The Prince and His Slave

Tabia - [Oh My Dear Ra.]

I stared, eyes wide open, as Arius walked away. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I screamed in my head. Ah Ra! That stupid boy!

       My eyes lingered on the Pharaoh, who was sitting with his chin resting on his hand. Oh, he was mad. He was very mad.

       He was mad, and he knew that all of this was true. The Pharaoh may be a serious… meanie… but he was smart.

       Very smart.

       “Tabia.” He called.

       I jumped. Even though I was so familiar with his voice, it still scared me.

       Khafirin took my hand and I looked at him. He shook his head, worry in his eyes.

       But I smiled. I didn’t want him to be scared. I mean, I’m not… oh Ra. Who was I kidding? I was shit scared. Scared out of my wits. “Yes, my Pharaoh?”

       He didn’t look at me. “Did you know about this?”

       Tell the truth. That was what my gut was telling me to do. But then I doubted my gut. “My Pharaoh?” I questioned.

       I needed to buy time to think. I had to think.

       How could I tell the truth? He would kill me! He would kill me, and it wouldn’t be pretty. But lying to the pharaoh? If he found out I was lying… I would be killed for that too.

       Oh my dear Ra. I shook my head. Am I stupid? Oh, oh, oh no. I cannot believe myself! I looked up at the ceiling. I’m sorry! I’m sorry!

       I’m not going to lie. I promised Arius I would be there for him. I can’t let him down. No matter how much I annoy him, and how much he annoys me… that boy is my cousin. Not only my cousin, but my best friend and brother.

“Did you know about my son having an affair with a slave?”

       I bit my lip. There’s no turning back now. “Yes, my Pharaoh.” I said.

       Khafirin tightened his grip on my wrist.

       I looked at him and saw his glare changed into fear. We both knew what was going to happen next.

       The king’s body shot up off the throne, and I jumped.

       He turned around and looked at me, eyes blazing. He walked over to me and I stepped back, at least until my back hit the wall. “How dare you.” He growled.

       I was taking deep breaths.

       “This is treason. Do you know that? Do you know that the fact that you didn’t tell me this is treason?”

       I didn’t say anything.

       “Your father is going to be very mad that I killed you. Do you know that? Maybe I should kill him too?”

       I took a deep breath.

       “My Pharaoh!” Khafirin called.

       “What?” The Pharaoh growled.

       “She wasn’t the only one who knew about this. I did too.” He said with his head held high.

       The Pharaoh turned around. “What?”

       I gave Khafirin a ‘what the hell?’ look, but he ignored it.

“It’s true. I was involved in this.”