I don't own Night at the Museum
USE THIS IDEA: Wow that is an excellent idea! Thank you so much for the suggestion, however I am going to use it a little later in the story.
EgyptianAngel: Thank you for the review. I wouldn't become too comfortable with Neferet yet but we'll see how she acts throughout the story :D Hope you enjoy!
Popcorn: Thank you for the review. Ahkmenrah is a very nice and humble pharaoh but sometimes that can lead to trouble
Ancient Egypt 1991 B.C.
A week had passed ever since Neferet had arrived to the palace and with each passing day Ahkmenrah felt that they were coming closer to their wedding day. According to his parents, they had agreed for the wedding to take place. Thinking about the wedding made him feel a bit nervous, but he felt that he should just get over this feeling. It was normal for a man to feel this way just before their marriage. Then again, he had spent as much time as he could with Neferet, except in the afternoons when he would spend some time with his father who was trying to prepare as best as he could in being a pharaoh. At least the two of them had the night to themselves.
At this certain moment he was walking with his father throughout the kingdom, taking in each and every word that his father said. Sometimes, Ahkmenrah's mind would wander over to Neferet, thinking about what she was doing and how she was passing her time. "Ahkmenrah are you listening?" his father halted his lecture and looked over at his son.
"Hmm?" Ahkmenrah dismissively said before uttering a 'yes.'
Pharaoh Merenkahre let out a sigh at his son's response. "I know that you are awaiting to be with your wife but you really need to heed my words. This is the most crucial week for you and I want to ensure that you are more than prepared for what is to come on your wedding day and the future for the kingdom of Memphis."
"I am very sorry father," Ahkmenrah apologized, "it's just that all this time has passed since I have been with Neferet and I just want to be with her every moment."
His father smiled when his son said that, "that's how I felt about your mother," he told him, "but you must be patient. All good things will come your way."
Ahkmenrah gave his father a nod as well his full attention before the lessons commenced once more. His father stopped by the balcony of the palace and looked overhead at the horizon where he took in the clear blue sky, the sands and pyramids, and the village where his people lived. "Once you're married, all of this will belong to you," he said to Ahkmenrah as the young pharaoh turned his eyes and took in the beautiful panorama.
Not just mine but my wife's too Ahkmenrah added. He looked overhead and felt the bright sun rays blanketing over his face, as if Ra was welcoming him as the new pharaoh of Memphis. It's going to happen soon he reassured himself you just need to be ready and brave. With those thoughts in his mind, he pulled away from the balcony and followed his father who had been waiting for him.
In her room, Neferet was lying down on her armchair as Zhara slathered scented lavender oil on her body. It had been hours since Ahkmenrah had left her alone and she felt herself getting bored as the time passed. Her cat was curled up on her bed slumbering for long hours while Zhara constantly asked her questions about what she wanted. Neferet did not know if this was her way of entertainment but she knew that it was easily striking her nerves.
"Shall I get you anything to eat?" Zhara asked.
"For the last time," Neferet spoke, "no."
Zhara finished oiling the princess and walked over to look at her in the face. "I am sorry for being such a bother but I want you to feel comfortable being here, almost as if you are back home."
"That is kind of you but it will never be how my home was before I left. You do not need to try to make me feel at home. All it matters is your friendly company," Neferet smiled at her and she could feel the muscles on Zhara's anxious face starting to relax."So what have we planned for today?" she asked as she got up from her armchair and paced about the room.
Zhara put the vial of lavender oil on the table and looked at Neferet, "whatever you desire my princess."
"How about we see what Ahkmenrah is up to? He has been gone for hours."
"He has lessons with his father," Zhara reminded her, "I don't think it's wise to disrupt them. He will be here shortly after the sun sets."
"But that is going to take hours," Neferet said as she flopped on her bed, awakening her cat, "my apologies Kha," she apologized to her pet by giving him a stroke on the head. She lifted herself from the bed and looked at Zhara once more. "I am going to go and get some fresh air for a while," she said as she got up from the bed, "you do not have to come with me. I wish to be alone," she added when she noticed Zhara's arms tense as she was about to leave.
"Shall I get your food ready in the meantime?" Zhara asked her, "you have not eaten since Ahkmenrah left."
Again with the food Neferet thought before turning around and facing her servant. "For the last and final time, I will let you know when I am hungry," she said and hurriedly walked out the door and into the hallway. She was glad to finally have the opportunity to just walk about the palace, explore, and be away from her servant once in a while. She felt bad for wondering this but sometimes Zhara was like a leech. No matter how many times Neferet told her that she fine, Zhara would make extra sure that she taken care of.
She spotted a flight of stairs and proceeded in climbing them until she found herself on the second floor of the palace. The whole hallway was decorated in gold and various pictures and hieroglyphics, making the hallway look beautiful yet mysterious. She walked over to the balcony and looked at the land that stood below her, taking in the beauty of the sky, pyramids, village, and the panorama as a whole. Just in a while, she was going to share this land with her future husband and it was a feeling that was both exciting and intimidating.
As she leaned towards the balcony and breathed in the fresh air, her ears heard something metallic scraping over another metallic object. She straightened herself and went to discover where the noise was coming from. As she walked, she could hear the scarping of the metal becoming louder but, she also heard a human voices within. She walked over to a room, whose door was slightly open until her eyes came in contact with Ahkmenrah's brother who, in Neferet's eyes, was fighting with a statesman.
Kahmunrah held a khopesh in his grip and clashed the weapon against the statesman's kopesh. Neferet was amazed to see how quickly he was able to move his weapon as well as himself to dodge from the guard's attacks. As the statesman stuck his khopesh towards Kahmunrah, the hook of the khopesh got a hold of the statesman's weapon and he flung it in the air and grabbed it with his free hand. In an instant, he had the statesman cornered to the wall with the two weapons pointed at his throat.
"Well played Your Highness," the statesman said and Kahmunrah released the weapons from his throat.
"You as well," Kahmunrah said to the statesman, "now return to your duties, maybe we can play another round later."
The statesman bowed to him and turned to leave the room. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Neferet peeking through the door. Kahmunrah took notice and a smile made its way to his lips when he saw her. "Come on in, don't be shy," he said to her and she slowly walked into the room. There was a quiet air around them as Kahmunrah placed the khopeshes where they belonged. "Do you usually linger around the hallway peeking into the rooms of others?" Kahmunrah broke the silence between them.
"No," Neferet answered, "I was just out for some fresh air when I heard a noise."
And what a coincidence that those noises led you to me Kahmunrah thought but decided not to speak his mind. "Shouldn't you be...I don't know, with my brother. Ever since you arrived here, you two have been inseparable."
Neferet tried her best to keep from laughing when she heard his lisp. However, it was a quite hard. "He," she placed a hand over her mouth, "I'm thorry-sorry," she quickly corrected herself.
"Are you mocking me?" he asked making her smile falter.
"Oh no," Neferet shook her head, "it was a mistake. I did not mean to offend you."
"Good because I have been offended enough," he gruffly stated and turned his back to her. He took a cloth from the table and began to clean the two weapons that he had used just moments ago.
"How?" Neferet asked when her curiosity got the better of her. "Why would anyone offend you? You are a prince."
"It is not your place to ask me such a question," he turned and looked at her, "but since you are already part of the family, I might as well be kind enough to give you a hint. When I'm around, just look at how my parents and dear brother treat me. Then you shall see."
"But they are so nice," Neferet told him, "how can they treat you any differently?"
Foolish girl Kahmunrah thought as he had the urge to laugh at her naive question. "Have you any brothers or sisters?"
"I was the only one born in my family," Neferet answered him.
"Lucky you then," he said, "you do not have to fight for the throne like I had to, but then again you're the daughter of a governor not a pharaoh."
Neferet didn't know whether she ought to be offended by that comment or just let it go. "So I am aware," she said to him with a cordial voice, "but even if I was, I would't have such a form of jealousy towards all of this."
"Who said anything about being jealous?" he asked her.
"It's evident on how you're speaking about it," Neferet told him.
"I am not jealous," Kahmunrah said to her, "I am merely annoyed of having to hear the same thing over again. Ahkmenrah this, Ahkmenrah that."
For some of the conversations that Neferet had been present in, she did hear both the pharaoh and queen speaking mostly about Ahkmenrah especially when Kahmunrah was in the same room as them and from what she remembered, he did seem very vexed by it. "It must be hard being the oldest child," was all Neferet could say given the circumstances.
"Wise observation," he told her, "especially when the majority of the days you are not even taken into consideration by even your own parents."
Neferet couldn't relate with having a sibling but she did relate in being ignored. She thought back of the conversations that she had with the father before her betrothal and no matter how much she had tried to tell him that she didn't want to go through with it, he had ignored everything that she had said to him. "I know," Neferet said with a nod of her head. "It is something that I can relate with."
"How?" he asked and placed down the weapons on the table after he was finished with them.
"You argue one thing with your parents and your words are not taken into consideration," she said to him. "I have not said this but..." and she didn't know whether she should reveal her thoughts, especially to the brother of the future pharaoh. "Could you keep a secret?"
That was a question that caught Kahmunrah off guard. It had been only a couple of days that she had arrived and here she was confiding in him. "Depends on the content," he smirked and turned around to look at her. "Is it something that would put all of us in danger?"
Neferet furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him with a scowl upon her eyes.
Much to Kahmunrah's amusement the way her eyes darkened and how her lips formed in a thin line and the way that her hair was fashioned made her look like an Egyptian cobra. "I may be displeased with my brother but I do need to protect the family."
"No!" she then said in an annoyed tone of voice, "nothing of the sort."
"Well then," Kahmunrah said as he leaned against he wall and looked at her with folded arms across his chest, "out with it princess."
"Before coming here," she said, "I didn't want to get married."
He rose an eyebrow. "That is your big secret?" he asked her. Not as diabolical as he thought her secret was going to be. Then again, she didn't seem to know the meaning of the word diabolical. "Do you still wish to?"
"I thought that Ahkmenrah was going to be...immature," Neferet said, "but no, he is different than I expected him to be."
Oh here we go again Kahmunrah thought and resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the affectionate words that she was saying about his young brother. Was there ever going to be a day, just one day, where he wouldn't have to hear his brother's name let alone breathe in the same palace as him. "What is your answer to my question?" he interrupted her before she went on about his brother.
"I..." she stopped and considered the next words that she wanted to say, "I am not too sure yet."
"Well you'd have better make up your mind," Kahmunrah said to her, "otherwise the parents will be severely disappointed."
She didn't want to be a disappointment to anyone but she felt that she didn't know what she wanted at this point. "What would you have done?" she asked him, "if you were in my place. Would you have accepted being married to a princess that you didn't know?"
"Ah but my situation is different," he said to her, "if she wouldn't expect my hand in marriage, then it was out in the sands."
Neferet couldn't tell whether he was serious or joking with that remark that he had just said.
"I jest," he said to her before turning his head once more and smirking at her, "or was I? I shall see you around later princess," he said to her as he made his way out of the room and left her there.