Naftil's mouth dropped open slightly as she struggled to comprehend what Mahaad had told her. "Kassim? The Priest of the Ring? He's stern, yes, but I never imagined..."

Mahaad didn't respond as he tried to stop his tears from falling. He hated it. All of it. He hated how worthless he felt, unable to fight against his master. Several times he had considered rebelling, but soon faltered at the promises of fates that would have him begging for death, in addition to his duty to protect the Prince when he came of age to become Pharaoh.

He was broken out of his self-loathing by Naftil, who spoke once more.

"But...why?"

Not looking up, Mahaad shook his head. "I don't know. He hates me and I don't know why! If he hates me so much why did he take me off the streets!?" His hands balled into fists and he raised his head, glaring through his bangs at nothing in particular. "I would much rather still be begging for food than enduring the hell that monster puts me through every single day!"

Naftil listened to the apprentice with wide eyes and a sympathetic expression. She made her way over to him and sat down next to him on the infirmary bed. Her gaze, full of love and sorrow for the young man, met his, full of anger and fear. She placed her arms around him and gently pulled him into an embrace, washing her comforting intentions over him. Mahaad stiffened in his surprise. He was very unfamiliar with such contact; he had never known his parents, or even whether they were dead, or living. However, his anger eroded in the warm arms around him and he soon found himself squeezing her back, his tears seeping into her pristine white clothing.

"I'm scared..." he whispered into her shoulder. "I wish I could leave, but...I have to protect Mana and Prince Atem..."

"Oh, Mahaad..." Naftil murmured, stroking his long hair tenderly. "I can't imagine what you have to go through, but we're going to make it stop, okay? After the ceremony this afternoon we'll go to the Pharaoh and tell him-"

"No!" Mahaad pulled back suddenly from the woman's arms, his eyes wide and fearful. "You can't tell anyone! He'll hurt me even more!" His blue-grey eyes then narrowed bitterly. "And it's not like they'll believe me anyway. He's a High Priest, and I'm...nothing..."

"Hush..." Naftil tilted the apprentice's head upwards to meet his gaze. "No more of that, alright? I'll keep my promise, as much as I hate for you to be stuck with that man. But only on one condition." She raised an index finger. "Every time you're injured, you come straight to me, okay? I'll fix you right up."

His tears beginning to subside, Mahaad nodded shakily. Naftil smiled and placed a hand on his cheek. "Now, you'd better hurry and prepare for the welcoming of the new apprentice." She then winked at Mahaad and smiled mischievously. "I hear she's quite cute, too."

Mahaad's cheeks flushed a delicate shade of pink as he stood and made his way towards the white curtain. Before sweeping it aside, he turned and bowed to Naftil respectfully, as he had been taught to for his elders. As he straightened, he locked eyes with her, and in a soft voice, said, "Thank you...for everything." Without waiting for a response, he turned and left the ward.

Author's Note:

I would first like to say that I am so so soooo appreciative of the positive reviews I've gotten! To be quite honest, I wasn't expecting hardly any attention to this, as it was originally for my own benefit.

Secondly, I would like to sincerely apologize for my update schedule and for this chapter. I sort of choked it out of my brain, so it isn't really up to my standards. My update schedule is basically whenever the ideas for what happens next come to me, so I'd like to apologize for the long stretches of time that are sometimes in between updates. However, I have already begun work on the next one, so I don't think it'll be too long until I'm finished with it!

Thank you so much for reading!