My Pharaoh

Chapter 9

Paloma

It felt as if Tefnut approved of us in that moment. That our kissing was enough to free us from this drought and provide us with rain.

I wonder if Amun saw it in the same way. He didn't seem as happy as me when it started raining.

It's been raining heavily since. Two days of rain. I got a letter this morning from my father about it. Everyone's so happy in the village, and I can finally go home.

Only...there's one thing still keeping me here. I want to see him soon, so I can decide whether or not he's worth the effort. It's just that, with men, you can never really know. Even if you think you do...even when your heart tells you otherwise.

There's a knock at the door and I answer it cautiously. It's not Khepiri, or Amr or even Amun. It's two men in all black, covered faces.

One of them punches me in the stomach before I can ask a single question, and I fall to the floor.

***

Ramses

I know that she wants to go home. And I want her to be happy. It's just hard that her happiness means our separation. I want to be with her all the time. I can't handle even the idea of her being that far away from me.

I'm walking to see her now, I don't know why exactly. I was sitting there at the palace, listening to one terrible man talk after another and I just decided I had to see her face. And talk. Since that kiss and the raining, there's a lot that has been left unsaid.

I walk up to her apartment. The door is already slightly open. I knock on it and call her name, but no answer. I open it slowly and she's on the floor, unconscious, her apartment is messed up, and she's beat up. I rush towards her and pick her head up.

I call for help. For a landlord, or for her neighbour. And soon she enters, freaking out almost as much as me.

"Did you see who did this?" I ask and she shakes her head with tears in her eyes.

"I'll take her to the palace hospital, please see if you can find out who might've done this." I state, before picking Paloma up and leaving.

***

We're at the hospital now. I can't stop pacing up and down the hallway.

But soon the doctor comes out. "Your majesty," he says "you can see her now."

I rush inside and sit in the chair next to her bed. She's only just about awake, she tries to sit up and I help her. Tears fall from her face tiredly, and she looks at me and then back down.

"What happened Amunet?" I ask.

She cries slightly. "It's your fault..." she whispers and my heart drops.

I don't reply, I just look at her guiltily.

"I know who you are." She states and I look at her in shock. But I still can't reply.

"They tried to kill me," she cries "because they said that I've been trying to seduce the Pharaoh."

I shake my head. "Who was it?"