If You Feel Better

Chapter 4

Pharaoh Atem and Queen Alda sat on horseback next to each other, staring determined at the empty desert in front of them. Their six priests had already gone out with the entire Egyptian army to search in different areas for Princess Aya's whereabouts.

They felt uneasy about sitting around, doing nothing, and waiting for news. They couldn't eat, they couldn't sleep, and they couldn't focus on any other matter than their daughter's disappearance. So, they had saddled up, with no protection other than each other, and set out to search along the banks of the Nile, an area their priests wouldn't be near based on their strategic plan.

"What happens if we find her?" the queen asked her husband. It was true; they hadn't even come up with a plan for themselves. They set out with no other thoughts than that of parents wanting to find their missing child.

The pharaoh knew it wasn't a good idea, but even he couldn't help himself. He shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted. "We'll figure something out if we do." He prayed to the Egyptian gods for Aya's safety, hoping that everything would turn out alright in the end.

~

This is your fault, Aya, the princess scolded herself in her mind. You got careless and were found out. Bakura even said there were rumors about you.

She was still in that bedroom where Bakura left her, tied to that splintery wooden chair. She had tried to free herself the entire time he was gone, but couldn't seem to get anywhere. Her wrists were rubbed raw from her attempts, but were no closer to being freed than when she first got captured.

Alright, think, she told herself. Stay calm. Look around. There must be something useful in here. Bakura had left the candles lit, illuminating the room just enough for Aya to see. There was nothing on the bed besides a mattress and some sheets, not exactly anything she could escape with. On the table next to her, there were some brass mugs and a ceramic bowl. That's it! She had her plan. She had to get to that ceramic bowl. But how?

She was practically immobile being tied to that chair. She couldn't stand up, let alone walk. It was so close to her, she could taste it, but far enough out of her reach that it was useless where it was. Step one: get out of this chair, she thought. And then it hit her. I'm such an idiot! I've only been trying to untie myself! Bakura didn't tie my feet to the legs of the chair. He tied them together! And I'm flexible. I can get out of this chair just like this!

Aya took a few deep starting breaths and lifted her feet onto the seat of the chair with the rest of her. It was an awkward position, but next she had to get her feet underneath her, as if she were sitting on her knees. She twisted and turned herself uncomfortably, gritting her teeth at the pain of practically pulling her own arms off. But finally, she was able to sit on her legs, stretching her arms to the breaking point to do so. She huffed, trying to soothe the pain in her arms away, and sucked in a deep breath, pushing her back against the back of the chair to create as much space between her roped-up hands and the chair as possible. Then she heaved herself straight up, using her legs underneath her to push up as hard as she could. She paused, taking a couple more breaths before using her legs to push herself up even further. She felt her arms start to rise over the top of the chair behind her. It's working! Just a little more! she encouraged herself. She gave one more major push with her legs and her hands popped out from behind the chair, her body no longer anchored to a piece of furniture.

The force of her last push and all four of her limbs being tied caused her to lose balance, toppling herself from the chair to the floor, landing harshly on her shoulder with a loud thud! She gave a pained "Oof!", but otherwise made no noise, trying to be as quiet as possible. She let out a hurt breath from her shoulder injury and then wormed her way to the closest leg of the table, using it as stability to slowly stand herself up and then lean on it.