was even able to close her eyes, though, her phone rang. She bolted upright angrily, picking up the obnoxious device. To her surprise, Ahmed's name showed on the screen. Annoyed, she quickly swiped up and took the call.

"What?" she snapped.

"Are you alright?" Ahmed said through a severely crackling connection. 

"Yes--why?"

"Thea--you're horribly late," Ahmed said, sounding worlds away. 

Thea frowned, pulling the phone away from her ear. To her shock it read 9AM. Bewildered, her head snapped to the window. Sure enough, sunlight poured through the curtains. Her lips parted; what happened to her alarm?

"Are you alright?" Ahmed asked again, somehow sounding farther and father away.

"Yes," Thea replied, trembling. "I'll be right in."