A young boy's head nodded up and down sporadically as he fought the darkness of sleep. His long brown hair fell forward past his shoulders onto the old papyrus scroll he was supposed to be studying. Ra had long since fallen below the horizon, and nearly everyone else in the royal palace had retired to their bedchambers for the night. The boy's eyes had nearly completely slipped closed when—

"Pssst! Mahaad!"

Mahaad rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes before raising his gaze to the source of the voice. He was met by an unruly head of bright tricolored hair, and a pair of large, curious violet eyes. He sighed and rose from his desk.

"Prince, what are you doing up this late?" he asked as he walked around to the doorway.

"I wanted to see if Mana would play with me, but she said she was too tired. I saw a light in your room and I came to see what you were doing!"

Mahaad couldn't help but smile at the prince. Despite being nearly seven cycles of Ra younger than he was, he was already as sly as they came, able to manipulate nearly anyone to his whim.

Suddenly, the prince reached up and placed a hand on Mahaad's left shoulder, shoving his tunic sleeve aside to reveal a nasty-looking black and purple bruise beginning near the base of his neck.

"Mahaad...did he hit you again?"

Mahaad glanced away. Sometimes he was too smart for his own good. "It's nothing." The Prince frowned. "What happened?"

"Th-The portal spell I cast transported me three cubits too far down the bank of the Nile…."

"Three cubits!?" The young prince's innocent face contorted in anger.

"Prince Atem, please, keep your voice down-"

"This is getting worse and worse, Mahaad! Come morning, I'm telling my father about what he's been doing to you-"

"Prince, listen," Mahaad interrupted. "He's the Priest of the Ring. I'm just an apprentice. They won't believe you on my account." 'Believe me, if I thought they would, I'd have escaped this hell long ago,' he added bitterly in his mind.

Atem's expression softened. "Is there more I can't see?" he asked meekly.

"N-no," Mahaad lied. There was no need in upsetting the boy any more than he already had.

Atem raised his eyebrows at the apprentice. Mahaad hated that look. He felt as though those amethyst eyes were boring through his brain.

How was that kid so perceptive anyway?

Mahaad rolled his eyes and removed his outer tunic. Atem's eyes widened as his fingers ghosted over Mahaad's chest and abdomen. He was hard-pressed to find any skin that had not been colored black, purple, or red.

"M-Mahaad...this...this is awful…."

Mahaad hurriedly pulled his tunic back over his head, resisting the urge to grimace as his hand brushed against his chest. "Listen, Prince. It's fine, I promise. I'm used to it by now."

Atem continued to frown. "People just don't get used to this kind of thing, Mahaad. Please, just let me tell my father-"

"You do and I'll tell him where your favorite hiding place is."

Atem's eyes widened and he gasped in horror.

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me."

"You'd be selling out Mana too!"

"Then I guess you'll just have to tell her why she can't hide in those pots anymore."

Suddenly and without warning, the prince burst into tears and threw his small arms around Mahaad's torso. As he constricted his grip, Mahaad gasped softly in pain.

"Mahaad, me and Mana are worried about you! That guy is awful! People like him need to just die!"

Mahaad patted the prince's hair awkwardly. "That isn't the way the world works, I'm afraid…" he mused bitterly.

"There you are!"

Atem groaned and hurriedly wiped the tears from his eyes.

A young woman stood in the doorway, the dark circles under her eyes adding to exasperated expression. "I should have known you'd be in here again."

"Mashti, do I really have to go back to bed?" the prince asked, his innocent eyes widening as he slightly stuck out his lower lip.

"Don't use that expression with me, Prince. I've grown quite immune to it. And yes, you must come to your bedchambers. You know how your father gets when you stay up late," the woman replied. "Now, come. It's late." She extended her hand to Atem.

Atem sighed and looked back at Mahaad. "Good night, Mahaad. I'll see you tomorrow. Please be careful." He then made his way over to Mashti and slipped his hand into hers, allowing her to lead him off into the darkness of the palace.

Mahaad exhaled heavily as he dropped back to his desk. That spell wasn't going to study itself.