Chapter 10 (Enya – Only Time)

'Why is everything so blurry?' thought Yugi. He felt himself being lifted and carried. 'What's going on? I can't leave the pharaoh's rooms!' His head throbbed as the person carrying him stepped down.

'No! No, not down there again! Not the dungeons, please!' Yugi tried to scream, to fight, anything! But only a small moan of protest was able to escape his torn and raw throat.

He felt the arms holding him tense, and then he was shifted so that he was straddling the person's hips. One of the person's arms was holding him around the waist, supporting his weight. The other was trying to push him forward without touching the wounds on his back.

Yugi's head was spinning dangerously and he thought that he might pass out again. He gave in and leaned his head on his captor's shoulder. 'Besides, if he wanted to hurt me he wouldn't be so careful of the blood on my back.' He lifted his arms to wrap around the person's neck, feeling thick metal against his arms as he did so.

'Armor?' Yugi wondered. 'Why is he wearing armor?' His thoughts were disturbed as his captor started descending the stairs again. They had only gone two more steps when Yugi felt warm water against his feet.

'What, the Nile? No, there's no current. Where am I?' Yugi was now up to his waist in water. His captor leaned forward and placed him against a sloped wall, like a couch or the kind of bed used for the sick. He eased Yugi's arms from around his neck and stepped back.

Yugi lay there up to his waist in water. He heard murmured voices and then the clink of metal on metal. He felt a presence close to him and reached out. His hand encountered familiar warm skin. He tried to wrap his arms around his captor's neck again, surprised when his fingers did not encounter smooth metal. 'The armor is gone.' he thought.

The arms, now free of their metal trappings, shifted him to lie across the water couch. Yugi felt hands supporting his head and back as they floated him in the warm water. He heard a soothing voice to his left before a third hand, much smaller than those of his captor, stroked over his face. It covered his mouth and then blocked his nose, obstructing his breathing for an instant before releasing him. It repeated this two more times before Yugi understood what was happening.

'They are going to lower me into the water. They want me to hold my breath and not panic.' For a moment Yugi was frightened, then he relaxed. 'If they were going to drown me, they wouldn't have warned me first.' He slowly nodded his head and took a deep breath, hoping that they would understand.

The hand quickly returned to cover his mouth and nose, and the larger hands of his captor pressed him down until he was completely submerged in the water. Yugi kept his eyes closed tight and relaxed. The hands only held him there long enough to ensure that he was well soaked before pulling him back to the surface.

Yugi gasped for air and moaned a little as the quick rise made his head spin. His body was shifted again to lie on the water couch and his head rested against the cool metal. His captor's hands retreated, only to return covered in slippery soap which they gently rubbed into his hair. The smaller hands that had covered his mouth also returned with soap, massaging it into his arms.

The hands continued in this manner, the small soft hands working over his arms, shoulders, and chest while the larger hands of his captor worked over his hair, face, and back. Yugi remained relaxed and allowed himself to be moved as the hands saw fit. In truth Yugi was not sure if he could even find the strength to open his eyes again, let alone to put up a fight. The water eased the pain of the wounds as the caked on blood and dirt was washed away. When the larger hands encountered the tattered remains of his clothes they moved away, only to return moments later, stroking in a way that was more comforting than cleaning. Yugi felt the quick press of cold sharp metal against his waist before the knife jerked outward and his kilt and underwear fell away.

Yugi tensed at this. Sure, Heqet and the other girls had seen him nude, but they were family. He had no idea who his captors were or what they intended to do with him. The hands must have sensed the change. The larger hands shifted him again on the water couch and supported him as he floated in the water. The smaller hands brushed across his face and momentarily stopped his breathing as they had before. Yugi relaxed at the familiar gestures and took a deep breath. Again he was dunked into the water and the soap was rinsed away from his hair and body.

When Yugi was returned to the couch the smaller hands continued to clean him as if it was the most natural thing in the world. They worked steadily and thoroughly, somehow cleaning every part of him without being invasive. There was nothing remotely sexual in the motions and Yugi gladly relaxed again. He heard the sloshing of water and the larger hands of his captor left. A few moments later he heard something being placed by his head and then felt waves in the water. He felt his captor's presence again and his hands returned, this time covered by soft, fluffy cloth. They moved over his head and torso, drying him gently.

The smaller hands finished with his feet and disappeared, only to reappear at his neck, tilting his face up and holding something cold to his lips. 'Cold metal and bitter liquid,' Yugi thought. 'A cup and medicine.' He parted his lips and swallowed as the liquid was poured down his throat. The medicine soothed his sore throat and eased the pain in his head. Yugi felt some strength returning as the larger hands moved him to sit up and began wrapping broad strips of soft fabric around his torso. After many cups of bitter liquid had been poured down his throat, the smaller hands joined, wrapping bandages around his torso and arms.

His captor's arms once again reached under his knees and his back, lifting him from the water completely. Yugi felt his captor climb the short flight of stairs that led into the water. His captor knelt and he was gently lowered onto dry, flat floor again as the smaller hands were already busy drying his lower half and wrapping bandages around his legs where the whip had scarred him. He heard footsteps as his captor moved away and then returned. He was sat up again and his arms were pushed into the loose sleeves of some kind of robe. As the fabric settled around his shoulders he realized what it was.

'Silk!' Yugi's eyes shot open even though the world was still blurry. 'Where would my captor get a silk robe?' Silk was imported from the eastern world. Only the extremely rich were able to afford silk, and even they wouldn't have such a voluptuous robe as this. 'Where am I?'

Yugi made an effort to sit up again and tried to clear his vision. The potions gave him renewed strength as he stroked the material of the robe. He felt his captor's hands lifting him. He wrapped his arms around his captor's neck again and straddled his hips, helping his captor to lift him. He rested his head on his captor's shoulder and ran his hands up into his hair, hoping to get some clue as to his captor's identity. Through blurry eyes he saw patterns of black, blond and…red? 'Huh?' Yugi thought. 'That can't be right.'

His captor leaned forward and Yugi relaxed, expecting to be placed on the floor again. His breath hitched as he felt himself lowered onto something far softer than the floor.

'A bed!' Yugi's mind was racing as he felt soft linen and feather pillows under him. 'I'm wearing a silk robe and lying on what is probably the softest and…most comfortable…bed…in the world.' Yugi fought the sleepiness that was pulling him down into the soft covers. 'The last place I remember being is in the pharaoh's rooms. I was waiting for the pharaoh to return when I was picked up.' Yugi frowned. 'I wasn't carried that far, was I?' Yugi turned towards his captor once again. For a moment, his vision cleared and he saw burning crimson eyes.

'The pharaoh…what? But that's…imposs…i…ble.' Yugi felt himself sinking into the soft bed. The last thing he remembered was that impossible shade of shining crimson before his body succumbed to sleep.