The Pharaoh

Chapter 16

"Alison, get up!" A muffled voice urged me.

My vision swirled as I tried to concentrate on who said my name. My stomach lurched and I hunched over. I rubbed my eyes and blurrily saw light eyes looking back at me.

"Serena?" I questioned hopefully. Is it her? Have I finally found her?

"No, heathen," Nyra muttered to me as she placed a delicate hand on my back, "I'm afraid your sister is still a mystery."

I felt my stomach heave and I closed my eyes as I dry heaved. "Is she alright?" Byron asked.

I continued to dry heave, my stomach already empty from throwing up not even twenty minutes ago. I felt Nyra's hand rub soothing circles on my back as Aiden answered, "Give her a few minutes. Thoth transported us before she could close her eyes."

"Ooooo," Byron drew out, "That one is a killer."

Nyra moved my hair away from my face and asked Aiden, "What happened? What did Thoth say?"

Silence filled the air and Nyra eventually stopped rubbing my back. I opened my eyes to see what was happening but immediately wished I hadn't. Tears ran down Aiden's face as his gray eyes stayed glued to the ground.

Nyra looked back at me and inquired with a strong voice, "What happened?"

"They're gone. The rebels got to them," Aiden whispered.

"Who's gone? What are you talking about?" Byron questioned.

Nyra's usually blank eyes filled with tears and she wondered, "Evie?"

Aiden nodded and grumbled, "All three of them."

Nyra gasped and tears fell down her lovely cheeks. She left my side and went to hug Aiden. His arms wrapped around her without hesitation and she whispered soothing words to him.

Byron looked at me in confusion before getting an intense look of determination. He walked till he was close enough that as he looked down at me I had to tilt my head straight up. He glared down at me and demanded, "Tell me everything."

So I did. From leaving the palace to me getting kidnapped, to Thoth revealing that I was an Amari, to the death of Aiden's loved ones, and then finally to us appearing before them.

When the tale was finished everyone was looking at me in silence for a few moments. However, as soon as Byron took in my story and fully absorbed it he looked at his half-brother in anger. "Your mother has been alive this whole time?" He said accusingly.

"Now is not the time!" Nyra shot at Byron.

Byron pointed at her angrily and yelled, "You have no say in this! Your father was the pharaoh! No mortal ever had the power or authority to kill him! Aiden on the other hand," Byron pointed to Aiden then continued, "his mother was a slave. A nobody... yet she got to live and my mother, the daughter of a nobleman, was killed days after I was born."

None of us said anything. Byron was visibly upset from the revelation. Finally, I said, "She's gone now, so let's focus on what matters."

"Silence!" Byron yelled at me, "You know nothing! You're not a human and your not a demigod so stay out of this Amari."

"Don't yell at her," Aiden growled at him.

The veins in Byron's neck were now visible and his flesh was turning a dark red. I felt the temperature rise in the room as Byron yelled, "Don't tell me what to do! Not right now! Our mothers should have died after we were born. You gambled with a god's toy and you finally got burned. You should just be glad that it wasn't sooner and didn't involve a lot more people."