The next morning Akana woke up, later than she had anticipated, she felt movement around her, Mut, her maid, was already laying out her clothes for the day, she had also prepared a shower following her make up. Akana got up unwillingly, and noticed that Mut seemed more active than usual, which was rare, since Mut was probably the most active person she knew.

"What's the occasion?" Akana asked while yawning, she could barely keep her eyes open, it was a warm morning, she was excused from all her lessons today with her tutor, Imhotep, and just wanted to relax.

"You do not know?" Mut stared at the princess with her huge green eyes, which Akana joked that it made Mut look like a cat, a beautiful and funny one, of course.

Akana shook her head slowly, cautiously; she had the feeling that there was a reason why she was excused from class.

"The Romans are coming, here, to Egypt."

"When?"

"Tonight!" Akana suddenly felt like an idiot.


Theo found a nice shady spot below a tree and sat there, opening his bag and found whatever survived through the journey, surprisingly; it tasted decent, actually, better than decent.

The sun in Egypt sure was bright, just like Atilius had promised; he seemed to settle down quite well here, much better than Theo.

Theo looked around, squinting his eyes, his dark brown remained still in the wind, unlike many other Romans, he kept his hair short, very short, he was unusually built as well, he had broad shoulders, and light blue eyes, it was like looking into the shores of an ocean on a sunny day. He stood at an average height of 5'10", and was very athletic, perhaps that came from his long days as a warrior and his short days as one of the highest ranked generals in all of Rome, he was considered the right hand man of Abelardus, the king."That looks good." A voice interrupted his thoughts, Atilius, the son of the king and the heir to the throne, also Theo's longest and best friend, walked over and joined him. Theo considered sharing his food but figured that long as Atilius didn't ask, he didn't have to.

"How close are we?" Theo asked, chewing slowly, he looked ahead and took in the beautiful view of Egypt; it certainly was different from Rome, there was sand almost everywhere, trees weren't hard to find but there certainly weren't a lot of them.

"Close, we'll arrive there by tonight, I already have a messenger to inform the king that we're arriving. By the sunset, sooner or later."

"You know, in Egypt, kings are called pharaohs." Theo finished his food and got up, Atilius looked up at him before getting up himself and chasing after Theo, just like they had done all their childhood.

Akana wondered around the palace, noticing that the servants were busier than usual, a lot busier, and there was a lot more servants than usual. She felt useless in such a busy surrounding; she knew that even though this was going to be a grand night, her father was still doing hearings in the court, always loyal to his people, perhaps that's why Pharaoh Mensah was considered one of the greatest pharaohs in Egypt. Knowing that she wouldn't see her father till at least noon, she walked to her favoriate spot in the palace, it was in the garden, but a spot that most people, aside from Mut, did not know about. She sat facing the huge pond, which had many different fishes swimming in it, Akana practiced her rock throwing skill for a long time before she realized that it was noon, and she should probably go and find her father.

Walking down the long corridor, she suddenly heard a voice that she never welcomed, Banafrit's voice was just down the hall, Akana could already see the red gown that Banafrit always wore, which was inappropriate because only royalty could wear red, Banafrit was no royalty, she was merely a second cousin to the pharaoh, but she acts as if she's the crown queen of the pharaoh.

Akana wrinkled her nose at the unwanted meeting, but kept walking anyway, she stiffed her shoulder and her eyes staring straight ahead, hoping that maybe Banafrit was too busy yapping to notice her.

No such luck.

"Akana!" Banafrit's sultry voice booms, Akana reluctantly turns around, only to see Banafrit's old face staring back at her, smiling that horrible smile. "Why are you not dressed properly? Do you not know we have important guests tonight?"

"I do know."

"Please dress nicely, we do not want to give the guests a bad impression of Egyptian royalty."

Which doesn't include you, thought Akana.

"If you'll pardon me, I have to go and find my father, we do not want to delay me any longer as I still have to get dressed." And with that, she walked away; knowing that she did was inappropriate and somewhat rude.


Theo was amazed at how beautiful an Egyptian sunset was, mainly because the sun was fully in view when it sets, it turned from a beautiful glowing yellow to a fiery orange, then a passionate red, almost a burgundy, before it disappears for good, darkening the sky with it. Theo could already see the palace in which the pharaoh lives at, he felt nervous and excited at the same time, this was as much Atilius's mission as his, they were here to settle the dispute between the two, they were two of the most powerful countries in the world, and if their dispute was settled and they joined hands, they would be unstoppable in the world, however, if they chose to fight each other, the world would be tainted with human blood.

"You know, I heard something from a servant back in Rome." Atilius caught up with him, riding his black horse, their speed was gradually decreasing.

"What's that?" Theo looked over to his friend, who kept his eyes ahead,

"That the daughter of the pharaoh, the only daughter, was supposedly the most beautiful girl anyone will ever set eyes on."
"Yeah, right. That's what they say about all the female royalty, if they don't they will be executed." Theo replied, it was true, the Roman princess, Atilius' sister, Adrastita, was indeed a beauty, but she didn't have the unique, one of a kind beauty, Theo had made mental comparisons, if she walked down the street without her fancy clothes and jewelry and layers of make up, she wouldn't look any special.

"We will see, my friend, I have a feeling that what we bring back this trip will be more than a peace treaty."
Atilius' gut feelings were usually right.