The next morning was gray and cloudy, much like my mood. I'd ended up crying myself to sleep. He…He told me he loved me, I thought. What could that possibly mean? Did he even know what that meant? Did I?

I dressed and made my way downstairs, having fallen asleep in one of the empty rooms. Down in the main sitting room, Karn was counting gold coins. I asked her where she'd found them.

"Your friend gave them to us," she said, somewhat miserably, "as payment for his room and board."

"He's not my friend," I told her. Then I added, "That's far more than was needed. He didn't even eat before he went to bed, did he?"

Karn shook her head, still frowning despondently.

"When did he leave?" I asked.

"Last night," Karn replied. "After you left the room, he came downstairs, paid all of this, and left."

"He left…without saying goodbye?"

"What could he say, Rhea? You basically told him to go away after he told you he loved you."

"You were listening?!" I exclaimed, mortified.

"I wasn't going to allow you to be attacked in my own establishment," she said defiantly.

"He wasn't going to attack me," I said.

"From what you described, I couldn't be too careful."

I thought back to the desperate, pleading look in his eyes. He'd let every guard down, showed me his most vulnerable side, and I had cast him aside like an old rag.

No, I couldn't fall for it again. I wasn't going to go crawling back to him, asking him to forgive me for breaking his heart, if he had one.

Karn seemed to know what I was thinking, since she added, "You know, you can't keep pretending you don't feel the same way about him that he does for you, Rhea."

"What are you talking about?" I asked rather bitterly.

"When you came home, as happy as I was to know that you were okay, I saw that you weren't as content as you were before. Your mind kept drifting. Don't think I didn't notice. I know a woman in love when I see one."

I scoffed, "Please. Me, in love with that pompous, vain, self-centered…?" I couldn't even finish my sentence I was so disgusted. "Never in a thousand years would I love someone like him."

Karn loaded the coins into the cash box. "Do you know why I keep counting these, Rhea?" she asked.

I sighed, "Why?"

"I just couldn't understand why such a 'pompous, vain, self-centered…'" I blushed. "…Well, you get the idea. I couldn't understand why someone as heinous as you claim him to be would offer such generous payment for a room he didn't even use. Then it occurred to me. He's letting go."

If she'd intended to pull my heartstrings, it worked.

"What…" I had to swallow the lump that regrew in my throat before I could get the full sentence out. "What do you mean?"

"Oh," she said innocently. "I suppose I should tell you that the payment was supposed to be anonymous. In fact, now that I think about it, I believe he specifically asked me not to tell you. Whoops! Must have slipped my mind."

I left her sitting there scratching the back of her head sheepishly as I bolted out the door.

Atem sat in the throne room, going over his coronation ceremony that was coming up within the next 10 days with Mana and Shimon. Shimon was the one rattling off the itinerary while Mana was just there for company and support.

But, of course, Atem wasn't taking a word of what Shimon was saying. His mind kept going back to Rhea. He wondered if he should have stayed a little longer, at least to tell her goodbye.

No, he thought. I had to let her go. It's what she wanted. She told me so herself. I can't go back on it now. It doesn't matter what I want. I just want her to be happy. Even if that means I have to stay away.

But even as he sat there, telling himself that he'd done the right thing, it didn't make him feel any better. He knew that he'd never feel the same way about anyone the way he'd felt about Rhea. Her smile, her laugh, everything about her had this unexplainable effect on him. At first, he'd feared the feelings he received whenever he was around her, wanting nothing more than to avoid her at all costs, to avoid the reactions he felt.

But as he spent more time with her, got to know her, the more he came to welcome those feelings, welcome her. Without her—even though she'd been in his life for a short time—it was like there was something missing, something important. He wasn't truly happy without her. And he knew now that he never would be.

It was just as Shimon was in the middle of explaining the guest list in excruciating detail when Isis entered with an announcement. "My Pharaoh," she said. "You have a visitor."

"Tell them not to come," Atem replied. "I don't want to see anyone today."

But Isis wouldn't let it go. "Sire, I really think you should see this person—"

"I told you, I'm not seeing anyone today." Atem stood up to leave, so she couldn't argue further. He turned toward the door behind the throne.

"Your Highness…?"

He stopped. It couldn't be. He slowly turned around to see Rhea, cloaked in her noble dress, standing there stiffly, nervously twiddling her fingers. Yet, through all her tension, he could still see the shy smile lightly brushed across her lips. It took everything he had not to run up to her right then and beg for her forgiveness.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion, sir," she said. Atem smiled.

"What have I told you about apologizing so much?" he joked lightly. She laughed. It felt good to hear her laugh.

He glanced around at the other three in the room, and politely dismissed them. They agreed, and left.

As soon as they were gone, Atem walked swiftly toward her. As soon as he was about 50 cubits away, she ran toward him, tackling him in a hug that almost knocked him off his feet.

"I'm so sorry," she said as she cried into his chest. He comfortingly wrapped his arms around her.

"Don't be," he whispered gently, stroking her hair. "You had every right to be angry with me."

"It's not just that," she sniffed. "I…I never got a chance to tell you."

Atem looked at her confused. "Tell me what?"

She pulled away from him, not in a harsh way, just letting him know that she needed her space to convey the message effectively.

"When you told me that…that you loved me, I thought it was just a ruse, like how my father would always say he loved me. But, whenever I tried to run away from my father whenever he said it, he wouldn't take no for an answer. In fact, he would get insulted, and it would just be one more thing I needed to be punished for, not reciprocating my father's love.

"So, when I found out you'd left that night I was surprised. Then, I'd seen that you'd paid the equivalent of about 3 months' worth of room and board, I started to turn bitter. I thought you'd come back and use it against me that you'd made such a generous donation, and you could always take it back, plus interest, for having insulted the king."

"You really don't think much of me, do you?" Atem said, only half joking.

"I've learned that people are guilty until proven innocent," she explained, her back facing him. "It's saved me from a lot of heartbreak." She turned back toward him, her emerald eyes shaking. "But it didn't save me from you."

Now Atem was really confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"When I said for you to let me go, part of me wanted you to hold on. To not let go no matter what. I wanted to be right, more than I'd ever wanted to be right about anyone before in my life."

"But…why?"

Rhea's shoulders and voice began to tremble. "So that it wouldn't hurt so much when you left." By this time, they'd somehow stepped closer together. Now, they were mere centimeters apart.

There was still something Atem was missing, he just couldn't figure out what it was. "What are you saying, Rhea? What are you trying to tell me?"

"What I'm trying to say is that…I love you too."

Tears were filling up in the girl's eyes once again. Atem lifted his hand to stroke a tear away with his thumb as it fell down her cheek. She smiled up at him. He smiled back.

Then, having found that there were no more words to be spoken, he leaned in and kissed her.

I couldn't believe this. My heart was racing. I could hear it pounding like a drum in my ears. Was this for real? I wrapped my arms around his neck. Had Fate really paired me with the prince—now the pharaoh—of Egypt? Was this a dream?

No. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined something like this, something so detailed. The warmth that radiated into my skin, feel of his lips against mine, the sound of our breathing, the taste of his sweet breath…It was all too real.

And yet, it all felt too good to be true.

I pulled away, frightened of my realization.

"Rhea, what's wrong?" the Pharaoh asked.

I was never this lucky. Why would a member of the royal family of Egypt ever be attracted to me? How could I be loved by someone like him? There had to be some flaw, something that would make this moment more realistic.

Then I thought back to his temper. Of course. Of course, I would fall for a man like that. It's who I was, who I am. I turned, and started to run back toward the door. I couldn't condemn myself to spend the rest of my life with another version of my father.

I felt someone lightly take my hand. I didn't have to turn around to look. I already knew to whom the hand belonged.

"Rhea," the new Pharaoh pled softly. "Please. Stay."

"I…can't."

He stepped closer. I couldn't look at his face. I knew that if I did, I would feel compelled to stay.

"Rhea," he repeated. "Don't go. You're the only thing keeping me sane anymore. With you gone, it feels like there's something missing in my life. I can't live without you."

I could still feel the tingle on my lips. His breath on my neck gave me chills. My heart and mind were fighting for me to stay, but my body was too afraid of being hurt again.

"I'm sorry," I murmured. "But you're just going to have to learn to try."

I started to leave again.

"Rhea, wait!"

I stopped, building up the courage to look at him. His molten eyes were desperately pleading for me to stay. And I wanted to stay. Gods, how I wanted to stay. I just…couldn't.

"Isn't there anything I can do?" he begged. "Anything at all? Please, just tell me."

Before I could stop myself, I yelled, "You could start by proving that you're not going to hurt me again!"

"Fine. I promise, I swear, I'll never—"

"Don't you dare throw promises at me!" I screamed, enraged. "Don't think that by saying the right words that you'll convince me to stay. Promises can be too easily broken. I need proof. What proof can you show me that you're through with hurting me? Huh? Prove to me that you won't lay a hand on me again."

The Pharaoh bowed his head, ashamed. "I can't."

It was all the confirmation I needed. I ripped my hand from his grasp, slamming the throne room door behind me.

Three days later, I arrived back at the inn with groceries from another shopping day. I swear, Ferod and his donkeys are going to drive us out of business, I thought.

I turned the door handle to find Mana and Karn sitting at one of the tables in the dining area, talking to each other. Mana had her usual bright smile, but she also had a brown satchel draped across her shoulder. As soon as the two of them heard the door open, they stopped talking and stared at me. The frown on Mana's face was unusual, and didn't suit her at all.

"What's going on?" I asked, setting the groceries down. "What were you two just talking about?"

Mana stood, gazing at me seriously. "The Pharaoh would like to give you a gift," she announced officially. "He hopes you'll accept his deepest apologies for not being able to present it to you himself, but he has many royal duties to attend to. As such, he could not take the time to—"

"Whatever it is," I said. "I don't want it." I grimaced at the satchel, which no doubt contained the "gift" he wanted to give me. "If he really thinks he can bribe me into coming back, he's dead wrong; especially if he doesn't even have the decency to come here himself."

"I thought you might say that."

I gasped, whirling around toward the kitchen door. The Pharaoh, redressed in his servant attire, walked out to join the rest of us. He too had a satchel across his shoulder.

"Thank you, Mana," he said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I appreciate you taking the time to come out here with me."

"Oh, no problem, sir," she said, smiling again. "I mostly just wanted to see Rhea again anyway." She turned and waved to Karn and me as she headed for the door. "Bye Rhea. Bye Karn. It was nice seeing you."

"It was wonderful to meet you dear," Karn replied. Mana grinned happily, and left. As the door closed behind her, I stared at the man in front of me.

"So, what was that all about," I asked, jabbing my thumb at the door through which Mana had just left.

The Pharaoh just shrugged. "What can I say," he answered nonchalantly. "I like a little bit of a dramatic effect."

I glared at him. He quickly realized he'd said the wrong thing.

"I didn't mean it like that, Rhea," he said. I didn't answer him. I just turned my glare toward the stairs.

"What do you want?" I realized my behavior was inappropriate at the moment. But I just couldn't afford to fall for him. What if he hurt me again? I wasn't sure I'd be able to leave him. It was better, in my mind, to keep him at a distance and possibly never love again than to fall in love with a man who would potentially end up being my downfall. "Anything you give me won't make me change my mind. I've already made my decision."

"I realize that," he said. "I just came to make something right." He began digging into the satchel. "I know this won't make up for what I've done to you, but…" He pulled something out of the bag: the headband! "...If my father could trust you with this, then I figure so can I."

I was stunned. He knew it was his mother's most prized possession (next to her son, of course), and yet here he was, placing it on my head just as his father had before he died. He stepped back to examine me, and smiled.

"You look beautiful. Of course, that's nothing new."

I was speechless. What could I say? A mere "thank you" couldn't describe what I was feeling.

The Pharaoh must have taken my silence as something it wasn't, because he sighed heavily and said, "I figured as much. I'm sorry I hurt you so deeply, Rhea. I only wish you would give me one last chance. I understand, though, how strongly you must feel. I won't try to change your mind."

He headed for the door. Before he left, though, he took one last look at me and said, "…Goodbye, Rhea. I hope you find someone who deserves you more than I do."

I snapped from my trance too little too late.

Geez, I just realized how bipolar my characters are. -_-'' I swear, that was not my intention. Anyway...

Can Rhea catch up to Atem in time? Even if she does, will he take her back? Or will it already be too late? Find out next week!

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