Twin Flames

*Two strong female leads* *Two male leads* *Could be the same actor in each male/female role*
*Body swap madness abounds when ancient Egypt arrives in modern Manhattan.*

Spoiled Princess Nefi must choose a husband, but she doesn’t like the suitor The Pharaoh and Nefertiti have chosen. Bodyguard Lord Idu is okay, but he’s boring and she doesn’t fancy him. She wants to be swept off her feet. Meanwhile, she has other things to worry about. By accident, she trips over her gown and destroys the altar at her patron’s festival thereby insulting the gods. An old hag shouts that she will pay with her soul, but never mind, it’s her 16th birthday party and she’s going to have a good time. Except she falls for a stranger who steals her heart, alarming Lord Idu and the parents. But at Nefertiti’s orders, she and her sister must go for sittings at the sculptor’s studio. Why the rush to prepare graves? She elopes with the stranger and the last thing she remembers is sailing up the Nile under a canvas cover with her true love. She wakes up in a tomb, just her spirit, of course. Her mummified body lies in her coffin, but where are the family? A coffin lies alongside hers. She’s been buried with Lord Idu, but he’s lost his head. Worse, water seeps into the chamber and it’ll be flooded. Idu won’t (or can’t) do anything. Nefi’s starting to claw the walls with boredom. Why aren’t they in The Field of Reeds with her family? Why is Idu stuck in the chamber with her? He merely says she has to atone to the gods for her misdemeanours but has no idea how she might do that. She loses her temper and they bicker. But then Leo, American Egyptologist and Alison, his journo fiancée, find their tomb. He’s been searching for his princess. Convinced Leo is her long-lost love, Nefi uses her soul transfer prayer to inhabit the body of Alison, pitching the furious Alison into her blackened bones. Idu and the gods are appalled. It won’t end well for her, Idu says.
‘Alison’ and Leo arrive in New York. As his partner, she must get this alien world buttoned down fast, and without getting herself killed by traffic or alarming Leo with klutzy behaviour. She wishes Idu were around to help her. But good news… the princess’ tomb is coming to New York for a month’s exhibition. But Idu is not pleased to see her. Osiris and Isis have ordered him to get her back, or they’ll have his head. Oops. She also has to deal with Alison, who wants her body, life and man back. Nefi tries to persuade Idu to take Leo’s body and help her appease the gods, but he refuses. Alison turns full poltergeist and wrecks the exhibition. Leo is not pleased. Then, Idu’s ghost turns up at Leo’s apartment and offers Nefi a choice: appease the gods and return home with him or stay with Leo and lose her immortality forever. She chooses Leo. Idu walks out of her life forever.
***
The challenges continue. Struggling to navigate confusing modern life, Nefi discovers Leo is not a nice person. He doesn’t love her; he’s only using her parents’ money to bankroll his career, and he’s more obsessed with Nefi’s old bones than beautiful Alison. Nefi begins to doubt her choice, but she must find a way to appease the gods and she only has a cryptic message to go on. Sacrifice something dear to your heart. But what? She’s got a whole month to work it out before the exhibition closes, but then Alison smashes up the exhibition. The museum gets spooked, insurance is void and the museum gives Leo 24 hours to pack up and get out of there. Meanwhile, Idu got lost on the way back from the apartment and had to take refuge in a capybara, zoo animal. He spots Nefi walking from Central Park and follows her. Nefi is going all over New York trying to find a temple to appease the gods. Idu catches up with her. She hides him in the apartment to keep him safe from the dog catchers. But this changes everything. Unless she can return Idu’s ghost to his coffin before it is shipped out, he’ll die in the capybara, and she can’t have that on her conscience. He sits in a tepid bath (capybaras love water) while they discuss what to do. She tries again to persuade Idu to borrow Leo’s body for a few days, but Leo arrives unexpectedly and demands she gets that thing out of there. They trick him and Idu does the swap, and they get Leo carted off by the Animal Rescue people. Nefi and Idu spend time as Leo and Alison. After a night together, they fall in love. Nefi learns that Idu was beheaded for allowing her to elope and she feels awful for that, but after that, she and the royal family died of plague which ravaged the city. She realises that Idu really cares for her and she cares for him, too. She got it wrong; she picked a pretty face over a good heart. Meanwhile, they have to get their skates on as the exhibition is being shipped out and an 8-foot Osiris statue is on the warpath, after them.
When ‘Leo’ sees the trashed exhibition, he tells Nefi they’ve angered the gods too far this time, and insists on restoring Leo. At the zoo, Idu agrees that he will swap with Leo and Idu will return to Egypt, but Leo lets Idu do the swap and returns to the exhibition without him, leaving Idu stranded in the capybara. The reptile! Nefi is furious. She and Leo are over! Distraught, she returns to the ‘temple’ (St Patrick’s Cathedral) and pours her heart out to an old woman who sits next to her. Nefi tells her she will restore Alison to her body, give up Leo, and remain in New York as a ghost and stay with Idu. It isn’t fair that Idu should suffer for her actions and she regrets being arrogant and selfish. The old woman says she’s sure the gods will approve, but she’s become the old hag who cursed Nefi thousands of years ago! She must be one of the gods. More shenanigans ensue as Nefi plots and schemes to get Idu and herself back in their coffins before the flight takes off. The ghosts of Nefi and Idu are admitted to The Field of Reeds, although they spend a lot of their time at their permanent exhibition, people-watching and adoring each other.

Want to spend more time in their world? Twin Flames is published as a fiction on Amazon, August 23rd, 65,000 words.