If You Feel Better

Chapter 16

They had hung hand-painted posters of Aya and Bakura in every place they could think of: every town, every village, and every landmark in between. As they combed through the country over and over again, they replaced ones that had been ripped down by misfits or blown away by the wind. They put up paintings of the two from different angles, increased the reward money, and questioned every person they came across, but it seemed that no matter how much they tried to get the word out, they were no closer to finding the princess.

Mana summoned her spell book in front of her, flipping through the pages fervently. "Come on," she groaned, searching desperately. "There's got to be something in here that can help find the princess."

The pharaoh called a meeting in the throne room to get updates from the sacred guardians about their individual searches for Princess Aya. Unfortunately, there wasn't much.

"My pharaoh," Priest Karim said, taking a knee. "We have been searching for Princess Aya and Bakura for a month now. We have found no trace. We have exhausted all of our options. Forgive me for saying, but perhaps we should think about . . . who should inherit the throne should we fail to find the princess."

The room was filled with gasps, appalled that Karim would even suggest such a thing.

"How could you even mention that?!" the short, old man, Shimon spoke. "You are talking about the pharaoh's daughter! The future of our country! We can't just give up on her!"

"And we won't," Karim clarified. "We will continue searching. I am only suggesting being prepared in case we can't find her."

"As much as I hate to say it, I must agree with Karim," Aknadin stated, sadly shaking his head. "Our searches have been useless. We are clearly wasting time."

"You are asking a man to presume his daughter is dead!" Priest Seto chastised with narrowed, angry eyes. "How dare you! What if it was your daughter?!"

"I would be in great grief as well," Aknadin retorted calmly. "But I am not the pharaoh of Egypt. There is responsibility with that title. We cannot just ignore our duties to the country."

"We will not ignore our duties and neither will the pharaoh!" Priest Shada spoke up. "There must be something else we can do. What other information do we have on Bakura? Do we know where his lair is?"

"We don't even know if Bakura is the one who took her! We're just making a guess! All of our research into him may have been for nothing! Too much time has passed. If we were going to find Princess Aya, we would have done so by now! Our only hope is that she frees herself, wherever she is, and finds her way home."

The pharaoh slammed his fist on the armrest of his throne and stood wrathfully. "Enough!" he yelled.

All of the chatter and arguing was immediately silenced, all attention turning to their leader. They had been too busy quarrelling with each other to see the tears rolling down his face or the pure fury in his eyes, but now they saw. They all kneeled in unison with a fist over their hearts to receive their order from their king.

He stood as tall as he could, though he was still a very short man. "We will not give up looking!" he commanded, his voice resonating throughout the room, deep and authoritative, demanding obedience from his followers. "How dare you even mention such a thing! She is only one who will ever inherit this throne after me! Aya is still alive! And we will find her! There will be no choosing another heir! And this is the last I want to hear of it!"

"Yes, my pharaoh," everyone spoke, bowing their heads respectfully.

~

Bakura rubbed his face as he made his way back to his room. He was frustrated. He was not where he wanted in regards to the princess. He had expected to have had the marriage contract signed by now and have already overthrown the palace.