Chapter 5: The Other Half
"Sweet little girl." Teana said, laying back on the royal bed, stretched out, looking over at Atemu, seated at a chair in front of a desk to the immediate right of the door into the bedroom. "Did you see the look on her face when she saw that room?"
Atemu did not respond, staring straight forward into the mirror on the opposite side of the desk, on the wall. His hands were folded in his lap, back straight, locked in a staring contest with himself.
"It's...really odd. There's not been any black magic for a hundred years, and then suddenly a girl with the gift shows up? And she just happens to be born in Egypt?" Teana said, trying to draw a response from her husband.
Still nothing, Atemu continued to glare at himself, crossing his right leg over his left.
"...honey, I-"
"My inner circle has been penetrated." He said suddenly, not looking at his wife. "This assassination attempt. Someone very close to me conspires against me."
"Oh, honey, we don't-"
"How else could it have happened?" He interrupted. "No one knew you were going to sleep in that room until you made the choice before you went to bed. And yet the room had already been compromised, the window pane already opened. Only a priest could have divined the future in such a manner. A powerful priest, one who knows the royal family." He suddenly stood up, still glaring at the mirror.
"Well...it could be-"
Quite suddenly, he grabbed the armrest of the chair with his right hand, swinging it forward. He released it, sending it hurtling toward the mirror in front of him, a loud crash shattering the mirror and denting the wall behind it. Teana sat up, eyes widening as she put her right hand up to her mouth.
"Honey, please...it'll be okay." She said weakly, as the door to the bedroom burst open. A couple slave girls ran in, immediately assessing the situation. After dropping down on one knee in front of the Pharaoh, they silently ran over to begin picking up the shards of mirrored glass.
Atemu slowly walked over toward the bed, as Teana crossed her legs in front of her. "The most powerful empire in the world...the dominant superpower of the last fifty years...why would among the most powerful men in that empire turn on it?" He turned on his heel as he came to the edge of the bed, taking a seat on it, looking away from Teana. "What am I not seeing, Teana?"
The two girls scurried out of the room, all of the broken glass and upturned chair in tow. Teana put her hands on her husband's shoulders and started to massage them. "No member of your inner circle would cross you, honey. You've given each of them a palace for Ra's sake. And the eternal reward granted in the afterlife for those who faithfully serve the Pharaoh...it would be madness."
He sat there, stone still, for several seconds. "Perhaps." He finally said. "And yet here we are. The foundation of the Egyptian Empire rests in the hands of the Pharaoh and his inner circle. Everything is thrown out of balance if I can not trust them. I trust Seto with everything, I tell him everything. Isis as well. What if it's one of them? I have invested everything in Mahad training Mana properly, if it's him this kingdom will crumble. You see? If I can't trust them, nothing will work."
"Think back on your life, darling." Teana said, still massaging his shoulders. "Would Seto betray you? Say what you might about any of the others, if you must, but would Seto ever betray you? You have to trust someone, unless you plan to personally hunt this assassin down yourself."
As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Atemu looked up at it, tapping his right foot on the floor lightly. "Enter." He finally called out.
The door swung open and Seto entered, followed quickly by two male slaves carrying a brand new shiny mirror. They bowed their head toward the Pharaoh before carrying the sheet into the room. Seto nodded at Atemu as he stepped into the room.
"The assassin remains at large." Seto said simply, standing at attention in front of the royal couple. "He must have left the palace immediately after the attack. All we found was this, right under the destroyed window amongst the glass and wood." He held up a small gold coin in his right hand, approaching Atemu as he held it out.
Atemu leaned in slightly to glance at it, which initially appeared to be a normal coin until the shape of the imprint of it proved to be Diabound. Still, the significance of this was lost to him.
"An identical coin was left by the bank thieves." Seto explained. "Confirming they are of the same party."
"As suspected." Atemu said, nodding. "Nothing else?"
Seto swallowed hard. "...Pharaoh...I do regret being the bearer of this, but there has been...one other develop-"
"Don't be ridiculous." Atemu gave a tiny smile. "You're not some messenger-boy. What is it?"
Seto glanced to the side for a half-second before returning to attention, as behind him the new mirror was installed, covering up the wall dent. "Today in the afternoon, a...pamplet of sorts was passed out amongst the citizens of Egypt. Millions of them were given out, distributed by a dozen Egyptian citizens."
"And?" Atemu asked, raising an eyebrow at his High Priest. Slowly, Seto reached for a rolled up piece of paper in a pouch on his belt. "There's no crime against advertising."
Slowly, Seto extended the paper toward Atemu, who took it. He unrolled it, looking down at the black ink inscribed on the white paper, forming a paragraph of text.
Egypt is crumbling under the rule of this incompetent Pharaoh. He is concerned only with mad expansion of his territory, and has ignored you, the citizens of Egypt, in the process. So much is his focus on wars in faraway lands, I was able to rob a bank and very nearly assassinate the Queen in a single night. No more will this fool be allowed such selfish rule, for from this day forward, Egypt is mine. The fool Pharaoh may either step down or face the full wrath of my powers. As of now, this country will play by my rules.
Pharaoh Bakura
Atemu glared down at it for several seconds, then glanced up at Seto. "Who is this Bakura?" He hissed. Teana was still reading the note over her husband's shoulders.
"I...I'm not sure, but we suspect this may be the Thief King Bakura-" Seto began
"The bedtime fairy tale?" Atemu scoffed, throwing the note to the ground. "The myth? The Thief King is a story made up by petty criminals sitting around campfires, Seto, please do not tell me such tall tales have you convinced."
"Pharaoh, with all respect, the Diabound is the insignia of the Thief King. Dozens of acts of thievery are attributed to Bakura and his men every year." Seto attempted to justify even as Atemu scoffed. "There's never been definite proof, but-"
"I know all of this, Seto." Atemu insisted, shaking his head. "If the 'Thief King' is truly responsible for all of those unsolved robberies, he'd be sitting on a pile of valuables worth around five hundred billion gold debens. Tell me something, High Priest, where does one hide such a stash? And need I remind you that no apprehended thief in the history of this myth has ever admitted to working with, even seeing, this Thief King. He gets blamed for nearly a hundred crimes a year, and yet we never once capture one of them?"
Seto took a deep breath. "Yes, it's not...not the most likely of possibilities, admittedly. But I think it should be...considered."
"I admire your creativity, High Priest Seto." Atemu said wryly. "This court jester of a politician is clearly piggybacking on an old myth to gain some notoriety. What better way to gain attention?"
Seto nodded. "Clearly, sir. I apologize."
"No need, no need. Sometimes conspiracy theories take a hold of you, you get in the middle of them, and you lose your sense of reality."
Seto cleared his throat. "The twelve who distributed the pamplets have been imprisoned and await execution. It's irregular, however."
"I agree. Such behavior is certainly irregular." Atemu deadpanned.
"They...they don't say anything. All of them, they went without a fight and haven't said a word since. They wouldn't tell us a thing about who told them to do this or why." Seto described.
Atemu shrugged. "Then interrogate them, do what you need to do."
Seto bowed. "Yes sir. That's all." With that, he turned around and began to walk out of the room, even as the two slaves returned to the room with a new chair in tow. They quickly set it down in front of the desk and dashed out right behind the High Priest.
"This is all wonderfully timed." Atemu grumbled.
"What are you talking about?" Teana asked, leaning her head up behind Atemu's and kissing the back of his head.
Atemu was silent for several seconds, then slowly turned to face his wife. "It's...circumstances are changing. We're losing our advantages in the wars." He slowly leaned back on the bed, not taking his eyes' away from Teana's. "They're catching up with us, we're losing our force multipliers as the technology draws even. Soon, we'll have to pull off the attack." He then looked up at the ceiling as Teana slowly came to lay beside him. "The generals give us about four months."
Teana stared at him for a few seconds. "I...I see." She finally mumbled. "Well, maybe it's about time anyway."
Atemu slowly rolled his head over to look at her, unblinkingly. Teana quickly withered under the glare. "Uh...that is, to say...honey, Egypt is more than twice the size it was when you took the throne, you could step down tomorrow and still go down as the greatest Pharaoh to ever live. You had to know this was coming, I'd say you took a pretty good haul."
"This isn't all about territory, Teana." Atemu said, looking back up at the ceiling. "You know that."
"Well...I mean, if our armies aren't capable of taking cities, then there's not much we can do about it, right?" She quickly said, a pit developing in her stomach as she spoke. "Maybe now's the time to start setting up defenses around what we've already taken, may as well make the best of the situation. That's all I'm saying."
Atemu shook his head slowly. "You underestimate me. Even after all these years. You're right, I always knew this day was coming. I always did."
"Honey-" Teana started, but was quickly cut off.
"Not for a single second did I envision a scenario in which Egypt didn't crush the life out of every last one of them." He gave a small smile, still looking up at the ceiling. "They will fall, my Queen, I promise it. My plan was never to simply take some territory and valuables, those are just nice bonuses."
Teana frowned, propping her head up on her right hand. "Does it have to-"
"Yes." Atemu said flatly, looking over at her again. "We just had this discussion, Teana. I have no interest in making friends with these other countries. I've seen their true colors."
She looked him up and down slowly, sighing. "But how-"
"I have a plan, darling." Atemu insisted. "That's all I will say." His brow furrowed quite suddenly. "But this Bakura fool...fool though he may be, is clearly a talented thief in possession of great power." He snorted. "He'll have to be dealt with. As will the traitor."
"It is...an awful lot on your plate." She said lamely, looking down at her fingernails.
Atemu looked over at his wife for a split second before turning back to the ceiling. "I'll make them proud." He said. "My ancestors...all of them."
""""
The massive cave, hidden deep behind hundreds of feet of stone, remained as cold, impersonal, and bland as any other cave in the world. Carved into the belly of a massive rock structure in the middle of the desert surrounding Egypt, a few dozen miles from the Pharaoh's Palace, the cave was initially noteworthy just for it's size. Thousands of years of slow carving and chiseling by the forces of nature had formed the pathways and chambers that made it up. And even now, it remained in much the same shape that nature left it in. Many of the walls and floors were damp and mossy, and only years of experience would teach those who resided in the cave how to avoid stepping on sharp stones.
And yet, nearly fifty called this unnamed and largely unknown cave their home. More than a home, it was a family. The one place in the world they could truly go. For this cave, as rough and dirty as it may have been, was a palace. A palace to a different kind of king. The two cloaked, short men, carrying large brown sacks over their shoulders, were preparing to make their tribute to their king. They walked down a particularly thin and winding path now, which quite suddenly opened up into a massive chamber. One close to the very deepest point of the cave. This room, though it remained as dirty and unrefined as any other, had two things of interest.
The first made itself immediately obvious. The entire chamber, outside of a thin winding path of rock, had been filled virtually to the ceiling with a truly spectacular array of valuables. Countless mounds of golden coins, all manner of jewelry and gems, a thousand lifetimes worth of antiques, and everything inbetween. This colorful, shiny, and garish display was enough to draw anyone's attention on it's own, of course, but the figure laying on his side on a pile of gold near the entrance was also worth notice.
Long, spiky white hair, tanned skin, and a white and red robe, the man wore a golden band around his forehead crookedly and was currently holding date-sized rubies in his hands, looking them over.
The two went up to the pile and quickly dumped the contents of their bags on it, spilling mostly gold coins with the occasional emerald coming out as well. Their king looked up, watching the contents spill out. He nodded, licking his lips.
He was the Thief King Bakura. Not a man of rumor and heresy, but of flesh and blood. He was real, as were his accomplishments. Every last one of them. The proof was in this very room, sitting in these very real piles of treasure.
"How does it feel to serve the new Pharaoh of Egypt?" Bakura asked his two foot soldiers, who dropped down to one knee in front of him. "Would you call it different?"
"Not at all, for you are still the same great leader you always were, Thief King." The left one said.
"True." Bakura licked the ruby in his hand a couple times before throwing it into the pile. "Very true." He jumped to his feet and slid down off the pile, onto the rock path. "Would you believe it? The brat survived." He said, walking around, stretching his legs.
"I'm sorry, sir?" The one on the right asked as the two went back to their feet, carefully watching their leader walk around.
"The false Queen." Bakura explained. "I don't understand, it vexes me so." He put his right hand up to his forehead dramatically. "How could she have survived such an explosion? How could I be robbed of my first great victory over the false Pharaoh?"
"Sir, if I may." The left one started.
Bakura nodded at him. "Yes, Ammon?"
"Must the false Queen die?" He asked uncomfortably, shifting from left to right. "It occurs to me when we take the royal palace, the false Queen might be made to...work as a slave? Perhaps in your harem? I mean-"
Bakura chuckled under his breath, immediately silencing Ammon. "The idea has merit." He said, falling back into a pile of jewels on the opposite side of the stone path, hands behind his head. "But no. As tempting as it is to see that little bitch humilated, I want her dead even more."
He looked up at the two men, the one on his left rubbing his chin. "Something on your mind, Bes?" He asked.
"Is there any reason why you detest the false Queen?" Bes asked, scratching his head.
He smiled and looked up at the roof of the cave. "Little peasant girl who elbows her way into royalty with sex appeal. Supplicates her body for the Pharaoh so she can live in the palace. Golddigging brat." He dug his hand into the jewels he was laying in, running it through the pile. "I say, if you want to improve your position in life, you earn it. Look at me. I was a peasant once, and can anyone say I haven't earned my status as Thief King and Pharaoh?" He spread his arms to his sides, looking around his treasure room.
"Of course not." Bes replied.
"The false Queen got into the palace by opening her legs, and that I detest." Bakura nodded. "That is why I wish to see her die." He jumped back to his feet, approaching his two men. "In a way, she's worse than the false Pharaoh. He was born into the royal family, a line of disgusting pigs of men. She chose to enter it. And besides, killing his beloved wife would infuriate Atemu something furious."
"Does the plan change, Thief King?" Ammon asked.
"Of course not." He hissed. "That slut is of little consequence, I'll kill her later. The false Pharaoh, even with all of his might, can not stand against my magic. We'll wreak havoc on his precious Cairo, until even his own 'loyal' subjects have lost faith in him. Then, when he's at his weakest, we'll storm the palace, and purge all memory of him and his filthy ancestors." He threw his right hand out towards the pile of gold to his right, grabbing a fist-sized diamond. He held it up in front of him, glaring at it. "And they'll never speak again of the false Pharaoh Atemu."
With that, he licked the diamond, threw it back into the pile, and began walking down the path away from his men, cackling madly.
