The field station’s reading room within the Valley of the Kings carried a chill that seemed far deeper than the cold November air outside. It was the kind of silence that felt ancient, as though the walls themselves were holding onto secrets buried beneath the desert for thousands of years. Dr. Miriam Kessler sat across …
Continue reading Kessler & Ashworth Files: Case No.3 The Boy King’s Curse
This is the sort of map Miriam would stare at long after everyone else had gone to sleep—a document that was supposed to show geography but instead revealed a crime. The parchment itself is damaged, cracked with age and stained by smoke from the excavation house that burned on the night the Lotus Ascendancy tried …
London. March 15th Three months. Ninety-two days since Emile's blood dried on my hands. Ninety-two days since I watched a four-thousand-year-old king shatter under an assassin's club. Ninety-two days since Julian Ashworth killed a man to save my life, and ninety-two days since I stopped pretending I didn't dream about the way he held me …
Part One: The Weight of a Throne The reading room of the Abydos excavation house was cold in ways that had nothing to do with the desert night. The silence sat like a elephant in the room. Dr. Miriam Kessler sat across from Dr. Julian Ashworth, a single kerosene lamp between them, the fragmented ivory …
Continue reading The Kessler & Ashworth Files: Case No. 2 — The Queen Who Would Not Kneel
Abydos Excavation House — December 12th He didn't say "I told you so." Julian never does. But he had every right to. Irritating as that can be coming from him. Eight months since Saqqara. Eight months since I watched a four-thousand-year-old man crumble to dust while Emile bled out at the excavation house. And still, …
BASIC INFORMATION Full Name: Professor Emile Thierry Bouchard Title: Senior Historian, Order of the Scarab; Emeritus Professor of Egyptology, Sorbonne University; Former Keeper of the Paris Archives Age: 68 at time of death Date of Birth: March 9th Date of Death: November 17th, 2024 (Saqqara, Egypt) Place of Birth: Lyon, France Current Residence: (Deceased) A …
BASIC INFORMATION Full Name: Dr. Julian Alexander Ashworth Title: Field Operations Specialist, Order of the Scarab; Lecturer in Military History (on indefinite leave), Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Age: 41 Date of Birth: March 21st Place of Birth: London, England Current Residence: A spare room in Miriam's flat (he claims it's "temporary"; it's been eight months); …
Hello, history lovers, mystery seekers, and fellow travelers through the dark corridors of the past. I've been quiet lately. You might have noticed. The blog posts have been sparse, the social media updates cryptic, and when friends have asked what I'm working on, I've found myself saying things like "research" and "a project" and then …
The reading room of the Order's Siwa field station was cold in ways that had nothing to do with the desert night. Dr. Miriam Kessler sat across from Dr. Julian Ashworth, a single kerosene lamp between them, the satellite imagery spread like a wound on the folding table. "You're wrong about the city," Julian said, …
Continue reading Kessler & Ashworth Files: Case No. 4- The Silent City