Chapter 2: Lost and found

Seto's POV

I'm just on my way back to the palace to inform the Pharaoh on the progress on his pyramid. A few members of the guard are with me, not that I need them, I have my millennium rod and I'm the best fighter in all of Egypt. But my Pharaoh had insisted, saying not only for safety but also because of my status I should never travel alone, unless I have to. We also had been in the slave village that has been made for all the slaves working on the great pyramid. Before that, they had worked on the pyramid of Pharaoh Atemu's beloved father.

On my way back I hear the most beautiful voice sing a hymn for the dead with so much hope and love in his voice, that I wonder who he lost and what he is praying for. I look around until I see him. I see him on a cliff above the Nile, a young and beautiful man with hair that reflects the gold from the setting sun. His body is marvellous, slender yet slightly muscular. Not too much, just perfect in it's beauty and sun kissed from the work in the open. I can't help but watch him while he sings, listening to his voice, carried down by the wind. I can feel the guard watching me but don't care about it.

The young man's skin is bruised, even from down here I can see fading and fresh bruises on his otherwise marvellous skin. I wonder how he got them? Slaves where physically punished when misbehaving but rather whipped than hit with fists and that's what these bruises look like to me. Maybe he has trouble with some other slaves'? Maybe I should take him home to the palace and bring him to the Pharaoh. The young male has all the attributes the young Pharaoh admires in all his bed slaves. He looks innocent enough and lovely and beautiful. A real desert rose, a treasure that is waiting to be found.

No, I can't give him to the Pharaoh, I want him too much myself. It's a strange feeling since nevr before I had longed for anything like I long for him now. I might be able to buy him off, before letting Atemu see the young beauty. He's too marvellous to just present him to the Pharaoh. He should be treasured and not just be one of many used bed slaves. And once I got his body, I might be able to steal his heart too. The heart of this beauty is all I want right now. And I am high priest Seto, I can and will get what I want. I'm the best in everything, okay I'm second to the Pharaoh in Shadow Power, as well as in Power in Egypt but other than that I'm the best. I'm the best rider, the best fighter, the best in climbing and the best in just about everything. I'm my Pharaoh's most valued adviser because my strategies are always flawless. And I will get this young man as my lover, and mine alone.

He finishes the song and I decide to ride on and have a talk with my dear cousin, the Pharaoh. And come back for my little treasure later. But just as I want to turn, I see him go down to his knees like he is about to jump. He can't be. The Nile is at his highest point, to jump would be suicide. Only a few dare to swim in it and even I wouldn't jump from that height into it right now. What in all of the gods names is he doing?

He jumps. He really jumps into the Nile, off the cliff, and he jumps high. A powerful jump. And then he falls down towards the strong currents of the Nile. How could he do that? Is he THAT good of a swimmer or does he want to die? I see him go under the surface and watch. I search the water for any sign of him. Please,ohgods,don'ttakehimfromme I pray silently as I run to the river. Still no sign of the golden haired youth. I swim down the current from where his beautiful body hit the water. Diving every now and then, in the hope to catch a glimpse of him. And just as I start to lose hope, I see a bit of gold in the water. He hadn't been wearing any. He was just a slave after all, a working slave, but his hair was golden so unlike any hair I had come across, it's unusual for an Egyptian to have such a radiant hair colour. I dive towards it and see him more clearly. He isn't moving. I see air coming from his red radiant lips and pray again. No,don'tlethimdie.Don'tletitbehislastbreath. I pray to all the gods I know of, again and again as I get closer, I'm painfully slow, the current is against me but it also moves him into my direction. The only up side. Finally I reach him. I can grab his hand and pull him closer to me. He's still not moving, absolutely lifeless. Don'tdie,ohplease,inthenameofallthat'sholy,don'tdie.

I put my arm around his waist to gain a better grip and kick upwards to the surface. It's getting harder and harder to move. I take a deep breath once I'm up but notice in fear that he is not. "Don't die," I whisper and press my lips on his right there to breath into his mouth. I can't wait till we're on the shore, I need to do it now, I need him to breath. Nothing. I try again, and again, and again. "Please, don't leave me. Don't die, I beg you to breath." I try once more, tears filling my eyes. Finally he breathes. Slowly but he does. I pull him to shore and once I'm close the guards form a chain and help me drag him the rest of the way. He's safe!

I look down at the half drowned young man. His eyes are closed and his mouth slightly parted. His loincloth had come of in the water and he was utterly naked and beautiful. Even more than from afar. I can't keep my eyes off his slender body but don't want the guards to get their fill of this sight, so I cover him with a bit of linen and a spare belt before I pick him up in my arms. It's good that I'm the best in everything. I can manage to mount my horse with the young male in my arms. And lead the horse with my knees. I turn to the guards. "Find out his name. He must be from the village with the Pharaoh's slaves. Ride there and find out who he is. It can't be that hard since his hair is so unusual. And find out where the bruises come from and report to me to the palace at once. And inform the guards and builder that I take this one to the palace for the time being, he is in no fit condition to work anyway." With that I'm off as fast as I can. Holding the young male close to me the whole ride, trying not to joist him too much on the fast ride home.

It doesn't take long and I bring him to my quarters at once, never putting him down until I reach my big and spacious bed. Once he's on that, I marvel in the beauty of his hair on my sheets. His ruby lips still partly open and a bit of colour is back to his cheeks. His hair is wet and tangled, spread wild around his face. I put one of my bed sheets up a little but leave his chest revealed. He is too beautiful to cover up all the way.

"I heard you returned, cousin, but instead of the guards you arrived with a young sleeping male? Care to explain why?" I turn to the voice in my doorway. Pharaoh Atemu is standing there with his tricoloured and spiky hair and his violet eyes. He looks over towards my bed and his eyes widen as he sees the young male there. So much for not letting him see him until it's too late. I see him walk closer to the young male and touch his hair. I can see in his eyes that he's interested in him too. I look down to him so I don't have to see the longing in my Pharaoh's eyes for the man I want. "Who is he?" He asks me.

"I'm not sure, yet. But I assume that he's a slave of yours that is working on the pyramid. He jumped of a cliff into the Nile." I keep looking at the blond and see the Pharaoh move one finger over the man's chest playing a little with his nipples.

I clench my hands into fists as I see them get hard under the playful hands of my Pharaoh. After that the finger moves to one of the older bruises on his soft skin. "What a waste, who did this to him?" Atemu asks me.

"I don't know yet, my Pharaoh, I sent the guards to find out more. That's why I came back without them." I watch him move his index finger over the ruby lips of the blond sleeping beauty on my bed. I can feel the nails of my fingers pressing into the skin on the inside of my hands and force them do loosen a little. He's not mine. I can't have him unless the Pharaoh parts with him willingly and it doesn't look like he will. And here I thought he has more feelings for his last favourite little slave boy. One that looked a lot like himself but smaller and a little pale. And the eyes had a different shade too. I can't remember his name but I remember seeing them together quite often, the little one always on the Pharaohs lap, sometimes even during important meetings or when the Pharaoh was sitting on his throne. He had never done so with another slave and I hoped on my ride back that his feelings for the other would stop him from taking this one as a bed slave, and make it easier for me to get, maybe buy him off the Pharaoh. But it seems like I was wrong.

"Let me know when you find out more." I watch him pick up the young, slender man from my bed and he adds "Until then, I'll take him with me."

"As you wish, my Pharaoh." I say, forcing the words out without letting them sound too angered but I am. How dare he take the only thing I want, he can't possibly care for him like I do. He has over 20 play toys at his disposal by now and after he only was with one for two months, how can he just switch and take this one from me? How dare he just take him away from me? I stare to the floor, unable to look at my Pharaoh with anything but pure hatred. I can't let him see that, he is still my Pharaoh. Still I glimpse up when he is about to walk out the door and I see my blond beauty in his arms, hanging lifeless. He isn't even supporting his head. I go over and lift his head a bit, gently moving it to rest against my Pharaohs shoulder feeling a pain in my chest that is stronger than I ever believed possible. But I have no choice than to let him go.

The Pharaoh looks up to me and says: "What do you say about a little game? And he will be the price."

I stare at him. He will be the price? Does it mean I can still get him? I just nod, no matter what, I will not lose the game. I always win, granted I win as long as I don't play against my cousin, the Pharaoh, since he never lost a game but this time he will. I want this young man more then he ever can, my motivation is bigger than his. I will win.

"Good. You know how much I love to play games. Listen, here are the rules: I will have to stay in the palace and can talk to him once he is awake and you will not be allowed to talk to him, but you can leave. The one, who knows what happened to him and why he jumped wins." I wish I could groan. I don't like that he has an advantage but as long as I hurry, I might be faster.

The guards hopefully have started the search for that information already. It had taken me half the night to return, if I hurry I'll be there by morning and back by noon. As long as the guards had uncovered the truth, I have a chance to be back before the young man wakes up. He must be exhausted and probably will sleep through the night and hopefully the most of the next day. "You´re not just going to wake him?" I ask, making sure that he won't try to speed up his progress.

"I promise and to ensure it, I will have your little brother, the young Mokuba, over at my quarters. So he will be able to see when he wakes up. If that's all right with you." I notice a curious look in Atemu's eyes like this game will give him some information he needs to have. I just don't know what that might be but maybe I'm misreading him and he is simply trying to confuse me to slow down my process.

"I'll send him right over." I say and start getting a few things that I might need on the ride ready and already call for the slave that is minding my younger sibling. Not that he still needs minding but he had liked the daughter of his former minder for a while and by now the younger girl was his minder and the older woman just a servant slave. I made sure the younger would be treated like a minder, my brother is 4 years younger then me and in my humble opinion he really shouldn't have a bed slave yet. The way it is now she has some power over him, she is two years ahead of him and a nice and gentle young maid.

The Pharaoh was gone by the time she arrived. "Serenity, finally what took you so long? Never mind, I need you to find my brother and get him to the Pharaoh. He has something to do there until I'm back, tell him not to leave the blond male's side until he is awake. And to make sure nothing wakes him ahead of time, understood?"

"Yes mater," she said with a bow and was out of the room. I swiftly go towards the stables for a fresh horse and get on my way, as fast as I can. Seems like I won't get any sleep tonight. But as long as I get that treasure that is sleeping in my Pharaohs room, one night without rest is more then appropriate as a price. I found him and refuse to lose him without a fight, not even to the Pharaoh.