Quick question! I've noticed more people review on thursday as opposed to monday or friday so would it be easier for everyone if I uped the post dates to every thursday instead? I'm flexible and i got the chapts typed up already so its fine for me either way. Let me know!

Dedications: This is dedicated to Val, for being the best beta in the whole world! Thanks so much hun this story would never have seen the light of day without you! (glomps)

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

As always read, review, reply, critique comment and have fun! I can't wait for all your kinky theories now tht Timaeus will be staying for a while ;)

Chapter XVII: Guardian

Psusennes face was stone. Then a slim brow rose. "You wish to be my brother's bodyguard?" His tone was skeptical and reluctant.

Timaeus rose, unsurprised by the concern. "I do."

"And what will you do, if I permit you to do so?" Psusennes' brows knitted together his face hard, stern and calculating.

"I will act as his protector, his guide, and acquire whatever information he may know of the hem-netjer." He said honestly. "

"You can't possibly think he knows anything?" Psusennes shot. "Yugi has been a slave to the hem-netjer. Surely you don't think Yugi would ever be part of their plans?"

Timaeus shook his head earnestly. "I have no illusions of his love and loyalty to you, nor his hatred of the hem-netjer's treatment. He's made that more than clear," he paused to let the information sink. "However, I do believe the priests thought to use him in some form. They have held him hostage. They believe him a traitor to their cause and have made no effort to conceal that belief. But he has lived in their walls, he's heard their secrets, he knows they wanted his involvement somehow. He may know nothing severe, but any information he can give would be of value."

"So you want me to let you interrogate him?" Psusennes demanded, harsh.

Timaeus shook his head, voice civil. "I want him to remain under my protection until the negotiations are concluded." Then his protective instincts bled into his voice. "I do not trust the Priests. They have allies in this city, and they are not above using him against you. I will protect him and only I will speak to him of the matter. His trust in me is growing, and he knows I would not betray it, nor do I plan to. You have my King's faith in me, and my honor that no harm will come to him," Then he stood and his eyes met the King's. "And I protect all those under my care with my life."

Psusennes stared at him stone faced. Neither looked away, but Timaeus read the scrutiny in his face. After a long moment of silence, Psusennes closed his eyes and exhaled. When he opened them again, the striking blue looked dark and aged with the reluctant acceptance of a parent deciding his child's future. "You are Dartz's most trusted general, true?"

"That is correct," Timaeus said.

"He tells me you are bound by your honor above all else?" Psusennes 's tone was neutral but laced with a parent's longing.

"I do," Timaeus confirmed.

"You swear on your honor, my brother will not be harmed?"

Timaeus smiled and gave a gracious bow. "You have my word."

X X X

The prettiest rooms of the Royal Apartments were designed like a jewelry box. All but one wall was mud-brick embellished with vivid paintings of emblematic griffins and geometric rosette mazes in bold, beautiful colors. The sleeping quarter was a small alcove on a raised dais with colorful silks decorating the walls and the ceiling above the bed was a mural of heraldic vultures in the image of the goddess, Nekhbet. The headboard was carved in a wildlife scene over a leopard fur blanket.

The adjacent wall was a wide window-like balcony decorated with scenes of wildlife in the marshes: flowers, reeds and animals spiraling into beautiful lotus columns filling the room with light and air. On the far side was a limestone lined washroom with a huge basin tub imbedded in the floor and a dressing alcove where shendyts and decorative jewelry hung on hooks on the walls. A small window provided light and a huge copper mirror hung on the wall in front of a lion-pawed table.

Yugi couldn't remember the last time he'd seen such luxury and he almost felt humbled by the fact they were his. He strolled to the window. Built on a series of ramps, the chamber overlooked the courtyard where a pleasure lake where lotus blossoms glittered like white and blue stars. Palm and fig trees grew tall and grand and bushed of beautiful flowers bloomed. Yugi inhaled the air and tasted the aroma of jasmine and lotus.

Across the central courtyard were his brother's apartments, the Royal's apartment, diagonally across from those were his sister's quarters: the Royal Wife's quarters. It was so much more open the Waset was. He could feel Amun on his face, breathe in Shu's breath and taste Tefnut's moisture on the air. He felt surreal and true and more alive and connected to the world and the Gods then he ever did, confined in the darkness of Waset's House of Life. In a moment, he understood immediately why his father had chosen it for his new capital, both political and religious.

"Do they please you?" Mut asked still standing humbly in the doorway.

"They're beautiful," Yugi smiled and spun to her. "Come sister, you know you don't need my permission to enter."

Mut giggled but did as she was told and took a seat in one of the ebony lioness shaped chairs on either side of a small table where a golden senat board rested. Immediately, Yugi recognized it. "I thought I lost that," he breathed, walking over and taking the opposite seat.

Mut shook her head. "No, I brought it with me,' she said. Yugi looked up, stunned. Mut shook her head. "I found it in my bags, when I arrived. I couldn't let go it when Pas showed it to me." Her hair fell forward shadowing her face. Her hands shook in her lap. "I know you don't blame me, Yugi, but I'm so sorry I couldn't take you with me."

Yugi hugged her without holding back. "I know, Mut," he said. "I know. I knew they wouldn't let me go with you, I never hated them for that, I just…they never told me why."

"They didn't tell me either," she explained wiping away a stray blond bang. "Maat kept saying your place was there, like hers was. I couldn't argue. It was true. You were always at home in the Heavenly Lady's precinct, but I couldn't understand why. I just assumed they wanted to spend time alone with you, but…"

Yugi snorted. "I thought the same, but things didn't change. They knew I couldn't wait to see you, to see Pas. I felt guilty about it, at first, like I was hurting them. But when they forbid me from entering Mut's precinct and start dictating my days, my guilt became anger. They thought if they couldn't earn my love they could force me to."

Mut shook her head, and sternly stroked his hair. "Things may not be what they once were between us now, but I don't believe our brother and sister capable of such treachery. Even in the days I hated them most, I never once thought they were cruel."

Yugi slumped his shoulders and pouted his lips. He hated being scolded like a child. Mut laughed. "But enough talk of sadness. Let us share our stories now?"

They traded stories until Amun descended deep into the Underworld, and lit the many candles to fill the room along with the silvery light of Thoth's eye. Yugi was delighted to learn that Mut and Pas were married officially. He'd seen how close they were as children growing up, it was only natural it would progress into something deeper, and he comforted her when she expressed discomfort about sharing the apartments their two mothers once lived. He told her about his time in the precinct, about the scribe training and Siam's failed bullying, and his longing for Mut's precinct. He told her of Timaeus' blotched rescue, and held her hands when she started shaking at the thought of something so horrid nearly happening to her beloved brother. He told about his journey on The Eye, his friendship with Rhebekka, the King's kindness and his many spats with Timaeus when he'd been named his caretaker. And Mut listened to it all with a curved smile and a twinkle in her eye.

"Sounds like you've grown quite close to the General Timaeus?" she said it with a wink twinkling in her eye. To anyone else it was subtle enough to be missed but Yugi knew her too well.

He rolled his eyes with a snort. "I know what you're thinking, Mut," he said in a dismissive tone. "And I don't think of him that way."

Mut chuckled. Her bright smile hadn't faltered. "Oh now don't play coy, Yugi. You're old enough to be married. Don't tell me you've never felt tempted."

That damn catlike smile, Yugi thought as his sister regarded him with sly eyes. Of course, he had. At the cusp of manhood, his body coursed with urges: but he'd never made love. He wasn't some trembling new-woman: he'd shaken off his childhood shyness long ago. He knew the mechanics of sex and growing up in a culture that favored fertility over virginity, he was hardly puritanical.

"I have," Yugi admitted with a sly smile of his own, but his next words didn't match his tone. "I just haven't found someone yet." Girls had always found him charming, and men weren't oblivious to his beauty, but he didn't want to love for a day. He'd seen the way his father looked at his mother, and his wife. He'd seen the way Pas looked at Mut. That was he wanted in his lover.

Mut looked unconvinced. "What about the Dragon Knight?" she asked teasingly, like a harem girl gossiping to a new arrival. "You can't tell me you don't find him tempting?"

Yugi didn't protest. Instead he looked away, his proud and dismissive pout was still there, but there was a pink tint to his cheek. Timaeus tempting? It was like asking is the desert was hot? He was terribly charming, but not in a roughish manner. Even his blunt and merciless teasing was done chivalrously. He was certainly handsome. The scar of his eyes did nothing to mar it, if anything it made his perfections seem even more flawless: the brightness of his emerald eyes, the sharp curve of his jaw, the spark in his smile, those corded muscles and firmness of his chest. The pink blossoming into full-blown crimson, Yugi shook the thoughts away.

"He's not terrible to look at," Yugi confirmed.

"Absolutely not," Mut agreed matter of fact. "But do you like him?" Mut asked. She'd meant it out of curiosity, but couldn't resist dragging out the syllable in a long, sing-song.

Yugi felt is spine stiffening. Did he like Timaeus? It was a difficult question. Did Yugi even really know him? Timaeus was cold and soulless when he commanded the army and The Eye¸ yet before his King he was charming and unquestionably faithful. It was different when he looked at Yugi: his green eye and scar burned like fire, his smile gentlemanly playful and charming, but it wasn't the only face he'd shown him. The man who offered him comfort and kindness on the deck that night had been honest and kind. He'd listened to him, offered him comfort but only when Yugi wishes it. Was that the real Timaeus? Did that mean the Trierarch was just a mask? Or was the seductive, gentleman persona a façade against other courtiers? Or was the man behind them, too a mask? And if he made Timaeus his lover,Yugi wondered with a fluttering chest, would he protect him? Or would that too be a mask.

He was about to answer when Mut teased "I hear his bedding partners are hardly regretful."

Heat bubbled in Yugi's belly. Bedding the fiercest Dragon Knight of Atlantis? Oh that was a seductive thought. One he couldn't deny sounded tempting, but one he quickly shook away. Timaeus was a Knight of Atlantis. His duty was to his King and his country, not a Kemet prince he'd only known three days.

It didn't matter, regardless. Timaeus would no doubt be busy with assisting in negotiations. Ra knew the man was a brilliant strategist, Yugi had no doubt his negotiating skills were just as sharp. Then the Atlantians would sail home, and he and the General would part as friends. Nothing more.

"I'm fond of him," Yugi admitted, impartially.

"That's all?" Mut asked, disappointed. "Too bad," She added with a playful frown. "From his looks, I think he's sweet on you."

Yugi blanched. He spun to face her, aghast and ready to protest. A knock interrupted them, and Pas entered, absent his finery.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked with a loving smile.

"Not at all!" the earlier conversation forgotten, Yugi bolted up and hugged him right around the waist. Pas returned it without hesitation. He'd left the King behind, in private he was the man only his Wife and loved ones knew lived behind the façade.

"I've missed you so much, Yugi," Pas held him like Yugi was a lost child come home.

Yugi returned it with just as much affection. "I missed you too, Pas," he smiled then added. "Or is it Psusennes now?" He said in a butchering of the Greek name.

Pas gave a hearty laugh. "Psusennes is the Greek version of my true name," he explained. "I donned it as a show of good faith between us and our foreign friends, but our people will know me as Pasebakhaenniut."

"Oh," Yugi sighed, but Pas ruffled his hair. Yugi swatted it away and glared at him, hating anything that made him feel like a child.

"Do not worry, Yugi," Pas promised. "To you and Mut, I will always be Pas."

That made Yugi smile. "Your friend Timaeus seems quite fond of you?" He added out of nowhere.

Yugi shot up and Mut laughed. "Not you too, Pas," Yugi buried his face in his hand. Just fond. He realized. That's all.

"A shame he won't be joining us for negotiations." Yugi perked up at that.

"He won't be?" Yugi asked bewildered.

Pas groaned. "We discussed it, and we think the Divine Servant's allies will feel less intimidated and more responsive if their conquerer is not present. I agreed."

Yugi couldn't argue. "Then…what will he be doing?"

Pas was silent then with a reluctant smile said "He volunteered to continue serving as your protector. I agreed."

Yugi plopped in a chair, pondering to the background of Mut's giggling why Fate continually felt the need to cheat him.

Yup I made Yugi a virgin and now he's got a sexy new body guard at his beck and call (QoP smile)

I had an ENORMOUS debate on whether or not to make Yugi a virgin (it doesn't matter either way to Timaeus-he's confident enough that he doesn't feel the need to flirt, court and compete with his partner's past lovers) BUT rest assured (which i hope i made clear in the fic) he is NOT some meek, little trembling virgin, he's a healthy and active nineteen year old boy and the same perve we loved in the mange and anime. He knows all about sec and he WANTs to do it but he also wants love too (and as many of you have suspect he is not blind to the fact Timaeus is drop=dead gorgeous either)

I also want to say i LOVE Mut, her personality just spun in this chapter, and looking back she kinde reminds me of Mai, but I love how she came out!

Hope you all enjoyed the reunion too ;)

Little Historical Note:

Palace of Djanet is loosely based on Maltkar palace's layout and decoration, since there isn't much detail on what Per-Ramses, which Djanet was modeled after, looked like, but Djanet was built with stone from Pi-Ramses after its Nile stream silted over, so much of the stone is extremely decorative. while this made building much easier, architecturally, no evidence 0f the city exists before Psuennes I but historically it's construction began during Pinedjam's reign so by the time Psuesennes took the throne it would be a thriving capital city, and would become known as Waset of the North.

And to be frank, I LOVE research but researching how royal Egyptian palaces looked in GENERAL was TERRIBLE. Temples and palaces were like small cities and apparently in some cases temples and palaces were in the same precinct. So like i said, i used Maltkar's Royal palace layour as a model and the decorations for Yugi's room. Since Yugi is technically a prince, he occupies the house meant for the King's children and families diagonally from his father and next to Mut's which are the Royal Wife's quarters which are in turn, Adjacent to the Pharaoh's chambers: this makes easy access for both the King and his Greak Royal Wife and possible lesser wives, but they wives are close enough to their children. Hope that clarifies it a bit.

As always, read, review, reply, critique comment and post all the erotic theories your x-rated minds can come up with ;)

Next Time: Yugi gets an intriguing new bodyguard-whether he likes it or not.