Hi~! I will be using the names Memphis and Isis from now on, as is in the proper English translation! Sorry for any confusion!


Chapter 8: Convicts and the Cavalry

Carol shuddered as creatures scuttled along the stale, humid stone of the floor, the arms of pale colouring drawing her closer into Harker's protection as they sat quietly, trying to lull each other into unsettled sleep. She sniffed, and promptly choked on the hot air, smothering her coughs in her hand, the Australian covering her form with his cape.

"You need to sleep, Carol." He hushed, rubbing her back soothingly despite how his own shoulders were bunched with tension. "We're going to have to work hard to keep up tomorrow. I doubt those guards are going to pass up the opportunity to be wankers."

"I know," She sighed, cuddling into her friend more, pulling his cape closer as she pressed her temple to his pale collar. "I'm worried. That Memphis is getting worse every time I see him. I'm scared of what he'll do next."

Harker thinned his lips at that and covered the girl's eyes with his hand, urging her to rest as he scanned the prison cell, the silhouette shapes of thin, tired human bodies writhing sluggishly on the ground in their restless. The air reeked with a thick mixture of body odour, urine, dirt and warm water, the atmosphere an uncomfortably muggy one that made each breath a regrettable yet necessary intake.

"You should get some rest too, Harker." Unasu hummed, sliding down the wall to sit beside him, the dark of his hair blending into the dimness of the room.

Unasu was another slave that had been sentenced to intense manual labour before Harker and Carol had arrived, though, it must not have been so long ago, for while he was small and calloused, he still had a vitality and strength about him that the others no longer possessed. He had welcomed Carol into the cell when she had first arrived, apparently guiding her away from the first presenting dangers, and had filled both of the Westerners in for their incoming routine once Harker had joined.

"Unasu," The Australian began, looking down to the golden gleam of Carol's hair. "Why are you in here?"

The slave boy blinked, surprised.

"I stole from the local markets of my village," He admitted, sheepishly rubbing his nape. "It was dumb, I should have seen it coming. Maybe I did, and just didn't care at that point. I was hungry, and that was the best chance I was going to get."

The pale person hummed lowly, before he sighed long, relaxing into the wall, knowing that the insects weren't the dangerous kind, and only looked threatening.

"Get some sleep, Unasu." He urged, tapping his own shoulder. "You can sleep on me, I'll be fine."

"Huh?" The boy blinked, smile frozen on his face.

Harker rolled his eyes before yanking the boy over and dumping his head onto the pale, cape-clad shoulder.

"Get to sleep. We're going to need your help tomorrow."

()()()

The Australian grumbled as he woke, sweat clinging to his skins as bodies cuddled close to him even in the rising heat of a dawn. Fluorite eyes narrowed against the heat haze that took the room in a near tangible smoke, whatever smell that had been hidden by the cool of a desert night soared up to a terrible stench of living decay.

His stirring brought Carol from her sleep as well, eyes flickering as they opened, a small smile coming to her face as she gazed up at her companion.

"It's so hot already." The American huffed, wiping sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, climbing out of the man's lap. "It's barely dawn."

"It's only going to get hotter from here." Harker agreed, before glancing to the people who still were out in exhausted slumber. "They've all got rashes on their legs and arms, the mud stomping mustn't do much good for temperature in this weather either. It only aggravates the skin."

"Water..." Someone croaked from within the steaming darkness. "Please, I nee-ed water."

"Carol, go see if you can get him some water, I'll check him over." Harker urged, gesturing to the trickling noise, before making his way over, stepping between curled bodies.

The Australian hissed in sympathy as he knelt down beside the man, watching in the bad lighting as he shivered and sweated, a pool of nitrogenous waste slipping from between his legs as he groaned. Harker pulled his cape safe from the ground and touched the man's brow, wincing when he felt the temperature.

"Hark! The water here is completely undrinkable! It might as well be mud!" Carol cried, rousing the last of the men.

"Then this guy's got diarrhoea." The Western man sighed, wiping his hand on his tunic.

"Don't speak so loud!" A large man hissed, stepping up to them. "If the guards find out, then we're all one for!"

The two white folk looked to each other, both of them coming to the grim conclusion of the times. There were thousands of slaves, a couple dozen wasn't even a dent in the system. If there was a plague or something contagious, it would be easier for the Pharaoh to cut that village off and wait for the disease to die out, than to send aid.

Carol thinned her lips.

"I'm going to filter the water! That terrible Pharaoh!"

Harker remained still, looking around to the people who dragged themselves to their feet, tired and thirsty.

"I'll help. I know how, too." He nodded, coming forwards and grabbing a large box that sat off to the side, random pieces of rotting wood sitting inside. "We'll use this as a filter."

"Yes, and we'll need rocks, sand and charcoal!" Carol added, pausing when Unasu came up from behind, acting as a proxy for everyone's confusion. "We're going to clear the water source. This water isn't safe to drink, it needs to be cleaned!"

"Clean the water?"

"They can do that? Just like that?"

"I know where the charcoal is! I'll go get it!"

"I'll get the stones!"

"We don't have much time until dawn," Harker announced, tearing a hole out of the corner of the box for a faucet. "We're going to have to do this fast so you can all drink."

"Got it!"

Carol smile despite the stress of the situation, and glanced to her fellow Westerner. She lifted her skirt and made her way over, gently pulling his cape until it covered the brand of the sun on his bicep.

Harker blinked, before thanking her and pulling it closer. It would be unpleasant if people jumped to conclusions.

()()()

And conclusions they did jump to.

"Praise the children of the Nile!" The prisoners cheered, messily slurping the clean water.

Harker rubbed his brow and shook his head, before grabbing a bowl and filling it up. The crowd parted for the man easily, an occasional hand reaching for him, but shying away before true contact was made.

"Come on," He sighed, kneeling beside the ill man. "Let's get you better."

The Australian slowly helped the man drink, Unasu coming to tilt the man's head properly as the sun continued to rise.

"Hey! Don't waste the water!"

"Idiot! This isn't for washing!"

"But I need to!" A small man shouted in defence, clutching his half empty bowl to him. "I saw the physicians doing this and it saved the man's arm!"

"What's wrong now?" Carol exclaimed, coming over quickly and grasping the injury, before wincing and stepping back. "Oh no, that looks like it's been festering for while!"

"Will we need to bandage it?" Harker asked, tapping water on his patient's brow.

"Yes, after washing it out. Is there anything we can use as a bandage?"

The Australian handed the bowl over to Unasu and stood, striding over to his fellow and measuring up the injury, pulling a face at the slow healing gouge. Turning the arm this way and that, he grunted before taking up his cape and ripping the fine material, making the men shout in surprise as he held up the tattered piece and began fastening it around the stunned man's bicep, Carol already having flushed it of impurities while he had worked the cloth free.

"I'll tear myself a piece to cover my tattoo and you can use the rest of the cape to cover your head from the sun. If you drench it in water, it'll dissuade the heat and cool you down." Harker breathed, ripping another length and handing it over to the hesitant American girl.

"Are you sure? What about you?" She uttered, fingering the fine material unsurely, ready to hand it back. "You'll get heat stroke without it, surely!"

"I think I saw some material in the corner that I can use. It's a bit dirty, but nothing I can't handle."

"I can wear that then!"

"Nope, wear this. It's too small to cover me like this, but it should fit you well enough." He snorted, pushing it back and draping it over her head, making her huff and flail.

"Convicts! Time to work!"

"Convict, huh." Harker hummed, dumping water on a cape he found stored in the corner. "Nostalgic."

()()()

"This stopped being fun a long time ago." Harker grumbled, squelching mud beneath his feet as loads of it were carried off to be set as bricks.

"Haha, yeah." Unasu laughed weakly, before wincing as the whip cracked nearby.

"At least Carol's purposefully splashing us whenever she dumps the water." A man chirped optimistically, their point getting proved as the American messily threw the river's water, cooling off prisoners.

"I suppo-pfft!" He was cut off as his head was hit with a wave of water, the prisoners around his laughing as he scrambled to save himself from drowning on land, combing his hair out of his face in a tizzy. "You're all asses!"

Carol giggled into her water pot as she scrambled away, ignoring the fist that Harker shook at her in indignation.

"His Majesty is coming! Kneel!"

The two Westerners snapped their gazes to each other in an instant, and both pulled their hoods lower, the other convicts giving weary glances as they slowly lowered themselves onto aching knees. Carol bit her lip and shuffled behind a large, stone brick, wanting to hide from the Pharaoh's gaze.

Harker followed her with his eyes, but remained with the crowd, feeling the mud dry on his calves as he lowered himself to merge with the rest of the convicts.

"Where are Harker and Carol! The people with the golden hair, I want to see them now!"

The Westerner's jaw jumped at the demanding tone, but he remained still, breathing quietly in the mass of human life.

"Ah! There's Carol!"

"Shit." Harker hissed, getting to his feet as the man raced past on his horse.

Carol gave a shout of surprise and over around the structure, keeping the king at arm's length as she hugged to the grainy edge, watching him with panicked eyes even as he urged her back. She pleaded for him to leave her be, but he continued to reach, before lunging forwards and grabbing her by the arm hard enough to make her exclaim in pain.

"Hey! Hey!" Harker shouted, coming forwards and entering the fray. "Gentle, man!"

"Harker!" Memphis grinned, drawing Carol to his chest in a constricting hold as he took in the dirtied man. "You came to me by yourself!"

"Cause you were hurting Carol! You still are!" He snapped, prying the teen king's arms until Carol barreled into his pale chest, panting breaths into emptied lungs. "She's still just a kid, Pharaoh!"

Memphis grit his teeth, but made no move against him, instead, roughly yanking the cape from his shoulders and disposing of the offending garb on the ground, revealing the pale man in all his druzy glory. Coal eyes travelled the man's length, before screeching to a halt, zeroing in on the white wrapping his bicep in a mock bandage.

The young Pharaoh lurched forwards and grabbed the Western man's arm, yanking him against the tanned front so that the royal could interrogate the place.

"What is this!? Did you injure yourself!?"

"Wha- No?" Harker blinked.

"Was it one of the convicts!? I'll execute them all!"

"No!" The Australian blurted, grasping the Pharaoh's shoulder and guiding him away from the group with repetitive utterings of variants of 'nope'.

"Nope, nope, nope, nah, nope, no, don't." He urged, shaking his head. "I'm fine, Pharaoh, don't worry."

Carol crept forwards and hugged herself to the broad frame of Harker's back, peering around at the king with an expression of distrust.

"Then why is your arm bandaged?!"

"He's covering his mark! That's all!" Carol snipped, hating how the king raised his voice to get what he wanted. "It's not something to create such a fuss about."

"Mark?" General Minue asked, stepping up.

"What mark?" Memphis pressed.

"Carol." Harker growled.

The pharaoh grit his teeth at the celestial speaking, and in a spike of temper, ripped the cloth from the man's arm, making him hiss in pain an surprise.

"A...Sun." Minue breathed, taking in the dark figure etched into the alabaster skin.

"Give me that." Harker snapped, stealing back the cloth and tying it in place, biting one end to pull the knot tight. "People will misunderstand."

Memphis watched his face, seeing how he covered the mark with kind of protectiveness, before snarling in frustration, hating how his heart hurt inexplicably as the man glared at the earth. Carol quietly fixed the clumsy knot, whispering a stuttered apology as she brushed dirt from her friend's cheek, getting a soft response of her hair being softly pet.

"Get me my horse!" He shouted, startling the men who had watched on with wonder, whispers of Gods dancing between lips. "Now! We return to the palace, now!"

Carol yelped as she was grabbed by the Egyptian king and yanked away before Harker could react, already dragged up onto the stallion by the time the Australian had chased them down.

"General Minue, you will ride with Harker. Make sure he's safe." Memphis demanded, refusing to move until he had witnessed the alabaster figure seated in the saddle behind the militant.

Harker thinned his lips as he watched Carol struggle to handle the jostling of the rough riding. Their eyes met, and the sky orbs shared despairing looks, both of them exhausted beyond any amount of sleep. That was perhaps the one thing that they looked forward to when they returned to the palace and under the Pharaoh's thumb, was the bed that they remained often undisturbed in.

The nobles celebrated loudly as the forms of alabaster and gold came into view, living beings of visual riches and breathing jewellery glistening against the sun in spectacular scopes.

"I'm tired, Hark..." Carol coughed as they dismounted at the steps of the court.

"Yeah, me too." Harker sighed, drawing her into his side and forcing himself to loom despite how his muscles ached.

The American girl looked to her friend, and brought her arm up, wrapping it around his waist in a show of support, allowing him to lean against her as they climbed the stairs, knowing his legs must have hurt from a full day of mud stomping.

"Here we go again." The Australian muttered, feeling the girl massage her thumb into his lower back.

"We've done it before, we can do it again."

Harker blinked, before smiling, and pressing an affectionate kiss to the top of her head of gold.