Chapter 6: A new "home"

Hours passed. Hours in which the de Niles had not been freed, and hours in which the only source of light had been the lamp on the table.

While Nefera and Cleo were sitting on the coaches, Ramses stood by a library of scrolls that had been put in here for the purpose of entertainment.

"Can I eat something?" Nefera asked, when looking at the dried food and water in front of her.

"Mhm," Ramses agreed, when grabbing the twentieth scroll to read.

"I can't believe you're hungry," Cleo mumbled. "I am totally full."

"Same here," her sister answered when giving the raisin in her hand a grossed out look. "I'm just bored." She put the food back on the plate.

"You're not eating?"

"Depends. How long have we been in here? I won't eat anything older than me."

Instead of listening, Cleo looked at her father, hopeful that he might have found an answer.

Sadly, Ramses shook his head. "There is no answer in any of the scrolls."

"Will we ever age again?" Nefera asked.

"I have no idea," her father answered truthfully.

Silence, then, "The servants are really taking their time with freeing us... I wonder what could be more important than the royal family's well-being?"

Ramses sighed heavily, for the first time, showing his sadness. "I have a feeling we will be in here for longer..."

"Noooo," Nefera whined. "The service here is terrible!"

"Just to make sure there really is no clue," Ramses told them, "I will read through all the scrolls again, this time, in detail."

Cleo took a coach for herself. She grabbed a piece of papyrus and wrote down her thoughts and feelings on what had happened. This was useful in several ways. Firstly, it would kill some time, and secondly, it would help her recover.

Nefera looked around the room with big eyes. The thought of not being let out by the servants any time soon gave her a headache. The room was filled with two more people, but Nefera felt as lonely as ever. This was the first time for her to think of her place in line. Surely, she would still be next in line, and everything would go as planned?

The princess felt a heavy burden on her soul. As she could not talk to any of her family members, she left the couch area, approached her Corpse Flower, and sat down in front of it. Gently, the princess felt her plant's leafs. They felt normal, and the appearance of the plant hadn't changed one bit. This was a sign, right? Sure, they had woken up with dust all around them, but as no one had aged, only a few hours could have passed... Right?

Nefera looked at her family members a last time to see that Ramses and Cleo were definitely busy, when turning back to her plant and quietly mumbling, "Hello..."

The room was quiet.

"How...are you doing?" Nefera whispered.

"Ah, same here. I miss my old room, too, but I bet we'll get out of here in no time. I mean... Father says the door is stuck and can't be opened from this side, but it must surely work from the other side. And even if this is not the case... There is no way the servants have forgotten about us."

Obviously, there was no answer.

"You know, I'm a bit nervous, because of my place in line. Father said that his brother stormed in with an army, and even though I saw them too, I feel bad to speak to him about it. It's like... I don't want to talk about this, because I don't want to remember that sight. I don't want to imagine that I could have been...skipped."

One second of silence, before Nefera continued her conversation.

"Whatever, our guards must have protected us and the palace. There is no way those attackers were stronger. I mean, have you seen the guards? They are stronger than a crocodile, I bet. And... Now the servants are just cleaning up the palace. Because they don't want us to step into a mess. And then, when they're finally finished, they'll come and get us. And Mother will say 'Aww, I've missed you so much! I thought I'd never see you again!'. Cleo will cry like the crybaby she is, but I will state the truth: 'I have always known that we will get out of here in time'."