A Wind Called Fate
Part X: Hasty Words
A Mummies Alive Fanfic
Time had no meaning in my next memories. Sometimes the world was a soothing nothingness, sometimes it was white hot pain. There were voices, too, speaking to me; speaking of me. Now and again the real world would return, but it was blurred, like seeing through tears. I remember at one point trying to remember why I was crying, then the nothingness returned.
Sooner or later, though, that same nothingness was bound to become lonely. More and more I longed for the sights and sounds of reality. Yet I couldn't figure out how to get there, and I couldn't stay there even when it came again. I tried, I tried desperately not to fall back into the strange void I seemed to be existing in, but to no avail. Reality didn't come back to me slowly, as I expected. One moment there was nothing but the lonely nothingness, the next there was pain - sharp pain - and my room at the palace.
I gasped, clutching my side - which was where the pain was coming from. It was bandaged, but blood was seeping through it. My maids were there instantly, calling for help. Things blurred again, but the nothingness didn't return. I must have slept, though, because when I was awake my father was there.
"Father?" My voice sounded strangely harsh, my throat felt like the desert itself.
"Yshta." He sat up, gripping my hand. "Are you alright?"
I paused, looking at him in confusion. Then my side began to hurt, and I intook a sharp breath. "What happened?"
"You were shot." He told me, taking my hand. "Are you alright?"
"...Shot?" I closed my eyes briefly, then remembered. Hevar! Of course! "Amenutept? Is he alright??" I began to sit up, but father lept up to put a restraining hand on my shoulder.
"He's fine. Lay still. When you woke up yesterday you reopened the wound in your side by sitting up so fast."
I lay still, glancing down at my bandaged side. "How...How long have I been asleep?"
"Nearly eight days have passed since you were shot." Father admitted.
"Hevar? What happened to him?"
"He is in Anubis' Realm now, think of him no more." He reached over and poured a glass of water from a pitcher, then helped me sit up - but not all the way. "Drink this."
I drunk gladly, though I was slightly annoyed that he held the glass for me as though I were a child. Still, I was tired by the simple actions of sitting up to drink, and I lay back down with a heavy sigh. "I'm still so tired."
"The physicians gave you medicine to help the pain, they will make you weary. Sleep."
"I'm not that tired..." I whispered, but even as I said it, I was falling into a dreamless sleep.
My father was gone, but my maids were there when I awoke next. I was hungry, but the physicians said I had to start with soup, not solid food. I felt as though I would waste away for real food. For a week I saw no one but Father, my maids, and the physicians that were there to tend to me. I was gaining strengh slowly, but I still felt weak. Then, shortly after the physicians had left one day, the leader of our bodyguards came in. He ordered the maids out, but did not speak right away. He watched me with a frown.
"You acted bravely." He told me.
I was surprised to see him, since I'd spoken to him only once or twice, and always outside the palace. "I'm not so sure I'd call it brave." I told him.
"Good, because it was also foolish." He began to pace the floor. His words stung, but I couldn't find it in me to be angry over them. I'd been thinking the same thing. "We would not have failed in our duty, Amenutept would not have been shot."
"I only made things worse, didn't I?" I asked quietly.
He nodded. "Your loyalty is commendable, Lady Yshta, but your actions were misplaced. It is a guard's duty to die for the Pharaoh, not a Queen's."
I hesitated, thinking. "I have no wish to repeat what happened. I reacted without thinking, I'll try not to do so again. I'm not positive I can, though."
"Then you must learn, too. More than once has an attempt been made on Amenutept's life, but not one has succeeded. We do our job well, don't belittle our ability. Our Pharaoh is furious enough this occcured. Your injury is no doubt an added strain on him."
I felt guilty that so many people had worried about me. I nodded my agreement to what he said. "Why has he not come to see me?" I queried.
The guard hesitated, frowning again. "He has his reasons. Ask them of him."
I intended to do just that..
But Amenutept did not come to visit me. I waited, and waited, but he did not come. My injury was healing faster than the phsycians had anticipated, but it seemed painfully slow to me. My strength was growing again, but I still wearied easily.
One week passed, then two. Still Amenutept did not come. I couldn't take it anymore. I decided to see him. My maid's were under strict orders not to let me wander the palace yet, but I was determined. I sent them to ready a bath for me, and prepare one of my outfits. The moment they entered the next room, I was out the door. I knew the way to Amenutept's quarters, I'd dined with him within their walls a few times. At first I ran up the corridors, but my breath was soon ragged, and my strength sapped. I walked then, but I refused to turn back. The guards in front of Amenutept's door looked at me in horror.
"Lady! You shouldn't be up and about!"
They expected me to stop, but I didn't. With my last ounce of strenght I burst into a run, and was through the doors before they could stop me. Amenutept was inside, reading a scroll. He lept to his feet, eyes wide, as the guards burst through. "What is going on here?" He demanded.
"We-we don't know, sir!" One stuttered. "She just showed up at the door -"
"We need to speak." I ciut him off.
Amenutept turned an angry gaze on me. My throat suddenly felt dry, and my heart hammered in my chest even more painfully then it already was from my exertion. "Leave us." He demanded of the guards. They were quick to comply. "Sit." I shook my head. "Sit!" He snapped out.
He'd never taken such a tone with me. I bristled, my own anger rising. I didn't sit. "Why haven't you come to see me?" I demanded.
"I've been busy." He set the scroll he still held down with a loud bang. "And I gave you an order - Sit Down. Now."
"I will not sit down!" I shouted.
"You should not be up! I gave strict orders that you were to stay in your room until healed!"
"Then why haven't you come to see me??" I demanded. "I -"
"Nearly killed yourself with your headstrong nature!" He cut me off, and began to pace the room. "You acted foolishly, and without a second thought to the consequences of your actions. You could now lie dead, but by sheer luck you do not."
Though the army leader had spoken much the same ideas to me, I had not been angry with him. Nor had his words hurt me, because I understood the truth in them. A part of me still understood them, but for some reason hearing Amenutept speak to me such made the very breath in my lungs painful. "I was thinking of you! I feared Hevar would kill you!"
"I was protected." Amenutept replied.
"Oh? Then how did he get so close with a bow and arrow in the first place!" I asked, and was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath. I'd obviously hit a nerve.
"TIme will tell, but such matters are beyond you."
"Are they?" I sneered. "It seems much is beyond me. If my "headstrong nature" is such a trial, perhaps you should not have chosen me as your bride!"
Amenutept stared at me for a moment, as if debating about something. Then his eyes hardened again. "This is neither the time or place to speak of such matters. Go to your room and stay there until the physicians have said you may leave."
"There need not be such matters to discuss. If I am such a burden, you need not keep me. I am leaving." I turned to the door.
"You will not leave!" His voice rang out, and he was no longer merely angry - he was furious.
"If I am no longer welcome, I WILL leave." I whirled back. "What does it matter to you?"
"You are known now as my bride, and you will be my wife. Have you forgotten our deal?" He demanded.
"It seems I am not what you thought I was, or you wanted. Marriage seems to be a convenience to you and your nobles, they will think nothing of your dropping me."
"Me and my nobles?? ME AND MY NOBLES?! Do not compare me to those pompous nitwits! And you are not free from our deal, unless you wish to bear the punishment of your actions instead of the compensation I demanded."
"That choice is yours, oh great and wise Pharaoh, not mine." My voice dripped with sarcasm. "I care less about it then you."
He stiffened. "You lie. You saved my life."
"I would have done the same for another. You are nothing special to me."
Amenutept's face hardened into stone. "Get out."
"Gladly." I headed for the door.
"Yshta." His voice stopped me at the door. "Do not forget that I can punish not only you, but your father for stealing my chariot. You will return to your room, and not leave the palace. You are still to wed me as we bargained."
I did not turn back. I couldn't believe what was happening. "As you demand, my Pharaoh, I obey." My tone was pure venom. He said no more, and neither did I. I through open the doors; racing back to my room, not caring how painfully my running jarred my injured side. I slipped several times, nearly collapsing to the hard stone floor, but I kept running. I burst into my rooms, and threw myself to my bed, and then the tears came.
I must have sounded hysterical in my sobs, but I didn't care. I felt as though the world had collapsed about me. I wished I were dead.
Yshta
To Be Continued...
Bet you weren't expecting this, were you? Huh? Bet you were expecting the violan music. Well, I'd already been typical enough getting her shot!, so that has to wait!
And, before anyone flames poor Amenutept, try to think of things from both sides. Yshta said some cruel things, too. Don't worry, things won't stay like this between them for long.
Salmon
Part X: Hasty Words
A Mummies Alive Fanfic
Time had no meaning in my next memories. Sometimes the world was a soothing nothingness, sometimes it was white hot pain. There were voices, too, speaking to me; speaking of me. Now and again the real world would return, but it was blurred, like seeing through tears. I remember at one point trying to remember why I was crying, then the nothingness returned.
Sooner or later, though, that same nothingness was bound to become lonely. More and more I longed for the sights and sounds of reality. Yet I couldn't figure out how to get there, and I couldn't stay there even when it came again. I tried, I tried desperately not to fall back into the strange void I seemed to be existing in, but to no avail. Reality didn't come back to me slowly, as I expected. One moment there was nothing but the lonely nothingness, the next there was pain - sharp pain - and my room at the palace.
I gasped, clutching my side - which was where the pain was coming from. It was bandaged, but blood was seeping through it. My maids were there instantly, calling for help. Things blurred again, but the nothingness didn't return. I must have slept, though, because when I was awake my father was there.
"Father?" My voice sounded strangely harsh, my throat felt like the desert itself.
"Yshta." He sat up, gripping my hand. "Are you alright?"
I paused, looking at him in confusion. Then my side began to hurt, and I intook a sharp breath. "What happened?"
"You were shot." He told me, taking my hand. "Are you alright?"
"...Shot?" I closed my eyes briefly, then remembered. Hevar! Of course! "Amenutept? Is he alright??" I began to sit up, but father lept up to put a restraining hand on my shoulder.
"He's fine. Lay still. When you woke up yesterday you reopened the wound in your side by sitting up so fast."
I lay still, glancing down at my bandaged side. "How...How long have I been asleep?"
"Nearly eight days have passed since you were shot." Father admitted.
"Hevar? What happened to him?"
"He is in Anubis' Realm now, think of him no more." He reached over and poured a glass of water from a pitcher, then helped me sit up - but not all the way. "Drink this."
I drunk gladly, though I was slightly annoyed that he held the glass for me as though I were a child. Still, I was tired by the simple actions of sitting up to drink, and I lay back down with a heavy sigh. "I'm still so tired."
"The physicians gave you medicine to help the pain, they will make you weary. Sleep."
"I'm not that tired..." I whispered, but even as I said it, I was falling into a dreamless sleep.
My father was gone, but my maids were there when I awoke next. I was hungry, but the physicians said I had to start with soup, not solid food. I felt as though I would waste away for real food. For a week I saw no one but Father, my maids, and the physicians that were there to tend to me. I was gaining strengh slowly, but I still felt weak. Then, shortly after the physicians had left one day, the leader of our bodyguards came in. He ordered the maids out, but did not speak right away. He watched me with a frown.
"You acted bravely." He told me.
I was surprised to see him, since I'd spoken to him only once or twice, and always outside the palace. "I'm not so sure I'd call it brave." I told him.
"Good, because it was also foolish." He began to pace the floor. His words stung, but I couldn't find it in me to be angry over them. I'd been thinking the same thing. "We would not have failed in our duty, Amenutept would not have been shot."
"I only made things worse, didn't I?" I asked quietly.
He nodded. "Your loyalty is commendable, Lady Yshta, but your actions were misplaced. It is a guard's duty to die for the Pharaoh, not a Queen's."
I hesitated, thinking. "I have no wish to repeat what happened. I reacted without thinking, I'll try not to do so again. I'm not positive I can, though."
"Then you must learn, too. More than once has an attempt been made on Amenutept's life, but not one has succeeded. We do our job well, don't belittle our ability. Our Pharaoh is furious enough this occcured. Your injury is no doubt an added strain on him."
I felt guilty that so many people had worried about me. I nodded my agreement to what he said. "Why has he not come to see me?" I queried.
The guard hesitated, frowning again. "He has his reasons. Ask them of him."
I intended to do just that..
But Amenutept did not come to visit me. I waited, and waited, but he did not come. My injury was healing faster than the phsycians had anticipated, but it seemed painfully slow to me. My strength was growing again, but I still wearied easily.
One week passed, then two. Still Amenutept did not come. I couldn't take it anymore. I decided to see him. My maid's were under strict orders not to let me wander the palace yet, but I was determined. I sent them to ready a bath for me, and prepare one of my outfits. The moment they entered the next room, I was out the door. I knew the way to Amenutept's quarters, I'd dined with him within their walls a few times. At first I ran up the corridors, but my breath was soon ragged, and my strength sapped. I walked then, but I refused to turn back. The guards in front of Amenutept's door looked at me in horror.
"Lady! You shouldn't be up and about!"
They expected me to stop, but I didn't. With my last ounce of strenght I burst into a run, and was through the doors before they could stop me. Amenutept was inside, reading a scroll. He lept to his feet, eyes wide, as the guards burst through. "What is going on here?" He demanded.
"We-we don't know, sir!" One stuttered. "She just showed up at the door -"
"We need to speak." I ciut him off.
Amenutept turned an angry gaze on me. My throat suddenly felt dry, and my heart hammered in my chest even more painfully then it already was from my exertion. "Leave us." He demanded of the guards. They were quick to comply. "Sit." I shook my head. "Sit!" He snapped out.
He'd never taken such a tone with me. I bristled, my own anger rising. I didn't sit. "Why haven't you come to see me?" I demanded.
"I've been busy." He set the scroll he still held down with a loud bang. "And I gave you an order - Sit Down. Now."
"I will not sit down!" I shouted.
"You should not be up! I gave strict orders that you were to stay in your room until healed!"
"Then why haven't you come to see me??" I demanded. "I -"
"Nearly killed yourself with your headstrong nature!" He cut me off, and began to pace the room. "You acted foolishly, and without a second thought to the consequences of your actions. You could now lie dead, but by sheer luck you do not."
Though the army leader had spoken much the same ideas to me, I had not been angry with him. Nor had his words hurt me, because I understood the truth in them. A part of me still understood them, but for some reason hearing Amenutept speak to me such made the very breath in my lungs painful. "I was thinking of you! I feared Hevar would kill you!"
"I was protected." Amenutept replied.
"Oh? Then how did he get so close with a bow and arrow in the first place!" I asked, and was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath. I'd obviously hit a nerve.
"TIme will tell, but such matters are beyond you."
"Are they?" I sneered. "It seems much is beyond me. If my "headstrong nature" is such a trial, perhaps you should not have chosen me as your bride!"
Amenutept stared at me for a moment, as if debating about something. Then his eyes hardened again. "This is neither the time or place to speak of such matters. Go to your room and stay there until the physicians have said you may leave."
"There need not be such matters to discuss. If I am such a burden, you need not keep me. I am leaving." I turned to the door.
"You will not leave!" His voice rang out, and he was no longer merely angry - he was furious.
"If I am no longer welcome, I WILL leave." I whirled back. "What does it matter to you?"
"You are known now as my bride, and you will be my wife. Have you forgotten our deal?" He demanded.
"It seems I am not what you thought I was, or you wanted. Marriage seems to be a convenience to you and your nobles, they will think nothing of your dropping me."
"Me and my nobles?? ME AND MY NOBLES?! Do not compare me to those pompous nitwits! And you are not free from our deal, unless you wish to bear the punishment of your actions instead of the compensation I demanded."
"That choice is yours, oh great and wise Pharaoh, not mine." My voice dripped with sarcasm. "I care less about it then you."
He stiffened. "You lie. You saved my life."
"I would have done the same for another. You are nothing special to me."
Amenutept's face hardened into stone. "Get out."
"Gladly." I headed for the door.
"Yshta." His voice stopped me at the door. "Do not forget that I can punish not only you, but your father for stealing my chariot. You will return to your room, and not leave the palace. You are still to wed me as we bargained."
I did not turn back. I couldn't believe what was happening. "As you demand, my Pharaoh, I obey." My tone was pure venom. He said no more, and neither did I. I through open the doors; racing back to my room, not caring how painfully my running jarred my injured side. I slipped several times, nearly collapsing to the hard stone floor, but I kept running. I burst into my rooms, and threw myself to my bed, and then the tears came.
I must have sounded hysterical in my sobs, but I didn't care. I felt as though the world had collapsed about me. I wished I were dead.
Yshta
To Be Continued...
Bet you weren't expecting this, were you? Huh? Bet you were expecting the violan music. Well, I'd already been typical enough getting her shot!, so that has to wait!
And, before anyone flames poor Amenutept, try to think of things from both sides. Yshta said some cruel things, too. Don't worry, things won't stay like this between them for long.
Salmon