Atem took a deep breath, recalling when he had approached the old man, that a feeling of foreboding had hit him in the gut when his scarlet gaze met with the blood red of the old man's. He had shoved it aside then, believing that the feeling had simply come from what Heba had said before. With that mistake that had been meant as an act of kindness, he had doomed himself and his queen.
Yugi squeezed his hand warmly once again, making Atem's gaze flicker back to Yugi's, the ancient only then realizing he had began staring at the floor, dazed and lost in his memories. He sighed before placing a hand over Yugi's, a small smile working its way onto his features and lifting one side of his lips. Yugi returned the smile with sympathy shining bright and clear in his eyes, as well as urging Atem on.
"Well? Was Heba right about that man?"
Atem sighed and removed his hands from Yugi's grasp, his form slouching and his arms resting on his legs.
"In time Yugi I will tell you, but strange things began happening after the old man joined our convoy, we were wondering if the old man had a sorceror after him.."
After going to the old man who seemed too parched to speak, Atem offered the man water which he gratefully took and gulped down, however he drank it too fast and the old man ended up gagging and retching it back up. Atem was convinced that he couldn't leave the man at the mercy of the streets then and had told his men to bring forward a horse.
Things had been fine at first after the man was situated on the animal and riding, a guard at each side to make certain he wouldn't fall off, but not long after, the alarm sounded from the watch tower, making the Pharaoh and his Queen stiffen and stop.
"Sandstorm approaching! Sandstorm approaching!"
Atem cursed under his breath when hearing that and immediately turned, simultaneously grasping his queen about the waist gently and lifted him onto a horse, ordering for the men to take him to the palace immediately along with the old man.
"Highness, what about you?"
The guard had to shout to be heard, for the howling wind was coming in from the desert and blowing sand into the small town already, but Atem heard him.
"I was trained in these matters since boyhood general, I will be fine. I gave you an order! Have some of your men get the villagers out of their homes and into the refuge of the palace!"
The man did not repeat the mistake of questioning the Pharaoh again and turned, running off and shouting to his men as he went to evacuate the town to the palace. Atem followed suit, running to nearby homes and businesses and telling everyone he found inside to head for the palace. He knew he couldn't reach everyone alone, thus why he also had the soldiers and guards sending out the order.
(Sorry its so short guys, I have to cut it short, my laptop battery will die soon and I don't have anywhere to plug it in. I'll try to make the next update longer. Thank you for being so patient.)