"The prince is coming in two days!" Nefertiti squealed as she dragged him around the market place looking for what she claims was her feast dress.
"I need to have the perfect dress, I hear the prince's favorite color was blue, do you think it will catch his attention?" she asked as they walked by a dress shop.
"Didn't we just go by a dress shop?" he asked her with a frown.
"I saved money for the best dress maker in all of Egypt....no actually just in Cairo, the best in Cairo" she replied pulling him around a corner bursting with excitement.
They had been walking for in Milah's mind an hour and it was getting tiring to say the least, in truth he had never walked this long in a month.
"Here it is!" Nefertiti exclaimed pulling him into a well decorated shop, filled with beautiful dresses hanged up on the wall.
"Alia!, How is my dress going?" she asked a lady who was busy sewing a red dress.
"Hello to you too Nefertiti, my day was fine thank you for asking" the lady Alia said after she placed the clothes in her hand on her work table before standing and walking up to them with a little limp in her step.
He must have stared a little too long because the next thing she asked was "Who is this handsome friend of yours?".
"Oh he's Milah, he works with me in the palace" Nefertiti replied distractedly while still looking around.
"Did you come for a dress yourself?" she asked looking at him intently.
Shaking his head he replied "No, I...I have things I have to do" humming as she continued to stare at him with eyes that were inquiring.
"Alia!, my dress" Titi whined as she searched the shop with her eyes.
"Oh, it's the one on that stand" Alia replied gesturing to the right side of the shop.
"Oh there it is!" she gushed at the light blue sari that was draped on a wooden stand, her eyes filled with wonder as she touched the fabric lightly like if she touched it any harder it would disappear.
"Oh Milah, isn't it beautiful for days!?" she asked as she caressed the dress.
"The prince is sure to notice me in this!" she beamed with joy before turning around to look at Alia and asked,
"Are you done or do you want to add something to it?".
"No no I'm done" Alia replied with a shake of her head.
She must have had enough of Nefertiti, haven't they all.
"You remind me of someone" Alia murmured looking at him closely, "You remind me of my son" she croaked out her eyes watering with tears, giving her what he hoped would be a comforting smile.
He had never known his mother but he misses her dearly, he couldn't imagine what she must feel in her heart, "I am sorry" she gasped out her hands returning to her sides as she continued to look at him.
Emotions were never his forte, he didn't know what to do at a time like this, in all honesty he felt like running away but he couldn't.
He knows how he feels every time someone that looks a lot like Khal passes him in the market place.
The longing that consumes his soul as he watches them pass by even though he knew they weren't his Khal.
So he carried Alia's frail hands and places them on his face for her to feel, he knows it won't fill that gap in her heart but he didn't know what to do.
"Milah, we're leaving before Thabit sends guards to look for us" Nefertiti's voice said from behind him which seemed to startle Alia from her reverie because she gasped as she pulled her hands from his face with bright eyes.
Her hoarse voice coming out with a hush "Wait here, I have something for you" she whispered before turning in the direction of one of the doors.
"Alia is one of the wealthiest women in Cairo, it's a wonder why she works now" Nefertiti said as she came to stand beside him holding his elbow in her tight grip.
"I hear her son and husband died in an home invasion years ago and she never quite got over it",
"She said I should wait" he said to his friend disinterestedly, he could feel guilty for that later.
They didn't have to wait for long because Alia came out of the room grasping a bag in her hands, walking to him with shy steps.
He wasn't so sure when Nefertiti left his side but when he turned to look at her she was not beside him anymore.
"I know this is too much of me to ask for a stranger" she started with a choked voice.
"But if you change your mind and decide to go to the feast, I would be so honored if you wore this" she said pleadingly.
He was about to deny her request when she added "I made it for my son even though he hasn't been around for a very long time".
He knows how that feels like, doing something without realizing it, something that used to put a smile on the face of your loved one.
He couldn't deny the woman's loving request so he nodded and collected the bag without checking what was inside, smiling at her "I will, if I decide to go to the feast, I will" he promised her.
She made a motion like to hug him but seemed to think better of it and was about bring down her hands when Milah opened his arms for her to come into.
She came bursting into tears as she hugged him close, crying into his firm chest, he didn't mind, he understood the feeling of grief so he embraced her with his whole heart.
He understood her, all too well.
"Goodbye Alia!" Nefertiti yelled as they left the shop, Milah remained silent, he had said his goodbyes.
"What did she give you?" Titi asked on their way back home.
"She gave me clothes she said she had sown for her son" he replied strapping the bag tighter on his shoulder should Nefertiti think it good to try and see what was inside.
"Mm, I heard she sews dresses for her son like he would return from the dead" Nefertiti murmured with a snort.
He just ignored her knowing that most times his friend tended to be ignorant to other people's feelings.
He took it in stride. Like always.
"Where are you two coming from?" the Head slave asked glaring at Nefertiti with a large amount of venom in his eyes, maybe he was jealous, Milah thought as he watched Nefertiti try to explain in humor, ah love, he thought.
He had told Nefertiti to leave earlier but she wouldn't listen, she always saw a necklace or earring to gush about on the way and they got to the palace later than intended.
His feet were aching in exhaustion, his legs could give out at any moment from under him and he could feel a head ache brewing in his skull.
"I don't understand that man!" Nefertiti exclaimed when they entered their quarters.
Throwing the bag that contained her dress into the corner in anger, he kept quiet, he knew she would regret it later.
"We are not to work today!" she huffed as she sat on her bed with a thud "How is what we do any of his business!?" she ranted with folded arms and pouted lips.
"Why are you quiet?" she asked with a glare, shrugging his shoulders he chose to ignore her, he was not going to get in the middle of lovers spat.
"What did he have you do?" he asked as he pulled on his dress.
"Now I have to clean the foreign camels stables and from what I hear, it smells in there!" of course she heard something, she always seems to.
"Why is he making you do that?" he asked out of curiosity.
"Because I went out with you that's why!" she yelled at him with a glare, rolling his eyes he pulled on his hood and left the room to let her vent her anger on the furniture.
He was not in the mood to take her attitude.
"My mother used to say the stars were people of the past, watching over us"
Milah signed as he remembers the words of his beloved, the stars were out tonight shining from the sky.
He sometimes wondered if the stars were really people and what they would look like if they were, would they shine too? Like diamonds...
The night breeze was cold on his skin; goose bumps were littered on his skin as the air grew colder.
He pulled his hood over his head, exhaling into his hands before folding them into his cloak staring at the stars.
He misses Khal on nights like these, nights like these Khal would wrap his arms around him pulling his close as they watched the stars together.
He would run his fingers through Khal's hair as he pointed at the stars telling Milah about their constellations and making up humorous stories about them.
He misses his Khal, he misses him so much but sometimes he fears of his return, what if Khal returned and wasn't the same.
Milah knew that he wasn't the same boy as before he knows he had changed, life did that to him, what if life had done the same to Khal? What if his Khal came back a different person?
Her Royal Awesomeness: In ancient Egypt it was not unusual for a parent to keep doing things for their dead kids; it was believed that the dead were still part of the family.
Festivals were serious business in ancient Egypt, a large number of festivities were celebrated every year for a variety of reasons like, new year, harvest, flooding of the river Nile etc
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