The Cursed Pharaoh's Bride

Chapter 39: Ice Queen

Carolina

The night is filled with aggressive networking and socializing. There are a lot of smiles and handshakes and even a few laughs here and there. For the most part, everything is going well. A lot of people are expressing gratitude towards me for awakening Elijah. But other than that, Elijah ends up doing most of the talking. After all, most of the things his followers bring up are about the society, which is something I'm still pretty new to. After listening to so many different conversations, I realize that I really don't know about the hierarchy or the roles that people play or even how much people have invested in the society.

There are quite a few sorcerers in the room, many of which are part of families that seem to descend from Elijah's original followers. But not everyone uses magic for fighting. Many people use magic for tracking artifacts related to the gods or they specialized in keeping the world of Egyptian gods secret from the real world. There are also many people who focus on consolidating information and preserving Elijah's history, even if the rest of the world doesn't get to know the truth. It also seems that there's more to this world of gods including the other creatures that once plagued ancient myths and legends. But Elijah says I don't have to worry about that right now since Set is the much bigger threat.

One of the biggest reoccurring themes in all these conversations is the idea of the big five families. There are five main wealthy families from different regions of the world that are the major founders of the Order as it exists today. They descend from five specific people who were very close to Elijah: Lorenzo, who was his main vizier, along with his military general, his high priestess, his head palace guard, and the first governor of Thinis, his home village. These families seem to have strong heka lines and many of the members of these families seem to hold high positions in the Order. Ironically enough, the family that descends from Elijah's personal guard is Charles' family, which explains why he stayed with them as soon as he awoke.

It feels like we've been talking forever, and I want to let out a groan when I see that only an hour has passed. To be fair, we must have gone through almost a hundred people, even if it was only in passing. I soon find a yawn coming on, and I place a hand over my mouth in hopes of hiding how tired I'm getting. I really hope we can sit down soon to eat dinner.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I saw that," a voice says. I quickly turn around, my cheeks becoming warm with embarrassment.

Instead of finding some snooty, wealthy person ready to ridicule me for yawning, I find myself looking at a dressed up Dr. Jones. A smile spreads across my face and I find myself slipping away from Elijah long enough to give her a quick hug. I can't help myself. Considering I haven't been in school for a while, it feels like I haven't seen her in forever. And on top of that, she's the only one apart from the guys that I actually know.

"Dr. Jones, I'm so happy to see you!" 

"It's been too long, dear," she replies, "But I can understand why. How have the magic lessons been going?"

"It's slow going," I say warily.

"It takes time," she reassures, "But you'll get it. Have you found a teacher yet?"

"Well, Elijah said he found one for me. But I haven't met her yet," I say, "And I was really hoping you could teach me until I finally do."

"I wanted to. But after you were kidnapped, it's been hard to coordinate a good time for me to see you. Things would have been different if you were allowed to go back to school. I would have taught you during your lab hours."

I let out a disappointed sigh. "I understand..."

I feel myself getting tugged back into Elijah's arms, my back now being pressed up against his firm chest.

"Hello, Susan," he greets Dr. Jones with a small smile.

"Your highness," she says as she gives him a small bow of her head.

"I wanted to personally thank you for all the help you've given me and Carolina. The grimoire you gave her was also very helpful. We're going to have a very powerful queen on our hands," he brags. I feel my cheeks warm up at his words.

"I'm sure she will be. And if she ever needs any extra help with learning, I'm happy to help. Please, feel free to contact me," Dr. Jones offers. I know she did it for my sake. If I'm being honest, I'd much rather have someone I've worked with in the past, even if it wasn't necessarily for heka training.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Susan. And of course, I have nothing against Carolina contacting you personally if she needs help," he says. "Thankfully, she's going to have a full-time instructor so she will have access to hands-on instruction all the time."

"And I look forward to working with her, your highness," a light, feathery feminine voice says. I can't help but notice the distinct British accent as well. The voice came from a tall, slim woman who glided towards us elegantly. She looks like one of those high-class models you would see in Paris for fashion week. She has pin straight dirty blonde hair and cold blue eyes. She has very delicate facial features and pale skin that is lightly adorned with pastel-colored makeup. She's dressed in an all-white pantsuit and silver heals. She almost looks like a modern ice queen. Speaking of ice queens, she also looks like the female version of Charles. Which can only mean...

"My name is Anastasia, your highness," she says as she gently grabs my hand and bows her head lowly towards me. "I am the teacher the pharaoh has enlisted to help you control your magic. It's an honor to be chosen to tutor the future queen."

"It's nice to meet you, Anastasia," I reply as I try my best to give her a genuine smile. It's difficult, though, because the second she introduces herself, the atmosphere around us becomes icy. It's as if she's bringing the cold with her. Dr. Jones is silent beside me, no longer looking so friendly. Charles is behind me and while I can't see him, I can almost feel how tense he is by the way I hear him shift on his feet uncomfortably. Elijah seems to be oblivious to the mood as he greats Anastasia with a welcoming smile and a firm handshake. She wastes no time in giving him a sickly sweet smile in return.

"I'm so happy we finally reached you, Anastasia. I've been dying to have you meet Carolina. I think you two will work well together," he says cheerfully. He's been dying, huh? I can't help but not like the way he's so friendly with her. What kind of relationship did they have when he was staying with them in England?

"I'm sure we will. If what you told me about her is true, I'm sure I'll be able to easily whip her into shape," she says before sparing me a strange glance. It's as if she's looking at me up and down, sizing me up. We've barely had one conversation and she's already judging me.

"Don't go too hard on her," Elijah says with a chuckle.

"Of course not, your highness. I'll be focusing on basic control. She will learn spells that are appropriate for a woman of her status. We wouldn't want her to get hurt," she says.

I can't help but wonder what she considers appropriate for a woman of my status.

"He's just joking," I suddenly cut in, "about you going hard on me. I want to be treated like any one of your other students. That's the best way to learn, I think. No special treatment."

Elijah looks down at me with a slightly confused look. I meet his eyes for a moment before looking back at Anastasia with a challenging gaze. She holds my look for a moment before giving me a forced smile and then turning back to Elijah.

"Of course, I'll be teaching her like any one of my other students. How else will I be teaching her?" She lets out a small laugh and I notice Elijah just gives her a polite smile. Our eyes meet for a second and I can sense he feels something is wrong. I can just tell because I feel something wash over me as if he were trying to calm me down through our emotional bond.

I put on a forced smile and try to let my annoyance go for now. The sooner I can get away from Anastasia tonight, the better it will be for all of us.