Stealing a Heart
Neferi: I'm partying, it's my b-day, let's party, it's my b-day!
Amara: She's hyper.
Bakura: She won't be for long, once I remind her she starts school this Friday.
Neferi: Yeah, I do, so let's see if I update faster.
Disclaimer: I don't own YGO but I do own Amara.
Chapter sixteen: The Mission
Amara woke up the next day as Ra' (the sun) rose in the sky. She stood up from the bed she slept in the Pharaoh's chambers, and walked over to the balcony. Outside, she gazed at the colors that adorned the sky as Ra' ascended to make his journey through the heavens once again as he did each day.
'The sky looks so beautiful' she thought as a smile graced her lips.
Though the smile soon faded as her mind drifted to the events that had occurred during the night.
'Semertep escaped' she thought as she then gazed at the waters of the Nile that were some meters away from the palace walls 'I let him get away again'.
She closed her eyes and sighed 'I must do something about it, otherwise my Pharaoh will be in great danger yet again, but what could I do?'.
No ideas came to her mind as she kept her eyes closed and a sweet breeze caressed her face. Suddenly a pair of strong and male arms wrapped around her waist and she felt a warm breathing on her left ear.
"Good morning Amara" Yami's voice whispered softly into her left ear.
The girl smiled and rested her head back in Yami's chest as she gazed at Ra' yet again. Her hands rested on top of his as his lips kissed her left cheek gently.
"Good morning Yami, how are you this morning?" she murmured softly.
"I am all right, though I do not think the same of you, something troubles your mind, what ails you?" he retorted softly as he pressed his cheek against hers.
"The fact that Semertep escaped" Amara answered "And I didn't stop him".
"There is no need to worry" Yami smiled "He will be stopped, I assure you".
Amara sighed softly and smiled, eased by Yami's assurance.
"We better prepare for the day" she said.
She heard Yami chuckle softly "And break up this little moment we're sharing? I don't think so".
"Well I sure do, you have a lot of work to do" Amara retorted as she moved away "I will take my leave and join you for breakfast, farewell".
She walked into the chamber and towards the door. Then she walked out. Some time later Amara found herself eating breakfast with Yami in the Dinning Hall.
"Pharaoh, we have terrible news!" Shimon, Pharaoh's most trusted counselor, told him as he entered the Hall running.
"What is it Shimon?" Yami asked as he looked at the shorter man stand by his chair.
"The Nubians are all gone!" Shimon exclaimed.
"The Nubians in the palace?" Yami said "Then I don't have to worry much for their leave".
"No! All the Nubians! They are gone from Egypt!" Shimon retorted, seemingly desperate.
"What?" Yami said, looking seriously at Shimon "Are you serious?".
"Yes, I heard it say from many merchants, nobles, priests and servants that they saw a large group of Nubians riding out of Egypt early this morning" Shimon answered "I am afraid that they are all gone".
Yami looked at Amara, who had stopped eating as soon as she had heard the news, and was gazing at him with worry. He knew what she was thinking.
"He's planning something, something big" she said as she set a goblet on the table.
"What should I tell to those who ask me? Shall I tell them the truth about Semertep?" asked Shimon looking at Yami with worry also.
"Yes, tell them the truth and that they should be careful when they see any suspicious activity around" Yami answered looking at Shimon "You may retire now".
Shimon nodded and after making a reverence, he left. Then Amara spoke up her mind.
"Yami, we have to find out what is Semertep up to" she said looking at him.
"I know but I just can't send a troop to spy on the Nubian land" Yami retorted.
"Of course not, but you can however, send me instead" Amara said "I am a thief, I know how to handle this sort of thing".
"Amara, I can't risk your life on this" Yami said.
"I am risking my life in being your protector" Amara retorted "Let me go and I assure you that I shall return with the information we need".
"Amara, I don't know…" Yami said as he leaned back on his chair and placed a hand on his temples.
"Listen, I am the best option you have, and you know it" the girl told him "So give me permission".
Yami sighed and finally said "Very well, you shall go".
Amara smiled "I promise I won't let you down Yami".
After they had eaten breakfast, Yami made sure that Amara got everything she needed for the trip to Nubia and back. She acquired a fast horse, a sword, some daggers and a bow and arrows, which she would leave in her horse. Then she packed away some food for herself and something for her horse. At noon, she was ready to part.
"Well, I better part Yami, see you later" she said before she mounted her horse.
She found herself in a warm embrace of the young Pharaoh and a fervent kiss given by him.
"Promise me that you will be careful" Yami whispered to her.
"Of course" she assured him.
He helped her climb her horse and looked up at her.
"May the gods protect you" he told her before the girl parted.
Amara found no obstacles in the desert as she rode towards the Nubian territory. At dusk she had arrived the foreign land.
'Well, here it is' she thought as she halted her horse outside of the territory, behind the walls of the small palace belonging to the ruler of such country.
"Stay here and try not to make some noise, all right?" she told her horse as she caressed his head.
The brown horse looked at her with his brown eyes and Amara noticed he had understood.
'Here I go' she thought as she looked at the wall.
She jumped over the wall and landed in the gardens of the small palace, behind some trees.
'I see no guards around so I can move towards the doors swiftly and without being seen' she thought as she gazed at the doors of the garden that gave entrance to the palace 'They are just a few meters away from here'.
As she started to move forward to the doors, she caught a glimpse of two guards coming towards the garden, walking down the corridor she was going to take when she walked inside. She gasped, and quickly moved back to her hideout, hoping none of them had seen her.
"Hey, I think I saw something move behind the trees in the garden" the tallest of the guards said as he and his companion entered the garden.
"Let's check it out just in case" his companion said.
Both of them walked over to the trees as Amara moved cat-like to hide behind the bushes that were some feet away from the trees, in a corner of the garden that was dark. When she had reached them, she lay down on the ground to keep herself away from view, and hoped she wouldn't be seen. She heard the footsteps of the guards stop in front of the trees.
"I don't see anything" said the short guard as he looked at the trees "Maybe it was a cat or something".
"Yeah, I think you're right, perhaps I drunk too much tonight" said the tall guard.
The two looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"Come on, let's finish keeping our watch" said the short guard.
Amara heard them both walking away, chatting about a woman one of them had seen in a bar. When she was sure they were completely gone, she sat down and peered above the bushes. The garden was in complete silence.
'I better be careful because if I get busted…' she preferred not to finish her thought as she traveled behind the bushes and trees in the garden towards the doors.
Making sure no one was watching, she moved cat-like again and entered the corridor.
'From now on, I have to be extremely careful and take in all my surroundings for places to hide' she thought as she advanced down the corridor towards where she supposed the ruler of the country was, the Great Hall.
She stopped dead on her tracks when she heard a group of voices approaching her behind her. Amara quickly looked around and found some columns at her left, which she used to hide herself from view. She picked up the column that was in the darkest place of the corridor. Soon she saw a group of guards coming into view, and she could notice they were all drunk.
'What kind of palace has their own guards drunk and sends them to keep watch?' Amara questioned herself as she watched them silently from behind the column she was hidden.
Then, their conversation caught her attention.
"Good celebration the ruler gave us since tomorrow we will invade Egypt and destroy it" said a medium height man as he walked along with two companions, holding a bottle of rum in his right hand.
Amara's eyes narrowed 'They're going to what? Oh no! This is terrible!'.
"Yeah, and all the Nubian army is going to participate, since the leader of the movement in Egypt was our ruler himself" said the guard standing at the left of the one that had spoken first.
The third one suddenly stumbled and fell onto the floor.
"Hehehe, oops!" he said, as he smiled drunkenly.
The other two tried to help him get up but ended falling onto the ground like his companion.
'Gods, these guards are so pathetic' Amara thought bitterly 'I better go'.
Knowing they wouldn't see her, she walked out of her hideout and ran down the corridor swiftly. She entered the garden again and jumped over the wall, landing on her horse. She gave him a kick and he started running. Unfortunately, Amara was unaware that someone was watching her from a balcony above the garden, and it was Arion himself.
"So Pharaoh has sent a spy, how interesting" he murmured "I trust she already knows what she needed so I'll give Yami a little surprise, I'll hurry up my plans and attack sooner than what he expects".
Meanwhile, back in Egypt, Yami was lying on his bed, silently gazing at the ceiling, thinking about Amara. How was she? Was she all right? Was she safe? Had she been captured? All these questions flooded his mind as he shifted on the bed to rest on his left side, gazing at the door of his chamber.
'I do hope she will soon return to me, I have something to ask her' he thought.
Slowly, he let the tiredness overcome him and he drifted off to sleep. A few hours before Ra' rose in the sky, he was awakened by someone shaking him violently.
"Wake up!" Amara's voice yelled as she kept on shaking him.
"All right, all right, I'm awake, what's the matter?" he said as he sat down and tried to rid himself of his sleep.
"By the way, I'm back if you haven't noticed" she told him "But the important thing is, the Nubian army is planning on attacking Egypt today! You have to put your troops ready!".
"What?!" said Yami, becoming fully awake when he heard the words 'attacking Egypt today'.
"Just as I am telling you! Now get yourself out of the bed and start preparing!" Amara retorted as she pulled him out of bed "Hurry up!".
"Have you informed anyone of this?" Yami asked as Amara turned around and let him change his clothes.
"Of course, I told your commander, he must be gathering the army right now" Amara answered as she crossed her arms.
"Good, that will save us some time" Yami said as he walked over to her "Come on, we have an army to get ready for battle".
Taking her hand, they both walked away to reunite with the commander.
Meanwhile, in Nubia, everything was ready to travel to Egypt and conquer the country.
"We are all gathered here to conquer Egypt, to free ourselves from its hands that might soon grasp our land" announced Arion to his army "Are you all with me?".
The cries of 7,000 soldiers replied in agreement.
"Then let's march together to victory!" yelled Arion as he raised his sword high in the air while mounting on his horse.
"Yeah!" his soldiers cried out holding up their weapons.
Then Arion rode forth, accompanied by Semertep and followed by their army.
The battle for Egypt would soon begin.
Neferi: End of chappie!
Amara: Yes, now let's see what happens next!
Bakura: ANNOUNCEMENT: Stealing a Heart will be ending in the next chapter, just so that you know it.
Neferi: That's right.
Amara: Please review and keep reading!