A/N: If anyone says that online Language Arts is easy to take, they're wrong. 'Nuff said. My apologies for the chapter's tardiness, many thanks to Chrystel Malfoy-Potter, and don't forget to review! Oh yeah, and PLEASE take the poll. As of now, the votes are even. Someone who hasn't voted, step up and be a tiebreaker!
Bastet
Right off, I will go ahead and admit it; I enjoyed. It felt so … so right at the time. All thoughts of Ramses had evaporated from my mind. I loved the high I had gotten. His lips were soft against mine, despite the roughness in which we had come to this point. I forgot who I was as he pulled me closer and that wall — so tediously built around my heart — collapsed. I clung to him as he kissed me, both pairs of hands roaming over our bodies.
We pulled away, and his binding spell on me weakened. I gasped for air as he continued to trail his fingers along my skin. I backed away and as quickly as he kissed me, I slapped him.
I stared at him with wide eyes, and he stared back in contrast, eyes narrowed. But, then that spell came over me again, and I ran back to his arms once more.
We emerged from the blue deer room, straightening clothing, not to be misunderstood as anything more than a kiss. Or two. Or three. I turned to him, a small, sad smile on my lips, and returned the jewel on his headpiece to the center of his forehead, then trailed my fingertips down to his cheeks.
"We do not have to return to normal." Prince Matiwaza said quietly, eyes closing in comfort. My heart fluttered at this; he felt comforted with me.
"Yes, we do. You know as well as I do what those consequences are. Can you imagine, my children being deprived of their father?"
"They would not have to be. They can be raised as mine, no one would dare question it." My eyes popped out at the silly statement.
"You are right; no one would question it to our faces. Seti and Nephtys are as different from the both of us as night and day. They have their father's eyes, and his hair. Last time I checked, you don't have a single blonde hair, and your eyes are the color of night. It just would not work." I explained.
He continued to attempt to convince me. "I do not care. Let them question it. I am prince; they would not dare defy my word. You and your twins would be cared for here as my family. They would be prince and princess. You could be my princess, then eventually, my queen." he replied, eyes fierce with a burning fire raging inside.
"You do not understand. You do know of where I came from, yes?" I asked, and he nodded. I could see his confusion about what my origin had to do to with anything, so I grabbed his hand, leading him back to where I was staying. the wet nurse stood, holding Seti. I released Matiwaza's hand and opened my arms to him, and seeing this the nurse bowed her head and left, leaving Seti in my arms. The lion, still unnamed due to my difficulty at thinking of names, in his corner lifted his head at my presence, then lowered it and closed his eyes once again.
I uncovered my son's sleeping face, and he scrunched it up in sleep. His balled hands waved around at my disturbance, causing me to quickly soothe him.
"Stay dreaming, sweet child." I whispered to his forehead, then kissed it softly, the slightest contact with his soft skin. "Now, think about Ramses, and the state of Egypt. The power is in the queen dowager, Nefertiti's, hands. But, things will change. I am not sure how soon, but they will. And when that time comes, Ramses will step up as pharaoh of the land. I know this from where I come from.
"I know what happens next too, how his child, Seti Meryenptah, will become pharaoh after him. I cannot interfere with the route of history. I must carry this out, or things could end up different. Someone else could become pharaoh and rule with tyranny, and that could affect the way the events that lead to the modern world come about." I continued to explain. I knew that that time fabric mess, that gets talked about in movies, was completely probable. Even if it wasn't the case, I wouldn't dare to try and play with something I had no knowledge of.
"Who is to say your son would go along that path with Ramses?" Matiwaza asked. I raised an eyebrow.
"You believe I have the capacity to allow my blood to be evil? There are many wrong doings inflicted by me, but none of those things make me evil." I returned. He considered this, then nodded.
"You are not," he replied, answering my question, "however, I must question the validity of a man who allowed you to stray so far from his sight with his children." he mumbled.
"He was not thinking straight." I said quickly, and realized that Matiwaza was not the only one I was trying to convince. I looked down at Seti once again, using my hand to reveal my son's head of hair. My eyebrows scrunched in confusion. His golden locks seemed...darker. I had heard of how unstable these things were when it came to newborns; maybe this was one of these moments, where his hair would begin to favor mine more.
"I must return to him. As much as I care for you, Your Highness, I have obligations. I must not be selfish." I saw his eyes begin to phase into their cold composure once more.
"Very well. I should have been prepared for you to step all over others, once again." he told me, daggers in his voice. My heart sank as I realized that that wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to be with him. He turned around with a great flourish to leave, but I shifted Seti to a different side and grabbed Matiwaza's wrist.
"Wait. None of those things diminish my care for you." I murmured. He turned back to me and stared at me with steely eyes once more. He grabbed my wrist with his free hand and pulled it away from his.
"Just say it." he replied warily. "If you cannot be with me, at least give me that knowledge." I shook my head.
"You will make it too hard. To leave you."
"Three words." he said, teeth gritted. "That is all." I put the baby into his bassinet, along with his sleeping sister. When I turned back around, rather than seeing Matiwaza where I left him, he was directly behind me. Our noses touched, with his shoulders hunched down. His hand wrapped around my wrists while his other led me to a bare wall. He pinned me between it and his body,
with his face still pressed close to mine. Instead of fulfilling the nauseously heavy desire to turn my head away, I glared at him.
"Let. Me. Go." I growled. I was still a free spirit, despite what the Dark Prince could do to me.
"Those are the wrong three words." he growled back.
"Okay, here is another set … are you stupid? I just said, let me go!" I said, my voice rising.
"Just say it, Bastet. Give this man some kind of peace." he replied, warily. I shook my head rapidly.
"Very well. I suppose I will be forced to make you." he said mischievously. His face backed away from mine, then slunk down to my collarbone, trailing kisses the whole way. I gasped at the warm touch of his lips.
"Stop." I said, still in the midst of a gasp.
"Just say it, and I will." he replied and I sighed as he buried his lips into my neck, his burning tongue slipping out to graze my neck.
"I-." I started, but gasped again as I felt his teeth against my skin, reigniting my anger. "Stop it!"
He laughed softly. "But, if I do this..." he broke off and kissed me, taking my breath away for several seconds. "...then you will not be able to say what I want you to say."
"Fine, okay?" I shouted. "I love you. I do. However, it is not possible. There is no other way to put it!" he let me go, smirking as I went to Nephtys, who began crying at my voice's volume. "Shh, darling, no need. Mama is fine." I rocked her in my arms, and she stared up at me. I just knew she was wondering what kind of world she had been born into.
"Why could you not have said that?" he asked me, cupping my face. An angry tear rolled down my cheek, and he wiped it away quickly. I forced my head away from his touch, turning it away and side-stepped him.
"Because then it would have been too hard to leave you to return to Ramses. And that was something that had to be done." I spat. "Now, if you have gotten what you wanted, I need some sleep, so if you would kindly leave…" I left the statement open ended as I walked over and pulled the curtain to my room open.
"This matter isn't over." he growled, anger present once again. The lion, whom I still could not name, opened one eye and growled.
"I believe this dear animal disagrees. If you would excuse me." I said, and with that, Prince Matiwaza was pushed out of the suite and hearing the curtain swish in front of him.
I stayed clear of Yuri, Ryui and Shala, and Prince Matiwaza for several days. Despite how it made seem difficult for three of them, it was easy enough. The trio of girls were constantly away from the seraglio for some unknown reason, and Matiwaza stayed away from the seraglio altogether. I was relatively happy, despite loneliness. This went on for days, until Yuri came to me for help.
"Look, I'd like to put aside our differences," she started, "in order to help our prisoners of war. I don't know who your allegiance lies with, but there are many prisoners of war from Hattusa, and even a couple from Egypt."
I considered this. I couldn't really say I had anything against Egypt anymore; a redeeming quality had been it giving me the two beautiful babies I had. Along with this, I had pledged allegiance to the Hittite empire.
I shrugged. I was glad she had decided to seek me out, despite being upset with her quick abandonment. "Why not?"
Her face lit up. "Really? Thank you so much!" she exclaimed.
"It's no big deal." I explained quickly. "But, how...safe is it?" I asked. Her expression turned into confusion, then realization dawned.
"I'm not sure if that would be best for Seti and Nephtys. Bur, I'm sure you could get a wet nurse." she explained. I sighed. Did I really want to leave the twins in someone else's care again?
"I don't know if I will be able to, then." the spark in Yuri's eyes fade slowly.
"You readily left them when trying to get back at me, but when it comes to a good cause, you can't bear it?" she asked in anger.
"This has nothing to do with that." I answered warily.
"This has everything to do with that." she retorted, and left me more confused and uncertain about where I stood than before Yuri entered the room.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed!