By the time she woke the following morning, she was alone in bed. The servant who came to help her get dressed told her he had left with the Pharaoh to the pyramid, to inspect the construction.
After having breakfast on the small terrace, she went for a walk in the gardens, admiring the scented flowers and enjoying the warmness of the sun before she went inside. She had no idea how long he would be out, so she decided to dedicate her time to the loom.
She only stopped working when one of the servants walked in to bring her an invitation for lunch from the queen.
Aneksi grunted and wished she could say no, but she knew that wasn’t an option, so she allowed the servant to help her get dressed for the occasion, not forgetting to include the wig.
The queen’s quarters were incredibly luxurious and decorated in white and gold. She was surrounded by four of her court ladies, as expected and after the presentations, Aneksi made sure to compliment her on the place, though it wasn’t of her personal taste.
In her late thirties, the queen still looked incredibly beautiful, and it was no surprise the Pharaoh had chosen her to be his first wife. She had given him three sons, and the Pharaoh seemed very pleased with her.
“So, Aneksi, are you happy you were the chosen one?” the woman asked her, with a tone that showed a bit too much of envy. She was the queen, for god's sake.
“Yes, your majesty, I’m very happy and very proud to serve my Pharaoh and my people,” she assured the woman, smiling.
After last night she couldn’t say she hated it. The man had turned her into a willing slave at his feet, with just a few kisses and caresses.
“Yes. I’m sure it’s no sacrifice to be with a man like Prince Setau,” the woman said, with some longing in her tone.
“No, your majesty, it’s no sacrifice.” It was the truth and clearly what the woman wanted to hear.
“Good.” She clapped her hands, and the servants brought the food. “Let’s hope the emissary leaves our land pleased and happy, so that the gods will grant us with blessings,” she added before she invited Aneksi to eat.
“I’m sure it will be so, your majesty,” she replied, with a faint smile.
After they had been a couple of minutes eating, the other woman seemed to lose control over her tongue. “Tell me, how is he? Is he like any other man? Or perhaps, he’s just more like the gods he represents?” she asked.
Startled by the question, Aneksi swallowed the food she had in her mouth, trying to give her the best answer possible. “He looks like other men, yes, but there’s a special aura around him that tells you he’s more than a man,” she finally said, not giving her details, hoping her answer would satisfy the other woman’s curiosity.
It didn’t.
“What about physically? He’s taller than most men here,” she insisted.
“Yes. I guess, but I really have no means of comparison, your majesty,” she replied, blushing a bit, cursing the minute she had accepted the queen’s invitation. She should have invented any plausible excuse.
“Oh, yes, of course. I hadn't thought of that.” the other woman said, with a faint smile on her face.
The rest of the meal went by amongst the other women’s chitchatting and Aneksi was more than pleased to stay in the background, avoiding the unwanted attention. She left the queen’s quarters as soon as possible, but by the time she arrived at the prince’s quarters, he was already there, and by the look on his face, he didn’t look very happy with her absence.
“Where were you?” he asked, with a deep frown.
“Having lunch with the queen,” she explained, as she walked to the bedroom, eager to take off the wig and release her mane.
“Why? I brought you here to be with me, not with the queen,” he grumbled, following her.
“I couldn’t say no to her invitation, you know that,” she explained, getting rid of the offensive wig and removing all of the pins holding her hair.
“Of course, you could. You’re here to please me, not the queen,” he insisted, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I wasn’t aware of that. Otherwise, I would have told her I wasn’t allowed out of these quarters without you. It would have been so much better than to be asked questions about you,” she pointed out, shaking her hair.
“You’re not afraid of me,” he said after a few moments in silence.
Startled, she turned around to look at him, not sure what he meant by that. “Am I supposed to be?” she asked, in a cautious tone.
“Why aren’t you afraid of me? You know I’m powerful enough to destroy this whole place and yet, you don’t fear facing me and telling me the truth,” he said, ignoring her question, apparently too mesmerized with the way she behaved.
“I trust you’re fair enough, that you won’t act on a whim when your needs aren’t satisfied,” she said, with a slight tremor in her tone.
“The gods aren’t known exactly by their patience or even their fairness,” he pointed out.
She nodded and thought, but you’re just an emissary, and yet, he was right. She had always treated him as if he was an ordinary man, someone she could face on the same level, and he was not.
She ran her hand over her face, trying to pull herself together. “I guess I wasn’t prepared to deal with a god’s emissary. Perhaps, you can find in you enough patience and comprehension to forgive my mistakes and show me how you expect me to act in your presence, your highness,” she finally said in a subservient tone, with her eyes lowered.
There was a long silence between them, and Aneksi had to make a huge effort not to look at him, desperate to know what was going on through his mind, not knowing if she had brought disgrace over her family.
“I never said I didn’t like the way you are, Aneksi,” he finally said, and she raised her head to look at him, too surprised with his words to keep her eyes down. “I was just asking you, why weren’t you afraid of me. All of the people around me measure every single word that comes out of their mouths afraid of offending me in any way, that your attitude is quite refreshing,” he explained.
She frowned. “I don’t know the answer to that. I’ve always felt you are someone I could trust, someone I could show myself to, with no fear of misjudgments,” she confessed.
“Good. I don’t want you to change,” he assured her, “but I also want you here for me, whenever I come back. I don’t care what you say to others; I just want you to follow that rule in particular,” he added.
She nodded. “I will. I have no interest in socializing with the people here. Their tiny conspiracies over the Pharaoh’s favor bore me to death,” she assured him.
He chuckled. “Yes, I’m sure of that.” He closed the distance between them and surrounded her waist with his arms.
She instinctively leaned her head back against his chest, and he pulled her closer to him. “Thank you for understanding,” she mumbled, closing her eyes when his hands slid up her belly and under her kalasiris to cup her big, round breasts.
“Don’t ever be afraid of talking to me. I want to know what’s in your head and what’s going on around you,” he asked her, in a serious tone, while he nuzzled her neck and his fingers clamped her hard nipples.
“Yes. I will,” her reply sounded more like a moan, while he helped her out of her clothes, too eager to have her.
Once he had her naked, he made her rest her hands over the combing table as he pulled her hips to meet his, allowing her to feel his hard cock against her buttocks.
“I’ve missed you. Have you missed me?” he asked, leaning on her back and nuzzling her neck.
She gasped, trying to clear her head from the waves of lust rushing through her. “Were you gone? I didn’t notice,” she teased him, ripping an amused chuckle from his lips before he bit her earlobe in retaliation.
“Are you sure?” he insisted, running his hands down her back until he had them over her buttocks, slightly squeezing them. “I can smell your arousal from here,” he added, flaring his nostrils with pleasure. She moaned and closed her eyes, surrendering to his passion.
Pleased, he slid a couple of fingers down her slit, until he reached her engorged clit and started to rub it, gently at first, but quickly going faster and rougher. Her legs started to shudder under his touch, while powerful waves of pleasure rushed through her, making her whimper.
He abandoned her clit and slid his hands up to her breasts, cupping them in a tight grip as he rested his hard cock at her entrance. Using her breasts as support, he thrust his cock deep inside her, ripping a loud moan from her lips. Her walls stretched to fit him, right before they welcomed him, clenching around his hard shaft as if she didn’t want to ever let go of him.
With his strong hands still grasping her breasts, he started to push in and out of her, dragging her back to the path to paradise, willing to take her along, one more time. Thrust after thrust, he went faster and deeper, until they were flying over the edge, right into the turmoil of pleasure and bliss they summoned together.
Aneksi collapsed over the table, and only the strong grip of Setau prevented her from falling to the floor.
Sliding out of her, he carried her to the bed and lying next to her, they stayed there for a few moments recovering from their sizzling passion.
That night, they were invited to have dinner with the Pharaoh, and though Aneksi would have rather stayed in their quarters, she knew she was in no position to say no.
Putting on her best garments, she accompanied the prince to the celebration. Fortunately, it wasn’t a big one, with just the Pharaoh’s family present and some of the Court residents.
Aneksi felt a bit out of place, since she had nothing in common with the women gathered in the room, but she did her best to be friendly and polite.
Unfortunately, one of the Pharaoh’s daughters seemed determined to make her night a living hell. Apparently, she had wanted her position and, as the Pharaoh’s daughter, she wasn’t used to having her wishes ignored so blatantly. Unable to go straight to the prince and protest, she had decided to attack Aneksi. What she was pursuing with such attacks, though, was beyond Aneksi’s comprehension. It wasn’t as if she could walk out on the prince, assuming she would want to. After the past days with him, she wasn’t so sure anymore.
Being with him had become an unexpected pleasure she wasn’t willing to lose so soon.
“I really don’t understand how a prince like Setau would choose someone with so little importance as you,” Nubia said, for the third time.
“You should ask him, your highness. After all, I wasn’t consulted,” Aneksi replied, with her best smile pasted on her face, though she could feel she was about to lose her patience.
The other girl huffed, disdainful. “I can’t do that; it wouldn’t be correct,” she said, in an arrogant tone. “You should admit you’re way over your head and ask him to let you go. I’m sure he would understand. Whatever was the whim that took him to pick you is sure to have faded by now, and I’m sure he’s ready to choose someone more appropriate,” she added.
“Someone like you, you mean, your highness?” she wasn’t able to hold back the question, starting to feel annoyed with the woman’s insistence. “And how do you suggest I do that? After all, he could feel insulted and turn the gods’ anger on our people,” she pointed out.
“Oh, please, I’m sure he would feel relieved for the chance to get rid of you, an obvious misjudgment on his part,” she assured her, with a scornful tone.
“Then, you should tell him that yourself. I’m sure he would be grateful to you for pointing out his mistake. In fact, why don’t you do it now? He’s coming this way,” she said, looking over the other woman’s shoulder at the prince, who was crossing the room in her direction.
“Have you lost your mind? It’s not my place to tell him that,” Nubia grumbled, putting her best smile on her face before she turned to greet the prince.
“Princess Nubia, I didn’t know you were such good friends with Aneksi,” he said, with a polite smile.
Aneksi could tell he knew the truth, that he was poking fun at the other woman and she had to make a real effort holding back her laughter.
“Oh, no… I mean… we hadn't met before… I was just…” the other woman mumbled, not sure how to explain the whole situation.
“Princess Nubia was just telling me how everybody was surprised when you chose me to be your guide during your stay with us,” Aneksi said, giving back a bit of the other woman’s medicine.
“Why surprised? You’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen, not to mention the one of the most interesting,” he said, arching one of his brows.
The look on the princess’ face was almost comical. “I was just saying, you went straight to her, you didn’t look around.” With every word, she dug her grave a bit deeper.
“I was looking for her, just her,” he replied, without explaining further, increasing the other woman’s confusion. “And it was the right choice.” He wrapped his arm around Aneksi’s waist as if to emphasize his words and Nubia nodded, defeated. Fortunately for her, they were called to sit at the table, and she didn’t have to comment on his words.
“Was she giving you a hard time?” he asked, whispering in her ear, as he walked her to the table.
“No, she was just being annoying. You’ve left a few broken hearts behind when you chose me,” she teased him.
“No, hurt pride I can accept, but surely not broken hearts. I doubt they know what love is,” he replied, scowling.
She chuckled and nodded. He was right of course. Nubia wasn’t in love with Setau. She just wanted to be the center of the attention and being the woman by the god’s emissary would give her just that.
Dinner was delicious, and Aneksi really enjoyed the food, relishing in all the flavors presented exquisitely.
“You seem to really enjoy food,” Setau said, with a smile.
“Yes, I do. I love to cook and try new récipes, and my parents allow me to cook for them. They actually prefer my food to that prepared by the cook,” she explained with a smile.
“You’ll have to cook for me one of these days,” he said, with a bright smile.
“I would love to,” she assured him.
When dinner was over, he guided her to the gardens outside their chambers. The sight of the big pyramid against the starry night was breathtaking.
“It’s an amazing construction,” she said, letting out a deep sigh.
“Yes, it is. I’m happy it’s going according to the plans,” he said, smiling pleased.
“Will you ever take me see it?” she asked him.
He laughed. “That’s the only reason you’re with me, isn’t it?”
She winked at him. “Of course, what else could it be?”
He laughed louder. “Come, I’ll take you now. It will be easier to go unnoticed,” he said, taking her by the hand and guiding her out of the palace, through the gardens.
“Are you sure?” she asked him, with a slight frown.
“Yes, no one will ever know we were there,” he said, with a wicked grin.
Smiling, she followed him, gladly. Like all of those living around the huge construction, she was very curious about the pyramids interiors. It was forbidden for those not involved in the construction to go near it, and those working on it weren’t allowed to talk about it.
That of course, only increased the people’s curiosity, and Aneksi was not the exception. She wanted to see what they were building, how they were decorating it, and she couldn’t believe he was really taking her there.