Shards of Ankh

Chapter Forty Three

[CONTENT WARNING/TRIGGER WARNING: Implying of r*pe and an attempted r*pe. IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO THIS TOPIC, SCROLL TO THE '+++' PAGE BREAK.]

Thea regained consciousness to a pounding head. The amount of times she had woken up like this in the past few months made her hope she never woke up like this again. She stirred, trying to gain her bearings before opening her eyes.

Where ever she was, the ground beneath her was smooth and cool. The air held no breeze, and it was a comfortable temperature overall. While she wasn't entirely sure, her senses gave her the distinct impression that she was inside somewhere. Even with eyes closed, she still felt the world teetering around her. The feeling made her feel sick again, and she swallowed thickly, choking on the still vile aftertaste in her mouth.

When the world stopped spinning and she felt assured that she wouldn't throw up should she move, Thea opened her eyes. For a moment her vision blurred and spun, but then righted itself. Directly above her hung the night's star-filled sky. It was framed by a narrow square. Though she knew where she was, she slid her eyes down the side of the wall. Her uneasiness was confirmed; large limestone bricks made the room she was in, and she saw sketches on the walls, outlines for where pictures and hieroglyphics would be painted.

Thea looked down past her feet. Ankh stared at her evenly, eyes on fire. He sat on his haunches, cruel smile screwing up his face. With the small amount light that filtered in, something glinted and caught Thea's attention. He held a knife between his legs.

Carefully Thea propped herself up on her elbows. Once sure she wasn't going to have an adverse reaction she sat up further, hand pressed over her throbbing head.

"Good morning sunshine," the man drolled, grin growing dangerously.

"Chisisi, I presume?" Thea said, her voice raw. She tried her best to look utterly unimpressed.

"That was easy," he chuckled. "This is why I shall never love; it blinds you."

"There's just one thing I can't figure out," Thea croaked out. "Why?"

Chisisi laughed, standing from his hunched position. Thea hated the fact he looked exactly like her beloved Ankh. He approached her, knife glinting against the starlight. Gulping, Thea moved back.

"People are so strange," Chisisi said. "Why? Why what? Why did I kill my own mother?"

Thea scurried back further, eyes wide open. Chisisi advanced on her.

"She was useless," he explained as though this were an idle conversation. "She failed to give me what I wanted. So I left. She was such a lovely woman, however, she couldn't bare not being close to her son. She thought she could repair me and decided to pay me a visit."

"Visit you?" Thea repeated, horrified.

Chisisi began to pick under his nails with the tip of his knife. "We had private correspondence. I had found a beautiful land, filled with beautiful people, beautiful things... Beautiful animals and beautiful poisons."

Thea further backed away, wishing he didn't block her only way to the exit.

"She came to me, attempting to smooth things over." He chuckled. "That would be her undoing. Truthfully, I had willingly forgotten my life here in Egypt. I had sent message back home after I had left, telling her our family need not bother themselves anymore with my personal affairs. My statement had been genuine; I let her know where I was, that I was safe and whole, but that it would be our last correspondence. I had implored her to not reach out to me. However..."

Thea shivered as Chisisi shrugged. "My name precedes me? She still feared my wrath. She still feared that I would return and become meddlesome."

Chisisi stalked over, standing directly over Thea, both legs on either side of hers. "I truly wanted to leave that world behind, however...She followed me and found me. She came to Qin, where it was not difficult to find the only other person who held the same dark skin as she herself did."