This fic is NOT HISTORICALLY ACCURATE. I did some research on New Kingdom ancient Egypt while I worked on this for the last two months, but I'm definitely no Egyptologist and there are probably some readers who know more about this period than I do, so please forgive mistakes. (In other words, "Research is hard so let's get on with the yuri.")
And since I won't have anything else up before the 15th: Happy Birthday, Natsuki!
Warning: This fic contains some ugly things, such as violence, slavery, and Tomoe.
The sounds of battle could be heard all throughout the capital city of Fuuka. The clash of swords and spears meeting shields, of metal-tipped arrows piercing armor and doors being smashed in, the pounding of hooves and running feet, the thunder of chariots, the screams of the dying, and the yells of those who were still alive, for now.
Even from within the royal palace, Shizuru could hear all the terrible noises clearly.
The invading Egyptians had breached the gates some time ago, and by the sound of it they were quickly spreading through the city towards the palace. Fuuka's soldiers had tried to hold them off outside the city's walls, but they were no match for the much larger army led by the Pharaoh of Egypt. Fuuka's remaining units were now either fleeing the field or in retreat to cover their king, the Obsidian Lord.
Shizuru had ordered the evacuation of the palace earlier, when it became clear that King Reito of Fuuka was losing the battle outside the city. As far as she knew, the huge building was now empty except for her.
Even with the sounds of death and terror coming in from the wide balcony that overlooked the rest of the city, Shizuru sat calmly on a tasseled cushion in her royal chambers. An outsider never would have guessed that this beautiful young woman – not far into her twenties from the look of her – was listening to her home come under attack. She seemed perfectly dignified and unruffled, casually sipping a drink.
Her royal robes, dyed a deep purple and wrapped with a wide sash, had elaborate red and gold embroidery flowing across the shoulders and chest and down the wide sleeves. Nubian amethysts were set into her necklace of gold links, and the braided coronet encircling her sandy-haired head was of rare silver imported from the Aegean. She looked every inch the Queen of Fuuka.
She had had her servants dress her in her very best before she dismissed them hours ago and told them to look to their own safety rather than hers. She sighed deeply, making the surface of the drink she held ripple. Hopefully, all of her servants and ladies-in-waiting would escape safely, or at least find somewhere to hide until the fighting and looting died down.
She prayed they did not meet the same fate Shizuru herself feared awaited her.
The drink rippled again in its golden cup, and Shizuru realized her hands were trembling. Stay calm, she willed herself.
Suddenly, the door to the room flew open. It smacked against the wall loudly, almost making Shizuru spill her drink all over her lap from shock. Her heart thudded against her ribs – were the Egyptians here in the palace already?
The burst of fright faded somewhat when her husband came barging in from the anteroom, not even bothering to shut the door behind him. Despite his golden crown and the black-painted bronze armor he wore, Reito certainly did not look imposing right now. His eyes were wide with fear and sweat streamed down his face as he darted about the room. He was unarmed, but was carrying empty leather sacks, of all things.
"Pharaoh's men will reach the palace in a few minutes." The words came out with slight pants, as if he had been running through the corridors to get here. "So we need to grab whatever valuables we can before we escape!"
He suited words to action, going around the room quickly and snatching up anything of worth he could find. Trinkets and small ornaments were torn from their places, and polished copper hand-mirrors were knocked aside so he could upend jewelry boxes onto the ivory table. There were certainly enough valuables in their chambers to fill those sacks; Reito loved ostentatious shows of wealth.
When Reito had taken his father's throne a year ago and became the Obsidian Lord, King of the nation of Fuuka, her marriage to him had been a purely political decision. One her high-ranking noble parents had not bothered to consult her about before arranging. From the start, there was never any love between Shizuru and her husband, or even friendly affection. But then, love always came second to power gains where royal marriages were concerned.
Fortunately for her, however, Reito usually ignored his queen and busied himself with his many slave girls. It was disgraceful for a nobleman to take advantage of servants in such a way, but Reito had never cared much about upholding his dignity.
Another man poked his head into the room, not entering fully like Reito did. Nagi, still wearing the decorated tunic that marked him as a king's advisor, swept his eyes over the place, flashed Shizuru a rude grin, and then ducked back into the anteroom to wait for the dark-haired man to finish.
Inwardly, Shizuru hissed with anger. It was that pale little worm of a man who had prodded Reito into setting this entire disaster in motion!
A newly-crowned and inexperienced Pharaoh was a great opportunity for Fuuka, Nagi had insisted over a month ago. This young Pharaoh, a mere woman, would be too overwhelmed trying to manage the large empire she had just inherited to notice the actions of one much smaller nation along her southwestern border.
The kings of Fuuka had always wanted control of those two gold mines near one of the Nile's tributaries, and Nagi had convinced the current king that now was the perfect time to seize them from Egypt and expand Fuuka's wealth. Not that Reito had needed much convincing, despite the protests of his other more sensible advisors. Greed always won out over logic for Reito.
What fools those two are, Shizuru thought, not for the first time. Nagi and Reito seemed to forget that Fuuka had been conquered by Egypt once before in the past. Well, now they surely remembered why. Four weeks ago when the first group of soldiers carrying the Obsidian Lord's standard had set foot on Egyptian land, Pharaoh's army immediately fell on them like a ton of mud-bricks.
And the woman had not stopped at just repelling the incursion. She kept marching her men straight on, moving westward into Fuuka's territory, decimating every force sent against her. Settlement after settlement was conquered by the army led by the "new and inexperienced" Pharaoh, and she had pushed effortlessly on to the capital city of Fuuka.
And now, only a month since Reito and Nagi's idiotic plan was hatched, she was at their very gates.
If Reito had taken the advice offered to him, he would have pulled all his remaining forces back behind the city's walls and forced Pharaoh to begin a siege. With enough supplies, a properly fortified city could withstand siege for months. It might have bought them some time to come up with a plan, or even beg for negotiations.
But no. Earlier today the king had rallied what was left of Fuuka's army and ridden out in his chariot to fight the Egyptians head-on in front of the city gates. If a female ruler could lead her soldiers to victory, Reito had insisted, then no doubt he himself could do it even better and force her to retreat. He simply ignored it when Shizuru pointed out that the rulers of Egypt routinely trained their heirs from childhood to be warriors, whereas Reito had never held any but a ceremonial weapon.
And the fact that the King of Fuuka, the feared Obsidian Lord, was right now dashing about his quarters stuffing sacks with gold and jewels and looking over his shoulder in a panic every four seconds meant that Pharaoh had won yet another battle today. There would be no negotiations, no terms of surrender. Fuuka was lost.
Scooping up the last bits of valuables to shove them into the leather sacks, Reito spared a glance at his wife. She still sat on the tasseled cushions, completely unfazed, sipping her drink just like she had been when he first burst into the room a few minutes ago.
"What are you waiting for, woman? Egyptian soldiers have almost reached the palace! We need to leave now!" The clamor of fighting – not as distant as before – emphasized his urgency.
"Leave if you wish," Shizuru said. "I have decided to stay." She brought her cup up for another sip. Its contents had long since grown cold, but she drank it anyway. It could be her last.
An armful of lapis lazuli trinkets clattered to the tiled floor as Reito whirled to face her. "What?!"
"I will not die a coward, struck down from behind as I run. And I won't spend the rest of my life in hiding." She carefully placed her now empty cup onto the carved wooden tray beside her and closed her eyes calmly. "Whether I die here or as Pharaoh's prisoner I will be remembered as a queen."
"A queen?" Reito repeated incredulously. "Do you really think that monster will let you keep any dignity? You've heard what she does after each battle, in every town and garrison her army has conquered."
Eyes still closed, Shizuru repressed a shiver of fear. She had heard, and she knew what likely awaited her if she stayed. It did not change her decision.
"She lets her soldiers sack the place and take whatever captives they wish!" Reito dropped one of the bags to gesture with a hand as he yelled. "Most of the loot and prisoners end up as her property, and she allows her soldiers to divide the rest among themselves. Is that how you envision your queenly end? As the laborer of some Egyptian? As a... a slave."
He slathered the last word with scorn. As if he himself did not own dozens of slaves in the palace to attend his pleasures, and hundreds more consigned to work in the fields and mines! Taking captives was just the way of things, Shizuru knew. If you lost a war to invaders, you were either killed by them or enslaved. The kings of Fuuka did the same to their own enemies.
"If you have any sense," the dark-haired man went on, "You will come with me when I lead Nagi and the rest of my entourage in retreat and be happy for the chance!"
She opened her eyes again, fixing them on his. He gave a small start at the intensity in her blood-red stare.
"And then what, Reito-san? Do you think Pharaoh will just let you flee into the desert? And if she does, how will you escape your own nobles? No doubt they are... most upset with you for bringing ruin to us all through your petty greed."
Reito snarled at his wife's scathing tone. "How dare you speak to me in such a way, woman? You forget your place!" He clenched his fists menacingly.
"Ara, are you going to beat me again?" She gave a withering laugh. "Won't that slow down your grand escape, O great Obsidian Lord? Pharaoh's men have already taken the city, and you know the palace will be hers soon also. You should run now if you want to squeeze through some unprotected side gate before her soldiers find you. I am sorry I will miss such an amusing sight."
Before Reito could splutter a response to the mockery, Nagi poked his head in again from the anteroom. "They're in the palace now," he said in his annoyingly carefree, singsong voice.
The fury melted from Reito's face and was replaced with terror. Shizuru's life might be spared once she was captured, but he surely would be executed painfully for daring to try to steal from Egypt.
He dashed towards Nagi at the doorway, dragging what he had scavenged from their chambers. The place already looked like soldiers had sacked it, with the small wooden and ivory tables overturned, cushions tossed about haphazardly, and whatever ornaments Reito had not been able to carry strewn across the rugs and floor tiles.
"Not coming with us, Shizuru-chan?" Nagi made it sound as if he and Reito were about to embark on a leisurely stroll rather than run for their lives.
She ignored him coldly. Worms did not deserve the attention of queens.
"She's staying. Now let's go!" Reito shoved two of the heavy bags full of valuables into his minion's arms and the skinny young man staggered under their weight. Before Nagi could voice a protest though, Reito lumbered from the room, running as best he could while weighed down so.
Nagi glanced at Shizuru one last time and made a disappointed sound in his throat. "What a pity." With that, he turned and followed after the king.
When the sound of their running footsteps faded, Shizuru let out a deep breath. Now she was truly alone here. There was no turning back. No way to prevent her death or torture or rape or whatever other horrible things might await her once she was found by Pharaoh's men. She started trembling again.
No! I will not be afraid.
Well, that was a ridiculous thing to aim for, Shizuru realized. Already she was not just afraid, but terrified.
Then I will not give in to fear. She concentrated on that. Just that and nothing else. Just don't give in. Deep breaths, slowly in and out, not listening to the sounds of yells and crashes and pounding that were coming closer by the minute. The palace was large, but it would not take the Egyptians long to seize control of it, empty of people as it was.
She lost track of how long she sat there in the ransacked chamber, willing herself to maintain her composure and not break down into screaming and tears. When the rays of late afternoon sunlight streaming in from the balcony had shifted to slant across the room's far corner, the inevitable finally happened.
Footsteps in the corridor outside her chambers. Several pairs of them, stomping in soldiers' heavy leather sandals. They were accompanied by the sounds of men calling to each other and metal armor rattling as they moved.
She heard the door to her anteroom open, and one of the soldiers walking through it to search what lay beyond.
He shouldered the next door open roughly like Reito had earlier, but then stopped to stare in awe at the royal sitting room. The soldier let out a whistle as he looked around. Fuuka did not possess a fraction of the wealth Egyptian royalty did, of course, but this place was still probably much richer than anything a simple soldier had ever seen, even ransacked as Reito had left it. The dark-haired man in armor standing in Shizuru's doorway carried a spear in one hand and a wooden shield on his other arm, and a scar was visible on his cheek.
The fool jumped when he noticed the woman sitting on her cushion in the room's center. He had probably expected these chambers to be empty like the rest of the palace. He lowered his spear defensively as if he expected her to pull daggers from her wide sleeves and rush him.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked rudely.
Most people of Fuuka spoke the Egyptian language – a remnant of their time as one of the empire's provinces over a century ago – though they had developed their own slightly different dialect and accent since then. Shizuru had no trouble understanding the man's speech despite the differences.
"I am Fujino Shizuru, Queen of Fuuka." She was proud that the words came out so calmly. Her heart had leapt into her throat as soon as the man entered, but she was determined not to show fear, even if – no, especially if – she was about to die.
He blinked in surprise, but after one look at her elaborate clothes and silver crown he believed her. He grinned, thanking every god he could think of for such a turn of good luck.
"Well, well! Pharaoh will definitely reward me personally for bringing you to her!"
The possibly of meeting Pharaoh face-to-face seemed to excite him enough that he was willing to ignore all the loot in these rooms. He shifted his spear to the other arm that his shield was strapped to so he could gesture for her to follow him.
"You will come with me, now." By his tone, it was either come willingly or be dragged there. Shizuru was not about to let such an uncouth man lay a hand on her, so got to her feet in one fluid motion.
There were other armed Egyptians still in the corridor outside when they reached it, and the spearman paused to ask one of them where to find their commanding officers.
"Last I heard, Captain Takeda, the generals were having a meeting in this place's throne room," the other soldier said. He waved a hand in the general direction of the palace's center.
Takeda gave the man a nod of thanks and turned to take Shizuru by the arm and lead her away. She brushed him off like a buzzing fly.
"I know where the throne room is." Her condescending tone made him feel like a child who had butted into grownup talk.
Before he could do more than mutter darkly, she swept gracefully down the corridor. The dark-haired man stomped after her as she made her way out of the royal wing towards the throne room. Other Egyptian warriors they passed on their way were not sure who was leading whom.
As they walked, Shizuru's thoughts fell on what lay in store for her once they reached the throne room. Would she be killed here, or taken back to Egypt for a public execution? Or perhaps she was to be taken prisoner and kept as a slave to one of Pharaoh's lieutenants, or even to Pharaoh herself.
Shizuru pushed the grim thoughts away. Don't focus on the fear or it will overwhelm you, she told herself. Think of something else. She found herself wondering about the person she was being taken to meet.
What would she look like, this young woman who ruled a golden empire and was traditionally worshiped as a living god by her people? Reito had called the new Pharaoh a monster, and maybe she was one in a sense. Surely, though, the woman could not have the head of a beast like some of the other gods Egyptians made offerings to. Would she have the flawless pale skin of an aristocrat, or would she be scarred by battle? Did she snarl and roar as she cut down all who dared stand against her, or was she cold as she sent arrow after arrow into enemy lines from her chariot?
Her speculation came to an end when they came to the tall double doors carved with the royal emblem of Fuuka. The doors had been swung wide open, and Takeda exchanged a few words with one of the other captains before he and his "prisoner" were waved into the large chamber.
Shizuru was quite familiar with the place. A long red runner led up to the wide dais that held the Obsidian Throne, and the stone walls were painted an imposing black and hung with red cloths. The mirror-backed oil lamps around the room had been lit to illuminate it in the twilight.
A knot of Egyptian men and women, high-ranking officers and nobles from the looks of them, stood talking in the center of the room. Other Egyptian soldiers were scattered across the room, some of them rigidly at attention with their spears and shields upright, others chatting amongst themselves about what to loot from the rich palace. There was no one left for them to fight here, so they had been given permission to take their ease now that the battle was won.
Takeda brought Shizuru almost to the room's center and then prodded the butt of his spear into the back of her knee sharply, making her leg fold and shin thud to the stone floor. Gripping her shoulder from behind, the soldier pushed her the rest of the way down until she was kneeling before the group of men and women who stood talking in front of the throne's raised dais.
It seemed they were going to have to wait to be noticed by his commanding officers. Shizuru gritted her teeth and ignored the rude spearman, instead taking the opportunity to study those officers as they talked.
Most charioteers and high-ranking warriors were noble-born, and it showed in their outfits. The charioteers' main weapon was a bow, but here they carried war maces and battle-axes and Egyptian sickle-swords. Like ordinary soldiers, bronze scale-mail or leather jerkins sewn with bronze disks protected their torsos, with helmets covering the tops of their heads. But unlike the commoners, their leather sandals and belts were decorated and worked with gold, and they wore wide golden bands around their wrists, biceps, and ankles. Ear studs, rings, and intricately carved and begemmed amulets were also worn, and the men and women alike had black eyeliner and eyeshadow and darkened eyebrows. Egyptians certainly did love their makeup and their gold – it seemed they did not forgo them even for a battle.
Shizuru scanned her searching red eyes over the group of nobles, lieutenants, generals, and... there. That must be her.
Pharaoh's scale-mail tunic, gold-plated and set with hard semiprecious stones that would give better protection from arrows, glinted in the lamplight, as did the bronze sickle-sword she held. Like the other commanders, she wore golden armbands, bracers, and anklets, and a linen garment that wrapped around her waist and came to her knees.
Atop her head sat the War Crown, made of stiff blue leather that covered her hair and nape and extended up slightly, like a helmet. A band of gold circled the base of the crown, supporting two small golden animal figures just above her forehead. Shizuru knew what they were: a vulture and a rearing cobra side by side, symbol of Upper and Lower Egypt united under one divine ruler.
Shizuru's gaze then lowered to the face framed beneath them. What she saw surprised her.
Nagi had been right – the new Pharaoh was young, perhaps even a bit younger than Shizuru herself. But, like the older brunette, she had a regal bearing that would have identified her even without the unique crown. What surprised Shizuru more, however, was how gorgeous the woman was. The lineaments of her face looked like fine alabaster carved by a master sculptor. Even her serious expression did not lessen her beauty. Like all high-ranking Egyptians, her eyes were shadowed and lined with black makeup, and the same powder painted her eyebrows.
Pharaoh was listening to a tall blonde woman wearing a general's elaborate outfit. This other woman's eyeshadow was purple, and her blackened eyebrows were drawn down in a fierce scowl. Shizuru could not quite tell from across the room, but she thought a vein was pulsing in the blonde's forehead. The woman held a large mace in one hand and waved her free arm animatedly as she yelled.
Shizuru had been too distracted earlier to focus on what the Egyptians were talking about, but now she had nothing to do but listen and observe as she and Takeda waited.
"- should chase that dog of a king into the sands, Natsuki! Let his people see his head dangle from your battle standard and then we'll see how long they continue to resist our soldiers. If we push on with this campaign, we could take all the rest of Fuuka in less than another month! We c-"
"No, Haruka."
The voice that cut smoothly into the blonde's tirade was like none Shizuru had ever heard before. Deep for a woman and a little husky, but still unmistakably feminine.
"You're one of the greatest generals to ever serve Egypt..."
The tall blonde puffed up at the compliment like a hawk preening itself, but then deflated again as Natsuki continued.
"...but you forget that everything we conquer we must also govern. If we take any more of their land we won't be able to hold on to it and defend it; we'll become like the lions whose kill is stolen by hyenas. Besides, Egypt has many enemies and many borders to defend. Focusing all our efforts in one place is just an invitation for other foreigners to invade the unprotected areas. And as for their king..."
Pharaoh shook her head dismissively. Two blue cloth tails that Shizuru had not noticed before, falling from the base of the crown at the nape of her neck to midway down her back, fluttered briefly from the movement.
"Even if he manages to escape our patrols, his own people will probably kill him. Fuuka has been shattered, Haruka. The parts that don't belong to me now will dissolve into small fragments of whatever territory local nobles can hold on to. It'll probably be generations before they can unite behind one king again, and we'll be ready to take more of their land for our empire long before then."
Haruka still did not look completely convinced. The general opened her mouth again stubbornly to continue her argument, but Natsuki cut her off before she could begin. As Pharaoh, she could have just ordered Haruka to drop the subject, but the blonde was a loyal friend of hers and Natsuki wanted her to understand the reasons for her decision. Natsuki had meant what she said; Haruka was a magnificent general, but she could be a little overzealous sometimes.
"This past month has already proved a success," Natsuki said. "Land that hasn't been part of Egypt since my great-grandfather's reign is now under our rule again. Many slaves have been taken in battle and this city has even more to offer us in slaves and loot." She gestured around the throne room with her sickle-sword. "A great success, with no need to bite off more than we can chew and only lose more men."
That last was probably what made Haruka finally give a reluctant nod. Egypt was hardly lacking in soldiers, but Haruka still hated losing her men – who all admired their general – needlessly on the battlefield.
It was then that the two of them became aware of Takeda waiting there behind a kneeling Shizuru. Haruka and Natsuki turned to look at the man expectantly.
"Report, Captain!" the blonde barked.
Takeda cleared his throat nervously. Pharaoh was giving him the honor of speaking directly to her! If he was going to impress her, this was his only chance.
"I bring the Queen of Fuuka to you as a prisoner, Daughter of Re, Natsuki Netjeretkhau, Divine of Appearance," he intoned formally. "May you have long life, prosperity, and health, Your Majesty the fierce lion and mighty bull, whose reign is as the sun..."
The man went right on reciting several of Natsuki's many royal titles, most of which were intended for ceremonial use, not for a soldier's report.
Natsuki's attention had already left Takeda and his grandiose posing to focus on the woman he stood behind.
Her gaze moved up and down slowly, taking in the richly decorated robe and silver coronet atop light brown hair, but she seemed more interested in Shizuru's defiantly upright back and the look of utmost calm and confidence on her beautiful face. Natsuki was completely intrigued; the queen certainly did not look like a cowed prisoner.
Then those black-shadowed eyes fell on the hand clutching the queen's shoulder tightly to keep her on her knees.
"Unhand her."
Takeda's hand sprang back from Shizuru's shoulder as if the cloth of her embroidered robe had suddenly burned him. He shuffled a few feet backwards, bobbing up in down in a bow with each step and mumbling apologies to the Pharaoh.
Shizuru rose to her feet and smoothed her clothes unhurriedly as Natsuki strode towards her, leather sandals making soft noises as she moved across the stone floor.
Haruka and the other officers, along with all the soldiers surrounding the throne room, stopped their talking to watch the strange foreigner who had drawn their ruler's attention. Shizuru ignored their stares and focused instead on the woman who now stood only a few feet in front of her.
This close, Shizuru could see she was of a height with Natsuki, if not slightly taller. The Egyptian was even more beautiful than she had seemed from across the room, and her eyes were a vibrant green, like the rare emeralds mined near the Red Sea.
"Netjeretkhau – Divine of Appearance"... The name suits her.
Natsuki was giving her a similar silent inspection, eying Shizuru up and down like the gorgeous brunette was some exotic bird in a menagerie. It was the blood-red eyes that she finally fixated on. She stared as if she had never seen irises such a color.
The Queen of Fuuka said nothing through it all, standing with her back straight and her hands folded patiently at her waist. Anxiety grew in Shizuru with every moment the Egyptian woman wordlessly held her gaze, but she refused to give in to it and look away.
At least she has not killed me yet. This young Pharaoh did not seem like the vicious conqueror Shizuru had feared she would be. Still, that did not ensure that Shizuru would escape death or imprisonment.
Finally Natsuki spoke, still staring into Shizuru's eyes.
"My soldiers found no one left in this palace but a few servants and unarmed guards, all of them cowering in corners trying to hide. Yet you stayed." Her tone became admiring. "You've more courage than your husband."
"I have no husband," Shizuru said simply. No matter the punishment, she was not going to grovel before this supposed god and neither was she going to shower the woman with titles like the captain had.
Natsuki's black-painted eyebrows drew down slightly beneath the golden cobra and vulture adorning the front of her crown. It could have been in anger at Shizuru's disrespect or in confusion over what she said. The queen decided to act as if it had been the latter and elaborate.
Before, Shizuru had not had the power to object to her parents' decision, but now there were no consequences for disobeying them that could be worse than whatever she would face at the hands of the woman in front of her.
"I was married to the King of Fuuka. You said yourself that the nation of Fuuka is shattered, so there no longer exists any such king, only a wretch hiding in the desert with his tail between his legs." Shizuru shook her head. "I refuse to be the wife of such a man. Our marriage is now void."
Natsuki smirked. It was not the kind of expression Shizuru expected to see from a Pharaoh, who were depicted as solemn in every piece of Egyptian art she had ever seen, but there was no other word for the smile that crooked half of Natsuki's mouth upwards.
The younger woman then nodded to herself as if she had reached some decision upon hearing Shizuru speak. Shizuru knew that her fate, whether death or enslavement, had just been sealed.
Turning back to face the blonde general still by the dais, Natsuki raised her voice slightly to call out to her. "Haruka, you're in charge of solidifying the city's takeover. I'll leave two companies of chariots and most of the infantry here under your control. Tomorrow morning I begin my return to Egypt's capital."
Those fierce green eyes of hers met the brunette's again, and despite her best efforts at composure Shizuru could not stop a shiver at the look in them.
"Along with my newest slave."
AN: I admit the Nagi- and Reito-bashing was pretty shameless, but I didn't want to make their characters into something more rounded out since they only appear for one scene. Btw, those are real Pharaonic titles and praises that poor bastard Takeda is rambling on about – I could not make stuff like that up.
And don't worry, this is a romance fic so Shizuru definitely will not be abused or violated by Natsuki – their relationship will develop slowly, with mutual attraction. (Sorry to all those who wanted BDSM-style Shizuru punishment. Maybe I will do a sidestory with that. XD)
