~Forward~

Atem was standing on his balcony, the roaring of the crowd below him swelling so much that it was becoming nothing more than a buzzing sensation in his ears. He was grateful that he was high enough to be able to stare off into space and get away wth it. A slender arm slithered around his, and he turned to see his queen smiling radiantly at the common people, raising her arm in greeting. He dipped his head to his people, all too ready to return inside the palace after his speech, but then something in the very back of the crowd caught his eye.

Two figures were struggling with each other, one trying to drag the other away. Priest Seto stepped forward so that he was on Atem's side and continued the speech-making about their victory over the last wave of invaders, leaving the Pharaoh free to watch the tussle beyond the ken of his citizens. A hood was ripped back, revealing a long, waved mane of wind-blown brown hair. The woman's head turned towards him, and she must have seen him go rigid because she froze as well. He couldn't see her nearly as well as he thought she could see him. But he didn't have to. He knew who she was.

After a moment, she released her companion's arm and fled the scene. The other turned momentarily to the king, but then quickly joined the woman.

The crowd started cheering again as Seto finished speaking, and he, the pharaoh, the queen, and all the others of the royal court on the balcony turned and went inside. It was now that he was aware of Tewosret- Twore, to her equals- gripping his arm tightly. She was still wearing her dazzling smile, but she spoke to him in a low, grinding tone.

"What was going on out there?" his queen demanded, stopping him as the others continued on to their normal business, "What had you so worked up."

Atem gazed at her, listening to the ice that was replacing what should have been compassion. "It's a long story," he murmured, escaping from her grasp and walking out of the room. He needed to go to the stables and ride.

~In the Desert~

"Wait!"

The hooded girl yelled after her mother as the brown-haired woman strode away, looking for a good place to go back undercover.

"We're leaving," she called over her shoulders in a clipped tone.

"But why?"

"No questions, just come with me."

The young woman pulled down her hood as she caught up to her mother, revealing a head of choppy, heavily streaked hair that was almost as scruffy as the brunette's. The two women didn't look much alike; where one was dark and slight, the other was fair and rather curvy- even in the wrong places. The daughter's eyes matched an amethyst as well as her mother's eyes matched the Nile. Those murky, green-blue eyes were glazed with years of the life of the nomads, and today they were even bright with sorrow.

The two slipped past the walls of the city, and when they were convinced that no one could see them, they both breathed deeply and transformed smoothly into a pair of golden-coated jackals. They raced nearly a mile out into the desert, jaws open to taste the wind whipping around the sand, and found their people grouping around a small oasis. There were probably around twenty men, thirty women and a few dozen children of varying ages. The mother and daughter changed back, and one old man looked to the middle-aged woman.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked wearily.

She nodded her head and looked at the others. "We can leave, now," she called, "Let's head out."

The others started to transform, much as she and her daughter had, into more jackals, having been waiting to leave for the last few hours. Their leader took them to the capital city of Egypt every year, only for a few hours, and usually coming back with the intense urge to leave. They all knew why, but were forbidden to tell her daughter.

The girl turned her tapered muzzle to her mother and let out a small growl. "Why won't you tell me why you keep dragging me there every single year? I'm getting tired of it, Mother."

"Azeneth," the lead animal yipped back, flattening her ears at her daughter. "It's a long story."

Both the jackal alpha and the King of Egypt were losing themselves in memories at the same time, feeling the heavy weight on their heart that had been hanging there for nearly fifteen years.