Mahad
let out a frustrated huff as he stalked down the corridor.
When
he had been assigned to teach the newest of the Priesthood, he had thought it
might be a blessing in disguise. His investigation into Akenaden’s secrets had
hit a dead end. His contacts had been out to the village only to find that time
and the desert sands had buried any evidence that had been left behind. The
only things left were the burnt out husks of the buildings and ruined signs
that it had once been a thriving village.
With
only the thief’s word to go on Mahad couldn’t accuse Akhenaten of anything. The
ghost town, what had once been the Village of Thieves, would remain a nasty
little secret unless new evidence came to light. That was, if the thief was
telling the truth.
So
he had looked forward to teaching the newest of those who would one day be
Priests until he had realised that the boy had been ‘training’ at home with the
priests of his local temple and had developed bad habits that would need to be
retrained.
It
wasn’t so bad. Seth at least had grown up outside the palace, so he didn’t have
the arrogant attitudes that Mahad often ran into within the palace walls. He
was a lot easier to deal with than the thief girl too. Though she had gotten
more tolerable over time, Ba-Khu-Ra of Kul Elna, who now lived within the
palace walls and was often found in the presence of the ‘Prince,’ was still the
brash, obnoxious thief she had been when he had first met her.
But
still Seth was suspicious of something and Mahad was pretty sure that, for
once, it wasn’t to do with the thief in their midst. He had seen the common
born mage watching the Princess like a hawk and Mahad had a horrible suspicion
that Seth knew.
He
wasn’t sure what to do about it either. Seth was a Priest. He couldn’t just
order him to stay silent or threaten to ‘remove’ him from the equation. The
Princess could, but he would have to bring it up to her first and he didn’t
know how.
The
question was taken out of his hands when he finally reached the Princess’s
rooms to find Seth already there, demanding answers from her highness while
Mana and the thief looked on.
“Mahad,
close the door behind you.” The Princess didn’t give him a chance to say
anything to any of them. He did as he was ordered, well aware this would be a
loud conversation and that it would require privacy. The moment it was shut,
the girl turned back to the angry and confused Priest, “Right, Seth, you were
saying?”
“Mahad,”
Seth turned to the other Priest, irritation obvious, “Please tell me I’m not
the only one in this place who has the eyes to see what is in front of them?”
“No.”
Mahad shook his head, “I’ve been aware since just after Anubis killed the
Prince. I believe most of the palace are suffering from wilful blindness.
They’re seeing what they want to see, or believing whatever they have been told
to believe.”
Seth
nodded his understanding, before turning back to her highness, “And the reason
for this deception over all of Egypt?”
“My
brothers are dead and I cannot be Pharaoh. My royal husband can but I am not
allowed to marry outside of the bloodline.” The Princess explained, “My mother
passed on many years ago and for some reason my father has been unable to
provide any children from the harem since she died. This leaves me as the last
of my line.”
“And
your uncle has no children?” Seth looked surprised.
“He
has one son, two years older than I am, but both he and his mother went missing
during the war, just after the Millennium Items were created, and no one ever
found them again.” The Princess shook her head, “And I cannot and will not
marry Akhenaten.” Especally after what Ba-Khu-Ra had told her, but Seth didn’t
need to hear about that.
“And
without a clear line of succession there could be an uprising, or worse riots
and chaos when your father passes on, though I would hope that that would be a
long time yet.” Seth understood. “What of your brother. If people believe you
to be him, what happened to him?”
“I
ensured he was buried with his name, in his tomb and with his tools and toys.”
Mahad reassured him, “He will not walk Duat.”
“Does
the Pharaoh know?” Seth’s next question made the Princess pause, having
wondered that herself for the last year and a half herself.
“I
don’t know.” She admitted slowly, “Sometimes it seems like he is just as
wilfully blind as the rest of the palace and then other times he says or does
something that make it obvious he knows who I really am.” She frowned slightly,
“If he’s aware of it, he hasn’t stated it outright and as long as he’s content
to leave it so, so am I.”
Seth
nodded, clearly thinking, “What is it you need me to do?”
“Seth?”
Mahad was surprised, considering how set in tradition the other Priest was, he
had been expecting much more of an argument.
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