12 The Oracles

~There is no happiness for the soul in the external worlds since these are perishable, true happiness lies in that which is eternal, within us.~ Egyptian quote.

Aria felt defiled, she was hurt but more importantly—she was afraid.

'Had she gotten too close?'

'Did he think she was easy because she was a servant?'

It was her fault.

'What was she thinking?'

'Wasn't all the not so colourful things she'd heard about him enough to dissuade her?'

She felt stupid.

Really, what did she think was going to happen.

Her brows furrowed.

'Did she think any good could come from going to his secret lake, waiting for him to show up?'

He was the Crown Prince-now regent. That's almost the same as being Pharaoh.

Her eyes lowered.

But it hadn't stopped her heart from skipping a beat when she'd seen him, sparring by the training court after he'd woken up.

She placed a shaky hand to her lips—he'd kissed her.

She'd been shocked and scared to do anything.

She'd wanted to push him away, run away but her body never responded—and it scared her.

The feel of his hand around her had felt so sudden and the feel of his body against hers was like nothing she'd ever experienced before.

And his lips...him biting her ever so softly...

She hugged her knees and buried her face in her arms.

She felt dirty...he'd made her feel that way.

'What did he want with her?'

She was so confused. She didn't know what to do.

•••

Akhenaten, beneath the lake—a gateway that leads to the underworld—conversed with the Oracles.

Including him, there were seven of them, and they were the Seven Powers of Egypt.

It was that time of the year when a maiden who has known no man would be sacrificed, and Akhenaten was the only one yet to bring them a sacrifice.

"Prince Akhenaten, where is the maiden whom you have chosen that we may satisfy our thirst." Astennu, the god of the moon said urgently in a hoarse voice.

Akhenaten looked round the circle all seven of them formed his cold eyes resting on Astennu.

"How about your Israeli childhood friend, I bet she'll be delicious." Amun, the god of mystery, licked his lip with his forked tongue, golden eyes glinting mischievously.

His orange flame-like hair was hard to miss.

Akhenaten gave him a murderous stare.

That particular prince always seemed to ask about Ahmes, every time they had their ritual meetings.

"She's off-limits," Akhenaten responded slowly his eyes never leaving his.

"You're not the one to decide that for us. You don't get to decide that. We take who we want and what we want." Astennu, the one who spoke earlier roared hitting the round table they all sat at.

His coal eyes were menacing as they stared darkly at Akhenaten.

Akhenaten saw death in them but he wasn't the least bit fazed.

"In fact, I do." He stated quietly looking around the circle they formed.

The fire burned everywhere and the air smelt like sulphur filled with the shriek of tormented souls.

He dared anyone of them to say contrary.

He was Lord over them all and they all knew what that meant.

The dark-eyed prince knew that as well and remained quiet but his eyes still held killing intent.

"She's off-limits." He repeated.

"Anyone touches her and they'll have to answer to me."

"We're hungry!" The orange-haired prince whined.

"We still need you to choose." They all heard a deep voice speak in their circle.

It was Amam, the devourer-second only to Akhenaten.

All five of the other princes respected him and never wanted to be on the receiving end of his sadistic acts.

"How about the servant girl you seem to have grown quite close with?" Amam continued in a low taunting voice.

Akhenaten clenched his fist.

"She's not-" He cut Akhenaten off.

"If you can't sacrifice her then you'll have to sacrifice your hands. As our leader, we won't settle for anything less" Amam smirked at Akhenaten.

Akhenaten stared at his arch-rival and hatred, deep hatred boiled within him.

Akhenaten stood slowly, his face void of any emotion.

"You can't have her." He stared them in the eye.

"Her too?!" The orange-head whined.

"Why not?" Akhenaten ignored him.

His rival smirked.

"Then you are prepared to lay down your hands?"

There was a pause before Akhenaten let out a breath.

"Yes."

•••

It's been weeks since Aria had last seen him, she'd made sure they never clashed-not that he ever sought her out.

It was dark out.

She was by an oasis north of the Palace, but still very much in range to the Palace.

She sighed and stared at the full moon and the beautiful stars in her seated position—it was magical, breathtaking.

No other words could properly express how she felt.

A chilly breeze blew and she shivered quickly wrapping her hands around herself.

"I see you've avoided me these past weeks." A deep quiet voice spoke from behind her.

Aria gasped softly, her eyes widening.

She stood and turned to face him.

"You don't come to my secret place anymore." He started moving a step towards her.

Aria panicked and moved several feet away from him-the fear evident in her eyes and voice.

"Why are you here?" She questioned quietly.

Akhenaten stared at his heavily bandaged hands and looked back at her.

He shrugged.

"I don't know." He replied.

Aria's brows furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

He didn't reply to her, he merely stared at her with his unreadable eyes.

She shook her head.

"You keep doing things that confuse me. I just can't-" She stopped and sighed.

"I can't read you, I don't understand why you keep doing these things."

His eyes never left hers.

"What things?" He questioned quietly.

"Oh, the fact that you forced your tongue down my throat?" She knew her eyes and voice conveyed the immense confusion and turmoil she felt.

"Why did you kiss me?" She asked finally.

At that point, he walked slowly towards her but she didn't move away.

When he was right in front of her, he stopped.

"I don't think you'd like the answer I'll give you." He started looking into her eyes.

She looked away.

"Ok then." She said softly.

She gave up.

She didn't want to know anymore.

She looked back at him.

"Do you...like me?" She asked hesitantly.

It took a while for him to register her question.

"Like...?" He thought about it for a while.

The many women he'd had, he'd never felt an iota of affection towards them.

It was merely him relieving himself of his natural bodily needs.

He was trying to figure out if that was what she was insinuating.

He didn't know what he felt if regards her.

To him, she was...different.

There was this craving inside of him that ate him up constantly...but craving for what?

He didn't know.

He felt this pull to her, it was something he couldn't comprehend, something he couldn't explain.

When he wasn't with her, on occasion he would astral project to her room at night and just watch her sleep.

It calmed him in a strange way.

He looked up at her and stared into those endless depths of brown.

'Was that what she was asking him?'

"I'm not sure." He answered finally.

A look crossed her eyes and he couldn't understand it.

He saw her look down at his burnt hands.

He saw her eyes widen then lower in concern?

He watched every single facial expression she made.

She moved closer to him.

"A-Are you hurt?" She asked softly looking into his eyes and then momentarily looking back down at his hands.

Akhenaten looked at them, lifting it for her to see and then continuing his observation, watching her.

She wanted to touch his bandaged hands but thought better of it.

"It must really hurt." She stated softly.

He stared at her.

When the Oracles had insisted on him sacrificing his hands and had burnt them with fire they had all conjured-he'd hardly felt anything.

He knew he was very vulnerable at the moment-that was the whole point.

He knew he wouldn't be holding a sword for a while.

The flames they'd punished him with were the flames of hell, so he knew his hands weren't recovering anytime soon.

But he didn't really care, she was out of danger.

He stared at her.

"Not really." He said quietly.

Before he had time to think about it,

"Are you fond of me?" He asked without much thought.

His eyes never left hers.

Her eyes widened as she looked into his.

A moment passed and she looked away.

"I-I don't k-know." She said softly.

Her heart was hammering against her ribcage.

'Why was her heart beating this fast?'

She had to leave.

"I have to go." She said and made to leave.

Before she could take two steps, he tried holding her hand but suddenly, blinding pain flooded his body as he reached for her hand.

He shouldn't feel this much pain...

He gasped out in pain and gritted his teeth.

A moment passed and he straightened. She saw that she had stopped but hadn't turned around.

He sensed something was wrong.

He felt the air shift and immediately prepared himself.

As predicted he saw one of the Oracles appear in a gulf of orange fire.

It was Amun, the prince with the orange hair and golden eyes.

"Now I see why you didn't want to sacrifice her," Amun smirked as his eyes roamed over her.

Akhenaten instinctively moved and in a split second appeared beside her.

As he'd suspected—he'd frozen her in time.

Akhenaten stared at the intruder.

"What brings you here Amun?" He questioned with surprising calmness.

Akhenaten really just wanted to disintegrate him to nothingness but he had to hold himself back.

Killing their own was forbidden.

"You're not allowed near her Akhenaten, as punishment for your insubordination and refusal to offer a proper sacrifice.

"Normally, you shouldn't be hurt much by the flames because of your status but the closer you get to her, the more horrible and maddening the pain will be for you." Amun grinned.

"The Oracles have decided. It'd be in your own interest if you complied. Because if you rebel again..." Amun paused and moved closer to him and whispered in his ear.

"She'll be executed."

"Until next time Prince Akhenaten." He said as he fizzled out into nothing.

Immediately, he heard Aria gasp softly for air.

He faced her and waited for her to calm down.

"What happened?" She asked once she caught her breath.

His heart constricted painfully as he stared at her.

He felt a strange sensation in his body.

It was as if his heart was being squeezed tightly and he couldn't breathe.

"Nothing happened." He felt the pain in his arms increase tenfold.

He winced and turned away from her.

She noticed he was in pain and moved closer to him.

She touched him lightly and the pain shot through his entire body.

"Wait, you're hurt." The concern that laced her voice was so obvious, it affected him beyond what he was capable of grasping or understanding at the moment.

The pain being unbearable at that point, he made himself vanish out of her sight, leaving her confused and unsure.

...