Author's Notes: Giddy up everyone, cause here we go!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Amunet closed her eyes, laying down and stretching her arms over her head while contemplating the possible issues Akefia could be dealing with. Knowing that the problem must be somehow centered around her presence, Amunet started to wring the skirt of her dress in frustration. Exhaling loudly, she attempted to wait in patience for Marik to come by, hopefully giving her an opportunity to find out what the situation actually was.
Akefia walked back to Marik, noting that his level of excitement didn't waver while Akefia was gone.
"How many?" Akefia asked as he stopped right in front of Marik.
"14 exactly," Marik said, as he continued to grin.
"And they think they can just get away with it?" Akefia asked, toying with his knife as he spoke.
"They're under the impression that they can convince the rest of the men," Marik shrugged.
Akefia laughed, taking his knife out and examining it needlessly.
"Well, let's go then," Akefia smiled, walking towards the center of the camp.
As the pair approached the crowd of men who gathered there, the sea of yelling and shouting ceased as everyone moved out of Akefia's path.
He stood in the center, Marik a few feet from him, as Akefia eyed the men that formed around him.
"Do I sense some dissension amongst you all? Does anyone need my opinion on the matter? Hm?" he asked, yelling to be sure that everyone could hear him quite clearly.
"How about I tell you all anyway?" he grinned, turning slowly as he talked and eyeing almost every man in the process.
"I think I am under the impression that some of you have an issue with my property, is that it?"
There was some murmuring at this, and Marik gave Akefia a knowing look before casting his eyes at the men in front of him.
"What was the point in rescuing the whore if she's not of any use to us!?" a man suddenly bellowed at the top of his lungs. Without being able to mutter another word, Akefia had thrown his knife directly into his throat, killing him instantly. As he fell forward, the men around him backed away as Akefia walked towards the now lifeless body. He knelt down and grasped the handle of his knife, pulling it out in one rough motion. The blood squirting out and spraying Akefia's arm as he stood up, kicking the corpse out of his path.
"Whore," Akefia repeated, his lips curling in amusement.
"Hey, Marik?"
"Yes," Marik smiled, taking a few leisurely steps forward.
"Were you aware of a whore being of any use to us?"
"Whore, you say?"
"Yes," Akefia grinned, "The guys here seem to think that there is a whore staying with us that doesn't benefit them in any way. Were you aware of this?"
Marik knotted his brows as he feigned confusion, scratching his head as he responded, "No, I have no idea what they could be referring to."
Akefia began to wipe the handle of his knife down, chuckling and slightly murmuring to himself as he did so. Suddenly, he stopped his movement, causing everyone around him but Marik to tense up as he remained eerily still. He raised his left hand and smacked himself on his forehead, his grin slightly disappearing.
"Oh! I know what they're talking about! Maybe they're talking about the girl who, after hours of torture, refused to give up our location to the Pharaoh out of loyalty to her fellow thieves? Could that possibly be the same whore that they are referring to?"
Some of the men began to mumble amongst themselves, backing away in and throwing their hands in the air as if it were some sort of surrender or an acknowledgment of their indifference on the situation. A few of the other men only seemed to straighten up a bit more, as if egging on a challenge.
"Because last time I checked, we only turn our backs on traitors. Right, Marik?" Akefia yelled out.
"Right," he said, uncrossing his arms and unsheathing his sword.
Amunet had fallen asleep shortly after bundling a bunch of sage and lighting it, watching the smoke from the herbs curl into the air before her like a snake, as she drifted off. A few hours had passed and true to his word, Marik had entered the tent with two plates of food for Amunet, along with a canteen of fresh water. She woke immediately after he had set the plates down on the table, the canteen still hanging off of his arm.
"What happened!?" she suddenly yelled, despite her voice straining from having just woken up. Marik had a dry misting of blood all over his skin and his clothes, and there was no sword in its sheathe.
Marik grinned and handed her the canteen, which she took with a slight nod of gratitude.
"He loves you, you know?" Marik said as he looked down at the ground.
Amunet's eyes widened in shock and felt a large lump in her throat. After a few seconds of trying, she was finally able to find her voice, stammering out a quiet,
"What?"
"Some of the men found your presence here quite distracting, especially as Akefia seems to spend more time with you than anything else. A few men complained, rather loudly, and you were referred to in a manner that Akefia found most disrespectful. So he showed them what it means to be loyal and obedient, and anyone who didn't want to cause any trouble fully supports your being here," he finished, smiling as he took a step towards exiting the tent.
"But he-" Amunet started, but couldn't get the words out as Marik cut her off.
"Loves you. Breathe not a word of this or I shall also have an issue with you staying here," he winked before his face turned to its natural grimace as he stepped outside.
Amunet opened the canteen and drank almost the entire contents before she gasped for air, her head swimming as she processed everything that Marik had just told her.
After a few moments of wringing her dress with her hands, Amunet stood up and sat at the table, hoping that eating something would somehow distract her from the prospect of facing Akefia later on that night.
Once the sun had set Akefia materialized out of the darkness and into the tent, noticing the worried look plastered across Amunet's face as she turned to acknowledge him. She rose from her seat at the table, making her way over to the basin of water and wetting a rag. Amunet had seen that look on his face before, and she couldn't bear looking at him so she busied herself with cleaning all the dried blood off of his face. They spoke not a word to each other as Akefia allowed her to clean him up, rolling his shoulders back to help her as she pulled his red coat off of him. She wet the rag again before beginning her work on his torso, moving the wet fabric over his muscled body as she remembered the way he had kissed her the night before. Recalling the way that his hands roamed her naked body as she silently begged for his touch, Amunet blushed and went to rinse out the rag again. Akefia grabbed her arm as she turned to the basin, pulling her back into his chest, only much closer than before.
"My Amunet, are we blushing?"
Amunet shook her head furiously from side to side, turning her face down so the top of her head rested on his chest.
"You love your Master?" Akefia grinned as he gripped her face and brought it up to his.
At this, Amunet's blush only deepened in embarrassment as Akefia leaned into her, kissing her softly. When their lips finally broke away from each other, Amunet licked her lips before speaking,
"I thought we were above all that," she said in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Would you like to take another ride with your Master?" Akefia said, doing his best not to laugh as he repeated the one word Amunet seemed to remain uncomfortable hearing. He grabbed his cloak and pulled it back on, noticing how she kept her head down in embarrassment.
She nodded her head and Akefia picked her up, hoisting her over his shoulder as they left the tent and headed to his horse. She did not squirm so she could avoid another smack, but Akefia's hand managed to find its way to her ass regardlessly, as he helped her onto the horse. As he got on behind her, his arm snaked around her waist, holding her gingerly as the horse began to run. It wasn't long before Amunet realized that he was taking her to the oasis once more, and Amunet suddenly felt her blush return in full swing. Glad that it was so dark when Akefia pulled her off the horse, she grasped his arms before leaning forward and speaking,
"Am I always to act as helpless around you or-" she was cut off by Akefia hoisting her over his shoulder again, laughing as he smacked her ass a few times while he walked towards the water.
"You don't like being treated like a lady?" he inquired.
"I don't like being treated like a petulant child," Amunet growled.
Akefia continued to laugh as he let her down, shrugging his cloak off of his shoulders as Amunet looked at him.
"Do you need help?" Akefia asked, walking forward as Amunet crossed her arms behind her back.
"No, thank you," she mumbled.
"Where is all this shyness coming from? When I seem to recall someone being all over me just last night," Akefia grabbed her shoulders and turned her around, crouching down to grab the hem of her dress, pulling it up over her legs and hips while Amunet continued to breathe, although quite shakily. His fingers dug slightly into the sides of her stomach as he continued to pull her dress up, tickling her. She flinched as she let out a sharp laugh, taking him back a bit as he had never truly heard her laugh before. Amunet straightened back up as the movement of her dress had stopped, turning her head before she felt his fingers dig into her once more. As she giggled, Akefia didn't stop this time, loving the way her laughter filled the deadening silence that had enveloped them a moment earlier. She tried to maneuver out of his grasp but only succeeded in falling to the ground with her dress pushed up to her bellybutton. Akefia fell on top of her, tickling her still as she pleaded for him to stop in between her laughing.
"My Amunet, I didn't think I was treating you like a child but maybe you were right," he mocked as his fingers continued to manipulate her into laughter and madness all at once.
"Should I stop?" he asked, not letting up.
"YES!" Amunet screamed out, laughing still.
Finally Akefia's fingers stopped, and Amunet gasped as she tried to catch her breath. Akefia looked at her legs, his eyes traveling up her core to her stomach, her back arched as her lungs contracted with the air she took in so preciously.
Amunet looked to Akefia, who got on his knees and scooped her into his arms effortlessly, carrying her into the water till they were waist deep. As he let her down she faced away from him, the rest of her dress was pulled over her head, which he tossed back onto the sand. Akefia parted her hair, throwing it over her shoulders to rest over her bare breasts as he examined her back. The moon had given him just enough light to see the wretched hell of scars that had to remain on her for the rest of her life. He pressed his lips to a line that carried itself all the way to the top of her left shoulder, and felt her shiver as he did so.
"What about the necklace?"