Disclaimer: I do not own Red River that honor goes to Chie Shinohara, damn it… OTL
Waking up the next morning was a bit of a challenge especially since I knew that I would be working twice as hard for the boss's son's welcome home bash. Sighing quietly to myself I sat up and froze when my bed made a loud creak. Carefully looking around I could see Siranush and Acenath were still soundly snoozing beside each other but wouldn't be for long, the sky outside the small thinly veiled window had already lightened to a periwinkle color with a flush of bright pink over the horizon.
I stretched my arms over my head before getting up and briefly stretched my legs. I silently wondered if my body had changed in any way since all I've been eating was pure vegetables and fruits with the occasional piece of meat accompanied by water. I imagined someone who is used to more modern food like fries and a shake would have lost some weight by now…
"Hmmm, if I was a mirror where would I be?" I wondered aloud.
My eyes fell on to the chest in the corner of the room. Maybe Acenath had one in there? Seeing as looking for one couldn't hurt I dug through the bundles of clothes to find nothing but sashes and plain white dresses and tunics. I pouted for a moment; the only other place I could think that would have a mirror would be Nefert's room. I huffed, like I was gonna go ask her if I could barrow a mirror.
If I was home I could've just checked myself out in the bathroom…that sounded weird…Wait! There was another chest of stuff in the bathroom! Figuring I might as well take a bath while I'm at it I was about to get up and leave when I remembered I needed to change my tunic since the one I had on needed to be washed. Picking out a decent white gown, I was pleased even more to see that it had a round neck line instead of the usual plunging v-necks and though it was a sheath gown it was tighter at the chest and a bit looser as it fell towards my waist and legs. I snatched up a few strips of plain white cloth and new underwear before closing the trunk quietly.
Tip toeing to the washroom I entered the room as quickly I could and shut the door behind me with a muffled click. I set my clean clothes on the rug covered floor before making my way over to the small crate in the corner.
Sifting through its contents all I found was a few small brick shaped bars of white soap, a couple of rags, worn brushes and combs but no mirror. Frowning, I decided to forget about it and just take a bath. I walked over to the wooden tub to take a peek inside and cringed when I saw the water was a milky gray color, meaning they hadn't changed the water from a few days ago.
Mustering up as much courage I could I picked up my set of clean clothes, a rag and a small bar of soap before I walked out of our shared house to go around toward its back. Rounding the corner of the house I looked for the path that I used to walk to the Nile when I needed to bathe. Finding it I hurriedly jogged along, silently thankful that the ground was slightly damp and squishy against my bare feet.
It wasn't long before I was standing by a small secluded spring near the famous rivers bank; warily I looked around in the sun's rapidly brightening light. Seeing no signs of dangerous animals -perverts included- I stripped off my dirty tunic and underwear before hesitantly submerging myself in the pool of cold water.
Ramses peeled an eye open before squeezing it closed once more, lifting up a hand to shield his face from the small shaft of sunlight filtering in through his bedroom's window he sat up in bed. Frowning, he ran a hand through his rumpled hair and looked outside to see dawn had arrived. He knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep now that he was up so he decided he might as well find something to do to pass the time.
Yawning and stretching out his sluggish muscles he swung his legs out of the tangled covers and sat on the edge of his bed for a moment to order his thoughts. Sighing he made his way into the adjoining bathing chamber and ignored the thin sheet that slid from his waist to the floor exposing his nude body.
Ramses frowned, the servants hadn't filled the sizeable stone bath that was built in to the chamber's floor with steaming perfumed water yet. Slightly disappointed he snatched up a soft cotton cloth and a bar of bitter almond scented soap and made his way outside hoping to soak in one of the Nile's springs for a while before being harassed by his mother during the morning meal.
Lathering up the rag with some more soap I scrubbed my pale skin free of B.O. and any other lingering smells before dunking myself into the clear shallow pool of water I found near the bank of the river. Popping back up for air I combed my fingers through my wet hair to untangle stubborn knots that accumulated during the night, I sighed such was the curse of thick wavy hair. Grabbing the soap again I worked it into my hair till it had a foamy consistency and massaged my scalp for a few more minutes when a soft crunching sound made me pause. I scanned the area around me for a minute then shrugged the noise off and once again dunked myself underwater to rinse out my hair.
Satisfied that all traces of soap had washed away I sprang back to the surface gasping for air. It took me a moment to register I was no longer alone in my little bathing area. Shoving my hair out of my face and blinking excess water from my eyes the slightly blurred figure in front of me cleared up to stand out in sharprelief.
A scream caught in my throat as my eyes bugged and my jaw dropped, a man was standing four feet away from me! And if that wasn't bad enough he was just staring at me…! Why was he staring at me?...I followed his avid gaze to just below my neck and I finally remembered just where I was and what I was doing!
With a high pitched squeak I crossed my arms over my chest and plopped myself deeper into the water. Feeling my fear and embarrassment evaporate into outrage I glared at the man in silence. I was about to yell at him when I saw his mouth twisted into an amused smirk and I saw red.
A few minutes before…
Ramses walked to his destination in silence. The small spring pool near the Nile he discovered in his youth had always been a favorite place to spend hot summer afternoons when he was a boy, especially after attending that horrid school master Abasi's lessons. A nice cool soak after being cooped up in that sweltering house and learning script after script had always done wonders for him and it was a good place to hide out when either of his parents were less than pleased with him.
Truthfully the only thing he liked about school had been the lessons to do with the arts of war; riding a horse, guiding a chariot, the use of weapons, all of that and more had been the only things to peak his interest. Of course then this was expected of him since being born into a military family; after all, his father had been a successful troop commander and his uncle an army officer while his aunt's brother was the Viceroy of Kush, it was only natural. The only thing he needs now -as his mother told him often enough- is a woman with lineage and status to match.
Frowning at the turn his thoughts made Ramses brushed aside a cluster of reeds blocking his view of the spring. Pausing he surveyed the area, it was almost just as he remembered from the smooth river rocks scattered about, the damp rich brown earth to the dark turquoise pool of water, with the only exception being that more vegetation had grown since he last laid eyes on the spring. Sighing he stepped to the edge of the small pool and was about to shed the cloth wrapped around his hips when a few bubbles broke the surface of the calm water about a yard away from him.
Tightening the cloth around his waist he took three steps back and shifted his weight to the balls of his feet expecting some type of animal to jump out of the pool of water. He didn't have to wait long for the inevitable splash that was the tell tale sign of indeed something had sprung out of the water.
Now Ramses wasn't one for surprises, ever since he was a child he loathed surprises. He had learned early on they usually foretold bad things were to come, if they hadn't come already… So when something with hair like streams of blood leaped swiftly out of the water was there any wonder why he thought Ammit the bone eater had risen from Daut itself to eat his heart.
Standing stock still Ramses dared not move a muscle but as whatever it was stood up more fully and pushed its mane of crimson hair away from its face with its human limbs he felt himself relax. He breathed a silent sigh of relief and inspected the person in front of him.
Ramses eyes went wide when he realized that it was in fact a she. Said she was petite with delicate flesh like pure alabaster stone encasing long arms and legs attached to a slim waist, he let his eyes drop to the juncture between her smooth white thighs just peeking out of the water for a few moments before snaking his gaze back up to her somewhat small, but round, perky and firm looking breasts. He shifted uncomfortably feeling his blood drain to another region of his body but a sharp inhalation diverted his attention away from the growing problem.
The girl covered her chest with a squeak and dropped herself further into the water with a glare, as if he hadn't already seen what there was to see. He smirked in amusement as the girl parted her full pink lips to scream most likely. But to his bewilderment instead she yelled, "Who the hell are you? And what the hell are you doing here?"
Ramses smirk slid off his face for a second before sliding it back on, "My sentiments are the same. Just who are you?"
The girl's glare went lethal, "Listen you perv! I took taekwondo for three years and fencing for another year so if you want to keep your manly parts intact I suggest you walk right back the way you came!"
He may not have known what Ty-kwan-doe or fen-sing was but he knew a threat when he heard one. Feeling annoyed he hopped into the pool of water and waded his way in until he stood naught but a foot away from her. "And what if I don't?"
"And what if I don't?"
'And what if I don't?'! The bastard's lips twitched obviously fighting a smile and an unpleasant realization told me he didn't care about or worse believe my threat. I suppressed a shudder, I mean, sure I wasn't all bad ass looking but I did take taekwondo…when I was like ten, then picked up fencing when I realized no matter how good I was at the martial art my parents weren't gonna show up to some tournament when they could go rub elbows with the rich kids in New York or someplace…I paused, why did I ever quit taekwondo and fencing? Oh right! I was teased for being a tom boy and not some girly girl in frilly skirts obsessing over the latest teeny bopper on the cover of Tiger Beat magazine.
I suddenly heard a splash and looked up to see the man had took a step closer, pushing the rising feeling of helplessness down I tried to observe the situation I was in. Narrowing my eyes I examined my new nemesis from the top of his blonde head to his shirtless waist, since well he was hip deep in water now...
He had an oval face with a pointed chin and sharp nose, my eyes paused on his full lips and found I couldn't comment on them, moving on I observed he had a honey tan with muscles in all the right places and to make things worse he cleared six feet easy since I came up to just an inch or so below his chin making eye contact with his well-built chest. Sighing I bit my lip; I knew if it came down to a fight between us he would win hands down.
Reluctantly I looked back up to his face. Blinking I stared at his eyes, was I going color blind or did the man really have two different eye colors? His left was a dark brown while his right was a golden ocher similar to Neferts eyes…I caught myself wondering if his vision was impaired due to the color differences of his iris's, like if the brown could see better than the gold one or something…Giving myself a mental slap I reordered my thoughts and concluded that this man was a very scary and equally handsome Egyptian male.
"Are you planning to say something or are you going to stare at me while I bathe?"
Bewildered with his abrupt statement all I could manage was a, "Wha-?"
He lifted a brow and even though he didn't smirk this time I could tell he was amused, the bastard. I curled a lip over my teeth in a silent snarl ready to tell him just where he could bathe when he loosened the cloth around his narrow hips with a deliberately slow display. Damn him! Turning my back on him I tried to will the blood rushing to my cheeks back to where it was previously, unsuccessful in the attempt I kept my furiously blushing face averted from the naked man and focused on the bush in front of me.
A small bud of violet caught my eye and I craned my neck to get a closer look at the slightly hidden flower…flower…flower! Holy crap I was dead! Siranush is gonna wring my neck! How could I forget today I had to help serve breakfast after gathering flowers! Dammit! Scrambling for my shawl I wrapped it around me securely before dragging myself out of the pool of water.
"So you finally gave up, huh? Don't feel too bad about it, everyone knows when to submit to someone who's superior."
I turned back to give him a death glare but glimpsed him rinsing his hair like a scene right out of a shampoo commercial emphasizing his lean muscles and- Okaaaay that's enough trauma for today. Quickly turning around I snatched up my dress and marched directly into the bushes to change.
Superior! Superior? Really? It's bad enough I take abuse from that aristocrap family but from a total stranger! I oughtta…! Smoothing out my gown I spied something on the ground, pausing an evil grin formed on my face. Scooping said item up I stepped back out into the spring.
"Back again?" He frowned now and I could tell he was starting to get annoyed. Perfect, I smiled friendly; he so didn't know what was coming. This would definitely make him think twice about messing with me again, but then it's not like I would be seeing him again.
"Yes, I am. It's just that I wanted to tell you something…" Clearing my throat I yelled in English, "THINK FAST!"
He had about a millisecond to look confused before I hurled a slightly congealed fist full of mud I had hidden behind my back straight into his bewildered face! The mud made a loud squelching sound as it made impact with his pretty boy head. SCORE! Now I knew why the announcers shouted gooooal in soccer! Not sticking around to see his reaction I ran back towards the residence laughing gleefully all the way. Hopefully, I wouldn't feel too guilty about this later…
The Hittite Capital:Hattusa
"Their majesties Tabarna Kail Mursili and Tawanana Yuri Ishtar!"
The seated occupants in the grand hall stood in respect for their rulers as the echo of the announcer's voice faded. A richly garbed man walked into the room followed by an equally finely dressed woman. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that just from appearance alone these two were indeed the rulers of the Hittite empire.
Their king was tall and lean with dark flaxen hair and clear hazel eyes. He donned a cloak the color of soft white trimmed with golden thread and a tunic of the finest dark royal blue cotton while jeweled gold bracelets, rings, necklaces and earrings adorned the rest of his person. Kail Mursili waved his jewelry bedecked hand in an acknowledging manner as his queen, a young woman with fair skin, onyx hair and eyes to match; walked past him to sit in her simple gilded throne, the seat that was nearest her husband.
There was a collective sound of creaks and scrapes as the senators took their seats as Kail settled into his own respective throne. Seeing everyone settled a scribe stepped from the corner to say, "The senate would like to extend their whole hearted congratulations to your majesties concerning Hittite's newly born crown prince and would like to officially commence this season's annual assembly of state heads."
The scribe bowed low and retreated back to his corner as a man with a mane of long gray hair stood from his seat and cleared his throat, "I am Labashi, governor of Apasa. The current shortage of grain has-"
Yuri listened to Apasa's governor passively. The city was part of the Azawa region, which was a Hittite seafaring vassal state and was slowly flourishing with overseas trade despite their empires struggle to produce enough crops this year even without those horrid fires that broke out during this harvesting season.
The young queen struggled to appear attentive throughout the rest of the meeting and had nearly dozed off in boredom when the governor of Hama had barely begun his report. It was only thanks to a sharp but soft nudge from Kikkuri that was kneeling beside her that kept her awake. Adjusting her simple but still too resplendent for her taste gown Yuri refocused her attention to the current senator speaking.
"That is all your majesties." He bowed to Kail and Yuri before sitting back down as Kail motioned for the next report.
To his surprise neither a lord nor senator stood up but instead a scribe stepped forward, "With your majesty's permission?" He asked patiently.
"Go on." Kail replied.
The scribe bowed, "His Highness Prince Juda sends his sincerest apologies for not attending this season's summit but has sent advisor Shamash to give his report in his stead."
Kail nodded, "Me and my Queen accept Juda's apology and will hear his report from advisor Shamash all the same."
The scribe bowed and left the hall to return a few minutes later with a willowy young man with hazel eyes that were predominately green and shoulder length dark chestnut hair. The young man bowed to Kail and introduced himself, "It is an honor beyond words to meet you your highness. I am Shamash lord Juda's head advisor."
Shamash then turned towards Yuri and bowed once more, "Likewise it humbles me to stand in the presence of Ishtar. I give my warmest felicitations to you and the young prince."
Yuri smiled, "Thank you very much Shamash. But you look so young to be an advisor."
It was Shamash's turn to smile, "So I've been told your highness."
And Yuri was right, Shamash was indeed very young to be considered as an imperial advisor. At the young age of twenty one most would assume that he would find better fortune as a Hittite soldier but what most didn't know was Shamash was as wise and intelligent as a man three times his age.
"If you will continue with Juda's report Shamash?" Kail interjected.
Nodding his head in compliance Shamash replied, "Of course your majesty."
Clearing his throat Shamsh continued, "The current grain shortage has had little to no effect on Karkemish. The public have been peaceful with little to no crime, and most of the crimes that have occurred have more to do with personal disputes than anything else. Current taxation among the citizens has bee-"
"Pardon me for interrupting Shamash but…"Everyone's head in the grand hall snapped towards the young queen. Yuri flushed under their gazes but she had to know now that the attention was focused on Karkemish.
"But, Ishtar?" Shamash inquired curiously.
Pushing her slight embarrassment down Yuri inhaled deeply before sitting up straight in her seat. "I wish to know of the Queen Dowager Nakia."
There was stark silence in the hall and just when Kail was about to brush off the topic for another time to discuss Shamash bowed his head, "Lord Juda anticipated you would, so he included the matter of the Queen Dowager in his report. Would you like me to tell you now?"
Yuri nodded stiffly, "If it's alright with everyone else."
The senators and other dignitaries all gave muffled agreements or nods of their heads before turning towards Kail who had yet to give his opinion. Kail nodded gravely, "Might as well get it out of the way."
Shamash bowed once more before saying, "The Queen Dowager has not made any attempts to maim nor kill anyone including herself. The guards stationed to watch over her have seen no indications of escape attempts, on the contrary they report she's been rather reasonable if only begrudgingly so. As per your highness's orders Lady Nakia has not stepped a foot out of Karkemish and usually confines herself to her palace."
"Usually?" Kail lifted a brow.
"The Queen Dowager often pays visits to the temple of Teshub and Hebat respectively but as of late she also makes frequent trips to the temple of Kaskuh. That is all your majesties."
Yuri turned to Kikkuri, "Who is Kaskuh?"
"Oh that's right, you haven't learned of the other gods yet have you?" whispering he continued, "Kaskuh is the moon deity. He is a bringer of dreams and a watcher of the night, a god of wisdom, regulation, events, and time. Usually travelers, merchants and those who wish to cure their insomnia or simply want help to solve their problems go to his temples to pray and place offerings. I know for a fact that most advisors and scribes pray to him for guidance…and for admittance in to the palace for work."
"I see." Yuri replied quietly. She turned her attention back to Shamash as he continued where he originally left off.
After Shamash and another senator finished the assembly was excused for an hour rest before resuming again later. Jumping out of her seat Yuri quickly made her way back to her chambers in a hurry to spoil her newborn son Deiru.
Bursting through the open door way she ignored Hadi's startled expression and scooped up her dark haired son out of the small reed woven basket that was her son's cradle, taking care that his soft wool blanket was tucked securely around him.
"One would think you've been separated for two and a half days instead of two and a half hours, Queen Yuri."
Yuri laughed, "I can't help it Hadi! I just love spending as much time I can with Deiru, I love looking at his perfect little face, his small hands, his tiny feet! I just love him!"
"I'm sure all mothers feel this way your highness, but you need to rest as much as Deiru does. After all you've only given birth just a little more than two weeks ago." Hadi chided gently.
Yuri just hummed in response; too busy rocking her baby in her arms to really pay attention. Gazing out of the nursery window to the sunlit gardens outside, Yuri's thoughts turned to Advisor Shamash's report. Musing to herself quietly, Yuri pondered why Nakia would visit the temple of the moon god.
Karkemish: Temple of Kuskuh at Dawn
Nakia kneeled and placed the platter of food and wine at the base of the statue deity before clasping her hands in prayer. Finishing her ritual she bowed to the carved god once more before making the short trek to the back of the shrine.
"My lady, you still have not found the texts you are searching for?"
Nakia inclined her head to one of the temples many young priests that had been assigned to assist her, "I haven't." She replied coolly.
The junior priest swallowed nervously, he knew he had nothing to fear from the Ex-dowager queen but her lack of position did nothing to tone down her daunting persona. "Perhaps if you told me which text you are looking for we would be able to find the tablets that much easier."
Nakia swung her cold gaze back to the young man, "As I've told you before I don't know which specific tablet I must find either. But I'll know it when I see it…"
He nodded in understanding, many a times he's heard among the others that there were other priests and priestess's alike that were given great tasks and visions from the gods to fulfill. Queen Nakia was formally the high priestess of Teshub before being stripped of that position but even an untitled priestess was still a priestess. So when the exiled queen came bursting in during the morning rituals claiming she needed to find an all important tablet he thought for sure she would be escorted out like all others that dared interrupt the priests daily prayers, but instead she was ushered inside to pray with them and given full access to the temples large archive of tablet texts. It had been almost two weeks since then.
"Perhaps if we had the others help my lady you would find your tablet faster."
Nakia ignored the boy; she couldn't afford any more people to know about her little endeavors searching through the temple lest the priests become suspicious and bar her from returning. If only she could get rid of the little whining insect and search the high priest's private archive herself. Walking down another aisle of tablets Nakia pulled out random clay texts pretending to read them before leaving them littered on the long table that lined the wall.
"My lady pleas-"' 'CRASH' Rounding on the boy Nakia turned to see him wide eyed pressed up against the wall underneath a shelf with a broken tablet only inches away from where he had been standing. Nakia smiled as an a idea suddenly took shape in her mind. Carefully composing her face back into an icy mask of indifference Nakia barked, "What are you doing just standing there? Clean it up!"
The boy blinked in surprise before immediately dropping to his knees to gather the shards of broken clay and stuttering out an apology. Rolling her eyes Nakia made her way over to the boy careful not to step on any of the shards and started rummaging around the tablets.
"My lady you should step away from the shelf. It's very unstable from the weight of the tablets and as you can see they can fall very easily and hurt you." He said as he started to stand up with the broken pieces gathered in his tunic.
"I know, that's what I told you the first time I warned you."
"Huh? When did you war-" 'CRACK' Nakia watched as he crumpled to the ground unconscious, once again littering the floor with broken clay.
"Just now." She replied to his motionless form.
Stepping over him she watched his chest move sluggishly up and down. Bending over she swept his black bangs away from his boyish face to see a small cut oozing blood near his temple, Nakia knew the boys health wasn't in any danger just as she knew the minor injury would clot up in a few minutes and he would come to in half an hour or so.
Dusting off her hands she walked back out to the alcove of Kuskuh and made her way to the high priest's private chamber used for prayer, study and the like. Opening the door quietly she was pleased to find no one inside and immediately began searching through the tablets littering the desk. Finding nothing of use there she searched the trunk in the far corner of the room only to find nothing there either just as she was about to give up and resort to use of her dark water Nakia noticed how one of the stone tiles bordering the wall seemed a tad off.
Snatching up a nearby torch she illuminated the wall and took a closer look. Indeed the neat even pattern of the stone tiles was off. It was as if the tile was hastily pushed onto the wall and left to stick out more than the rest of the tiles instead of setting it properly and letting it lay flat like the rest of them.
Nakia smirked and pushed the tile further into the wall until it was as even as the rest then kept pushing until it was a good three inches past where the others lay. A loud grinding sounded and the wall sunk in wards before opening much like a wooden door would.
Holding up the torch higher Nakia descended the damp stone steps to come face to face with a small wooden door. Swinging it open she was confronted by a small wooden chest with ornate designs and a large seal on its lid depicting the god Kaskuh. Just as she reached to lift off the lid a loud shriek echoed above her in the temple, someone had discovered the boy.
OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! O! M! G!
JADE AND RAMSES MET! I even surprised myself…I was gonna wait another chapter or two but things just turned out this way! I Reeeeeaaally hope you like it… and I hope I'm not on your proverbial shit list either for taking so long to update…
But good news is that I FOUND MY USB! ~Ke ke ke~ So now I can get back to writing and editing my chapters.
NOW on to other news, I can already hear it coming 'sigh'…I know you must be celebrating my newly found usb but I have to tell you right now that even though I found it don't expect updates every week or so. The most might be one to three updates a month if I'm not busy…But I'll try to do at least once a month to keep your TLK fixes in control, don't want any with drawl symptoms now do we?
The reason why is because I'm currently preparing for my GED and studying the Korean language. So I'll be a little occupied with that among writing for this story and all my other works in progress. So yeah… 'sigh' OTL ( p.s. this is my new favorite acronym, My sister couldn't figure it out at first, Can you?)
BUT ON THE BRIGHT SIDE! YES! THERE'S A BRIGHT SIDE! My sister finally got around to finishing one of JADE'S pictures! YEAH! AWSOME RIGHT? I personally think it came out pretty good, though when I first saw it I was like 'where the heck are her boobs?' and she said 'You told me she was almost flat chested and was a character that was uncomfortable and awkward with her body despite her bright personality'. So after thinking about it I was like 'You know what, I think this image is perfect for Jade' I mean the nearly baggy clothing and skinny body accompanied by her cheerful expression and optimistic body language is what Jade really is…at least that's how I see her, on a good day that is. I don't know that's my opinion so why don't you head on over and click the link in my profile to view the picture and tell me your opinions?
So without further ado please review! I love hearing from you guys! Oh and A VERY LATE MERRY XMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
