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At Ere’s eager exclamation, Ben and Sorin stepped back from the heavy wooden gate that blocked the entrance to the Sanctuary of Amun within the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut.
Given the latest archeological discoveries within the temple, the heritage site was closed to public for the time being, which made the three travelers’ quest easier to conduct. Apart from a few workers and scientists sporadically camping out at the site during the day, the site was deserted for miles around.
Across the imposing rock hills to the northwest lay the Valley of the Kings, where many of the kings of the New Kingdom, as well as queens and sons, were buried. Hatshepsut was also supposedly buried there, along with her father, Thutmose I.
But according to Ben’s research, archeologists never found her mummy.
There had been a couple of close calls. They discovered the mummy of Hatshepsut’s nursemaid, Sitre In, along with another female mummy, which they originally thought to be the Pharoah’s.
All kinds of excitement surrounded the matching of a molar thought to be Hatshepsut’s, but recent evidence proved that the conclusion was premature. The latest hypothesis was that this mummy was that of a later Egyptian queen, not one of the greatest pharaohs that ever ruled Egypt.
In Ben’s view, considering all of the facts he’d been able to gather, Hatshepsut’s mummy was still missing. Which begged the question:
Where was she?
What happened to her? Were they even certain of when she died?
The records of her life stopped when she was in her forties, which was when Thutmose III formally took over the kingship from his step-mother. But was it because she died or because of something else?
There were many unanswered questions surrounding this once hidden, still mysterious female pharaoh. And the further Ben dug into the evidence, the more questions he had.
Presently, he and Sorin watched with some bemusement as Ere used his dragon strength to lift the heavy gate and heft it to the side so that they could enter the shrine.
“You see that?” Ere crowed, making a show of dusting off his hands.
“Me strong. Big bag dragon.”
He flexed his lean biceps this way and that in exaggerated body-builder poses, grunting and huffing like a caveman as he did so.
Sorin and Ben wore similar indulgent expressions, but Sorin’s contained a much deeper love and affection wrapped in wry humor.
The big warrior tipped his lips up beneath his beard and gave a nod of approval to Ere’s cocky display, acknowledging his strength.
Ere preened visibly under his Mate’s brilliant golden gaze, standing taller, chest puffed out.
It was in small moments like these that Sorin expressed his endless, unconditional love for Ben’s prickly sire. Thousands of moments strung together throughout a day.
Ere often teased Sorin for never verbally professing his love, but everyone knew he didn’t really need to hear the words.
Not when Sorin showed it with just a look or a touch. His very essence seemed to surround Ere like a protective halo; it was so tangible Ben could swear he saw it.
Besides, Ben rather thought that Sorin never expressed his love in so many words because there were no words that could encapsulate the magnitude of what he felt.
“Love” was a pale descriptor for the endless depths of his emotions. And given that love was a human concept, and Sorin existed during the Age of Gods tens of thousands of years ago, it made sense to Ben that the language of his heart was simply different.
It was clear Ere also understood, because though he teased Sorin whenever he could, he was annoyingly satisfied with everything about his Mate and their relationship. The constant sexual energy between them alone was enough to make bystanders squirm with vicarious need.
“After you, my love,” Ere said gallantly, bowing with arm extended to indicate that Sorin should precede him into the shrine.
Ben muffled a snort of laughter at the scene—how Ere performed all kinds of romantic gestures, both serious and in self-mockery, to woo his Mate.
In dragon form to Sorin’s golden phoenix, Ere was bigger and stronger. But in human form, Sorin was clearly physically dominant. They were of similar height at six and a half feet, but Sorin was twice Ere’s size in muscle mass.
Personality-wise, Sorin was the quintessential silent, still-waters primal male, while Ere was the extravagant, flighty, exotic bird. They couldn’t be more different, and yet they were the text-book cliché of “opposites attract.”
Ben loved their dynamic, and truth beknown, he envied them. One day, he hoped he would find someone just for him as Ere and Sorin found each other.
Earlier this night, as soon as the sun went down, they already combed through the first terrace level as well as the second.
