Chapter Five: Be careful...

Atem stood from his chair quickly, knocking it back. His hands were shaking with rage.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" The King furrowed his brows, not understanding. He turned around, to see the girl, and about keeled over when he saw her condition. He stuttered his words for a bit, and then finally got a sentence out.

"My-my Pharaoh! I can assure you this was not meant to be this way..." Atem glared at the man. His father had told him things about Apep, and its differences, but he never could imagined it was this different...women being shown off as prizes, and gifts. The girl had hidden her face, and was backed into a corner of what Atem could see was a makeshift cage of some sort. He could see gashes and bruises on her back, making him even more furious. The king again spoke, diverting the Pharaoh's attention.

"My Pharaoh...I can assure you I will hunt down whoever did this...and they will be punished. For now, I hope that you and your caravan will get rest...You had a long journey. And you make take your gift from me as well. The girl…She will heed to your ever call, and serve your every wish..." Atem noticed a slightly perverse tone in the King's voice near the end, "She is yours as long as you stay in my Kingdom." Atem looked up to see the girl glaring holes into the back of the King's head. Her bright orange eyes pierced the darkness, and she made her disgust known.

He could see the King shift uncomfortably, not only because he knew the girl was glaring at him, but so was every single person who had visited along with the Pharaoh. Isis was holding Mana back fiercely as angry tears shone in the young magician's eyes. Seto had a white knuckled grip on the Millennium Rod, and was shaking with rage. Atem was waiting for him to burst out first, knowing he had the shortest temper, but it never came. Atem assumed it was because the mission was on his mind.

The King coughed uncomfortably and then bowed to the room, exiting to hopefully search for the men who had harmed the girl. Atem watched as he was the King hobble down the hall, nervously panting, and clutching the wall as if he were about to pass out. His eyes traced from the King to the girl. She was still backed into the corner of her cage, holding her clothes together. He felt pity for her, and approached the cage.

As he drew nearer, in the back of his mind he wasn't sure how safe or sane she was. She had an animalistic quality to her as though she could lash out at any given moment. However, he was drawn in by her captivating aura, and her bright orange eyes. Never had he seen such a strange color for one's eyes, except for his own, which were a deep burgundy color. It contrasted her pure white hair interestingly, which also created a ghostly glow in the dark.

As her reached the cage, he motioned for two handmaidens to unlock the door to it. The girls ran over, both heads bowed, and quickly opened the door for him. He nodded a polite thank you, and held out his hand to the girl. She shrunk back further, pressing herself harder against the metal bars. He locked his eyes with her, hoping she would see the gentleness in them. She turned around to look at him curiously.

And ever so hesitantly, she took a few light steps toward the front. The light hit her, and she quickly jumped out. She examined Atem, her eyes darting over him back and forth. His hand was still outstretched in a friendly manner he noticed. And she hadn't even considered touching it. His hand slid back down to his side, as Seto made his way over. The girl's head snapped over to him, and she took a step back. He had moved far too quickly and it seemed to make her jumpy.

The Pharaoh's caravan noted quickly, that her manner was like an animal's. Quick, jumpy, careful. She moved fluidly and light, her feet hardly making a sound. When Seto noticed her reaction, he stopped dead in his tracks. She had locked eyes with him. She padded over to him, eyes never leaving his, and stopped, about three inches away from him. It was as if they were locked in a battle of some sort. Her eyes flickered to his Millennium rod, and she turned her head, and walked away.

Seto, stood motionless for a while, and then whipped around to look at her. She was making her way to another set of doors, and walking around the long table at which the caravan sat. She felt all the eyes staring at her, but she acknowledged none of them. She simply exited, leaving a cold air behind her. Mana even shivered. The room was dead silent, and after a while the girl with the basin made a small noise. She sloshed her way over to Atem, careful not to spill anything on him or Seto, and spoke timidly.

"My Pharaoh...If you'll follow me I will show you to your room..." She wobbled over to the table and set down the big golden basin carefully. She took in a comical breath of relief and pranced away over to the doors. He watched her in fascination for a moment, and then began to follow her, which he found to be quite a workout. She was a very bright, bouncy girl and reminded Atem of Mana. He smirked to himself, knowing Mana couldn't hardly keep her mouth shut most of the time...Which gave him an idea.

"Excuse me...can you tell me a few things?" The girl stopped dead in her tracks, and looked over her shoulder at him with big eyes.

"My Pharaoh...I'm not really supposed to speak with you..." She looked around nervously and bit her lip. Atem sighed.

"I thought as much...but I only need a few minutes." The girl played with her hands for a bit and the nodded her head signifying it was alright. Atem cheered mentally.

"What do you know about the girl?" The girl's eyes doubled in size.

"My Pharaoh...I think it best if you not ask me such questions. And I pray you make the night..." Atem was taken aback at her sudden sullen tone. She was shifty, and didn't wish to answer his question. And her last sentence made him uneasy...He heard the creak of a large door, and he noticed that they had arrived at what must have been his room. The handmaiden was pulling back what could only have been a very heavy copper door. He entered the room, and turned around to speak more with the girl, but she was already closing the door, and hid her face in the shadows.

He sighed, upset that he hadn't gotten more out of her...unlike Mana she did have self control it seemed. He turned around and gasped. His room was absolutely magnificent. He was used to having a very nice room at the palace in Cairo, but this was over the top. It was a deep blood red on the walls, with intricate copper designs all over. The ceiling was a creamy color, matching the smooth stone floor. There was a gigantic bed in one corner, but it wasn't much bigger than his at home, but with further inspection he found it had silk sheets, and a huge golden canopy above it. There was a huge balcony at the back of the room, facing the Kingdom, which was rather beautiful when it was dark, and all the lights were lit. He looked around the room and noticed that the room had about fifteen torches , as well as a large bathing pool in the center of the room, surrounded by numerous oils and perfumes.

He walked over to the bed and flopped down on it. It was filled with Ibis feathers, and was incredibly soft and luxurious, which was just the thing he needed after his long travels in the desert. He was about to close his eyes, when he caught a whiff of himself and his eyes watered. 'Time for a bath...' he thought to himself. He stripped all of his clothes and was about to get into the warm bath waters, when he heard a rustle from the balcony. He wrapped a towel around himself, and grabbed his dagger from beside his clothes. He approached the balcony silently, and was almost there when the dagger was knocked out of his hand and a hand was wrapped around his mouth. He struggled for a moment, until another hand went to his throat. His eyes searched for his dagger, until he heard a voice in his ear.

"Pharaoh...I suggest that with me around in the mood I am in you be careful. I do not enjoy being a slave, much less a sex slave. Understand now that if someone really wanted to they could kill you right now. Now, I don't kill good people like you, but cross me just once like those guards did and Egypt will no longer have a Pharaoh. If you abuse your power just once...Well then it wouldn't be very difficult for me would it?" Atem's heart nearly stopped cold as she spoke. Her voice was soft, but menacing. It was smoother than the finest silks and flowers in all of Egypt.

She pushed him away finally to reveal a much more cleaned up girl; she didn't even remotely resemble the fragile hurt girl in the dining room. She was again in clean linens, her cuts and bruises gone. Her bright orange eyes didn't leave his.

She walked over to a small white couch, and laid on it.

"If you don't mind dear Pharaoh, I would like to sleep...I'm sure you'd like to continue your bath." Atem was speechless. Never before had he seen a woman act like that. He never would have believed that a girl could act with such ferocity. She was feminine, with an air of a warrior. He could never imagined a girl like this.

He looked over at her, and saw that she was turned over on her side away from the bath. Her chest was softly rising and falling, indicating she was close to sleep. He took off his towel carefully, watching her as he sunk into the bath. After a while of soaking in the water, and watching her, he turned around and began to wash his hair. She was a curious thing…threatening him the way she did. He supposed it wasn't the first time she had to do this. After all, her appearance earlier said it all. He brushed these thoughts away. A simple servant girl wouldn't dare to harm him, much less could.

He relaxed after a while, and enjoyed the natural heat of the water, and how much it made his muscles relax. He began to put some of the scented oils on himself, when he had an uneasy feeling.

He whipped around and saw that the girl was still turned around, and had hardly moved from the last time he saw her. He turned back around and continued to rub oil on the upper half of his torso. He then got out of the water, and again wrapped himself with a towel. He quickly turned around to see her turned on her other side facing him, leaning her head on her arm.

Atem blushed and frowned a bit, "I don't mean to be rude, but I do like my privacy please." He said it a little more harsh than he would've liked to. He was embarrassed after all. No one had really seen him naked for the exception of his mother, a few servants and Mana. Only because Mana had burst into his chambers during a bath.

"Tell me, what happened to your father? I have not heard any news of him for a long while, and you seem to be still very young for a Pharaoh." Atem was shocked by her sudden question. She had merely brushed away his previous statement. She looked very unfocused on the current situation.

"You knew my father?" That was bizarre. She nodded indifferently.

"Quite well in fact, Apep was close to war with Cairo at the time so he visited frequently. He was a very good friend of mine. Last news I heard of him was that he had married, and that was all. I assume you must be his son." Atem nodded,

"Yes...I am his son Atem. How do you know him? You don't look any old than I am." She laughed again.

"Pleasure to meet you...My name is Mena in case that old King forgot to tell you." She didn't answer his question. There was a pause for a second in the conversation, and then with a tone of wonder, Mena said,

"What exactly happened to your father?" She leaned in close in attentiveness. Atem was silent. He bowed his head and turned away, his eyes hidden in the shadows.

"It is late, we should sleep." Mena raised her brows, but said nothing. She merely got up from the couch and to the doors.

Atem looked at her curiously, and she said,

"Well you don't expect me to sleep on that do you?!" She secretly knew she was supposed to stay in the room with him, but she felt the room becoming tense and didn't want to stay any longer. The night's previous events had spoilt the evening. There was no way she was going to stay in that room. Atem's brow furrowed once again and he approached her,

"Where are you going to stay then? Surely slave's quarters can't be any more comfortable." Mena cringed a bit. He was right.

"And what makes you believe I'm a slave, dear Pharaoh?" She said it in an amused tone, but was upset that he assumed she was no more than a slave. He was right about that too, but she didn't like being called a slave. He shifted uncomfortably.

"I didn't know, I assumed you were and I shouldn't have. I apologize to you." He looked at her, with his large burgundy eyes and then bowed his head. Mena was taken aback. He truly was sorry. He genuinely apologized, and meant it. It was probably the first apology she had heard in centuries. He seemed to notice her silence and looked back up at her, with her mouth slightly agape.

"I-I very much accept your apology Pharaoh Atem. Thank you." She whipped around and pushed the door open. "And to answer your question, I have a very lovely bed of my own next door. Thank you for your concern." She gave him a soft smile and exited the door.

Atem plopped down on his bed, watching her leave. She was something else.