Disclaimer –"Yu-Gi-Oh!" and all related characters, events, and concepts belong to Takahashi Kazuki and any other related owners/distributors/producers. I get no monetary benefit from this. My benefit is the enjoyment of dealing with beloved characters.

"Amuletic"
by DragonDancer5150

Chapter 2 – Black-Handed

So intent was he on his work that he failed to hear his grandfather's approach down the hall. Sudden voices just outside the door startled him, and he could not move fast enough to hide himself, let alone get anything put away, before the door opened to reveal Si-Amun with the hall guard behind him.

His grandfather stopped to gape at him, then demanded, "Akh-khnum-sa-atem, what in the name of Maat are you doing?!"

Behind him, the guard stared in a mixture of anger and confusion. "How did you get in here, child?"

Atem flinched back at the use of his complete birth name, ducking a bit before he could recover himself. Eyes down, he answered the guard first, knowing the dialogue with his grandfather would be longer.

"I slipped in when you were talking to Kheruef. I hid under the bed when you came in to check the room. I-I'm sorry, Baenre." He looked up then, meeting the man's eye, guessing at least one concern that was on his mind. "I'll make sure nothing comes of this for you, Baenre. I promise. If someone bad had tried to slip past you wanting to hurt my father, I'm sure you would have caught them."

Far from an empty consolation, he had every faith in the man trusted to protect the pharaoh's private room. It was just that Atem was small, quick, silent . . . and knew the guard's most minor habits.

Baenre looked at him. "King's son, I would have let you in had you but asked. You know that." He frowned. "Except . . . aren't you supposed to be in study at the House of Life right now?"

Atem nodded, eyes dropping to his lap again for a moment. "Yes, sir…" He pulled a breath and squared his shoulders as he raised his eyes again, this time to face his grandfather, jaw setting in angry determination as he remembered what he had been engaged in doing before the two came in. "You asked what I'm doing. I am protecting myself. I'm sick of Akh-n-aden beating me for every minor fault and for things that are not even my fault!"

The answer seemed to surprise Si-Amun, who tilted his head at that, his own ire visibly dwindling a bit. "By drawing on yourself?"

Atem's lips tightened. "If amulets we carry have the power to protect us, wouldn't amulets we wear be even better? I can't lose these, and they can't be taken off me."

His grandfather crossed his arms, one bushy eyebrow rising. "They can be washed off."

Atem faltered – he hadn't thought of that. He huffed. "Then, I'll just have to redraw them."

His grandfather shook his head. "Young man, it is not proper behavior to draw on yourself like this!"

"Why not?" Atem demanded.

It was Si-Amun's turn to falter, and Atem couldn't help but notice the suppressed look of amusement on Baenre's face as he too awaited an answer. Finally, his grandfather puffed out a breath. "Honestly, Atem, I don't know the exact reason off the top of my head . . . but don't you think that if it were acceptable, wise priests and scholars would have implemented such a practice long before a six-year-old child?"

Atem's face fell, and his gaze dropped into his lap again, shoulders slumping. "Yes, sir," he murmured, knowing he was genuinely in trouble now.

Si-Amun was silent for a heartbeat or two before finally asking, "Will you at least tell me what happened?"

Atem sighed and recounted the morning: how Akh-n-aden had been going through a lesson that didn't make a lot of sense to Atem, how Akh-n-aden had started asking comprehension-type questions without being willing to answer any of Atem's first, saying he should be smart enough to understand such simple logic, finally lashing him with the palm rib for his failure . . . how Atem had been so upset that he begged off with an upset stomach the first chance he got and made his way in secret to a place he felt safe without really thinking about where he was going, how he had prayed to Heru who, he thought, had given him the answer.

Si-Amun regarded him for a long moment as though considering what to do as he absently fingered the large amulet at his chest. He was one of the Chosen Ones too, the Bearer of the Key of the Thousand Years of Stability. For a moment, Atem almost feared the priest would use it on him, judging for himself the truth of Atem's words. But no . . . no, he wouldn't; Atem knew this. If there was no one else who would believe him on any given subject, he knew that his grandfather – and Baenre – were two of the few who would.

At length, his grandfather let out the breath he'd been holding. "Baenre, go back out into the hallway."

Baenre nodded, glancing between the two, and left the room.

Atem stiffened, feeling a little of the color drain from his face, as the door closed behind Baenre. He swallowed, chin tucking, then forced his voice steady as he asked, "A-are you going to . . . punish me, Grandfather?"

"Well, young man, I haven't decided what I'm going to do with you, but I do believe something should be done. For starters, you can clean up the mess you've made."

Atem hunched, voice low. "Yes, sir." He slipped off the table, put away the kohl jar, and was just gathering up the jewelry when he dropped them again suddenly as he flinched forward onto his hands, a sharp hiss of pain escaping him at the soft brush of a finger along one angry welt across the backs of his shoulders.

Si-Amun snatched his hand back, murmuring in apology. He sighed. "Got you pretty good this time, didn't he?"

Atem wasn't quite sure how to read the tone of his grandfather's voice, but he knew his own was unmistakable as he growled. "Yes . . . he did."

"He didn't break skin." Si-Amun's voice was quiet. "This'll not mark you."

"He never does." At least Akh-n-aden was careful in that respect, or so it seemed . . . though Atem doubted it had anything do with concern for him.

His grandfather didn't say anything more for long enough that Atem finally dared to move again, turning to look at the man. They gazed at one another for a long moment, and Atem felt tears begin to gather in his eyes. He swiped at them angrily with the backs of his hands, then growled again, choking back a sob of frustration, when doing so only served to smear kohl in his eyes, stinging them almost as much as the lashes on his back. "He hates me!" With his own tears, he was able to massage enough kohl back out of his eyes with his fingers to see again, looking at Si-Amun. "He hates me, Grandfather! You know he does, and you know why! And you won't TELL me!" The injustice of it all was finally too much for him, and he could no longer hold back the sobs.

Si-Amun gently gathered Atem into an embrace, one hand at the base of his skull and the other across his hips to avoid the rib welts. Atem resisted for an instant, pushing back on the man's chest, but then he gave in, collapsing into his grandfather's shoulder and letting go of his tears, muffling the sound of his sobs in the man's sash.

When he finally quieted, Si-Amun told him softly, "I cannot tell you what your uncle's problem is. You know that I cannot. We have had this conversation before, Atem." Despite the admonishment, his tone was gentle, and he heaved a heavy sigh. "Perhaps one day you will understand."

Atem snickered softly in spite of himself. " 'This conversation' always ends with that statement, too."

He could feel his grandfather's grin and nod against the top of his head, the man's face buried for a moment in the child's hair. "It's a sincere statement, grandson."

Atem gave a heavy sigh of his own. "I know…"

They stood like that a moment longer before Si-Amun gently pushed him back. "Come now. Let's get these put away, and then you cleaned up."

Atem nodded and, together, they returned all of the amulets back to their right places in the pharaoh's jewelry box. Then, Si-Amun pulled off his sash, unfolded and shook it out, and wrapped Atem in it so that it covered his torso and arms, the ends draping down over the fronts of his thighs, hiding the welts and most of the kohl drawings – there was nothing to be done about Atem's face.

"We'll go to the Royal Physician," his grandfather told him as he picked up a fist-sized chest from the table. "We'll get you scrubbed and bathed there, and he can put a salve on your back."

Atem looked up at him at that. "Am . . . I going to get punished?" he asked again.

His grandfather regarded him for a moment, then rested a hand on his head. "No. I'll not punish you, anyway. Personally, I think you've already paid for today." Atem breathed a sigh of relief, but then, Si-Amun wagged a finger under his nose. "I will, however, be letting your mother know what's happened. It'll be up to her whether or not she does anything further."

Atem groaned. That would likely mean getting turned over her knee for a "talking to" with her sandal, if not for skipping out of his studies – she knew his troubles with her brother-in-law – then at least for getting into his father's room and drawing all over himself with his father's kohl. But, he thought with a sigh, it sounded like his grandfather would not be telling Akh-n-aden, for whom he held no particular love either, and Atem would far sooner face punishment from his mother than his uncle, so if a spanking was all he got out of this, he had to figure it was a pretty good deal. He nodded. "Yes, Grandfather."

"Very good. Let's go." Si-Amun went to the door, cracking it open and whispering to Baenre, "Are we clear?"

Atem couldn't see Baenre around his grandfather but guessed the man must have nodded because the next instant he was being ushered out into the hall. He watched as his dwarfish grandfather looked up at the taller man. "If anyone asks, you have not seen Atem yet today. I got what I originally came in for – " Si-Amun held up the little box in his hand. " – and that is all."

Baenre allowed a small grin and nodded. "Yes, Priest Si-Amun."

"All right." Si-Amun put a hand on Atem's shoulder and steered him for the audience chamber at the fore of the hallway.

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