Unfinished Gems

Sands of Time - 2

Chapter 2

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When Atem learned that Lotus was in his city, and had set up shop close to the palace, he had been delighted. Being a Pharoah could be quite boring unless you spiced things up.

To that end he removed a considerable amount of his regalia (particularly the crown) and cast the minor magic to disguise his distinctive features. While there was no mistaking the fact he was nobility, with any luck, no one would identify him as the Pharoah at first glance.

With an impish smile, he snuck out of the palace during a time where he could be missed for a few hours...and headed to the unusual bar he had heard about by listening to his guards.

The proprietor was a woman of considerable beauty and, this point had caught his particular interest, deep red hair like fire with eyes that could put emeralds to shame.

There was only one woman who fit that description he knew of.

He entered the bar...and his breath almost caught. Gone was the nervous and shy young woman he had seen in that cave. In her place was a Queen in all but name, confident, strong and beautiful. While she wore no jewelry, there was still no mistaking her aura.

He smiled, and took a place at the bar to order a drink.

Lotus was in complete command of her new home. The locals clearly enjoyed the atmosphere as it was somewhat crowded. He sat back to enjoy his drink and mild snack, mostly to take in the atmosphere. Most of the locals wouldn't talk to him openly...he was nobility and offending one would only bring trouble to their families. However a few guards were willing to talk to him, which meant he wasn't entirely bored.

He wondered how a few would react if they knew who he was.

It was halfway through his second beer that provided the height of the night's entertainment.

One of the men, emboldened by drink, decided to slap the ass of the woman serving him. Lotus' expression did not change overly much save for the look of annoyance. She took a glass of what smelled like wine...and dumped it onto the offending idiot.

Rather than take offense for their friend, everyone instead laughed. The man's friends took him away, still sputtering. The women gave Lotus a look of approval and amusement.

Atem was amused and thoroughly enjoying his little outing. That is, until he sensed one of the royal mages coming too close. Clearly Mahaad had sent Mana to try and track him down.

He made sure to tip extra well...mostly for the entertainment from earlier.

For the next few weeks, he would visit the bar regularly. The only one who seemed to figure out who he was (tough something told him she had no idea he was the Pharoah) was Lotus.

Then everything changed the day the Pharoah and a small contingent of his men went to deal with some rather troublesome bandits. Some of which had access to shadow magic, hence why the Pharoah himself was getting involved.

~

Third POV...

Atem cursed. Mahaad was badly injured from an arrow, and from the looks of things it was poisoned. If they didn't get out of this death trap it was unlikely that he would live.

He wasn't the only one...they were all exhausted, and things didn't look good at all.

Mahaad was fading fast, Mana was panicking at the thought of losing her teacher, but the bandits still had the upper ground, and she was their best long range caster. Her shots were sloppy but were doing an admirable job of keeping them from closing in and finishing them off.