Alrighty, I'm mostly posting this to calm those who have been reading my other story (next week I'll update!)

However, this story is not a one-shot chapter will be posted every week or two (depending on how much time I have after I write a chapter on Destinies Intertwined and how my homework looks)

Sorry this chapter is a bit boring, but I had to do character development in order for this story to work. After this chapter things get more exciting.

Enjoy!

Persian.

Persian.

Persian, Persian, Persian! Oh how she loathed that word. That simple proper adjective had caused her so much strife. Abuse at home and abroad, scorn in her new home, difficulty in finding a reasonable job; all of her troubles came down to one, and only one, word- Persian.

It wasn't her fault she was born a Princess, it wasn't her fault her father- no that was too painful to dwell on. So here she was, trapped in a new land with no money and no contacts. Only her ka, ba, and oh, what was it again... It didn't matter, she was not Egyptian no matter how hard she tried to pretend she was.

At 14 she had already adopted a new culture- heck she's even started to believe in their gods. Not that they were a strict people when it came to which gods to worship...

And for what?

She had left behind the lap of luxury for the dusty Egyptian streets. No one cared about her in her new "home"- here she was a foreigner to be spit at.

Sighing, Alisa kicked a small mound of dirt in her path. Pushing aside her more depressing thoughts, she thought of the young Pharaoh, Atemu. Though he may have been one of the most cold-hearted, uncaring jerks ever to sit at the throne (so she'd heard) he was supposedly quite a looker. Being only 16, the Pharaoh had many young women admirers. Atemu had no sisters, and his mother had already died, so it was undecided who he should marry. Many a time Alisa had heard young maidens of the town quietly giggling in little gaggles, eyes shooting right and left to check for one of the guards for fear of being caught and killed.

Alisa just couldn't see how a girl could be "in love" with out ever even seeing the object of her affection. Must be her foreign raising showing through again... but then, her father had always tried to squash the notion of love out of Alisa, so maybe she was just different than the masses. Sighing again, Alisa thought of the home she's lost. Carolyn. She missed Carolyn so much, it physically hurt to think of her. Carolyn, or Harry, as Alisa had given her friend as a nickname, had been Alisa's best friend and only confident in her lost pomp and circumstance world.

Looking up past her sunburnt cheecks, Alisa gazed into the Egyptian sun thinking things could only get worse.

Pharaoh. He hated being Pharaoh and showed that clearly to everyone around him. At only 12 his father had been assasinated, shoving him into the throne. His best freind and cousin, Seth has also been forced into a high position too early in life, being the new Pharaoh's high priest.

It wasn't fair. He was supossed to be the most powerful man in the world- a god even- and yet he couldn't control his own life. Sure he had the power over every other person in the kingdom, but for himself -zero.

Atem sighed, gazing around at his counsel. Not many of them could be counted as friends. Mana and Mahaado's were trusted friends, Seth was his best friend, and three were indifferent to the Pharaoh. Atemu was sure one of them helped assassinate his father and with a shred of evidence he would have him murdered in the more gruesome way possible. Undoubtably he and another two counsel members were already plotting Atemu's death. One member suspiciously looked like Atemu's grandfather who had disappeared without a trace just after Atemu was born. Many thought the grandfather to be dead, but the Pharaoh believed his grandpa was watching over him from the inner circle.

All that history aside, it still came down to one thing- this meeting was boring.

Why could he not be a normal teenager and court females as he pleased. Atemu hated the counsel bringing him foreign princesses who were more after his position than him. The Princess from Persia , daughter of Xerxes II, was supossed to be here today, but yesterday a messanger from Xerxes had arrived, bearing news that the trip had been canceled due to illness. Personally Atemu was glad not to have to entertain her for weeks or months while she stayed enjoying his treasures. His counsel however had a whole different opinion on the matter.

"War!" the high advisers had cried to punish Xerxes II for letting down the Pharaoh. Atemu had not revealed his true feelings in the matter, but put down their war plan by pointing out the Egypt, Aigyptos in Greek, or Kemet (the "black land") in their native tounge had no need of wasting recources on a frivolous war. Yet the counsel insisted on action.

So here they were 24 hours later, still debating on the subject. It didn't matter to them that the Pharaoh had already made up his mind.

Tuning out the shouting voices, Atemu looked out the window into the blazing sun, thinking things could only get worse.

Alisa was hungry. She hadn't eaten since yesterday morning and the sun Ra was only two hours from dissapearing below the horizon to his nightly battle against the snake.

Glancing around at the fruit stands, Alisa dug in her pockets. Unfortunately, there was still no money there. Her stomach growled yet again leading her thoughts to stealing...

Alisa knew it was wrong. It went against her breeding, but yet starving to death was also not an option. Losing her hands if she got caught didn't even occur to the woman.

Making up her mind, Alisa headed to the richest part of town. Their carts could stand missing a few pieces fo fruit, where as the poor may starve to death themselves if she took any.

What naive little 14 year-old Alisa didn't know was that the richest sections of the market were also the most heavily guarded.

This led to little, not so naive anymore 14 year-old Alisa sitting in an alley between biuldings listening to two soliders debating her fate.

"Let's just chop off her hands and be done with it."

"But she's female."

"Women are capable of offending the gods too."

"And she can't be older than 10. A mere child."

Alisa scowled. Sure she was short, but she wasn't THAT vertically challenged.

"If you're that insistent that this girl is above the law, take her to the Pharoah.."

I wrote this over a month ago, but it's kinda funny how some of the stuff in the chapter came to be in my life.

Also, if you can think of a better name and/or summary for this story PLEASE tell me, I'm SO bad at naming and summaries.

Or fanart, I love that stuff too.

This button says "click me!"