“You will return to the palace to stand trial,
Bakura!” Mahad was snarling, his Magus of Illusion locked in battle with the
thief mage’s Diabound.
“Return to the palace?” Bakura demanded, with a
bitter laugh which made the messenger that the Pharaoh had sent flinch, “For a
trial? What trial? The Pharaoh has already decided I should die, has she not?”
‘She?’ The messenger couldn’t help but wonder as
Diabound loosed an attack that tore up the ground and nearly blew Mahad and his
mage away. As it was the pair had to pick themselves out of the sand.
“If I had my way, you would die for your crime,
right here and now!” Mahad snapped at her, his Magus covering for him as he got
up.
“My crime?!” Bakura stared, in furious disbelief, “My
only crime was to trust the Pharaoh! That treacherous, backstabbing witch! I
should have outted her secret to the rabble years ago and watched them tear her
apart! Diabound!”
Another blast flew through the air. This time
Mahad and his Ka beast managed to dodge it and it struck one of the nearby
buildings.
“You betrayed her!” Mahad seemed to be considering
something as he stepped back, moving away from the battle slightly, “She
trusted you and your men nearly killed her!”
“I have done nothing to her! Not yet!” Bakura
retorted, her eyes narrowing, “And she’s the one who ordered my execution! She
wasn’t even noble enough to see the sentence through herself!”
Mahad paused, confusion obvious on his features
and Bakura took the opportunity it presented. Her Ka beast vanished for a
moment before appearing behind Mahad. The High Priest had just enough time to
half turn to see what was happening before he was blasted at point blank range.
The messenger watched in horror as Mahad screamed in
agony as the beam of light struck, consuming the High Priest, whose cry died as
he did. Then he had to shield his eyes from the sand and dust that had been
kicked up by the attack.
When he could look again, when everything had died
down, he saw the Magus of Illusion warp and shift, taking on a new form, one
that looked a lot like the newly deceased Priest, before fading away entirely.
Bakura moved towards the crater where the High
Priest had once stood, a look on her face that spoke of an odd mix or shame,
victory, delight and disgust. She picked up all the remained of the High
Priest, the golden treasure that had been entrusted to him when he had joined
the upper echelon of the court and stared at it for a moment before looking
around at the few remaining men who had come with Mahad.
As one they turned and ran. She didn’t let them
get far before she destroyed them and turned to the messenger’s hiding place.
Having seen what had happened to the High Priest,
he didn’t even bother trying to run. Instead he bowed at her feet, hoping that
begging would make her spare him.
“Please.” He tried, “Please, I have a wife and
child. I’m not a warrior, or a mage, I’m just a messenger.”
“Oh?” Bakura growled at him, “Look at me.” The
messenger did just that, willing to follow her orders if she would spare him. “I
think your message is for the dead. Should I send you to give it to them?”
“No!” The messenger backed up, “No, it’s for you.
Only for you. From the Pharaoh.” And he didn’t care that the Pharaoh was a
woman, or that Bakura had been helping her lie to the people, he just wanted to
live.
“I don’t want to hear anything from her.” Bakura
snarled, pointing the blade she had been wielding against Mahad at him.
“Please…” The messenger begged, terrified now, “Please
don’t kill me.”
“Leave.” Bakura growled at him, lowering her
weapon, “Now. And you can pass a message onto her majesty for me.”
“S…sure, whatever you want.” He nodded.
“Tell her that for breaking her word and
attempting to bury the truth, I pass judgement on her. When next we meet, she
dies.”
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