Age of Majesty

Chapter 4

The sun by then was setting, so the room was bathed in a red glow. Seto was preparing to go to bed, as he was tired. He was taking off his robes, unwisely in front of an open window, although on palace grounds the priest had no reason to fear others seeing him. He was unbelievably slender, though not so much that his bones could be seen. His blue eyes were a bright contrast to the glowing room. He moved with grace and casualness, though his movements were a little weighed by weariness.

Bakura was not sure what he saw, but it had to be an angel.

He remained frozen, still unseen, but unable to move away. A strange force took hold of his heart, a desire more intense than any he had felt before. He had to go in, but he could not risk his alias. Struggling between entering and leaving, he finally gave in to the former, shrugging off his cloak in one movement and leaping at his prey. Seto did not even have a chance to look up before the cloak wrapped around his head completely and Bakura threw him against the bed. The beautiful being under him thrashed, and Bakura used his own body to pin the frail creature under him, one hand gripping the folds of the cloak to secure it, muffling the cries, and the other gripping both of the priest's thin wrists harshly.

The thief was breathing heavily from restraint. He was struggling to think. He had no qualms about just taking this helpless beauty right there, but that may risk his much more important plan.

He gasped shakily as the hot body under him thrashed one last time and went relatively still, trembling in terror.

It took Seto a brief moment to realize who it was that assaulted him. No one else would dare to enter palace grounds so boldly at this, but he could not comprehend why Bakura would do this. From all his prior conclusions Bakura would have deemed him too obscure to bother. There was absolutely no way, no matter how wise and intelligent Seto was, for the poor boy to predict something like this—that he would arouse Bakura's desire like this. He was male, Bakura was male, he was a sickly priest, Bakura was a thief—it just did not add up. And yet there was no denying what his captor wanted to do.

In desperation, Seto reached for his Shadow Magic—and stopped just short of it. His health could not permit it. Even now, with him hardly caring if he will die right after this, he was physically blocked. And it really came as no surprise. He had been worried about this just yesterday, when Mahaado had visited and Seto could not sense his older friend's presence at all. With Bakura it was as if he had been attacked by an invisible predator.

He opened his mouth to beg—with Bakura he would probably induce contempt and then the thief would leave him alone, but before he had a chance the cloak suddenly lifted past his lips, and though he could not see a dominating mouth crushed into his and a hot tongue pressed in.

Mad with terror, Seto bit down violently. Bakura pulled back with a groan, and before Seto could do anything else a rough hand pulled the cloak back over his mouth and crushed into his throat.

" So," The voice whispered, too low for Seto to remember the voice, " You like it rough? I'm more than happy to oblige."

oO

The Pharaoh was actually a lot more worried about Seto than he ever remembered. Perhaps it was the general feel of the day, but despite the cheery atmosphere of the music and dancing and food, he felt almost apprehensive.

At the moment only Kalim was next to him, and though the priest had the presence of mind to realize his King was troubled, the priest was at a loss as to why.

Withdrawing early from the festival as the sun began to set, the Pharaoh wandered to the palace a little despondently. Kalim kept to his side since the Pharaoh did not dismiss him yet and Atemu let him. Sometimes fools show more wisdom than the normally wise, and there were actually times when Kalim had pointed out the obvious which put both Atemu's father and himself at ease.

As he headed further down the grand halls in the palace, the Pharaoh suddenly felt something strange. Most of the shadow users were at the celebration, but on the other side of the palace grounds there was another shadow user besides Seto. Atemu hesitated a moment in confusion, and Kalim did the same, for the priest also sensed the anomaly.

Alarmed now, Atemu broke into a run. The servants looked after him in alarm as he rushed past, wondering if they should follow. Kalim waved them back. If there was a shadow user the servants stood not chance.

Once out of the palace itself Atemu's pace became even more desperate. The servants in front of Seto's house looked up, wondering if they should announce his arrival at all, but Atemu rushed past them without giving them a chance to. He knew Seto's rooms—he had been there so many times. To his horror he realized that the second shadow user was in that room—and was not leaving.

Bakura, who was fumbling with Seto's trousers while keeping his hand at the priest's throat, looked up when he realized a strong Shadow magician was in the house, and heading towards him. Seto had passed out from lack of air, and Bakura threw the cloak over himself before heading toward the window. This was not well thought out. He reprimanded himself as he jumped out without making sure if there were any guards about. Luckily for him, there was not. As he left he opened the gates to the Shadow Realm and entered. After all, the Pharaoh or his priests, whichever it may be, already sensed his presence. He had no reason not to risk the Shadow Realm's aura now.

Atemu burst into Seto's room just as the thief disappeared from this realm. Seto remained prone on the bed. As Kalim scanned the room and the windows to make sure the danger was past, Atemu hurried to Seto's side.

" Seto!" he took the thin shoulders into his arms and shook. " Seto!" He could not be dead! Atemu could sense his magic still!

The servants crowded outside the room, afraid to come in but too alarmed to leave. Seto remained unconscious.

" Seto!" Atemu was getting more frightened by the second. " Seto wake up!" He stopped as he took in the marks on his cousin's pale neck, which was starting to bruise.

Seto sucked in a weak breath and choked to wakefulness. He looked up at the Pharaoh in confusion, then cold horror washed over him.

" My magic!" He cried, panic making him lose his wits completely, or else he would never have confessed this to Atemu. " My magic! I can't reach it!" Tears of fright broke from his eyes. " My magic!"

" What?" Atemu was startled. He had never seen his cousin so terrified. In fact, he had never seen his cousin fear anything, not even when Seto was ill. Seeing his cousin so scared broke his heart and terrified him as well.

" What are you talking about?" Kalim was alarmed as well.

" I lost my magic!" Seto started shrieking, " I can't! The gods–they have forsaken me!"

" Nonsense!" Atemu grabbed his cousin's shaking shoulders. Seto was as close to passing out again as he had ever seen him. " No one has forsaken you! Grab a hold of yourself! Your magic is just fine–we both sense it clear as day!"

" Right..." Kalim was not sure whether he should reach out to the young priest. " I definitely sensed two shadow users in this room."

Seto was grabbing the Pharaoh's arms in a grip so tight that it hurt–it would have been a heinous crime, except first of all Seto was Atemu's cousin, and the boy seemed in shock. He stared at Atemu with glassy eyes full of confusion.

" What?" His voice was hoarse, but much quieter. " You–you sense it?"

Atemu stared back for a moment. " What in Ra's name are you talking about? Of course we sense it. I was not sensing the Rod, you know."

" What?" Seto looked like he could not understand it. " I...I have my magic."

" Is there any reason why you would think you did not?" Kalim stupidly asked.

Seto was trembling again, this time from relief. " I have it?" He glanced back and forth. " I have it! I do?"

Atemu looked up at Kalim, then noticed the servants at the door. " You!" He pointed harshly, frightening everyone, including Kalim and Seto. The Pharaoh ignored this. " All of you, come in here. All of you!"

Meekly, the servants entered the room. Seto looked at the Pharaoh, then at the servants, in confusion, still mumbling to himself.

" None of you are going to speak a word of this to anyone. Understood? If I hear even a whisper of this anywhere, on or off palace grounds, you will all be executed!"

Faces pale, the servants vowed never to speak of this incident ever again, and Atemu released them.

" Kalim," Atemu turned to the priest, " You may enjoy yourself at the celebration."

Understanding instantly, since Kalim was not so thick, the high priest gave a low bow and departed.

Atemu sat on Seto's bed next to his trembling cousin. " Now," He said quietly, " What was that all about."

Seto was wiping his eyes, trying valiantly to collect himself. Whatever happened had been more than simply a murder attempt, because try as he might the boy could not stop his tears of panic. Atemu took Seto's hand in his.

" We are alone now." He told his cousin. " You are safe. Now tell me what happened."

Seto was reluctant to confide in Atemu and it showed. He was still shaken by the incident, and was unable to come up with anything to cover it. Atemu sighed in disappointment.

" Seto," He said, looking out the window, " I remember when we were very young, you used to bully me around sometimes because I was shorter and younger than you." Seto made to protest, but Atemu raised a hand to stop him. " I am not trying to blame you. We were both children. But the point was, you were comfortable with me. You never really hurt me, after all if you did my father would not have been so fond of you. But we all were. And we used to share secrets. You used to confide in me all the pranks you pulled on the adults, and I used to do the same. We referred to each other by name. You even gave me a nickname, remember?"

Seto did not protest this time. He was going to apologize for being so insolent so long ago, but he knew that was not what Atemu was getting at.

" I do not know when it was," The King looked at him sadly, " But it was before my father died. You stopped calling me by my name. You started calling me, " Your Highness", and " My Prince". You stopped confiding in me." He paused. " You stopped trusting me."

Seto opened his mouth, then closed it. He had no response to this. A fear was beginning to build up again. If this happens too much he will get worse. The fright earlier was terrible enough.

" I am not blaming you for anything." Atemu told him gently. " I know you are wise. I know you realized that no matter what, no matter how well we know each other, I am King and you are my subject. This divides us. But now I want you to speak to me as your cousin. I want you to trust me as your cousin. As your brother. As your family." Atemu paused again. " You are the only family I have. Surely you can do this for me?"

Seto took calming breaths. Atemu knew he was preparing to confide in him, and gave Seto's hand a squeeze. Silence fell as the priest considered how to start.

" I realized since yesterday," The distraught boy muttered, " When High Priest Mahaado visited me, that something was wrong with me."

" What do you mean?"

" I could not sense his presence." Seto looked at Atemu, and the Pharaoh saw raw fear in the blue orbs. " I could not even sense my own magic. Mahaado guessed my fear, but I did not dare ask if he sensed my presence. He did not seem to notice anything strange," The boy reflected on that for a moment. " I was too nervous to notice at the time that he seemed more confused about my restlessness than anything."

" Hm." Atemu grunted thoughtfully.

" High Priest Mahaado assured me that perhaps it was a temporary solution of the gods for me to...take a break from magic, if you will." Seto looked at Atemu nervously. " He assured me I should be alright."

Atemu understood why Seto was reluctant to reveal this. Without his magic, Seto could not be High Priest, and could not serve Atemu. Of course, there were other ways he could serve–his intelligence was enough, but Atemu did not feel there was a need to convince Seto of that yet.

" Earlier," Seto reached for his throat. The bruises were very prominent now, " I was preparing to go to bed. That was all I was doing." The boy was starting to tremble again. " That was all I was doing!"

" It is alright," Atemu assured him, reaching out to comfort his cousin, " You are fine. What happened was not your fault." Whatever it was.

" I did not sense anything!" Seto's face was pale again. " I sensed nothing, but then all of the sudden something wrapped around my head and I was thrown on the bed."

He suddenly stopped. Atemu waited a bit, but Seto was not continuing.

" What happened next?" Atemu asked.

All Seto could do was give him a look of pure terror. Realization struck the Pharaoh in the gut. He rose, furious.

" Fiend!" He barked, rage turning his vision dark. He was barely aware of Seto crawling to his feet, sobbing in fear and apologizing over and over again. The sound of his cousin's wretched cries woke concern for Seto's health, and he pushed away the anger at Bakura to bend down and help Seto rise. When Seto refused to Atemu, still smarting from indignation, spoke with a harsh voice, " Stop! I am not angry at you. In the name of Ra get back to bed before you hurt yourself!"

He gently helped Seto to bed and drew the thin covers over his cousin. Despite the warm summer nights Seto still required blankets when he slept, to ward him from the chill. Atemu did not sit down this time, instead standing at the window, his heart and mind restless and ill at ease.

" I am not angry at you, Seto." He told the priest, hoping his cousin would believe him. " I am outraged at who did this to you. He knew who you were, doubtless, I am sure. And he knew you were sick. To take advantage of you that way, to attempt to violate you," He shook his head.

Seto was silent, but he could almost taste his cousin's relief. Seto realized Atemu knew Bakura had not been successful. The Pharaoh most likely could tell when he entered. It made Atemu groan internally. What did Seto imagine would happen even if Bakura had been successful? That the Pharaoh would disown him?

But Seto would, in fact, no longer qualify as High Priest. A successful violation would have symbolized the gods forsaking him, deeming him unworthy of the status. And the Pharaoh would have had to strip him of that rank. But that would not have changed the fact that Seto was family, that Seto had served this country for years. Did Seto trust him that little?

The Pharaoh turned around. Seto was curled up, face in his hands, crying from the shock of everything that had happened–his near rape, the fright Atemu gave him, the relief that Atemu did not blame him and the fact that he was unharmed, for now.

Atemu thought of Seto's wretched cry earlier when he believed his magic had abandoned him. He gathered Seto into his arms. " Beloved cousin," He murmured as he soothed the trembling body, " I give you my word. I will never forsake you. Never."

oO

That, Bakura decided, was decidedly the oddest and most brainless blunder he had ever committed his entire life. He had never lost control like that! Always, his thefts, his plans, were careful, with every detail thought out, its consequences analyzed, weighed against the possible gains. Never did he mess up in such a manner. He was lucky he had gotten out alive. He was lucky no one had seen his alias. Otherwise he had no hope for heading for the tournament. He could not change his disguise because he had entered his name under this one. He was lucky he did not take the boy before the other priests came, during which he would not have been able to escape so quickly and so cleanly. Not to mention what if the priest was sick? He could have gotten sick too, kissing him like that. No, no, it was exceedingly stupid of him...

He raced along the empty voids of the Shadow Realm and reemerged at a safe distance from the celebration, where no shadow user would sense him. He was alarmed, unsettled, and very annoyed with himself. He had thought himself better than that.

But the priest...it had to be a crime for any living being to be so ethereal. For that was what the boy had been. Reluctantly, Bakura recalled the taste of that hot mouth, the feeling of the lithe body thrashing underneath him, the waves of trembles as the boy accepted defeat. It was definitely the High Priest Seto. He had sensed the shadow magic within the body, and more he recognized all the features. The blue eyes. The tall, thin frame. The air of scholarly wisdom.

There was something very strange, however, about what happened. It was not just the fact that Bakura had lost his wits, for a moment. The priest had not fought back. High Priest Seto's shadow magic was legendary in its power, as legendary as his pathetic health. Surely Bakura would have had to wrestle with his magic, before he could do anything else? Not to mention, all experienced shadow users have magic as their instinct already. Surely Seto would have used a flicker of it in desperation when Bakura was choking him?

What if Seto was too weak to even use the magic? There was no doubt he did not lose it. Bakura sensed the shadowy presence as clearly as he sensed the priests, if not more clearly. But the tournament was held to find a replacement for Seto. Of course something had to be wrong with the boy. Was it this? Was the Pharaoh relieving Seto of his duties, so that he never would drain his life away again?

It made sense. Pharaoh Atemu was always fond of his cousin. This Bakura knew. Perhaps Atemu decided it was the shadow magic that had his cousin fall ill so frequently. Maybe the Pharaoh had blocked the magic from Seto, so Seto could recover. Although if that were the case, surely Atemu would give Seto some sort of protection when there are so many other shadow users so close in the area. No, it had to be the sickness itself.

High Priest Seto cannot use magic...

Bakura felt desire course through him as he recalled the brief moments with the priest again. He never thought he would want another living being so much. It was always treasure, treasure and fame. He licked his lips. Dead man or not, High Priest Seto was worth the catch. He was no challenge, but this was not about the challenge. This was about acquiring something rare and valuable and beautiful.

And like any other thief, Bakura liked pretty things.