A/N: I greatly appreciate the reviews. I see there are a few questions about the last chapter, so I'll clear a few things up. Shamira is the old friend of the mother, Yocheved, who works in the palace. Jada is the head servant of Aliya's foster family (Paki, Raziya, and Jabari).

Arik

To my surprise, I'd lost track of Aliya, and she wouldn't answer when I called. How could she disappear so effortlessly, when I prided myself on my own speed and agility? After another ten minutes of searching, I found her. She was leaning against one of the pillars just outside the entrance near the bathing pool of the Nile, the one my mother usually used.

"Tired, already? I'm disappointed." I jested.

When I stepped closer, I could see the solemn look in her eye as she gazed at the sun retreating below the horizon. It was easy to sense something had happened.

"What's wrong?"

After a moment of pondering what to say, she just shook her head at me and looked down.

"Aliya, you can talk to me. At least, you always could before."

She gave something between a sigh and a cynical smirk.

"Why do you play with me, Arik?" she finally asked.

Since this was not the response I was expecting, it threw me off, and I was momentarily speechless.

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you play with me, talk with me…why are you so nice to me?"

"Because...you're my...friend."

I didn't understand where this was going. Her next response was barely audible, but I heard it all the same.

"But you're not supposed to."

Sighing again, she straightened up.

"Never mind. I've got to go." And she was gone; leaving me behind to ponder her strange behavior and how I was connected to it.

Miriam

I had been fixing dinner when Aliya came home that night; I could tell she was in a solemn mood. Deciding it was best not to ask what had caused her gloomy disposition, I asked her if she'd seen Mother on her way home. She shook her head and immediately went into our small corner room, closing the curtain behind her.

Aaron, who had been sitting by the fire, working on a piece of cowhide, came to stand behind me.

"What was that about?"

"I have no idea. I thought it best not to ask."

"She never opens up to us, even though we've tried to be open with her. She has to learn to quit being such a high-and-mighty snob. She's our sister, not his."

"Shhh! Aaron, you shame yourself."

"It's been two years."

"She's still very young. Don't judge her so haughtily."

"Then how am I supposed to judge her?"

"As her brother, you shouldn't Now, go look outside to see if Mother's on her way."

Yocheved

I noticed through our meager meal, that Aliya was awfully quiet. Of course, she was never one to ramble on, but over the past year, she'd come to have small conversations with us during our meals.

"Is anything the matter, dear?" I asked. It took her a moment to realize I was speaking to her.

"Oh, no. No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure, Aliya? You've been awfully withdrawn this evening. You know you can always talk to us."

"Right," she smirked, "I get that a lot. Supposedly, there's always someone I can talk to."

I didn't understand what she could've meant by that, and I never found out. When I asked her, she just shook her head.

"Never mind. I'm going to bed. Goodnight."