(M) What I Desire Most Is... (Panu and Natora)

[Natora]

Amenhotep was grateful when the city in front of them came into view. He quickly made sure to cover his khopesh, not wanting any signal of the wealth the princes' carried to get around. Wealth made you noticeable and that made you a target. They wanted to get in and out with the fewest casualties. To get that they needed to be conspicuous, hidden. He gave up his horse as Sethos found them a place to stay. He wrapped himself up just a little more than he normally would. They didn't have to worry about being recognized. This was a new country and he was sure none of them had every been there before. He was sure he would have remembered a sleezy smile from Firuz.

He moved with Sethos to find the palace. When he saw the size he knew it wouldn't be difficult getting in but finding her that would be the problem. Changing the plan to looking like wealthy merchants was easy enough when they saw the slaves being traded in the front courtyard of the palace. The sight sickened him and there was no getting the disgusted sneer off his face as they walked through. Sadly they all knew that ten men wouldn't be able to stop the slave trade this time. It would be dealt with as much as they could but there wouldn't be much done this time. At least the disgusted look on his face could be passed off for thinking the state of the slaves could be disgusting. Many of them looked like they were in desperate need of a bath.

Getting into the palace was easy enough and finding guard uniforms that they could use. From there he followed Sethos' lead and they went in search of their sister together. When they found the room the guards were protecting it was an easy decision. If they were unconscious, they could be positioned to look like they were asleep and it would be less suspicious. If they were dead, well a storm would come tromping in on top of them for sure. Amenhotep let Sethos do the dirty work this time but followed quickly after as he went into the room. His racing heart stopped for a moment as he saw Necolita standing there talking to a servant and relief washed over him as he noticed that she wasn't hurt.

Necolita was stunned into shock when she heard Sethos come through the door. Her eyes were slightly wide and she couldn't move until Sethos enveloped her in a hug, which she quickly returned as tears started down her cheeks. "I knew you would come," she said into his shoulder. Relief finally hers. When he passed her off to Amenhotep, she hugged him just as warmly as she had Sethos. "We must take Nanu back with us," she told them gently. "She was from Egypt before she was stolen into slavery," she informed them, repeating what had just been told to her.

Amenhotep looked over to the slave girl and knew that it would be the right thing to do. They could afford to bring one extra with them. As long as she didn't slow them down, it would be fine. He sighed, to show slight frustration, not wanting Necolita to ask for more and said, "First we need to get out of here. Then we can take both of you home. Together." He turned as Sethos said someone knew they were here and drew his khopesh, not waiting to see who it was.

Necolita tried to grab Nanu's hand when the guards took her away and threw her to the floor but Sethos had her securely behind him and wasn't about to let her go. She looked to her worriedly as the man Sethos and Amen had brought with them was thrown in front of them. Amenhotep scowled at Firuz and only waited moments after he finished his speech. "She's not answering anything of yours," he said angrily before he quickly started swinging his khopesh at the guards. He didn't need Sethos' blessing or permission. He would get them out of here if it was the last thing he did. They were all stuck here and he knew how to get out. He had swung enough to slice three of them down to pools of blood before five men were attacking him at once. He got another two before one flipped his khopesh out of his hand and they grabbed him from behind, forcing him on his knees and a blade sitting at his throat, waiting for the order from the king.

Necolita saw this and knew how to stop it. Sethos couldn't do it with his own blade. This had to be her. She pushed her way out from behind Sethos and shouted, "Stop!" When the guards didn't move to do so she looked to Firuz, desperation in her eyes. "Please, King Firuz, stop them," she begged. "I accept. I accept the offer to become your Queen. Doing this to my brother will be an act of war against Egypt and you promised that you wouldn't make war against them. Not if I accepted," she said hurriedly.

Amenhotep was panting hard on the floor in fury as he looked up at his sister agreeing to marry this monster, his eyes wide. "Necolita, what are you doing?" he hissed from where he was.

"I will speak with my father," Necolita added, trying to make this as sincere as she could. "He will accept this. I know he will," she finished.

[Panu]

When Amenhotep went in attack mode, Sethos wrapped his free arm behind him, wrapping it around Necolita, making sure she was right behind him. In his other hand he had his khopesh directed towards King Firuz, shifting all the time to whoever of the soldiers who was closed to him. As they tackled Amenhotep, Sethos’ grip around Necolita tightened and he had to analyze the situation. He was furious but was trying to keep his head cool, thinking about the next step in this situation. What was about to happened took him by surprise, as Necolita pushed her way out of his grip and walked forward “what are you doing Necolita?” he said in a surprise and looked down at Amenhotep, still pointing his khopesh to whoever was nearest, trying to figure it all out, if there were things he could do.

Sethos almost lost it, when Necolita agreed to become his wife, this psycho, this monster “have you completely lost it Necolita? Don’t do this… not for us” he said in a hissing but also almost desperate voice. He could not believe what she had just agreed to, he could simply not accept it.

King Firuz lifted his hand towards the guards to signal them to stop and looked at her eyes and just laughed “I will keep my promise to you, as you have agreed to my wish” he smiled at her and grabbed her hand, pulling her over to him and wrapped his arm around her waist. As Necolita was pulled towards the king, Sethos tried to grab her wrist to pull her back, nevertheless he missed it by millimeter. Sethos tightened his hand around his khopesh by the whole scene playing out in front of him. Firuz looked down at Amenhotep and over at Sethos “you guys heard your sister, she will become my wife and queen of this country. I will therefore keep my promise to her and not harm the two of you or make any war towards Egypt.” He gave a sign to some of the guards to remove the blade from Amenhotep’s throat. “I don’t think you will have to speak to your father dear princess” the king looked at Necolita “you have the crown prince right here and again, you decided by yourself” he just looked at her and returned the eyes to Amenhotep and Sethos.

“I would say, that while you are here, we might have to keep your weapons in a locked area, of course you will get it by the time you will leave, but I need to take care of the security first” King Firuz looked at them.

Sethos walked over and helped Amenhotep up, pushing the guards away who were almost ready to attack him for it, but stopped by the king raising his hand. He was burning with anger, but tried to cool down his temper and looked over at Necolita “if this is what you want, I will demand that I stay here as your personal guard” he looked at Amenhotep “I will protect her with my life.” Sethos then looked over at Necolita and King Firuz “if she stays, I stay as well. No discussion in this matter" he said with a serious face. He would differently stay behind and protect her no matter the cost of it.

King Firuz laughed a little of what he said, which clearly only made Sethos more angry "fine fine, if you want to play protector, I can agree to that as well, what do you say princess?" he looked at Necolita.

[Natora]

Necolita went over quickly when Firuz grabbed her hand. It was tight and it hurt a but but she didn't complain, not wanting to instigate her brothers into attacking. With his hand around her waist, she had no choice but to stand next to him. Of course her eyes were focused on her brothers. Soon enough the blades at Amenhotep's throat were removed and both her brothers were standing. This was all she wanted. She needed to make sure they were safe, as much as she could. "I think it would be a good idea for Sethos to stay," she agreed.

Amenhotep stood with Sethos's help and looked near furious at Firuz and at Necolita. How could she do this to them? This wasn't the point of this. They hadn't sacrificed the men and resources to save her just to have her do this. What was she thinking? The sad part was she was right. Father would approve of this. When he heard Sethos say that he was willing to stay here he knew that there was nothing more that he could do. He had lost the fight. He looked to where his khopesh was and said, "If Sethos is staying then there is no reason for me to stay."

He looked to Sethos and said, "Protect her. With everything." He gave his brother a firm hand shake and then went to grab his khopesh and helped the man that he had brought and was beaten to stand. He gave one last look at his sister and shook his head before he walked out of the room. "I'll go get the Pharaoh to attend the wedding," he said simply, walking out of the room.

Necolita looked at Amenhotep as he walked past her and King Firuz. He looked so upset with her, it hurt. Couldn't he see that what she had done was for him. For all of them? It was the way that it had to be to save Egypt and all of their people. She looked over to Sethos who looked just as upset at her about the situation. She needed to make sure he saw she was right. She turned towards Firuz for the first time and put a gentle hand on his chest. "Your grace, would you permit me to talk to my brother? Alone? I wish to make him see the knowledge of your great generosity to allow me to marry you," she said.

[Panu]

Sethos took Amenhotep’s hand in a firm grip and also placed a hand on his shoulder ”Don’t worry, I will protect her with everything I got” he assured him and looked after him as he walked out of the door. He knew his brother well, knowing he was feeling hurt at the moment due to Necolita’s decission but also felt bad for losing this fight. He might be taking this as a bad sign for his future position as the pharaoh, nevertheless Sethos knew that Amenhotep would be a great pharaoh in the future. Sethos would take a talk with him about it, when they returned for the wedding.

King Firuz looked after Amenhotep and just smiled to himself, knowing he had won this fight. He looked at Necolita as she gently placed a hand on his chest and made her request. Firuz smiled softly at her and placed a hand on her chin ”of course my dear” he gave a sign for all the guards to leave the room, before he looked over at Sethos ”don’t try anything funny, we have guards all over the place” he looked serious at him before he walked out of there himself.

Nanu quickly got to her feet as well and looked over at Necolita ”I will wait outside” she said in a quiet voice before stumbling out in the hallway and stood there, waiting for Necolita to call her back in again. She was now going to prepare herself to serve the future queen of this country.

Sethos just stared with a serious look at Firuz, almost wanting to punsh him when he placed a hand on Necolita’s chin. He just couldn’t spin his head around, that his man were going to marry Necolita and he would have to stop himself from thinking any further, because that would just drive him insane.

”See the knowledge of your great generosity?” Sethos said as soon as the door had been closed and they were all alone ”if you keep up this act in this way, I will for sure throw up Necolita, what kind of crap was that? He looked over at her ”after all the suitors you have turned down, you agree to marry such a man, this idiot? Can you please let me know what is going on in the head of yours, because I really don’t follow” he sighed and sat down. ”You should have believed in Amenhotep and me, we could have fought our way out of this, saved you and got you out of here, got you back home to Egypt with us. No you are marrying this disgusting man, who clearly only sees you as an object, you are far better than that” he just kept talking without letting her get a word in this.

***

Back at the palace, Delphi were walking around, helping some of the servants, especially the two of them who were her personal servants. She did her best to make things easy for them, trying not to cause any problems. She walked down the hall, just taking a look at the work which had been done, before she walked out in the small garden, which Amenhotep had allowed her to get. She kneeled down to the ground and began to take care of some of the flowers she had managed to plant in the last couple of days. She carefully poured some water on them, before retreating back inside, away from the strong sun.

Delphi looked at Kawit and Mina ”I will go back to the temple, I will skip lunch again today, can you just bring some fruits to my chamber instead, I will eat that later” she smiled softly at them before walking to the temple and kneeled down in front of the alter, praying they were all safe and would return safely.

Mina bowed her head ”yes, my lady” she lifted her head and looked after her before looking at Kawit ”she is not eating much these days” she said in a worried voice.

[Natora]

Necolita nodded and gave a small curtsy to her betrothed before he left, grateful that she would at least get some time with Sethos. It was a long time coming and she could feel the anger from Amenhotep as he left. She knew that Sethos would be the same. At least if she got to talk to him, maybe she could convince him that she had done the right thing. It was her hope at least. When the door finally closed behind the last person and she turned to face Sethos, she knew he was still angry with her. It was easy to tell especially since he wouldn't let her get a word in.

When he finally paused long enough for a breath, she started with, "You are right," and walked towards where he was sitting. "But Amenhotep had a blade at his throat and you wouldn't have had a chance to get to him fast enough. I couldn't watch either of you die...not when I could stop it," she said softly. She sat down next to him and tried a gentle hand of affection on top of his to see if he would accept her. "Please, Sethos. Forgive me. It was all I could think of," she said softly, truly looking sorry for how she had doubted her brothers.

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Amenhotep walked out of the palace and back down to the streets where they had kept the horses. He was angry and didn't say a word of comfort to the man he was carrying beside him. He couldn't bear to at this moment. Word of their failure had obviously spread to the other men for shortly after they had returned to the paddock where the horses were, the others followed. "Let's get back to Egypt," he said to them all simply. He offered another gold coin to the man to hold Sethos' horse and take it up to the palace later. He didn't want to deprive his brother of the good horse. Who knew how poorly he would be treated by this King.

They headed out shortly after, not wanting to waste time. They could still get back to the oasis they had left last before needing to rest. It was torture riding in the hot sun, and not just because the desert was so unforgiving. The knowledge that Necolita had let them fail sat heavy on his chest the entire way there.

__________________________________________

Kawit watched over the Lady Delphi through the day. As they went about their business, she knew that she had to have a lady with her. Today was Kawit's turn. She went with the lady and watched as she did the strangest of things, like tend the flowers, though she knew it was all right and turned away anyone who seemed wanting to say differently. She watched and worried over the worriesome new Lady Delphi. When they were ordered to stay behind as she went to pray at the temple she couldn't help but agree with Mina. She hadn't been eating near enough and she hoped she wasn't doing it because of wanting to make Amenhotep more attracted to her. It wouldn't work. "We will bring some meats and cheese with the fruits. Maybe she will eat some of it if it's here already," she suggested.

[Panu]

Sethos loked at her while she was speaking and was just listening to what she had to say. It wasn’t that he was angry with her, he was more angry with himself, not being able to save the woman he loved and now she would marry such a person. Not that he had thought of marrying her himself, he had promised Amenhotep not to act on his feelings, but he had wished to see her with a good man, at least that was what he had hoped for. When she softly placed her hand on top of his, he just turned his own around and wrapped his hand around hers to hold it ”I do see where you are coming from Necolita” he looked at her and smiled a little ”but you will also need to see it from our side, Amenhotep and I have been training our whole life, we have been prepared for a situation like this and in just a few minutes we lose. I will work through it quickly and just train harder, but Amenhotep will be the future pharaoh, he will have more responsibility than me and this will for sure weight on his chest for a while... worst part might be, that you did not trust our judgement in the situation. Please trust us next time" he looked at her and smiled.

Leaning back, Sethos was still holding onto her hand as he continued, now in a calm and soft voice ”Amenhotep might be angry now, but he will be better by the time they return, you know he does have a bad temper, he just need some time to calm down again” he smiled at her ”good luck to lady Delphi in the future, for handling that” he laughed a little ”oh yeah, they are by the way married now, got married before we left” Sethos looked at her ”sorry for not really having the time to tell you before now."

The smile faded from his lips, he turned his head and his eyes stared a bit empty out in the room, the thought of Necolita also being married soon still thighted on his chest, he had to get used to the thought ”I will protect you Necolita, if he or anyone else dare to lay a hand on you, I will be there in a heartbeat, no matter who it is” he said, thightened the grip on her hand, not in a painful way, but more as an assurance. Sethos looked at her and smiled, pulling her into a hug ”I’m just glad that you are safe”

***

The men had just followed orders and followed behind Amenhotep out the city. None of them had dared to say anything, as they all knew him well and knew he was in a very bad mood. The heat from the sun was torture on all of them, especially for the man who had been beaten up.

By the time they reached the oasis in the evening, some of them set up a quick fire, treating the wounds of the wounded guy and some looked over at Amenhotep, who was sitting by himself. One man took some food and stood up and walked over to him, softly placing it in front of him ”it has been a long day and the last part of the trip will be hard tomorrow as well, please eat and drink some, my prince” he said in a calm voice and bowed his head to him.


***

Mina nodded at Kawit’s request ”I don’t hope she is sick” she just said in a low voice ”I will go prepare the food then” she walked off and down to the kitchen.

By the time Delphi was finishing up in the temple, it was completely dark outside. As she walked out, the two guards who Amenhotep had asked to take care of her, were standing outside the temple and followed behind her as she walked back to her chamber. Delphi smiled at them as they reached the door ”thank you for today, please to back and get some rest, both of you” she ordered in a calm voice before entering the chamber.

Delphi looked over at Kawit and Mina as she walked into the chamber and then looked over at the table ”I don’t recall that I ordered meat and cheese” she looked over at them and sighed a little ”Mina, will you please bring the meat and cheese back to the kitchen” she asked softly. Delphi was clearly tired and just grabbed a strawberry, sat down on the bed, biting into it in small bites.

Mina quickly just exchanged looks with Kawit before she walked over to grab the plate with the meat and cheese ”I will bring it back to the kitchen, my lady” she bowed her head a little and walked out of the chamber. She met the guards on the way and smiled at them "want some?" she reached out the plate for them.