Seto was waiting for her impatiently when he finally stumbled around the corner to find him with the tailor. He didn't ask what kept her, only turned to the tailor. "So as I was saying, she is here as part of a business arrangement with her older brother. I trust that you'll be able to find something for her to do?"

The tailor, and aging man with soft brown eyes, looked Amane up and down. "I'm sure I can – there's always plenty to do around here."

Seto straightened up. "Excellent; I will leave you, then." He looked at Amane. "You will receive word if anything happens to your brother; in the meantime, I suggest you pray that doesn't happen." On this note, he disappeared down the hallway again.

"Wonderfully pleasant man, that Seto. Pure epitome of happy light-heartedness." The tailor smiled at Amane. Seeing her stunned-mullet look, he laughed. "Don't be so down; not everybody here is as pompous as Seto, and even he's not as heartless as he would have you believe." He leaned a little closer, a twinkle in his eyes. "He just hasn't found the right young lady yet."

"I haven't really thought about it much," Kisara told the customer, not really certain as to what he was implying. "Why? Is the palace looking for work?"

The customer who was talking to her shrugged. "Not your kind of work; mine. I've heard that there's a much greater shortage of manual labourers than they're letting on. I only brought it up because it looks like they're about to start conscripting and taking slaves again. If you have any male family members, I suggest you all get away from here. Move further down the Nile or something."

Kisara shrugged. "I have no family; it doesn't affect me, as a woman. Although you have my hopes that you and your own family don't end up being conscripted," she added with sincerity.

The man nodded sadly. "Thank you. I suppose that's all one can ask for. Just be wary if you see anybody from the palace coming this way; I'm told they don't give lone women the best treatment."

Kisara nodded her understanding. "I'll keep that in mind; thank you." She was genuinely surprised; it was rare to find people among the peasantry who expressed genuine – or even pretend – concern for anybody outside their own immediate family.

After a short pause, the man turned his attention back to their sale. "So, how much did you say you wanted for this pot again?"

"This?" Kisara picked up the pot, weighing it in her hands absentmindedly. "Let's see…how much are you offering?"

"My name is Ashai, by the way," the tailor said. "I don't believe I mentioned it."

"Mine is Amane," Amane said, over the top of the pile of linen she was now holding. "Where did you want me to put this, Master Ashai?"

"Right here-" He pointed. "-and Ashai will do just fine, Amane. Can't have you feeling intimidated by little old me; I'm sure just being here is scary enough as it is."

Amane laughed and nodded. "Everything is so big; it's hard to believe this is really happening."

"Everyone feels that way when they first arrive. I certainly did, thirty years ago."

Amane stared at him. Just how old was he?

"Anyway, I'm sure you'll settle right in, just so long as you do whatever you're told and don't rock the boat."

Amane nodded again in understanding. She was good at doing as she was told – she didn't always get it right, but she still found it easier than, well, showing initiative and thinking for herself. She reddened when she realised this; she really didn't have much of a mind of her own. She had always just done whatever Ryou or her parents had told her.

"Ma- Ashai?" she asked hesitantly once she had put the linen down. "What can you tell me about the Pharaoh?"

Ashai looked at her. "The Pharaoh? Well, you may have heard that he's only recently risen to his throne; his father passed away only a month ago, gods rest his soul."

"Oh."

"The man himself, though; Atem. He's…quite a character. As a boy, he always took great pleasure in annoying his teachers – he still does, since he's still taking lessons."

At this, Amane smiled, knowing this from firsthand experience.

"But even so, he's a good man; he always tries to do what's best for the kingdom." Ashai sighed. "Although, if you want my honest opinion, I can't help but feel as though he lets some of the palace superiors push him around a lot."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Ashai chewed his lip thoughtfully. "It's only because he's young and relatively inexperienced; a lot of the major decisions concerned with the running of the kingdom are left to some of the older people – you know, Seto and the like. They come up with their schemes and present them to him, and he just has to give them an okay. I'm certain that before long he'll have learnt the ropes and he'll be running the kingdom singlehandedly in no time, but until then…there's always the possibility that some of his subordinates are doing things behind his back."

Amane frowned, digesting all of this. "There really is a lot that goes on in the palace that the rest of the Egyptian citizens don't know about," she said finally.

Ashai burst out laughing. "You can say that again. Now come on; let's get you into some proper clothing and then we can eat. You look starving."

Amane's head shot up. "Can we really?" she breathed in awe. "Thank you, yes. Thank you very much."

The amount of food and water carried by their pack camels and horses for the four day journey was actually enough so that Ryou received more than he usually ate in twice that time. It was the first time in – well, his entire life, that he hadn't been hungry.

Although he couldn't say the same for the slaves who were also travelling with them. His heart clenched whenever he glanced in their direction. They were people just like him, most of them peasants who had been forced to sell themselves into slavery in order to pay their debts. As a paid worker, he received notably better treatment.

Although this knowledge wasn't enough to entice Ryou to share his rations with them. He felt the guilt stabbing at his chest with such force it almost hurt whenever he ate while they sat only metres away with nothing, but he just couldn't bring himself to give up his food. He was sick to death of being hungry.

The four days passed with relatively little conversation and even less worth remembering. Contrary to what Ryou would have expected, they travelled during day and slept at night when the sand was cool enough to touch. The steady plodding of hooves in sand and the panting of his companions' breaths soon became a familiar rhythm.

It was around dusk on the fourth day that their destination finally came into site. At first, the small assembly of mud-brick buildings and half-constructed temple was easy to mistake for a desert mirage, but as they drew closer and it stayed clear in their vision, it became apparent that they were almost there.

After four days of riding in silence, this knowledge revitalised Ryou – and the rest of the travellers. They picked up speed.

Despite his excitement for seeing his new home – or whatever else he could possibly call it – there was a feeling of deep dread hanging inside Ryou's chest. The other worker's words rang in his ears like a constant buzz. It's thief country out there.

He pushed the thought aside. Whatever happened now, it was down to the hands of fate – and his own sheer determination to protect his sister. This was his line of thinking when they finally drew into the workers' camp.

Ryou and his travelling companions slid down off their mounts uttering grateful sighs, glad to be on their feet again after a day's riding. Holding the horse's reigns, Ryou took in his surroundings. Everything was as he had expected it to be; no sign of thieves at all. He gave a contented smile. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad after all.

Thanks for reading :D Sorry about my slow updates -_- not just in this story, but in everything :'D

I hope you thought this chapter was okay :3 I don't actually like it that much. I didn't like making it that Ryou wasn't sharing his food with the slaves; I don't want to portray him as being selfish of callous, I'm trying to make a point about what a dog-eat-dog world it is among the workers :/

Reviews are very much loved :D They makez me very happy x3 I know this story isn't the best, so any concrit you can offer would be worth pure gold to me o/

Anyways~ Thanks again :D :D Ai wuffles you gaiz T^T

~IA