Chapter 2
Yami looked in astonishment at the boy standing in front of him. He seemed to be a smaller replica of himself. The pharaoh surveyed this, Yugi carefully. The only differences he could find were the eye color, three streaks of blond running through his hair that this boy lacked, and he thought smirking, the height.
Keturah smiled at the figure in front of her. She watched Yami for his answer to her argument. 'Please,' she thought, 'spare his life. One so pure should not suffer death because of a mistake.
"How old are you?" Yami inquired. Keturah's words had stayed a hammer ready to fall. He did not really wish to kill someone who in truth had done nothing wrong.
"Fifteen," came the reply.
Keenen watched anxiously. Something strange was going on. Why was the pharaoh taking so much time to consider this peasant?
"Wench," muttered the man in the shadows. "Meddling woman. You'll pay."
"How did you make it into the tomb?" the pharaoh asked curiously.
Yugi shrugged.
"I'm not quite sure…your highness," he added quickly glancing at the guards. "It felt as though I was being called towards the doors, and the next thing I remember was being grabbed by one of the guards."
Yami surveyed the situation. The guards expected him to punish the boy for breaking the law, but if Yugi really did have a larger part to play in the grand scheme of things, he would need to be alive in the future. Keturah stepped up beside him.
"If you pardon him," she said, "I would take Yugi into my care and have him help the gardeners in the palace."
Yugi stared. Already this woman had risked angering the pharaoh. For the life of one poor boy she would endanger herself again? It was unthinkable. The people said that the pharaoh was cold and unfeeling, yet he was clearly listening to the facts, and trying to make a fair decision. Maybe they had been wrong, maybe he had changed…
Yami raised an eyebrow at the woman he loved.
"Is that truly your wish?" he asked her seriously. "If you adopt him into your service there must be a fine to remove the punishment."
She bowed.
"I understand this my pharaoh," she said, eyes on the ground. "I am willing to see that the justice is served if his life is spared."
"Then I grant him to you," Yami said.
He turned to face the boy who was watching with a bedazzled amazement all over his small face.
"You owe your life and your honor to my lady," he told Yugi. "She will appoint you duties as she sees fit and you are to obey without complaint. Is that clear?"
"Yes, pharaoh," Yugi replied bowing, only just realizing how close he had come to death. It took his breath away.
Keturah stepped forward smiling.
"Come," she said, and lead the way from the hall.
Yugi followed, his small feet slapping loudly against the ground as he hurried to catch up.
Yami them disappear out of the door. Isis and Keturah both seemed to have great faith in the boy, he only hoped it was not misplaced.
He dismissed Keenen and the guards and sank into the throne rubbing his temples. This scenario seemed strangely familiar, like a dream long ago, now forgotten. Yami stood up abruptly and strode off toward the royal library, his robes billowing out behind him.
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Keturah lead Yugi through the palace's winding halls, laughing at the expressions crossing his face at the sight of the huge marble pillars, and immense chambers. When they reached the gardens it seemed he would either begin to dance around or faint straight away. He did neither, only stood with his mouth wide open and purple eyes sparkling with wonder as he surveyed the scene before him.
The garden was almost like a room with walls and ceiling made of plants. There were no real walls, but more marble columns with small trees and vines clustered around them and climbing up, almost completely concealing the stone from view. The ceiling was a living trellace of flowering stalks, palm fronds, and perfumed flowers clinging to long green vines. Rays of the hot Egyptian sun peeked through the leafy roof, warming a small spring resting in the center of the room. Perched in the trees were a huge assortment of birds, many rarely found in Egypt, all flashing like crystals in the midst of the sea of green.
"My reaction was similar," Keturah told Yugi, "the first time I saw this place. It's beautiful, ne?
"I can't even begin to describe it!" he exclaimed. "Beautiful seems to common a word to be used on this. It is truly a paradise in the middle of a desert wasteland."
"I'm not sure about the wasteland bit," she replied, "but it is a paradise."
The two stood side by side for a moment drinking in the beauty of the place.
"Would you like to care for the plants of for the birds?" Keturah asked, breaking the peaceful quiet of the room.
"If it's all right," Yugi implored, "I think I'd rather work with the birds."
"Of course it's alright," she said laughing. "If it wasn't I wouldn't have asked."
They went to the place where laundry was done and found a gardener's uniform for Yugi. It took some intense searching to find one small enough, but they found one almost the right size near the bottom of the stack. It consisted of a pastel green shirt made of thin linen that let the breeze pass through, and a pair of sturdy breeches, baggy and a dark beige color. There was also a pair of sandals, but Yugi decided he would rather go barefoot. Once he was properly attired, Yugi followed Keturah back to the garden. She was beginning to show him his duties when a tall boy wearing a uniform similar to Yugi's ran in.
"Lady," he panted, bending quickly in a low bow, "the pharaoh wishes for your presence."
"Where is he Mitt?" she asked calmly.
"In the library, left hand side, second row from the back," the boy responded quickly.
"Alright," she said, but put her hands on Yugi's shoulders. "Mitt, this is Yugi, he's beginning work in the garden. Would you show him the ropes with the birds?"
Mitt nodded and bowed as she swept down the hall. Yugi followed his example, bowing awkwardly to her retreating back.
As he straightened, Mitt watched the other boy out of the corners of his eyes. So this was the little look alike of the pharaoh that all the servants were buzzing about. It was rather shocking when you first saw him.
"It's Yugi right?" he asked.
"Hai," Yugi replied cheerfully.
"I'm Mitt," he said introducing himself. "With the birds everything is pretty straight foreword. Each type has a different food. The dishes and food bags are color coded, so as long as you know where to find the dishes feeding isn't difficult."
They spent the next hour walking around the palace, Mitt pointing out different people along the way. When they finished the 'tour' they headed back toward the garden. It was empty, so the two sat and amused themselves with skipping stones across the pond for a time. Just when they were beginning to get bored with that, another boy ran in. He was wearing a blue tunic instead of the green of the gardeners.
"A runner," Mitt explained.
"Mitt!" the boy called out, "the priests need some herbs from the storehouse. They've a list for you there. I've got to go," he explained, "Isis wants me to stop the cooks from burning supper."
Mitt nodded.
"Good fortune and swift feet," he said in farewell, and the boy sprinted off.
"I've got to be going to then," Mitt announced jumping up. "If I can sneak away later I'll look for you," he assured Yugi seeing the unease in the smaller boy's eyes.
"Good fortune and swift feet!" Yugi chirped.
Mitt grinned and waved as he leapt over a tree root and into another of the many halls.
Yugi sighed and sank down into a crouch on the ground.
'Alone again,' he thought, poking at the dirt.
A bird sang out a single sweet note as it jumped from a branch into the air.
'Well,' Yugi thought, as a small smile crept onto his face, 'Almost alone.'
