Milah had fantasies of nights like these, he would look his best, had his hair in a braid and he and Khal would leave the palace grounds with their hands intertwined.
Khal's warm body pressed against him as they sat by the banks of River Nile, his head placed on Khal's shoulders as they talked.
But instead they were in Khal's room conspiring on how to sneak past the palace guards, and leave for the Nile.
"I say we go through the back" Kani said out loud as she shifted the little wood on the cloth that had a sketch of the palace grounds, "But there are at least sixteen guard there" Khal countered with his arms around a silent Milah.
"Well how about the front?" Kani suggested moving the wood again to where she was talking about, shaking his head Khal moved the wood to another place and replied "I think this is a better choice", Milah just thinks they're having too much fun playing army generals.
"How about we leave the palace separately?" Milah voiced when he stopped being amused, Kani looked up from the paper with a glare, "Ay, I was having so much fun" she said with a pout on her lips as she wrapped the wood with the cloth and placed it on Khal's table.
Milah was guessing they knew all along that they could have just gone separately, but chose to still argue about it. What was he getting married into?!
"You just need to tell the guards not to follow you" Milah said as he got off Khal' bed, "Where are you going?" he heard Khal ask as he pulled on the dress he had borrowed from him.
"I'll be outside the gates waiting for you" Milah replied giving Khal a small kiss on the lips before adding "Don't bring the sister".
"Milah, that's hurtful, right here" Kani drawled as she pats her left breast, shaking his head Milah replied "My apologies" before leaving the room.
Sneaking out of Khal room through the backdoor, Milah made his way to the gardens; there was a passage that led to the outside of the palace gates.
Passing through the small door Milah walked a few feet away from the gates and waited for Khal to come out, the evening moon was coming out of its hiding place slowly, it was hidden behind a cloud but was still visible.
Hearing footsteps behind him Milah sneaked a look and smiled when he saw that it was Khal, coming out of his hiding place he held unto Khal arm and pulled him in the left direction saying "You haven't been in the city for so long, let me show you around".
"If you feel generous enough" Khal replied with a chuckle, his golden eyes shining with life, he looked so handsome, Milah did a mental swoon.
Dragging him into a street Milah said "There's this place where dancers come to show their talent" before adding "It happens only twice a month but there are regular dancers who got paid to entertain the crowd".
"Do you want to go there?" Milah asked, his excitement probably evident in his face as he urged Khal, pretending to think about it Khal mused "If something gets you this excited, I have to see it too" letting Milah pull him in the direction of the place.
When they got there the place was filled with people, on sits and standing, the stage was decorated with seemingly genuine gems but Milah knew someone who told him, the beautiful looking silver bowl was fake.
Men and women from the same and different status were mingling with each other and Milah could only tell them apart by their dressing, and jewelry. Lanterns were placed in precise places to make the room look bright.
"Do you want to sit?" Khal asked him as he looked around; shaking his head absentmindedly as he watched what was going on.
He actually preferred to watch them dance while standing, he felt connected that way.
He felt Khal's arms wrap around his waist from behind, smiling brightly as he place his own hands on Khal's arm, he felt all kinds of security being here, he had never believed in his wildest dreams that he would be here with Khal, with the love of his life.
He had dreams that this would happen, he had hoped that Khal would be so proud as to claim him in public, leaned into his chest with a sigh, he felt like he had finally found his place in the world.
Looking up at the stage when he heard the 'attention drum' beaten on, it was their way of announcing that the audience should shut the hell up and focus on the dancer.
The first dancer was a woman, she had on a short top, which stopped just below her huge bosoms, and her skirt was long and was touching the ground, it was of a golden color, which made her light brown skin look even more beautiful.
She had ornamental beads around her waist which seemed to make her waist look slimmer and more attractive, a piercing in her navel and her nose.
Her hair was falling off on her shoulders, dark and beautiful as they flowed in the evening breeze. She had a bright smile on before turning to the musicians that sat at the far end of the stage.
A beat started to play, slow and seductive, the drummer hitting the drums with her hands slowly and perfectly in tune with the man who was playing the flutes.
The dancer had her hands above her head as her waist moved with the beautiful rhythm, her waist rolling like a dancing cobra as she danced, her hair looked like they were dancing too as they moved in whatever direction her waist went.
Milah was enchanted as he watched her touch her body slowly, he wasn't feeling any kinds of lustful feeling, no, he was more fascinated than lustful.
Her hands made their way over her breasts, caressing the cloth that cover the mounds of flesh as she danced, her fingers spreading over her flat stomach as she fell into the music, her body moving to the beat.
And the dance ended. Just like that.
She bowed to the crowd as they applauded for her, a large number of them even throwing golden coins on the stage.
Milah applauded too as he watched her leave the stage, "Wasn't that beautiful?!" he asked Khal as they left the place to go somewhere else.
"I wouldn't know because I was looking at someone who captured my attention" Khal replied with a shrug of his shoulders as his hold on Milah's hand tightened.
Chuckling Milah replied "Oh, really, who might I ask?" knowing who it was already. "You of course" Khal replied pulling Milah closer as they walked side by side to the Nile River.
The breeze from the river was making their clothes flow in the air, Khal pulled him to a part of the river banks and sat behind him, holding him by the waist.
They were silent for a few minutes, until Khal broke the silence "There were many rivers were I visited, but none compared to the one that holds a place in my heart like this one".
"I remember coming here with you so much, how much you hated getting your hair wet..." Khal trailed off as he kissed Milah's hair, "How we would sit here for hours, talking about everything and sometimes nothing" he added holding Milah tighter.
"I had missed you so much, you know?, with every river I saw, with every star I gazed at, I saw you and missed you terribly" he added with a sigh.
"But I'm here now, with you so we both can be happy together" Khal ended his sentence with a kiss on Milah's neck.
A splash of water fell upon each other as they moved in small waves, the moon coming out of its hiding place as it stood over the Nile, the stars looking bright as they shimmered in the sky.
"My grandfather used to tell us stories of the Nile river" Khal started, smiling widely as he knew it was a start of a story, Milah listened attentively.
"He'd tell us that we should never swim in the Nile at night" , "That the spirit of the moon lived under the water...waiting...for a victim, someone to drown in its depth" Khal said with a funny smile on his face, "We found out that he was just spinning tales however when Kani and I wanted to test the theory".
Chuckling Milah said "Your grandfather is very funny", "Please, you honor him too much, when I went to visit him once, during the season of flies, when he wanted to stay outside, he would apply honey on my step-sister's husband"
"He claimed it was a family initiation and the person he applied it on would be in our family forever, so my step sister's husbands were always eager to do it".
"He would apply the honey on them and ask them to stay at the far end of throne room, and then flies would flock to them leaving grandfather happy and fly-free"
Laughing loudly Milah exclaimed "Thank you for warning me!" Khal hummed behind him placing his jaw on Milah's shoulder "My pleasure, he wouldn't dare to do that to you, I'm his favorite" Khal said kissing Milah cheeks.
"He sounds nice" Milah said with a chuckle, as he leaned onto Khal with a sigh on his lips, "I'm glad you're back Khal" he murmured as he watch the river, "So am I".
Her Royal Awesomeness: I was not planning a double update, but here it is :). Khal's grandfather seems funny, yeah?. I hope this makes up for not updating for so long.
About the chapter: What the grandfather did really happened in ancient Egypt, the only difference was that the honey was applied on slaves, i didn't want to use that because of Milah being a slave, i don't think he would have found it funny :)
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