V.E.: Well, it's been nice to get back to writing after this week. Thursday was not fun (though I was mostly just sorry for my history teacher and her technology problems), but Friday was pretty relaxing since I only had an online class. It really is nice when you have that.

Well, now we're back to what Kisara I doing along with expanding on her and Isis a little more. We're also going to get some scenes with the Pharaoh and his reaction to what Kisara has been doing.

Quote of the Day: "The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love.'-Hubert H. Humphrey

"You know Princess, you have to be one of the weirdest ladies of court that has ever lived."

Kisara rolled her eyes as she hung the clean linens to dry out in the warm sun, her servant's questioning what she was currently doing having become common to her.

"I'm a Princess and not a court lady. Now keep washing, we need them ready for the ones with open wounds."

Kiya rolled her eyes, but nonetheless kept washing the white linen that was starting to lose some of the color as it was worked with some oils that had been brought from the palace.

A male dark-skinned servant came out from the house of rest, carrying a basket once overflowing with fruit now empty.

"All of them ate the figs, Princess. And Isis would like to say that the two little boys seem to be feeling better."

Kisara nodded as she turned away from the hanging laundry to thank the young man with a smile.

"Thank you, Akemi. Tell Isis to move on to the next patient if she's done all she can."

Akemi bowed and went back inside to relay the royal's orders to the future seeress of the Court.

Kiya shook her head while shooting her princess a very frank look.

"If you told me last week that you and Isis would be working together, I would have called one of the court physicians to see if you had come down with the plague as well."

Kisara merely shrugged as she turned back to the hung up cloths, feeling some of the ones from earlier to see if they were dry and ready for use.

Truthfully, she was just as surprised as Kiya was. When the maid servant had come back to her loom to find several of the ripped linens from her bed in her hands, she looked ready to shriek at what had been done to such luxurious cloth. It took a while for Kisara to calm down the frugal servant's almost hysterics and explain what she wanted to do and a lot more needling to get her on to the idea.

Knowing she couldn't do it alone, Kisara then asked Kiya to round up several servants who weren't doing anything thing for this project. Most of them weren't trained for healing and just for cleaning and had expressed that they wouldn't be much help, but Kisara smiled and told them that it was fine and just to do what they told her to.

But the surprise was when they were just about ready to head out on the group's first visit, was Isis at the gates, waiting from them. Kisara could still remember the confidant smile on Isis' face as she asked.

"Mind if I tag along?"

Despite her surprise, the young princess had allowed. Soon enough, the young priestess in training proved herself as Nephthys had taught her a great deal of healing while also giving her divination lessons. And now a week later, they had made incredible progress on the House of Rest. Kisara smiled as she took down two of the now dry cloths.

See Amma? Your methods do make a difference.

At that moment, Isis came back out, wiping the beads of sweat from her brow before coming up to Kisara.

"Just curious, did your Grandmother have a way of keeping cool along with these techniques of hers?"

Kisara paused to think about it for a moment, the linens still in her arms as she answered.

"No, I can't say so. Most of what my people were focused on was staying warm. We really didn't get as much heat as Khemet does."

Isis sighed before straightening up to give her report.

"Splendid. Anyway, those two boys were the last ones I had to review for today. Everyone else seems to be doing fine."

Kisara nodded.

"Still, it doesn't mean that they are out of trouble yet. These conditions only improve their chances of surviving, they don't guarantee it."

The priestess in training bowed her head in acknowledgment.

"True, but they're all in much better condition than when we visited that day."

Kiya piped up from her washing then.

"Though, did we really have to take the linens and cloth for bandages from the palace?"

Kisara thought for a moment on that, but not too seriously.

"Maybe, it's not like they'll be missed. There are plenty of curtains and tablecloths in that palace that weren't really being used for anything. Better that they can actually do something."

Isis' expression was thoughtful as she concurred with the white-haired princess.

"I know. Back home, we had to use everything we had when it came to making ends meet. It just seems weird seeing all of this stuff at the palace never be used for anything."

Kiya sighed, leaving the cloth firmly at the bottom of the bowl she was swashing it in.

"I'm not saying I don't understand. Believe me, I do."

The pink scarf covered girl was about to say more as she suddenly stopped, catching sight of something from the corner of her eye in the distance. Her voice went calm as she spoke again.

"Princess?"

Kisara released a long-suffering sigh, possibly from the fact Kisara had not brought her crown along to be identified as such.

"What is it now, Kiya?"

"Exactly what are you going to tell Pharaoh and Lady Nephthys when they find out what you've been doing?"

Kisara shrugged before turning to face Kiya in curiosity.

"I suppose I'll figure out what to say when the time comes. I hope they won't be too mad though. Why do you ask?"

Kiya raised her arm weakly in the direction she had looked.

"Because I think you're going to have to start explaining now."

Kisara and Isis looked in the pointed direction to cringe in unison as they saw what was coming their way.

It was the royal procession, complete with the pharaoh on his litter along with Nephthys riding on a horse nearby the king. Of course, there were also the servants carrying the litter and many soldiers (who had been following the king out of the palace since the assassination attempt that brought Kisara to the royal's notice). People bowed down in the streets, which also keeping an eye on where the great king was going and wondering why he was in this part of town.

Kisara mumbled quietly that only Isis and Nephthys heard her as the sound of the procession was getting closer.

"Oh, great."

Isis only cringed more as she saw the stony expression of her aunt getting closer.

"We're in trouble, aren't we?"

Kisara glanced at her partner in crime, the servants that had been brought along coming out of the house to see what was going on with the noise outside. They were in for quite the surprise.

"Did you really have to ask that?"

Isis flinched before schooling her expression into a calmer one.

"Good point."

The royal procession stopped in front of the House of rest, the servants got down in the customary bow of the left leg forward. Kisara also did so, looking out-of-place only in looks as she had taken to wearing less fancy clothes out of the palace for these trips.

The litter was lowered and Pharaoh Aknamkamon stepped down from the litter, quickly followed by the Sacred Guardians that had tagged along. They seemed to keeping themselves behind their ruler, letting him spell out judgment on this situation.

The wizened ruler walked tall and strong before stopping before his adopted daughter's kneeling form, tilting her chin up to look at him.

"So, this where you've been when you snuck out of the palace."

Kisara repressed a small gulp. Even after living with the Pharaoh for as long she had, she was still a bit intimidated by Aknamkamon. She got up from her position and straightened her body out before speaking.

"How did you know?"

Aknamkamon gave a small glance back at Nephthys before returning his attention to the young princess.

"Nephthys noticed Isis sneaking out and found out she had been with you all this time. Care to explain what exactly it is you are doing here?"

Kiya kneeled harder as she spoke up.

"It's my doing, my Pharoah! If I hadn't told the Princess about this…."

Aknamkamon held up a hand to stop the girl's rambling.

"You're not in trouble, young one. But I would prefer to hear exactly what has happened in my daughter's words."

My daughter's words. Kisara could feel the pressure, but kept herself clam as she explained.

"I asked Kiya about the plague that was going on outside the palace. Then she told about this House of Rest and I wanted to see it with my own eyes. Once I saw how bad it was, I knew I had to do something to help."

Aknamkamon glanced back Nephthys granting her his permission as she took the opportunity to speak.

"And why are you out here with them, Isis?"

Isis still knelt, keeping her eyes on the ground as she answered her aunt/mentor.

"I wanted to help however I could, Lady Nephthys."

The two adults speaking looked at each other, the Pharaoh and one of his Guardians sharing a similar look of understanding before the Pharaoh spoke once more.

"Well, I suppose the proper thing to do is to see what you have done with this place."

Kisara and Isis looked at the two leading adults at the same time, Isis rising from her kneeling position. Kisara gestured to the door, no longer by the wooden pseudo-door.

"This way, then."

Two young girls walked ahead with the other two behind them, leading them right into the house as the four stepped over the threshold and into the House of Rest.

To say it quite changed from when Kisara had seen it for the first time, was quite an understatement. The room was spotless as the trash had been picked up and a good two or three dustings had been given to the room. Along with this, the sick and injured were no longer spread haphazardly across the floor, but rather in uniform linear fashion, each with their own mat and blanket. The rats were gone as well along with the pots in the room filled with good, clean, untainted water.

But the real change was the people. There was still a few moans and grunts of pain, but there was none of the defeated looks the young princess had seen the day she first came. All of the people had a calm, restful expressions. The cleanliness and better diet and drinking habits into effect, the fact they were starting to get better made a difference for everyone's moral. The several that did seem to be struggling with their condition were being attendee to be by some of the servants who could not tear themselves away from the people they were helping.

Kiara has cringed in fright and it took a little bit of inner coaching to see what the looks on Nephthys and her foster father's faces.

Kisara was surprised to see while their faces were as intent and unreadable as they would usually be at court, their eyes seemed to be glimmering with interest and….surprise?

However, there wasn't much time for her to dwell over this as Akemi rushed from outside with several men carrying from what seemed to be another dirty faced and hurt worker who was clutching his leg.

"Princess Kisara, another one from the tomb builders seems to have injured his leg…"

Kisara raised her hand before going into inspect as the man was transferred to one of the open mats on the ground. She knelt down and pressed some of her fingers to feel the bones in the leg, causing some winces and groans from her new patient. Once her thing was done, she turned to Isis who had more expertise in this field

"I'll take it from here. Hmm….Isis, you should probably check this out."

Isis hurried over, crouching next to Kisara as she also felt the places of pain (the two standing adults in the room giving each other incredulous looks at seeing the two work together, luckily the girls couldn't see them).

"Feels like it's broken. Wrap it up and set in an elevated place, the bones should heal in several months, depending on the severity of the damage."

Kisara nodded as she held the leg while Isis went to get some of the clean bandages, returning them to wrap around the laborer's leg. The man seemed to be doing well, though wincing in pain for several minutes before the bindings were secured and Kisara helped to prop the man's wrapped up leg on a pillow that had been 'borrowed' from the palace.

Kisara huffed as soon as it was secure.

"Don't worry sir, just keep your leg elevated like this you should heal eventually."

The dirty faced workman was taken aback as he realized exactly who the young lady addressing him was.

"Of course…your highness."

Kisara gave a small smile to that as she stood up with Isis right beside her.

"You're welcome, though it's really Isis you should be thanking."

The man also bowed his head to the young priestess at that.

"Thank you as well, Lady Isis."

Isis smiled pleasantly to the man.

"It was my pleasure."

Once that conversation was finished, the pharaoh then took it on himself to remind the girls that he and Nephthys were there and cleared his throat.

It served its purpose as the two girls turned back to the two, the Pharoah speaking firmly.

"I see. I've never seen any physician do things like this. Where did you learn this?"

Kisara spoke calmly.

"From my Amma. She taught me some of her healing methods."

He nodded at that before turning to Nephthys.

"I suppose I could have guessed that. And it seems like those methods might be worth picking up."

Nephthys smiled in a way that made one think she was keeping a secret.

"And I suppose that would mean me coming along on the next trip."

She then looked at her niece directly and smiled even more, as if giving a silent Good Job to Isis who was taken aback by this, but rather pleased that she got it.

Pharaoh Aknamkamon then spoke again, drawing the attention of his adopted daughter.

"Are you done for today?"

Kisara confirmed that.

"Yes, there are no more patients for now."

"Good, you can all come back with us. Now Kisara…"

Kisara paid attention thoroughly, noticing how he was calling her only by her name in public.

"Yes?"

He spoke sternly with the next few sentences.

"Next time you do something like this, ask me before acting on it. Particularly if you're going to be taking things from the palace. Also, take some guards with you. I know you wish to help however you can, but you mustn't forget you are a princess and that means thinking of your own safety too."

That made Kisara's mood go a little down as her head sagged.

"Yes, my Pharaoh."

Then he turned around to leave, but not before speaking again.

"All of that aside, good work."

Kisara looked up as the pharaoh and Nephthys walked away to the door as Isis and she met each other's looks before hurriedly following them out the door.

Following behind the two important members of court, the two young girls and everyone else looked about ready to leave except for Kiya who seemed to still be kneeling in fear.

Kisara shook her head and fondly and leaned down to where Kiya was, Isis right behind her.

"Kiya."

A weak reply came from the mousy girl.

"Am I fired my lady? I deserve it."

"You're not fired. We're just going home."

Kiya sighed as seemed to collapse in relief within herself.

"Oh, thank Amun!"

Isis and Kisara shared a laugh at the servant girl's dramatics.

Walking down the corridor back to Kisara's room, Isis sighed deeply after they fully went over the day's events.

"I still can't believe we are not in trouble."

Kisara's shoulders also slacked in relief of that.

"I still can't believe it either. To think, they actually praised us. In their own sort of way."

Isis nodded as she continued.

"Yeah, I've come to learn to expect those kinds of responses from my Aunt nowadays. It's almost like nothing every really pleases her."

"I know, I was her student once too."

Before the light-hearted conversation could be continued, a very familiar voice interrupted them.

"Well, what do we have here?"

The two stiffened before turning in unison to find Nabirye and her group right behind them. Bahiti spoke first while catching a glance from Nabirye while the other seemed to wonder why the two who otherwise avoided each other were now talking like best friends.

"We didn't know you were around today Princess. You seem to be practicing your harp whenever our invitations come for you."

Kisara kept her face calmly blank, knowing a lie when she heard one.

"Yes, well I've been trying to get a particular song right. Perhaps I'll play for you girls once I've perfected, but for now I'm returning to my quarters."

Nabirye expression was that of politeness, but her eyes gleamed with scorn before she turned her sickly sweet smile towards Isis.

"Such a shame, until then. Anyway, we were heading to the myrrh baths, Isis. It would be wonderful if you joined us."

For a moment, Isis looked unsure before she her face turned sure.

"I apologize Nabirye, but the Princess and I were going to head back to our rooms to practice our music together. Some other time, perhaps."

The uncontested leader of the girl group's face was pleasant, but her eyes flashed with something deadly. Always she kept her smile on, even as the girls looked to each other in worry before Nabirye spoke again though this time not as sweet.

"What a shame. Come one girls, I think we know when some people just think they're too good enough for anyone."

Nabirye turned her head, and walked away, the girls following her with a little more unease as they glanced a few times back at the two girls while walking away.

Kisara crossed her arms with a scowl.

"Oh, she's one to talk."

Isis glared in her direction.

"You think what she said during the duel was bad, you should listen to her when you're not around."

The two shared an uneasy look with each other before Isis bowed her head.

"I just have to say, I'm sorry. I should have listened to you back with what you said about Nabirye. But it was the first time anyone important was interested in me. I didn't realize what a mistake it was…"

Kisara waved her off, stopping her from going on.

"It's alright. I might have done the same if Nephthys hadn't coached me how to act in court before I was adopted."

That didn't stop Isis from looking down as she twisted her hands in nervousness.

"It's just….I was also jealous of you."

Kisara had to raise an eyebrow at that.

"Of me?"

Isis nodded, her face a little red as she explained.

"It's just my aunt keeps going on about you. How good a student you are, what a perfect example of lady. Sometimes it just made me frustrated being compared to you."

Kisara tried to calm the young lady down.

"Isis, listen. Nephthys never praises you excessively, that's something I learned the first mouth of learning. Secondly, all the time I was her student she loved to talk about you."

Isis' eyes widened in some surprise.

"I didn't know. I mean, you were such an important person and I kind of started to listen to what Nabirye was saying. Not to mention, Mahad…"

Kisara started to dismiss their concerns before she caught the important bit of information in there.

"Well, I think we've established that Nabirye is not a reliable source of information or judge of….wait, what does Mahad have to with any of this?"

Isis then realized what she just said as she slapped her hands in front of her mouth, the red tint in her cheeks growing more obvious.

Kisara knew that there was something there and merely waited.

"Isis?"

Isis' face was red as Ra rising in the morning as she slowly removed her hands covering her mouth and tried to speak as calmly as she could.

"It's just…Mahad always seems so comfortable around you. Whereas to me, he only speaks when required to and then he runs off like I'm something he wants to avoid."

Kisara nodded taking this explanation in.

"Oh."

Then her eyes widened as she really got the implications from Isis embarrassed reddened face.

"OH."

She pointed her finger in shock at the priestess in training.

"You. Like Mahad?"

Isis looked away determined, brushing a stray strand of hair back into place.

"Well, it's not like he's interested me. But he's nice and kind of sweet when he plays with the Prince and that other girl."

Kisara filled in that.

"Mana."

Isis head was downcast, waiting for Kisara to confirm it.

"Yeah, anyway it's not like he really knows I exist next to you."

Kisara was still for a moment and then two. Then she did something she never would have thought she would done in relation to this kind of conversation.

It started out as a snicker, then two, until finally the young princess was outright laughing, holding her sides as if to keep them from hurting.

Isis' eyes narrowed sharply as she looked accusingly at her new-found friend.

"I just tell you my most personal secret, and you're laughing?!"

Kisara's laughing died away more at that as she started to get more control over it.

"Oh no…that's not what I'm laughing at. It's just….oh man…is this ironic…"

Isis crossed her arms, her stern expression resembling her aunt's.

"Explain then."

Finally getting her fit of laughter under control, Kisara took a deep breath and started.

"Well, the thing is, Mahad is scared of girls."

Of all the things that she would have said, that was not the answer Isis was expecting as her arms uncrossed while she spoke.

"What?"

Kisara nodded, remembering what led her to this knowledge.

"I know. About a month or so after I officially started seeing Atem with Mahad and Mana, I noticed that Mahad really didn't like talking to any of the girls of court. I mentioned it to my brother and he told me. He gets really nervous around girls his age, especially really pretty girls. Last time he tried, Mana said he was babbling like an idiot."

Isis' eyes were wide as she looked at Kisara as if she were joking.

"Seriously?"

Kisara nodded once with a smile before remembering.

"Seriously. Of course, then Atem made me swear never to tell anyone else. Well, I guess it was a good reason to break that promise."

She returned back from her thoughts and continued what she was saying.

"So you see, the fact that's he able to talk to me, is proof that he's not interested in me."

"But you seem to be together a lot…"

Kisara rolled her eyes at that before going on.

"That's because Mahad is one of the few people in Court that I can have a real conversation with. I mean, my brother and Mana are nice and fun, but Mahad is someone I can talk to about the serious stuff about and we have a bunch of stuff in common. We commiserate."

She took a breath before going on.

"Aside from Mana, who might as well be his sister, and me; he's like that with all the girls of court. Matter of fact, from the fast rate you say he's running away, that actually says a lot about how pretty he thinks you are."

Isis reddened this time with pleasure at the thought.

"Really?"

The snow haired princess nodded.

"Really, just don't take it personally."

The two smiled as they continued their walk towards Kisara's room. After a moment or two, Isis spoke again with a question that came to mind.

"So, is there anyone you like?"

Kisara continued on, though thought very deeply on that, back to before she came to the palace.

"Well, I did….I guess I still do."

Isis looked at her question, wanting to know the story.

"What does that mean?"

She brushed it off quickly, hoping that there other wouldn't see the red starting to show on her face.

"It was before I came to the palace, okay? Just drop it, please."

Isis nodded, not convinced but let it go.

"Alright. So, what do you want to do for the rest of the evening?"

The princess thought before an idea lit up in her mind.

"You talked about music back there with Nabirye. You wouldn't happen to play something would you?"

"Not really, but I can sing a little. Though I would love to play the harp."
Kisara lit up in a smile.

"Well, you're about to get your first lesson in harp playing then."

V.E.: DONE. FINALLY.

This took a while to write. Please, please don't get mad I took so long.

I think I've going to skip Child of Ice this time around and do a chapter of Paradox since I've got a three-day weekend and I'm going home for it.

Please review.