AN: And here's also chapter 1 of ADE. As you will find out soon the prequel is very different from OMR. I decided to write it in Jesara's point of view in a monologue style. Since it's more a recalling of the past in her mind I decided to write the prequel in the same melancholic, fu''cked up and weary style as the prologue. I hope you like that!

Enjoy CH 1 and I'd love to have your feedback in a review!

CHAPTER I
Plan B

x

"Any news regarding the card I told you to track down?" He questioned Odion and two others of his so called footmen, all of them dressed in the same deep purple cloak like his and mine. His voice was tense, but still it always sounded like silk to my soul every time he was not shouting in rage - like he did often in the past few years after we left the tomb that we were supposed to protect… refusing our ancient duty.

Marik used to run the organisation he founded from a golden throne in our… let's call it 'meeting hall'. Fine marble tiles decorated the floor on which we stood in a line. A few steps led to that golden throne on a low platform at the rear end of the hall. He sat with his legs crossed and his right elbow rested on the armrest, which held the millennium rod in a tight grip. His lavender irises stared them down, awaiting an answer to his question. I knew that the following words from Odion would decide if it was a good or a bad day to come near the boy with the sandy blonde hair. I inspected the situation from the corner of my eyes. More of his loyal servants stood beside me on my left and on my right, curiously waiting for Odion to give him the decisive answer to his question.

"Master Marik." He bowed down in respect, his olive eyes glued to the marble floor underneath his black shoes. "I'm sorry, but we still didn't figure out the location of the Winged Dragon of Ra."

Marik's thin fingers tightened their grip on the rod, his lavender eyes narrowed dangerously and his jaw tensed immediately as Odion's words were spoken, echoing through the room like they were predicting a storm to come. I could hear a low growl leaving his throat - this wasn't the answer he expected nor wanted to hear from his most loyal servant.

"You disappointed me again, Odion." He hissed and shot up from the throne. "It would be pleasant if all of you put at least a bit of an effort into finding the Winged Dragon of Ra!"

There it was again; the rage that held his once so warming soul in a tight grip and banned every kindness from his voice. I sighed mentally at the fact that this was one of those bad days.

"I expect you to leave no stone standing until the Winged Dragon is found!" Marik spat again, his tone demanding and unmistakable. "My precious sister can't hide the god cards from me forever. The Luxor area will be next for you to search." He stepped down the platform; every one of his steps calculated and almost frightening as he came to a halt right in front Odion. His pale lavender eyes still held a dangerous expression while they stared at the bulky egyptian. "If you don't succeed soon there will be consequences. Did I make myself clear?"

Odion didn't dare to let any emotion show up on his tanned, half-tattooed face. I never knew if he was afraid of Marik sometimes; I only knew that I was when he was in that kind of mood.

"Yes, Master Marik." Odion said firm and bowed as the sandy blonde stepped back and let his eyes drift over his other servants in the room. "For the others of you…" He spoke up. "Cataloguize the latest cards I approved for sale and find a purchaser. I expect the job to be done by the time of my return. Understood?"

Everyone nodded in unison. I held my breath when I saw his lavender gaze resting on me, eyes locked for a moment. Did I do anything wrong? Every time those eyes stared at me I lost myself in them, sometimes they filled me with happiness; sometimes with anxiety.

"You are dismissed." Marik said with dangerous calmness in his tone as he broke eye contact with me and looked at the other servants beside me. With his command spoken they all left the hall in a hurry, ready to get their assignment done as their master had ordered. I gave him another short look before I joined the others.

Since we left the tomb and the founding of the Rare Hunter organisation I didn't know what I was for him. We've always been close to each other. We started our relationship as friends; somehow it turned into affection for each other. I knew we felt that same affection for each other, but since we left the tomb he had a strange way to show it. On bad days he treated me a bit like any other of his submissive servants, on good days he showed me that he cared for me. Did he want to manipulate me like all the others? His mood swings drove me crazy; being appreciated on one day and being yelled at on the next.

"Jesara." His voice calling my name startled me and I stopped immediately in my pace. I dared to glimpse back at him over my shoulder and saw his lavender eyes staring at me intensively. "You stay here."

I swallowed hard at his command. "Why?"

"I want you to come with me and accompany me at a business meeting." His expression remains stern, unreadable as usual.

"Business meeting?" I asked curiously, feeling special at the same time that he wanted to have me with him. But I didn't knew why he should want me to. Usually he wanted me to supervise his 'employees' and have an eye on them while he was away for external work.

Marik nodded at me, his golden triangular earrings jiggled softly beside his jawline. I heard my heart pounding inside my ribcage. "What kind of business meeting?" My insecure voice exhaled.

"You'll see soon enough, my dear Jesara." He answered dryly. "Follow me."

He passed by me and I followed him unconditionally through the dim hallway of our headquarter. I raised a brow at him as I noticed that he stopped at the door of my quarters. His was right beside mine. Although we were married as kids we never acted like that; we also never shared a bed. On bad days I was thankful that we didn't, but in some nights I wished I could be close to him.

He opened the door for me and motioned to step in. What did he want in here?

"Change into something civil, we'll have a little trip to Cairo." Marik stated and yanked the doors of my mahogany wood closet open. He scanned its content carefully, after a few seconds he pulled out an olive coloured blouse and a dark grey jeans. I watched him curiously from behind.

"This should fit for the meeting." He said and threw the garments towards me; I barely managed to catch them. He chose one of my favourite pieces; the blouse was made from egyptian silk that felt so wonderful on the skin.

"O-okay." I stuttered, still not knowing what kind of business meeting this possibly was. I hesitated and my eyes met his lavender gaze. A smirk played on his lips.

Marik made a few calculated steps towards me and stopped just right in front of me. Again I held my breath. He already looked so mature for his young age. "Why do you want me to come with you?" I pressed out.

"Don't waste time by asking too many question, Jesara." He said in his nowadays usual dominating, but yet so soft tone as his fingers met my cheek to stroke gently across it. "Get yourself ready and we'll meet outside in five minutes. Understood?"

"Sure." I reassured with blushed cheeks. Marik eyed me for a second more before he turned on heel and opened my room's door to leave. I glanced back at him over my shoulder, still pondering on why he wanted me to join his so-called meeting. When he shut the door behind him I took off the golden belt around my waist that I usually wore above the cloak to make it look more feminine. Then I also undressed myself from the deep purple attire.

After just 2 minutes I changed into the outfit he had chosen for me to wear. Marik had turned from the gentle, warm hearted boy to a commanding control-freak with a special focus on details. Before I left my room I checked my appearance in the golden, full-body mirror that stood beside my bed and combed my ebony black hair. I also touched up the eyeliner under my eyes, which I used to wear in the same style as him. To be exactly he wanted me to wear it like that… to symbolise that I belonged to him; to let it stand as a statement that I - as his wife - had a high position in his organisation. He wanted me to be respected as a member of the Ishtar family.

xx

As I stepped outside the old industrial building I tried to avoid getting too much sand into my sandals. The afternoon sun heated the air like an oven, but we were used to it. For us it just felt like another summer breeze.

My eyes met his pale violet orbs; they were already waiting for me outside our headquarter. Marik leant cooly against his crimson red Harley Davidson, his arms crossed in front of his chest and the millennium rod attached to his belt as usual. He had also changed into a civil outfit and wore a tight light grey tank top combined with black pants that were decorated with fake zippers in the upper leg and knee area. He also wore a black, sleeveless vest above his grey top. It played well with his tanned skin, light hair and his golden armlets.

"Ready to go?" Marik asked and handed me a sand coloured helmet. Again a smirk decorated his lips as I took it from him. Although he just got bad news from Odion in the Winged Dragon affair Marik seemed to be in a surprisingly good mood. But since he inherited the millennium rod and its powers he got manipulative and sometimes things were different as he wanted you to believe at first. Maybe this was one of those 'sometimes'.

"Ready to go." I repeated his words. "You seem to be in a pretty good mood, Marik. I mean… although they failed in finding Ra."

"You know that I always have a plan B, Jesara." Marik answered and gestured to me to put my helmet on. "If my foolish slaves aren't able to get that task done then I will do it my way."

"And what's your plan b then?" I asked curiously while I put on the helmet, but struggled to close the fastener underneath my chin. My voice got more and more annoyed the more I tried to get that thing closed without being able to see what my fingers were doing down there.

"That's why we are going to Cairo." He answered and made three calculated steps towards me, just one tiny separated our bodies from touching. "Fingers off." Marik commanded and I obeyed. I jerked a bit as his thin fingers grabbed the fasteners of the helmet dangling under my chin; they also touched my skin as they gently closed the clasp. My ribcage tensed up immediately. His eyes never left mine and I could tell from their expression that he was well aware about the touch of his fingertips which made skin crawl. I knew he did that on purpose. Everything that he did since we left the tomb was calculated; even if it came to making coffee. As the clasp made a faint click he stepped back and swung elegantly onto the crimson motorcycle. He always wanted to own a chopper in a cooler like that; it was the first thing he bought when the organisation had made enough money to afford some luxury stuff.

I sat down on the pillion behind him and put my arms around his abdomen. Marik started the engine that sounded so typically like a Harley Davidson; loud, elegant, deep and brave. Things that both of them had in common. When I was sure that I was ready to go I patted his chest twice.

I tightened my grip on his upper body as he accelerated and did a wheelie. Marik loved that little stunt - I absolutely hated it when he did that.

The hot desert air stroked my cheeks and through my ebony black hair as we drove into the direction of Cairo.

AN: I hope you like the POV in this prequel, I do love writing it that way. It gives her emotions more depth.

Please review!

Merci