Disclaimer: I don't own anything…
Queen Shair-hime was thought to have been the most beautiful woman alive, with her long raven hair and her piercing brown eyes, she had been a visage of magnificence. She had won the heart of Seti the first, the richest and most powerful of all the pharaohs and had been a living legend, the dazzling woman who was so beautiful she could win any man's affections.
People said this until her daughter was born. The princess Nefertiri surpassed her mother's beauty in unthinkable ways. She was perfect in every sense of the word, even her mother's eyes, which were said to contain the most precious gems in Egypt, were paled in comparison to her beautiful brown eyes.
The Med-Jai leader was a brave, strong man who was both courageous and fierce. He stood at Seti's right hand at all times, and commanded his men who were forever protecting the city of Thebes. Ardeth Bay was the closest thing to a friend that the pharaoh had, he was his confident, his advisor and his protector, and he would lay down his life for the great Pharaoh.
"Your highness," Ardeth said respectfully "I present to you, my successor in leadership of the Med-Jai. He is young, but a natural leader, in a few summers, he will surpass me." He bowed his head down, and smiled when he raised it "And I may protect you every hour of the day."
When he reached the Pharaoh he immediately bowed down. "Your highness…" He said with a charming smile.
Seti stood from his throne and gestured for him to rise up. He looked the man over, liking what he saw "This man is true, in his time of training he shall watch over the pride of Egypt, a treasure far surpassing the worth of any other. My daughter Nefertiri." Seti had a proud smile at the mention of his daughter and seemed perfectly happy that this man was perfect to watch over her.
"Tell me boy, what is your name."
"Rico-nal." He said proudly. The older Med-Jai stood forward and placed a hand on Rico-nal's shoulder.
"Take him to my daughter's quarters, he shall start immedialty." The Pharaoh said to Ardeth.
Both men bowed down and then turned on their heels marching stride by stride out of the door and down the lavishly decorated halls.
Nefertiri was on her balcony, staring out across the horizon, wondering what life must have been like outside of the palace walls. The Egyptian night wind was coming, and the temperature had dropped rapidly, but she refused to give in to the cold and stayed in her favorite place, watching the moon rise over the blanket of darkness.
The night always reminded her of her mother. The queen had passed away some years back, and Nefertiri had slumped into depression, only recently returning to the woman she was before. Being only 19 summers of age, she had experience little in her sheltered life, so the death of her mother came as a great shock to both her and her father. And only after a great period of mourning mad the royal family returned to normalcy.
The princess span as she heard loud footsteps echoing across her marble floor.
"Who's there?" she asked a little panicked, surely the guards at the door would stop anyone dangerous.
A figure could be seen through the thin silk curtains that divided the entrance to her balcony from her quarters.
"Hello?" She pushed the curtain back and jumped back in surprise when the large imposing man that was her body guard stood directly in-front of her "By the God's, you scared the life out of me…"
She looked up at the incredibly hansom man, his skin was tanned and rough, but in the mist of his roguish looks, he had the most piercing blue eyes, exceptionally rare for Egyptians. It was a great honor to be bestowed with blue eyes; it meant the God's favored you, and had presented you with a gift. She stumbled, looking for words, but none came to her mouth for a relatively long time.
"I apologies for frightening you princess," He moved his head, making his long fringe flick over his eyes "Your father appointed me at once."
"Appointed you? To do what?"
"I'm to serve as your body guard." He raised his hand in the ancient Med-Jai salute "I am a Med-Jai, I serve under Ardeth Bay."
Nefertiri smiled at the mention of her old friend. Rico-nal shivered when she smiled, she was as beautiful as the legends proclaimed. Her skin was unusually pale, but it set off her jet-black hair, and kohl rimed eyes. She looked like a porcelain doll, so fragile she looked as though she would break, but at the same time he could see some muscle through her almost sheer dress. She absolutely dripped with gold, around her wrists and arms, in her hair, on her clothes, absolutely everywhere, but her true worth did not lay with her jewelry or her expensive clothes, it was her beauty, many foreign princes had taken their fancy with her, but she had refused to marry.
"So tell me Med-Jai, do you have a name?" She turned to lean over the balcony once more. Entrapped as she always was with the hustle and bustle of the courtyard.
Rico-nal heard a strange sound, and thanks to many years of training and natural intuition he was able to dive the 3 meters between them and knock her out of the way before a poison tipped arrow struck her through her chest.
She screamed out as she fell under his weight, and landed underneath him, his strong arms pinning her to the ground. They were both breathing heavily, Nefertiri with great trouble due to the heavy man atop of her.
Suddenly her chamber doors burst open and six or seven Med-Jai came storming in, lead by Ardeth Bay.
Rico-nal immediately got up, and offered his hand to the princess to help her up. He pulled her lithe body up with great ease, and they both dusted themselves off. "We should go inside," He said, taking her shoulders and walking her into the living chamber.
"What happened?" Ardeth demanded seeing them both in such a state. Rico-nal picked up the arrow and showed it to the older man.
"Surprise attack sir, the assailant is unidentified." He saluted the older man, who then returned the gesture.
"Are you okay my dear?" Ardeth asked the princess.
"Just a little shaken, but okay, thanks to you, thank you Med-Jai" She placed her delicate hand on his for-arm.
"Men, patrol the palace, someone out there wants to shed Royal blood." He spoke only to a young man, of around 17 summers of age "Djari, inform the Pharaoh of this." The Med-Jai nodded and disappeared out of the wide double doors.
"This will be remembered Rico-nal. I thank you, as will the great empire of Egypt." They saluted again, and Ardeth followed his soldiers.
"Thank you Med-jai" Nefertiri said again, taking her hand away from his arm.
Rico-nal had a cocky grin on his face now that his superior had left "Call me Rico-nal."
"Thank you Rico-nal," She said, smiling. Nefertiri turned and pushed the door open to her bedchamber. Several maids began to remove her jewelry and make-up, and Rico-nal could just see her face in the mirror through the open door. He sighed in awe of her beauty.
When she was undressed and bare of all cosmetics, she pulled a black and gold silk robe around her naked body, and returned to her living quarters.
"You should get some sleep," She said softly "There's a guest room next to my own." She led him through her dressing room, through a large corridor to a hexagonal area with three doors. She pointed to the first two "That's the servants quarters and the wardrobe" She pushed open the ornate door in the middle "And this is my room." Not even in the grandeur of Pharaohs courtroom had he seen such splendor. Gold glistened everywhere and fresh flowers where strategically placed around the room to give of a beautiful smell.
"Here, you can sleep in the guest room." She walked him through to a side room, almost as beautiful as her own.