The Prince and His Slave

Arius - [Faceless Figure]

It felt strange. My life felt weird without her. The fact that she was gone actually changed me. One reason was because a big part of me felt missing.

       The palace seemed quieter. It sounded as if everyone was upset that she was gone. Maybe they were… Alexandra was friends with everyone.

       I thought it was all going to be okay. But it wasn’t. It was only after she was gone that I realized how empty I felt.

       I had made hundred of attempts to go find her. But every single one of them had failed. I was now required to have guards with me all the time.

       But of course, I continued to try and escape from them to go see her.

       At least until my uncle got fed up with these attempts.

       This time, he told me that if I even try to go see her, he would kill her.

       When I asked why he would do such a thing, he responded by telling me that that would be the only way for me to stop being foolish.

       So I stopped my attempts.

       And didn’t try again for the next ten years.

▪ ▪ Ω ▪ ▪

       I was twenty-eight and the world around me seemed so much happier.

       Tabia had gotten married years ago, she already had two children. One would think that she would have changed because of this… but she didn’t. Not much at least.

       Subira and Dr. Tumini were doing fine; their kids had grown and were doing well too.

       Akhen was now a young man. He spent a lot of time studying, as I did when I was his age.

       Like I said before, everyone was happy.

       Except for my uncle.

       He had gotten extremely sick and was usually in bed.

       It was pretty obvious that he was going to die soon… which meant that I was going to be the Pharaoh.

       As the days passed, I was starting to get my independence back. I was getting closer and closer to becoming the king, and the guards were already starting to fear me.

       When I told them to leave, they would leave.

       Everyone knew what my plans were. Everyone knew that the second I become king, I was going to go find Alexandra.

       But for some reason… I doubted myself.

       Was that my plan?

       I sat on my bed one evening and thought this through. My stomach turned, as I pictured her face in my head. I couldn’t imagine how she looked right now. Did she look the same? Was she taller? Had she changed at all? Was she even alive?

       My biggest question was: had she waited for me?

       Was she married to someone else? Was she in love with someone else? Was she still in love with me?

       Was I still in love with her?

       Even saying her name had become difficult for me now. It felt strange. It was like saying a word that had no meaning.

       Was I a bad person for feeling this way?

▪ ▪ Ω ▪ ▪

       “Arius!” I heard Tabia call in her loud voice as she banged against my door.

       “Come in.” I yelled back.

       She opened the door and walked right up to my bed, which was where I was sitting. We looked at each other for a moment.

       Tabia still looked the same. Tall, pretty, and lively. However, she still had a bit of a belly because she only recently gave birth to her second son.

       “Don’t you think it’s about time you got up and looked for her?”

       “Who?” I asked, though I knew who she was talking about. It felt strange to talk about her too. But maybe that was because the topic of Alexandra barely came up these days.

       “Arius. Stop being foolish.”

       I sighed and got up, walking over to my balcony.

       Tabia followed me. “What are you afraid of?”

       “I’m not afraid of anything.” I looked down at the garden. I used to start thinking of the first time I talked to Alexandra when I came here. Now I just saw the pathway, and a figure that stood there looking up at me.

       The figure never had a face.

       “What if she’s out there waiting for you, Arius?”

       “What if she isn’t?” I asked. I turned and looked at her. “What if she’s out there, having a great life?”

       Tabia didn’t look surprised by what I had said. “So that’s what you’re worrying about.”

       I didn’t respond. Instead, I looked back at the garden, seeing the faceless figure again.

       “You’re worried that she’s moved on…”

       I continued to not say anything.

       “Arius, you know that you’ll never know unless you find her.”

       “What happens when I find her and see that she’s married and has kids?”

       She looked at me, carefully. “Arius. Do you really not trust her that much?”

       “It’s not that.” I sighed. “What if she didn’t trust me? Ten years has passed, Tabia! What if she lost faith in me and moved on?”

       “Would you be angry at her?”

       I hesitated. “No.” I said. “But what if I see her and her family and I ruin things for her?”

       “Again, you’re never going to know until you see her, Arius.”

       I stared at the faceless figure and then looked at Tabia. “Uncle Amenmose is still alive.”

       “He’s going to die soon.”

       “I can’t—”

       “Yes you can, Arius.” Tabia said, firmly. “I’m tired of you being scared.” And with that, she turned around and walked to the door. But she stopped and looked at me. “I am preparing the horses right now.” She said. “We will leave soon.”

       “Are you even allowed to be riding a horse?” I called after her as she walked out.

       “Shut up.” Was how she responded.

       She came to get me a short while later, knowing I wouldn’t come on my own. And we were soon going to be off to see Alexandra.

After ten long years.