Chapter 1:
Kisara's POV:
No matter what I do, I always seem to have done something wrong. This day was no exception. Maybe it's my skin color or my eye color, but that's not my fault. I've always been considered different and I thought by now, people would accept that. No one has. There was only one person who overlooked those differences and saw me for who I really was. How many moons ago that was, I've lost count. I'm lucky to be alive, luck that he took me in and nursed my wounds. I'm not sure if he's still alive, and I prefer not to think about him in the next life. Maybe he's still alive, watching the scarab rolling the sun in the sky [1], turning it dark. Maybe he's still praying to the Gods waiting for my return. Maybe he believes I've passed on to the afterlife, hoping my soul hasn't been eaten by Ammit [2]. I may never know the answer to these questions, and he, he may never know the answers to his.
Priest Seto's POV:
Pharaoh now knows. He knows that many moons ago I let Kisara reside in the palace in secret. Yet, for some reason, he isn't enraged by my actions. It was my father, Priest Akunadin, that was angry [3]. He was furious and said that if I ever made such a grave mistake again, the price of it would be costly, meaning to strip me of my position and have one of the other Priests to take my place as his successor. Being a Priest, we cannot make any mistakes nor afford to. Being a High Priest is a very honorable position and important to the palace's structure of daily life. My mind was elsewhere though. At the time she came, guards thinking she was an intruder, I did not care whether the price of my mistake was severe.
I had thrown myself to the ground, begging for forgiveness of what I had done many moons ago, and pleading with him to spare her life. Usually, I would never plead with my cousin [4], even after my soul had gone to the afterlife, but instinct told me to.
Thank Ra the Pharaoh is kind and forgiving in his ways, and left Kisara in my care.
Kisara's POV:
It was frightening to be thrown on the ground before the Pharaoh, waiting to see if fate was in my favor. When I turned my head though, he was there, and it comforted me that I was his presence was in the room. I could not look him in the eye though. Looking back at the Pharaoh, I noticed he still had chosen a queen. This was not a surprise though. The Queen from the former reign had borne only one child, a son, and no more. There were no daughters in the royal court, and the Pharaoh had no other wives [5]. Thus, meaning that the current Pharaoh could not chosen himself a wife [6].
Before the Pharaoh even had time to speak, Priest Seto begged for him to spare my life. I was then placed in Priest Seto's care.
He embraced me and for the first time, I actually saw a tear. Not a tear of sadness, but a tear of happiness for me being alive and not in the afterlife.
[1] It was believed that the scarab rolled the sun across the sky, as it does with balls of dung. [2] Ammit was the beast waiting to devour souls that were proven guilty in the judgment of the dead. [3] In the manga, Priest Seto doesn't know that Priest Akunadin is his father. Written after Seto finds out. [4] In the manga, Priest Seto doesn't know that Yami is related to him. Written after he finds out. [5] Usually, the Pharaoh had many wives, one of which would be the Queen. [6] Since there was no other royalty to marry into, Pharaohs would usually marry their sisters.
Kisara's POV:
No matter what I do, I always seem to have done something wrong. This day was no exception. Maybe it's my skin color or my eye color, but that's not my fault. I've always been considered different and I thought by now, people would accept that. No one has. There was only one person who overlooked those differences and saw me for who I really was. How many moons ago that was, I've lost count. I'm lucky to be alive, luck that he took me in and nursed my wounds. I'm not sure if he's still alive, and I prefer not to think about him in the next life. Maybe he's still alive, watching the scarab rolling the sun in the sky [1], turning it dark. Maybe he's still praying to the Gods waiting for my return. Maybe he believes I've passed on to the afterlife, hoping my soul hasn't been eaten by Ammit [2]. I may never know the answer to these questions, and he, he may never know the answers to his.
Priest Seto's POV:
Pharaoh now knows. He knows that many moons ago I let Kisara reside in the palace in secret. Yet, for some reason, he isn't enraged by my actions. It was my father, Priest Akunadin, that was angry [3]. He was furious and said that if I ever made such a grave mistake again, the price of it would be costly, meaning to strip me of my position and have one of the other Priests to take my place as his successor. Being a Priest, we cannot make any mistakes nor afford to. Being a High Priest is a very honorable position and important to the palace's structure of daily life. My mind was elsewhere though. At the time she came, guards thinking she was an intruder, I did not care whether the price of my mistake was severe.
I had thrown myself to the ground, begging for forgiveness of what I had done many moons ago, and pleading with him to spare her life. Usually, I would never plead with my cousin [4], even after my soul had gone to the afterlife, but instinct told me to.
Thank Ra the Pharaoh is kind and forgiving in his ways, and left Kisara in my care.
Kisara's POV:
It was frightening to be thrown on the ground before the Pharaoh, waiting to see if fate was in my favor. When I turned my head though, he was there, and it comforted me that I was his presence was in the room. I could not look him in the eye though. Looking back at the Pharaoh, I noticed he still had chosen a queen. This was not a surprise though. The Queen from the former reign had borne only one child, a son, and no more. There were no daughters in the royal court, and the Pharaoh had no other wives [5]. Thus, meaning that the current Pharaoh could not chosen himself a wife [6].
Before the Pharaoh even had time to speak, Priest Seto begged for him to spare my life. I was then placed in Priest Seto's care.
He embraced me and for the first time, I actually saw a tear. Not a tear of sadness, but a tear of happiness for me being alive and not in the afterlife.
[1] It was believed that the scarab rolled the sun across the sky, as it does with balls of dung. [2] Ammit was the beast waiting to devour souls that were proven guilty in the judgment of the dead. [3] In the manga, Priest Seto doesn't know that Priest Akunadin is his father. Written after Seto finds out. [4] In the manga, Priest Seto doesn't know that Yami is related to him. Written after he finds out. [5] Usually, the Pharaoh had many wives, one of which would be the Queen. [6] Since there was no other royalty to marry into, Pharaohs would usually marry their sisters.
