Thanks to everyone for the MARVELOUS reviews...I'm such a tease;)...
Craklyn, dahlin', I did a word count, and these next two chapters are each 1500 words long...makes up for all the short chapters lately:)
Chapter 9
Good Advice
Nefertiri could scarcely believe this was happening. Her lips had barely brushed against his when suddenly...
...they were no longer alone. Anck-su-namun had moved her mask up so her face was visible, and her shrewd eyes saw immediately what was going on, although she said nothing about it. "I forgot my towel," she said sweetly, bending to pick it up and shooting Nefertiri a knowing and malicious glance. In all their years of friendship, Nefertiri had never seen this side of Anck before, the spiteful, cruel side, and Nefertiri wished with regret that she could mend their relationship. But it was too late...the damage had been done to their bond, and they were just going to have to live with the consequences.
For a few minutes after Anck-su-namun's departure, neither Achsu-rai nor Nefertiri spoke. Their minds reeled with "what if "s and dreams just out of reach. Finally, it was Nefertiri who broke the peace.
"I love you."
Her words were met with more silence, silence that he longed to break, but he was restrained by a thousand years of law and tradition that beat down on him like the fierce sun.
"Achsu-rai, why don't you say anything?"
"Do you know what your father would do to me if I were to answer you?"
"He doesn't have to know."
"You want me to defy a living god. Worse, you want to disobey your own father."
"I refuse my to let him run my life any longer. He can't make our choices for us!"
"I have made the choice."
"And what choice is that?" she asked sadly. She already knew.
"You have my loyalty, Princess. Forever. But I cannot give you my love."
"I was mistaken, then. I thought you already had."
He couldn't say anything else. If he tried, the wrong words would just tumble out of his mouth. Words that would probably get them both banished, killed, or worse. And yet there was a part of him that didn't care what happened to him as long as...no. No amount of tears on either of their parts could sway him. He had to walk away.
But as he did, he could feel both their hearts breaking.
Khalil sat studying his latest piece of work with a critical eye. It really was a beauty. The tablet, only a few feet wide, told the story of a young orphan who discovered he was really a prince...all right, so Khalil wasn't the most imaginative writer, but the intricate, artful script more than made up for any creative lack. Khalil liked to tell himself that if he hadn't been born a Medjai, he might have been a scribe.
Achsu-rai entered the tent and sat opposite from Khalil, making no mention of the masterpiece. "I am in love with someone I shouldn't be," the former said, without prologue.
"Aren't we all?" Khalil asked with a smile, attention still focused on the tablet.
"I'm serious."
"Yes, you always are serious, aren't you, brother? So get over it."
"That's your advice? Get over it?"
"It's the best I can do. I'm the younger brother, I'm not supposed to be the one giving advice."
"I'm trying to get over it. It's not working."
"Achsu-rai, I know from experience you can do anything you set your mind to. So forget her. Move on. How hard can it be?"
"Obviously you've never been in love."
"I speak from experience," Khalil said wistfully. "Do you remember that girl Coryn?"
"This is not puppy love. We're talking about defying the gods here. We're talking about committing mortal sins. We're talking about disregarding every rule and law man has."
"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad."
"It's not like it matters anymore anyway. I told her I didn't love her."
"How did she take it?"
"I don't know. I left."
"Well that'll win her over," Khalil said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
His brother's jesting went unnoticed by Achsu-rai. "I think she knows, though."
"Knows what?"
"She knows I was lying. I could see it in her eyes. I can't lie to her."
"Achsu-rai, we all fall in love with someone we can't have. It's part of life."
"Oh, I'm fairly sure I could 'have' her. It's just whether or not it would get us killed."
Khalil turned serious, a rare enough occasion. "What have you gotten yourself into, brother?"
Achsu-rai sighed. "Heaven." He stood and made for the exit, but Khalil grabbed his arm. "Where are you going?"
"Away from the palace. I can't be near her right now."
"So she's a servant, then?"
"No."
"Look, Achsu-rai, I know you're upset right now, but you should go to banquet tonight, the pharaoh wondered where you were yesterday."
"I can't."
"Brother, now you're being the unreasonable one."
"I don't want to see her."
"You said she's not a servant. Is she a noble, then?"
"Of sorts."
"A Medjai in love with a noblewoman. Brother, you are in trouble."
"I told you."
"So ignore her. Make her think you were telling the truth."
"I can't ignore her."
"Why not?"
"Because I sit next to her."
This time, when Achsu-rai left, Khalil was too shocked to stop him.
"Imhotep?" Nefertiri whispered as she stepped timidly through the doors of the temple, her footsteps on the shiny marble floor echoing painfully in her ears. The front room appeared deserted save for a highly polished statue of Osiris sitting against the far wall. Nefertiri said a quick prayer before passing the statue and venturing into the next room. She was trying to remember the correct path she had to take to get to Imhotep's office when a familiar face, one that she certainly did not want to see at the moment, appeared at the other end of the hallway. Anck-su-namun held her head high and passed the princess by without so much as a glance. It was just as well, Nefertiri reflected, for she certainly did not feel like getting into another confrontation with Anck.
A few moments later, Nefertiri was surprised to see Imhotep exit from the same place Anck-su-namun had come. Atoning for her sins, Nefertiri thought, her anger rising once again at the thought of what her friend had done. Shaking it off, she went to meet Imhotep, who looked just as startled to see the princess there. Working his face into a mask of fatherly concern, he took her hands. "Why Princess," he greeted her, "whatever brings you by the temple today? You look unwell."
Why does everyone have to mention that? "I need to talk to you, Imhotep. I know I haven't come to see you in a while, but you were always such a good friend to me when I was younger, and..." By now the tears had begun to fall. "I just don't know what to do, and--and--"
"Hush, Nefertiri, of course I will help you. Would you like to sit down?"
Nefertiri allowed Imhotep to lead her to a bench that stood nearby. "Now," he said, "tell me what is wrong."
She took a deep breath, hoping she could get through this. "I..." she started... "I am in love."
Imhotep blinked. "Pardon?"
"I'm in love, okay! I'm in love! I don't know what to do!"
His mouth opened and closed a few times before he was able to form coherent words. "What...with who?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why not?"
"What do you think I'm so worried about here? If I could tell you who it was, everyone would already know!"
Imhotep contemplated her for a moment at arm's length before pulling the princess into a hug. "Oh, Princess," he sighed, "your father is going to kill me for telling you this."
"Telling me what?"
Imhotep released her. "A month ago, I would have gone straight to your father and told him to arrange a marriage for you to get your mind off...well, whoever. But now..."
"But now?" Nefertiri asked, heart thudding painfully in her chest at the thought of marrying someone else, anyone but the one person she could not have.
"But now...I want you to listen to me very carefully, Nefertiri. Don't ask me how I came about this knowledge or why I tell you this, and you must promise not speak of it to anyone. We now hold each other's lives in our hands. But I have discovered, and I suspect that you are realizing, too, that love was meant to break the rules, and we mortals must obey our hearts or..." Imhotep shrugged. "Or the world will stop turning."
"Imhotep," Nefertiri said with a smile, "I think that's the best advice you've ever given me."
Imhotep returned the smile, but his mind seemed elsewhere. "Now let's see if either of us are able to follow that advice and live to see the results."
"What do you mean? What's going on?"
"Nothing, Princess. You have enough to worry about in your own life without fretting over my problems, too."
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, you all hate me (some more than others, I guess). Review and maybe those two will eventually get together:) Y'all will love the next chapter, trust me;)
For some reason, Imhotep saying "Pardon?" just gives me the giggles.