The stone moved several inches, so I adjusted my feet, bit my lip, and pushed again just as Amon shouted, “Lily! Stop!”
“Amon? What’s wrong?” I called out, but then the stone gave way and settled flush with the wall. Almost immediately the ground began to shake. A large section of it shifted and the side farthest from me gave way altogether, creating a slide that I was at the top of, with nothing to hold on to. My scream echoed as I slid down the rock. I scrambled frantically for purchase, vainly attempting to find a handhold to stop my descent.
Beneath me a gaping black pit waited hungrily to devour me, but right as I went over the edge there was a jerk on my arm that wrenched my shoulder painfully. My body banged against the side of the pit and I continued to look for something to grasp.
“Lily!” Amon cried out. “Hold on to me!”
“I’m slipping!” I knew that any second I was going to fall. As I swung wildly, I glanced down once again. Now that Amon’s light was making things more visible, I cried out with desperation when I saw sharp spears and jagged rocks waiting below.
If I fell I would be impaled and would likely be joining the Valley of the Kings tomb as its newest resident. Morbidly, I wondered if I’d get my own chamber and number. I’d be KV64, or maybe KV65, unless, of course, they didn’t discover me for a few thousand years. For all I knew I could end up as KV6565.
Amon’s frantic murmuring didn’t serve to make me feel any more confident in my chances, and then, to make matters worse, the dirt wall I was trying to cling to with my other hand started vibrating. Clouds of sand began to burst forth and swirl around me.
“Sandstorm not helping!” I cried out, choking and coughing, but a moment later the sand hardened, forming blocks that stuck out from the wall like steps.
“Climb on!” Amon hollered as he swung my body closer to the steps. Thankfully, I was able to clamber onto one of the narrow ledges he’d created, and I felt safe enough to tell him he could let go.
Amon scooted closer to the edge. “No,” he pronounced. “I will hold on to you as you climb.”
I carefully ascended the steps one by one, my back pressed against the crumbling dirt wall. Finally, I neared the top and Amon reached out, grabbed me under the arms, and yanked me up the rest of the way. He tugged me so hard that I lost my footing and collapsed against him. Immediately, I tried to back away, but Amon wasn’t having it. His arms locked around me in a tight grip.
“I almost lost you,” he said against my shoulder.
Twining my arms around his neck, I half smiled, half grimaced, the throbbing in my arm preventing me from truly enjoying the experience. “Thanks for saving me,” I murmured.
Amon lifted his head. “Did you think I would not?”
“No. I was pretty sure you would. After all, it’s not like there are a bunch of organ donors in these caverns.”
Amon frowned. “I did not save you merely for your organs, Young Lily.”
“No?” I teased, lifting my chin in a challenge. “Then is there perhaps another reason that you don’t want me to die an untimely death?”
“There are multiple reasons.”
“Such as?”
He shifted back, as he considered what to say. Finally, he offered, “You are…” He brushed his thumb against my cheek to remove a smear of dirt.
“Yes?” I pressed.
“You are…an excellent scribe,” he finally said.
I dropped my hands. “Really? Is that all I’m going to get? It’s nice to know my penmanship”—I spat the word—“is so important to you.” I folded my arms across my chest, wincing at the movement, and stared him down.
Amon ran his hand up my arm to my hurt shoulder, and I hissed as he cupped it with his palm. After a quick chant he poured enough warmth into the muscle to rival a heating pad. Still, he avoided eye contact. “Lily, I do not wish to talk about this.”
“I don’t get it. You run so hot and cold. I don’t understand what’s wrong. Am I not beautiful enough?”