The Pharaoh's Dancer

The Heart

Amunet and Amun were silent as they laid side by side surrounded by a meadow of flowers. A soft and gentle breeze blew against their faces and lightened the heat that surrounded them. Amunet could feel her gown sliding up and down her legs as the wind rustled the fabric and tousled her hair. The fragrance of the many flowers drifted over her senses calming her mind. The tension in her shoulders loosened a little but an uncomfortable peace still hung precariously in the air. 

They two individuals were close enough to touch one another as they laid staring at the sky, but a thick veil divided them.

Amun wanted desperately to reach out and take her hand in his but a nervous tingle clutched at his stomach painfully. He felt her presence next to him so clearly that it threatened to crush him. Her name was numb on his lips and his mind clouded by her. He didn't know bringing her back into his life would cause this much turmoil. He couldn't seem to concentrate on anything but her. She'd filled a hole he hadn't realized was there. 

He needed her. Desperately.

"Why don't you stay here?" Amun asked cautiously and rather quietly. Amunet didn't look at him and instead continued staring at the clouds that drifted across her vision that slowly morphed into different shapes.

"History would only repeat itself," Amunet answered after a long silence. "Mut would be furious at my return and try to kill me all over again. That or another individual would ensnare your attention. Either way, I'd be the one to receive the most damage. The only one who would get hurt."

Amun felt his temper rise a little at her words and he finally had the courage to move and touch her. He flipped himself up on top of her and pinned her arms above her head. Amunet's fierce and aggressive eyes bore into Amun's. 

"You know I'm right," she said silently. 

"No, you're not," Amun shot back. "You don't understand how much I love you."

"I never said you didn't," Amunet said with a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. 

Amun hung his head and sighed. He sat back and allowed Amunet to sit up. She rubbed her wrists a little and continued to stare at Amun and the distress that was clouding his face. Amunet reached out a hand and touched his face slightly. His face was cold on her hand and she felt the familiar tingle that came when their souls brushed against each other. 

"I know you love me, Amun," Amunet said quietly as she tried to smile sincerely. Tears formed in both of their eyes as they leaned their foreheads together. "But I don't think it's enough."

Amun brought his hand up to smooth back her hair and cupped her face between his hands. He brought her lips to his and kissed her gently. Amunet closed her eyes and placed her own hands over his that still rested on her face. Amunet couldn't help but feel that the kiss was different from any that she had ever had in her life before. It wasn't a passionate kiss or even a kiss filled with the unending feeling of love. It was a kiss mingled with the salty taste of tears and laced with the foreboding melancholy of a permanent good-bye. 

Amunet pulled back first and stared at Amun's closed eyes and the beautiful tears that slid down his face. Amun slowly opened his eyes and looked at Amunet hard. 

"You can still stay," he whispered. Amunet smiled and brought their conjoined hands to her lap. 

"There's someone I need to return to," Amunet said softly. A tingling feeling danced in her stomach at the thought of Teremun. She had desperately missed the feel of his hands on her face and his lips on hers. Even now she could perfectly picture the angle of his jaw and the dignified way he would walk across the room. Amunet longed for the sight of his sarcastic smirk and the irrepressible shiver that always ran through her whenever he whispered in her ear. 

Her human fear of being close to him seemed to have disappeared. It didn't matter anymore if death awaited at Teremun's side, she'd still go to him. Whether it be a wicked step-mother or a jealous half-brother, a judgemental noble or a hate filled slave, Amunet wanted to be beside Teremun through every difficult and unpleasant moment. She wanted him. Forever. Only him. 

"You still wish to go back to him after all he's put you through?" Amun asked looking honestly and openly confused. Amunet laughed a little at his reaction and leaned back onto her arms. 

"I find it strange as well," Amunet said with another laugh. "I originally left him because I'd felt trapped and caged by his love. It also didn't help that everyone in the palace wanted me dead and had the power to make it happen. When I was finally outside, I was drunk off my new found freedom. But I found the more I walked away from Teremun and longer I stayed apart from him the harder it became. I ached day after day for his embrace and his affection. It was painful being with him but it was even more painful being away from him."

"I guess I have no choice but to let you return to him then," Amun said with a sigh. Amunet smiled and allowed Amun to pull her into a tight hug. "He really is a lucky man."

"Is he?" A voice suddenly said. Amunet's eyes snapped open and she shot away from Amun to look in the direction of the voice. She felt her heart fall in her chest and a scream erupt from her lips. Mut stood several yards away from the two of them holding an exhausted and pale Teremun in her arms. Blood dripped from his nose and he looked barely able to stand on his own feet. "If the Pharaoh was so lucky I doubt he would have met you."