Yuki felt a very pleasant warmth on her hand before opening her eyes and finding Sean's blue eyes staring at her with concern.
She sat up and looked at her hand, covered by his hand.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been shot through the heart." She answered and looked away. "I'm thirsty."
She then regretted her words, as Sean immediately abandoned her hand and got up to pour her some water. Yuki felt she had missed something important when he walked away.
Sean sat down next to her again.
"Do you want to talk about what happened?"
"No." She said as she drank all the water and put the glass on the bedside table to prevent him from walking away again, although he didn't take her hand again.
"Do you want me to leave?" His voice was unsure and she could tell.
"I want you to leave for five minutes, so I can do my hygiene. I can taste rust in my mouth. And I imagine my hair must be making me look like a scarecrow."
Sean smiled and stood up.
"I'm going out for five minutes, but make no mistake. You look beautiful. There's nothing that can change that. Not even your sour breath, or your spiky hair."
Yuki threw a pillow at him, which came off before it hit.
...
Yuki got ready and made her way to the balcony of her bedroom window. Looking down, she saw Attila crouched in his royal cloak, talking earnestly to Selytha. Yuki noted with a heavy heart that her daughter had the same serious expression as Attila on her face, and wearing that little armor, she looked even more like him. She loved Attila and without knowing whether Selytha was his daughter or Sean's, it was difficult to make a decision about her life. About her choice.
As if they sensed that they were being watched, Atila and Selytha looked at their window at the same time. Taken by surprise, Yuki smiled and waved goodbye, which was not reciprocated by either of them.
Atila stood up without stopping staring at Yuki, until Selytha pulled him and said something in his ear.
Soon after, the host appeared and approached, taking the girl's hand and walking away with it.
"I love you, but I'm not the one who needs you most yet." Atila said, signaling and moving his mouth without any sound coming out, and disappeared down the path to his fighting hall.
Yuki understood. He didn't want her to choose him. Not at that moment. And that rejection left her with no options.
She heard a knock on her bedroom door.
"Come in." She said, turning to the door.
Sean walked in and smiled when he saw her in the same clothes she wore to the office in Michigan.
"Are you ready for a meeting?" He asked, sitting down.
Yuki walked over and sat down in front of him. She had only one thought. She wanted to die. But she would make sure that Selytha was safe after that conversation.
"Sean, you said I could save the women from the hands of the Gumis and I'm willing to help you if you do me a favor in return."
"You won't do it if I refuse?"
Yuki looked at him thoughtfully.
"I'll do it anyway, but I ask you to reward me, please."
"What do you want me to do for you?"
Yuki took a deep breath.
"I want you to look after the safety of the girl who was adopted by the host."
"She already has a guardian."
"But I want you to promise me now, that no matter what I tell you in this room, you will never allow anyone to hurt her. Promise me that if what I'm about to reveal to you is dangerous for her, you'll keep it a secret and make sure she doesn't miss anything."
"You're scaring me, Yuki. Because this girl is so important to you."
Yuki held his hands and tears came to her eyes.
"Promise me."
"I promise." Sean agreed, feeling that he would regret making that promise.
Yuki began.
"Twenty-five years ago, a girl of Selytha's age was taken from an orphanage and raised by a woman on an island. This girl grew up believing that this woman was her mother and that the photo she showed her of a very handsome man was her father. And time passed, this girl lived among other girls, but the other girls were always taken away after they turned eighteen and she began to yearn for this to happen to her too. All she learned at school was to read and write and after that, she began to steal history books about great countries, great conquests and her heart was filled with dreams. But her destiny was different. She turned eighteen and stayed on that island. She wasn't sent to any of those places she read about. She wouldn't meet different people who spoke different languages. No. She would stay on the island, because according to the woman she thought was her mother, she wasn't like the other girls, she was special. She was the daughter. When she was twenty-one, something unusual happened. The island was visited. She spied from behind the trees and saw many men coming. They decorated the whole island with orange blossoms and roses that the girl had never seen before. Everywhere she went, she could smell the scent of flowers brought from different continents. She wanted to ask her mother what was going on, but her mother was never seen again. Other women arrived, put the young girl in a bathtub full of aromatic oils and rose petals and left her there for two hours, before painting her nails, making figures on her body, putting gold bracelets on her heels and wrists, and pinning her hair up on top of her head. The girl was taken to a cave decorated with flowers, with a bed of white silk sheets and a table containing food and drink. A goblet was handed to her and she was forced to drink, she felt weak and had no strength to scream, her hands were tied above her head, a scarf was tied over her eyes and she was left naked on that bed with its soft, sweet-smelling mattress. It didn't take her long to realize that there was someone else in the cave after a while. The person touched the girl's body and releasing her hands, used her in every way that dirty mind could have imagined one day, hurting, causing pain, humiliating her. After two hours on top of her body, this person tied her hands above her head again and left. The girl cried, it was all she had the strength to do, and listened as, she assumed at that moment, the person who had inflicted so much pain on her body returned. But this time, he was gentle. Kind. And she even... Enjoyed that contact. And when he left too, a few minutes later, she felt someone untie her hands. She removed the handkerchief from her eyes and, looking around, found a cloak. A cloak with a design of two crossed swords on the label. She put it on and ran. How she had managed to escape and suddenly be in Michigan still remained a mystery to her, but... She didn't have much time to think about what really happened. She had to fight the hunger and the cold. She sold the gold pieces she owned and saved the money for an emergency. She found a farm, where she worked for a plate of food and a good wage. But the work was hard and one day she felt ill. She was taken to the doctor and they discovered that she wasn't ill. She was pregnant. And months later, a beautiful baby girl was born."
Yuki finished speaking and saw the question on Sean's face. He seemed to be taking in everything he had heard. The pieces must have been falling into place in his mind, like gears. Finally, Sean seemed to understand and stood up angrily, glaring at Yuki.
"You!" Was all he managed to say, before storming out of the room so as not to hit Yuki.
Yuki wasn't afraid of dying. She was afraid of Sean harming her little girl, now that he knew Selytha's true identity. She wanted him to kill her, because she couldn't bear to live with that secret any longer.
She ran to the door, trying in vain to open it to reach Sean. The door was locked. She ran to the window and saw with fright that many guards were watching. She couldn't warn her host. All she could do was wait. She sat down and started biting her nails. Now that she was relieved of the burden of secrecy, she worried that the price would be Selytha's life. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer that the Pharaohs of the past would intervene on her little daughter's behalf.
Chapter 30: Sean, the Pharaoh of Peace?
Sean warned Kurtin as soon as he left Yuki's room.
"Lock her up. Don't let her leave that room! Order the guards to watch the door and window night and day."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Kurtin replied, but Sean might not have heard, as he was already far down the corridor.
He left the palace and made his way to the Gumis Wing. He hated the place, but he had to get in. And he entered without knocking. What he saw made him so disgusted that he almost forgot everything Yuki had revealed to him. They were all naked, with their penises erect, while they waited patiently for one of them to finish ejaculating inside a young girl.
When one of them saw him coming, he immediately covered himself and his frightened reaction caught the attention of the others, who also rushed to cover their faces in fury. The young woman stood up and, sitting down, saw Sean, and her face burned with shame. Sean looked away from the young woman's naked beauty.
"What are you doing here, Your Majesty? We're hibernating!" One of them said annoyed.
"I order you to stop your 'hibernation' immediately! The kingdom is being plundered, the Gumis' advice is expected and needed and you are here..." He looked at the girl. "You! Put on your clothes and follow me. The Farida has demanded that you be given to her to serve her, just as she has demanded for herself all the women of the blood of the Pharaohs, who come after you, to be servants of her Faridas." Sean said and looked at the Gumis, who were glaring at each other in disgust, not even noticing the happiness on the young woman's face.
"She can't leave us without a woman. We are the voice of the people!" One of them said and looked at the young woman. "You stay where you are! We're not done with you for today!" He said when he saw the young woman reach for a dress on the floor.
"You dare give an order that overrides your Pharaoh's order?" Sean asked in a threatening tone, but Gumi met him with a cutting gaze.
"I dare. Here within our Ward, we are the highest authority. Here, none of your laws have any value. Here, the Gumis are the highest authority."
Sean almost smiled when he heard that. He slowly lowered himself and when he stood up, he was holding a sword that burst into flames in his hand.
"So maybe this is the time to make the Gumis extinct forever. I have a good story to tell." He said and with a spin around himself with the sword held high, he crouched down and watched satisfied as the Gumis fell, cut in half, just like the Ice people did a few days ago at the National Bank of Mahagah. "But I don't think you'll ever hear that story."
He clapped his hands and the sword disappeared, then he turned to the young woman, who was staring at him in awe.
"Did you see what the Ice People did?"
She nodded.
"The Ice People invaded the Gumi Ward and killed them all. I escaped, because they couldn't find me, because I was trapped in chains in the basement and was found by my Farida who decided that I would now be her servant. Your Pacifica." She said and knelt before Pharaoh.
"That's right. Now get up and put on your clothes. You're going with me to the palace."
...
Sean was entering the palace when he saw the host walking past holding Selytha's hand towards his Wing and looked at the woman in front of him.
"Come in. Look for an official and tell them I asked you to take her to Farida." He removed a ring from his hand and handed it to her. "This represents my scepter. Show it to them to allow you into her room." He said and went in the direction the host was taking the girl and caught up with them at the entrance door to the host's house.
The host saw him approaching and held Selytha's hand tightly, sensing that something bad might happen from this encounter.
Sean stopped less than a meter away and his eyes lowered to Selytha, who stared at him as if to challenge him.
"You tricked me, host." Sean said without looking away from Selytha.
"My Pharaoh..."
Sean's mouth twitched with indignation and he turned his eyes back to his host.
"You will be living in the Royal Dungeon from now on." Sean said and turned to leave, but stopped and spoke without turning around. "Report immediately to a soldier and ask him to escort you there. Take the girl to keep you company." He said and hurried back to the palace.
He went into the study and took a bottle of cognac, sat down with it and began to drink from the neck.
His thoughts tormented him. He had found the young woman raped and, out of pity, had never spoken of it to anyone. He saw the blood of her virginity on the bed sheet, and now everything was clear. Attila visited not only his own offering, but yours too. Sean released her before he left and left his cloak, when he realized that there were no clothes for her to wear. Usually the offerings wore only flowery garlands and gold on their arms and legs to be thrown into the fiery volcano. He didn't want that fate for that young woman and now he regretted not having resisted his impulses and abused her. He didn't know that the girl who was offered into the volcano wasn't the same girl he had lain with, because he thought at the time that she hadn't managed to escape. And now there was no way of knowing who Selytha's father was. Whenever it was checked, it would only be detected as Royal blood, because Tykar's mother was not part of the harem, but was the heir to the throne of Ice itself. Only heirs of queens were born with magic.
Sean frowned. If there was anyone who could know if she was his daughter, it was Mycon, but he couldn't do that, because he had promised that he would look after the child's safety and if Mycon knew, the girl would be put on trial. If she were his daughter, they would condemn her to death, as it is forbidden for the Pharaoh to have a female heir before the male heir. Or perhaps she would suffer the same fate as the young man he had just freed from the hands of the Gumis. And if she were Attila's daughter, they would condemn Yuki to death, because they would know that she was the offering that had escaped and would consider that she had betrayed the Pharaoh's trust.
In one gulp, Sean drank half the liquid in the bottle and looked up quickly when the door opened with a soft knock.
Kurtin entered and closed the door behind him.
"Pharaoh, I'm sorry, but a young woman came into Farida's room, saying she was sent by the majesty and asked me to return this." He said and put Pharaoh's ring on the table.
Sean took the ring and slipped it on his own finger.
"Thank you, Kurtin."
He saluted and as he was leaving, he stopped when he heard Pharaoh's voice.
"Get a bottle of whisky and sit down to drink with me." Sean ordered.
"I'm not thirsty, Your Majesty."
"It wasn't water I offered you. Don't disobey me, Kurtin. Right now I don't need a loyal soldier. I need a friend."
Kurtin took a bottle of cognac and sat down.
"Who is that young woman?"
"I don't know. She must be some distant cousin."
"She's the young woman who was being abused by the Gumis." Kurtin said with a smile trembling on his lips.
"Yes."
Kurtin sipped from the bottle thoughtfully.
"The Gumis must have been furious at your intrusion."
"The Gumis?" Sean asked and laughed out loud. "The Gumis don't exist anymore."
Kurtin didn't seem surprised.
"Your Majesty, I..."
"Sean."
"Sean, I don't think you should repeat that to anyone else."
"Don't worry. It was the Ice People who invaded the palace and killed them all."
"Yes. I prefer that version of the facts. That way the people won't revolt against Pharaoh. We don't need any more trouble right now."
"But that's the truth."
"Providential truth." Kurtin agreed with a smile. "Did they suffer?"
"No. Although I believe they deserved the pain."
"That won't go down well. The people will believe that we can't protect them, since we don't even protect the palace."
"That's good. It will be easier to convince them to take up arms to defend themselves and their family."
"The crown has no more gold. We can't distribute the warriors' weapons among them."
"I have a colossal vault full of weapons, Kurtin. That won't be a problem."
They were silent for a while.
"Did Farida try to leave the room?" Sean asked suddenly.
"No."
"I want to kill her, Kurtin."
Kurtin laughed.
"With kisses, chocolates, diamonds or flowers?"
Sean laughed too.
"My father was a romantic fool. You shouldn't keep repeating his gallantries."
"What do you mean? He was a master of the art of seduction."
"He's dead." Sean said in such a sad way that Kurtin became alert.
"Yes, my Pharaoh. But you bear no responsibility for his death. He didn't die of grief because you ran away."
"Of course not. He had Attila. He was always Pharaoh's favorite son."
"It's not fair of you to say that."
"Maybe it's not fair, but it's reality. I remember... Pharaoh showing his preference and his pain that no one would accept that Attila should be his heir."
"Attila was always the son who was ready to be whatever Pharaoh asked. You were the rebellious son. But I know that Pharaoh, your father, saw things as they were. You were born to be king, while Attila was a man of war. Attila would never be happy sitting on a throne as long as there were battles. Battles that he would never avoid and some that he would provoke."
"I too will never sit on a throne while my army dies in battle. I will always fight alongside them." Sean said offended.
"Yes. No one doubts that, but in times of peace, you will focus on your people. You'll seek out new laws so that your people are always safe and you'll ensure their well-being, while Attila... In times of peace, he trains for times of war. You know your strength and you know that you don't need constant training, because that's why you're the Pharaoh. That's why you have magic. Your power is our weapon. Your power can devastate an army in a few minutes. Your father always told the little soldiers, me among them, not to turn away from following you ever. He always warned us that we should learn to kill people from Attila, but we should never learn from you how to love those same people."
Sean was surprised.
"That's what Pharaoh..." He was interrupted when Mycon came running up to him.