Author's Notes: This chapter is a little...well... Just read it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Only my OC.
Amunet did nothing but sleep for the majority of the next few days, she had been utterly exhausted and the pain she endured was almost unbearable. Akefia checked on her frequently, mostly just lying next to her as she breathed deeply on her stomach. Sometimes he would catch her as she opened her eyes, peeking out before the pained expression would return to her face and would groan in discomfort as she attempted to sit up. When she had trouble sleeping, especially at night, Akefia would carefully pull her closer to him and retell the story of how he had rescued her from the Pharaoh. He would recall how angry the Pharaoh's expression was while he carried Amunet on his shoulder, cutting down the Royal Guard as if they were nothing more than flowers in a field. Akefia gestured to her back, smiling as he told her of the many men he had personally seen get whipped and how they had begged for mercy after the first lash. He told her how, upon realizing that she was the person being tortured, had snuck up to get a better view of the situation, and saw her bare, bloodied body baking in the sun like some sort of War Goddess. He cooed these words into her ears as she smiled, never saying a word but blushing slightly at the way he shrouded the praise of her strong will, and stronger back. When her nightmares began to deepen, Akefia had to shake her out of sleep, hurting her in the process as the burning she felt in her dreams carried over into her reality. Akefia had been surprised more than anything else when he had first heard her screaming and thrashing about in the tent as he conversed with Marik nearby. He immediately ran to her, to see Amunet writhing on her back, her hands scratching her face and pressing into her eyes. When Akefia had finally managed to wake her up after several moments of fighting with her hands, her screaming only continued as she registered the agony that resurfaced on her open wounds. Akefia forced her to sit up and saw that she had bled through all of her gauze. Gently coaxing her to let him, Akefia removed all of her bandages and applied a fresh wrapping to her back. She cried silently as he did his best not to touch her raw flesh, pausing a few seconds every time she shuddered uncontrollably. After the first few days, Amunet began to speak when Akefia would come to check on her. Her voice was hoarse and she barely spoke more than a few words at a time, but Akefia was glad to hear her just the same. He fed her as she propped herself slowly onto her elbows, opening her mouth as she looked into his stony eyes. His moods were still varied, but his anger resonated out of his failure to protect her. Amunet enjoyed those times of the day where he would bring food, feeding her was an oddly intimate experience that she looked forward to despite the pain of stretching her back.
Never once did they talk about anything that had transpired between them when Amunet had initially woken up after being brought back to the camp. Especially as she realized that although her chest was covered from the bandages wrapped around her torso, she had previously been entirely naked and was now wearing a skirt that she had never seen before. All the tension that Amunet had felt in his presence was overshadowed by the humiliation of getting caught and losing their opportunity to steal the necklace.
A few weeks later, Amunet asked Akefia if she could go outside and walk around. Akefia responded immediately by furrowing his brows and walking curtly out of the tent. Amunet was surprised to see him back no more than a couple minutes after he had left, crouching down to pick her up off of her stomach and onto her feet. She looked at him completely baffled, to which he asked her, "Well, do you want to go or not?"
Although her first few steps were shaky, forcing her to lean most of her weight onto Akefia, who took it uncomplainingly. Every day after, Amunet asked for permission to walk outside, and each time she was able to walk a little further before stopping and gesturing back to their tent longingly. None of his men seemed to notice Amunet when Akefia took her on their daily walks, she suspected that he had threatened them all with certain death the first time she had asked to leave the tent, before returning to help her up. Amunet was essentially invisible to everyone but Marik as her walks extended to the entire perimeters of the camp, who always greeted her with what she detected as a new level of respect. Amunet was slightly enchanted by the way Akefia had taken care of her, and now that her back was healing at a much faster rate, she didn't feel too perturbed upon asking him to spar with her. Akefia smiled before asking her preference of weapon and telling her to meet with him on the hill which overlooked the campsite. Amunet walked up the hill and sat on a boulder once she had made it to the top. Closing her eyes, Amunet took in the sun and began to breathe deeply, awaiting Akefia to inevitably sneak up on her. Just as she expected, a few moments after she had closed her eyes, she felt a presence approaching her from behind. Smirking at the way he could maneuver so stealthily, Amunet rolled out of the way of his sword coming down, hitting the boulder with enough force to crack it. Her back was still sore, but not enough to effect her movements. Amunet stood up and sized Akefia up as he removed his sword from the boulder.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked, grinning as he rested his sword onto his shoulder as if she had bored him already. Amunet smiled back sweetly, "Yes, Master," she said with a slight tinge of sarcasm.
Akefia reached into the back of his red cloak, pulling out a pair of golden three pronged daggers. Amunet looked at them strangely, wondering if Akefia had actually heard her when she asked for a sword.
"What are those?" she finally asked.
"These I stole off a merchant recently, originally from the Far East," Akefia explained as he stabbed his sword into the sand next to him in order to place one of the long forks into each hand. Akefia examined them for a moment before casting a glance back at Amunet, who took a step back as if knowing his next move.
"You will learn how to fight with these, they're light enough for your frame which maximizes your efficiency in using them. Understand?" Akefia asked in a far more serious tone than before.
Amunet nodded her head only once before Akefia threw one directly at her, which she caught by the handle just as he threw the other one at her. She dodged the most prominent piece of the dagger before interlocking her fingers with the curved part of the fork behind her. Akefia was already running towards her with his sword as she adjusted her fingers to her new weapons. He came at her quickly, swinging forcefully despite how many times he tried to strike her down. Each time Amunet managed to block his hits, although was unable to ever get a chance to swing back at him. Within a few moments of sparing Amunet felt winded and used the opportunity that Akefia had given her to use both forks to catch the sword and twist it out of his hands. As it fell a few feet from them, Amunet sat down so quickly that Akefia jumped out of the way, thinking she was going to kick his feet out from under him.
"That's enough," she said, breathing heavily.
Akefia smiled and walked forward, petting her head which felt extremely hot. Chuckling to himself, he bent over to pick her up and placed her over his shoulder.
"My little Amunet, you push yourself to unreasonable lengths," he said as she tried not to laugh.
"Let me down, I can walk just fine," she said, trying her best to sound as angry as possible.
"That doesn't matter, you're tired whereas I barely broke a sweat. You need to rest more before we continue," he said, lazily grabbing the handle of his sword as he walked past it, making his way down the hill.
"Plus, you like it when I carry you like this," he teased.
"No I don't," she huffed in annoyance.
"Suuuuuuurreee," he grinned.
Later that night, Amunet woke from her nap to see Akefia sitting at the table, burning a bundle of sage she had made earlier that day.
"Awake?" he asked, not bothering to look away from the flame that he was staring so intently on.
Amunet yawned before getting up to sit on her knees in front of him. Akefia looked down at her, a strange look in his face that she had not seen for some time.
"Would you like to take a ride with your Master?" he asked, his eyes betraying his cold tone.
Amunet nodded as his hands met her face, stroking her cheeks and petting her hair so gently that she unknowingly had leaned into his touch, egging him on even more. Just as she felt as though she would melt if he continued any longer, his hands moved off of her as he rose from his chair.
Amunet began to stand as well, following him as he walked out of the tent and to his horse. He helped her on first before taking his place behind her, grabbing the reigns and moving the horse into a direction Amunet had yet to travel in.
"Where are we going, my King?" Amunet inquired, hoping to coax the answer out of him.
"You'll see my pet," he responded, trying not to laugh when he felt her sign in annoyance.
Within a few moments Amunet could see a few trees and knew immediately what they were doing. She tried not to squeak in excitement but Akefia could already sense the change in her mood,
"Happy?" he asked rhetorically.
Amunet jumped off the horse immediately once they had stopped and ran past the few trees, loving the cool night air brushing past her skin as she did so. She couldn't help but be grateful that he had brought her to an oasis, especially one as beautiful as this. She marveled at the water for a moment before she felt Akefia behind her. He wrapped his arms around her, and rubbed his head against the side of her face.
"There's one catch," he whispered into her ear.
Amunet grimaced before he spoke again,
"Let me see your back before you get into the water," he said as he removed his arms from around her body.
Amunet paused before nodding her head and grabbing her hair and gathering it to the top of her head in compliance. She felt his fingertips under the material of the strapless top she had donned over the past few days, he pulled it down gently maneuvering the material over her back and paused for several moments before she felt his fingertips trace the healed lines that cascaded randomly across her back. Even in the moonlight, Akefia could see how badly scarred her back was, and how it would remain for the rest of her life. As she felt his fingertips fall from her back, Amunet turned around, dropping her hair as she did so. Akefia looked at her face despite the fact that her breasts remained uncovered, and saw something in her eyes that puzzled him. Amunet removed her top over her head and then removed her skirt. She smiled before walking around him and removing his cloak, setting it down on top of her own clothes. She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the water, dropping it once she had stepped into the water. Her body disappeared into the water as Akefia looked on in disbelief, before she finally spoke,
"Coming, my King?"