Promised (Prince Ramses x fem! Reader)

Chapter 19: The Real Killer

On the dingy prison cell floor was Ramses' half-brother, his hands shackled as he leaned on the wall with a drab expression on his face while he listened to Huy in the adjacent cell complain. "This is madness, let us out this instant! This is no way to treat the high priests!" Huy cried as he shook onto the bars of the cell, Hotep who had given up long ago groaning in annoyance at his associate." Huy would you shut up! Ramses will be here any minute and when we explain to him what really happened, he will let us go. Isn't that right, killer?" Hotep asked the man in the cell across from them who had only glowered in return. Huy only slid down to the floor dejectedly, his expression melting into one of utter despair as he began sweating bullets. "But what if he doesn't buy it? Then we're all dead ducks!" he wailed too loud for comfort to which Hotep kicked him quiet.

"He will buy it-look here he is!" he said before the two scrambled to straighten themselves up."As you were," Ramses addressed the many guards, before walking into the prison cells with a torch in hand, the glowing flame illuminating him in an intimidating fashion. He was silent for a moment, Hotep and Huy fidgeting nervously in their cells as they anxiously awaited any words. "So you've evaded the palace defenses and tried to kill my pregnant fiance, and you two planned all of it?" Ramses spoke dangerously low as he contained his anger, though within, seeing his half-brother's debilitated state from the sword wound disturbed him more than anything. Immediately Hotep and Huy erupted in denial, insisting that they had nothing to do with the attack. "Tell him what you told us, killer," Hotep finished, Ramses furrowing his brows at the statement.

'So they've been talking while he was gone?' With furious eyes, the other prisoner snapped his head in the direction of the other cell. "It isn't 'killer' you pricks, it's Karim." He hissed, Ramses taken aback by the sudden reveal of his half-brother's name. For some odd reason, he felt that the name suited him. "What did you tell them?" Ramses interrogated sternly as he held the flame closer to his cell. Their identical scowls appeared as though the two were mirror images of each other. Karim was obviously forcing himself to be silent, though his troubled look indicated he was afraid to reveal the truth. "Karim." Ramses pressed before he finally caved with an exasperated groan. "They're...they're innocent." He breathed out, before avoiding the younger's gaze as he hunched his posture away from him. "W-what?" Ramses stammered.

Hotep and Huy peered through the bars of their cell. "That's not all, go on and tell him the rest." Huy pestered, Karim sighing deeply as he continued on. "And they didn't hire me, I was hired by the Princess of Macedonia," he muttered as Ramses' eyes widened in return. "Sara?" he blurted out to which the priests began to babble uncontrollably. "I always had a feeling about her Ramses. She was bad news from the beginning but I didn't want to say anything." Huy went off as Hotep nodded wildly. "Yes, she seemed like a snake right from the begin-" Ramses shot them a threatening look knowing that before the truth was revealed, the priests had high opinions of her. He began to recall every moment with Sara, from the night of the coronation party, then the morning after when (Name) and her mother had run away from the palace. "Is this all true? You know the punishment if you lie..." he warned, looking primarily for Karim's response as the two priests sat tight.

He was silent for a moment, before reluctantly opening up. "Yes, it's all true. She hired me many moons ago before she left Egypt. I was a simple spy who relayed information from the palace back to Macedonia. Then she made an offer I could not ignore. She wanted me to kill (Name) so she could take her place as your wife and Queen of Egypt." he said. Ramses knew her sudden change of heart was too good to be true...he could see it clearly now without the panic of that moment clouding his judgment of her. She must have started to plot not only after she discovered his true feelings for (Name), but also during the time she spent after his father had fallen ill. It was an ideal turn of events for Sara. Her adamant behavior to stay and keep him company during his time of sorrow not only strengthened the palace's trust in her, but it gave her time to observe and recruit.