Once he is gone, I feel like I am going to faint. The room starts to spin and I feel myself falling. I can see Anipe running towards me and propping me up, half sitting on a cushion.
"My lady," she says, once I come to myself "are you ok? Is it the sight of our prince that made you ill?"
I look at her surprised and then realise, that what I must be is dehydrated, I haven't drunk anything since I had that coconut...
" No, I need some water," I say and quickly they bring me a gold cup filled with cold water, I down it in one breath, and they bring me more. After my third cup, I feel better.
" Thank you," I say
"During my travels through the desert, I haven't had enough water, with the excitement of the wedding I have completely forgotten to drink".
"So, my lady was not trying to take her own life?" One of them blurts out and then quickly puts her head down, ashamed of what she just said.
"No, I am not planning to take my own life, I have a great desire to live a long and happy life." I smile as I say this towards the ladies.
"We know that the prince was here, so we thought, its best to check on you after he left and that is when we found you on the floor, so we were worried... Given past occurrences..." Anape said, trying to explain Paya's comment.
"My lady, have you seen such a..." she pauses as she is not sure the word "man" is appropriate.
"No, I have never met anyone like our prince before," I say "but, I have read about his kind, so I know that there is nothing I should fear from him" I lie, as I know that the minotaurs are very dangerous creatures in mythology.
"We need to get you ready now my lady," Anape says.
Once they finished bathing and soaking me in amazing smelling oils they proceeded to then dress me in a beautiful gown, spray me with perfume, transform me with makeup and an artful hairstyle. The sun was about to set.
"My lady, the guards are here to escort us to the hall," Anape said.
"Anape, what will happen during the ceremony? Will I be required to do or say anything?"
"No, my lady. The Prince has already thanked the gods for your sudden unexpected appearance and made an offering earlier today. All you need to do is appear at the banquet, sit next to the prince and enjoy the party."
She says this with a smile on her face. I think she really likes the idea of me marrying their prince. If she only knew I was already married and planning on making my escape soon.
Together with my maids we follow the guards and hear music from afar. The closer we get, the louder the music gets, I can smell amazing scents, food and perfumes all mingling together. We walk down some steps and I see a large hall with people dancing. Among them, I spot Isabel and my heart stops.
"Anape" I say, calling my head maid to me "can you see that lady standing in the hall with the long, curly dark hair and dark eyes?" She nods once she sees her. "I need you to keep her busy; men, food and whatever else you can think of, she is here to throw a curse at me and my marriage and I can not allow her to get anywhere near me. Do you understand?"
"Yes my lady"
As we enter the hall, the music stops, I see at the end of the long room a large table made completely out of gold, surrounded by seventeen large golden chairs encrusted with jewels. On one of them sits prince Kanefer, the chair next to him is empty. As I get closer, I see that one of the main seats at the table is taken by a beautiful woman wearing animal fur and colourful birds feathers attached as a coat over her head extending down to her shoulders. She looked unreal, but I can see clearly that she is human. Next to her is the king and he is definitely not human, with all of his striking features on display. He has makeup on and wears gold jewellery. Surrounded by their children and spouses, they are all dressed up for the occasion with gold jewellery, colourful feathers and animal objects to complement their own features of thorns, wings, tails and calves. It was a sight I will never forget.
As I get closer the prince rises and comes out from behind the table, he takes my hand into his and says
"You look beautiful" I blush at the compliment, I can't help it. He smiles to the crowd, the guests cheer and the music starts back up as we sit at the table.
I concentrate intensely on the dancers and performers as I am scared to look at anyone else sitting at the table. Except for the queen, they all seem at least twice as big as me and I don't really know the etiquette of the alien royalty of ancient Egypt. I decide to stay quiet until Michael appears.
"My lady, are you happy with your wedding celebration," the prince asks me.
"Yes, my prince"
"Are you looking for someone?"
"Yes my prince, Indeed I am. I am looking for my father he was with me when I arrived at the palace and said he would see me at the feast. I was wondering if he has arrived, I wish to share with him this wonderful moment" I smile at Kanefer to ensure that this charade carries on.
"Do not worry, I spoke with him earlier, he assured me he would be here." he waved at a servent standing in the corner and whispered some orders in the servant's ear.
"I have sent for your father, he should be here soon."
"Thank you, my prince".
The hours' pass and night descends and still, there is no sign of Michael. I am getting worried, which I think is becoming more and more apparent to everyone at the table.
Finally, I see Anape walking with Michael towards us! I get up and approach them when I feel the presence of the prince right next to me.
"Father!" I say to Michael "I was getting worried, where have you been? I don't want you to miss this wonderful celebration."
"I am sorry my dear, I met our old friend and... we got into some trouble, but it is all sorted now, nothing to worry about."
"Trouble, what sort of trouble? If there is anything I can assist you with, please just let me know, my guard is at your disposal to ensure the happiness and safety of my bride." The prince says.
"Thank you, pharaoh." Michael bows in front of Kanefer.
"My prince, could I have a word alone with my father? I wish to thank him for bringing me here." I get Kanefer's agreement and see him walking back to the table. I walk with Michael to the side of the room, looking for a quiet place to talk. As we are about to leave this big room and disappear in a corridor I see Isabel standing next to Kanefer and whisper something into his ear, his expression changes to one of rage.
"Quick," I say to Michael, "I think our cover is blown! We need to leave now?" I tug on his clothes pulling him into the corridor.
"Yes, I have water!" Michael digs into his pocket pulling out a metal bottle.
Suddenly I hear a great roar reverberating through the corridor followed by bellows of anger, the sound of overturned tables and galloping hooves. The noise is getting closer, I glance back in fear... the minotaur prince is charging towards us at full gallop, tossing people aside like leaves in the wind! His eyes are wide with rage and fire.
He bellows
"You are mine, you are promised to me, I accepted you as my wife, you shall not leave me!"
Michael pulls me down another corridor, left, right, left, trying desperately to lose the prince. We do lose sight of him, but can still hear him charging up and down the corridors asking anyone he sees if they have seen us. We hear a servant giving him directions and the prince once again charing down the corridor towards us.
"Wife, come out now! I order you!" he shouts filling the corridor with his despair and rage.
Michael hurriedly pulls the powder out of his pocket and says.
"This is still not going to be enough to get us to the twenty-first, but we can get out of here first. Are you ready?"
"I am sorry Kanefer, it's not you, it me!" I shout towards the charging minotaur and turn to Michael saying
"Like never before".
I grab his arm as he hastily puts the powder inside the bottle. The last thing I see is the prince dislodging the stone columns as he crashes into them turning the corner the whole ceiling starting to collapse, dust and debris thick in the air.
Luckily for us, he is too late and we are gone into the white abyss.
YOU ARE READING
Breaking Through Time
Science FictionI looked at Michael lying in a pool of blood. Emily and Jack were still off the side in a cage, screaming and crying while looking at this horrifying situation. Robert was cuffed to the wall crying and blood was sipping down on his naked torso as he...
