Gold coins were scattered along the ground, spilling from wooden chests that had rotted with time and cracked open to reveal their treasure. Carved wooden crosses, gold crosses, ivory crosses, and various boxes wrapped in dusty silk appeared to make up the majority of the treasure. The floor was lined with wooden chests similar to the one that had split open, most still intact.
Which meant probably all of them also held gold coins.
Her mind immediately went to how they could move such a massive treasure trove to a safe location. Ideally, they could hire a truck, but who would accompany that truck until it could reach a safe exit point? Would this amount of gold pose a problem for Giovanni’s plane?
She walked around the chamber in a slow circle, touching jeweled crowns, silver and gold goblets and plates, and miscellaneous household objects, some of which seemed utterly ridiculous. On one shelf there lay a golden headrest with rubies and malachite inlaid in intricate patterns. There, a child’s cup in beaten gold. On a top shelf, Tenzin floated up to find a perfectly cast golden fish.
What was it for? No idea. Her fingers itched to slide it into her pocket just because.
“Tenzin?”
She turned toward Ben. “It’s… beautiful.”
He walked over to her and gently tilted her chin up. “It’s not ours.”
Her eyes went wide. “We found it.”
“Technically, Daniel found it.”
“So we’ll share it with him,” she said. “I’m not greedy.”
Wait…
Ben snorted. “Tenzin.”
“Okay, you’re right, that is not an accurate statement. But I am fair, and he is the one who excavated it, so we are obliged by laws of honor to—”
“Tenzin, it’s not ours.” He looked around the chamber. “From the coins alone, I’m fairly positive this dates back to the Aksumite period, and this belongs to the people of Ethiopia. This is their history. Their inheritance, Tiny.”
She hissed. “But we are the ones who found it.”
“Yes. Do you want the national museum to give you credit for the find? I’m sure that can be arranged.” He slid an arm around her shoulders. “We need to have Daniel cover this back up, seal the chamber, and then we need to inform Liya that this is here.”
She felt her heart fall to the floor and roll, ever so slightly downward toward the chest of spilled gold coins. “You’re saying we can’t keep any of it?”
“We promised Hirut in Addis—”
“But no one knows it’s here!” She felt like whining but knew that would be beneath her. “This isn’t a lost artifact. These are completely unknown artifacts. We could even keep a sizable amount here so that the chamber appears undisturbed.”
“Or we could just leave the treasure intact, which is what we’re going to do.”
His voice was so flip that Tenzin rounded on him and bared her teeth. “Do you have any idea how long it has been since I’ve found—”
“We’re not thieves!” he told her. “This isn’t up for discussion, Tenzin. We made a promise.”
“We are recovery agents,” she said. “And this is a hell of a recovery.”
“Agreed. This time our client is the nation of Ethiopia and all her citizens.”
She rose to face him, nose to nose. “I don’t remember getting a wire transfer.”
“This is a pro bono case.” Ben spun in a slow circle near the center of the chamber. “Trust me, Tiny, I feel that pull too. But we made a real promise, and I’m not willing to compromise that.”
She would tear down the sky, crawl on broken knees, and beg for him. But in that moment, she hated him more than a little.
“Don’t.” His gaze was firm. “We cannot keep it.”
Infuriating man! “Can we at least search it for the scroll?”
He walked over and kissed her forehead. “Of course we can.”
“Don’t try to mollify me like a stubborn child.”
His pursed lips told her what his mouth didn’t. You’re acting like a child, so I’m treating you like one.
The sanctimonious, stubborn ass. She had already scanned the shelves but found no scrolls or manuscripts. This was a royal treasury, not a scholarly one. That left the wooden chests that lined the floor. She went to one end and Ben decamped to the other.
She opened the first chest and more gold coins spilled out.
Not mine, not mine, not mine. She slipped five of them into her pocket anyway.
Daniel chose that moment to poke his head in. “So what are you going to—”
“We’re not keeping it!” Tenzin fumed. “Apparently it belongs in a museum.” And not in my safe in Morocco. “Talk to Ben.” Tenzin was too angry to humor the earth vampire.
“Oh, excellent. This will make your archaeologist friend’s career, won’t it?”
Slightly mollified that at least someone she liked would be getting something out of this extraordinary find, Tenzin shrugged.
“Yes, it will.” Ben spoke from across the chamber. “Daniel, this is… I don’t even have the words.”
Neither do I! Tenzin opened the next chest and felt like crying. Gemstones winked from velvet pillows. Sapphires and rubies. Carved ivory scarabs from Egypt and finely polished lapis lazuli and garnets. She couldn’t justify taking a single one, because they were all unique. Coins were one thing; one was basically like another. But these…
“Ben.” Her voice was mournful. “There’s an Egyptian scarab that—”
“Fine.” His voice was clipped. “I will let you take an Egyptian scarab since it’s not Ethiopian.”
She perked up. “Really?”
“One, Tenzin. You get to pick one.”
She spun, sensing an opening. “Can it be anything that’s traded from another place?”
Ben turned and met her eyes. “You said a scarab, not—”
“I’m just saying if it’s not native to Ethiopia, that probably means they looted it themselves, so it’s already stolen.” It was thin, but it might work. Might.
“Or they traded it, and evidence of trade is important to understanding history and will be significant to Liya.” He held up a single finger. “The scarab, Tenzin. That’s it.”
Fine, if he was going to be like that, she’d pick the nicest scarab in the chest. She spotted one perfectly preserved carving in blue-green turquoise with an elaborate winged gold setting.
She smiled. Yes, that one would do nicely. “Okay, I’m only taking one.” She pocketed it and moved to the next chest.
More coins. So tempting.
Another chest contained nothing but silver drinking vessels. Another one held only silver plates. Another one yielded rolled silk robes, and another one contained a folded silk tapestry that appeared to be Persian.
“Hey, Ben?”
“No,” he grumbled. “I’m tempted too, but just no. You already got one piece, and don’t pretend you haven’t pocketed some coins too.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Two hours later, having scoured the entire treasury, they were both convinced that though this treasury was intact, it did not hold the bone scroll or any other ancient manuscripts or clues.