**NSFW warning: Mature sexual themes

"Here, Utati," Seshen pressed into the hands of the younger woman an assortment of neatly folded linen and silk bed sheets.

"I entrust these to you. Now please go and deliver them to our princess' chambers. Whatever you do, do not drop and soil them. They are extremely expensive, worth more than you and I."

Utati wrinkled her nose. "Surely no bedsheets would be worth more than a human life."

"For us mere servants, they are. We can be thankful to our gods that we are both held in such high esteem, however. Especially you, my dear Utati, you are surely loved by the Princess."

"She cares much for you too, you know," Utati smiled over the pile in her arms. "Mala would never have taken you from that bitches' clutches if she did not."

Sehsen looked around, almost panicked at those words, before flicking Utati's ear.

"Watch your tongue, Utati!" She chastised in a hushed tone. "As well placed as your words are, if anyone else was to hear you speak such words against Princess Isetnofret, you could be severely punished!"

Utati scoffed. "It is true, though. No one here can deny that, especially poor Princess Merytra."

"I know..." Seshen answered, looking over her shoulder once more. "But here is not Hattusa. You cannot do or say as you, please. For your sake and mine, please be mindful of your words!"

Utati sighed and lowered her gaze. "Apologies."

Seshen, too, let out a sigh of relief and patted her friend's wigged head.

"You know I would never wish any ill to befall you, so please, be a good girl."

"Woman," Utati corrected teasingly.

"Yes, you are indeed a woman," Seshen grinned. "Now, off with you before the Princess and the Pharaoh return from their stroll with Princess Merytra."

Utati had not anticipated that the bedsheets would feel heavier with each step.

"Truly, I am not that weak," she mumbled as she pressed her cheek to the sheets to prevent them from tumbling from her arms whilst she reached for the door of her mistress' chambers. They began to slip from her grasp. Falling forward to catch them, the door slipped open, causing her to trip through the doorway to be splayed across the limestone floor.

Cursing under her breath, she shoved the sheets onto the nearby chair behind the large cedarwood partition. The Egyptian blue and papyrus green painted screen shielded the inside view of the chamber from those that would come to the Princess' door. However, it did not shield from the sounds from within, especially those of a more intimate kind.

Utati's entirety froze, her eyes widening at the impassioned moans and creaking of wood coming from the other side. Her body trembled as her mind came to terms with what was occurring. Once it did, it screamed for her to make haste and leave, for it was not her business to be there. Yet, the delicious tingling building between her thighs refused her movement.

She crept across the floor, despite the voice in her head pleading with her not to, and glimpsed around the screen. The fierce thumping of her heart in her ears almost drowned the sounds of coitus, the sight of the intense passion causing her entirety to quiver with heated wanting and desire.

They should not have returned to the palace yet, and yet there they were, the Princess' legs wrapped high around her husband's waist, his smooth buttocks riding her with intense fervour. Her fingers kneaded and dug into his tanned flesh as he did, her shuddering voice moaning his praises.

The images invading her lustful thoughts saw a certain someone doing the same with her. Would he, too, be capable of such intense passion? Would he, too, be capable of causing her to cry out his name?

Reversing back along the limestone, she slid out the door, closing it as gently as possible, not that the couple within would notice. Her breath was ragged, and she wiped the thin film of sweat that had developed on her brow with the back of her hand. Pressing her back against the door, she tried to calm her nerves, yet the excitement pooling in her and the racing of her heart would not relent - nor would the sounds coming from within as they intensified.

Dragging herself to stand, her mind clouded and feverish, she made her way to the one place where she knew, or at least hoped, she would find some relief.

Her head dipped low, Utati scuttled through the bustling halls and gardens of the harem. She could no longer hear the chattering and laughter of the palace but the deep, impassioned moans from what she had just witnessed.

All she could see was what had just occurred, which blinded her from her surroundings.

"By the names of all the gods Utati, be careful!" The familiar voice called her back into a reality she was not expecting so suddenly.

"You nearly knocked me on my arse... again." Amunherkhepershef picked up the wooden reed box he had dropped whilst trying to avoid her blundering stride.

Her eyes shot wide as she stared at him, bewildered, her cheeks flushing as red as beets.

Raising a brow at her, the Prince continued to straighten himself out. "Where were you going at such a pace? It seems we cannot prevent ourselves from running into each other as of late." The suggestiveness in his tone caused her to shiver with a delectable thrill.

"Where are you going?" She asked, almost impatiently.

The Prince blinked at her, "I have just finished my lessons and was going to return to..."

"I implore you to come with me then, " she took him by his wrist before others came into view and he could counter her demand.

"Wait, Utati, why are we here?" The Prince finally broke the silence after she had dragged him to the palace's many vast storage rooms.

"Quiet, lest someone hears us!" She hushed as she shoved open a heavy wooden door with her free arm, tightening her grip around the Prince's wrist to fling him inside.

"U..Utati!" He gulped as she shoved him against a stack of crates. He could not help but feel intensely flushed, the heat building within his core unbearable. His heart raced wildly within his ears, causing him to become giddy with excitement.

"What has gotten into y..."

Taking him roughly by his earlobes, she pulled his head down to hers, her lips pressing hard as she pushed herself against him.

All forms of self-restraint that he had moments before dissipated with that kiss. He wrapped his arms around her petite frame and hitched her up onto a nearby pile of wheat sacks. Doing this caused her linen skirts to ride up her thighs, and she used her now free legs to wrap them around his waist.

"Honestly, what has gotten into you?" Amunherkhepershef sighed between lip-locking.

"I hoped it would be you."

With these words, the Prince's breath jagged painfully in his throat. He could feel his heart begin to beat ever more savagely within in anticipation of her lustful words.

"Do you know what it is that you say?" He gazed deeply into her lust-darkened orbs for some form of confirmation.

"Of course, silly," she traced her fingertips along his exposed collarbone. 

"I may be from Hatti, but I am no fool!"

"You are a fool if you are lusting for your prince." He teased her gently.

"You raised no qualms when you kissed me the other day. Besides, so what if I am? Will you flog me?"

"We will both be flogged if someone finds us."

Utati pinned her eyes on him. "Does that mean you... are interested?"

"Am I interested? Let me tell you, I shall be travelling into Kur for what I have imagined with you."

Utati's eyes widened with enthusiasm as she blushed at his response. 

"You know the underworld of my people?"

"Of course I do," he smiled, tenderly tracing circles along her bared skin, "I would not be a very good heir if I did not learn about the pantheons of other nations."

Utati chuckled, "Nonsense, you just wished to impress me."

Amunherkhepershef grinned and shrugged innocently, "Maybe I did, maybe I did not. Did it work?"

"Utterly," she pulled his ears to bring him into another impassioned kiss.

"Then allow me to become a man with you," he breathed through their swollen lips.

"Have you ever...?" He sighed as he traced his fingers along her outer thigh.

"No. Have you? Being a Prince and all, I would have expected you to..."

"No, I have not. I have never met anyone I found interesting enough to even think of such things with, let alone act upon them. Not until I met you..."

"A...Amunet...did she just run off with Pharaoh's heir, hand in hand?" The young servant girl, not older than the maidservant she had been ordered to follow, quivered to her older charge.

"She did," Amunet's eyes, too, flared in surprise, for she had not anticipated such a turn of events.

"No...No, I am not going after her. This changes everything! If she is with the Prince of all Princes, then we are as good as dead!"

"This changes nothing, Quibilah!" Amunet barked in a hushed tone, yanking hard the same ear their mistress had pulled not too long previous.

Cringing from the pain, the younger girl bit her lip to prevent herself from yelping.

"Princess Isetnofret will have us killed and our parents and siblings as well. She will not stop until any trace of our existence is erased."

"And you think the Prince will not do the same?" Quibilah retorted, rubbing her smarting ear. 

"If he is enamoured with her, he will surely do worse."

"That may be so, but if he is anything like his father, our Pharaoh... regardless, it is Isetnofret I fear the most. Now come, they are leaving." And before her younger counterpart could protest, she took her by the arm to pull her along in a hidden pursuit.

"W...why are they going in there?" Quibilah stuttered, crouching behind a stack of crates waiting to be stored.

"Are you that naive?" Amunet rolled her eyes impatiently. "We must wait until she is alone."

For quite some time, the younger girl pressed her palms to the sides of her head, straining herself to prevent the muffled passion coming from the storage room from flooding her ears.

Amunet appeared impartial to it. Her eyes steeled to the adjacent wall from where they were hidden. As soon as the creaking of the storage room door could be heard, her gaze refocused on the task at hand. Keeping herself and her anxious partner hidden, she peered around the corner of the crate.

"It tears my heart asunder that we must depart so soon." Amunherkhepershef lamented as he held gently onto Utati's forearms.

"I, too, my Prince, wish to weep that we cannot stay together for some time more."

"I hope I did not hurt you..." His amber gaze now turned to one of concern.

She shook her head to soothe him. "No, Amu, not really. So, do not worry about that. I just hope you do not regret what we did..."

"Regret?" The Prince gasped, astounded, "Of course not!" He cupped her cheeks with his hands and gazed into her eyes affectionately. "As I said before, I was never interested in anyone else until I met you. I feel my heart swell with joy every moment I spend with you. I would rather suffer torture than be apart from you, especially now," he chucked her chin with his thumb as a mischievous grin crossed his features. "And right now, there are many things I would rather be doing with you and to you..."

"When will I be able to see you again?" Utati whispered when he leaned down to brush his lips against hers.

"Tonight. I will wait for you on the eastern terrace, do you remember it? It is the terrace near the shrine to Hathor."

"Yes, I remember where it is."

"Meet me there when Sopdet is highest. From there, we can sneak back to my chambers. Being the heir, I am afforded my own rooms and thus privacy. There, we can do anything."

Utati's cheeks rouged crimson with anticipation as she giggled sweetly.

"My mind will be filled with only thoughts of you until we meet again," she caressed his cheek.

"As my mind will be of you. You have captured me, sweet Utati, in heart and soul. Now, until tonight..." He leaned forward once more to kiss her farewell. Without more words shared, he turned and jogged away.

Utati, swaying on her feet, felt her entire being tremble with elation. Her breasts and thighs still ached with wanting from where the Prince had so adoringly become a man with her. Crouching down to abate the tingling within her core, she embraced herself as he had done. His entire essence lingered, entrapping all her senses from the surrounding real world. Her mind whirring deliciously with remnant thoughts of what had just transpired in the storage room, she had not noticed the two shadows looming above.

Notes:

Kur - Kur (or Kurnugi) is a dark place in Babylonian mythology, typically described as the underworld. In Hittite mythology, it is ruled over by Taknaš, the Sun goddess of the Earth. Taknaš was the goddess of the underworld; the source of all evil, impurity, and sickness on Earth.

Sopdet - Sopdet is the ancient Egyptian name of the star Sirius and its personification as an Egyptian goddess.