Playing Prince
The next morning, the Guardian-Priests, all but Akhenaten again, were in Set's room, sitting around the table with Yuugi as they listened to the new situation.
"So what you're saying is that the meeting is so important the 'Prince' needs to be present, and because Atem is half insane right now, Yuugi must fill the role?" Karim asked as Yuugi stared sleepily down at his hands.
"Pretty much," Set agreed. "The Pharaoh asked him last night, and liked the way he handled himself enough to be willing to go through with it for now. And Yuugi agreed, since his actual participation will be limited. Mostly, he's supposed to act as part of the furniture, to be there for looks, so it should be fine, and there's always the chance he'll be completely ignored."
"Of course, I also—(yawn)—didn't get much sleep last night because of the Pharaoh's visit..." Yuugi added sleepily in a soft voice.
"If you need to call him anything during the meetings, you'll have to remember to refer to him as 'my Father, the Pharaoh', not just as either 'my Father' or 'the Pharaoh'," Isis told the boy shrewdly.
"My Father, the Pharaoh..." Yuugi repeated obediently, then rubbed his eyes and straightened, shaking off the lack of sleep. "I need some sugar."
All of them stared at him with wide, surprised eyes, then Shada asked, "Er, no offense meant, but...why?"
"I'll probably fall asleep without it," Yuugi answered dryly.
"Try dropping a pail of cold water on yourself," Karim offered in amusement.
"Since when is water cold in Egypt?" the younger boy asked dryly.
"After a long night, it happens to be very cold," Mahad replied. "Shall I show you?"
Before anyone could answer, he motioned with his hand—and a funnel of water shot out of thin air above Yuugi's head, drenching the boy in icy water as he cried out in shock and the others stared. The water's entrance point into the room vanished and the water stopped pouring down, but Yuugi, the floor, a few of the stools around Yuugi's, and part of the table were all soaked. The boy actually glared balefully at Mahad from under the hair and bangs which were now plastered to his head, wrapping his arms around himself as his teeth chattered and goosebumps rose all over his body.
A moment later, Set snorted, which made Shada and Karim chuckle. Isis and Mahad just smiled in amusement. And Yuugi—gave his head a rapid shake back and forth, somewhat like an animal shaking water out of their fur. The result made all the others jump up and bolt away from the table, but not until they'd already gotten sprayed with water droplets. He then ran his fingers through his soaked hair—and gave his head another shake, keeping the Priests from sitting again.
The boy then looked down at his now-clingy, see-through, soaked, white robe before facing Set and saying, "I need a change of clothes, since I can't walk around in something see-through or I'll be inviting trouble."
"Fine, I'll find something..." Set agreed wanly, then looked at Mahad and asked, "Did you have to soak my room, though?"
"Yours dries fast," Mahad replied.
"That's not the point..." the High Priest scowled.
"I know," Mahad answered in wicked amusement. "Consider it a mild punishment for taking advantage of Yuugi yesterday."
"Of what?" the other Priests asked in surprise.
A new voice said, "Apparently, the High Priest bedded the boy while said boy was in a state of mind where he no longer cared what happened to him." Everyone turned to look in surprise, only to see a rather amused Akhenaten standing at the doorway to the room, leaning on the jamb. "But Priest Mahad, if you intended it to be a 'mild punishment' for Set, why did you drench the boy?"
"He needed something to wake him up fully," Mahad replied, frowning. "Why did you come here, Priest Akhenaten?"
"For the same reason you were told to come this morning, Mahad. You and I have the responsibility of preparing the—acting Prince—for the meetings today. The only benefit we have is that of half a morning to prepare. As such, once the boy is in a dry robe, we need to head for the Prince's chambers for the marks of the Crown Prince," Akhenaten informed the two.
"Wait a minute, the High Priest...are you saying he did to Yuugi what he and Mahad kept Atem from doing to him?" Karim asked in concern.
"Not exactly," Akhenaten shrugged. "And it actually turned out to be a good thing he did it, for them both. So you don't misunderstand, Set at least asked if it was all right for him to take it so far, and did everything he could to prepare and please the boy, unlike Atem, who fully intended on causing him pain at the time. He simply took advantage of a weak moment, though he is not the first to do so, nor will he be the last. Many a man and woman has taken advantage of the weakest moments of others, and many who are yet to come will also do so. If that is a crime, then much of the world must be punished."
"That's—That would be correct," Yuugi agreed. "Much of the world should be punished on such a technicality. However, that leaves no allowance for either human error or human growth, so 'taking advantage' is not necessarily the best term to use. I am well aware of what happened, and I allowed it, just for the sake of feeling something and to feel gentleness. I doubt I would have been in any condition to meet the Pharaoh or make any such arrangements had I not been given such a burst of pure emotion—emotion which overtook my thoughts so my mind could settle from the shock. Priests, and Priest Mahad in particular, there is nothing for you to punish, and this is an issue which need not be discussed further."
All of the Priests stared at him, including Akhenaten, even as he looked around and met all their gazes evenly. The last person he made eye contact with was Akhenaten, and the man blinked at him in surprise before reaching up to touch the Eye taking the place of one of his eye sockets.
"It does not affect me, Priest Akhenaten. You can only read what I choose to show you," Yuugi told the man quietly. "That was a hard-learned lesson which nearly cost my grandfather, my friends, myself, and many others, their lives. In fact, I have immunity to the effects of most of the items in existence which allow such abilities, be they the Millennium Items of Egypt or the blessed items in Greece, Jerusalem, India, China, or any other land. And to warn you—I am not the only one in this world with such immunity to such skills, so it would be best if you stopped relying on those powers. They become a crutch far too easily as the world changes."
Yuugi then rose, stretched, and headed for Set's personal chambers, leaving the others staring after him in shock and amazement. One thought they could all agree on, though—if anyone could pull off pretending to be the Prince, Yuugi could do it.
PA-HPS-YM-SK
Yuugi had been given a crash course in things Atem took for granted, like where he had to stand, how he had to stand in the formal meetings as opposed to the less formal ones, and what his cues to move around were. He'd potentially also have to hand out something if 'his father' gave him scrolls or sheets of papyrus to hand out to the other attendees, so he had to know when to act and formalities of handing them out. Since Akhenaten would also be in the meeting with him, in a similar capacity as the Pharaoh's brother, the tasks would be split between them.
Now, he stood in the room to the left of 'his father's' seat, while Akhenaten stood to the right of it, and wore the full garb Atem would usually wear for formal occasions. It was fairly heavy, even for the Prince, but that was also partly the result of being the Crown Prince, rather than just 'a Prince'. He still pitied Atem for having to wear so much and stand there for hours on end, especially as the day grew hotter and the only air conditioning they had were servants waving large, peacock-feather, hand-held fans.
There was just one other problem—and Yuugi only noticed because the proceedings were so new to him he was paying close attention to them. One of the visitor's servants dripped a dark liquid in some of the cups.
When they stopped for the midday meal, while on their way to the Great Hall, Yuugi gently tugged the Pharaoh's sleeve and leaned close to him, so the man leaned down to hear the boy's whisper. "I'm not sure, but I think it's a problem—one of the delegates' servants was dripping a dark liquid in the cups of other delegates sitting nearby."
"Which ones?" the man asked immediately, keeping his voice to a whisper as well.
"The ones on the right around the middle of the table, where that...Lord Jason was sitting, and those about four seats to either side of him. It was...Lord Alyson's servant, so his cup wasn't infected," Yuugi answered, trying hard to remember the names.
"I thought something was a bit odd there..." the Pharaoh muttered. He then looked down at Yuugi and said, "Find the Priestess Isis before you take your place at my side in the Great Hall, tell her what happened, and let her handle the rest."
"I will," Yuugi agreed readily, then turned off when they came to a cross-hall on the way to the Great Hall.
Once he was there, though, he thought to wonder how he'd find his way to Isis, let alone back to the Great Hall—then remembered to look up at the ceiling. Now that he could read the basic script, he could tell more-or-less where he was, and he had a pretty good idea of where he'd accidentally found her before, when he'd gotten lost in the Palace. In short, he'd found her in the hospital wing of the Palace, in the rooms where the healing herbs were kept.
And, sure enough, he found her in the third such room. She was startled at first, but when he explained the situation, she understood and said she'd have it taken care of, so he could head for the Great Hall—unless he was lost again? He assured her he could find his way there now that he knew about the signs, and left to rejoin the party. He was going to enter through the main doors—only to see Akhenaten waiting there.
"What?" he asked the man curiously.
"I thought you would come this way, since you were never shown the royal doors into the Great Hall," the man answered. "You can't come in through these doors during mealtime as the Prince, barring an emergency announcement. That isn't what happened or why you didn't arrive with your 'Father', so you need to use the royal doors. This way." With that, the elderly man led him to the correct doors.
"Priest Akhenaten..." Yuugi began in a very soft tone, just before they would have stepped into the Great Hall. The older man stopped and faced him with a raised brow, so the boy asked, "If you...dislike me so much...why are you helping me now?"
"I dislike you, but I'm no fool," the man replied, reaching over to rest a hand on Yuugi's shoulder. "The current circumstances depend too much on your presence, so for the time being, I've set aside whatever dislike I have for you. I thought you had done the same by your companionability."
"I'm like that all the time," Yuugi told him in amusement. "Atem hates it because I'm not suspicious enough of people, and I actually don't have any reason to think you'll hurt me, even if you don't like me, Priest Akhenaten. Everyone's assuming the worst for some reason, and in Atem's case, I know why, but the others don't actually have valid reason to suspect you of doing anything wrong, so I guess they're just catching it from Atem."
"But you aren't?" the gray haired man asked in as much amusement.
"I'm 'the light' exactly because I can still see the good in others, even after they've harmed me personally. Trust actually works wonders on getting people to choose the right path rather than the wrong one," the boy chuckled.
Akhenaten paused, then gave him an honest smile, his good eye showing respect. "For a commoner who appeared from nowhere, you seem to have more sense than most of the people I can name. I assume your common roots are the reason you and the High Priest get along so well?"
"You know as well as I do that Set's 'roots' aren't 'common'," Yuugi said in pure amusement, making the man's eyes widen in something like alarm. "No, I haven't told anyone, nor will I, and in the meantime, we get along because I'm too mellow for his strict intensity to get to me, and my kindness eases his tension and suspicion." The boy paused as his stomach grumbled, then he asked the stunned man, "Can we go inside and eat now, please?"
After another moment, the man nodded and opened the door to lead Yuugi into the Great Hall. Sure enough, they were behind the Pharaoh's seat, so he, as the Prince, went to the left-hand seat, the one where he'd always seen Atem sit. The Pharaoh gave him a nod, so he returned it, then the man began a whispered conversation with his brother, who sat on his right. The meal progressed quietly for the most part, but the man sitting beside Yuugi—the son of one of the northern lords—decided to make the meal more interesting.
The lord's son started playing with his food, making it into pictures—one even of Yuugi himself, making him chuckle, and getting the man to look up at him. "I thought you would be offended," the lord's son said dryly.
"You would not be the first to do such...pointless activities with your food. I assume you have no great love for the flavor?" Yuugi asked good-naturedly.
After a startled blink, the man agreed, "This...does not seem to suit a...northern taste very well."
Yuugi nodded and reached over to pick up a dish sitting near 'his father's' plate, then placed it between the other man's and his own. "This one may suit your tastes better," he told the man, who blinked, then tentatively tested the food.
His eyes widened a moment later as he said, "This is good! What is it?"
"Lamb marinated in an herbal sauce using pomegranate as its main ingredient," Yuugi answered. "I have no idea what the other ingredients are, though."
Taking a full helping of the food Yuugi had offered, the man said, "Thank you for offering this to me, Prince Atem. I would have been of little use to the meetings and agreements after the meal without some decent food. But are you certain my—er—playing earlier did not offend you?"
"Believe me, you would not be the first to create such images of me," Yuugi said in pure amusement, thinking back to all of his and Atem's friends—in this case, including Mana and the Priests. "One of the young mage apprentices here was angry with me, so made some very...profane images of me at one point. Her master was livid, but they were rather attractive, all the same. Of course, she was doing it through means other than food, so the detail was a good deal more graphic, as well."
At that, the man gave a very un-noble-like snort, making his father turn around from the next seat and slap him across the back of the head. "Do not behave in such an uncouth manner in such a place, or I will make you regret it," the lord told his son with a glare. "Do not reveal your association with commoners at this table."
"With all due respect, Lord Orion, your words revealed much more to 'this table' than your son's behavior," Yuugi told the man dryly, motioning around at the several people nearby who were now staring at them.
Silence fell as the lord's son shot Yuugi a grateful look, then the lord proceeded to ignore his son completely for the rest of the meal. Everything was quiet after that, and they proceeded to the afternoon meetings with no further issue. Or, at least, it was no further issue until someone asked if commoners would even purchase the item under discussion, only for Lord Orion to cut in with something completely unrelated.
"Speaking of commoners, does the Royal Prince of Egypt associate with such creatures?" the lord asked with a rather cruel smirk, and complete silence fell.
Yuugi looked at the Pharaoh, who paused, then gave him a little nod. Looking at the northern lord and meeting his gaze evenly, the boy asked, "Shall I explain a peculiarity in Egypt, Lord Orion?" The man—and nearly everyone else at the table—frowned in confusion, so he went on, "The position of 'High Priest' goes to the one who has shown the highest scores on the religious tests. By default, the title itself makes its holder a noble. However, the current High Priest was raised as a commoner, and his scores are the highest anyone has ever before seen. Am I associating with a commoner or a noble, then? You must answer that question for yourselves, because to me, the High Priest is a noble worthy of his rank."
A very long silence fell, then the Pharaoh asked dryly, "May we proceed with the actual item under discussion if that curiosity has been cleared up now?"
The rest of the meeting went as planned, with no interruption, and the evening meal was quiet. Much of the evening meeting was also fairly quiet, and with the cooler temperatures, it was actually a much more pleasant experience. Still, Yuugi's feet and legs were starting to hurt, making him pity Atem again, and he wished he could sit down to rest. It looked like the meeting would end peacefully, until they were talking about martial forces and what kind of military associations they would have. And clearly, the northern lords were trying to poke holes in Egypt's defenses. The Pharaoh and his brother fended them off admirably, but Yuugi already suspected he would be drawn in to the discussion by the way it was going. And he was.
"What does Prince Atem think of the city's defenses, given how few guards there are? His safety depends on them, after all," one of the other lords asked in a tone which clearly meant he felt the virtually silent Prince would be the weak link.
"Hmm?" Yuugi murmured, his expression amused. "My well-being depends a good deal more on the Guardians—our most powerful Priests—than it does on the guards in the city or the Palace. I also feel your skills of observation are somewhat lacking, or you simply do not know what all our guards and soldiers look like, both things which could be remedied if you chose to open your eyes and observe."
"We've seen servants and priests more than we have guards," another lord pointed out in a somewhat smug tone.
Raising a brow, Yuugi pointed with his chin at a pillar to the side of the room. "Just as an example of how few guards you readily see, take a close look over there, at that pillar. Or rather, at the space behind it. If you believe we are weak or have very few guards, you are sorely mistaken. Should you refuse to deal with us as equals, you would find yourself outmatched in short order, so please, deal with us as equals."
When the others took a close look behind the pillar Yuugi indicated, they could vaguely see a shape there. And apparently, the Shadow Guard there decided to oblige the Prince and step into the open to bow silently to Prince and Pharaoh before stepping back into the shadows behind the pillar, vanishing from view again. The lords all stared when they realized how much they could potentially have missed, so turned to look at the Prince and Pharaoh warily.
"Was that a threat?" a lord asked warily.
"Not at all," the Pharaoh answered in amusement. "It was merely an indication for you to reconsider your position, given how little you know about us. I would also like to add that you happen to be on our land, a land you do not know and could not survive in without our help. The desert land is useless to you, so it would not be in your best interests to attempt any kind of control over this land."
Silence fell for a long time, then discussion continued—fairly. When the meetings were over that day, the Pharaoh motioned Yuugi to follow him from the room, so the boy did, only to find Akhenaten also falling in with them. Soon after, they were in the Pharaoh's personal chambers, and the man sagged onto the pillows tiredly.
"Yuugi, how did you even know about the Shadow Guards?" the Pharaoh asked tiredly. "Let alone somehow prompt one to show himself?"
"Er...I can find most of them when I choose to look," Yuugi answered in amusement. "Atem told me what they were after I found the first one and told him about it. Then, I went to talk with one of them about who and what they are, so if that was the same one I talked to before—I think he was—maybe that's why. Basically, because he respects me for finding them, as an outsider and commoner, when even most of the nobles who know they're there can't find them."
"That's impossible," Akhenaten frowned.
Looking at the men evenly, Yuugi said, "My Pharaoh, I enjoy games. In my homeland, we have games called 'hidden object' games. We are given an image and a list of items, and in the image, we must find all those items listed. Some aren't hidden at all, but others are pretty much invisible, they blend so well with the image. To me, the Shadow Guards are a kind of 'hidden object' game, where the 'list' consists of a large number of the same item, rather than a variety of different ones."
At those words, the man looked amused, then said, "You did well today, Yuugi. I feel a good deal better about having you here now, despite how much I wish it was Atem instead. Go rest—you have earned it."
"Thank you. I will," Yuugi agreed with a smile, then left.