Eshe was sitting on a chair by the Armakan's bedside. It had been two days since her arrival. He no longer suffered a fever and seemed to sleep peacefully.
While Eshe was reading from a book, she felt Halima tighten its self around her neck and started to hiss angrily.
She looked up from her book and saw Armakan's hug snake coiled around her whole body.
The snake stared intently at her.
"Its rather rude to confine me this way without any notice and after helping your master. So would you kindly unwrap yourself from me?" Eshe asked the snake.
It tightened around her slightly and Halima started hissing violently.
"Hush Halima. I don't want to wake Armakan. He needs his rest. We will have to play the waiting game. At least I can continue reading." Eshe said before continuing to read.
Halima stared flicking its tail angrily as he rested his head on her shoulder.
Eshe was too engrossed to notice that her patient was awake and staring at her until Halima curl tighter around her neck to get her to look up.
"Its good to see those lovely eyes of yours that you intend to hide from everyone." Eshe said with a smile.
"I must be dreaming. There is no way you would actually come back." Armarkan said to her.
"If I am merely just a dream, then why did I uphold my promise to you?" Eshe asked innocently.
"You really did return?"
"Yes, I did return. I promised to you that I would return when you needed me the most and I came. Though I have to hand it to Imhotep for finding me. I was about to leave a village just a day's travel north of here.
"Also do you mind getting your snake off of me? He has confined me to this chair for most of the day." Eshe said sweetly.
"Come here Zuberi." Armakan said as he sat up.
The snake uncoiled itself from Eshe and slithered onto the bed and curled next to his master on the other side away from Eshe.
"How do you feel?" Eshe asked as she stood.
"Better but I feel as if I am in a daze and I feel weak." He replied to her.
"It is only to be expected after what you went through." Eshe said going to a table where a pitcher and cup was.
She poured some water into the cup and then took the cup over to Armarkan.
"How long have you been here?" Armarkan asked as he took the offered cup of water.
"Two days. I came as fast as I could. I am glade you are finally awake." Eshe said with a smile.
"I know you probably heard about my brother…" Armarkan was silenced when Eshe gently placed her index and middle finger onto his lips to quiet him.
"There is no need. Once you are ready to talk, only then I will listen, but I do not think you are ready to talk and honestly your health is top priority." Eshe said bring her hand back to herself.
Before she could realize what was going on, she felt two strong arms grab her and encase upper body. It took her a few seconds to realize that Armarkan had pulled her into a embrace and held her tightly.
"I thought I would never see you again." He told her as he held her.
"I am here now and that is all that matters." Eshe said relaxing to his touch, "I will always be here for you and always will."
Once Armarkan fell back asleep, Eshe left the bedroom to notify Mahado or Imhotep of Armarkan waking up.
Eshe was delighted to find a servant just outside the door.
"Can you please go get Imhotep and Mahado please? I have news that will bring great joy to them." Eshe asked.
The servant nodded and left to find the people she wanted to talk to. Eshe decided to sit down in a comfy looking chair. She was left to her thoughts about the embrace she received from Armakan.
She sighed and heard the door open and saw the people she was looking for come into the room.
"We were told you have good news." Imhotep said.
"I do. The King woke up to a brief moment not too long ago. He is back to sleep right now but with him waking up today was a good sign that he is getting much better." Eshe said to them.
"It's the best news we could ever hope to hear." Mahado said with an exasperated smile, "We will inform the court tomorrow."
"While that is wise, I would like for the King to not be burden with any politics for a while longer."
"Of course. Lady Eshe. We deeply in your debt." Imhotep said.
Author's Notes:
I was surprised by the rapid amount of comments and followers after the first chapter. The updates will be a little sporadic since I have exams coming up. I will try to update as much as possible.
