Midnight Lotus ~ An Egyptian Fairytale

~ 8 ~

"Put me down!"

 I flailed and kicked against my captor as he headed out the grand hall, turning right past the priests' sleeping chambers and to the communal bathing pools that backed onto a river, trickling in from the great Nile. The man remained silent as we stepped into the night air, passing the first steps into the bath, as he waded further.

"I said put me down!" my fear rising with the water line. I didn't like open water- ever since that day. "I am the Priestess Nefari! Are you not afraid of punishment for touching Ra's wife?"

"The better question is, what were you doing down there.... Princess?" His voice low and controlled as he set me on my feet. The water came up to my waist, thankfully it wasn't deeper, and I shivered at the sudden change in temperature, staring up into furious golden orbs.

"A-Amon...How did you know?"

"I was waiting for you by the statue. I saw the priest take you away and followed."

"Ah..."

A frog croaked in the silence between us before he said, "thinking of a job change?" His eyebrow raised at my servant's robes.

"No. No, I-" I couldn't think with him so close. His large hands seared my skin as he held my waist, steadying me. My palms itched to touch the rigid scars on his chest illuminated in the moonlight, as the dusk wrapped us in her dark wings, and I suddenly realized we were the only ones here. 

We were alone.

"You, what? Tired of being a priestess? You should have told me sooner," he quipped dryly when I didn't answer back. His eyes, still hard as amber. Was he angry? It was so hard to tell. As a boy his emotions flowed so brightly on his face, but now it was like reading lines of stone. 

"No," I said a little more firmly, finding my voice and clarity now that we were out of the smoky haze of that room. "Hotep has me guarded. I had to find a way to sneak out and then..." my voice trailed, remembering how close I'd been to shedding my purity.

It wasn't an issue for unwed men and women. Sex was as normal an activity as eating or dancing. Zahara often took a hand-maiden or two into her chambers and Anaka had practiced with a priest boy. But I had kept myself for Amon, and when I was announced as Ra's wife only my godly husband could lay with me. Now I would never know the pleasure... A small part of me wondered what would have happened if I'd stayed.

"That was stupid and dangerous," his jaw ticked and he pulled me lower into the water by the waist.

"What are you doing!?" my hands clawing to remove his grip as he dragged me down. All sense of formality and propriety forgotten in my apprehension.

"We have to wash off the smoke. It seeps in your skin. And you probably inhaled a bit," he explained calmly. "How are you feeling?"

His hands roamed up my arms, rubbing any bare flesh that wasn't covered by my dress.

"I'm fine." I stepped back into the pool, pulling from his grip that sent jolts of lightning to my core. "I'll do it myself." I rubbed at my legs, my arms, my face; each touch heightened. My body felt flush. Warm. Happy. Almost bubbly, like a good cup of wine. A giggle escaped me.

"You don't sound fine, Princess."

I bristled. I hated it when he called me that. He knew it too. Like he was denying that I'd ever become a part of the temple.  Who is he to tell me how I feel? And suddenly I remembered I was supposed to be mad at him. Though, it was hard with such close proximity. But I could still pretend.