Chapter 5: Count Your Blessings: Part 2

It's strange how many things can happen in such a short amount of time. In under three minutes, Moses and I went from being calm and laughing to being shaken and riled. Moses was never one to physically harm anyone, or to raise his voice. He never gets angry. A little annoyed sometimes and he was always annoying Hotep and Huy and pressure me and Ramses to join in pranking them, but they were harmless pranks that Moses concocted to cheer us up.

But thanks to Hotep and Huy actions, Moses's anger spilled over and he had laid a finger on them. He pushed them away to protect us both, but knowing Hotep and Huy, they could lie to Papa and say that Moses was in the wrong and they were just trying to help us.

I closed my eyes tightly, my head resting in Moses's back as we stood there. My hands were curled into fists, as if I were clinging to Moses. But there was nothing to grab. I certainly didn't want to grab onto the golden chain that hung about his back, holding a red stone to his chest.

"You damn little brat!" Hotep growled. The high priests stood back, both of them grabbing onto each other. Hotep looked beyond angry as he slowly took a step towards us once more. Every step they took, Moses, keeping me behind him, would move us both back out of their reach. My heart was beating rapidly, fear making me tremble. "You will pay for your mockery and disrespect of us!"

It seemed like an eternity as we stood here, backed into this corner, and trapped by Hotep and Huy. But just as the priests got within reach of Moses, we heard voices calling our names. One sounded closer.

"Moses? Maya?"

"Moses!"

"Maya?"

"Here you two are... What's going on here?" Ramses' voice rippled through me. Mama and Papa weren't far behind as my step-brother entered Bastet's Chambers.

Moses finally relaxed some as did the two idiotic priests. "Ramses," my twin breathed, relief in his voice.

Our step-brother's eyes flickered between the four of us, and rested on me. "Hotep, Huy, why is my brother and sister in the corner like trapped prey?" Ramses masked his own anger with confusion. He was quite the good actor when he needed to be.

"Well, you see, Prince Ramses," Huy began.

"We came in here to pay tribute to the beautiful Bastet when Princess Mew-!"

"It's Princess Maya to you!" Moses said sharply, "You don't have the right to address my sister by her nickname, not after all that you have said to us and did to her!"

The priests looked horrified, shock appearing on the men's faces. Rameses's eyebrow furrowed at this. He then looked at me and Moses again.

"Maya, what did the Hotep and Huy do to you?" Rameses's anger scares me sometimes, but I knew he wasn't angry at me. He was angry at Hotep and Huy, angry that someone had scared me or done me harm.

I didn't budge. I didn't speak. I just closed my eyes, trying to suppress the tears threatening to fall, and stayed glued to Moses's back. My forehead rested against the back of Moses's shoulders and Moses was unmoving.

"Hotep and Huy were making death threats against us, and Huy laid a hand on Mew," His voice was full of forced calm, but his brown eyes darkened with anger. They were focused on Hotep and Huy, especially Huy.

Again, Hotep and Huy glared at us, but Hotep spoke. "My brother did no such thing. As we were saying before, we came in here to pay tribute to Bastet."

"When Princess Mew-Maya," Huy quickly corrected himself as he spoke, "started to have, hallucinations,"

"Visions, she seemed to be in pain so we thought we could help."

"Prince Moses attacked us!"

Just as if they were kids, Hotep pointed a finger at my twin as Huy nodded, assenting to their fabricated lie.

"It was to protect my sister." Moses argued. Moses breathed in deep, lowering his voice after feeling me flinch behind him. "Ramses, I wouldn't have..."

His words were cut off at hearing Tuya down the hall, calling for us, beckoning us to come. Her voice, Mama's concerned voice, prompted me to slip out from behind Moses and run to her. I ran past a startled Ramses and almost collided with the Pharaoh as I ran down the temple corridor.

Arms caught me before I could fall. "Maya?" Pharaoh Seti's voice brought me to attention. I looked up at him. His face softened with concern, the lines of aging showing at the corners of eyes and mouth. "What's wrong?"

Before I could answer, Hotep called out, accompanied by the voices and footsteps of my brothers and Huy coming down the hall. "Lord Pharaoh!" The priests both said in surprise at seeing my father.

My stomach clenched despite feeling my father's hands on my shoulders attempting to comfort me. In his own way, Papa was caring and could be comforting, but he could also be stern and strict. I felt Ill at the possibility of the man I called father believing his followers over his children. Papa looked at all of us with narrowed eyes.

"What is going on?"

I flinched at hearing that commanding tone, but I didn't answer. Moses, Hotep, and Huy started speaking at the same time, reminding of a hive of buzzing bees. I had no choice, but to cover my ears. They kept trying to talk over each other until.

"Silence! Pharaoh speaks!" The Pharaoh was irritated now, but he could be more willing to listen. His angry tone silenced them in an instant. When Papa said this, both of his hands raised from my shoulders, one grabbing the crook tucked into the sash about his waist, and crossed in front of his chest. Once they were quiet, his arms lowered and his attention focused back on me. Hotep, Huy, and Moses bowed their heads.

"Now, Mew," Papa said after a moment of silence. I had managed to calm myself down quite a bit, but my body was still a bit shaky.

"Papa?" I whispered softly, looking back at him.

"What happened?" Papa placed a hand back on my shoulder, his eyes soft and full of concern.

I inhaled, taking an extra second before starting. "After me and Moses went to pray to Bastet, Moses started joking around, trying to cheer me up like he often does. While he didn't mean any harm, the priests took it as an insult so they started saying my brother and I are just mere strays that Mama found. They said we should have been drowned and fed to the crocodiles in the river. And Huy grabbed my neck."

His eyes went wide and Papa became even angrier. "Where on your neck? Show me."

Bowing my head low, I allowed Moses to push my hair over my shoulder. My brother's hand touched the base of my neck where Huy had squeezed.

"He touched her here, Father." Moses answered.

Papa must have seen a bruise or maybe it was feeling me flinch in pain as his hand gingerly touched the spot, he immediately glared at the priests. They both cowered under his glare.

"My lord Pharaoh, we would never hurt the precious Princess Maya!" Hotep said with a weak smile.

"That's right, your Majesty!" Huy nodded, fear in his eyes. "She was in pain so we tried helping her."

"Right and the Princess was having hallucinations, and Prince Moses shoved us."

I glared at the men, feeling my own anger coming on. "I was not having hallucinations!"

"Maya!" Papa's stern tone stopped me from saying anything else. He gestured to Ramses. "Prince Ramses, take your brother and sister back to the palace while I deal with these two."

"Yes, Father." With that said, my step-brother gently grabbed my elbow and started to lead me away with Moses following close behind.