I awoke to find myself lying at the edge of a massive lake. The sun was shining brightly above, and I could even hear the sounds of various birds. It ...eminded me of the little grotto I had found near Cartha. The one where Violet and I had our first intimate encounter and where Trent lost his life at the hands of Ruben. It looked to be three kilometers wide, in a half circle shape. At the far end of it was a large cliff face with a waterfall that fed into the lake. Jagged rocks split the. “I am bound for England, where a Fellowship awaits me. But first I need to pay my respects to Mehmet Ali Pasha in Cairo. I have some rather special artefacts, and the money to pay for their export fee. Then I am off to Rosetta for a vessel home.”“Rosetta! Would not Alexandria be a more likely port to find a vessel heading to Europe?”“Normally I would agree with you, Sir Elijah, but there are rumours of trouble in Alexandria. The governor of the province...”“Abdulla Bulbul Ameer?”“Yes that’s the. “Fuck me!” I gasped.“Why else would you be here?” She grinned, and motioned with her head for me to go in.She closed the front door and squeezed my bum as she brushed past me, wiggling along the passage. I followed her and found myself in her bedroom. She wasn’t going to waste any time.I suddenly had an odd thought: was this an ‘appointment’? Did she have another one at eight? Was this the point when she gave me the price-list, with no option for me to refuse, on penalty of jail-time? That. Maybe it shouldn't have been.Frieda flicked a glance at Beth. "Could you describe her bedroom, please?"I turned to Beth. "Are we wide open here?"Beth looked embarrassed. "Well, for the basics, anyway." Okay." I turned to Frieda. "I'd never slept in a canopy bed before. She has a lot of stuffed animals -- bears mostly. And a mirror chest that faces the bedroom door."Frieda got a little feral. "Why did that make an impression?"I turned to Beth. "You went THAT far?" Um, yeth. That wath part of.