Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Chapter 3

Although the storm clouds were mostly gone, Harachte's light couldn't reach into the little valley between the hills were the future High Priest and Pharaoh of Egypt were hiding, resting against one of the stony walls next to each other. None of them had found sleep anymore that night. The wind rushing around crevices and corners had created eerie howling sounds that not seldom made the priest jump to his feet, looking around for potential attackers.

But now silence filled their hiding place and a faint golden glimmer of sunlight could be seen on the opposite stonewall.

With a sigh Seth got up, walking over to Sitah and Athak, patting their necks, then taking the heavy packs off their backs.

"Have a rest now", he said, staring deeply into Sitah's calm, brown eyes, as if he could read in them what the camel might be thinking, "You'll have to carry this on soon enough"

Then he started to open the bags, checking the contents carefully, laying items out all around himself.

Atemu watched quietly for a while, then went over to help his priest, but at that time Seth had already finished his work, sitting back, brows drawn together in concentration.

After a minute of silence he looked at Atemu gravely, telling him,

"We lost few of our food supplies, no water, thankfully. I can't find some items that could have been quite useful, but aren't essential. I managed to take the whole shelter down, only one pole is lost somewhere in the sand. We can replace it easily. The problem is, we're missing one blanket. Rather, we'll be missing it at nightfall."

Atemu bent his head, opening his mouth to apologize, but Seth cut him off.

"I don't want to hear any more apologies. What happend, happened, and we can't change the past. I don't need a blanket, my robes are warm enough."

This time Atemu protested,

"Your clothes are just as warm as mine! Don't be proud and stubborn this time, alright? Let us share what we have, the blanket's large enough for both of us."

Seth's eyes had widened ever so slightly.

"But my pharaoh..." he started, but Atemu stopped him with a wave of his hand,

"Forget that title, Seth, forget the conventions and rules you learned in the palace. This is just us, me and you. We aren't pharaoh and high priest here, we're comrades. We will share the blanket."

Seth opened his mouth, then shut it again, looking away. Atemu smiled. Then he turned to look at the sun,

"What do you think, Seth? Is it time to go on?"

The High Priest gazed at the sun as well, shielding his eyes.

"I think it is."

"Then let's go"

"Why did you stop? Is that not the right way?"

The High Priest was anxious, eyebrows drawn together again, thinking hard.

"I think it is, my prince, but I am not as sure as I used to be yesterday. I think we have to take the risk and follow the road for a few miles."

Atemu was ready to protest but then bit his lip and looked down again. Seth watched this in surprise. Then Atemu nodded.

"You know best, I will follow you"

Seth turned to face him, ducking a bit to be able to look into his eyes, putting his hands onto the prince's shoulders,

"I could never betray you, believe me."

"I know"

Atemu nodded decisively. The priest let go of him and they mounted the camels again.

On the road they gained speed. The camels seemed relieved to feel hard ground under their hooves again and the spirits of the travellers lifted. After a while Seth was quietly humming one of the ancient temple songs the priests were chanting on and off. Atemu knew it and joined in. Soon they were singing, Seth's adolescent baritone mixing beautifully with Atemu's boy soprano. They laughed, the melody carrying them away, the hot sun forgotten.

Suddenly Seth stopped in the middle of the song, bringing Athak to a stop. Atemu turned Sitah and stared back alarmed. Seth's whole body was rigid and he was listening in concentration.

There was silence. The prince broke it, whispering,

"Hooves! Someone's riding up to us!"

"We have to hide."

Seth quickly scanned their surroundings.

"Dunes to the left. They can hide the camels. We have to be as careful and silent as possible!"

They hurried over to the dunes, making the camels lie down, settling between the animals, listening with bated breaths.

A caravan was riding along the road. There were at least twenty camels, walking in a row, but in between them there was a sedan, strangely placed on a cart that was drawn by four horses, another horse riding next to it, carrying a young man. He didn't look much older than Seth, but his hair was blonde and unruly. He was talking to someone inside of the sedan, occasionally laughing. As the caravan passed the dunes, Seth and Atemu got the chance look inside of the cart.

There was a young woman, no, a girl. She was certainly younger than Atemu. Her hair was brown and wavy, her eyes gentle, and she smiled at the man riding with her.

The sedan was ornated beautifully, gold and emeralds matching the girl's attire.

They quickly passed them by, but the two travellers waited another ten minutes in silence, until the sounds had faded. The sun was high and the heat around them was sizzling.

Still none of them got up. Finally, Seth turned to his prince.

"You know who that was, don't you, my pharaoh?"

Atemu was staring at the road.

"Of course", he said quietly, "That was the bride my father chose for me."

There was tense silence until Seth spoke up again,

"Do you regret your decision to leave the palace now you have seen her?"

Abruptly, Atemu turned and stared at him,

"No, never!"

"But don't you think her beautiful?"

The prince bent his head, a faint blush on his cheeks.

Prayer of Seth to Amun Re

Mighty father of gods, if thoughts are sins as the old use to tell us, this must be one of the worst. I should be the one blushing. How dare I feel like this?

Holy Re, my soul is betraying me as it has never done before. I always was a loyal servant to my king, a good kinsman, a protector. How dare I be....jealous.

Yes, I admit it, I am. Never in my life have I known this feeling, this nagging pain in my heart that makes me want to glare and hurt in response.

And if jealousy is no sin, then it must be a sin to feel like this about your pharaoh and cousin. Because the problem is, I'm jealous of that innocent, laughing girl, that could so easily have this blushing boy in front of me....

End of Prayer

"No"

"Excuse me?"

"No, I don't think she is beautiful"

"...But you'll think so in a few years, trust me. When both of you are older"

Atemu refused to look at his priest,

"I'm old enough to think like that about others. But not about girls. There are no girls that can satisfy my heart"

"But you could have all the girls in the whole Palace! You could look at all the girls from thousands of other kingdoms and choose the one you like best!"

"No, you don't understand"

Atemu bit his lip, before continuing, insecure,

"I don't want any women. I know what attraction feels like, but I don't feel it when I look at women."

Prayer of Atemu to Amun Re

Oh Re, why is this so difficult?? I entrusted my deepest, darkest secrets to him and he never once scorned me for that. Is it because this involves him more than I dare to think?

Re, is it a sin to feel like this? If it is a sin, why did you curse me with it?

Why does my heart beat as it did when I had run up from the Nile to the Palace as a child?

I want to tell him everything, every single thought I've ever had, and yet I feel so tainted, so wrong. I don't think I can. But it is driving me crazy.

Mighty Re, please help me.

End of Prayer

"Atemu?....Do you mean you feel it...with men instead?"

The answer was barely a whisper,

"...Yes. Yes I do. Please, Seth, don't hate me because of it"

"But Atemu, how could I ever hate you!! You did nothing wrong"

"But isn't it wrong for a pharaoh, the son of Horus?" Atemu asked, uncertain.

"I do not know, my prince. I only know that all you are, all you have comes from the gods. They alone know how to judge what is right and what is wrong. You are the child of Horus, you alone might find out the god's will. I learned to trust my own judgement of my feelings. Not all of them I think to be due, but the one you were talking about always seemed right to me. I don't think the gods would punish me for my love."

Atemu's mouth fell open, his eyes wide,

"You mean you..."

"I will never marry a woman either."

Confidence was in Seth's eyes, passing over from him onto the young pharaoh. Suddenly Atemu threw his arms around him.

"Thank you so much, my priest"

Seth awkwardly put his arms around him, murmuring,

"For what, my prince?"

"For being there"

When the night fell they had built up their shelter again, in a place that seemed good to both of them. There was no storm and the blanket was warm enough for both of them, lying close together, yet facing away from each other. There were content smiles on both their faces.

Author's Notes:

I'm sure you've guessed the identities of the princess from Nubia and her guardian...I know Nubian people usually have very dark skin, but since this is a Yugioh FanFiction I thought I had to involve some more original characters.

Not much else to say, fluff coming with the missing blanket ;)

Thanks to all those who reviewed!! I couldn't reach some of you via mail, so I have to thank you this way. Hope you like this too.

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