Hey guys! This is going to be a three-shot with AtemxYugi (Blindshipping) and it'll be kind of angsty. Also, I typed it up on my phone, so there might be typo errors...please ignore them!

If you like Tendershipping, check out my current chapter fic. It's called To Catch a Pirate and it's an AU. Sorry for shamelessly advertising!

Thank you for clicking. I hope you enjoy the three-shot!

(Dedicated to YamiRox1010 for giving an awesome review on my last chapter fic, Hikari no Game!)

How Did It Come To This?

It's not fair. How did it come to this? I never did anything wrong to deserve it and I prayed to the gods daily. Why did they do this to me?

I pondered my life as I walked behind a team of camels, a rope tied me to the one right in front of me. Each camel had a person seated on top, six in total. The lead camel had a tall, thin man perched on top, eyes narrowed as we neared the great city. I could see the palace from here now and I had to resist the urge to cry.

How did this happen?

OoOoO Flashback OoOoO

I'd been born only 17 years ago (although I know I look even younger) and my life started out great.

I had a loving mother. Her life was rough because my father had run off before I was born. Such a coward. She had to work double to be able to afford enough for both of us, but we managed. I didn't need anything fancy. I had her and that's all I needed.

But she got sick when I was only five. She couldn't afford the medical herbs and food for me, so she didn't get anything for herself. This only made matters worse as she soon wasn't able to work.

When I was six and a half, she passed away. I didn't know what to do. She had no friends because she was always busy working. Who could I turn to? There was nobody.

And just like that, I was alone in the world.

I ran out of food three days later, and left the house. I didn't know where I was going but I took nothing with me. I didn't have any personal belongings anyways. I just walked around the small town, scared. What else could I do?

I didn't like the idea of stealing, so I sat against a wall and begged people that walked by. My mother would never approve of me stealing from people that worked hard to make money so I'd have to do it the honest way.

I thinned out because it was rare for me to be able to afford enough food to keep me healthy. I usually ended up with just a scrap of bread, but I was grateful for that. I thanked the gods every night for my survival.

But when I turned seven, something happened.

I was sitting against my usual wall, asking for money or scraps. That's when a man ran by. He was holding on to several large necklaces, each finer than the last. As he passed me, he dropped one and I instinctively picked it up to look at it. That's when the guards rounded the corner and saw me.

As they got closer to me, pointing their swords dangerously, I realized what had happened. The man had stolen the necklaces and now it looked like I had too.

"N-no! I didn't! It's not what it looks like!" But of course, they didn't listen.

I was captured and taken to the man in charge of the town. He was a fat, drunk man, eating in finery off of the taxes the poor people paid. He took one look at me and sentenced me to slavery to repay for the necklace. With the price of the extravagant necklace, I would need at least 25 years of slavery to pay it back.

I cried that night. But I still thanked the gods that I would at least be living inside from now on and not on the street.

The next day, I was taken to the slave markets, a sign around my neck. I wondered who would buy such a small, young slave. The only thing I could think of would be someone who needed a house maid. But I prayed hard for a kind master. Of course, that didn't work out so well for me.

I watched as people walked by, ignoring me and heading for the older, stronger men or the women who surely knew how to clean and cook better than I. I began to think that they wouldn't be able to sell me, but that's when my first master showed up.

"He's small," he noted to the man holding my chains. "Cut the price a little and I'll take him."

"Fine," the man said. He would be in trouble if he wasn't able to sell me, so he was glad to be rid of me before it was too late. The exchange was done and I was handed off.

I spent four years with him before I was sold off again. At first, I was glad to be sold for my master had been cruel and loved his whip more than food. It was rare for me to go a week without some sort of punishment. Unfortunately, he didn't care much who I was sold to and it didn't matter that the person who bought me worked for a...brothel.

I remember the first time I was bought for the night. I was so young. Why did this have to happen to me? What did I do wrong?

I became extremely popular after that first night. It seems that perverted men like to talk about their favorites. It disgusts me to think about. Why me?

But I still thanked the gods that I was alive. I could've died by now, either by a drunken man getting a little too rough or from sort of disease. But I didn't. I lived, despite how painful my life could be.

When I turned 17, Amir came to the brothel, intending to buy one of us permanently. He stopped at me and narrowed his eyes in approval. It's not the first time someone tried to buy me out of the brothel but nobody could afford me because I was a favorite there so the owner wouldn't let me go too easily. This man, though, was persistent.

"I'll take him at whichever price you set," he nodded. And he did, paying a hefty sum. I wondered what could be so important about me that he would pay that much. But then I learned of his plot.

This man was the leader of a group of bandits whose goal was to assassinate the entire royal family. They intended to use me to get in by saying that I was a gift from a neighboring country to the crown prince. Surely they would let me pass because of my unique looks. And according to Amir, there was another reason that I would learn as to why I would be allowed in with the rest of the bandits.

I didn't want anything to do with this plan. It was horrendous. But as soon as I refused, Amir took a whip to me until I was almost dead, crying on the floor. I finally agreed to save my life, and Amir left me there, saying they'd strike after I was healed so I would be presentable to the prince.

I cried again, but prayed to the gods thankfully. I had not been whipped to death. I survived. Again.

About a week later we were on our way to the palace. And that's where I found myself now.

OoOoO End Flashback OoOoO

I didn't want to do this. I couldn't stand the thought of someone dying because of me, especially the royal family. But I didn't really have a choice. It was kill or be killed.

Why?

"Stop! Who goes there?"

It seems we reached our destination and the guards at the palace gates weren't too happy to see us. They angrily pointed their swords at us and let us know that they were armed. It was Amir who spoke up.

"We bring a gift for the newly crowned Prince Atem," he said, smiling so that he appeared genuine. "It comes from the pharaoh's soldiers docked in Nubia."

Every fiber of my being wanted to yell and scream. No! Don't let us in! But I couldn't.

The guards came around and began to look at me observing my small stature. Amir glared at me. I knew my job. I bowed low and gave them each a very forced smile to let them know that I was willing to go in and become the new princes slave.

"Let them through!" The gate opened and Amir lead us through. The bandits all dismounted their camels and the one who had my rope pulled me along. I couldn't believe we've actually gotten through. I couldn't believe any of this was actually happening.

The guards lead us down through the palace and I observed all the halls, covered in finery. I'd never seen anything so extravagant. But I guess I should've expected it in the royal family's palace. Then I saw the large painted pictures hanging out in the hallway. I recognized one as the current pharaoh, but I paid more attention to the picture next to him. He looked surprisingly like me. The crown prince.

I now understood why Amir wanted me for his plot against the prince. If I wasn't so short in stature, we could practically be twins. Of course the crown prince would be interested in me. Who else had such strange hair?

It was then that I made up my mind. I couldn't go through with this. I knew I would be killed, either by the palace guards or by the bandits, but I just couldn't. I waited for the right time, and when the bandit who held my rope turned away for a moment, I motion to one of the guards.

"What is it, slave?" he asked roughly.

"Please sir, listen to me," I begged in a quiet whisper. "These men are not who they say. They come here with an assassination in mind. They purchased me to try and make it into the palace and threatened my life to obey. Please don't let them. They mean to kill the entire royal family."

The man looked at me, judging whether I was speaking the truth or not, and nodded, carefully observing the rest of the bandits. Then he went around to the other guards, warning them I hoped. But this is all I could do and I hoped it would work. I knew my life was at stake here and that I probably wouldn't see the morning.

One final time, I prayed and thank the gods for my sudden courage. I hoped it would save the royal family's lives.

All too soon the large door. And I knew this was the throne room. I knew it was about to happen. I was so scared and hated myself more and more for letting it get this far.

"Enter!"

I've never been so astounded in my life. The room was filled with gold and the throne at The front of the room was finer than I could ever imagine. Sitting there was the pharaoh himself tall and regal. To his right stood who I now knew to be the crown prince. His eyes widened as he saw me and I knew that my strange looks had in fact caught his attention. Amir's plan was working.

I glanced to the guard who I'd warned with pleading eyes. But he was carefully watching all of the bandits for any strange movements, his hand on his sword hilt already.

"What brings you here?" The pharaohs voice was loud and regal, full of authority. I averted my eyes to the floor, feeling too small and weak to look at him. I didn't have the right to gaze at the ruler of Egypt.

"Pharaoh," Amir said, stepping forward. "We bring a present for the crown prince from the region of Nubia. You see, your soldiers there have captured a young servant to do the prince's bidding and wished for us to present him to you."

"Atemu, go ahead and look at it," the pharaoh said, motioning towards his son. I didn't really appreciate being called an it so much today, but I didn't have much time to think on that because the crown prince stepped down and walked closer to me. He had a traditional, circlet styled crown at the base of his hairline, a ruby matching his eye color set in the center. His tunic was laced in gold and he had a dark, dark red cape on, flowing behind him as he walked closer.

"Your hair is very different," he said, quietly so only I could hear. I kept my eyes planted on the ground, not daring to look at the royal family. I was too scared to speak. "Where did you find him again?" The Prince asked, turning to Amir.

"The banks of the Nile in lower Nubia," the vile man replied. As the Prince turned back to me, I saw Amir out of the corner of my eye. He was reaching for his belt and I knew that he had a knife there. It was now or never.

It happened fast.

Amir jumped forward, pulling his knife and heading straight for the Prince. If I had been thinking clearly, I wouldn't have done this, but all I was thinking about was saving the royal family. So I did the unthinkable and shoved the Prince out of the way. It was forbidden to touch any royal, but I was just glad that the knife missed him. Instead, it was buried in my shoulder. Amir yelled angrily, seeing that his plan had been foiled.

"You brat!" he screeched.

While this was happening, the rest of the bandits had jumped into action. One went directly for the pharaoh while the rest went to defend him from the guards. Fortunately, the guards had been ready and easily took down the four men. The man who had gone for the pharaoh was taken down by a man who stood to the pharaohs left. He was short and old, but seemed to have some sort of hidden power, causing the attacker to fall to his knees.

Before I knew it, all of the bandits, including me and Amir, were kneeling on the floor before the pharaoh, knives held to our throats. I refused to look up and see the anger on the pharaohs face. I'd never been so terrified before. My shoulder was still leaking blood from the knife wound, but my fear was blocking the pain for the moment.

"Two of my guards were killed!" The pharaoh yelled, fury sweeping through his voice. "You made an attempt on me and my sons lives! What have you to say for yourselves?"

I looked to the right slowly to where the fallen guards lay in a pool of blood and what I saw made my heart stop momentarily. The guard I had warned was dead. He couldn't tell the pharaoh that I had warned him! Now I was sure to be killed.

"His royal highness is a murderer!" Amir yelled, looking into the pharaohs eyes boldly. "We are people of Nubia and we demand you release our Nubian brothers and sisters from captivity!"

"You are in no place to make demands," the pharaoh hissed. It was true though. For a few years now, the Egyptians had been invading Nubia and taking people captive. They intended to conquer all of Nubia for themselves, but of course I didn't know that at the time. I was born Egyptian and didn't have anyone to teach me about the politics of the world.

"Down with Egypt!" Amir yelled, jumping up. He didn't make it very far before being slammed back onto the ground.

"Enough of this," the pharaoh sighed. "Take them to the dungeon. I will deal with them tomorrow."

I was hauled to my feet and shoved out the door, giving one last look to the dead guard who was supposed to have helped me in this situation. Although I shouldn't have expected a miracle. My life always turns out this way.

I was put into a cell, thankfully by myself otherwise those bandits would've killed me for sure. My hands were still bound but I didn't care. I was just glad that the royal family was spared. Maybe that was my purpose all along. To ruin Amir's plan. If that's the case, then tomorrow, when I will surely be charged with attempted assassination like the rest of the bandits, my death will be peaceful because I did what I was put here to do.

I huddled against the wall, as there was no bed in the cell, and began drifting off to sleep.

But not before I thanked the gods for saving the royal family.