The curse of Kalaan Read Online Free

women!”
    Champollion looked dumbstruck for an instant, thinking he hadn't heard correctly. He then burst out laughing, but quickly regained his composure when he saw the vexed look on the face of the Adonis, beloved by all women. That didn't stop Lil' Louis from guffawing and slapping his knee. Salam simply nodded silently.
    Champollion realized with stupefaction that the count wasn't joking. This womanizing rake was afraid of women! The announcement was hard to believe.
    "I can no longer stand their tittering, their simpering, their frivolity and their guiles! They're all the same, not one better than the other. Except, of course, for my sister Isabelle and my mother," he muttered, apologetically thinking of the two ladies in question. “I loathe them so much, I could almost become a monk!”
    “You are joking, aren’t you?” Champollion exclaimed.
    “Absolutely not! I must have liked them at some point, or at least enjoyed their company. But today I’m tired of them. All I see when I look at women now is their duplicity and their abounding hypocrisy. Don’t be mistaken, I’m no monk; they serve me well ... for dalliances, I must admit. But it stops at that.”
    Jean-François thought he saw a spark of humor in the dark eyes of the ever-silent Salaam, and began to think about the young count’s words. He was a strong handsome man, rich and free; and certainly all the matriarchs of French nobility were aware of this. Kalaan most likely had to suffer all the marriageable young ladies from all over France being paraded at his door. He was also said to be an excellent lover, and every widow or unhappily married woman probably did everything possible to add him to their list of conquests.
    Seen from that point of view, the fairer sex could be considered somewhat frightening. Now Jean-François could understand and give credit to Kalaan’s words. However, he would have liked to have the same type of fear as his friend, rather than one of an early demise.
    “The tomb is just down there,” the count announced, pulling Champollion from his thoughts.
    A tomb? Where? They were standing at the ridge of a high dune and nothing around them could confirm what Kalaan said.
    However, when he followed Kalaan’s eyes and looked further down, Jean-François couldn’t suppress an exclamation of surprise. There, at the foot of the dune, what looked like stone walls most likely of human construction, had been revealed. The ancient earthy coating had been partially removed and clearly marked the entrance to something resembling a mausoleum. Yet it remained completely invisible to anyone standing at the edge of Tell el-Amarna.
    Kalaan’s baritone voice cut through the silence. “The desert jealously hides its secrets and nature, either by whim or as a joke, and enjoys teasing us by raising storms to reveal to the world what should never have reappeared. We are the first to have laid eyes on this edifice since time immemorial. It has never been charted by Sicard, or by the scientists who were here during the Egyptian campaign [17] , nor by Belzoni [18] and most certainly not by the vile French consul Drovetti [19] . I have made certain of this. We are standing before a great discovery!”
    “Or a great curse,” added Salam, under his breath gloomier than ever. “This is not a tomb,” he insisted, as he already had numerous times, since they discovered the site the previous day. “No pharaoh, queen, prince, or high dignitary rests here.”
    Champollion began trembling uncontrollably. The Tuareg’s alarming words echoed the horrible feeling that had suddenly come over him.
    “Jean-François is here to either prove or contradict what you are saying,” Kalaan muttered, knitting his brow. “Why place such a building so far from Tell el-Amarna?” he added thoughtfully, as if to himself.
    “So men wilna come stomping ‘round the place,” Lil’ Louis muttered nervously. “Will we g’back to the boat now, lad?”
    “No!”