Hope you guys have had a good couple of weeks!

Work has been crazy. But, hey, I've got a new chapter for you!

Thanks to my new readers and phantom readers for leaving reviews! You guys made my day!

Without any further ado, here's chapter 16!

Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Chapter 16

"You've been awfully quiet lately." He said, watching me with calm, searching eyes.

I clenched my teeth and looked down to the plain white garment I wore, the one I had to wear every day when I was helping Mahad write spells. Because Mahad didn't mind what I wore while I was with him, I often opted for simpler clothing. The loose-fitting linen garment reminded me of the days I had lived in my home village with my family, off my father's salary, which was used to fund all four of his children.

In reality, I earned far more money in a year than my father could in ten. If I wanted, I could buy myself any wig or piece of jewelry from the marketplace.

But the wigs made my head itch, and I enjoyed having hair of my own to braid and twist into elaborate styles. And as for the jewelry...well, if there was one thing Atem loved giving to me for his own self-proclaimed "holidays," it would be that.

The thought caused me to twist the golden cuff bracelet I wore on my wrist contemplatively. "I guess I'm just worried."

He grabbed both of my hands – whether to prevent me from twisting the bracelet or just because he wanted to, I wasn't certain – and pulled me a little closer, so that I would look up at him again. "What could someone as intelligent, gifted, and beautiful as you have to worry about?"

I smiled slightly at his compliment, then sighed, the fear that had been steadily growing in my stomach for the past three days coming back to haunt me. "I feel as if something terrible is about to happen. Something that will not only affect us, but all of Egypt. And I am afraid that you might get hurt while trying to save everyone, like you always do."

"Are you saying I'm too altruistic for my own good?" He asked, half-jokingly, but I knew he was taking this fear seriously. He didn't enjoy seeing me upset, and vice versa.

"No..." I looked down at our hands, fingers intertwined. My skin was still a shade or two darker than his, a permanent reminder of the harsh sun I had grown up doing chores in on the banks of the Nile. "I don't know. It's been eating away at me, and..." I couldn't finish – I didn't know how to finish, what to say to make the sentence sound any less insane.

One of his hands released my own, and he used his fingers to tilt my chin up so I would meet his eyes. In them, I saw understanding, and more than a little bit of concern. "Ira, I know you've been worn down by this secrecy, and I know you have been spending a lot more time worrying about my ascension to the throne than I have. But I need you to stop thinking about the future. I need you here, now."

"But how can I when I know that this will never work, Atem? There will never be a time when our relationship won't be scorned for being untraditional, when you won't be seen as a king who will take any common woman for his wife without any regard to the will of the Gods. You will be seen as a misfit, a disappointment to every previous Pharaoh, and I will be publicly ridiculed with every misstep I take. There is no way we will come out of this strong. I don't want to end this, but...I don't want to ruin your future reign..."

His grip on my hand tightened. "First of all, Ira, you are no common woman. You are the woman that I love. Forget what everyone else will think, and for once think about yourself. Second, Mana knows about us, and she has not once showed disdain." I bit back a retort about how of course Mana approved of us – she was our best friend! "And third, I will be Pharaoh – I will be able to do what I see fit. And if you are the woman I choose as fit to be my wife, it will be written, and it will be done. No questions asked. Please, just don't leave me. I need you." He pulled me closer. "I need us."

I spent a moment contemplating the words he had just said – he had just told me he loved me! – then felt my usual self emerge from the worried mess, if only just a little. "Well, when you put it that way, it sounds so easy."

"That's because it will be. I'll make sure of it." He was so certain, so unfaltering, in his view of the future. Though Atem was no rug to other people, I knew that in reality, he was far from the regal, unshakable king he was expected to become. He had many moments of indecision, as most do. But this time, it seemed he was fully and definitely set in his words.

I sighed, blowing a stray hair from my face. Then, to assure him that he had gotten through to me, I gave him a small smile and put a teasing lilt in my voice. "Alright. But after you make sure of that, I also want you to make sure my crown is pure gold, and has plenty of those sparkling blue stones in it. If I am to be an unorthodox queen, then I will look damn good!"

He smirked, playing along with my joke. "Only the best for my Ira." And then he kissed me, soft and delicate as a feather. When he finally let me go, I wanted more.

I was about to bring his lips back down to mine when there was the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway. As we usually did when others were near, we jumped away from each other and tried to look like we had both been doing something useful. Since we were in the scroll room, that resulted in my sitting back at the table I had been working on before Atem had come in, and Atem looking busy scanning through the curled pieces of parchment.

"Sagira?" The voice was light and feminine. I turned in my chair to find Isis, Priestess Sakhmet's chosen pupil, standing in the doorway. It took her a moment to notice Atem, but when she did, she bowed her head. "My prince, I am sorry to intrude."

Atem stepped back from the shelves of scrolls. "You haven't. It's alright, Isis. I was just..." he glanced at me for a second. "Leaving."

I inclined my head at him, a sign of respect that I had been taught to use for any person in the palace higher ranked than me.

Which was almost everyone, save the servants, merchants, and lesser citizens that occasionally walked the main halls during holidays and festivals.

Atem gave me one last look, then placed his usual impassive expression on his face. "Goodbye, Isis. Sagira."

It was a rhetorical goodbye – one we weren't meant to return. He left quickly, carrying himself with the regality he had been raised to practice. I smiled down at the parchment before me, hair hiding my face so Isis wouldn't see my slight snicker.

Isis sighed as she moved to sit next to me at the table. "That boy grows more and more like his father every day."

Though in most situations, it was considered an offense to the gods to speak about any of the royal family behind their backs, Isis and I couldn't help ourselves. In a way, it made us feel like we were young again, gossiping about the handsome young boys in the village. Despite being a few summers older than me, Isis had grown up like I had – not quite as comfortable, since her father was a farmer, but she still shared many of the same childhood experiences with me – and it was one of the reasons we had grown close in the short amount of time she had been in the palace. Not many of the priests I worked with on a daily basis had memories of a time when they had to earn their next meal.

"Yes he does." I replied, looking up at Isis. "What did you come to ask of me, Isis?"

She sighed. My favorite thing about Isis – and Mana, most of the time – was that she never tried to hide her insecurities from me. In that moment, I could see the brief flash of fear on her face. She shook her head. "It's nothing, really. Priestess Sakhmet wanted you to aid her in recording her visions in the morning."

I cocked my head. "And you?"

"I will be sitting in my usual place, observing like always."

"You know that's not what I meant, Isis."

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. When she opened them again and exhaled, she looked at me with her brilliant blue eyes. "Please don't tell Sakhmet about this." I nodded and raised my eyebrows, willing her to continue. "I am afraid, Sagira."

"Afraid of what?"

"Everything. I witnessed a Millennium Trial today. A lowly thief, one whose soul housed a terrifying demon. It had sharp teeth and a horrible look in its eye. It looked right at me before Priest Amun locked it away." She inhaled shakily, running a hand over her face. "I don't know if I'll be able to survive another Trial. I had to excuse myself from that one, pretending that the demon's malevolent stare hadn't affected me. I don't think I'm worthy to inherit the Millennium Necklace. Someone else should take it."

I had never seen strong, unbending Isis look so shaken. "Isis..." I didn't know what to say. I hadn't ever witnessed a Trial myself, but from what Mahad and now Isis described, it was not a good experience. I had to choose my words carefully. "I agree, the Trials sound terrifying. But you won't have to actively participate in them. The Necklace deals with the future, not the present. You could even look away if you wanted." At her sad expression, I added, "And hear me when I say, you were chosen by Priestess Sakhmet herself to carry on her legacy when Atem takes the throne. You were chosen for a reason. I'm no expert on the power of the Millennium Items, but I do know that you are one of the strongest individuals I have ever met. If you are not worthy of the Millennium Necklace, then no one is."

She stared down at the table for a long moment. "The Gods have blessed you with a listening ear and a bright outlook on everything. I thank them that I have you here to speak to."

"This isn't about me, Isis." I scooted closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "This is about you. And I promise, you will be the holiest Priestess to ever grace the Pharaoh's court. You only have to believe in yourself."

If Atem had been nearby, he would have nodded in approval at my words. His words seemed to be coming from my mouth.

Isis looked back at me, eyes shining, but determination in the set of her features. "I really needed to hear that, Sagira. Thank you."

"It's what friends are for." I said, almost out of habit. Mana and I often repeated that phrase to each other after sharing secrets or doing favors.

Isis stood, and I stood with her. "I am glad you think of me as your friend, and I return the favor. Perhaps, when I am a true Priestess serving in the Pharaoh's Court, I will choose you as my personal assistant."

If I'm not Queen first. I couldn't stop the thought. It felt both selfish and out of reach to be imagining that scenario. I simply smiled at Isis. "I will be happy to serve someone as strong as you, Priestess Isis."

As long as I won't have to see the woman that Atem chooses instead of me to reign as queen.

"Erin, you've hardly eaten anything." Mom's voice broke me out of my stress-induced trance. "Are you going to be alright today?"

I looked down at my cereal bowl, which I had filled to the brim with some off-brand of Cocoa Puffs and then hardly touched in the last fifteen minutes. It wasn't that I hadn't been hungry when I poured the cereal, it was just that I had lost my appetite somewhere between contemplating the dream I had last night and realizing that I'd have to face Atem at school today. "I'm fine. And you're one to talk, Mom." I gestured to her plate, on which she had placed nothing, despite having been in the kitchen longer than I had.

She sighed. "The medicine causes a loss of appetite. I'll eat later, I promise."

"You'd better." I said, getting up and dumping my cereal into the sink. "Where's Miri?" It was almost time to leave for school.

"Still in her room, I'm guessing. She won't talk to me." The pain in her voice made me cringe internally.

I bit the inside of my cheek. Miri tended to withdraw when she was downcast, especially from the people who had unintentionally caused the trauma. She wasn't angry at Mom, per se, but afraid of making things worse. "Mom, I'm sorry. You know how she is."

Mom nodded, turning her eyes to the ceiling to keep them from welling up with tears. "I know. I just feel terrible."

"Hey." I said, giving her a stern look, though my voice was soft. "Don't cry. I'll talk to her."

Mom nodded again, but didn't say anything else. Footsteps came down the stairs, and within seconds, Miri was standing in the kitchen, bookbag slung on one shoulder. "Morning." She mumbled, walking past us to the garage door.

"Miri." I said. She stopped and looked over her shoulder at me. "Did you eat breakfast?"

She shook her head. "Not hungry." With that, she left the room.

Mom took a long, shaky breath, running her hand over her face to hide the guilt written on it. "Please make sure you both eat something today."

I gave her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. "As long as you do the same."

"Stephenson."

I pretended I hadn't heard the whisper in the middle of English, and continued taking notes from the Powerpoint slide that Miss Tran had left on while she stepped out of the room to answer the phone.

A ball of paper hit me on the side of the head. I huffed slightly, then turned to Devon. "What?"

"When are we rendezvous-ing in the library?" At my raised eyebrow, he added with a sly grin, "For the project. Get your head out of the gutter, 'Rin."

I ignored his casual use of my nickname. "I don't know. Probably not today."

"How about tomorrow?"

I shrugged. "I'll have to check my schedule."

He clucked his tongue and shook his head, a fake whine in his voice. "You're such a busy girl, Erin. Make time for me!"

"I will." I whispered quickly as Miss Tran opened the door. "I'll let you know."

"Good." He whispered back, earning a sharp look from Miss Tran.

Great. More things to worry about.

Atem and I didn't talk to each other at all during Lit. I could still feel him throwing concerned looks at me every once in a while, and I would glance at him and open my mouth like I was going to say something, but then I'd think better of it and go back to my work. I felt horrible for the way I had left him the night before. It had become glaringly obvious in the past fourteen hours that I wasn't imagining the signs – there was definitely something there when he looked at me, and in my chest when I looked back at him.

Like some sort of invisible string between us, I felt some kind of surreal pull towards him.

When the bell for the end of class sounded, I was the first to stand up. Everyone else around us left straight away to merge with their friends in the hallway. But I was on a different mission.

"Atem," I said as he stood up.

He looked at me, eyes expectant. He didn't seem angry at me, just...sad, almost. Guilt again yanked at the pit of my stomach.

I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry that I ran away last night. It was rude, and you were only trying to help me. I spent a lot of time thinking about it, and I know that it's entirely my fault. I freaked out. I'm sorry, and you have every right to be mad at me, but I – "

"Erin." He cut me off.

I stopped word-vomiting. Had I overkilled my apology? "What?"

"I'm not mad at you."

His face was serious, and voice void of all sarcasm. That had been a little too easy. I felt my eyebrows raise in surprise. "O-oh."

He smiled slightly, the sadness I had seen before vanishing. "I understand that you're overwhelmed. I'm glad that you were brave enough to apologize, but it was unnecessary. Besides," he added, grabbing his bag from his desk and beginning to walk away so I would follow, "I haven't gotten to sit with you at lunch in a week. Grudges make friendly conversations awkward."

My steps slowed for a moment before catching back up with him. Did he just wink at me? "Oh. Well, thanks for being so understanding."

"Anytime." He replied.

We walked in silence for a few seconds, but then – me being the type to dislike long lulls in conversation – I spoke again to change the subject. "So, uh, your Egyptian friends. When do you think they'll get to Domino City?"

He shrugged. "I honestly couldn't tell you. It could be anywhere from tonight to tomorrow night. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious." I feigned nonchalance, despite knowing that Atem would see the tension in my expression anyway. "And are they from one of the cities in Egypt? Or are they from, like, the literal desert?"

His dubious look made me feel stupider than my question. "Most of Egypt could be considered the literal desert." But then his eyes glittered mischievously at my blush, and he smirked. "But I guess you could say a little bit of both. They grew up away from modern civilization, then moved to Cairo about a year ago so Ishizu could work for the museum there."

I nodded. "They sound really interesting. And Ishizu also knows the history of Egypt then, right?"

"She probably knows more than Yugi, Grandpa, and I do. Again, though this question is getting old: why do you ask?" We were almost to our study halls, but we both slowed our pace so we could carry on. He was back to watching me intently, even though this time, I could tell he was trying to hide it.

A lie was quick to roll off my tongue. "I was just making an assumption."

"Oh." A slight twinge of disappointment.

We had reached our classrooms. I cleared my throat. "See you at lunch." I said, giving him a small wave.

He put a hand on my shoulder as I turned to go. "Erin, wait. I just remembered something." When I turned back to him, he began digging through his backpack. Within seconds, his hand appeared again, holding something small and silver.

"My phone!" I said happily as he handed it to me. "I just remembered. Thank you so much."

He smiled. "No problem. Yugi even charged it for you."

"You guys are the best." I grinned back.

The one-minute warning bell rang just as he was about to say something.

"What?" I asked.

He shook his head, then waved. "Talk to you at lunch."

I nodded, and we parted ways. When I got into my desk in my study hall, I pulled out my phone under the table so I could check for new messages.

There was one, but not from an unknown number. This one had ID.

More specifically, the ID name was Atem.

The message read: Just in case you need someone to talk to.

I turned off my phone and closed my eyes, biting my lip to keep myself from grinning down at my crotch.

He'd put his number into my phone.

We were halfway through art class when Atem casually told me that he and Yugi had decided to enter Kaiba's tournament.

"That's great, Atem!" I said, smiling at him over my half-finished sculpture. "It'll be cool to see you guys in a serious duel. Is Joey entering, too?"

Atem nodded. "Kaiba gave us the last three open spots."

"Why wasn't Joey bragging about how he's going to kick everyone's butts at lunch?"

That got me a half-smile. "Kaiba just messaged us to let us know that Joey got a spot. Yugi and I weren't going to bring it up until we knew Joey would be in it with us."

"The three musketeers." I joked, going back to shaping the body of my character. We were going to be doing stop-motion claymation in groups. Atem and I were already working on a storyline for our video, but we knew we weren't going to escape Mr. Kayasaki's rule of three people to a group. "When does the tournament start?"

"Not until December, when the tournament will become the main attraction at Kaibaland while some rides are closed for winter. We'll be dueling indoors. I think the first day is – "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up. There is a Kaibaland? As in, Kaiba owns his own friggin' theme park?" I stopped what I was doing and widened my eyes at Atem.

He chuckled. "Yes, Erin. Welcome to Domino City, where Kaiba owns a lot of establishments."

I shook my head. "Holy crap. And the guy's our age. How does that even work?"

"He's extremely intelligent, and had to grow up faster than most of us while he and Mokuba were orphans. When he saw the opportunity to overtake his adoptive father's business at a young age, he did, and turned it into a Duel Monsters empire." He said all of this with sympathy in his eyes, as if he had watched all of this unfold in front of him. Or he knew how it felt.

"Wow." I murmured, thinking back to the cold-exteriored boy in our Lit class. Now it made so much sense. "I would have never guessed."

"He's strong, both in Duel Monsters and in life." Atem frowned at the miniature cat he was supposed to be making. "I think my cat has a deformity on its head."

I looked down to his sculpture, and couldn't help but laugh. The head was tall and not wide, and the eyes and ears were huge, giving it a permanent terrified look on its face, like it was about to be hit by a car.

"Stop laughing. I'm serious!" He said, but his lips were already turning up at the corners.

"I'm sorry...but that cat...oh my gosh, I can't breathe." I wiped tears from my eyes. The idea of Atem, cool and calm and collected Atem, being sheepish at something he had been working on for almost an hour and not gotten right at all, made everything so much funnier. "It looks like it just saw something horribly scarring!"

Soon enough, he was laughing with me. His laugh was so full and childish at the same time, the kind you would hear from a twenty-year-old after he'd just pulled a prank on one of his buddies. I had never heard that kind of sound come from Atem before.

I thought it was cute.

Our hysterics died down into chuckles, and then we were sighing, trying to sober up so we could get back to work. "Leave the cat the way it is." I told him, still grinning. "It'll be the focal point of the frames."

He was about to reply, when his mouth clamped shut and he looked to my right, a hard gleam replacing the jest in his eyes. I felt a presence next to me. At that moment, I knew who it was.

"Hey, guys." Astrid's dangerously-sweet voice floated down to my ears, and I turned so I could see her. Her cocoa-brown hair was tied to the side, which was unusual. She also had her shirt buttoned up the way it was supposed to be, completely covering anything beneath her collarbone. "What's up?"

There was a moment of quiet, and then Atem and I exchanged a glance. "Okay, I'll give." I said, my tone anything but nice. "Where are your minions, Astrid? Don't they usually accompany you when you're about to deal out verbal damage?"

Astrid gave me a very convincing innocent expression. I wanted to hit her. "What are you talking about? I just wanted to have a chat with you two. Is that so bad?"

"When you consider the fact that you've hated me since day one, yeah. It's a little suspicious."

"Oh, come on, Erin." She pulled a chair over and sat next to me, completely ignoring my glare. "I was just messing with you. All in good fun, right?"

I scoffed. "All in good fun? Your buddy almost broke Tea's phone over a game of DDR. You ruined one of my uniform shirts. And you haven't stopped giving me crap since the day you first met me. You're going to call that all in good fun?"

She sighed. "Well, when you put it that way, it sounds pretty bad." A fake look of apology creeped across her face. "I'm so sorry if any of that hurt you or Tea. Reece, Diana, and I were just jealous, I guess."

I nodded slowly, voice dripping sarcasm. "Uh-huh."

Astrid gave me a dubious look, like she was surprised I wasn't going to accept her apology. Then she turned to Atem. "Your girlfriend is a tough egg to crack, isn't she?"

Atem didn't reply.

Feeling my face flush, I snapped, "I'm not his girlfriend. Hey Astrid, since you're over here and all, why don't you just spit it out that you're secretly in love with Atem so you can finally find out if he'll ever date you?" The words slipped from my mouth without warning, and I only realized what I'd said after I'd said it.

Oh no. My words were wounding to both parties. Atem from the girlfriend part (even though it was true, my snappish retort was harsh), and Astrid for obvious reasons.

Astrid looked over at Atem, who was watching the both of us with a strange expression on his face. Had girls ever fought over him before?

My cheeks burned, both from anger and embarrassment. I'd never gotten into a catfight over anything, much less a boy. I felt horrible, for myself and for Atem.

"Oh, Astrid, there you are." Mr. Kayasaki said, coming up to our table. As always, he was oblivious to the disagreement that was currently taking place. Why were teachers always so blissfully ignorant?

Astrid shook herself out of her trance, and looked at Mr. Kayasaki with a perky smile on her face. "Yes, here I am."

He smiled back, falling for her act. "And it looks like you've found a group to work with. Great!"

"What?" I asked, wide-eyed.

Mr. Kayasaki turned his smile on me. I had to stop my nose from wrinkling in disgust. The guy was cool and all, I just hated him at that moment for liking Astrid. "I hope you and Atem don't mind, but everyone else already has groups of three. Astrid is the odd man out, and needs a group."

My fist clenched over a piece of clay, effectively squishing the head I had been fashioning for my character. I couldn't just say no. Atem and I had heard the rules loud and clear: three to a group. And there was no way Mr. Kayasaki would make Astrid join another one if there were two of us sitting right in front of him. I had to struggle to keep my voice even. "...Sure."

Mr. Kayasaki clapped his hands together. "Great! I look forward to seeing your project when it's finished!"

And then he left us. I sat in shock, contemplating what I'd just done. I felt Atem staring at me in disbelief as well.

This was not good. Not good at all.

Astrid looked at me and grinned, showing off her pearly whites and the triumph in her eyes.

"So, partners, what's the plan?"

This can't be good! Astrid's inner psychopath comes out! But just what is she planning?

And Erin's meeting with Devon is closer than ever. What's going to happen?

Kaiba's tournament is coming soon! (which means I have some duels to write, I guess...*cries*)

We got a little bit of lightheartedness between Atem and Erin, which is always good, right? ;P

The Ishtars are coming next chapter! *excited squeals* I've been so excited to write their scene. You guys have no idea!

Sorry if this chapter seemed a little on the short side. I wanted to put the scene with the Ishtars in here, but I couldn't find a place it would fit without taking attention away from other plot-related matters. But next chapter is definite! Hold your breaths!

As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed last chapter! Every single review makes my day, and I look forward to more!

So don't be shy; leave me a review and tell me what you think!

See you guys soon,

-creativelybored