In the Land of the Pharohs

[papillon24]

I looked out across the nile river from the balcony of my room. The moon rose high in the night. I was to be Queen tomorrow. My father's death and his lack of sons or brothers left me the soul heir to the throne. I, Kanun, was to be ruler of both upper and lower Egypt. I was the desire of the kingdom for both my beauty and power.

It was not to be a happy occasion for me though. I longed to be one of the ordanary. I was not staying if I could help it. I dessed myself in the cloths of comoners and snuck out into the courtyard and out the gate into the slave quarters. I ran as fast as my feet could carry me. I turned briefly to see if anyone was behind me only to turn back and find myself on the ground sitting at someone's feet.

I looked up to find I had run into one of the new slaves.

"I'm sorry sir" as I tried to pickmyself up off the ground.

 

[HarlemBlade]

OOC:

Do you mind if I join in as the slave?

IC:

"Alright Seth, get to work," my new master ordered me. The long whip in his hand convinced me to work more than his words did. Yesterday I had been sold at the slave auction to the kitchen of the royal palace. I felt like this kind of work hardly suited someone like me. I was tall, just over six feet, with a lean and muscular body forged from working hard at the farm of my family along the Nile before I was sold into slavery to pay off my father's debt. But here I was, ready to start cooking for the royal family now. I found some solace, at least, in being able to help glorify the great children of the sun god Ra.

The kitchen was very busy now with the coronation ceremony tomorrow for the new queen, Kanun. Having only come to the palace the day before, I had yet to see our new Queen. Tomorrow's ceremony would be joyous indeed.

I set off at once for the storage room which lay just past the slave quarters. My master had ordered me to retrieve several sacks of wheat for the other cooks.

As I passed through the slave quarters, a young woman burst out from nowhere and smashed into me. She fell down to her knees in front of me.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said as she started getting off the ground. I happily put an arm out to help her and I pulled her up. She wore the cloths of a servant.

"No problem, but would you mind helping me out a moment? I have to retrieve several sacks of wheat from the storage room. I could use a hand."

 

[papillon24]

Kanun

I looked from the ground to find a young man, not much older than heling me to my feet. Who was he? Where had he come from. I did not recognize him from the slave I knew.

"No problem, but would you mind helping me out a moment? I have to retrieve several sacks of wheat from the storage room. I could use a hand." he said.

"I really can't. I must flee as they might find me."

I turned to hear the call of the gaurds and the palace chief in the distance.

"I must go, you must not tell them you saw me." I ran past him but stoped quickly and turned to call back. " What is your name so I may have the gods bless your soul?"

 

[HarlemBlade]

Seth

"I'm Seth, but what's the matter?" The clamor of footsteps was growing closer and pulsing through the floors and walls of the hall. There must have been at least a dozen soldiers running.

"Never mind that. Please be on your way! And be careful!"

 

[papillon24]

Kanun

I ran fast into the night but all I could think was of this man I had met.
"Seth" I let the name escape my lips

I could hear them getting closer and heard the shouts

"There She is, get her."

I had been found. A hand grabbed my arm and I was lifted and carried back to my prison. I fought with no hope of ever being released. I took one last look at the freedom I longed for as te sun came over the low hills and filled the vally with light.

I was set down one we arrived at my room. The ceremony would start soon and I was bathed and dressed in golden robes and jewels. The catamaran was waitng for me as I decended the steps into the courtyard. I watched as the entire palace bowed as I passed.

I hated every moment of it. I wanted to be free from the heavy robes and jewels that weighed dowm my body.

The grand hall was full and the performances started. Dancers from all over the region moved elegantly over the marble floor. The smell of food and spices permiated the air.

I looked over to where the slaves were, wondering how long they had been up. I had always pitied them and never wanted them to work so hard. What gave me that right anyway.

Then I saw him, Seth. He stood taller than the others and I had quite the view of him. I caught him looking up at me. The kitchen forman noticecd.

"Don't ever look directly at her like that. She is queen of all Egypt and it's like looking at the gods. You should be killed for it"

I watched as he was knocked to the ground.

"Stop!" I called. The room went silent as I steped down from the throne towards him. He moved to his knees and bowed his head obediantly. I lifted his chin to look at me and smiled

"Hello there Seth. Do you wonder why I ran from this?"

 

[HarlemBlade]

Even as the foreman was pressing his foot onto my back to keep me low on the ground, the girl I had met in the halls...no, the Pharaoh, lifted my face up with one of her long, slender fingers. She made me stare right up into her face.

I hadn't even noticed how absolutely and perfectly beautiful she was before. Her eyes and lips were accentuated with the finest make up in the kingdom. Her beautiful dark eyes were framed by a dark blue shade made from the rarest flowers growing only for one week along the nile. Her lips were as red as rubies mined far to the south. Her mouth was opened up ever so slightly in a wanting way, like she desparately wanted me to answer her, to approve of her, but not as a Queen but as a person.

Do you wonder why I ran from this?

"Your Majesty...please...I, I cannot even speak to you," I whispered as low as I could. My master had finally lifted his foot off of my back so that he could prostate himself beside me as well. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his face twisted in anger. I would pay harshly tonight. But then I thought back to my past, before I came here to the castle...I didn't deserve to be treated like this...and I knew how to make them all treat me better, too. She has quite a rebellious streak...it was evident when she approached me, a lowly slave, during her own coronation. I could use this.

I stood up suddenly, and looked her straight in the face. She looked almost startled and I was besieged by a swarm of gasps and curses from those all around me.

I bowed slightly at my waist and said, "My Pharaoh, I would beesech you to let me be your personal servant. I am a hard worker and I will not disappoint."

As soon as I finished speaking, the gasping turned to yelling, and about 4 soldiers began making their way towards the center of the room where I stood beside the Pharaoh. But she did just what I had suspected she would.

"Be still, all of you!" As she yelled that, everyone in the room went silent and the soldiers stopped in their tracks and fell to one knee. Then she extended her hand out towards me and said, "Very well, Seth, I will take you up on your humble request. Come, sit beside me for the rest of the feast."

I followed her up to her throne and took a seat on my knees beside her throne. I helped serve her food and drink. Looking down to the people below me, I could see my former master fuming. His clean-shaven head was burning hot as if from sunburn. He had been horribly offended, but he couldn't touch me now. It all went perfectly.

As the feast ended and the guests left, the moon was beginning to rise above the horizon. I followed my Pharaoh and the rest of her entourage up to her wing of the royal palace.

 

[papillon24]

Kanun

I smiled to myself as he followed me back to the throne. He was a spirited one. He served well for the remainder of the celebration keeping his head bowed as he served me. I found him interesting.

The night finished out with a grand display of fire performers and snake charmers and I went back to my wing. He followed obediantly until the gaurds held him back at the door.

"Clean him up, dress him in silk robes and have him brought back to me" I ordered to my garuds

"Yes, My queen" The responded removing Seth to the baths.

I went and changed into a silk robe of white with gold inlay areound the edges. I sat and allowed the servant girl brush my longhair and clean the makeup from my face. I had saved her from being removed from her mother a few years ago. I remember it so clearly. She was to become the slave to an evil man in the country and her mother was to come to the palace to be a personal servant to me. I saw the saddness in her eyes and the tears fell and reached in to save the little girl. I picked her up and carried her to where her mother stood. Her mother mow works in the bath house and her little one insists on being with me when her mother is working.

I turned at the sound of the gaurds entering the out side chambe to my room. Seth entered dressed in a silken robe of red and silver. His featured were astonishing. He almost looked like royalty dessed

 

[HarlemBlade]

As I entered the Pharaoh's chambers, I bowed at my waist and then continued into the room towards her.

She had changed into a long, silk robe that outlined her slender body perfectly. The robe was cut low at the top letting her full breasts peek out on the top. A servant girl was running a comb through her long, black hair. If she knew I was thinking of her like this, she'd probably have me killed. I was grinning to myself.

When I stood nearly three feet from her, I fell to one knee and knelt forward and asked her, "What services will you need of me this evening, Your Majesty?"

 

[papillon24]

Kanun

"While you are in private with me you do not have to bow or address me in such a formal way. Thats why I left and tried to run. The formalities were just too much. You are free here." I motioned for the girl to leave.

I moved over to the soft couch and motioned for him to join me.

"I was intrigued by you when I saw you in the quarter. I had never been treated so tenderly as how you did when you thought that I was just one of your people. please, just call me Kanun. I will tell the rest in the morning that you have special privileges."

I looked up to find him staring at me adoringly. I reached up to touch his face tenderly.

'I would like to know what you think of this place and if you would like to continue being a part of it." I gazed back into his eyes. It had been so long since a man had looked at me like a person, and not royalty.

 

[HarlemBlade]

Her slender fingers on my face sent a chill down my spine. I could see it in her eyes that she knew how I was looking at her--as a woman, not just as the Pharaoh or my master. Her eyes were dazzling me and as she gazed more deeply into my own, I could feel my heart skipping a beat with each beat of her long, dark eyelashes.

"Yes, Kanun, I like it very much here," I said softly. She smiled as I called her by her name. "I find it very beautiful up here. It is much more beautiful than anything I have seen down below in the palace. You have all the finest things here, Kanun."

I brought my hand up and placed it ever so slightly on her hand that she held to my face and said, "But Kanun, why have you been so generous to me and given me such privelages?"

 

[papillon24]

Kanun

"My generosity to you has come from a lonliness I feel. I felt somthing between us down there in the servant quarters. I rule here, same as my father before me, but I know no one. " I stood and moved to the balcony.

"Come here and look. " I motioned for him to join me. The cool breeze blew against my robes. " You see all that there, It is all mine. I'm still not happy. I do nothing for myself and not much for others. I want to be free from this cage, but that would be unfair now that I'm their queen. They would be lost."

I felt his hand upon my shoulder as a tear ran down my face.

"I wanted to do something for you and me at the same time. I want a companion"

 

[HarlemBlade]

As the tear fell down her face, I could tell how sincere she was. She truly was lonely. She felt trapped in her gilded cage and just needed someone she could relate to. I could understand her...all to well and more than she would ever know.

"Kunun, do not cry. Tears do not suit a face as lovely as yours." I stroked my finger across her cheek and pulled away the tears.

I tried to liven up the atmosphere. "Kunun, what shall we do this evening, then? And it shall not be as master and servant, but as friends!"

 

[papillon24]

Kanun

his touch was gentle against my face and his words soothed my heart.

"Well, tonight you should choose. I do not know how long it has been since you have been a free man. It should be your choice in celebreation of your freedom." I smiled and walked over to sit on the bed of satin filled with down. " Are you hungry? Maybe wine and meat? But it is all up to you"

 

[HarlemBlade]

She looked ravishing sitting on the bed. My appetite was defintely increasing.

"I am hungry, Kunun, but not for the foods you have offered me. It would take the finest wine and the finest meats to even barely quench the hunger I have right now." I looked deeply into her eyes.

"But if this is what you offer, I would enjoy a taste of wine."

 

[papillon24]

Kanun

I called the servant to bring the sweetest wine in the palace to me. i poured it in a goblet and took a drink first for myself the gave the glass to Seth.

I watched as he drank the wine quickly.

"What is it that you thirst for in life if not of mortal wine.?"

 

[HarlemBlade]

I finished the sweet goblet of wine that she handed to me.

"I thirst for the richest taste to cross a man's lips, Kanun. It is such a fine taste that it will change any man's outlook on life. It is such a fine and rare delicacy that few men even get to taste from its rich fountain."

Kanun looked at Seth, a little puzzled. "But what do you mean, Seth?"

"I speak of love, Kanun. That sweet taste that crosses your lips almost as rarely as the delicate Nile has ceased to nurture your kingdom's gracious shores."

 

[papillon24]

Kanun

I listened to his words. His voice was soft and enchanting. I reached up and gently touched my hand to his face, letting my fingers linger on his chin.

"have you ever tasted love, my dear Seth?" wispering softly to him. I felt his hands reach around my waist and pull me close to him.

 

[HarlemBlade]

The fiery look in her eyes and the feeling of her hand on my face was too much for defenses and I put my hands around her thin waist, letting my finger linger down on the sides of her thighs. I pulled her in closer as she whispered, "Have you ever tasted love, my dear Seth?"

The sound of her sensual voice filled me with a wild courage and I could not resist her any further. Well aware of the danger I was putting myself in, I moved my lips onto hers and kissed her with a gentle yet confident passion. My lips found a sweet welcome in hers as her own mouth rushed in swiftly to meet mine. Our lips embraced in a fiery burst and after a few moments, I parted my lips back from hers.

"I have never tasted love that sweet, Kanun."

 

[papillon24]

Kanun

His kiss sent shivers down my back and I move and kissed him back. I felt my arms hold on to him passionatly. Our lips parted and I looked into his eyes.

"I have never tasted love that sweet, Kanun." he wispered softly

I thought of the the reaction of the people and the court if they ever found out. What kind of leader would I be. It was the gods who were to decide a husband for me and that was to be decided in a week.

I pushed away and stood moving back towards the balcony.

"I'm sorry Seth. My destiny for love is set. The people need a leader to set an example for them and if I do not obey the gods, then they will not either."

I felt him move up behind me wrapping his arns around my waist from behind and gently kiss my neck. I leaned into him. and smiled.

 

[HarlemBlade]

"Dear Kanun," Seth whispered into her ears. "I would never do anything to make your position as Pharaoh more difficult. But remember, what you will is the will of the gods. No one in this entire palace, nay, the entire world, could find fault in your decisions."

Seth stepped back a little bit and bowed lightly to her. "If I have overstepped my bounds this evening, may the gods have mercy on me."

From his vantage point on the balcony, he could see the moon begining to rise up above the clear waters of the Nile. The twilight beams of night cast dancing shadows everywhere the eyes could see. Kanun looked even more beautiful to his eyes with the shimmering lights on her face and the frolicking shadows upon her arms and legs.

"If Her Majesty needs nothing more of me tonight, I shall retire for the evening."

 

[papillon24]

Kanun

His words surprised me a bit. I had forgotten what power I had now. For so long it had been that my father had dictated the will of the gods, but now it was my turn. I felt him move back away from me. I turned to see him bow.

"No, I do not wish for you to leave. I would like for you to stay for I think I have fallen in love with you as well. Stay here with me forever"

I hurried t him and wrapped my arms around him and held him tightly.

 

[HarlemBlade]

I think I have fallen in love with you as well.

Seth took Kanun in his arms as she threw herself onto him. He gripped her tightly on the shoulders, pulling her tightly in. He felt her arms grasped tightly on his back. He looked down to see her head pressed tightly onto his chest, her long, midnight hair flowing down her back.

"Kanun," he whispered, "I will do whatever you desire of me."

 

[papillon24]

Kanun

"I wish to be loved as a person not adored like a god. I do not want this life with the palace. I am a simple girl living in a complicater world" I broke away and led him to the bed and sat down. It took his hand and held it to my face letting trail down my neck."You are the first man ever to be allowed to touch me"

 

[HarlemBlade]

With that, I let my own instincts as a man take over.
I kept my hand on the side of her neck and moved into her swiftly, kissing her passionately again on the lips. I closed my eyes and let my tongue move out to meet hers.

As we kissed, I brought both hands up to her hair and let my fingers wander in their rich threads. I kissed her more passionately, our faces melding together like one. I leaned her gently down towards the soft pillows on her bed.

 

[papillon24]

Kanun

I felt my body shake as he kissed me so passionately. His sweet embrace and gentle touch drove my senses crazy and I responded to the touch. I felt my body wanting him. I heard my heart speak in gentle tones urging me to follow love, and I did.
I lost track of the world, it was only me and him and the world stoped filling with sweet music.

I felt the pillows under my head and knew what was next. I wanted it so much. I felt his hand move from my hair to my breast massaging it gently through the silk. I let out a slight gasp, realeasing his kiss for only a moment. I let my hand roam his body wanting to pull him closer. I could feel him hard pressing against my body, and I wanted him even more.