If You Feel Better

Chapter 40

"Are you sure?" the pharaoh questioned, his eyes pleading with hopeful desperation.

The two guards knelt respectfully in front of him, bowing in submissive representation. They just finished reporting the scene they saw before the storm had taken over, though there was not much support for it being the princess.

But the pharaoh fully believed this could be his daughter. How much maroon was there in the Egyptian desert? And how many people wore such a color? The nobility and royalty could wear more colorful clothing, but the vast majority of citizens were peasants and could not afford anything other than the white and beige of cheap, everyday cloth.

"We are sure," one responded, concerned about accidentally giving the pharaoh false hope. "But we saw very little, my pharaoh. We were too far away. We only saw a speck on the horizon. It is not enough to say that it is any evidence of your daughter."

"It's something to explore," the pharaoh stated with renewed determination. They had run out of leads to follow regarding the whereabouts of Aya and Bakura. They had very little information since the attack on the city. They were wasting an exuberant amount of precious resources searching random areas with no evidence whatsoever. They had been finally forced to call off the search. "Seto, as soon as it's safe enough to send a party out there, we will investigate if there's any evidence of Bakura or Aya. Get ready."

Priest Seto thumped a fist over his heart and bowed. "Yes, my pharaoh," he obeyed.

~

Aya and Bakura finally reached their destination on horseback. The storm had cleared up beautifully, leaving behind nothing but the sun and a fresh layer of sand atop the old. When Aya had woken up, she was surprised that the tempest that had been raging with an unforgiving vengeance had completely disappeared as if it had never happened to begin with.

Three of Bakura's men were already outside, waiting patiently for their master's arrival. This was a lair she had never seen before. She wasn't sure how many Bakura had hidden away within the deserts of Egypt, but she assumed it was at least five. One of his men grabbed the horse's reins, holding it still while Bakura jumped off effortlessly. He then took Aya's hand and helped her off as well, his servant then took the horse away to the paddock.

"Welcome back, my Lord," one of the others said, bowing slightly to Bakura.

Bakura grinned to himself, dusting off his hands from the leather reins he had been holding onto for the past four hours. "How much loot were we able to steal from the party?" he asked nonchalantly.

Aya's ears perked up at the mention of the party. It seemed so long ago, when in reality it had only been two weeks. She had actually forgotten about it. Being captured by Bakura was something she had gotten so used to that it had begun to feel like normal everyday life.

"We managed to grab enough to purchase five houses," he confirmed.

"Hmph, not much," Bakura said with dissatisfaction. "Though I suppose most of you were busy slaughtering the people, so it's not bad."

The way he was able to speak about it with such disregard made Aya feel sick. She remembered the terrified, blubbering faces of the hostages at the party with knives at their throats and at the mercy of Bakura's call. She had not been able to see their conclusion herself as she had attacked and then run away from Bakura, but she was more than sure that they had not been spared.

"What of the other spoils since I've been gone?" he continued, shrugging off his robe and folding it up. It was a sweltering day, just as nearly every day, far too hot to have any extra clothing on at all. His skin was more bronze than usual, toasting in the unencumbered sun for days. He was glistening with sweat, dripping down his back and chest. Aya wondered how he hadn't shredded off his robe earlier. "I assume you haven't been sitting here doing nothing this entire time."

"We reentered Tapre to finish off the southwest corner. Unfortunately, that seems to be the poorest part of the village, so they didn't have much. Then we hit Aske, which we haven't touched for a few years. That raid was much more bountiful since they've had some time to recover since our last hit. They were a bit more resistant, but nothing turning them into corpses couldn't fix."

"Excellent," Bakura praised, wiping his face and body with a linen cloth. "Plenty to trade and hoard."

The third man handed him a fresh waterskin, which Bakura drank greedily. They had been down to their last waterskin, which was dwindled to near nothing. What was left was old and hot from the sun. After chugging half, he held it out to Aya, expecting her to take it.

"Drink this," he ordered.

Obediently, Aya took it and drank the remainder without complaint. It was cool and refreshing after so long with only warm water. But all too soon, it ran out. She wanted more. But she didn't dare speak up.

"What of the rations?" he continued to ask his henchman.

"We've got everything!" he said ecstatically. "We stole beef, birds, fish, cheese, and all sorts of vegetables and fruit! We've gotten enough to keep us fed for ages! And better yet, we got so much alcohol that we'll never go sober again!"

Bakura belt out a laugh in a far better mood than he had been for a while. He turned to the princess with an amused chuckle. "You're in for a treat tonight, princess."