Title Unknown
Chapter 1
Five millennia ago, there were two young people; the son of the Pharaoh and the daughter of the Pharaoh's best battle strategist. She was betrothed to the eldest son of the highest lord below the Pharaoh's court. The Pharaoh, however, was still looking for the perfect bride for his son. The prince was a mysterious young man to those who did not know him. He was born with magic flowing through his veins- Shadow Magic. No one could beat him in a Shadow Game…. except maybe the Pharaoh.
Only known to her father and late mother, the young woman had magic as well, but an extremely rare form of light magic. One day, the Pharaoh, the prince and the prince's Guardian Magician went to visit the strategist for the final assignment the prince had to complete. This is where our story begins.
Atem's POV
We are nearing the home of Father's most trusted war strategist. I was actually interested in hearing what he had to say about my assignment, but I was also a little bit nervous.
"Father?"
"Yes, my son?" My father replied. The citizens of the kingdom say I look just like him. We both have black spikey locks, tipped in crimson, but his hair is a duller shade than mine. My bangs are a shade of blonde that looks like gold that I inherited from my mother. My father looks a lot older than he is due to stress from many battles fought and won.
"Do you think I will pass this final assignment?"
"I think he will be quite impressed with it, after all, warfare is a very serious type of game that is not meant to be fun. Why do you think I won all of our games?" Before I could respond, the carriage stopped. My guardian opened the door.
"We are here, my Pharaoh. My prince."
"Thank you, Mahad."
"Yes, thank you." The three of us walked up the steps to the front door. Mahad knocked to alert our host of our arrival. We could barely hear the response from the other side of the door before it was opened seconds later. My teacher's daughter opened the door. This is the first time I personally met her, but I had heard rumors around the city of her beauty. She is about fifteen or so, has blonde hair that shines gold in the sunshine. She also has tan skin- a light tone for an Egyptian- and beautiful chocolate brown eyes- also uncommon for an Egyptian. Those eyes of hers drew me in deeper. In them, I could see the innocence of a child, but the strength of a queen.
She wore a white two piece linen gown that showed off her stomach and had a slit down one side of the skirt, but she wore a pair of white sheer tights to cover her legs. When she spoke, her voice was soft and musical, but bore a hidden tone that I could not quite put my finger on.
"Welcome Your Majesty, Your Highness. My Lord. My name is Kamilah (KA-MY-LA). My father is on his way. Please, come in." She stepped to the side by the door and curtsied as we entered. Before any of us could reply, her father stepped out from a room behind the door.
"Thank you, my dear." He smiled at his daughter, then looked at us." My Pharaoh, Welcome to my home. I see you have met my precious daughter?"
"Yes, thank you for having us. It is a pleasure to meet you, young lady."
"The pleasure is all mine, My Pharaoh." Kamilah bowed her head in respect towards my father. Just then, my father cleared his throat and I realized I had been staring at this beautiful girl since the moment we met and had yet to say a word to her.
"Yes, thank you and it is nice to finally meet you, Kamilah." Her name just rolls right off my tongue, like I have said it a million times before. 'I like how her name feels on my lips.' I was brought out of my thoughts when my father spoke again.
"Now that we are officially acquainted, how about we drop the formalities, Ahnknem."
"No matter how many times you say that to me, I will always call you 'Pharaoh,' my king." Of course, that did not stop the two from hugging. 'That's right. They have been friends since they were kids.' Ahnknem continued to speak after they broke the hug. "I need to speak with you alone before we discuss Atem's last assignment."
"Of course."
"Kamilah, dear? Would you take the prince out to the garden? I believe the flowers are about to bloom."
"Of course. My Prince? Would you like to see the garden?" Kamilah looked at me with an innocent smile. I found that I could not resist as I replied to her question.
"Sure." We began our trek to the garden, but were stopped when her father mentioned an incident in which Kamilah was attacked. For some reason that made me angry. I looked at Kamilah, who was looking down and was looking ashamed. I walked to her, put my hand under her chin and made her look at me.
"Was it your fault?"
"He said it was, but I am not sure." Kamilah looked as though she was going to cry. I mentioned having Mahad escort us through the garden so she would be protected if someone tries to attack. She perked up a bit at that. After being granted the request, Kamilah, Mahad, and I made our way to the garden. Once there, I was surprised. The garden had plants so lush and alive that they did not look like they should belong. I watched Kamilah on the way to the garden and she looked as though she was lost in thought. 'I wonder if she is thinking about the attack on her that happened a few days ago?'
Kamilah's POV
After my father brought up the incident, the prince requested that his guardian- Mahad-accompany us around the garden. That made me calm down some, knowing there will be someone to protect the prince in case someone does try to attack. Once we obtained permission, the three of us walked to the garden. On the way, I thought about that day.
("Once we are married, you will have to say goodbye to having a garden," my betrothed, Gahiji, told me. He has been so adamant about me not having a garden.
"That garden is all I have left of my mother. What do you expect me to do while I wait for you to get done with your job during the days after we are married?"
"I expect you to be waiting in our bed chambers like a good little wife."
"Sorry, but I refuse to sit around all day, doing-" I did not finish my sentence as Gahiji had slapped me.
"As my wife, you should be obedient." He backed me against the wall and placed both hands on my hips to hold me in place. "Shall I show you how obedient you can and will be?" As he asked this, his right hand moved from my hip to my top and ripped it off, exposing my bare chest. Just then, my best friend-Jahi, also Gahiji's younger brother- showed up in the hallway.
"Brother, what are you doing?" Jahi looked as appalled as I (probably) looked ashamed at what happened. I tried to make my way to Jahi, but Gahiji just pushed me back against the wall.
"Stay out of this, little imp. This is between me and my bride-to-be, so leave." I tried again to move towards Jahi, but this time, Gahiji threw me behind him. I felt shearing pain as I slid across the floor. I came to a stop at our fathers' feet. Mine knelt down to check on me and as he lifted me up, I could feel blood run down my right arm.
"What is going on here? Kamilah, are you okay?" I could not answer him, so I instead turned my body into him like I was giving him a hug. A few moments later, I felt his cloak around my shoulders.
"She tried to force herself on me." Gahiji straight up told a lie to my father.
"Sir, that is not true. My lecherous brother ripped her top off after he slapped her. He also had her pinned against the wall."
"Shut up, imp. I told you that it was between me and her." My father helped me to stand up as their father snickered.
"Why are you helping your whore of a daughter? If you made her dress more modestly, my son would not have needed to take such drastic measures to stop her."
"Father, you call THIS her doing?" Jahi held up my top for everyone to see. It was clearly torn, and my father knows that I am not strong enough to do that. There were still tattered pieces on the ground where Gahiji pinned me against the wall.
"Break the betrothal." My father told their father. "If this is how your son is going to treat my daughter, then I do not want him in the family. Break it."
"You want it broken? Then pay the amount in the contract."
"I will. Do not worry." My father was looking at me when he said this.)
I saw in his eyes that day that he was going to do his best to keep his promise to break the betrothal between me and Gahiji. I was still thinking about that day when the prince brought me back to now.
"This garden is beautiful, Kamilah. How do your household workers maintain it?"
"They do not. I do." He looked surprised at the revelation. "What is wrong, my prince?"
"I did not expect that you tended to it. I am shocked. A garden this size has to be tended to by quite a few people, does it not?"
"Not when one person has magic."He was surprised again. I looked to the sky. 'High noon-it is time.' I look back to the prince. "Do you want to see? It is time for the flowers to bloom." The prince nodded his head.
"I DREAM OF RAIN
I DREAM OF GARDENS IN THE DESERT SAND
I WAKE THE RAIN
I DREAM OF LOVE AS TIME RUNS THROUGH MY HANDS
I DREAM OF RAIN
I LIFT MY GAZE TO EMPTY SKIES ABOVE
I CLOSE MY EYES, THIS RARE PERFUME
IS THE SWEET INTOXICATION OF THE BLOOMS
SWEET DESERT ROSE it is time to wake up and meet our royal guest." All the buds started to open and show their true identities. Some were roses, others were daisies, and yet others were tiger lilies. I lowered my arms and the flowers moved with them. At least, that is what the prince thought.
"I informed the flowers of your arrival shortly before you arrived. They are not only mimicking my movements, but also showing their respect to you, my prince." I turned to continue down the pathway, but felt the prince stay put. I turned around and looked at the prince. "Come on, there is another spot I wish to show you." I walked back to the prince's side, looped my arm around his, and continued down the path to my favorite spot in the entire garden.