Anuba followed Maria to the throne room where she stopped on the step just below the dais, her and Seto's step. The remaining priests stood two to a step, one on each end.
"Afika, you have impeccable timing as always. I would like to introduce you to Anuba, the new high priestess of Anubis," Atemu said, motioning for Anuba to step forward, an exasperated expression clouding his eyes when he spotted what she was wearing.
"What a rare beauty, she almost rivals the queens looks," Afika stated, taking Anuba's hand and kissing the back of it. Anuba glanced into Afika's eyes and growled low in her throat at spotting hard amethyst eyes. This was Ishtar's father!
Afika hadn't noticed the growl and continued to look her over. "I'm surprised, my pharaoh, that you didn't make a harem and add her to it," he added, an odd glint coming into his eyes.
Anuba growled louder and yanked her hand away before striking Afika hard across the face. "Don't you ever touch me or come near me again, scum!" she snarled, losing control over her magic and reverting back to her natural appearance.
Mahaado immediately laid his hand on Anuba's shoulder, trying to calm the snarling jackal girl as everyone started at seeing Anuba's head and skin transform. Seeing that Anuba wasn't planning on calming down anytime soon, especially with Afika still in front of her, Mahaado grabbed her wrist and transported the two of them into a shadowy void.
"Where are we?" Anuba asked once she was calm enough to speak coherently.
Mahaado sighed and conjured a wall to lean on. "We're in my tablet. I brought you here to give you somewhere to cool off until you're ready to go back. What happened anyway to set you off like that?" he questioned.
Anuba's lips curled away from her jackal teeth in a silent snarl. "The message his aura was giving off was not a nice one. I could tell by that and the glint in his eyes was that he was fantasizing me as some lowly whore that he would enjoy taking advantage of," she replied angrily, pacing to exert her energy.
Mahaado crossed his arms. "Understandable, but it seems like there's something more."
Anuba sighed and sat next to him, the mage sliding down to sit as well. "I have a very good friend named Ishtar," she started, transforming into her mortal form, "He ran away from home because his father was abusing him."
"And you believe Afika is his father?"
Anuba nodded and waving her hand, summoned floating images of Ishtar and Afika. "Notice any similarities?" she asked dryly.
Mahaado looked the two pictures over. "You're right. Same hair color, and same eyes," he admitted. "Let's listen in, so we don't have to return to court," he suggested. Extending his staff, Mahaado opened a window that showed the throne room. "They can't see us or hear us," he added before watching what was going on.
"Afika, I'm so sorry for Anuba's behavior, I don't know what set her off. Be assured that I'll have a talk with her after," Atemu apologized.
"Indeed. I've also come to ask if you have seen my son. Ishtar has been missing for two weeks, and some of my friends who live near here have seen him entering the palace from time to time," Afika stated.
"He has been here to visit me, but I thought he has come from home. I didn't know he had run away," Isis answered.
"That's the first time I've seen Isis lie," Mahaado said to Anuba, "She knows very well that Ishtar has run away. Everyone does."
Anuba nodded. "Look, the guards just let someone into the throne room…Oh no! It's Ishtar!" she exclaimed. At the same moment, Afika turned at hearing the throne room doors open and spotted the other blonde.
"Ishtar! Run!" Isis shouted. Ishtar froze at seeing his father and then bolted, his father giving chase, the royal court following. Mahaado followed the chase with the window and him and Anuba watched as Ishtar slipped and fell while running around a corner, and Afika descending upon the boy.
Anuba used her own magic to emerge from the tablet back into the empty throne room. "I can transform into any of Anubis' shapes that I want, so I'm going to help!" she exclaimed, reverting to normal and then turned into a large, black jackal with gold markings.
"Be careful," Mahaado said and followed behind as Anuba ran off.
Ishtar lay curled up on the floor, trying to protect his head, face, and stomach from the beating that his father was giving him, regardless of the fact that they were still in the palace and that both were aware of the royal court standing right there at a loss of what to do. Hearing a growling and nails clicking, Ishtar looked up and blinked in surprise when a large black dog barreled into his father.
The dog then took a protective stance between him and his father, and Ishtar noticed that the dog was in fact a jackal. "Anuba?" he wondered quietly. The jackal turned and regarded him with golden eyes before licking his face gently.
"Stupid mutt!" Afika snarled, hitting Anuba while she was comforting Ishtar. Anuba yelped and was swept to the side before she struggled to her feet and placed herself between him and Ishtar again, lips fully pulled away to reveal sharp teeth, another loud growl coming from her throat.
"Father! Don't!" Ishtar said as Afika hit Anuba hard enough to send her into the wall, causing her to hit her head and fall into unconsciousness and reverting to normal. Unfortunately, that meant that his attention was taken off of Ishtar, allowing Mahaado to get him out of there.
After a few minutes, Atemu convinced Afika to leave, and Isis tended to Ishtar and Anuba. Ishtar sat by the unconscious girl once Isis was done, patiently waiting for her to wake up.
After a bit, Anuba stirred and woke up. "I-Ishtar? Are you okay?" she asked, sitting up and holding her head before going into human form.
"Yeah, you didn't have to protect me," he replied softly.
"I couldn't just sit there. Why did you come to the palace?"
"I was going to visit Isis. I didn't know that father would be here. By the way, why did he have a mark on his left cheek?" he wondered.
Anuba laughed softly. "That was my doing. He was staring at me, undressing me with his eyes, so I hit him as hard as I could," she answered.
Ishtar just smiled and shook his head. "Bakura is going to freak. You have a nice bruise on your forehead, and I am all bruised as well."
At that moment, Isis walked back in. "Anuba, your dress is done, and Atemu wants a word with you," she said, handing the gold silk dress over.
Anuba nodded and getting up, went behind a screen to change. "Sister, shouldn't Anuba go home and recover? Surely what Atemu has to say can wait until tomorrow," Ishtar pointed out.
"Atemu wants
both of you to stay in the palace tonight. He says that it's too
dangerous for you to be outside the palace walls,"
Isis
answered, taking Maria's dress from Anuba as she reappeared.
Anuba and Ishtar looked at each other and just sighed in resignation. Both knew that Bakura would indeed freak now.
…
"You wanted to see me?" Anuba asked Atemu a few minutes later as she bowed in front of him.
"Anuba, what set you off on Afika like that?" Atemu asked sternly.
"He was looking at me lustfully. His aura was giving me readings of lust. I could also tell by his tone when he suggested the harem that he was picturing me under him, submitting to his will," Anuba explained, still bowing.
Atemu sat and thought for a minute. "Very well, I'll let you go with a warning. Afika is one of my highest nobles. It wouldn't do to make him mad at you. I demand that you show him respect when needed but you may stay away from him when able."
Anuba bit her cheek to stop the harsh reply. "Yes, my pharaoh, anything else?"
"Yes," Atemu replied, "how did you change your appearance?"
Anuba sighed and explained to him the story of her upraising. "I am naturally like that. I have the mortal and jackal forms as spells," she finished.
"Can I see your natural appearance?" Anuba nodded and transformed out, becoming black skinned with the jackal head. "I wonder…can you talk like that?"
"I can speak quite clearly. I've never had trouble with it," she replied to Atemu's inquiries.
Atemu nodded. "If you're comfortable with it, I would like you, if we don't have an audience, to be in this form. It would allow the others to be more comfortable around you, since all are quite jumpy right now," he requested.
Anuba nodded after thinking it through quickly. Once she agreed, Atemu dismissed her with a good night. A little later, Anuba was awakened from her slumber by a hand clamping over her mouth, preventing her from screaming. Struggling and remembering what happened with Anub the previous evening, Anuba tried to fight the intruder off until the male wrapped an arm around her torso, pinning her hands to her chest.
"Shh, Anuba, it's all right, I won't hurt you," came a soft whisper on warm breath. The hand around her mouth was removed and Anuba stopped struggling enough to turn. Softly cursing the poor night vision her human form was cursed with, Anuba heard a voiceless chuckle and was then aware of ghostly tendrils hanging around her.
Fingering one of them, Anuba realized that the tendrils were hair, and she only knew one person with ghostly white hair. "Bakura you scared me," she sighed as his other arm loosened into a gentle embrace, "Don't you remember what happened last night?"
Bakura was silent and then reached for a candle. After it was lit, Anuba saw she was in Bakura's lap, he must have moved her while she was still asleep, cuddled to his chest with his head bowed above her, causing his short hair to dangle around her. "I'm sorry, I forgot," he murmured, "Why didn't you and Ishtar come home?"
Anuba motioned to where Ishtar laid on a comfortable cot across the room, peacefully sleeping. "Notice anything different?" she asked.
Bakura glanced over at his companion and inhaled sharply. "What happened? Now that there's light, I see that he's all beat up and your face is bruised as well," he pressed.
Anuba sighed and snuggled closer to the thief. "Ishtar's father was in the palace, and Ishtar happened to enter the throne room while he was there. He was chased, and beat, and then I intervened in a newer form," she replied with a yawn.
"Which was incredibly awesome," Ishtar murmured, sitting up and stretching with a yawn of his own. Coming over, Ishtar clambered up onto the bed as well. "You two look cute together," he stated cheerfully, "You should become an item."
Anuba blushed bright red and Bakura merely shifted her into a more comfortable position. Tipping Anuba's head up, he gazed into the golden eyes and smiled gently. "I wouldn't mind," he purred before closing the gap and kissing Anuba.
Anuba's eyes widened and she was still for a second before she reacted. Sliding her eyes closed, she slid her hands up Bakura's neck to lose themselves in his silky hair as she kissed back. She vaguely heard Ishtar get up and mutter something about privacy and his own room before leaving.
Bakura waited for the door to close before gently guiding Anuba back until she was laying down again, him on his hands and knees above her.
Anuba finally broke the kiss for air and wrapped her arms around Bakura's torso and pulled down. Bakura let out a surprised 'oomph' as he lost his balance and landed on top of Anuba. "Aren't I crushing you?" he asked.
"No," Anuba replied, shaking her head, "Your weight is a little heavy but comfortable. Besides, I like the feel of you on top of me."
"You know, that could be read as an open invitation," Bakura replied, shifting his weight to his hips so he pressed down on her teasingly.
Anuba smiled. "Maybe once we're truly serious it will be," she replied yawning, taking advantage of her loose skirted nightgown to wrap her legs around Bakura's waist, "And that will be once we get Father's ok. But for now, I'm sleepy and want you to spend the rest of the night with me."
Bakura complied, only moving to roll onto his side, and pulling Anuba close to him before drifting off to sleep as well.
The next morning, Anuba woke up and snuggled to the warm body next to her. She finished shifting, and ended up with her head resting on Bakura's chest, listening to his steady breaths and strong heartbeat.
About to drift off again, Anuba was startled when Bakura wrapped his arms around her and he mumbled a good morning.
"You don't make it sound good," she laughed still listening to his heartbeat.
"I'm a night person, I'm always sleepy during the day," Bakura mumbled in reply.
"Then go back to sleep," Anuba replied, getting up and reverting to her jackal headed shape.
"Can I ask why you changed into your normal form?" he asked, propping himself up as Anuba went behind a changing screen.
"The pharaoh asked me to remain in my normal form except when there are guests in the palace," she replied, coming out in her normal gold dress, pulling on the matching jewelry as she talked.
"I'm a guest," he added.
"Yeah, but one that Atemu doesn't know about," Anuba pointed out before turning into her mortal form. Walking over to Bakura, she bent over and kissed him before transforming to normal and heading to the throne room.
When she walked into the throne room, Anuba's sharp ears noticed that all conversation stopped. Going to her spot, she looked up and blinked. "What?" she questioned.
Seto strode up to her and looked down at the slightly shorter priestess. "You're a freak, you know that?" he stated.
Anuba jerked as if she had been slapped. Locking gazes with Seto, she curled her lips back from her teeth and growled a warning. "No one has called me that since I was five, and I'm not about to allow anyone to call me a freak again. I am Anuba, daughter of Anubis, God of the dead, so watch what you say to me, priest," she growled.
Mahaado laid a hand on Anuba's shoulder, and the girl stopped growling immediately. Seto, however bristled right back. "Know this, I am not afraid of you, or your father. If you are indeed a goddess, go back to whatever realm the gods reside in. The earth is no place for someone of your appearance to be here," he snapped.
"Seto, stop it!" Maria exclaimed, going between the two as Anuba growled even louder, borderlining a snarl, "Show some respect! Why are you acting like you're above everyone else? Sure you're my brother and Atemu's cousin, but that doesn't put you on a special pedestal!"
Seto glared darkly but backed off after a minute. Maria sighed and turned to Anuba. "Come Anuba, spend the day with me. Mahaado, please tell Atemu for me?" she asked. When Mahaado nodded, Maria took the jackal girl by the wrist and gently led her out of the throne room.
"So, what are you planning?" Anuba asked, transforming to her mortal form so as not to scare any servants.
Maria grinned mischievously. "Well, first we're waking up Bakura because I know he's here, and then you, him, me and Yugi are going to go on a picnic. Ishtar can come too," she explained.
Anuba stopped. "You know Bakura?" she asked disbelievingly.
Maria nodded. "I met him a several years ago before I became queen. Believe it or not, I was a dancer and he is one of my good friends. So, how do you know Bakura?"
"My father took care of him until he turned eleven. He's umm, also my boyfriend," she admitted, a small blush rising on her cheeks.
Maria smiled. "I can picture the two of you together, and it's a very cute picture," she replied, "It's weird though, Bakura told me he'd prefer to not be involved with anyone so that person wouldn't be held hostage in exchange for him."
Anuba tipped her head as they stopped outside of her room. "Bakura must realize that I can take care of myself. Besides, who would suspect a member of the royal court to be dating the king of thieves?"
"True," Maria admitted before entering Anuba's room and leaping onto Bakura, who had gone back to sleep a little while ago.
Bakura started and yelped. When he calmed down, he was aware of a slender form hugging him that had long brown hair. "Fuck, Maria you scared me," he grumbled as the said queen sat up and then grinned.
"Not my fault, seeing as you don't visit often," she countered. Bakura gave her a stern glare and was then aware of Anuba laughing softly from next to the bed.
Bakura smirked and darting out as quick as a serpent, grabbed Anuba by the wrist and dragged her onto his lap. "And what, may I ask, are you laughing about?" he asked in a soft, dangerous tone, enjoying that Anuba quickly stopped laughing.
"Umm, nothing?" she tried.
"Cute, but no," Bakura replied before silencing Anuba's spluttering with a kiss. "So what's the big idea of waking me up?" he asked after pulling away from Anuba.
"You're coming on a picnic with me, Anuba, Yugi, and Ishtar," Maria explained.
Bakura sighed. "Fine," he conceded, "I'll go get Ishtar. You two go get the lunch ready." With that he stood, put his jacket on, and left the room through the balcony, heading to Ishtar's which was one over.
Maria smiled again. "He's not much of a morning person, is he?" she stated.
Anuba laughed as they left the room and headed to the kitchens. "It would appear so," she agreed.
