Chapter 3 – Realizations
Thor woke up realizing two things. First his head felt like it was split open, and by the way he felt dried up blood on the back of his head, he figured that may actually be the case. Second, he was nowhere he recognized. The place looked to be like a temple or palace, with lush design on the marble floors and richly decorated doorposts.
And then it all came back to him. The Prince being attacked by a crocodile, the pharaoh demanding him to be a guard for his son and eventually the soldier knocking him out. He growled as he tried to sit up. His head clearly protested against the sudden movement.
"You're up." A statement, not a question. Thor looked around the room clutching his head, trying to fight the nausea and vertigo. A man with a very dark skin tone moved from the wall where he had previously been leaning against. "We were afraid you'd never wake up again." He chuckles.
"Who..?" Thor asked, not sure if this man meant harm or not. But if he did he could've slit Thor's throat while he had been out cold.
"My name is Rhodey" the man inclined his head, as if to say, 'pleasure to meet you' "And you may have figured already I'm not from the South." Thor nodded, the South meant the lands beyond Upper Egypt, the lands beyond the border. "I used to be a sellsword, until the day our Prince saved me. And now my life will be spend guarding his. You will find him not to be as arrogant as he tries to convince you he is. Most people are led on by the act, but he has a kind heart. Try to see it."
Thor took this information in and slowly nodded. He swallowed hard. "I trust our prince to be a formidable man, the thing is; I have a younger brother, he's not as… strong and enduring as I can be. He's all I have left, as I'm all he has and I fear for his health as he'll be alone, no one to protect him." Rhodey did not shout or tried stopping him. Rhodey listened. Then nodded.
"I understand." He finally says. "I will go to Abydos, or send someone I trust to get him. Maybe we can find a place close by, so you can, if the pharaoh trusts you outside the palacewalls, visit him." Thor wanted to interrupt him but Rhodey raised his hand to motion him to be silent a little longer. "That is all I can do for you… I need your name though, and his. And a description of what your brother looks like and where he lives."
So Thor did. "Apologies, very rude of me, my name is Thor. His is Loki. He is lean, thin even. Very pale as well. His hair is black as night but what makes him stand out the most is his eyes. They're called the Treasure of Abydos, and they're a brilliant green. We live… he lives in the slums of Abydos. His hut will be the furthest from the city. He helps the baker, he's pretty good with bread."
Thor would admit he enjoyed talking about his younger brother, it made him feel as if he's close. Rhodey hummed and nodded. He walked to the door but before he left he turned to Thor. "Try to like it here." He smiled "A palace comes with its dangers and annoyances, but it can be quite the magical place as well. Make sure Tony doesn't drink too much in my absence." Thor nodded, not sure who Tony was and Rhodey left.
While three girls entered to clean Thor and show him his new clothes, he couldn't help but think of his brother, wherever he was.
ooOOoo
Loki had felt better. Much, much better. He had been thirsty the moment he had woken up. And all the water he could find, was the water from the Nile, which was notorious for its undrinkable status. Later he found a few dewdrops on palm leaves but after that he had found nothing. He had been walking for several hours now and he was tired, thirsty and hungry. He had found a rock where he had slouched down upon, looking over the river. His thirst almost had him jump in it, to either drown in it, get eaten by crocodiles or die of whatever diseases the river carried if he would drink it. He had no means to boil the water to clean it, nothing of worth to trade for beer, wine or milk. So he was staring at the water desperately.
He decided the only way now was forward, so he did. As he did and finally climbed the next hill, he found Thebes on the horizon, in the distance.
He pinched his arm as he suspected it to be a hallucination as he heard loud noises and a yell. He turned around just in time to see a horse storming right at him. He looked at the horse fiercely as if to say 'I didn't come all this way just to get trampled by you' A more logical reaction would be to run out of the way, raise your hands to at leats protect your head, or something alike, but in Loki's defense, he was really thirsty and couldn't think logical. Didn't matter, either the horse was impressed at how fierce Loki had looked at him, or it had felt too lazy to trample the pale, unimpressive human in front of him, but it stopped right in front of Loki. It's load was launched right of its back over its neck onto Loki. It so happened to be a kid that used to ride the horse. The unexpected and fatigued Loki could not hold the sudden force and stumbled with kid and all down on the ground.
"Oomph" he managed before the boy climbed off him uttering words of apologies.
"You, what is going on here? What happened?" A male voice boomed over their heads. When Loki looked up he noticed and impressive and muscled man with blonde hair. For one instance he thought maybe it was Thor, before he realized the man looked nothing like Thor.
"The horse came my way and I'm afraid I startled it throwing off the young man." He motioned to the small boy standing next to him, blushing furiously.
That had the man laughing loud. "Father, he stopped Samson with just one glare!" the boy said with wonder and admiration in his voice. "He could help!"
"I should've never let your ride Samson, he's not a fit horse to ride." The man said, now scowling at the boy, checking for wounds, but there were none. "And you lad, you couldn't startle Samson if your life depended on it. The horse is just hardheaded. Do you work with horses?" He asked Loki who was confused.
He shook his head before answering. "Not any more, we used to live in Lower Egypt, where my father had horses, but we moved to Abydos. And now I'm on my way to Thebes, in search of my brother." He explained.
"Ha! Would you accept my apologies for almost getting trampled and my gratitude for saving my son? My name is Stieth, but they call me the Captain. Ironically, no, I don't own a boat. I own horses, I breed them, and sell them in Thebes, unless like now trade is required elsewhere. It would be my honor if you would accompany and stay with us for a while! And… in all honesty I could use the extra hands with all these horses. My usual horse-handler ran off with my most precious one. I should be less trusting." He looked at Loki. "You won't run off with my horses, will you?"
Loki could not believe this stroke of luck and shook his head furiously. "I wouldn't dream of it, I'm so happy I can help and a place to stay would be most welcome. It would make it easier to focus on getting something to drink and eat!"
The Captain laughed. "Food and drinks, though limited, comes with the job. Have to make sure my people are being taken care off, don't I?" And he held out a skin of water.
After Loki drank at least half of it and felt so much better he climbed on Samson, a brown steed with a white spot on the back. He helped the Captain's son on as well, returning with Stieth to his herd. His son would climb a smaller, more timid horse and they continued their journey to Thebes.
ooOOoo
Thor was pacing through his room as he stood now in a fresh loincloth and tunic, a red cape finished his look as a guard. He truly admired the clothes, and he couldn't remember the time he had last worn fresh clothes, but he was unsure of what would happen in the future. As he was about to walk out of the door to see if there was anyone to ask, two guards and the prince walked in.
The prince looked at Thor, noticing he was unarmed and sends his two guards away. "Out, the man is unharmed, I'm strong enough to hold him off long enough if I have to, and I don't expect a man to kill me after he just saved me the other day. I will call upon you when I need you." The two guards bower their heads and left. Thor noticed how they had blue capes instead of red. "Red indicated you're part of my personal guards, for which I'm sorry my father forced you into. You look like a nice enough fellow though… could do with a little more respect and manners though…" Thor realized then and there he had not bowed before the prince, so after uttering an "Oh!" he did. The prince chuckled. "Nah, that's ok. I find a kneeling guard is less capable of protecting me in my hour of need. A simple bow of the head is enough." Thor blushed and got up again. He towered of the prince by one head, but he knew he wasn't so much older as the royalty was. "Well then, I expect Rhodey, being the good guy he is, has stormed out to get your brother a little closer to the palace? I will pay for that, of course. It's the least I can do after my dad plucked you away from him. I'm not sure you'll ever see him again, as it's against the rules for personal guards to leave the palace unless it's to accompany me. But at least he'll be safe." Thor fought the tears, the prince was right though, he knew that. And he didn't have to pay for Loki's housing, so it was quite generous. "Yes, your highness!"
"And I bet he asked you to make sure I would not drink too much alcohol?" The prince asked annoyed.
Thor grinned, so Rhodey used nicknames for their prince. "Yes, your highness, that he did." The brown haired youth sighed.
"Come on then, no more 'highness' from now on. You are to address me as Tony while in the palace whenever my father is not around. And we're leaving for the garden in my quarters right now, I won't stand another second in these moldy chambers."
"Beg your pardon, your hi… Tony but what will we do there?" Thor asked.
"Why, get stupidly drunk of course!" Tony said, grinning.
A/N And this is how Thor finally truly meets Antonankhamon "Tony" and Loki gets help from the Captain. Life looks like it's getting better! (not sure how long it'll last though! =P) As always reviews are appreciated, they're the fire that keeps me going!