Cold Winter

Sure enough, the trade agreement was complete half a week later, and about half a week after that, Mahad and Mana arrived. Seto was shocked to find Atem greeting them with hugs, and was at first suspicious of the older man, but realized very quickly that their relationship was like family, nothing more. Mana quickly showed she was a lot like the Prince's sister, even though she insisted on calling him 'Your Highness', and Mahad fell somewhere between an older brother/mentor and what the King felt would be considered a 'good father'. They had come reasonably prepared for winter, as well.

Though, it was perfectly annoying to Seto to find the whole group of Egyptians, this time including Atem, vanishing into the Vizier's room for a whole night—it meant he didn't get the time he wanted with his lover. Oddly enough, it wasn't Atem he was upset with, it was the rest of the group; he knew the Prince had never actually been able to speak with his father before that night, and had only gotten word of his father's thoughts and wishes through the others. He didn't understand why they'd had to take him away at night when they could have made the arrangements for a time during the day. Or just included Atem prior to then so the meeting could have been shorter.

In the morning, a wryly amused Atem knocked on Seto's outside door, and the older teen opened it—only to see Mahad and Mana with him. He blinked, then looked at Atem and said, "Shizuka brought your tea already. I wasn't even sure you were going to come today, since you spent all night in a conference with your countrymen."

"I'd love to sleep, believe me," the Prince replied wryly. "In the meantime, I need to warm up, so where's my usual blanket?"

Mahad just sighed as Mana giggled, so Seto motioned at the table. Atem was by the King's chair right away, and said King obediently lifted the blanket off it to wrap it around his lover, who then sat and began working on his hot water and herbs for the tea Isis had given him. The other two stepped into the room and moved over to the table to watch the rather odd display, but didn't sit because—unlike Atem, apparently—they hadn't been invited to do so yet.

"Forgive me if this seems rude, but that certainly looked like a well-rehearsed set of actions between you," Mahad commented. He had long, dark hair under a Mage's gold headdress and wore mainly white robes with a puzzling ring around his neck. His apprentice dressed much like him, but her headdress was copper and covered only part of her head, and her robes were shorter, falling only to the knee, not to the ground.

Atem paused in his tea-making to look up and say, "Oh, right, you haven't been formally introduced, yet. King Seto, meet Priest Mahad, a Mage who is second to none, and his apprentice, Mana, and Priest Mahad, Mana, meet the new King, Seto." He then went back to his tea as the King sighed.

"And...why did you bring them to my personal chambers?" the paler teen asked of the darker one in his chair.

"Mahad, ask what you've been meaning to ask since you got here," Atem said.

The Priest blinked, then said, "I'd thought I would do that in private."

"This is private enough," the Prince replied simply.

After a silence, the Priest asked, "Why are maintaining a partially female transformed state, Your Highness?"

Seto held his hand to his head and groaned, "Your people are starting to scare me, Atem. I think the Vizier is the only one who doesn't know, and that's only because he relies on mind-reading, I'm sure." The words made Mahad's eyes widen. The King then motioned at the two chairs already at the table and said, "Sit, both of you."

As they sat, Atem replied, "Actually, that's only half the reason Uncle doesn't know. Yes, he relies on mind-reading to find out what he wants to know—there are blessed few people like you and me whom he can't read. But do you really think he wouldn't know unless the others have been deliberately keeping it from him, storing that knowledge away in the tiny parts of their minds he can't read?"

"...Come to think of it, if Priest Shada saw us together, why didn't he tell the Vizier?" the older teen asked thoughtfully.

"He didn't see anything 'wrong' with what he saw," the smaller teen shrugged, taking a drink from his tea and leaning back to let his eyes slide shut. "Better," he murmured.

"Hey, this might sound rude, Your Majesty, Your Highness, but are you lovers?" Mana suddenly asked, her gaze eager and interested.

"Mana!" Mahad yelped.

"It's all right," Seto sighed, making Mahad look at him in something like angry horror. Holding his hands up in a surrender motion, he said, "I'm assuming Atem wanted you here because you need to know. It's not as simple as just being 'lovers'. Priest Mahad, you wanted to know why your Prince is maintaining a partially female transformation. The reason is because he's with child—my child."

A long, stunned silence filled the room, then Mana squealed, "Great Ra, Your Highness, you're going to have a baby!" A moment later, she was hugging the other teen around the neck as she giggled.

Holding a hand to his head, Mahad asked her, "Aren't you missing a big part of this equation, Mana? Is it really all right for our Prince's child to be the Nihon King's?"

Mana turned to look at him and asked in return, "Why isn't it? The Prince's baby will have the rights to both thrones, so it works in our favor, doesn't it?"

"For exactly that reason, it can also work against us, depending on which parent the child favors," Mahad replied pointedly.

"There's no chance of that," Atem answered, making the other two look at him in surprise. "Isis saw a vision. I'm going to give birth to my child in my homeland...alone."

Both their eyes widened, then Mana looked at Seto accusingly, so he said, "I'll probably be dead at that point. If I'm not, I don't know, but it would be really hard to keep me from my own child's birth if I'm still alive."

"Oh..." the teenaged girl murmured sadly.

With a sigh, Mahad said, "I'll keep this from the Vizier for the next day, then. Prince Atem, if you're sure you want to go through with this, I'll wish you the best."

And the man was true to his word.

CI

The day after Mahad and Mana spoke with Atem and Seto, six of the Egyptians headed home with the proper trade documents—or rather, they had already given the documents to the Pharaoh, but only their own countrymen knew that. The King warned them to guard their backs, since they didn't only have to worry about bandits, but some of the military who were under the control of nobles who didn't want such an agreement may also try to attack them. About a week later, the harvest was pretty much done, and people began preparing to mostly shut down for winter, even in the Palace.

It only took an extra week for snow flurries to fall overnight one night—and midday the next day, a blizzard blew in, causing everyone to run for shelter, even as cold wind howled through the Palace halls. Atem pretty much stayed in Seto's bed, and even the King rarely left it, claiming he had almost nothing to do during a blizzard, anyway. As such, they spent much of their time passionately, with the older of the two sheathed in his lover's body, even as he learned to hold back his release, even without help from a ribbon. In the end, the blizzard lasted nearly four full days, then calm, sunny, cold set in, but to those from the north, they had a moderate temperature.

From that point on, the days were mainly overcast as snows fell, and every week to week and a half, there was another blizzard which lasted a few to several days. A month and a half passed like that—then the worst happened.

When the King woke one morning, it was to feel cold, even as Atem trembled against him and the younger's arms wrapped tightly around his belly. Oddly enough, he felt no warmth from the fire still burning in the hearth, and slowly realized what had happened, why it was so cold.

Wolf Winter.

Really, he didn't want to move, but felt he had to—there was no way the Prince would be able to. So, rising, he shuddered at the chill, even as the smaller teen made a plaintive noise and promptly curled into a tight ball under the blankets. Quickly, he began piling robes, cloaks, spare blankets, and anything else he could reach, on the bed on top of Atem, and was debating getting some things from the other room, when the door to his room opened.

Shizuka came in, fully dressed in outdoor clothes, with the water she usually brought, but even it wasn't giving off any heat. "Drink it quickly, or it'll turn cold and even freeze. The Matron said this was a Wolf Winter, so we had to work quickly to warm the Palace for everyone, so I really had to make an excuse to bring this to you," she told the King. "I hope it helps His Highness." She set it on the table, then left.

In the end, Seto couldn't wait for Atem to get up, so made the tea himself—he'd watched the darker teen do it often enough—and took it to his lover. It was still warm, so rather than trying to coax the other up, the paler teen just seized him around the shoulders and yanked him to a sitting position, then put the cup to his lips. The warm liquid started rejuvenating the other teen, and they promptly crawled back into bed together and went back to sleep, too cold even to think about pleasure. Meals also went by the wayside due to the cold, and almost no one ate the morning or noon meals.

By mid-afternoon, the Palace was somewhat warmer, within manageable levels for northerners, so they began getting up to do their usual activities, cursing the bitter cold as they did. With coaxing from friends (or, as in Atem's case, his lover), even those who weren't used to cold, let alone such deep cold, struggled out of bed and to the Great Hall for the evening meal. Everyone wore outdoor clothing, to greater or lesser degrees, and relied on the proximity of others for extra warmth—the chairs at the tables in the Great Hall were clustered together, gathering greater heat in pockets around the room.

Very quickly, everyone began to resent clear days and bless the days of blizzards, since during the bitter cold of a Wolf Winter, no heat came from the sun, and clear days were much, much colder than cloudy ones. Since the only time the sky was 'cloudy' was during a snowstorm or blizzard during the Wolf Winter, or during this particular one, it became a boon for snow and ice to pile up around walls. After two weeks of such cold, the Palace began warming with the added insulation of the snow piled around the walls, and servants carefully dug out only doors and gates, not even windows.

A month after the Wolf Winter set in, new trouble found them.

CI

Cold.

Somehow, it penetrated his mind, and even though part of him wanted to just give in and go back to sleep, something forced him to wake. It was a tugging sensation from his belly, and it took him a moment to realize—he was carrying a child in his body!

Atem forced his eyes open—only to see a clear, starry sky above him, and there were the rough sides of a hole as well. They were white, the color of the snow which had been piling up outside the Palace for over a month, the same color as the stars. A bright, pale moon hovered above the landscape, and the Prince finally realized he was outside, laying in a snow bank...in the middle of a Wolf Winter...at night...on a clear night...wearing...what?

When he tried to sit up, he realized his body was too cold and he couldn't move—he couldn't even feel his arms and legs, let alone hands and feet.

Howling sounded some distance away, then stopped, and the next sound he heard was snarling and growling much close to him.

Wolves.

Wolf Winter.

A winter so bitterly cold the fires put off cold light and the wolves are so short on food, they resort to attacking and killing humans.

He distinctly recalled Seto saying that.

In other words, not only did he have the cold to worry about, but he had wolves to worry about, too. According to people he'd asked, wolves were every bit as dangerous as the desert lions, especially since they could also hunt either alone or in a pack. This time, it sounded like they were in a pack.

What could he do to protect himself?

Warmth.

Heat.

Fire.

Ra!

Closing his eyes again, the Egyptian Prince focused on the essence of Ra. An eye blazed and glowed on his forehead as energy began rippling around him, and the rippling energy quickly took form. Flames rippled, burst, and flowed from him, surrounding and shrouding him in purple, blue, white, yellow, and orange. The heat was so intense outside him that the snow began melting, and his own body began warming and thawing, the feeling returning to his arms and legs, causing them to tingle painfully. It hurt, but it was also a relief, since it meant they hadn't gotten so bad he'd lose them, and as soon as he'd mostly warmed, the strange, tug-like sensation from his belly stopped as well.

Finally, his body warmed enough for him to move, so Atem slowly sat up, causing the flames at his back to ripple and surge away from him in wing-like shapes. Glancing down at himself, he saw he wore nothing but his nightclothes, meaning there was only a thin layer of cloth and his choker shielding him from the cold. The landscape in front of him was one he didn't know—he'd never seen anything besides the Palace grounds in Nihon—and there was nothing like a Palace in his view. Then again, it was night.

As snarling sounded from behind him, he turned to look, and saw them—the wolves were pacing just outside the circle of light cast by the flames burning around him. It was clear they weren't ready to give up on him, but the light he was now generating made them wary. They were mangy brown and gray dog-like animals, starving, frosted—and he couldn't see any of them small enough to count even as a year-old pup. Like all starved creatures, 'sanity', or the animal's version of it, didn't work, and they would probably resort to attacking him, regardless of the light and heat surrounding him.

Thankfully for him, the Flames of Ra would literally burn anything which meant him harm to a crisp, but that wasn't so good for the wolves. In the darkness, their eyes shone golden-red, reflecting the firelight creating a veritable bonfire around him and giving him the eerie sensation of being watched by something supernatural.

Looking down at himself again, he realized there was no way he could go anywhere in his condition—it was all he could do to stay warm. As a cold wind blew, disrupting the flow of energy and fire around him, he knew it was true and he couldn't afford to waste the physical energy he would exert just by getting up and walking around. On the other hand, as long as Ra was willing to help him stay warm and safe, he would be a beacon for anyone out looking for him, enemy and ally. At the moment, his only enemies were the wolves, and the only humans who would be looking for him would be his countrymen or the King, all of whom were allies. By that logic, it was safer for him to stay where he was, pray to Ra to guide Seto or his people to him, and wait for rescue.

Once he'd decided, the Prince shifted his position and pushed himself up to kneel on both knees, palms pressed together in a prayer position as he let his eyes close and began praying.

CI

Seto was furious!

What he'd thought was legitimate, required work had turned out to be a waste of his time, and he'd gotten back to his chambers late at night, tired and irritated, hoping to lose himself in his lover's body. Instead, the room had been empty, and so had Atem's own. Given how late it was, he'd gone to look for the other teen, not understanding what had caused the Prince to go out so late. No one knew where he was, not even his own countrymen, but a servant had seen a rider leaving the grounds. A check of both the regular stables and the military stables had revealed a military horse missing, not the noble steed Atem had occasionally ridden, so he had discarded the information at first.

Now, he was beginning to regret doing so, even as he began feeling a chilling sensation and the urge to go, that he had to go to the smaller teen. Atem was in trouble and instinctively calling him. Isis had told him something to that effect, anyway.

But, he had no way of finding out where he had to go, because 'outside', to account for the chill, was much, much larger than 'inside'.

Suddenly, as he prowled the halls, trying to decide on his next move, a burst of fire appeared and flashed in front of him, forcing him to cover his eyes.

A voice said, "The Prince calls you to him. You must go. I can only warm and protect him for so long before I must return to the Realm of Shadows, and the wolves will be on him as soon as my flames fade."

Opening his eyes in surprise and blinking the spots from them, the King found himself looking at a man with bird wings, a bird's tail, talons on both front and hind feet, and a bird's—an eagle's—beaked head. Having a sudden epiphany, he asked, "Are you Ra?"

"Yes," the man replied.

"How can I find Atem when I have no idea where to look?" Seto asked suddenly with a frown.

"Priest Mahad can find anything which exists in this physical world to be found. In the absence of want to ask him for help, the same sensation which causes you to sense the danger to the Prince can also guide you to him. That is, so long as you do not negate the very sensation which can lead you to the one you seek. You will need a Mage to warm him, at the very least," Ra explained. "Now, you must go." With those last words, the half-bird, half-human being vanished as a flame burst, then faded where he'd been standing.

Closing his eyes for a moment, the King quickly decided on his best course of action. If it was true and he could find Atem using that feeling, he had to get to a Mage quickly, and the Mage nearest at hand was Ryou. Bolting for the man's room, he was shocked to find the door opening as he got there, and Ryou stepped out, dressed for riding and with a large bundle of heavy blankets under one arm. Stopping to stare, he found himself at a loss for words.

Sighing, Ryou said, "I learned some of their fortune-telling techniques in Egypt, Your Majesty. Obviously, no one is as good as Priestess Isis, but the servants are all searching for the Prince as well, so I heard from them. Shortly after I had finished determining what I could, I felt Ra's aura here, and figured it would be time to go, so began preparing. Well, then, lead the way, Your Majesty."

"...Thank you," Seto said gratefully, then gave a nod and turned to lead the way to the stables. Not long after, the two of them were on their way, riding hard and fast as the King forced himself to choose his direction based on his first decision.

They were following a set of horse tracks, making him think again of the rider who had left the Palace earlier. It made him wonder why Atem had gone with someone, but he'd be able to ask once they reached him, so he just tried to follow where that feeling led him.

Suddenly, the tracks vanished, making him pull up short as he scanned the ground for more tracks. There weren't any.

"Your Majesty, is that a brush fire? Out in nearly barren land in the middle of winter?" Ryou asked suddenly, pointing up and off to one side.

Looking, the King suddenly found himself thinking back to Ra—and turned to head for the blaze as he called, "That's Atem!"

When they were near enough to see the form kneeling in prayer in the light, and to see the wolves pacing around the literal circle of light, the fire also began weakening, the flaming wings shrinking down. A few moments later, the wolves were launching themselves at the Prince, even as the flames vanished and the darker teen began falling to the ground.

"Mirror Force!" Ryou shouted, causing a brilliant light to flash around Atem as the wolves were propelled back, falling to the ground, dead.

"What in all the Hells was that?" Seto asked with a glare as he rode right over to his lover and reached down to lift him up.

"Egyptian magic," the white haired man replied. "Ask His Highness to explain later. In the meantime, he'll freeze if we don't bundle him up and return him to the Palace. Did you notice he's only wearing his nightclothes?"

The King snarled as they wrapped Atem up in cloth and magic and headed back.