Chapter 13: Inner thoughts
~Experience will show you; a Master can only point the way.~
Akhenaten spent most of the next day in excruciating pain. He later discovered-quite distastefully—that Aria didn't need to be near him before the bout of pain flooded his entire body. He only needed to think about her.
The Oracles were sly—he knew.
It must be exciting for them to see him in such suffering.
Amun had said that the closer she got to her, the more maddening the pain would be.
Akhenaten released a puff of air.
The pain didn't make him want to see her any less.
The Oracles were clever but he was their leader for a reason.
He went to his lake and sat by the bank, on the ground and folded his legs underneath him
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He exhaled and opened his eyes they were a startling blue.
Akhenaten chanted and he felt everything around him come to life.
The familiar power coursed through him in waves.
The torches lit around the stone walls seemed to burn with a fiercer intensity.
He closed his eyes and concentrated. With a single word in the form of a name, he summoned a demon.
"My Lord." The frightening demon spoke, head bowed.
Its entire body was shrouded in a dark mist which wrapped around its body like an article of clothing, covering also its head and face leaving only its red inhumane eyes exposed.
"I need you to send the Oracles a message."
"Tell them to release me, I know what they're planning. If they don't—" Akhenaten let the underlying threat seep into his words.
The demon nodded once again and disappeared into the smoke.
Akhenaten closed his eyes once he was alone again.
A sigh escaped his lips.
He concentrated and in a few short seconds, he was able to locate her.
'Aria...'
He saw her alone, she was by the washing pool.
She sat by the warm pool moving her legs lazily in the water.
She was wearing a very thin clothing-an undergarment.
He felt his throat dry up.
He could only see her back, he so much wanted to go to her, to touch her, but he knew he couldn't.
He was merely projecting.
He sat beside her, blue eyes taking in her face.
She looked peaceful, happily oblivious.
He was tempted to look down but he didn't.
For the very first time, he noticed how thin and small she really was.
At that point, he was feeling all sorts of emotions and he couldn't name one.
He was trying to block the physical pain with his spells but he knew it couldn't last.
His 'punishment' had been meted by the Oracles, so it wasn't to be trifled.
The cool breeze blew her short midnight hair into her eyes and his hand twitched to brush it away.
Akhenaten's body responded by the lake.
It was time he left...
As he was about standing from beside her, he heard her sigh.
He turned to look at her—her eyes were sad.
He watched her as she closed her eyes, her face raised towards the sun.
Akhenaten heart sped faster than it had ever done in years.
The sun rays reflected on her beautiful skin which was a little tanned from the Egyptian sun.
'She was beautiful.'
The thought startled him so much so that his eyes widened a little.
She sighed again and that was when he heard her speak.
"God, when will I be free?" He heard her whisper.
"I'm unhappy here. I miss my family." She continued.
'God...?'
Akhenaten had heard her say the word.
'Why did he feel she hadn't been referring to him?'
'Was there any God besides him?'
Because in Egypt there were many gods but Pharaoh was considered higher than any of them.
He was regent which made him, in a way, also Pharaoh.
Meaning he was their god—the god of Egypt.
He was a deity himself, one the people will soon come to fear and respect.
He looked back at her.
'So which god was she referring to?'
'Did she know, he was also a god?'
The people worshipped him and his father.
He knew she was Israeli.
He'd read a little about their history, about their deity but he decided he would do more research.
He wondered if she was devoted to her country's deity.
Akhenaten felt jealousy rise inside of him.
The thought of her showing adoration and worship to a deity filled him with such rage.
He stood up suddenly.
The thought left a bad taste in his mouth.
He wanted to be the only god she saw, the only one she worshipped.
He turned his back to her and walked away fizzling out.
Akhenaten opened his eyes, his bright blue eyes steadily turned back to their amber ones.
He stared at the lake in front of him for what must have been hours.
He was only brought out of his trance when his demon appeared, head bowed.
"I have delivered your message Master." The raspy voice said.
Akhenaten merely nodded.
"They have agreed to lift the punishment, on one condition."
"The price for both your hands will be equivalent to two mortals." It stated.
Akhenaten nodded.
"I accept."
•••
Aria was usually lonely most of the time in the impossibly big Palace, but recently, she'd tried to make a few friends in the Palace and she found out most of them were pleasant.
They were at the servants quarters, by the dining halls.
Today, they had mostly fruits, there were pomegranates, berries, banana and much more.
They were served watered wine too-since they couldn't get intoxicated during duty.
On their table, there were three of them-including Aria.
"So Ahit, where you from?" Achen, who was a brown, average height Egyptian asked her.
Aria found that she was a bit shy around them.
She looked at her hands.
"I'm Israeli." She answered quietly.
Achen whistled.
"You know, I had my doubts you were Egyptian because your skin is a shade lighter than most." Achen pointed out excitedly.
"So tell us your Israeli name." Achen urged.
Aria looked up at the two of them.
The second one whose name was Ahura seemed like the quieter ones.
Aria swallowed.
"It's Aria." She answered.
"That's a lovely name." Ahura complimented.
Aria smiled at her, grateful.
She was beautiful with dark brown skin.
"Thank you, Ahura." Ahura nodded back with a smile.
"Aria, what brought you to Egypt?" How long have you been here?" Achen asked.
Aria's eyes saddened a little.
"Since I was four. My country was invaded, my family and I were part of a small remnant that escaped, others were killed and many were thrown into captivity. I haven't seen them in almost three years." Aria said quietly.
She was over twenty now.
Ahura's eyes were filled with sympathy, same as Achen's.
They both sat by her side and gave her a comforting hug.
"We'll be your family here Aria, it's okay," Achen said softly. Ahura nodded too.
"We'll always have each others' back," Ahura said.
For the first time in a very long time, Aria felt loved.
She didn't feel so lonely anymore.
A teary smile broke out on her lips.
•••
Aria laid on her bed as thoughts of him flooded her mind.
Ever since their last meeting-the night, he had shown up with bandaged hands-she hadn't seen him and she never went by his lake.
She wanted distance from him, she needed to clear her thoughts.
Her thoughts couldn't help but go to Ammon-the Egyptian she had met by the Nile, by her secret place back home.
Akhenaten had claimed he was his brother.
Ammon looked around her age but Akhenaten looked much older.
Aria had asked Achen in one of their subsequent lunch breaks how old the Crown Prince really was.
Achen had told her he was twenty-six.
Aria remembered how she and Ammon had sat briefly by the Nile and just talked.
In a way, Akhenaten reminded her of him.
Ammon had dark brown eyes while Akhenaten had amber eyes, the same amber eyes she'd seen in her vision.
'What was their story?'
'How did the two connect?'
For a brief moment, Aria had wanted to allow herself to believe that Akhenaten was Ammon, but she didn't know why she'd been a little disappointed when he'd said otherwise.
They were brothers...and Akhenaten had killed him, and he hadn't been ashamed to say it.
'What happened?'
'Why would he kill his own brother?'
Sometimes, Aria found herself being absolutely terrified of him.
She couldn't read him, she just couldn't read him.
He was like a sealed tomb.
He never showed how he felt, no emotion whatsoever.
His eyes were unreadable and they always seemed to look into her very soul.
She wondered why he had permitted her intrusion for so long, why he never threw her in the dungeon for associating herself with the Crown Prince turned regent no less.
She, a mere servant.
It made her wonder if he had any sinister plans for her or if he merely left her be because she was so insignificant and was of no real importance.
After all, she was just a servant.
The only time he ever sought her out, was the last time they'd met.
Ever since he hadn't.
'But why should she care?'
Was it because a little piece of her was happy someone at least showed the least bit of attention to someone like her?
She couldn't even answer her own questions, because she was afraid and ashamed of what those answers would be.
She curled in on herself on her mattress, facing the wall.
She was a nobody but she wanted him to see her as somebody.
She didn't even know what she felt. 'And how could she explain what she doesn't even understand?'
She knew those thoughts were toxic but she had no will to stop them.
She didn't want to, not really.
She knew she couldn't see him with her present state of mind, she'd crumble.
...
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone