Ramses had known she'd be trouble the moment he saw her, but he didn't expect her to prove him right so soon.
He was standing outside the entrance to his room, with a look of horror as he peered in. Ramses had woken early to order a few servants into town to search for pale-skinned foreigners; people with ivory skin were extremely eye-catching, and if there were any in Memphis, they'd be found quickly.
Ramses hadn't been too worried about leaving Viola alone. When he had left, she was still deeply asleep, barely even stirring when he eased his hand out of hers, and he fully expected to be greeted by the same sight when he returned. What he got instead was the little girl huddled beneath the bed sheets, her wails assaulting his eardrums, and his pillows, bedsheets, and clay tablets – broken, he noted angrily – scattered across the floor.
"What happened?"
Ramses felt the surge of fury boil in the pit of his stomach and rise into his chest, but his voice was surprisingly level; he almost felt like congratulating himself.
Ramses spun around glare at Ama and Khati, his servants. Ama was one of the older servants, working at the estate since his mother had married into the family twenty years ago; she had taken up the role of his nanny and was one of the few women he would ever allow to patronize him without repercussions. Khati was another servant; he was young, only fourteen – three years younger than him – but he was hard-working and honest, so Ramses quickly grew fond of him.
"Well?" Ramses demanded, his temper rising when he received no answers. He stared pointedly at the two.
Ama's eyes darted towards Viola, and she wrung the clothes in her hands like how she squeezed water out of the linens before abruptly stopping when she realized what she was doing, while Khati folded his arms and shifted his weight from foot to foot, looking everywhere but at him.
"I was cleaning the room when she," Khati spat, gesturing at the human-shaped bundle, "woke up."
"So I tried to take her to the baths, but" – Ama shrugged helplessly – "she proved to be quite stubborn."
Ramses rubbed his temples to ease his growing headache and squeezed his eyes shut in thought. He had an inkling as to what had happened. Most likely, Viola had been spooked from having woken in a strange place, and the presence of two strangers – one being male – with unknown intentions had shot her already frazzled nerves; hence, his scattered belongings. However, even after rationalizing her actions, Ramses could not seem to curb his temper.
He barked, "Spread the word to all servants: do not approach the girl." He was about to stomp into his room when he halted mid-step, turned, and glared at the clothes in Ama's hands. "Her clothes?" At Ama's hesitant nod, Ramses snatched the dress out of her grip and was about to stalk into the room once again before he noticed the large cut on Ama's cheek and bite marks across Khati's forearm and added, "Go get treated." He didn't wait for a reply before marching into his room to deal with the little nuisance.