Tale 4. Forbidden Romance

This is actually a excerpt of a fanfic I was writing before but after a while the story line was so far away from what actually happened in the ancient Egypt arc that I quit. I didn't really know how it went when I first started writing.

The story explains why both Nahkti and Seto had tried to beat Atemu without my really knowing why. Both have to do with lost love and the whole story is drenched in romance, that's why it was called Pharonic romance. This is Nahkti's part of the story. If I had continued writing, he would have been trying to get revenge for Kuru Eruna and his lover who is OC in this story.

This was such a wonderfully written piece that I had to save it in the tales of a thief king.

Normal Nahkti POV

One day, I decided to take a little trip to the capitol, Memphis. I wasn't sure what it was but anything having to do with that sounded exciting and I was bored. I removed all my jewelry (the jewelry Maadrath keeps telling me will get me in trouble), and covered my face with a cloth.

It was after noon and I was walking down the side of the Nile, when I spied a girl. She was beautiful…mm, not beautiful, pretty and something drew me toward her.

"Hello, pretty flower!" I smiled.

She yelped. "Oh, sorry sir," she amended.

"It's alright," I said, trying to calm her down, "Did I startle you?"

She stared at me intently. I examined her. She was wearing clothes of fine cloth and elaborate jewelry. Oh! I saw the symbol of the king on one of her bracelets. She must be one of the queens maidservants! I could be in real trouble! But hey, I was a real sucker for pretty girls.

"What are you doing here alone?" I asked. I decided not to reveal what I thought she was and see if I could get it out of her so it wouldn't be too awkward. "Aren't you some nobleman's wife or royal servant or something? Shouldn't you run home before you get in trouble with you master or mistress?"

"Oh, I'm the Que…" She started. I knew what she was going to say but she stopped. "My mistress doesn't mind. I asked her this morning."

"Egypt's streets are full of thieves, pickpockets and murderers, in case you didn't know. They could hurt such a delicate little treasure like you!" And she was a beautiful treasure! Not like the feeling I had for Maadrath, different. I think… I think it wasn't lust… it was… love. I was head over heals in love with the Queen's maidservant. I was out of my mind! "Could I…" I began.

She giggled. "Sure! You can 'stay and protect me' from the 'thieves, pickpockets, and murderers'," She laughed.

I sat down next to her. She looked so perfect to me. Her long silky brown hair tumbling down her shoulders. Her eyes… "Does you master ever beat you?" I asked. I wondered if the Pharaoh treated his personal servants as badly as he did his people.

"Of course not!" She exclaimed, much to my surprise. "I hardly ever see him, though. I attend his wife."

"Hmm," I thought. I was dumb to think she knew these kind of things. She was probably just Queen Teanna's little pet or something. "How did you come to be in their service?" I asked.

"My master, or rather one of his servants, bought me at a market. My mistress took a liking to me and made me one of her personal slaves. I'm her favorite."

I smiled lightly under the cloth. The Queen's favorite slave… I could just imagine it! What was I doing, falling in love with some pampered palace girl but still her eyes, her huge honey colored eyes. I just couldn't look away. She couldn't just be some mindless servant. I had to know who she really was!

"Where did the people who sold you get you from? You must have a home!" Maybe I could help her get back to relieve the wrongs done to her.

She stared at me for a second as if wondering if I was crazy then shrugged and said, "Well, I don't really remember much. I was only seven or eight summers when I was captured. I lived in the desert. I think I was a Bedouin or something. I remember that some bad people came and captured my and killed my mother and father…"

Poor girl. Me too.

"… They were from and enemy tribe, I think. I believe my real name is Moon gazelle, but everyone here calls me Little Lotus."

"What a beautiful name," I replied dreamily. Moon Gazelle…

"They sold me to an Egyptian nobleman. He then sold me to my current master."

"Was he kind to you as well?" I asked, wondering.

"Well, not so much as my mistress is now, but he was fair."

I snuggled closer. The pain of the memories of Kuru Eruna made my eyebrows furrow. "The rich can be very inconsiderate of the poor, can't they?" I asked. Actually it was more a statement.

She stared at my face strangely again. "No, I don't think that all rich people are mean," She said finally.

"Most are though. You are very fortunate to have such a sheltering mistress," I replied. It was true. I knew how the Queen was. She was very gentle and kind but also stood up for what she believed in. That was why Pharaoh Atemu loved her so much. "My family was killed by a cruel ruler. He thought nothing of us."

"I-I'm sure he had a reason," She replied. Yeah, right, to make a group of evil pieces of gold that was their reason.

"Thanks for cheering me up!" She said, suddenly and gave me an affectionate hug.

Waves of love and passion swept over me. I started to blush. Our bodies were so close together. "Maybe, you just needed someone to love you," I replied, uncovering my face. I knew it was dangerous but I just had to kiss her. "Little Lotus," I whispered. Her name flowed like fresh wine. I kissed her lightly on the forehead and stroked that soft brown hair.

"Little Lotus!" A woman's voice rang out. Queen Teanna.

"I must go, my mistress is calling me!" She said, tearing away from me. "Tell me your name so I can find you again.

"Nahkti," I replied as I stood up then quickly realized my mistake.

"I'll try and find you again, Nahkti," She replied. She must have realized who I was because she screamed. I swear! They could have heard her in Ethiopia.

"You bitch! How could you!" I yelled idiotically at her. I saw some Medjai police heading toward me. They had probably heard her scream and came to investigate. I moaned and took off.

I had no idea what had drawn me to that girl. She was so beautiful, her light brown hair so soft. And she betrayed me. It was just like a girl to scream like that when startled. The Medjai police were on me like hounds on a gazelle. I ducked into an alley. A dead-end.

I moaned. Just then I heard a voice on the other side. Maadrath. "Hurry up you idiot!" She tossed a rope to the other side of the wall.

"Hey! When do you have right do you have to call the king of thieves an idiot?" I asked her.

"When he doesn't watch his back because of some girl with pretty eyes," She shot back.

"Who was that girl anyway?" Maadrath asked after I had climbed over.

"Well, she was trying to keep it from me but I'm pretty sure she's one of the queen's handmaidens. I mean, who doesn't know the queens voice much less me!" I replied.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right! I don't think the queen's handmaiden would be naïve enough to let the king of thieves touch her like that," Maadrath replied.

"She had no idea who I was until I told her," I explained. Maadrath could be very difficult at times.

"Well, next time you make out with one of the royal servants. Watch out. You are the most wanted man in Egypt," She practically scolded me. "You should be ashamed that a woman had to save your butt."

"A very talented woman," I complimented needlessly. She knew I was mad at her. And she knew I admired her.

"Come on, run faster. We have to get away or we're done for."

That night, I was unhappy. I wondered why. As I slept, I realized I missed Little Lotus. She was only a pampered palace servant! I scolded myself. But the harder I tried to forget, the longer I wished for Little Lotus' soft brown hair and wide honey-colored eyes. No wonder I had lost myself! The next morning, I formed a plan to see her again.

The next evening…

I just had to see her again and when I wanted my way, I got it. I went to the palace and bribed the guard with a hefty sum to let me in and tell me which window was Little Lotus'. The Pharaoh needed more loyal guards. I threw some stones at the windowsill. Little Lotus looked out. She was holding a hairbrush.

"Who's there?" She asked.

"Me!" I yelled up, "And for Set's sake, girl, don't scream again! You scared the wits out of me and I was almost captured as well!"

"Be quiet!" She yelled back down. Yeah, yeah, be quiet yourself, I thought. "How are you going to get up here? We can't yell all night!"

"Don't you think I came prepared?" I threw a rope up. The hook on it caught on the windowsill. "Will it hold?" I asked.

"Yes!" She yelled down.

I climbed up.

"Oh, Nahkti! What are you doing here? If anyone finds you then you will be in big trouble! I've seen what they do to tomb robbers and it's not pretty!" She whispered loudly at me.

"Yeah! And screaming when I told you who I was wasn't dangerous?" I replied dryly.

"It's just, just!" She said, wrapping her thin arms around me, "I love you!" She said. "Oh, I'm sorry about that," She quickly amended. "I'm sure the King of Thieves want nothing to do with a place servant."

"Naw, I love you too," I said, hugging her back, "Little fool, why do you think I gave the guard so much money to tell me where you were and just risked my life to see you? Huh? Huh?" I said.

"I, just, I couldn't stop thinking about you," She said.

"Neither could I. That's why I came to see you. That way my heart will stop over-beating. Will we be left alone here?" I asked.

"It's past hours. No one will come into my room, but promise me if someone does, no one will get hurt," She said.

"If?" I asked.

"I'm pretty sure no one will come," she assured.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you either, my beautiful Moon Gazelle," I said, stroking her long, soft, light brown hair.

"Just call me Little Lotus," She whispered in my ear.

"What will we do with ourselves?" I asked, "what will we do?"

"I know, you can't stay here forever and I can't go with you," She replied.

"Who said you couldn't come with me?" I asked suddenly, stepping back. "You could come join me and the other thieves!"

"That would be disloyal to my mistress and my master though!" I said.

"And talking with me in secret; in the middle of the night isn't?" I asked.

"Nahkti, I couldn't leave, it'd be, be… treason!" She protested.

"But I'm a traitor," I replied.

"You snake," She insulted fondly.

Suddenly, the door burst open. "You said no one would disturb us!" I whispered at her.

"Well I certainly didn't expect this!" She whispered back.

"Stop!" Yelled the queen. A few guards backed her.

Pfft! I thought. Like those pathetic guards could do anything to me! "Die!" I yelled at them as I charged. As I was about to draw my sword, Little Lotus threw herself against me.

"No!" She yelled at me and pounded at my chest. She did little more than a butterfly, but I didn't want to hurt the pretty thing's feelings.

"What?" I whispered at her.

"You said no one would get hurt!" She whispered back, fiercely.

"You got off lucky this time," I said putting an arm around Little Lotus, "But you will all die the next time you see me!" I said, and jumped out the window.

I covered Little Lotus's mouth as she screamed. I caught a windowsill and then dropped to the ground. I jerked the roped down and ran.

"Wait!" She yelled, "Where are you taking me?"

"You little idiot!" I replied, "What do you think? If they find you, they'll charge you for treason! The queen saw fair well what we were doing! I'm saving you from execution. Now hurry!"

We ran as fast as we could. At the edge of the town, Little Lotus collapsed.

"Weakling," I muttered under my breath. I picked up Little Lotus and slung her over my shoulder and kept running. Soon she was asleep.

I kept running for a long time. I stopped sometime at midmorning and found a cave to rest. I took a long nap. I woke due to Little Lotus shaking me.

"W-where are we Nahkti?" She asked, with a confused look on her pretty face.

"H-hmm?" I asked her, "Look around. Where do you think we are, idiot?"

She practically had a fit. "What? You brought me to the desert? So is this where the King of Thieves hides? It can't be here!"

"Pfft! Yeesh! You really think I live here do you, girl? Well, for your information, and you'd better not give it away to just anyone, my hideout is in my abandoned hometown of Kuru Eruna and that is where we're headed right now."

"But, but! Nahkti! I told you, I can't go anywhere with you!" She started to sob.

I was really getting fed up with her. "Fine!" I exclaimed, "I'll send you gift-wrapped back to the palace so they can kill you. Is that what you want? Huh? Huh?" She tried to stop crying and I grabbed her. "Come on! We've got to keep moving!"

Sometime around noon, she complained of being thirsty.

"Why do I even bother?" She had to figure out what was going on! She wasn't in a palace anymore. We stopped at another cave. I brought her to the back of it and told her to dig. There was plenty of water underground. Let her work for it if she wanted it so bad!

She stared at me confusedly but started digging anyway. She was soon tired. Augh! She was so slow that I was getting thirsty myself.

"Hurry up! Dig faster! I thought you were thirsty!" I shouted but pulled her aside and started digging myself anyway. My large hands and strong arms dug much faster and soon water began to pool at the bottom of the hole. I drank some and wiped my mouth. Then I went to the front of the cave and laid down.

I watched as Little Lotus drank some of the water. She tasted it… but to my surprise she spat it out. Ungrateful wench! What did she want? Fine wine? I raised an eyebrow at her.

She looked apologetic and turned around and drank some of it. She didn't spit it out this time but she made it look like she was drinking garbage.

"Now can we move?" I asked.

"Mhm!" She replied.

"Good, then let's keep moving."

We kept the pace up for several days. Dragging Little Lotus across the Egyptian desert was hopeless. She whimpered and cried and said she was thirsty. She didn't appreciate anything and moaned about how she wished she could go back to the palace.

I nearly lost my love for her but at night my passion all came back. She would snuggle me and wrap her arms around my body and let me kiss her. She felt so small and so delicate but she was adjusting. She could walk farther than before and even her smooth white skin was browning. If only she would give up her stupid loyalty she could be useful parts of my plans.

But on the fifth day she complained more than usual but we were almost to Kuru Erua. She couldn't give up now. But when we were in the caves at noon she fell asleep. When I went over to wake her up I felt her skin and she was hot, burning hot. I jerked away. She was sick with a fever. Perhaps I had pushed her too hard or something. I didn't know what to do. I got some water and pulled a strip off the bottom of my robe and soaked it in it. I put the wet cloth on her forehead and decided to rest there until night. I re-soaked the cloth every half-hour but her fever didn't die much. When it was night I decided to carry her outside.

"N-Nahkti?" She asked, her eyes fluttering open. "Do we have to keep going now?"

"Sh-shh," I said and put a finger on her lips. "You're sick and we are outside. Does the night air make you feel any better?"

"Are we close to Kuru Eruna?"

"We are close. We'll be there soon. Would it make you feel any better if we kept moving?"

"Yes, actually it would."

"Alright, alright." I picked her up and carried her. She soon fell asleep again. We traveled all-night and stopped at another cave in the morning.

Around noon she woke up again. "D-do you have anything to eat?" She asked me. I gritted my teeth. Our food supply had worn out long ago. I hadn't planned this and there had only been a couple small loves in my robe with me. I stepped outside. Nothing. How could anything live here… except a hunted animal, a thief on the run? Me, an exile.

"I'm sorry, I don't have any food." I put an arm around her and lift her toward me. I was a fool. Little Lotus had been right. She couldn't go with me. She was hotter than the day before and getting hotter by the hour. She was burning up and I couldn't do a thing about it. "I-I'm sorry… so sorry for bringing you here."

Suddenly I felt a nudge against my chin and lips. Little Lotus was kissing me! She had never done it on her own I always started. "I love you," she said.

"Oh I love you… I love you Moon Gazelle… Little Lotus," I replied back.

I can't say…no, I won't say what happened then, but I'll just say, I didn't have Little Lotus anymore and it still haunts me. Maadrath still mocks me about it. She doesn't realize how deep this was… but I will, never, never forget Moon Gazelle. My beautiful Shari.