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It was clear that he technically needed no encouragement.
Ed might have expected endless dates and names that meant nothing to him, but what he got was story after story woven into a rich tapestry that took him thousands of years into the past about a people who lived hard but interesting lives. He talked about royals, nobles, and priests who had great monuments built to honor their gods. He told stories of the workers who quarried the great stone obelisks in Aswan and then brought them down the Nile so they could finally tower over what was once Thebes.
There was an enormous courtyard that was filled once a year with an elaborate feast in celebration of fertility and the gods. As they strolled through the various rooms, he talked about scandals, betrayals, plots, and romance. More than once, Ed looked up to see a few other tourists following them around, seeming to hang on Max’s every word. His Max wasn’t just a professor of Egyptology; he was a natural storyteller.
The only time Ed was painfully reminded that Max was still in danger was when they entered the great pillar hall. Hundreds of thick, round pillars filled a vast hall. Each one was covered in hieroglyphs and rose several stories to a curved peak like a flower opening. Few things in this world made Ed feel small but this room did it. He was little more than a bug compared to these massive structures. Max’s smooth, warm voice echoed through the room as he talked about what was written on some of the pillars.
But when Ed lowered his eyes from the ceiling to his immediate surroundings, Max had disappeared. His heart lurched in his chest. His field of vision was filled with nothing but pillars. Other tourists would appear and disappear with just a couple of steps, while the pillars created darker shadows as the sun was still creeping above the distant horizon. Anyone could be hiding in this stone forest to grab his professor.
“Max!” Ed shouted when he could force the frantic noise out of his clogged throat.
“Here!” Max called back immediately.
“I can’t find you. Don’t stop talking. I’ll follow the sound of your voice.”
Max chuckled. “I’m pretty sure I haven’t stopped talking since we came down the Avenue of Rams, but I’ll keep talking just for you. Did you know that the temple complex is regarded as one of the greatest achievements of the New Kingdom? Nearly all the pharaohs of that time period contributed something to it. Of course, it was thought that if you didn’t offer up a proper structure to the gods, you were risking their wrath. Plagues, war, famine, a poor flood or even years of poor floods—”
Ed hated to admit that he was only partially listening to what Max had to say. His voice was just barely reaching above the pounding of his heart in his ears. When he edged around a pillar, he spotted Max standing with his hands on his hips and his head tilted up, staring at the top of an adjacent pillar.
Without a single thought or hesitation, Ed grabbed Max and wrapped him up tightly. “Geez, you scared me to death,” Ed growled. “How did you get so far away from me?”
“Sorry about that.” Max stepped out of his embrace and tossed him a weak smile. Affection in public between two men wasn’t a great idea here. He gave Ed’s hand a final squeeze before releasing it. “I was talking and wandering. I didn’t realize you had stopped or that I’d moved out of view. It won’t happen again.” Max cocked his head to the side and his smile softened. “How about we go grab a drink? There’s a little café and bakery just outside the complex that is a total tourist trap, but the drinks aren’t bad and there’s some shade to sit in.”
“That is an excellent idea,” Ed agreed. As it was, his knees were still feeling shaky and weak from that scare. What a fucking idiot! Max had already been kidnapped twice—once while Ed freaking stood by and watched. There was no way he was letting it happen again. He needed to be more alert.
As Max led the way back out of the temple complex, he paused a few times to snap some pictures of interesting spots as well as a few candid ones of Ed near other statues and intricately carved reliefs in the walls.
The tourist routine only made Ed laugh. “How do you not have tons of pictures of this place?”
“Oh, I do,” Max admitted with a smirk. “But these pics are for you, not me.”
Ed’s heart stumbled for an entirely new reason. “What?”
Max stepped closer to Ed and lowered his voice to just above a whisper. “All your attention is on keeping me safe. You’ve not taken a single picture since we entered the complex. I thought you’d want some for later.”
