SHD: REMEMBER, I DON'T OWN YU-GI-OH IN ANY WAY! SO PLEASE DON'T SUE! If u still sue, I'll just assume that some people can't read.
Sunae: Hope u all enjoy! Please review! Reviews are cool, flames are not!
SHD: If u review, I'll give u cookies:shows fresh homemade ones: (:) (:) (:) (:)
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Atem- Yami's name in ancient Egypt when he's ruling as pharaoh
Jahi- Joey's name in ancient Egypt when he's one of the palace guards. Means "dignified" which doesn't really fit Joey's description.
Zalika- Tea in ancient Egypt. I'm going to make her a bit mean in this story. Sorry Tea-lovers. It doesn't mean I'm exactly a Tea-hater. Means "well-born".
Mari- Name's short for Mariasha, which means "perfect one, bitter, full of sorrow". A slave girl for Zalika.
Kissa- Atem's older sister. Means "older sister of twins". Makes decisions for Atem.
Atsu- Atem's younger twin brother. You'll find out soon that he's no nice guy.
Bakura- The leader of thieves and tomb robbers. He's no nice guy either in this story.
These names are actual Egyptian names that I researched VERY carefully.
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"My Pharaoh, the ladies will be here any minute," Jahi spoke carefully.
Atem turned away slowly from the balcony, his crimson eyes blank and faraway. "I'll be there soon." He smiled a bit bitterly. "Sometimes I wish I was just a plain palace guard like you, Jahi."
Jahi bowed his head. He couldn't find anything to say to that. "But…My Pharaoh…"
Atem simply nodded, lost in his thoughts. "You're dismissed, Jahi."
Jahi made a reverence, and backed out of the room respectfully.
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"Hurry up, girl! I'll be seeing the pharaoh himself in a few minutes!" Zalika snapped, frowning at her reflection in the mirror. "Can you be any slower?"
The slave girl tending Zalika gritted her teeth, but forced herself to hold her tongue. 'Ignore, ignore, ignore,' she chanted silently to herself. 'I just have to spend a few more minutes with this girl…'
Zalika went on fussing as the slave girl brushed her hair and tied a sash around her waist for her. "Do be careful! You're pulling at my hair! Ra, how did your parents raise you, girl?"
The slave girl stopped brushing Zalika's hair. "Excuse me?" she asked in a low tone, her blue eyes flashing coldly at her mistress.
Zalika didn't seem to notice her slave's anger. "I must leave soon! Hurry, girl!"
But the slave girl didn't move. "For your information," she said softly. "I have a name just like everyone else. It's Mari, which is short for Mariasha, as I've already told you for weeks, and second of all, my parents didn't raise me. No one did." She leaned in closer to Zalika, her blue eyes cold and without any emotion. "I raised myself."
Zalika stared at her slave, astonished that a mere slave girl should dare to speak to her in such a way. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it.
Mari turned away from her mistress, feeling a hot lump in her throat.
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Atem's POV:
I headed to my older sister Kissa's room. My twin brother Atsu was already there. I sighed. I knew what was coming next. A lecture from my 21-year old sister.
"Atem, do you realize your age? You are nearly 17 years old. You must find yourself a wife and an heir to throne!" Kissa snapped at me.
I tried to protest. "But I…"
"There should be no excuses," she interrupted like usual. "Look at Atsu! He's already found himself a wife! What is wrong with the ladies we provide you with every week? They're beautiful. They're wealthy. They have strong families who'll support you well. What is it that you want?"
'Good questions. What is it that I want?' I asked myself as Kissa went on rambling. 'I don't care if she's beautiful or wealthy or powerful or what. I just want someone to talk to…just anyone who'll understand and care…and love me because I'm Atem, not because I'm the pharaoh…'
Kissa's yells interrupted my thoughts again. "Atem, do you realize that if you don't have an heir to the throne, Atsu will be your heir?"
"Yes, but.." I protested. Kissa ignored me, rambling on and on.
I knew it was hopeless. Kissa never listened to me unless I agreed with her.
I looked at Atsu. He was smirking. Clearly that was what he wanted, to succeed me to throne. If I knew Atsu, he would do everything he could to stop me from getting a wife.
I sighed quietly. 'This isn't right. I'm nearly 17, but Kissa is always making the decisions for me. Why? Haven't I proved that I'm responsible enough to rule years and years ago? Ra, why does she have to favor Atsu over me?'
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Atem looked over the dozen girls standing before him with a blank face. "This is it?" he asked quietly to Jahi, who nodded.
'I should have known. Is it this hard to find a suitable bride? None of these girls will really love me. I can already tell…" Atem thought sadly.
The young pharaoh sighed, and turned away. "Tell them they can leave. None of them suit me."
Jahi sighed quietly, and announced to the girls that they were rejected.
Whispering angrily, the girls began to leave, one by one, except for Zalika. She looked about her frantically, and shrieked, "Where's my slave girl?"
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Atem walked out into the palace garden, his heart heavy with disappointment. Suddenly, her heard a loud commotion. A dozen guards were yelling angrily, and a young girl was answering them in a defiant tone.
Curious, he walked over to where the commotion was. Everyone stopped talking when the pharaoh arrived. They bowed respectfully. All except a young girl being held by three guards. She was struggling and kicking the guards to get free.
"Who is this girl?" Atem asked quietly, looking the girl over and making conclusions.
The girl had black hair with thin red highlights that reached down to her waist, a slender, well-tanned body, wary, bitter lotus-blue eyes, and a slightly thin, slanted mouth which showed that the girl lied very often and very skillfully. The strangest thing was her clothes. She was dressed like a slave girl from a wealthy household, but her figure seemed exactly like the figure of a girl from a very high society class.
Atem guessed that the girl had been born and raised for a bit in a very wealthy household, then kidnapped and sold as a slave. Such things were common in Egypt nowadays. And she'd probably been sold and bought so many times that by now no one knew where she was from or who she really was.
"She's a slave girl attending one of the ladies, Zalika," answered one of the guards, interrupting Atem's thoughts. "She was caught stealing honey cakes from the kitchen.
Atem glanced at the girl again. "Is that true?"
The girl looked at the pharaoh coolly. "Maybe so. If it is, what are you going to do about it?" Her tone was in every way defiant and fearless.
Everyone gasped softly, shocked by the girl's defiance.
Atem was secretly impressed by the young girl's attitude. No one had ever dared to speak to him in such a manner. In fact, no one had ever dared to refuse the pharaoh.
He remained stern, and replied, "Is that the way you treat your authorities?"
The girl smiled a bit bitterly. "Authorities? No human being shall rule over me." Her blue eyes sparked ice as she looked at Atem. "And that includes you, pharaoh."
One of the guards growled, and raised his hand to strike the girl.
"Stop!" Atem ordered the guard. "I forbid anyone to harm this girl."
Everyone was completely shocked, but the girl seemed unfazed. She continued to glare coldly at the pharaoh.
"What is your name?" Atem asked quietly.
The girl sneered, "Why is it any of your concern?"
Atem didn't reply. He waited for the girl to answer.
Finally she muttered, "Mariasha. But everyone calls me Mari."
Atem nodded, a bit surprised that she had decided to answer him. "Mari, as a punishment for stealing the cakes and for being disrespectful, you must work as my personal maiden in my palace from now on. Do you have any objections?"
Mari glared at Atem, and spat, "I'm already a slave. What difference does it make to me if I become a palace maiden?"
"I take that as a yes then."
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Mari's POV:
'Getting caught stealing those cakes was probably the most foolish thing I've ever done in my worthless life,' I thought as I followed a palace maid to the maid quarters. 'And I can't believe I actually agreed to work for that pampered palace brat! I guess it's better than working as a slave for that annoying Zalika snob."
The maid turned to me. She had long auburn hair and big brown eyes, and seemed to be about 12 or 13. I glared at her, daring her to say anything. She seemed a bit scared, but began talking anyways. 'Pretty brave of her…and stupid,' I thought.
"I'm Panya. I'm Jahi's younger sister. He works here as a palace guard. Have you met him? He's the tall guy with blonde hair."
For an answer, I rolled my eyes. Panya pretended not to notice, but she seemed a bit more taken aback.
"Your name's Mariasha, right?"
'Great. She's trying to make me smile at her or something. Like that's gonna ever happen.'
I snorted. "It's Mari, idiot."
Panya stepped back a bit. "Oh, I'm sorry." After a while, she started talking again, a bit nervously, and handed me a crisp white linen dress and a cinnamon-colored sash. "That's a really pretty name. Here. It's what the pharaoh's personal maidens wear. You're really lucky. I always wanted to be the pharaoh's personal maiden. But I'm just a plain palace maid."
"Ra, I wonder what can possibly be the reason why," I muttered in a low tone that only she could hear. I snatched the uniform away from her, and stalked away, pushing her aside. "Move, little brat."
"But Mari, the Pharaoh wishes to see you," she added timidly.
I tossed my head. "Tell him he can eat camel dung for all I care!"
Panya's eyes widened. "Are you not afraid of the Great Pharaoh?" she whispered.
I was getting more than a bit annoyed. "I'm not afraid of anything, idiot! Now leave me alone! I don't need a little girl to care for me, 'kay?"
Panya seemed a bit hurt. Like I care. You must never depend on friends. Friendship is fragile. You must never give your trust to anyone either. Trust is a weakness. And most of all, you must never fall in love. Love is pain. Pure pain and lonliness. And last but definitely not least, betrayal is like a hidden blade. You must never expose your soft side to anyone.
I've learned all these lessons the hard way.
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Mari's POV:
I stood at a balcony, watching the sun rise. The cold morning air stung my cheeks. I didn't notice the cold. I was thinking of what I was about to do.
I had to be quick. Servants were beginning to wake up. I carefully climbed up the railing, and stood at the top, looking down at the ground, about 50 feet below me. The thought of my bones smashing to pieces on the hard rocks made me shudder. To my anger, I felt hot tears slide down my cheeks. 'What am I crying about?' I asked myself, shocked.
'What is wrong with me? It's a worthless, miserable life. A poor slave's life. Death would only end my suffering,' But the tears kept coming. I brushed them away. 'So this is how my miserable life is going to end… I wish there was another way…Well, maybe now someone will care….'
I closed my eyes, and said out loud, "Besides, death doesn't hurt."
"You're right. Death doesn't hurt. It's the dying part that does."
I whirled around. A man stood behind me. He had long white hair, dark brown eyes, a smirk on his face, and a dagger in his hand.
"Didn't your mother teach you to knock before entering? Who are you?" I snarled.
The man leaned comfortably on the railing. "Some call me the King of Thieves."
"You're Bakura," I guessed. "I've heard of you before."
"Glad to know I'm so famous. Now look here, I've watched you steal those cakes yesterday. I can tell that you've stolen things, lied, and cheated a lot."
"Do you have any problems with that?" I sneered, preparing myself to fight.
"No." Bakura smirked. "In fact, you can help me."
I went on glaring at him coolly without a word, so he continued.
"Do me a favor, and I'll reward you your freedom and as much gold as you can carry."
My breath caught. Freedom…wealth…
"I can see you're interested," Bakura commented. "All you need to do is become my secret agent. A spy, and send me information about the pharaoh."
I couldn't breathe. My heart was pounding quickly. 'Freedom….and wealth…at last,' I thought.
"Of course, if anyone finds out about this…and I mean, anyone…" Bakura held up his dagger so that it gleamed in the sunlight. "…very regrettable. Understand?"
I glared at him suspiciously. "How do I know that you won't go back on your word and betray me? How do I know this isn't some kind of trap?"
Bakura shook his head. "Tsk, tsk. Don't we live in a wary world. All right. You have my word that I won't try anything funny. Do you trust me?"
Do you trust me? Do you trust me? The words rang in my head. I could feel a hot lump in my throat again. "Trust is a weakness," I snapped, but not as aggressively as before.
Finally I nodded curtly. "All right. I trust you, Bakura."
"Good choice."
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SHD: Finished! And it totally sucked! Just say it! It sucked like h-e-double hockey stix!
Sunae: Wow, aren't we pessimists.
SHD: Anyways, please review and
1. I'll be gratified 4ever and ever and ever
2. I'll review ur story if u have one.
3. I'll reply to any questions and suggestions
4. I'll give u a cookie!
Hehe…anyways, PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Oh, and just want u to know that flames will be used to make me toast, burn flamers to crisps, and roast marshmallows for Sunae! Thank you for reading this! U are always welcome to mail me and suggest things, but in a nice way. And when I say nice way, I don't mean "This story sux." Plz list the reasons it sux, u kno? I'll say it again! No flames please! If u do flame me, I'll track u down and take revenge! Revenge! Mwhahahahaha:lightning and thunder:scary, cold black aura arises:
Er, sorry bout the little drama. Like I said, I can get really hyper easily. I only had a Pixie Stix today and I'm like this. Neways, PLEASE REVIEW ME! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I BEG OF YOU:falls on knees and cries: