Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters (unless otherwise stated) Kazuki Takahashi does, nor do I make any money from these stories.

29

The pharaoh, priests and council walked back into the throne room, Aknamkanon still had not calmed down from the attack on Yugi's life "Is the man mad?" Aknamkanon said angrily "To attack Yugi in front of the gods after they'd given their consent to his union with Atemu, what was he thinking?" the pharaoh sat heavily on his throne and sighed, "What am I going to do with the old fool?"

No one else in the room felt inclined to say anything, at one time Jahi had been a good councilman and had been well respected, but recently he had changed, he'd become more rigid in his beliefs, more inclined to disagree with the pharaoh's decisions and judgements, always questioning him no matter who was in the room.

It wasn't long before the two who had restrained Jahi after his attack on Yugi were kneeling in front of their pharaoh, prince Atemu and Yugi. "You may rise." The pharaoh commanded and the two men stood "What are your names?"

"I am Atsu and he." He pointed to the other man "Is Sadiki."

"Very well then Atsu and Sadiki please except these small parcels of coins as a token of our thanks for capturing young Yugi's would be assassin."

The men bowed "Thank you pharaoh but we need no reward."

Aknamkanon sighed, 'what is it with these people?' he thought to himself.

"May I pharaoh?" Yugi asked quietly.

Intrigued at what Yugi was going to do he nodded

Yugi walked down the steps and stood before the two men "Look at me please." He said softly

Both men looked up at Yugi and relaxed when they saw him smile. "Tell me, why do you refuse the pharaoh's gift?"

Atsu, who appeared to be the speaker for both men sighed, "We did not do it in hopes of a reward; we did it because it was the right thing to do."

Yugi turned to the other man "Do you agree with him?"

The man nodded, Yugi looked back at Atsu "Who is this man and why does he not speak?"

The man sighed, "He is my little brother and he lost his voice a few years ago."

Yugi saw the sadness in his eyes "You would like to hear his voice again?"

"It has been my only wish my lord." Atsu answered him softly

Yugi felt his heart go out to them he closed his eyes 'Isis please, if you can, help him.' Yugi opened his eyes again, "Tell me do you work?"

"No, it is not that we are lazy it's just that there is none around at the moment."

Yugi looked thoughtful "Tell me, would you except the parcel of coins for an honest day's work?"

Both men looked at Yugi and smiled "That we would young master."

Yugi turned to the pharaoh "If it pleases the pharaoh I will have a small job for them later."

Aknamkanon nodded handing the parcels of coins to Yugi. "Very well." He then turned to the two men "Go down to the kitchens and tell the cook to prepare something for you to eat, you will need your strength if you are to help Yugi."

Aknamkanon called a guard over "Take these two to the kitchen and make sure the cook knows to feed them well."

The guard bowed "As you command pharaoh." The guard led the two men from the throne room.

Now feeling hungry himself, Aknamkanon looked at the gathered members of his council and priests, "Let's take time for lunch then I'll deal with Jahi." Atemu and Yugi were about to walk out of the room when Aknamkanon called them back "Atemu, Yugi stay I want a quick word with you."

After looking at each other for a moment Atemu and Yugi walked back to the throne "What is it father?"

The pharaoh sat back "I will give you the rest of the week together then Yugi must move into his own sleeping chambers."

"But that…" Atemu started to say

"I think that would be for the best." Yugi interrupted. The pharaoh inwardly smiled at the slight blush that had graced Yugi's cheeks

"What! Why?" Atemu all but demanded

Aknamkanon stood up "Yugi I suggest you talk to Atemu about this over lunch."

"Good idea." Yugi said.

Aknamkanon chuckled as he watched Yugi grab Atemu's hand and lead him from the throne room.

Rather than lead Atemu to the dining hall where the others would be he dragged him back to the privacy of their rooms and asked a servant to bring them lunch.

As soon as Yugi closed the door Atemu turned to him "Why did you agree with my father about moving out?"

Yugi sighed, walked over, and sat on the bed "Atemu we will be getting married soon."

"I know that Yugi!" Atemu snapped, "That still doesn't tell me why!"

"If you'd just let me explain!" Yugi snapped back just as forcefully

Atemu lowered his head "I'm sorry Yugi I just don't see why you want to move out." He said his voice much softer.

Yugi sighed he knew Atemu was going to like what he was about to tell him even less. "Atemu I am not only moving out of your room I also want to move out of the palace."

"What!" Atemu yelled "Why?"

Yugi stood up and wrapped his arms round Atemu, "I don't want to go far, but if the pharaoh will allow it I want to move into one of the houses reserved for the palace guard. So you will still be able to see me every day just, not at night."

Atemu wrapped his arms round Yugi returning the hug "You want the people to witness you moving in don't you?"

Blushing Yugi nodded "You are the crown prince and I am one of the item bearers, I think that in the circumstances it should be done correctly don't you?"

Finally understanding what Yugi was getting at Atemu nodded, he knew better than anyone that the people would want to witness the move.

"Also I want to stop having sex with you until after the marriage celebration."

"Why?" Atemu asked sullenly

Yugi giggled, "The gift of conception Atemu, think about it."

Atemu thought for a moment then his eyes widened as he realized what it was Yugi was trying to tell him.

Yugi smiled "That's right, I don't want to take the chance of conceiving until the celebrations are over."

The pharaoh sat in the dining hall talking to Isis, Mahad, Karim and Shada, Shimon was also with them, "What do you think I should do about Jahi?" the pharaoh asked suddenly sounding very tired.

Isis spoke up first "Are you alright my pharaoh?"

"Yes Isis I am fine, tell me, why do you ask?"

"It's just that in these past few months all you seemed to have done is sentence people."

The pharaoh sighed and rubbed his temple; "This is true although in a way I suppose I have been expecting this."

"What do you mean pharaoh?" Karim asked

The pharaoh smiled "We have been living in a time of unprecedented peace, I suppose we were due for some turmoil in our lives but I didn't expect it all at once."

For a while no one spoke until Shimon chuckled "Well when this little mess with Jahi is settled we have a celebration to plan!"

The pharaoh chuckled "Yes and I have a feeling that the sooner it is done the happier Atemu will be."

The pharaoh and his court finished eating then Aknamkanon sighed, "Karim while the rest of us make our way there would you get Jahi and bring him to the throne room."

"Yes pharaoh, should I allow him to dress first?"

The pharaoh thought for a moment "Yes but watch him closely I don't want him concealing something sharp, another attack on Yugi is something we could really do without."

Karim chuckled "Yes, I'd noticed the gods seem to have a soft spot for Yugi."

"Yes." Aknamkanon agreed "Especially Ma'at."

Aknamkanon then turned to Mahad "Please bring Atemu and Yugi to the throne room, Yugi will need to witness this as he was the intended target."

Mahad bowed and left the throne room with Karim.

Isis, Shada and Shimon walked with the pharaoh towards the throne room. "You know." Shada said thoughtfully "I can't help but wonder what would have happened if lord Osiris hadn't stopped that arrow striking Yugi."

Aknamkanon groaned, "For starters we would have had an extremely angry crown prince on our hands, a crown prince that, may I remind you, does not need an item to control the shadows."

Shimon shuddered at the mere thought "I take it Jahi would not have lived long?"

Aknamkanon shook his head "I highly doubt it."

Silently Aknamkanon, Shimon, Isis and Shada all thanked Osiris for his timely intervention…