Chione

I was practically skipping back to the servants quarters.

He had kissed my hand.

Arius had kissed my hand.

The Prince of Egypt had kissed my hand.

He thought my hands were special... and the thought made me ecstatic.

I didn't know I could ever feel so happy.

The sensation of his lips touching my hand remained well after he kissed it. And it was driving me insane.

I felt my heart race as I lay down in my bed.

I couldn't deny it. I had fallen for the prince of Egypt.

Arius

I couldn't focus anymore. I had passed the point of denial and now I had realized I was falling for that maid.

My chin rested on my hand as the noblemen voiced his concerns of not yet getting his five soldiers back.

But to be honest, I heard none of it.

I let out a sigh before leaning back in the throne.

I saw Tabia's eyes on me after I sighed. I have her a questioning look before looking back blankly at the nobleman.

Once it was finally over, I felt the urge to go see her. Of course, I didn't exactly have the time to do that. I had way too much to do that afternoon.

And as I thought about everything I had to do, Tabia nudged me aggressively.

"What?" I asked as I turned to her.

"You look... preoccupied." She said, "let me guess... you're in love."

I rolled my eyes, "shut up, Tabia." How on earth was she able to figure these things out?

"Here's what you have to do next," she said. "Go and give her a tight hug and tel her you love her."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"It's either now or never, Air-y," she said. "When the Pharaoh gets back, you probably won't have the chance to mess around with her."

I elbowed my cousin as hard as I could possibly allow myself to.

"Ow!" She hissed.

And with that, I walked off.

The rest of my day went like this... distracted. How was I going to get any work done?

All I could really think about was her coming to my room tonight to hopefully feed me my dinner.

I felt like a foolish child, but at the same time, I didn't try to stop myself... despite knowing how silly this all was.

Whatever I hoped would never happen. She was a maid and I was a prince.

So I tried to tell myself to grow up and be smart.

I told myself that I would stop this now, before it got out of hand.

I had nearly convinced myself.

But then I ran into her in the halls.

She was holding a pot of water, struggling, when I ran into her. When she saw me, she set the pot down and bowed, "my Pharaoh."

My throats was dry, "Ram still has you lifting heavy pots of water?"

"It has to be done."

I looked at the four guards who followed me around. They gave me a nod and a bow before turning and walking off.

I walked over to Chione and grabbed the pot from her.

"You don't-"

"It's fine," I said as I walked with the pot. "The stables isn't too far from here."

"Arius... people will see," she started as she rushed after me.

"And they will call me the generous prince who is helping a helpless maid."

She gave me a silly look which made me chuckle.

And yes. People did see. But I didn't really care. All I was doing was carrying a pot.

When we reached the stables, all the men bowed low, including Ram. "My Pharaoh," he said.

"How are you doing, Ram?"

"Well, My pharaoh."

"Your wife and child?"

"They are well too. Thank you for asking."

I smiled. "Good," I said. "Now I must question why you make Chione carry such heavy pots?"

Ram chuckled, hearing the humor in my question. "To keep her humble," he said.

Chione chuckled and my smile grew. "Good enough, I suppose."

"Now I must ask why the Prince of Egypt is doing her job for her?"

"To keep myself humble, of course." I bowed my head slightly as Ram laughed.

"Well, that was all I wanted from Chione for today, so I suppose she can head out with you."

"Excellent," I said. "I did have some work I wanted her to do for me."

"Good luck," Ram said to Chione before winking at me.

Chione smiled.

At this point, any attempt to be logical about my feelings had vanished. I had completely forgotten about my attempt to separate myself from her.

"Do you actually have something you'd like me to do?" She asked as she followed me away from the stable.

I hesitated and then shook my head. "No," I said. "I just wanted you to come somewhere with me."

"Where?"

I hesitated again. I actually didn't have any place in mind. But as I tried to think of something to say, I stopped walking.

"Ram!" I called.

The man looked up at me. "Yes, my Prince."

"I need Neshny."

Ram hesitated. "I... um... I haven't prepared him–"

"It's fine," I said. "A saddle is enough."

Ram nodded, grabbing my saddle and preparing the suddenly excited looking Neshny. Once Ram handed me the reins, I climbed up onto my steed and held my hand out for Chione.

"What..."

"Come on," I said. "Pharaoh's orders."

She looked at me oddly, but after a moment of contemplation, she grabbed my hand. I lifted her up onto Neshny and within a moment, we were off.

Chione

I had no idea where he was taking me, but it didn't really matter. All I could really think of was the fact that he had his arms around me and that we were headed outside the palace grounds.

I watched as the faces stared in awe at the Prince who passed by them. It seemed almost as if no one noticed me at all... which filled me with relief, to be honest. I wasn't supposed to be here with him, after all.

It was a short ride to where he wanted to be. When Neshny slowed down, we had reached a spot right next to the Nile. I found myself gaping at its beauty... with the sun setting, the Nile looked lovelier than usual.

Arius got off Neshny and then helped me down too. "Why on earth have you brought me here?" I asked as he set me down on the floor.

"I have some time before the evening prayers... I thought I would relax until then... and some company would be nice." He began to walk towards the river. "Ramose and I used to come here together... when he wasn't an abhorrent pig."

I smiled. "There was a time when he wasn't?" I asked, walking over to him.

Arius gave me a funny smile. "Yes, surprisingly."

He sat down on the riverbanks and patted the spot next to him. I thought about it for a moment, looked around, and when I saw that no one was around, I walked over and sat next to him.

"Plus, my uncle is returning very soon. Once he's back, I wont have any time to just relax."

"Your relationship with your uncle... isn't very great?"

Arius smiled an unhappy smile. "It isn't very great at all," he responded.

"Am I allowed to know why?"

He looked at me. "I thought most of the nation knew already?"

"Well I don't."

He looked back at the river and sighed. "Long story short, he wants to take the throne from me."

"But... he can't, can he?" I asked. "Everyone loves you, don't they?"

"Unfortunately it's not as simple as that," Arius sighed. "Whether everyone loves me or not, for the most part it's what the nobles say that goes. It's who they prefer."

"But they couldn't possibly prefer your uncle over you?"

Arius let out a short laugh before giving me a nudge. "You have no idea."

"Really?"

He nodded.

"Well they all must be fools then," I said.

Arius looked at me and then laughed. "Yes, they all are. And I have to deal with them."

"I guess I'm glad I'm not a Prince then," I said.

"You should be," he said. It's a lot of work and needs a lot of patience. It's stressful and sometimes I do wish I could leave it all behind and run away."

Though he said it with a humored smirk, something about the loog on his face made it seem like he was also being honest.

"Would you like to know what my deepest, darkest secret is?" He asked as he looked at me.

I smiled, "what is it?"

He sighed as he leaned back and looked out at the river. "Sometimes I wish that I hadn't returned to the palace after I was stabbed by those guards."

My eyes widened.

"I think things would have been a lot easier," he continued. "The only thing is that it would have been selfish. And leaving my brother behind, alone, would have been cruel. And I would have thrown away my father's desire for me to be king."

"So you couldn't have done it," I said. "Even if you wanted to."

"Exactly."

"Well if it makes you feel any better," I started, "A peasants life isn't as easy as you think it is. Day after day of physical labor. It's tough."

"I know," he said. "We always want what we don't have."

I nodded.

"And then often times, we only realize what we had once it's gone."

I nodded again.

After that, we fell silent for some time.

It was relatively quiet at this point in the evening, aside from the birds and the sounds of the flowing river. In the distance, you could also hear the faint sounds of children playing, trying to enjoy the last of the day before Ra disappears for the night.

It was very relaxing.

I quite liked it... a lot.

"Are you sure you can trust me with your deep, inner thoughts?"

Arius smirked. "Well, I suppose you're going to be my personal maid for the rest of my life. I'm going to have to trust you."

"You really think I'd be your personal maid until you die?" I asked. "What about when you become king? Or when you get married?"

"I'll need your assistance then more than I ever will," he said, his voice suddenly gloomy. "Especially when I'm married."

I laughed. "You are such a man."

"Of course," I gave me a silly smile.

And I put a hand over my mouth and laughed some more.

Arius

Ra had reached the horizon by the time I returned Neshny to the stables. It was time for my evening prayers and I was pleased to say that I felt relaxed. I would be able to enjoy the prayers with a clear mind.

"I will see you then? After the prayers?" I asked her as we entered the palace halls.

She nodded. "To feed you dinner as you work yourself too hard."

I chuckled before bowing my head slightly and walking off.

As expected, the prayers went well. I felt calm and relaxed and thought back to how it had been I while since I felt so at peace. Normally I would have ridden a litter back to the palace from the temple, but today I decided to walk.

It was a beautiful cool evening... perfect for a walk.

Of course, I should have known that the gods would not let me rest for too long.

As I walked, I began to hear the faint sound of drumming.

I stopped walking.

I listened carefully, as carefully as I could.

It was definitely the faint sound of drumming.

The guards behind me began to whisper as I turned around and continued to walk, my heart sinking and my body growing stiff again.

Every step I took, the sound of beating drums grew closer.

He was back.

Chione

Arius had not returned to his room when I thought he would be back, so as I waited, I prepared his bath, got his jewels ready and prepared his bed as well.

From his balcony, I could hear the sound of drumming. It had started off faint, but it was now loud and clear. I didn't exactly know what it was, so I stood there and listened... I always liked the sound of drums.

But when the door opened and Arius entered, I knew something was wrong.

The calm which was on his face not too long ago had completely vanished.

"Arius?"

"You need to go."

When I opened my mouth to question him, he cut me off.

"Now."