May: I'm not yet dead! Just disappeared at the ends of the earth...just kidding...anyway, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! and any related characters, plots, monsters etc. What I only own is the few OCs and the storyline. I really need to speed things up a bit since this story is nearly reaching the 25th mark. And if I have the patience to..this might have a part two...or was that for the Prince Charming Academy?

Chapter 23 - Danger Ahead

A wide sardonic grin came across Bakura's face as he relished in the thrill of the situation he was in. How he had wanted to feel himself at a disadvantage and slowly turn the tides to his favor as he force his enemy to relinquish his hold on both his weapon and his sanity.

If there is one other thing that the people fear of him, it is his expertise at the use of shadow magic even at daylight where light is strongest.

His grin grew wider as he felt the tip of the knife grazed his back.

"Who are you stranger?" the voice repeated, this time, with more edge and threat underneath...with a topping of a swift death.

He slowly shifted his body to the side, avoiding unnecessary noise that would likely alarm his 'benevolent' host and would result to a well not a result he would be willing to come back to the palace in.

"If you would be so kind," he replied, the grin not leaving his face. "to put down your weapon as I am merely a servant who have a message to deliver and in need of a shelter from the heat." he finished with a serving of a side of a near plead for his life.

He internally gagged at the thought. Marik would laugh at him to no end if he would know that the big-bad prankster, Bakura have apparently lost his mind and pleaded for his life.

And also he would lose the reputation that he had built so far.

He could sense that the weapon was being slowly lowered that he swiftly turned around, disarmed the man and kicked him so hard on one of the legs, rendering the other in his power.

Now, he is the one at the advantage.

"Now," he grinned as he looked down at the man cursing under his breath as he nursed his leg, the knife pointed at the other's throat. "I do believe that introductions are in order."

Malik ran down the hall, breathless as his mind couldn't comprehend what he had just heard awhile ago no less likely from an official of the palace-one that holds a position high enough to do such a thing.

He knew enough of royal life that marriages are arranged for the wellbeing of both kingdoms and alliances in case of war, but to barter a human life for the sake of ideology?

Or maybe it was greed, he couldn't tell.

But all the more the need to tell his brother, or the crown prince about such a possible threat to not only the princess but to this country if it gets out of hand, severing the lives of everyone that they hold dear.

He have to tell someone about this and fast.

"I don't see the relevance of searching through old scrolls to just find one law," Marik grumbled then let out a loud sneeze as he unfurled the scroll he had placed on the table-along with the rest of the others.

Seto didn't say anything as he pulled out a scroll from the shelf and was about to unfurl it to check the contents when he looked up to see hurried footsteps coming towards the library.

That he swiftly moved back to where his companion was, leaving the scroll on the floor in his haste as to who might be coming might bear ill will on him and Marik even as they were just boys.

Bringing him back to Bakura's younger brother who disappeared the same way.

Marik looked up to see Seto, his jaw tightened, a hand on the hidden dagger sheathed inside the folds of his cloak. "Seto-"

"Shh!" the latter hissed at him and slowly unsheathed the dagger. "Don't move."

"No one's going to harm us!" the blonde insisted as he laid a hand on the other's arm. "No one is that foolish enough to do such when the Pharaoh is in the palace."

"Many a bad thing have been done without His Majesty's knowledge," the brown haired teen argued back as he held the dagger in front of them as a temporary warning to who might be it. "And not everyone is to be trusted within this place."

Marik looked at his friend as if the latter had just lost his mind. Someone out to kill them in the light day? That person is sure to be brave to be able to get pass through the guards in the hallways.

Not to mention the sensors of the Millennium Ring held by one of the king's Sacred Guardians.

The person might be either stupid or a great magician to bypass even that.

And wasn't expecting the least when he saw his twin skidded into the room, almost colliding with the table if he hadn't reached out and braced the other's chest with both his hands, earning a gasp from his twin and a grumble from a disgruntled priest-in-training.

His twin's wellbeing is worth more than the centuries old scrolls he was lying on top of.

"Are you Paku the former member of Pharaoh Akhenankamen's spy unit?" Bakura asked as he pushed the knife closer to the other's neck who was looking up st him calmly like death wasn't standing centimeters away if he dared as much as denied what was asked of him.

The older man bowed his head, his hand clenched on his lap. "It was a life I already left behind." he spoke softly and with slight regret.

Gone where the days he would be called by his king to not only for counsil but be 'his ears' everywhere and to clean out unjustices in the court and the lesser nobility.

He had left it all behind when he had committed a crime he had not wanted to remember and resigned himself to an oasis nearer to the land he was born and sworn into.

"Are you?" Bakura asked with vaguely hidden annoyance in his voice.

Paku looked up at the other and softly smiled, remembering his days as a youth, back when he had served as Prince-now His Majesty's head guardian. "You remind me of so much, back in the day,"

The younger growled. "I have no time for your stories, old man." he sneered as he pushed the knife closer to the other's tanned skin. "Unless you tell the truth, it would be more pleasure for me to end your miserable here snd now."

"Miserable..." the older repeated with a bitter chuckle. "I suppose that is what my life is all about now...the Gods have been testament to it, I believe it."

"Are you-"

He nodded his head and he could feel the weapon being removed to allow him to breathe, to regain his senses, but not yet to feel relieved as death is there, waiting.

Then raised his head again-this time to stare into the other's eyes. "What of you, stranger? What is your business here that you painstakingly destroy an old man's sanctuary?"

Bakura stared back at the man, his hand loosening around the hilt of the knife before he replied, "My business here does not concern you, old man, and it is not me but His Highness who requires your services."

"The Pharaoh?"

He shook his head, letting the knife slipped from his fingers and stabbed itself onto the sand beside him. "The Crown Prince."

"What were you thinking?" Seto yelled at Malik the latter with his head down as he accepted the rants raining down on him. "I thought you were-"

"An assasin," Marik finished calmly as he crossed his arms over his chest as he looked down at his twin. "Anyway," he waved a hand at the taller teen who grudgingly relented. "what was it so urgent that you came running down the halls for?"

Seto looked at his friend then back to the other's twin. Then frowned. "And weren't you supposed to be looking after Her Highness?"

"The Princess asked me to leave her alone," Malik answered as he raised his head to look at the two. "But...the reason I was running was something I believe that all of you should know."

The two looked at each other then back to him, noticing the grim look on his face.

"Malik..." Seto asked with strange uncertainty in his voice. "what is it?"

Malik looked at both of them, then at the area they are in, then back to them. "It is not safe to broach it here, we must go somewhere else." he told the two as he abruptly stood up and left the room, followed by the other two, leaving behind their research.

"What is the big deal about, Malik?" Marik asked his twin as they followed the other down the secluded part of the palace were-the Great Royal Wife's apartments were located-not been used since the late Queen's death years ago.

And were any conversation could be held in secret.

"What is it, Malik?" Marik asked again in annoyance as he grabbed his brother's shoulder and forced the other to turn around. "What is it you want to tell us?"

Malik looked at his brother for awhile before he spoke. "Someone...someone is out to destroy Egypt from the inside," he told the two who seemed confused at what he said.

Seto blinked and looked at Marik then back to him. "What do you mean?"

The blonde heaved out a sigh before he continued. "I heard an official of the palace conversing with a servant about overthrowing the monarchy," he then looked at the two with a grim look. "And naybe...maybe...the Libyan king is involved in this."

"Master-" a man meekly spoke as he bowed.

The figure let out a dark chuckle as he raised a wooden cup to his lips and grimaced at the taste. Curse him to find a place less conspicious to draw out his plans.

The wine in the palace is way better than this filth he was forcing himself with.

But he could not help the smile making its way across his face, shadowed by the hood he was wearing.

"It does look like someone already knows,"

"What must we do, master?" the man meekly asked as he looked up at his master. "If this gets out-"

"This will not get out, I assure you," the man assured the other with barely the barest hint of concern in his voice. "They are far too blind to see it."

"But-"

"We will snuff out the source," he answered the question, letting out a chuckle. "Just like we did last time."

May: Sorry for the very long wait! And I have bad news for all of you, I have made the decision not to continue on with this story. That this might be the last update that you will see for this one. So sorry. I might put this up for adoption, but maybe not and would just let it rot in my story section.