Akila did not speak the Bedoan language. She knew certain merchant words. She could trade when needed to. Occasionally Akila would stop at their black market. But of the languages Akila chose to learn, their’s wasn’t a priority. Saro, on the otherhand, thought differently. Akila didn’t know what he was saying, but she could hazard a guess. Especially seeing as the others around him glanced at her. What? Was there something in her teeth?

He had better not be saying that she couldn’t be trusted. How very rude of him. Akila didn’t do anything. She just showed up here, for once. She was a good girl. No, most likely he was telling them how lovely Akila was. He was sharing his fantasies about the pirate. That would make much more sense. Akila wouldn’t blame him. She was, in fact, amazing.

Akila just winked at Saro when he spoke his whispered words. And then she smiled when he spoke. Not surprised to see you here. “Well I, for one, am surprised to see you, Saro. This looks nothing like the sea. Early retirement? How… quaint. I would have preferred a nice island to the east, but well… to each their own.”

Then the lady whispered something to Saro. Why all the secrets? Something was going on. Akila was interested to see what. Were they going to try to save their men? Fight the Egyptians. Oh, this would be interesting! And here Akila thought this was a dreary little nothing of a place. Clearly she was mistaken.

And then finally the mountain that wore a man’s face spoke. And, well, if Akila wasn’t already intrigued, this would have absolutely caught it. I do not carry currency to trade with, but I do hold valuables and precious herbs. He was speaking her language, and she wasn’t talking about coptic. The way to a woman’s heart was through her wallet, she was glad at least this one understood that. She wondered for a moment what they would actually find valuable. But, then again, she didn’t much care. This whole situation seemed like a lot of fun for Akila.

“See, Saro! That’s how you treat a friend. Not with suspicious glances and secrets. I like this one.” She pointed a thumb at the mountain-man. Her eyes glanced around. She could provide a distraction for them. Akila did like to cause trouble. But it would be boring to do it alone.

Hmm, what to do, what to do. Oh, she knew what she wanted. “Tell you what. I’ll happily make a distraction for you for those herbs and valuables you so touted. But I want one more thing. I want Saro’s help with the distraction. We’ll cause a mess, you guys can slip in and save your two boys from the blade, and after all is said and done Saro can be back on his merry little way with you guys and we’ll all live happily ever after. Deal?”

Khufu would not normally travel this far, there was nothing much of interest to him at the borders to Bedoa. He was not a merchant who had anything to trade, and he wasn’t interested in travelling much after having done so while he had been in the military. But there was news that there were some Bedoans who had been caught stealing, and he thought it might be a little interesting to see what was going to go on.

He spoke absolutely none of the language the Bedoans spoke, so he had no real hopes in communicating with them, unless they happened to know Coptic as well. But either way, as a scholar Khufu was naturally curious, and he was curious enough that he had made the journey out to the borders to be there for the experience.

He was a little late in arriving it seemed, as there were already small crowds gathering, and the tension in the air was obvious as conversations were had and people buzzed.

He caught wind that the thieves were set to have their hands cut off, which was typical for thieves found in Egypt. He had seen it a few times before, not a sight he relished, but to him it was just how things went. He had grown up in Egypt, and while he knew it was not normal in some cultures, it was normal in his.

He wasn’t sure if he should try and talk to anyone, or insert himself in the situation at all. He didn’t want to get in the way, and really didn’t want to get in the way if the large and imposing Bedoans decided they would not stand for the punishment of their people.

It was a little curious though, as two of the Bedoans seemed to be chatting in low voices with two people who did not look Bedoan. One looked like she could be Egyptian, the other he wasn’t so sure. Some where from Lands Afar, his facial features and skin tone didn’t quite match Egypt, and was definitely not Bedoan.

He decided he would wait and see what was going to happen, he didn’t want to interrupt the whispered conversation, and there didn’t seem to be anyone else who wasn’t already occupied with conversation or other things.

So he crossed his arms over his chest and he observed, memorizing facial features and trying to listen in on nearby conversations to see if he could deduce what might be going on. He had his staff with him, though he hadn’t used it in years, and he wasn’t sure he could really use it well with his back injury. But with the travelling he thought it was a good idea to at least be armed in case he did need to defend himself on the road or anything.

Better safe than sorry he supposed, and he didn’t have the extra money or anything to hire guards. He didn’t think he’d need to defend himself, but you never knew.

Tanishe didn’t notice Hasani leaving Rekhmire’s side. In the throng of people, she didn’t have a clear view of him in her peripheral vision. Her entire focus was on Saro’s face. She was relieved when Saro appeared to be listening to her intently. His female friend she did not know and could not speak to, due to Tanishe’s Egyptian being severely limited to things like “You want buy?” and “I ask”, meaning she’d have to ask one of the other tribe members who did speak Coptic to translate. It worked well for her every day life, since they weren’t in Egypt all that much. Today, however, it would have been nice to be able to pull everyone into a huddle and explain what she wanted. Instead, Akila would have to settle with getting any information second hand. That, and Tanishe’s primary focus was not in polite discourse - it was to save her warriors from an unfair and cruel fate.

She looked up when she saw her husband had joined them. Her eyes searched his face for any indication he was going to stop her but she didn’t find any. Instead he began speaking Coptic in what she assumed was an assistance to her plan. The relief that flooded over her was only tempered by the knowledge that they were not yet successful. She tapped her fingers against her lips, watching Hasani and Akila haggle. She didn’t even need to speak the language to know that this was what was going on. It was obvious by the way each stood and their expressions - expressions she’d seen on countless other people in the markets.

The note of warning in Saro’s voice when he used Hasani’s name had Tanishe looking at him. She noted the resentful resignation there and wondered what sort of woman this was. Her first instincts not to trust her must have been right. Tanishe trusted what Saro trusted and obviously this woman was not in Saro’s particular circle of dependable.

At last, though, her husband spoke to her in words she understood. “You and I will try and get into that shed so that we can get the boys.” She nodded but he went on. “And then we will ride as hard and fast away from Egypt as we can until we're safely out of their reach and have the weight of sheer numbers on our side if they come after us.”

“They would not dare, husband,” she said with all confidence. “Not for prey so small as these warriors.” Perhaps a small contingent but she couldn’t imagine it would be worth it to the Egyptian officials to pursue the Bedoans in their own lands and never be sure of catching them anyway. She spoke more as a person than anything else. Tanishe had precious little exposure to true violence between men. It wasn’t that the tribes never had wars but more that she’d never seen it. She’d only seen the men brought back who needed tending and it was the wounds she understood, rather than the motivations to cause them. So, to her, she didn’t take into account that the Egyptian’s pride might be hurt by the loss. She was merely looking at it with logic, rather than emotion.

“I'm sorry that I gave up on them too soon,” he said again and Tanishe reached up, pressing her fingertips to his lips but he kept speaking and she stood on tiptoes, her gaze soft, waiting for him to finish but never moving her hand. “I am learning every day. We will rescue them... but we also need to prepare our tribe to move. We have enough rations and supplies and the next oasis is not too far from here...” She loved him more than she loved life itself but he did have a propensity to talk when action was needed.

She pulled on his arm to get him moving with her as he spoke to her of their past days of mischief. A small, reluctant smile tugged at her lips as she unwillingly indulged in the memory. They hadn’t been terrible children but like all young humans, they’d done their fair share of driving her parents bonkers with their antics. There’d been one time where they’d trapped an adder under a clay bowl and then had the audacity to tease it by tipping the bowl back using a long stick, only to trap the snake again. The trouble had come from the adder escaping and all the children who’d been with them, which included her little sister, screaming and running away, shouting “SNAKE SNAKE SNAKE” through the camp.

...perhaps something that simple could work now…

Soon enough, it was Hasani leading her. The two of them worked their way through the crowd of people and around the back of the shed, having made a wide circle to try and disguise what they were doing. Tanishe crouched, assessing the foundation. It would be a very simple matter of digging the boys out if they but had the time. “Husband,” she said to Hasani. “I will go warn the tribe to prepare to make our escape. Promise me you will free our boys at all costs save your own life.” And once she had that promise, she kissed him fast and hard and darted away to warn the others.