A soft persistent tugging nagged me while I turned in my sleep. The pushing on my shoulder became harder the longer I tried to ignore it and I groaned in complaint. Finally, I shot up and hissed, "What?"
The Pharaoh looked back at me, completely amused by my outburst. The possibility of turning into a smoking pile of ash then hit me and I bit my bottom lip. What have I done? "I'm sorry. Sometimes I get cranky in the mornings," I apologized to the demigod.
"It's alright," he replied with a half-lifted smile," It was pretty funny."
I forced myself to smile, but internally I wanted to ram my head into the wall. I got off the bed that was really just woven strands of reed. My neck was stiff but I forced myself to stand up anyways. Once I was on my feet I moved my tangled hair out of my eyes and gave this man my full attention.
I was so confused about what was happening. It was early and I was somehow in Eygpt, which shouldn't be possible. Eygpt was destroyed in the war. Yet here was a Pharaoh, a demigod even, right in front of me. "So it wasn't a dream," I mumbled to myself.
"What wasn't a dream?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nothing," I quickly replied, "Sorry my brain is still jumbled from being asleep."
He gave me a reassuring smile and said, "Well sorry to disturb your sleep but we gotta go."
"Where are we going again?" I questioned.
He handed me a bundle of clothing then answered, "To visit Thoth. The god of knowledge."
I took the bundle and slowly unwrapped each cloth. The clothes were something that you would find in a costume store back when Halloween was still celebrated. They looked like a high-quality Cleopatra outfit.
"You should change into those," he told me.
I nodded and immediately began to take off the dress that Nyra had given to me. "Woah!" he exclaimed, "Not in front of me!"
"What? Is something wrong?" I asked confused.
He gave me a look of disbelief like I was missing some giant picture. He let out a dramatic puff of air and replied, "Respectable women don't change in front of men."
"What are you talking about?" I inquired.
"You're joking right?" He retorted.
I just continued to stare at him blankly. What was he talking about? Men and women dress and undress in front of each other all the time. The war made privacy a thing of the past.
"Geez you're not joking," he grumbled, "Just let me leave the room before you change."
"Why?" I questioned, "It's not a big deal. You've probably seen hundreds of women undressed."
His skin started to emit bright white light and I felt the temperature rise. "I have not! I am a respectable man!" He gritted through his teeth.
More confusion filled me and I said, "I never suggested you weren't."
"Yes..." He then grumbled angrily under his breath, "I'm gonna send Nyra in. She'll prepare you."
With that, he fled the room. I stood there completely astonished at his outburst. Why was that such a big deal? Women and men were in close quarters all the time.
"What did you do?" Nyra yelled as she seemingly floated into the room. I shrugged, still oblivious to the problem.
-----------------------------------------
"So where are we headed?" I asked the Pharaoh.
We currently stood outside the palace looking out into the bareness of the mighty desert. The sun was barely beginning to peek above the horizon.
He looked at the approaching sun then looked back at me and placed his fingers to his lips. I was confused but nodded my head and kept my mouth shut. He then raised his hands above his head and pulses of light surrounded us. I watched in awe as the pulses settled into a glimmering dome that stayed perfectly around us.
"No one can see us now, not even the gods," he said gaining my attention.
I pointed to the dome and asked, "What are you talking about?"
"Light is how you're able to see the world. Because I'm the son of Ra I can control light and therefore what people see. Since Thoth doesn't want anyone to bother him, he had me make him a big illusion to live in. I'm making a smaller one for us to travel with so we don't reveal Thoth's location," he explained.
"I guess that makes sense," I replied as I adjusted the reed woven backpack on my back.
He gave me a smile and I couldn't help but smile back. "Come on," he said and motioned with his head, "We need to head this way."
YOU ARE READING
The Pharaoh
Random"What are you?" he asked me with suspicion. I was taken a bit off guard by his words and stuttered out, "I...I don't know." Alison doesn't know what she did to deserve the torture that she goes through. In fact, she doesn't even understand the tortu...
