Life From Your Lips (Ruby Rose fanfic)

FOUR (Iselen POV)

"Ding!"

The prince's name rings a bell in my brain, I'm pretty sure I've heard it before but I don't know when and, of course, they didn't say good things about him. Damn it, I hate when this happens, I can see in my mind the book where I read it, even the exact page, but I can't remember the text. I'll guess it'll come to my mind sooner or later, or not, who cares? This is a dream after all, isn't it? I have come to the conclusion that I'm in a coma, dying inside Ruby's tomb due to the lack of fresh air, little by little... This is the way it happens, supposedly, I'll fall asleep... And I'm dreaming about her because, well, she's the last person I saw even if she was just a drawing on a wall.

There's nothing I can do to stop it and, in order to save myself the anguish, my mind has created this wonderful world full of beautiful women, delicious sweet dates filled with almond paste, palaces with painted walls, gardens with ponds full of water lilies... It's not that bad and Ruby Rose makes things better. She's pretty, smart, very kind and funny when she gets relaxed, we can have interesting conversations... I don't care if this is all happening in my brain. I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can because, what else could I do? If I must die, it'll be in the arms of a lovely priestess with blue-green eyes. And besides, I've found out I'm good at flirting now because, well, this isn't real and I have nothing to lose, I'm not nervous or making a fool of myself when she's around...

"I know Tiyi is my dad's favorite wife at the moment, I admit I don't like her and she's very ambitious," Ruby shakes her head next to me while talking in whispers with her friend. "But Pentawer is a good guy, I can't believe he wants to be the heir of the throne and gets on well with prince Ramses... He's the Commander of the Pharaoh's army and Pentawer is the Commander of the Pharaoh's chariot army, they fight and train together and they like each other... That's impossible..."

"Tiyi is ambitious enough for the two of them, that's for sure..." Atet answers firmly. "I'll order the servants to take your lunch to your room terrace and you both should take a nap later... It's too hot to stay outside and you must recover strength after a three-day ritual... you've worked hard..."

"Are you okay?" I whisper, worried all of a sudden, taking my hostess' tattooed arm to help her getting up.

"Yes, I'm fine, don't pay attention to her... she's too protective of me." Ruby smiles amused but the truth is that she looks pale and tired so I remain silent while following her back to her sycamore tree patio, ignoring surprised and curious looks from people crossing our path.

"Wow..." I whisper quietly. The priestess' room is decorated with beautiful paintings, scenes from the life of Isis but also flowers and animals, there're chairs and stools made of fine wood encrusted with precious stones and gold leaf everywhere, there're also low tables with carved legs and a harp in a corner, her bed is bigger than mine and covered with linen pillows. Several girls come and go through the terrace following Atet's instructions carrying bread loafs, roasted duck, figs, pea cream, a salad with lettuce and cucumber, fried catfish, beer and some pottery bowls. "Amazing."

"The palace is built on top of a very high terrace to protect it from the annual flooding of the Nile, that's why the Jeneret House enjoys wonderful views over the city. The lateral portico stairs lead directly to the water so my father can climb to his boat, sometimes we go fishing together..." Ruby smiles happily. "Over there, that's one of the monumental pylons flanking the palace main entrance, the Processional Street leads to the fancy houses and gardens of the most important nobles and the city spreads behind them... That's Amun's temple, it's massive, with an artificial lake and gardens... And that sparkling thing in the distance are the irrigation channels: when the Nile flow goes back to normal at the end of summer, farmers try to build small dams to hold as much water as they can for their crops."