Shelomith: “From Her Perspective, Part Three.”

Once more, the sand reversed its direction, re-creating the memory of Shelomith sitting in her chair, looking out of her window, and crying.

Shelomith wiped her eyes and sighed, thinking, "Well… Today's my last day of freedom, since I'm getting married tomorrow, so… Let's go find Reyna and Divora."

She stood up and brushed some dust off of her dress, before heading out the door, kissing her mom on the cheek, and grabbing fruit, on her way out the door.

She made her way to the Temple of Set, however, since she was an Israelite, she was not allowed to go inside, to attempt to find Reyna & Divora.

This was a double-edged blade, because if she did enter the temple without express and direct permission, she could risk not only angering the Egyptian Elders; but she could ALSO risk offending Yahweh, or him seeing her actions as blasphemous and worthy of punishment.

So she made her way around the outside of the temple to the priestess quarters on the east side, where she knew that Reyna had been given residence. As usual, she would sneak up to a window, and attempt to surprise Reyna & Divora.

She slowly poked up her head to peek inside, and see if either Divora or Reyna were there… and she saw something she never could have expected in a billion years.

As she looked in the room, she was met with the greatest startle of her life… Reyna was there, and Divora was as well… and they were…

"Kissing?!?" The word accidentally escaped from her lips, and realization dawned on her face.

Her eyes grew wide and she sharply inhaled, letting out a small squeak, and dropping down beneath the view of the window, in an attempt to hide. Unfortunately, however, the damage was done; she had given away her position.

She hit the ground, and scrunched up against the wall, with her hands still over her mouth and her eyes wide and terrified. A loud and frantic flurry of noise in the room, told her that she was most certainly caught.

Like the feral little mongoose that Divora was, she came raging out of the window with a Kris Blade in each hand, and baring her teeth like a rabid animal. She turned around and set eyes on Shelomith, and immediately sighed and dropped her guard, shaking her head in disbelief, and annoyance.

"It's just Shel, Rey. No worries." She sheathed her blades, and a sigh of relief came from the room, behind Shelomith's head, as she looked up with a nervous smile to see Reyna glaring down at her.

In response to Reyna's angry face, Shelomith chuckled weakly and said, "Haha… hey guys… how's your day going? I was just… doin… stuff…" She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head as she stood up, grinning embarrassedly at her best friends.

She didn't understand how she had missed it, but at some point, her best friends had clearly fallen in love, without her noticing.

Divora had made her way back over to Reyna, and Shelomith smiled as wide as she could, reaching around both of them, and pulling them into a tight group bear-hug.

"You knuckleheads!! You should be more careful. If I was an Egyptian, you'd both be gutted. Finish getting ready and come meet me out front.

I wanna walk around with you girls, and go to Town Center… In case you forgot, it's my last day of freedom, and you two promised we could go try the Iced Cream."

"It's called Ice Cream, you big dummy." Divora groaned annoyedly, as she struggled to get out of Shelomith's grasp, like a kitten caught by a child.

Reyna chuckled and reached forward, poking Shelomith on the nose, "Boop. Fine. Let me put on my cloak, and we will meet you out front. Divora, come on." Reyna turned and began walking away, before she stopped and turned back to Shelomith.

"It should go without saying, but this never happened, okay? Our futures rely on not getting caught… We could be killed, or worse, excommunicated."

Shelomith nodded and smiled at her in return, "It goes without saying. I'm just happy that you guys are happy! I'll see you in a few minutes." She walked away smiling, heading back towards the entrance, as Divora shook her head, and climbed back into the room to help Reyna get ready.

Up front, Shelomith was waiting patiently, as a blast from her past showed up to cause her heart more pain.

As she was looking around while waiting for Reyna and Divora, she saw their old best friends; Ezrae, Amon, Taza, and Caleb; the rest of the Rat Pack.

They were clearly playing yet another of Amon's silly training games, and for a second, Shelomith considered running over and joining her old friends again…

Her heart skipped a beat as she watched Ezrae tackle Taza and stand up triumphantly, declaring victory… He was still so handsome, and it hurt her so badly knowing she was being married off, and couldn't be with the boy she loved.

She continued to watch them for a second, until Reyna's face popped up directly in front of her own,

"BOO!"

In response, shelomith yelped and took a step back, which caused her to trip over a rock, and land in the sand.

Divora and Reyna laughed together, as Shelomith collected herself, standing up and hitting Reyna with her scarf. She was embarrassed and was blushing so deeply that her face looked like a tomato.

"So Rude!"

Reyna responded to her with, "Maybe you should have answered when I said your name, then; instead of daydreaming about your boyfriend. Are you ready to go?"

She patted her coin purse, and it jingled slightly in response, "The High Priests gave me my allowance for the week, so let's go treat the Bride-To-Be, hm?"

Divora winked at Reyna, moving to her side, where a handmaiden belonged. From there, the three of them began to chat, as they walked off to the Town Square…

The sand fell to the ground, as Ezrae slowly lowered his hands, now much more old and wrinkled. His skin was tanned and burned, from years of working in the sun, and the youth he was just experiencing through memory was long gone.

Ezrae sighed deeply and wiped a tear from his face, before mumbling to himself.

"I think that's enough for tonight… It's been a long day, and I need the rest. When I have time again, we will pick up where we left off… It's so good to see you again, Shelomith…"

Ezrae pulled his blanket up and over him, after he leaned his staff back against the side of the tent. He yawned deeply, closed his eyes, and slowly drifted off to sleep; while counting sheep jumping over a pyramid.