Yugioh Atem, The Foreign Guard

Chapter 16

She woke the next morning to an empty bed. The spot where Atem once laid now missing the warmth of a person meaning he had left some time ago. Amani tried to quell her disappointment and rose against her body screaming against it.

Tossing off her tunic and throwing it back on the bed, Amani quickly bathed and as she was pulling the straps to her armor, she noticed a piece of papyrus on the table. Picking it up, she read the note.

Amani,

Forgive me for leaving so early this morning, know that I by no means enjoyed not getting to wake up beside you. Unfortunately I needed to get back to my chambers before Nabaka, Philis, and Shabaka returned so that our late night adventure would remain a secret.

I had a wonderful time with everyone last night, though my head currently disagrees strongly with that statement. I am currently on my second cup of water trying to dissipate the pain. That being said I would not change a thing that happened. I thank you for your trust, you are beautiful habibi.

I shall see you soon,

Atem

Amani smiled at it and folded up the letter, tucking it away in the chest before finishing getting ready.

She was the first to arrive and made eye contact with Atem. Exchanging a smile with him, she heard Set huff his annoyance to make sure his displeasure was heard. Amani rolled her eyes and bowed to Atem as he took his position.

As some architect entered, Amani bagan to think of the night before. She did not have very many people she could call friends, if even that at all. She spent her days training and working, the women there had no tasks in the domestic work and were too outcast as a woman to be abundantly welcomed by the men.

So going out to drink was quite possibly one of the best moments of her life. The laughter and conversations, hearing funny stories from all in company, even sharing a few herself. The food and drink that filled her up that warmed her from the inside out, she could safely call Mahad and Isis her friends if she didn't already before.

Her thoughts shifted to once they returned back to the palace.

She felt her face heat as the memory of his hands on her came back to her mind. The way he handled her body so gently and divinely made her body sing, something she hadn't felt in some time.

She once had a lover back in Kush who was one of her men as general there. He had intrigued her, which blossomed to him sharing her bed from time to time, but it was never as powerful as this friction between Atem and her. An injury in battle left him crippled in his hand and disbanded from her troops and she didn't entertain the idea of finding him, which was quite some years ago.

It wasn't that he had lost his ability to perform in battle or bed that stopped her, simply that she didn't want to be seen slipping about to entertain a man, a reputation that would lower her already awful image to those above her who disliked her greatly.

But with Atem she would sacrifice anything that it took, which is why it didn't phase her strongly when he brought it up with his court. And still, at least one one third if not half of his court agreed with his decision.

When Atem paused his advances on her last night, her mind was split down the middle. One side called for him to take her, to finish what he started. The other spoke cautions of what were to happen if he did; perhaps someone could find out. Perhaps a child could be produced from it which was the farthest from what was needed at the moment.

Make no mistake, she wanted children. But not at this crucial point in time where she had to earn some sort of approval from the other half of his court. Children and lovemaking outside of marriage was common and widely accepted, the temple of hathor being the scene for multiple of these happenings. But children to royalty could end up messy, especially since they would be illegitimate since Amani wasn't a royal wife and if the child turned out to be a boy that would only complicate things more.