Chapter 3

The Royal Couple

I have returned! My pilot light for this fic went out. I actually had fun writing this in papyrus font. Feels legit.

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Fullmetal Alchemist.


To say that the announcement hadn't been so nerve-wracking to Elincia would be a total lie. On the contrary, she had never been so uncomfortable in her entire life. Not only was she now married to a complete stranger out of his whim, but he practically blackmailed her into the marriage for the sake of her sister. At least he was willing to agree to a prenuptial agreement.

When she saw the faces of "their" people, she knew what they were really thinking: what madness had the pharaoh caught that made him want to marry a foreign beggar girl. And not just any foreigner, but one from a dead land. She knew behind the masks of joy were the faces of jealously, conspiracy, and disgust. She was not of their people, yet she had the gall to accept the pharaoh's proposal and marry him the same day.

But Elincia knew she had to endure. For her sister's sake.

Once the royal couple left the balcony, the new queen took notice of the rush of servants and officials in the palace.

"What in the world is going on?" she asked.

Atem answered her as he led her past the fracas.

"It is customary to throw a banquet whenever there is a royal wedding. Tonight, I will introduce you to the noble houses of Egypt and see that they acknowledge you as my wife and queen."

Elincia grimaced.

"More introductions? Why do I feel like an exotic pet?"

Atem smirked at his wife's displeasure.

"You are exotic, but you are no pet."

He then placed an arm around Elincia's waist and pulled her close.

"You're a queen and my wife, now. And the banquet is just for one night."

"And Alicia?" Elincia asked her husband.

He proceeded to walk with her as he spoke.

"She will be introduced as princess, but she is free to leave anytime she wishes. She is a child, after all."

She couldn't disagree with him with that. There's a chance that the banquet would go on well into the wee hours of the following morning. And since Alicia was only ten, she shouldn't need to stay up so late.

"Then at least let me put her to bed once she gets tired."

Atem nodded kindly at her.

"Of course. Now that we're married, she's my sister too."

He then whispered to her as they made their way down a corridor.

"Don't worry. I promised you both that I would take care of the two of you. I am not a man who goes back on his word."

Though wary, Elincia was in awe. Looking into his eyes as he said that, she could tell that he was willing to take care of her and her sister. He seemed to be a man of honor, but she would have to wait and see. But as they continued to walk down the corridor, Elincia took complete notice of Atem's physical features for the first time. With his sharp features, tri-colored hair, and unique eyes, she wondered if he was the exotic creature and not her. Even though she lived in Egypt for no more than two months, she had never seen anyone with features as his.

For the first time in the fourteen hours she had known him, Elincia couldn't help but think of her husband as very handsome.

She was snapped out of her stupor when Atem gave off a chuckle.

"You seem out of sorts, my lady. Is something troubling you?"

Elincia didn't know whether to respond with an excuse or a sarcastic remark, so she did the next best thing: she held her tongue.

Atem could not help but be amused at how flustered his wife was feeling at the moment. He could tell this was the first time she had officially seen him and despite her pride, she was impressed with what she had seen. And he returned the interest. Her gold and ivory coloring of hers made him think of her as one of the last treasures of Xerxes.

A treasure that was now officially his.

Well…not yet. There was still the matter of consummation, but he was willing to wait. He wanted this fiery bird to come to him and not to chase her away. Or at least not to have her peck his eyes out.

Suddenly, a servant approached the pair. He bowed to the pharaoh and spoke.

"My pharaoh. The High Priests wish to see you immediately."

Atem's eyebrows knitted in frustration as he heard this.

"What could they possibly want? It is a wedding day, after all."

"I'm just the messenger, sire. Not the one who wrote it."

This angered Atem. He wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon with his new wife and sister-in-law, not go over whatever it was his guardians and advisors wanted to talk to him about. Although he had a good idea on what it was.

"Alright. Tell them I am on my way. I wish to deliver my wife to the royal harem first."

The servant bowed before he left to deliver the message. Atem looked to Elincia with a guilty look.

"I am sorry. But sometimes the duties of a ruler can be bothersome. I shall bring you to your sister."

Elincia nodded, feeling somewhat disappointed in the recent turn of events.

"It is alright. I understand."

It was a short trip to the harem, but once they were at its doors, they stopped so that Atem could gaze upon his queen once more.

"I will try to make this as quickly as I can. If you or Alicia need anything, feel free to call upon the servants."

Elincia nodded as Atem left her side and down the corridor.

Once he was a good distance from the harem, Atem allowed his anger to be shown. The servants who were attending to the night's décor immediately coward behind anything they could find. It was clear that the pharaoh was in a foul mood. Atem made his way to the other side of the palace until he reached the Council Room, where the six guardians of the Millennium Items. Each one possessed one of the relics created during the previous pharaoh's lifetime.

Isis with the Millennium Necklace, the sorcerer Mahad with the Millennium Ring, Shada of the Millennium Key, Karim of the Millennium Scale, as well as two of Atem's immediate family members: his cousin Seto of the Millennium Rod, and Seto's father, Aknadin of the Millennium Eye.

Of them all, it was Atem's uncle that was the angriest.

"What is the meaning of this…this…degradation, Atem?! Marrying a foreign beggar in less than a day?! One with nothing to give to Egypt?!"

Atem narrowed his eyes at Aknadin.

"I will not have you talk about my wife like that, uncle. And I extend that discontent towards any insults toward her sister, as well."

Hoping to give his father to calm himself, Seto spoke up.

"My pharaoh. We are just concerned as to whatever the reason behind this. Your bride is not of noble blood and what we have heard about the Xerxes tragedy from Isis, we wonder if you wouldn't prefer wives of existing countries."

Atem folded his arms as he spoke.

"Noble blood or not, I am convinced Elincia is the one my heart yearns for. And I am very certain that she will be a great queen in time."

"And that's another thing," Seto interrupted. "Your bride… Elincia was it… She knows nothing about our culture. Our history. Of anything related to Egypt."

"I knew not of other countries I have yet to visit, yet I still took lessons in communications and culture." The pharaoh responded.

It was then that Mahad spoke. "I assume you want one or more of us to teach her and the new princess."

Atem nodded.

"Yes. And I am certain she can teach something in return."

"And what is that, pray tell?" Aknadin spoke, his patience at its brink.

It was Isis who answered.

"While preparing her and her sister for the wedding, Mana and I have learned that both the queen and the princess were apprentices in the art of Xerxesian alchemy. I am certain that if you ask, they could teach it what they know."

This at least brought interest to most of the priests. Atem knew this was a good plan, despite that those like Aknadin would highly disapprove of the marriage. But at least he had put a foot in the door.


With the Xerxesian Sisters…

Elincia sighed as she laid down on the grass of the garden. It had been over an hour since Atem left her and while Alicia was changing with Mana's help, the queen took the time to relax and look up at the clouds.

Problem was…she never relaxed this long.

Usually, she would have fifteen minutes to herself every hour until she either had to get back to work or to continue her studies. This peaceful setting was proving to be too much for her.

"Sister! We're here!"

Elincia's senses drew her to the harem's garden entrance and was surprised when she saw her little sister.

Alicia was dressed in fine linen much like her, but she had less jewelry and did not have anything heavy on her head like Elincia's headdress. Her hair was tied back and, much to Elincia's further surprise, was in an Egyptian wheelchair, though it looked more comfortable than what she had originally heard.

The queen smiled as she stood up.

"You look beautiful, Alicia."

She withheld a chuckle as she watched her little sister blush.

"W-well, I have to say I'm not as pretty as you, sister."

Elincia raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that?"

Alicia was surprised by her sister's remark.

"Eli! Don't tell me you haven't looked at your reflection, yet! I am serious! You are very beautiful!"

Curious, Elincia looked into the nearest reflective item: the pond. She looked down and was surprised at the elegant noble woman in her reflection's place. The gold and white of her regality blended perfectly with her coloring. She could've sworn she was looking at a completely different person and not herself.

The Queen.

Elincia didn't feel like a queen. Far from it. She felt as if nothing had changed. There were still remnants of her Xerxesian life and the life she made up to a couple hours ago. But nothing that came close to being a queen. Nothing about her said anything about being royalty. Now suddenly she was married into it with no knowledge whatsoever.

Her thoughts were broken when Alicia's reflection wheeled in next to her.

"I told you so. You make a lovely queen, and Mana and Isis agree."

Elincia held herself, a habit she had sometimes when she was thinking.

"But I don't know the first thing about being a queen. You know me better than anyone, Alicia. You know I'd rather antagonize politics, not becoming a politician."

She then felt her sister's dainty hands grasp on of hers as she spoke.

"I know, Eli. But think about this. At least you have the knowledge of preventing what happened to Xerxes here. And your husband seems very nice. I'm sure you'll like him."

Elincia sighed.

"You have a point about preventing another Xerxes massacre. But I still have my doubts about the pharaoh. I mean, who gets married the way we did?"

Alicia shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, only you. But I still have good feelings about my new brother-in-law."

"Well that's a very good thing to hear from my new sister-in-law."

Both queen and princess turned their attention to an amused Atem, who was standing at the garden entrance. He approached the two sisters, a grin plastered on his face.

"I am sorry that I had to pull away. My high priests were…'concerned'…about what had happened."

Elincia gave an indifferent snort as she spoke to her husband.

"You mean they weren't at all happy with my marrying you. Believe me, I can tell."

Atem gave an amusing flinch at his wife's words.

"Your words wound me, my lady. Don't worry. Their feathers were ruffled because I acted without telling them. If anything, it's my fault."

His face then switched to a somewhat serious as he spoke to both sisters.

"I have arranged for the two of you to attend lessons in Egypt's laws and culture. Your first lesson will be to learn how to read and write hieroglyphics with Mahad, followed by culture with Isis, and finally laws with my cousin, Seto."

Elincia's eyes widened as she remembered something involving their deal.

"But didn't you say that I was to spend the daylight hours with you as part of our prenuptial agreement?"

Atem nodded.

"You are right. But that doesn't include all matters of education. Between courts, I can help tutor you both in my spare time. But it is only three lessons a day. So there will be some time for the agreement."

Elincia remained silent as Alicia spoke.

"That will be very helpful. The lessons, I mean. Thank you, Your Majesty."

Atem smirk remained amused as he sat down next to his sister-in-law.

"You don't have to call me that, you know. Just call me 'Atem' as you see fit outside the court."

Alicia gave a smile Elincia hadn't seen in over a month as she spoke to Atem.

"Alright. As long as you just call me 'Alicia' just the same. I'm still not used to the idea of being a princess, yet."

Atem's chuckle sent Elincia's heart a flutter. It was so deep and rich that her heart just had to respond.

"What's the matter with me, today? Maybe it just wedding jitters."

She returned her attention to her husband and sister as the two conversed. When Alicia smiled at Atem, Elincia was very surprised. Ever since they left Xerxes, Elincia never saw her sister smile like that. She tried jokes, but only got light giggles. So she couldn't help but think that maybe this marriage was a good thing after all.

Maybe she should give her husband a chance.


As the royal family enjoyed themselves in the garden, a cloaked figure watched them from a towering building. A wicked smirk formed on his shrouded face.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the pharaoh's landed himself a wife."

He then placed a hand on a sheathed dagger as he kept his gaze on the new queen.

"Perhaps tonight I shall congratulate the pharaoh and meet this queen."


Please review.