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Chapter 9

Two Days Later

"TEANA!" Keket quickly rounded the corner to see Atemu yelling at the aforementioned princess. "NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU ASK ME IF YOU ARE PRETTY, OR HOW MUCH YOU HANG ONTO MY ARM I WILL NOT ASK FOR YOUR HAND IN MARRIAGE!" Everyone along the corridor gaped at the Crown Prince as he took a deep breath and stormed away. Keket, came the thought. Meet me in my rooms? Oh. It was Atemu.

Be right there. Confused, Keket rushed through several secret passageways, taking the most direct route. Stepping into his receiving rooms, she immediately spotted the trembling body on the cushions. "Atemu?" Keket asked hesitantly, "Are you alright?" She was trying to name the emotion rolling off him in waves. The almost-hysterical laughter brought her back. Her head whipped around to see Teana crouched in the doorframe laughing with Atemu.

"Sorry—Keket, but—" Teana drew a shuddering breath, "We—pulled a—trick—on—you." They both managed to control their laughter and began explaining what they had done. It turned out that Teana hadn't wanted to marry Atemu either so she had told him and they arranged a huge scene in the middle of the palace. By the end Keket was grinning too.

"You cast the spell that kept me out of her head?" Keket inquired to Atemu. He shook his head.

"Her kingdom's magicians heard that you could get in so they all joined together to cast the spell." He explained that all of the most powerful magicians of her kingdom created a net of magics(sp?) to protect her mind. "You didn't take it down?"

"No," she responded, tapping into Teana's mind and sorting through all of the magic in the 'net'. There was no trace of Atemu's magical signature. "I thought that if you cast it, there would be a good reason." Something occurred to her. "Teana, you had to agree to this right?" At her nod Keket continued, "Why did you agree if you didn't want to marry him?" Teana smiled ruefully before she replied.

"It is a stupid reason, but I like to dance. No. I love to dance." She scowled suddenly. "They told me that I would be able to learn a new dance if I went to Egypt. They never told me you only dance in private or for ceremonies."

"I could teach you a dance." Atemu spoke up suddenly, "There was one dance I learned that they told me was okay to teach others." Teana looked at him for a moment before her face broke into a smile.

"Really?" Her face fell. "But I leave tomorrow." She continued forlornly."You couldn't possibly teach me a new dance by tomorrow."

"Watch me." Teana's head snapped up at the confidence in his voice. "Just watch."

Three Months Later

Keket had gone to her estates for a month to check on the serums she had sent her mages recipes of. They were testers of a sort and she was hoping they worked. The truth serum(1) was ready to be tested but she didn't want to use it until they had perfected the recipe. She carried three vials in a leather pouch; a large one for the Pharaoh, a smaller one for the Crown Prince, and one vial containing 5 servings for herself. The original recipe was meant for one drop to be enough, but when the liquid energy(compliments of Keket and Atemu) was added, it became so powerful that the person was spilling out everything with no way to dam the truths. Therefore, the mages had diluted it enough with water before they added the energy (which prevented it from losing its effect when mixed) so that five drops would work. They added the energy and now it took only three drops to do its magic. Keket had ordered for a vial the size of Atemu's be sent to Princess Teana, from 'a friend'. The best thing about the serum was that it worked around all blockages that protected the mind from reading.

Keket looked up from her horse's mane. They were almost at the palace; she could feel the power of Mahado's wards from here. As she and her group of guards (Atemu had insisted they come) passed through the gates, she immediately felt something was wrong. Before Keket had left, she had set up a magical grid that encompassed the entire palace within the gates. She had linked that grid to Atemu, Seto, Mahado, and Mana, so that they would know if anyone who had not registered their energy signature, not magical signature as not everyone had magic, with the guards. Keket was also linked to the grid but she had not used more heka to keep herself linked to it when she was not on it. Therefore, as soon as she stepped through, she could sense the three unfamiliar energies. Shouting a request for them to take her horse, she dropped to the ground running. Following the path the energies were taking she realized with horror that they were headed, with alarming speed, for the Pharaoh. There was another energy heading her way and she drew knives with her left hand and summoned her staff to her right. She twirled the staff and shrank it with her will. Fukayna appeared from her pendant in a flash of ruby lightning, flying alongside Keket. It's only Atemu, Sagira. Fukayna told her, amused, Have you forgetten his magic so soon?

I don't have time to listen to…Atemu? Keket paused in her rant. Oh. Can you give me a ride?

Of course. Fukayna grew larger, small enough to fit through the hallways and secret passageways, but large enough to carry Keket. Hop on. Keket leaped onto her neck, placed her weapons in easy-to-reach places, and fueled Fukayna's strength with her own heka. Maybe you should use your enchanted blades? Fukayna inquired. Isn't that what they were made for?

I almost forgot about those! Keket exclaimed into Fukayna's mind. I never need to use them!

That's good, right? Fukayna asked uncertainly. Right?

Sure. Keket responded. She put away her knives with the ease of practice and summoned the blades she had gotten from the immortal. Fukayna? What was his name? The immortal I mean.

I believe his name is…Ollivander. Her ka responded after a pause. Isn't that a strange name? Our names mean something, but his…we must check up on this later!

Sure. Keket stopped mind-speaking with her ka. She focused on the grid, searching for the other magical signatures. She was far ahead of the others, thanks to Fukayna. The signatures were just ahead, right next to the Pha— NO! The Pharaoh's energy just guttered out! They rounded one more corner and came face to face with the doors to the throne rooms. Keket blasted them open without a thought. Fukayna flew in, landing on top of the assassins, roaring fiercely. Keket raised a hand, conjuring knives out of the air, creating floating collars of knives, pointing inward, around both men's necks. When she had the collars secured around their necks with magic she rushed to the Pharaoh's body. Desperately she sent her heka ghosting through his body, trying to find just one bit of light, just one bit of life. She knew Atemu wasn't ready for this, she knew the kingdom wasn't ready for this. Nothing, absolutely nothing. A gasp behind her made her spin around. Mana and Mahado were stepping through the doorway avoiding the broken pieces of the door. They looked at Keket with The Question in their eyes. I shook my head and Mana let out a wail.

"Keket?" Atemu sprinted in with Seto right behind him. "Father!" He ran over and knelt by Keket. "Anything?" Another shake of the head. "Where are the Priests?" he asked suddenly, hishead snapping up. They could see that he was holding back tears. They answered the question, if only to give him something to focus on. "Keket…Did you bring the truth serum?"

"Yes…My Pharaoh." Keket responded uneasily. Atemu's eye widened at this.

"Please don't call me that…" He took a deep breath. "Anything- anything, but that. Please." A tremor ran through his body. He turned aro?"und to face the assassins again. "Can I use it?"

"Yeah…" Keket dug through her pouch before coming up with two vials, the Pharaoh's and the Crown Prince's. "Here. Which one do you wish to use?" She asked, holding up the vials. He reached out and pulled the smaller into his hand.

"How many drops?" He asked.

"Three." She replied evenly. They watched him pry open their mouths before dropping in the potion. "May I ask the first question? To show you how specific the questions must be." She added hastily when she saw him about to argue. At his nod she turned and spoke clearly, "From whom did you receive your orders to assassinate the Pharaoh?" The men looked up at her, giving her death glares. She shrugged it off uneasily, they still had nothing on Seto. (2)

"Why, don't you know, Princess?" They grinned at her horrified expression.

"Master Bakura."

(1) Veritaserum!

(2) XD lol!

AN: Thanks to my WONDERFUL beta, lillyflower's revenge, this chapter could come up. Woohoo! Longest chapter so far! Happy late 4th of July everyone! Please review! Flames and con-crit are also welcome!