Welcome back to an unusually fast update! I've definitely gotten my creativity and drive back. At least for this arc anyway. It's time for more adventures in Ancient Egypt!

Hope everyone is still staying safe! Enjoy!

Another week went by and things seemed to have returned to normal… or at least what Yami assumed was normal. It was hard to determine normalcy when he'd spent just about half his time here locked in his room because of an event that was decidedly not normal.

He returned to his tutors, though he found that Ishizu had been a harder taskmaster than his tutors here could ever hope to be. He essentially had skipped an entire week of lessons with zero repercussions simply because he was the prince! Ishizu would never let that fly and was Pharaoh at the time with complete control over the Shadows!

Unfortunately, what Yami might have considered a 'normal' week might well have been 'abnormal'.

The week after, Yami was just sitting down for breakfast with his father before they went about their duties for the day when the bread he had just picked up was slapped from his hand. Yami looked up wondering which servant had the audacity to do such a thing, but more importantly, why?

"What is the meaning of this?" Aknamkanon demanded as guards surrounded the man.

"Forgive me," the man begged on his knees, "I know I have no right, but I have just heard news from the kitchens! One of the young boys who works there has just died!"

"And what does that have to do with your actions?! I shall hear your excuses at your trial. Guards take him to the dungeons until then."

The guards started dragging the man away. Yami frowned but turned back to the table, picking up another piece of bread. There was an unusual blend of spices, that much was evident from the smell. It was a known favorite of his father's that he hadn't tried before, but was looking forward to it.

"Please wait!" he cried, "The boy, he ate that bread!"

Yami froze, glancing up at his father who shared his glance before looking back at the man. Aknamkanon gestured for the guards to wait. "What are you saying? The kitchen boy ate this bread?"

The man nodded, filled with fear, "The boy...he often snacks on things in the kitchen...he's kind of like our unofficial food-tester…"

"And this bread, was it the only thing he ate?"

A shaky nod was all it took for Yami to quickly drop the bread he currently held and push his plate away. He felt sick to his stomach and it had everything to do with the idea that he and his father could have easily ended up the same as the kitchen boy. This wasn't the first time someone had tried to kill him, but it was the first subversive assassination attempt. At least when Bakura and Malik had tried to kill him, they were up front about it.

His father turned to the guards and started barking out orders, "Arrest everyone who was in the kitchens this morning. Touch nothing in the kitchens, it will need to be searched later. Gather my Inner Court and bring them to the throne room. Cancel any other hearings today. Find my captain of the guard and have him report to me."

The guards scurried to carry out the orders given by the pharaoh, leaving only two guarding the man who had risked the pharaoh's wrath in order to keep them alive. Yami studied him closely; something about him looked familiar.

"You were one of the ones guarding my room two weeks ago, weren't you?" he suddenly asked, surprising everyone left in the room, "What is your name?"

"Ramin, Your Highness," Ramin said looking shaken. It wasn't every day that the prince specifically asked for the name of a common guard.

"You have my thanks, Ramin," Yami said, "If not for you, both my father and myself might have died."

"It would be a sad day in Egypt if that were to happen, my lord," Ramin replied with a shaky grin.

"*****, come. It appears our presence is required in the throne room. I will get to the bottom of this."

The seven Item Bearers plus Yami looked upon the kitchen staff. Six of the Bearers flanked the pharaoh's throne, while Yami himself held a position just besides the throne. It was a position that Yugi often took within his court.

It was still a bit strange to see so many familiar faces from 'the future', but it was getting better. In fact, the difficult part now was trying to stay relaxed around them. Any moment he was expecting one of them to try to probe him again with their Item. Fortunately, their attention was focused entirely on figuring out who poisoned breakfast.

"None of these people," Ahmed announced, the slightest echo of surprise colored his voice, "Nobody here has any idea how the bread was poisoned."

"What?!" Aknamkanon demanded.

"Their thoughts are clear," Akhenaden agreed, "I cannot sense anything has been hidden."

"A hand," Isis muttered, eyes closed as she tapped into the Necklace's power.

"What?" Seto asked.

"All I see is a hand," Isis said, "A hand delivering the poison to the dough before it was baked, early this morning when there were only a couple of people in the kitchen. Their backs are turned."

"Is there anything distinguishing about this hand, Isis?" Aknamkanon asked urgently, "Anything to help us identify them?"

"It - it looks like a man's hand," Isis answered uncertainly, "That's all I can see."

The head cook looked horrified that someone had entered her kitchen without her knowledge in an attempt to kill off the pharaoh.

Aknamkanon saw this and immediately set about putting her mind at rest, "You are not the guilty party, merely a victim of someone else's opportunity. From this day forward, there will always be guards at the entrance to the kitchens and no one besides the ones who stand before me today are to bring me or my son our meals until this matter is resolved. Please, return to your duties. I will have guards posted shortly."

"I will arrange it, Pharaoh," Ahmed said with a bow. Aknamkanon nodded his permission and the Ring Bearer left with the kitchen staff.

The pharaoh sat back on his throne, looking troubled. Yami shared the sentiment. Though measures had been taken to prevent this happening again, something didn't sit right. Protective measures were there before and it hadn't stopped this from happening. All this would do is delay the next attempt.

As his father turned to discuss possible theories with this case, Yami tuned them out, trying to think through the problem himself. Something about this whole situation didn't sit right with him.

Why now? The kitchen staff were well accustomed to their jobs; some having held their positions for nearly twenty years. So if one of them wanted to poison him or his father, why wait until now? What had changed?

Nothing in the past week stood out to him, and he really couldn't say much for the week before. Unless this was the result of something that happened before he "arrived" in this world, he was at a loss. His father was still in deep conversation with the other Bearers; none of them seemed to be paying him much mind.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a couple of courtiers walking by the open doors of the throne room. At their curious glance in before hurrying away, Yami suddenly remembered what Mahaddo had told him about rumors. That one of the rumors was that he was trying to overthrow the kingdom.

An icy hand gripped his heart. What if somebody took those rumors seriously? Worse than that, what if that somebody decided that they would "help" Yami get rid of his father so he could take the throne? Worse still, what if the bread from this morning was never meant for him, but for his father? It wasn't outside the realm of possibility.

Mahaddo had said the rumors hadn't made it far, which meant that whoever was responsible was within the palace walls. The very thought made him nauseous.

"*****! Are you alright?"

Yami looked over to see his father looking at him concerned. The rest of the court also shared his concern and looked ready to move at a moment's notice.

"You didn't eat anything this morning, did you?" Shimon asked urgently

Yami shook his head. "No," he said shakily, "I've just remembered something Mahaddo told me...there were rumors, the week after the...incident-" many of the people present shifted guiltily, knowing what he was referring to, "-apparently some people were of the opinion that I was trying to overthrow the Pharaoh."

"I heard no such rumor," Aknamkanon said surprised.

"Mahaddo told me they hadn't gotten far, but it was only a matter of time," the weight of everyone's undivided attention didn't make breaking this news any easier for Yami, "I knew if our enemies caught wind of it, they would not hesitate to take advantage of the situation. I thought I had killed those rumors by returning to my duties."

"They have clearly not," Seto growled. His irritation wasn't at Yami, but at whatever person would foolishly believe such a lie.

"What does this have to do with the incident this morning?" Akhenaden spoke up, "Do you think they're related?"

"Worse," Yami shuddered, feeling sick at the very thought, "I think somebody in the palace agrees with that rumor and is trying to help me…"

After the revelation in the throne room, Aknamkanon had quickly ordered Yami to his chamber with the promise that Mahaddo would be there soon and he would follow soon after with information. He'd then sent out the Inner Court to scour the palace and examine every single person within the walls.

Yami knew that his father was only concerned with his safety, but it was frustrating being sent to his room like a misbehaving child. True to his word though, Mahaddo had appeared not long after with a member of the kitchen staff bearing food. Mahaddo looked irritated at his company and immediately addressed Yami about it.

"Prince *****, will you please tell this servant that I am more than capable of bringing you food? He insisted that only somebody from the kitchen, who had stood trial this morning, was allowed to bring you or the pharaoh their food anymore. And what's all this about a trial? My father only told me to bring you something to eat and stay here for now."

"Sorry, Mahaddo, orders from my father. Somebody tried to poison us this morning at breakfast."

No sooner was the word "poison" out of his mouth that Mahaddo had quickly closed the distance between them, checking him over like a frantic mother, questions pouring out of his mouth. "Are you alright? Did you eat anything? How do you know there was poison? Why wasn't I informed sooner?"

Yami patiently bore with the manhandling as he answered his friend. "I'm fine, Mahaddo. No, I didn't eat anything, hence the fresh food now. You can set that down anywhere," he addressed the servant who was steadily looking down, "I'll send another servant back with the tray."

The servant hurried to do just that before bowing as he left. Yami rolled his eyes and returned to answering Mahaddo, who was still trying to examine him. "We know there was poison because a kitchen boy died after eating something. A servant risked my father's ire to save my life. It all happened so quickly I suppose there wasn't time to find you and let you know. One moment we're ready to enjoy breakfast, the next we're in the throne room interrogating the kitchen staff."

Finally Mahaddo relented and stepped away, "Tell me everything that happened this morning."

While he ate, Yami regaled the events of the morning in their entirety, including his revelation in the throne room. Mahaddo listened with rapt attention, picking fruit from the tray. While he'd much rather have Yugi sitting across from him, Mahaddo was a good substitute when it came to having someone familiar and trustworthy to talk to. He wouldn't be surprised if Mahaddo ended up at his right hand when he became Pharaoh.

"Wait," Mahaddo interrupted Yami wrapping up his tale, "The servant who delivered the news, was he present at the trial?"

"No," confusion colored Yami's voice, "Why would he be?"

"Don't you think it's a little strange how he knew that the food had been poisoned?"

"He said he heard from the kitchens…" Yami trailed off, thinking of the implications Mahaddo was suggesting.

"You think someone was trying to kill the Pharaoh, not you," Mahaddo laid out his thoughts, "The bread was a known favorite of the Pharaoh's, so if the culprit saw you taking a bite of the bread first…"

"He would do anything to stop me from doing that," Yami concluded grimmly, standing up and heading briskly towards the door. He really must have been off his game to miss something as cliche as that.

Mahaddo caught him by the arm, "Where are you going?"

"I need to find my father," Yami pulled his arm away, "Preferably before this assassin tries again."

"You were ordered not to leave your chambers," Mahaddo reminded him, "Tensions are high right now. Do you really want to deliberately disobey the Pharaoh and risk his anger? It was different before when you stood against him because of the circumstances. Now though, he won't tolerate it. He said he'd come here, right? Just be patient."

Yami forced himself to take a deep breath and refocus. This was a game, he couldn't allow himself to make foolish mistakes because of clouded judgment. As much as he wanted to run to his father, Mahaddo was right, it was the wrong move to make. He briefly considered sending a message with a guard or servant, but he had no idea who Ramin had in his circle. Was he even the leader?

"Fine," Yami relented. He moved back to the table and pulled out a game of Hounds and Jackals. "Let's play while we wait."

Mahaddo smirked as he sat down. "You sure? You've never been able to beat me at this game?"

Yami grinned in return, excitement coursing through him. Mahaddo would regret those words soon enough. It'd been a while since he'd had a good game. Too bad there were no chess sets around. What he'd give for a good game of chess!

Halfway through their third game, Mahaddo's frustration was clear as day. Yami returned each of his inquisitive glares with a smug grin adding to his annoyance. However, when he spoke, he had something completely different on his mind.

"What kind of name is 'Ramin'?" Mahaddo asked, making his move.

Yami looked at him surprised before studying the board in front of him, "What do you mean?"

"It doesn't sound like it's from around here," he explained, "In fact, it doesn't quite seem Egyptian. I've never heard it before."

"Maybe he's from a region further away," Yami suggested, moving his jackal piece, "We can find out when my father gets here and we can put him on trial."

"About that," Mahaddo sat back from the game for a moment, "The Inner Court can determine his guilt easily, but it would be harder for them to accurately determine who is in a league with him. I think we'll need to expose the entire network to make sure the palace is completely rid of traitors."

Yami stared at his friend, not liking where this was going. "What are you suggesting?"

Mahaddo shook his head, taking his turn, "Nevermind, it was a stupid thought. The Item Bearers will be able to uncover and take care of anything."

"You were thinking I should play along for a while to uncover as much treachery as I can," Yami corrected him firmly, "It's not a bad plan, but it is a dangerous one. So long as traitors exist within these walls, neither my father nor myself are safe. I doubt he'd go along with it, but it might be worth bringing up to my father when he gets here."

"I'm here now," Aknamkanon's voice interrupted their game.

Mahaddo quickly stood and bowed to the Pharaoh. "My lord! We did not hear you enter."

"Relax, Mahaddo," Aknamkanon said as he took a seat and turned his attention to Yami, "I'm afraid I bring bad news–"

"It was Ramin," Yami cut him off bluntly.

"The servant who saved your life? How are you so sure?"

"The bread," Mahaddo answered and immediately regretted it as he drew the complete attention of the Pharaoh. An already unhappy pharaoh who had just been given more bad news.

"Explain."

Poor Mahaddo got saddled with telling the Pharaoh the bad news and probably explaining the worst plan ever. Okay, maybe not the worst ever, but one that would involve lots of danger. Not really something you'd want to be suggesting to your king about his son.

Let's see how deep they'll dig this hole.

Please review!