He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The excavation was taking far longer than he planned. Not that that was a bad thing. That was a very good thing. It meant they were finding far more than they had expected.

He sighed again. He turned to exit the room he was in and was met with an excited conversation in what sounded like Russian. But the fortress wasn’t open to the public during the excavation. So who were these people? Both were female from the sound of their echoing voices.

“I’m gonna stay here, you go on ahead,” one said.

“What? Why?” the second exclaimed.

“The light perfectly highlights the structure and its reflection in the pool,” the first answered.

The second laughed, “All right, I’m going to look at the throne room. It’s a gloriously sunny day and I want to see what visitors saw when meeting the caliph.”

He was surprised when he could understand the conversation between the two. Then he realized their conversation had switched to English. The second voice was moving towards him too.

Moments later, a young woman with startlingly black hair entered the room. He watched as her face morphed into one of awe at the sight before her. As he watched, she took several steps back, pulled a sketchbook from her shoulder bag, sat down and began to draw the room.