Chapter 4
Newly Loved
Bakura sat on the back steps to his Master's home. In the sand, with his toes, he drew pictures of him and his mother holding hands and being happy together. The drawing was quite good for a boy Bakura's age, especially because no one had ever taught him how to draw.
Bakura was a very intelligent boy and he caught onto things very quickly. He was talented at most of the things he did. Meryt had once said, "Bakura, you don't belong here as a servant. You have a mind and heart godly enough to rule Egypt." She had always seen something special in him. Sometimes she did see him as the son of a god, like most people, but she saw him as the son of Ra, or maybe even Amon, the ruler of all Egyptian gods, but never as the son of Seth.
Bakura sat by himself outside. It was the day after the incident with Ipy and Bakura hadn't gone into the village that day. He hated it when people stared at him, and everywhere he went they would just stare. He could feel their eyes piercing him all the time. Seeing only his hair, and eyes, and skin, but never seeing inside, at his heart. People tried to make as little contact with Bakura as possible, thinking he would curse them or something. They wouldn't even look at his eyes, the color so abnormal to them.
Bakura stopped drawing and looked at the picture he had made in the golden sand. He sighed and looked up into the sky. The sun was almost gone beyond the horizon and darkness had begun to settle in.
A woman's screams came from the servant quarters. Bakura knew they were his mother's screams, but he just sat there and winced at the sound of them. He longed to be with her, but his father had told him to stay outside while the new baby was being born.
'What will the baby be like?' Wondered Bakura, 'Will it be a brother, or a sister; maybe it will be more then one baby. What are my parents going name it? Will it be normal like everyone else, or different like me? I hope it isn't different like me...'
Another scream broke Bakura's concentration. He hoped that it didn't hurt his mom too much to have a baby, but he knew that with all that screaming it probably hurt more than anything.
Bakura looked back down and began to draw in the sand again. He had never learned how to write, and if the rest of his life was spent as a servant, he never would, so he began to make up his own alphabet. He made a symbol for each word he could think of. For a long time he worked on his own alphabet of picture-words.
Minuets turned into hours and soon enough it was too dark to draw anymore. Bakura looked down at the sand. There was a long line of symbols stretched out across the sand, although Bakura could barely see them, but nonetheless he was proud of what he had made.
The sound of a deep voice Bakura stiffen for a moment. "What are those?"
Bakura turned his head and looked up at Paneb. Bakura's eye followed Paneb's shoulder, to his arm, to his finger, aimed straight at his list of symbols in the sand.
"I'm writing." Bakura said, looking at the marks in the sand.
"How could you know how to write?!" Paneb looked at the picture-word markings almost in terror. He feared Bakura's intelligence, thinking that Seth had given it to the poor boy. Paneb didn't know how to read or write so he didn't know if they were really words or letters or just scribbles. "This is evil!" Paneb stood on Bakura's sand writing and began to stomp on them and kick them until there was no more of them.
Bakura watched helplessly as all the time and effort he had put into thinking up and writing those picture-words was kicked and stomped away by his father.
Paneb looked up at Bakura in anger and frustration. "If I ever see anything like that ever again...I will kill you!"
Bakura looked at Paneb sadly. He was sadder about all the effort and time he had used was crushed by his father, otherwise death threats didn't bother him, he received them on a day-to-day basis. "I don't know how to write...I was making my own alphabet..."
Paneb looked a bit shocked that he had crushed something that was completely innocent, thinking it was something terrible, and then threatened death on his son. He thought up a conclusion, more of an excuse, so he wouldn't have to feel guilty about being wrong. "They probably meant something to the gods, something evil...and they were put in your mind by Seth. He used you to get his message out upon the world. Who knows what those words could have done? It could have been some kind of spell to release evil!"
"I'm...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to..." Bakura lowered his head shamefully, although he didn't think he had done anything wrong by writing in the sand.
"There's nothing we can do now, it's already too late." Paneb sighed. "Meryt just had her child too. I didn't want you to see it, but she would not let me see it unless you were there. Her love is the only thing protecting you, you hear?!"
Bakura nodded, but underneath it all Bakura felt, anger grow stronger, hatred too.
Paneb walked passed Bakura and into the home of his and Bakura's master. Bakura followed Paneb until they reached the servant quarters. Bakura set off running ahead of Paneb and to his mother's side.
"Mommy!" Bakura said as he collapsed beside his mother.
"Bakura..." Meryt said with a smile as she looked at him. "Look at your new little sister."
Bakura peaked over his mother's arm at a tightly wrapped bundle with a pudgy, tan face. A puff of black hair stood up on the crown of the baby girl's head, and she had big dark eyes, much like her mother's. She was already washed of the blood and looked quietly at Bakura.
Bakura smiled at his new little sister. "Mommy...she's so cute. Can I touch her?"
"If you promise to be very gentle."
"I promise." Bakura said, putting a hand out and touching the baby's cheek. "She's so soft..."
Meryt smiled at her children as they interacted for the very first time.
Paneb stepped up behind Bakura and lifted Bakura off the ground and put him down to the side. Paneb then crouched next to Meryt. "Meryt, our daughter is beautiful, finally something I can be proud of. What shall we name her?"
Meryt looked at Paneb in irritation. "Maybe we should name it 'Thing'. Short, simple, and nothing good wasted on it."
Paneb looked quite confused. "Why in the world would we name it that? Any good name wouldn't be a waste, she's beautiful."
"Don't remember those words, do you, Paneb? Those are your words. Those are the words you used when I had my first and only son. He means just as much as my daughter, the daughter that could be the daughter of Seth for all you know! You didn't care about my first child, why should you care about my second?"
Paneb looked stunned. "But...they're so different...I mean, look at them. This is a normal baby, while that...that...Seth offspring has features no one else has; do you know what he wrote in the sand?!"
"Are looks are all that matter to you? Did you just impregnate me because you like the way I look? Bakura has never done anything wrong. He never whines, he never disobeys. He's practically the perfect child, and you treat him like he's a killer. Bakura and I are going to name and raise this baby; she'll probably turn out better without your parenting." Meryt moved her infant away from Paneb.
"You know what?! Fine! I want nothing to do with you and your little monsters!" With that, Paneb stood up and tromped out, slamming the door behind him.
The new baby began to cry with the loud bang of the door.
Meryt cradled her new child and the baby began to quiet down.
After everything had settled down Meryt turned toward Bakura, "Bakura, darling, you can come here, now."
Bakura slid closer to his mother and new sister. "Okay, mommy."
Meryt smiled at Bakura. "Don't worry, Bakura, I wont let him hurt you anymore. It does make me wonder sometimes...how could that man be the father of such a wonderful boy?"
Bakura did not reply, he just stared quietly at the infant in his mother's arms.
Meryt saw a somewhat distressed look on Bakura's face. Her face turned to worry. "Is there something bothering you, sweetie?"
Bakura stared at the baby a moment longer before quickly looking at his mother and replying with, "I'm fine." Though inside, he was confused, very confused by the hate and the anger but also about the love he had for his mother and baby sister, all the emotions were mingling and creating something Bakura wasn't sure how to handle.
Meryt looked down and beamed proudly at her daughter, who was half asleep. "Aww, Bakura, what shall we name her?"
Bakura stared at the infant. He thought hard but none of the names seemed to fit. "I don't know...I need help."
"How about if I say some girl names and you pick out the one you like, and that will be her name, okay?"
"Okay."
"Ready? Here we go. Inet?"
Bakura shook his head.
"How about Neema?"
Again Bakura shook his head.
"Hmm...Reonet? Sabah? Bennu?"
Bakura shook his head to all of them.
Meryt was running out of names. "Maya?"
Bakura stopped his mother. "Maya..."
Meryt smiled at her son's choice. "Maya? You like that name?"
Bakura looked at the nameless child. "She looks like a Maya. I like it."
"Maya shall be her name. Thank you, Bakura, you've been a big help. You'll be a great big brother and Maya will love you very much. I can tell."
Bakura smiled at his mother's sweet words, but the mixed confusing emotions churned inside Bakura where his mother couldn't see them; where no one could see them, except for Bakura.
Newly Loved
Bakura sat on the back steps to his Master's home. In the sand, with his toes, he drew pictures of him and his mother holding hands and being happy together. The drawing was quite good for a boy Bakura's age, especially because no one had ever taught him how to draw.
Bakura was a very intelligent boy and he caught onto things very quickly. He was talented at most of the things he did. Meryt had once said, "Bakura, you don't belong here as a servant. You have a mind and heart godly enough to rule Egypt." She had always seen something special in him. Sometimes she did see him as the son of a god, like most people, but she saw him as the son of Ra, or maybe even Amon, the ruler of all Egyptian gods, but never as the son of Seth.
Bakura sat by himself outside. It was the day after the incident with Ipy and Bakura hadn't gone into the village that day. He hated it when people stared at him, and everywhere he went they would just stare. He could feel their eyes piercing him all the time. Seeing only his hair, and eyes, and skin, but never seeing inside, at his heart. People tried to make as little contact with Bakura as possible, thinking he would curse them or something. They wouldn't even look at his eyes, the color so abnormal to them.
Bakura stopped drawing and looked at the picture he had made in the golden sand. He sighed and looked up into the sky. The sun was almost gone beyond the horizon and darkness had begun to settle in.
A woman's screams came from the servant quarters. Bakura knew they were his mother's screams, but he just sat there and winced at the sound of them. He longed to be with her, but his father had told him to stay outside while the new baby was being born.
'What will the baby be like?' Wondered Bakura, 'Will it be a brother, or a sister; maybe it will be more then one baby. What are my parents going name it? Will it be normal like everyone else, or different like me? I hope it isn't different like me...'
Another scream broke Bakura's concentration. He hoped that it didn't hurt his mom too much to have a baby, but he knew that with all that screaming it probably hurt more than anything.
Bakura looked back down and began to draw in the sand again. He had never learned how to write, and if the rest of his life was spent as a servant, he never would, so he began to make up his own alphabet. He made a symbol for each word he could think of. For a long time he worked on his own alphabet of picture-words.
Minuets turned into hours and soon enough it was too dark to draw anymore. Bakura looked down at the sand. There was a long line of symbols stretched out across the sand, although Bakura could barely see them, but nonetheless he was proud of what he had made.
The sound of a deep voice Bakura stiffen for a moment. "What are those?"
Bakura turned his head and looked up at Paneb. Bakura's eye followed Paneb's shoulder, to his arm, to his finger, aimed straight at his list of symbols in the sand.
"I'm writing." Bakura said, looking at the marks in the sand.
"How could you know how to write?!" Paneb looked at the picture-word markings almost in terror. He feared Bakura's intelligence, thinking that Seth had given it to the poor boy. Paneb didn't know how to read or write so he didn't know if they were really words or letters or just scribbles. "This is evil!" Paneb stood on Bakura's sand writing and began to stomp on them and kick them until there was no more of them.
Bakura watched helplessly as all the time and effort he had put into thinking up and writing those picture-words was kicked and stomped away by his father.
Paneb looked up at Bakura in anger and frustration. "If I ever see anything like that ever again...I will kill you!"
Bakura looked at Paneb sadly. He was sadder about all the effort and time he had used was crushed by his father, otherwise death threats didn't bother him, he received them on a day-to-day basis. "I don't know how to write...I was making my own alphabet..."
Paneb looked a bit shocked that he had crushed something that was completely innocent, thinking it was something terrible, and then threatened death on his son. He thought up a conclusion, more of an excuse, so he wouldn't have to feel guilty about being wrong. "They probably meant something to the gods, something evil...and they were put in your mind by Seth. He used you to get his message out upon the world. Who knows what those words could have done? It could have been some kind of spell to release evil!"
"I'm...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to..." Bakura lowered his head shamefully, although he didn't think he had done anything wrong by writing in the sand.
"There's nothing we can do now, it's already too late." Paneb sighed. "Meryt just had her child too. I didn't want you to see it, but she would not let me see it unless you were there. Her love is the only thing protecting you, you hear?!"
Bakura nodded, but underneath it all Bakura felt, anger grow stronger, hatred too.
Paneb walked passed Bakura and into the home of his and Bakura's master. Bakura followed Paneb until they reached the servant quarters. Bakura set off running ahead of Paneb and to his mother's side.
"Mommy!" Bakura said as he collapsed beside his mother.
"Bakura..." Meryt said with a smile as she looked at him. "Look at your new little sister."
Bakura peaked over his mother's arm at a tightly wrapped bundle with a pudgy, tan face. A puff of black hair stood up on the crown of the baby girl's head, and she had big dark eyes, much like her mother's. She was already washed of the blood and looked quietly at Bakura.
Bakura smiled at his new little sister. "Mommy...she's so cute. Can I touch her?"
"If you promise to be very gentle."
"I promise." Bakura said, putting a hand out and touching the baby's cheek. "She's so soft..."
Meryt smiled at her children as they interacted for the very first time.
Paneb stepped up behind Bakura and lifted Bakura off the ground and put him down to the side. Paneb then crouched next to Meryt. "Meryt, our daughter is beautiful, finally something I can be proud of. What shall we name her?"
Meryt looked at Paneb in irritation. "Maybe we should name it 'Thing'. Short, simple, and nothing good wasted on it."
Paneb looked quite confused. "Why in the world would we name it that? Any good name wouldn't be a waste, she's beautiful."
"Don't remember those words, do you, Paneb? Those are your words. Those are the words you used when I had my first and only son. He means just as much as my daughter, the daughter that could be the daughter of Seth for all you know! You didn't care about my first child, why should you care about my second?"
Paneb looked stunned. "But...they're so different...I mean, look at them. This is a normal baby, while that...that...Seth offspring has features no one else has; do you know what he wrote in the sand?!"
"Are looks are all that matter to you? Did you just impregnate me because you like the way I look? Bakura has never done anything wrong. He never whines, he never disobeys. He's practically the perfect child, and you treat him like he's a killer. Bakura and I are going to name and raise this baby; she'll probably turn out better without your parenting." Meryt moved her infant away from Paneb.
"You know what?! Fine! I want nothing to do with you and your little monsters!" With that, Paneb stood up and tromped out, slamming the door behind him.
The new baby began to cry with the loud bang of the door.
Meryt cradled her new child and the baby began to quiet down.
After everything had settled down Meryt turned toward Bakura, "Bakura, darling, you can come here, now."
Bakura slid closer to his mother and new sister. "Okay, mommy."
Meryt smiled at Bakura. "Don't worry, Bakura, I wont let him hurt you anymore. It does make me wonder sometimes...how could that man be the father of such a wonderful boy?"
Bakura did not reply, he just stared quietly at the infant in his mother's arms.
Meryt saw a somewhat distressed look on Bakura's face. Her face turned to worry. "Is there something bothering you, sweetie?"
Bakura stared at the baby a moment longer before quickly looking at his mother and replying with, "I'm fine." Though inside, he was confused, very confused by the hate and the anger but also about the love he had for his mother and baby sister, all the emotions were mingling and creating something Bakura wasn't sure how to handle.
Meryt looked down and beamed proudly at her daughter, who was half asleep. "Aww, Bakura, what shall we name her?"
Bakura stared at the infant. He thought hard but none of the names seemed to fit. "I don't know...I need help."
"How about if I say some girl names and you pick out the one you like, and that will be her name, okay?"
"Okay."
"Ready? Here we go. Inet?"
Bakura shook his head.
"How about Neema?"
Again Bakura shook his head.
"Hmm...Reonet? Sabah? Bennu?"
Bakura shook his head to all of them.
Meryt was running out of names. "Maya?"
Bakura stopped his mother. "Maya..."
Meryt smiled at her son's choice. "Maya? You like that name?"
Bakura looked at the nameless child. "She looks like a Maya. I like it."
"Maya shall be her name. Thank you, Bakura, you've been a big help. You'll be a great big brother and Maya will love you very much. I can tell."
Bakura smiled at his mother's sweet words, but the mixed confusing emotions churned inside Bakura where his mother couldn't see them; where no one could see them, except for Bakura.
