Chapter 4: Royals and Removals
It had been scratching at the back of his mind, a constant hassle on his consciousness and a weight on his moral. The screech he and Carol had heard just days ago was still impressed in his ears, it pinched at his curiosity, made him want to find the source.
Harker had never been good at withholding his impulses.
Pale feet made soft pats on the cooling stone floor as the Westerner walked through the hot air halls of the dungeon, most of his golden trinkets foregone in an effort of stealth as the fire flickered off the walls. Harker peered into each pitch cell, trying to find the source of the female wail he had heard.
While it wasn't so out of place in such an antagonistic building, the scream still stood out to him for some reason, feeling like it wasn't meant to be here- not that it was likely that anyone contained within actually did, spare perhaps a few.
Harker came to a stop when another set of stairs, tucked away in a corner, caught his eye. It was consumed by the dark, all of its torches unlit and cold to the touch. He bit his lip in thought, before descending carefully, his hands pressing on either side of the steep, narrow stairwell, arms forced to bend from lack of room. He huffed as the smell of decay reached his senses, making use of his cape to cover his nose and mouth as he pushed on, straining his ears to listen to each cell.
The sound of a strained, rasped breath reached him at last from the second last chamber, his head snapping to the gasp. His feet carried him over quickly, hand wrapping around a heated bar as he barely made out the frail outline of someone within.
"Hello?" He called, voice careful but reverberating.
There was silence, the person becoming clearer and obviously there, but frozen still, either out of fear or refusal.
"You're the only one down here. All the lamps have been out for days at least." Harker continued, "Can you tell me why?"
When there was still defiant quiet, Harker sighed, wondering just what he was doing. He was talking to someone on a cell, that's what. They probably didn't want to talk to a palace occupant, nor someone who's skin was so outlandish to them, he probably stood out like white on black down here.
"..A...Ashisu..."
Iced blue shot to the faint voice, the sound ringing bells as his mind formed the image of the royal priestess and princess.
"The princess? She put you down here, then..."
He really shouldn't be messing with this then. If that lady locked her away, it would be dangerous to step to her orders.
"Can I ask your name. Mine is Harker."
"Milanun."
Harker gave a noise of recognition, wondering just how he knew that name. Someone from this time, no doubt, but wh-
"Wait, Milanun, as in the Princess of Haiti?" He blurted, the response being a desperate shift within the cell. "But everyone's saying that you left already!"
"Ashis-" Her voice cracked and she coughed her throat raw.
Blue eyes widened and his previous caution was crushed under the weight of the heaving, Harker looked to the lock of the cell and found it painfully rusted, pieces crumbling off in red dust when it was jangled violently. He took a deep breath before throwing his weight back and wrenching the door open, metal giving out under the assault pitifully.
In the back of his mind, he made sure to check Sechi's lock for its condition as well, wondering if any other cells were in such a state or if it was only the ones left in the dark.
Harker quickly dropped down to the side of the strewn princess, finally able to see the state of her in the thick darkness, a faint, sickening squelching reaching his ears and making his skin crawl as his mind provided the reason. Shaking his head, he reached for her, tanned skin pale with illness, only to have Milanun flinch away and slap his hand weakly.
"Do-"
"Oh shut up, I can't leave you here, you'll rot while still alive." He hissed, jumping to swear in English despite himself.
The young Haitian royal gave an audible grimace as she was forcibly picked up, her body small and hard with bone as she was tucked into Harker's chest, his cape coming to conceal her frail form as he stepped over a squirming puddle to find the exit of the winding darkness.
"Be quiet, we're going to the top level so there will be others around, they'll send you back to the dungeon if they see you."
Milanun narrowed her eyes at him weakly before looking at his shoulder stubbornly, Harker rolled his eyes at her attitude before turning the corner. The halls were empty with people bustling in the main part of the palace, leaving the back lines clear for the two foreigners to take a long and tedious trek to the dorms of the pale persons, the Westerner's breath and teeth catching whenever voices came too close for comfort.
"So if I turn left here I'll be just across the wall from the servant quarters." He muttered, glancing around as he tried to bring up a blurry map of the extravagant structure.
His eyes widened when he heard the fast footfalls of a small group approach, quickly moving himself to be obscured by a large plant, drawing the cradled body closer as they dashed past. After a few moments of silence passed, Harker let out a breath, before peering into the shroud of his cape, blinking in surprise and chuckling when he saw the Haitian princess lost to sleep.
"Guess she really was exhausted." He hummed, pulling the cape higher before running across the intersection and finally seeing a memorable window, knowing just where he was within the walls.
It only took him a little while to get to Carol and his shared chamber, a quick glance around providing him with the understanding that the young American wasn't there. Harker quickly moved to untangle the lavish curtain and listened to it fall and block out the rest of the palace from the bedchamber. He grimaced as he laid the fragile royal on the bed, proper lighting of the afternoon showing the state of her being.
"I'm gonna need to get you in a bath..." His hand brushed a wet sight, and he pulled her broken skirt a bit higher, showing her calf and making him gag.
Maggots. There were maggots eating away at a spoilt wound, a deep cut that rode up the side of her tanned calf, discoloured and drooling with infection.
"Bath and medical attention." Harker finished, before glancing around.
"Excuse me!" Sticking his head out of the chamber, the Australian caught the attention of a passing chambermaid. "Am I allowed to have a bath now? I may have gotten myself a bit..."
The small woman looked over his dusty, dirt ridden form and nodded obediently, running off to warm the water and provide the scented washes.
The white man called a thanks after her before retreating back to the room and made a mental apology to Carol, pulling one of her simpler, night robes out from a chest of too pretty clothes before doing the same to some of his own. He bundles them up as to make them indistinguishable from one another before hearing the call of the maid.
"Your bath is ready, will you be needing assistance?" She asked quietly from behind the curtain.
The servants around the palace had come to learn of Harker's independence, as well as his hatred for being bathed. They had eventually submitted to the demands and now only came if asked by the head maid or Pharaoh.
"No, thank you." He responded, gathering up the Haitian.
The journey to the baths was much simpler, everyone thoroughly distracted by the arrival of ships and whatever they brought with them. Harker stepped into the room, grimacing at how open it was, before shaking it off and placing the things down.
"Okay...Shit. How am I going to do this?" He asked nobody, looking at the prone form of the princess.
Milanun didn't respond as Harker cursed himself quietly, giving a small prayer for Priti's mercy and his own soul as he took a preparing breath and forced professionalism to the forefront, hoping that she wouldn't be too furious with him when she undoubtedly woke up. When he lowered her into the water, he did so carefully, keeping her chewed leg out of the baths to be treated separately by his own hand.
While she laid in the shallows, he worked to clean her long hair, muttering about how much effort it took to deal with such a length and how heavy it got when waterlogged. He carefully worked around her ears as he loosened the dirt and grime matting her scalp, the original, dusty brown coming to fruition by the fourth wash.
He huffed and let his hands dangle in the water, lily scented soap coming off as his arms ached from the effort, suddenly so thankful for the shortness of his own golden strands. Sighing, he shook his arms out before grabbing a cloth and soaked it in floral oils, running it over her skin in as best a balance of gingerly and thoroughly as he could manage. Warm water was poured over her form a last time, her skin cleared, and now all he had to do was move onto that wound.
The Australian grimaced when he saw flesh bulge for a moment, undulating as the critters squirmed within. He stuck his tongue out in distaste before grabbing a basin and bending her knee over it, calf across the diameter. He filled the basin with boiling water, intent on killing the creatures as soon as they were forced out.
"Okay Hark, you did this with a possum, you can do this with a human...maybe."
()()()
The Haitian royal curled into the bedding with a contented sigh, leaving Harker to dry his hair off by the window, seated on the sill as he watched the fire of a celebration burn in the castle plaza. He had been forgone in terms of invitation, but he didn't mind in the least, preferring to keep an eye on his new charge than be forced to drink luke-warm wine in a room of too handsy people.
The air as heavy with an impending storm, the humidity making his golden hair curl and his skin uncomfortable to live in. Blue looked over the horizon, wondering how soon the rain would fall and water the dry, sun beat ground.
He hummed as a desert breeze went through, the sandy scent different to the one that carried in his home, no salt of the sea. His teeth gritted as it came knocking, the damned thing he had been trying to hide since he was dumped here.
"Oh fuck." Harker cursed, drawing both his feet up onto the sill as he covered his mouth with his hand, hiding the baring of his teeth as he fought the rising pressure in his chest. "Calm down, not now."
A deep, rattling breath went through him as he leant back against the thick stone, golden bands and rich jewels catching moonlight and dancing fire. He released a heavy exhale to the sky, flashing canines at the stars as he reined his temper, blinking away gathered heat. The displaced Westerner bit his lower lip before thunking the back of his head on the window frame, shutting out the rest of the ancient world as he focused on steadying his breath.
Harker grimaced before getting to his feet, finding no solace in silence, and began to move about the room, pacing as he tasted metal on his tongue, lip split under sharp teeth. The muscles in his back bundled with tension, shoulders hunched as his eyes flashed with the room's fire. Giving a gruff grunt of rising irritation, the Australian cast the sleeping Haitian a quick look before slipping from the room, intent to blow off some steam.
Lukewarm or not, some alcohol was better than none.
()()()
The keys jangled in her hand as Carol snuck into the dungeon, the sounds of drunken men muffled by thick walls. Her breath was shaky with worry as she quickly skipped steps and grabbed at the now familiar cell, the boy within sitting up instantly when he saw her.
"Carol!" He laughed, though his voice sounded hoarse from dryness.
"Sechi, everyone's celebrating and intoxicated, now's the time to get you out!"
"Where's Harker? Isn't he with you?" The slave boy asked as Carol worked the key into the lock and sprung him free.
"I haven't seen him all day, but we have to get him!" She answered, tossing the keys, no longer having for use for the pieces of metal.
"Do you know where he'll be?"
"Probably in our roo- Harker!"
Blue eyes caught the pale figure sitting on the edge of the palace wall, a cup of the Egyptian's wine in his hands as he frowned off at the horizon, leaning back on a grand pillar. He didn't seem to hear her call, only taking another drink, accepting a small platter of food from a servant girl.
Carol glanced around checking the area, before cupping small hands around her mouth and projecting her voice again, harsh wind tugging at the cloak she had donned to hide her lighter colouring.
"Harker! Harker, over here!"
Cobalt orbs snapped to her, finding the paleness amongst the dark grass easily. The raised eyebrow showed from a distance, before his eyes widened, seeing two pursuers.
"Behind you!"
Carol spun around as Neferdina grasped her by the biceps, grip unyielding as Sechi was forced to the ground by a male attendant.
"Hey, hey!" Harker boomed, quickly approaching the squabble as his cape billowed in the storm.
"Carol cannot leave the palace, if she does, the servants will be punished!" The head maid exclaimed, still holding the American girl in an iron hold.
The young girl paled further at the statement, her eyes widening as if she had just realised this. Harker frowned and quickly took her to him, but when reaching for Sechi, was denied.
"Go back to your room." Neferdina huffed severely, before turning to the man holding the slave. "And take that one to my son, Minue!"
"Sechi!"
"Carol, this one didn't work out." Harker breathed, the arm around the small waist keeping her from following the Egyptian as he was taken back.
"But-"
"Maybe next time, friend." He sighed, rubbing her arm comfortingly as she hid her face in her hands.
()()()
"Where were you all day?" Carol asked after some time of silence, staring into her cup as Harker placed down a plate of fruits and meats, the celebrations happening not too far from them.
"I was doing some," He paused, thinking over his words. "Exploring."
"Did you find anything interesting?" She hummed, taking a grape and shoving it past her teeth.
"...No. Just more rooms."
"Oh."
They sat quietly, the disappointment of a failed escape having lowered their moral quite substantially.
The people off to the side gazed at them in amazement, dazzled by the young Pharaoh's living treasures. They had been warned not to approach the pale pair, the Egyptian royal putting them off limits, never to be touched, only to be admired from a distance. Despite how their hands twitched and their palms burned to feel and examine, they stayed where they were permitted, surrounding the Pharaoh in reverence as they beholden from his side.
Golden hair matched the bands of the precious metal that hugged their skin, sweat from the heated desert wind making them looking like forms of druzy. Eyes of soft labradorite and harsh fluorite locked onto each other as a celestial language permeated the air in otherworldly tones. There was movement, finally, from the man of the two, his large, pale hand coming to be offered to the small, moonlit woman.
They both rose carefully before speaking to each other, faint whisps being carried over as they released unusual verses.
"Do you know how to dance?" The man asked, drawing them to the centre of their space.
"A bit of ballroom, yes."
"Do you want to? It may be a bit hard to find a rhythm to this music, but I think we can. Something familiar might do us good right now, do you think?"
"Yeah." The woman smiled.
The Pharaoh sat up when he noticed the attention of the party having turned, watching in awe as the golden set glided across the alabaster stone.
It was a simple waltz, children could do it, but that mattered to neither the Egyptians nor the Westerners. For the ancients, it was a spectacle, a twisting spontaneity that bewildered them. They never had seen such a dance before, unsure what had spurred it, but found no bother to know as they watched the two pale folk turn and play around each other, wondering at the forlorn faces. They looked sad, longing for something, and it pulled at their hearts, their half-lidded eyes seeing something else beyond their partner, remembering a different dance floor.
For the Westerners, they were only present in being, their bodies moving on memory as their minds drifted out and were cast back to those they couldn't reach. Harker's cape and Carol's dress billowed as they spun again, for less than a second, feeling different hands on their own. Oh, how they missed their family, their friends who waited in the far plains.
"We'll get back to them." Harker breathed after he spun Carol again, her fingers pivoting in his palm.
"As soon as we can." Carol continued, placing her hand on his broad shoulder, falling into step with her friend easily.
They looked to each other, before smiling, both frail and tired, but supportive. They were both lonely, but it was better to be lonely together.
Harker gave a low laugh before lifting the American off her feet, spinning fast enough to make her fair feet move out, a jocund shriek leaving the airborne teen. As their glee resounded within the walls of the palace plaza, lighting up the atmosphere, a man turned and gasped, drawing the attention of others.
"The star Sirius is appearing!"
The Pharaoh Menfuisu tore his eyes away from the druzy duo to view the beloved star of Egypt, onyx eyes widening when he saw ti flicker in time with the laughter of the pair.
Carol was the first to notice the shift, her blue cast over the crowd and catching on from the praising cries.
"Harker, Sirius is shining!"
"Wait, as in Harry Potter?" The Australian blurted, scrunching his nose in confusion.
"Harry Potter? I mean the star! When Sirius shines in June, it means that it's the season for the Nile to flood!" Carol explained, lowered to her feet.
The two glanced to the cheering party, Harker squinting at the horizon in interest, before Carol tugged at his hand, drawing his focus.
"Quick, while they're distracted."
They fled the plaza quickly, the American girl still keeping her grip on her Australian companion. The two made it out and near the entrance, before stalling when they heard a shout.
"Carol, Harker, where are you going?!"
Their eyes widened at each other when they heard the disruption, Menfuisu instantly catching on. A guard came up to them, spear in hand, and Harker gave a low breath before pulling his hand out of his friend's grip.
Harker was never good at withholding his impulses, and he hated that about himself.
"Off you go." He huffed, pushing Carol before rounding on the guard and grappling the pole, two bulking forms fighting in strength.
"Ha-"
"I swear to God if you waste this opportunity I will throw you into the Nile myself!" He snapped, pushing the guard away to deal with another.
The Western woman moved immediately, the roar triggering her to flee, her feet bounding across the stone as she heard an English curse and the call of the Pharaoh.
"Carol!"
Harker gave a harsh growl before knocking off the man that toppled him, scrambling to his feet and dodging hands. He bared his teeth at the approaching team, blinking as they froze, looking beyond him.
"Pharaoh! Carol!"
His blood ran cold as he whipped around, cobalt landing on the empty pier, both the Egyptian and Westerner gone from the edge. His breath caught in his throat and he dashed over, crowd splitting for him as he skidded to a stop at the end, just in time to see the two figures hit the water.
"Fuck, you two!" He shouted at the inky, writhing surface of fast rising water.
Lessons, knowledge and experience rattled in his mind, years as a lifesaver providing aid and attempting to hold him on land until he had completed the required steps. Check the surroundings, what's the da- Fucking dive!
Harker tore trinkets and bangles off, uncaring as they clattered on the stone floor before launching himself into the writhing river, breaching the surface after taking a breath and immediately getting to work. He opened his eyes against the water and glared through the bleary darkness, catching a glimpse of gold and white.
He narrowed his eyes and kicked off, finding a current, as weak as it was, and hooking his arm under the floating body, securing them before pulling himself to the surface, moonlight flickering across the rippled surface.
The two men gasped as they breached, Menfuisu spitting out a spray of water as his nose ran and his ears rung. Harker breathed deeply and began to swim over to the river edge, already seeing the lights of people calling out to him and the Pharaoh. He coughed as he dropped the teen king on the sand, checking him over. Finding nothing truly worrying, the Australian shouted for his attention, Menfuisu finally looking away from the river to gaze up, wide eyed, at the man.
"Where's Carol? I couldn't find her!"
"She- She got ripped from me! Something took her!" The Pharaoh gasped, grasping the pale bicep. "It pried my fingers off! Carol's still in there with it!"
The Westerner cursed to high heaven before going back into the thrashing water, mentally berating himself for his brash actions.
Harker searched the water for hours, even when the water had settled and the sun had risen on the horizon. He laid out on his back, floating on the water surface as he stared at the cleared sky, clouds drifting past. His fingers were pruney, lips and fingers blue. The servants and General Minue had come to call him out of the Nile many times throughout the night, and had brought platters of fruit and meats for him, but he only waded to the shallows for minutes at most before returning.
Up in the palace, the air was tense, the Pharaoh had fallen into a restless slumber and nobles watched half of the golden set map out the river Nile in a fruitless effort. The people jumped suddenly, an ear splitting roar breaking the morning air.
Down in the Nile, the great, loved river of Egypt, Harker slammed his fist into the water, shivering from the cold of his skin and the heat of his rage.
