Nyla sat on the soft mattress of the Pharaoh's room, hidden by sheer cloth that draped from the golden pillars near the bed, a gentle breeze drifting through the curtains that hid her, a view of a crescent shining through the balcony. His room was adorned in rubies, emeralds, gold, and opals, gems scintillating in dappled light and shadows casting through the numerous candles that lit his room like the stars against a night sky.
The night's kiss touched her exposed skin, forcing Nyla to wrap the duvet around her body. Her white gown creased throughout the night, and she was pushed into this room by guards. She had a gnawing gut feeling that the night would end in something too scandalous for her to even fathom, yet she was helpless against the power of the Pharaoh.
She sought comfort in the silence of his chambers, the wind of night whispering against her skin, and the faint sound of guests leaving in a drunken haze, laughing, drooling, and tripping over their own feet. The guards murmured to each other outside the door, wondering if Nyla truly did cast a spell on their Pharaoh.
The thought angered her. How could they even speculate that she would abuse the power of the gods like that? She was raised by a high priestess and taught the value of the Egyptian rituals and prayers. Sorcery was a myth to her.
Still, she stayed silent in that large room, awaiting her doom and a promiscuous Pharaoh. She was lucky her clothes were still in tact given his public display in the hall. Embarrassment and shame coursed through her body, causing her skin to tint in a rosy flame, the heat rising from her toes to her head.
As the night grew more fervent through the desert heat and sand dunes rose with the intensity and speed of the winds, Nyla found herself in the same, helpless position, stuck on his bed with no way to escape. Even climbing down the balcony would get her caught.
Guards littered every aspect of the palace, especially when the Pharaoh gave specific orders to keep a close eye on Nyla. The more she waited, the more her anxiety grew, the more her heart plummeted in disappointment.
When Nyla almost lost herself to the heavy sleep against her eyelids, the doors creaked open, loud footsteps thundering into the room. Instantly, her body jolted awake, fear paralyzing her for a split moment.
His silhouette circled the bed, his body blurred by the sheerness and reflecting light against the drapes, but Nyla could still make out the crevices of his muscles, the outline of his shape, and the straight jaw that could cut her demeanor into pieces. His appearance only amplified the fear that swallowed her.
The Pharaoh walked slowly like a predator stalking his prey, his pearly teeth glinting in the moonlight, almost as iridescent as the white, small dots scattered across the sky, an eternity calling to them. He paused beside the bed, staring into the drapes and directly at Nyla's frozen form.
The minutes seemed to tick by, the seconds wavering as his figure stayed still, hands behind his back. Not an inch of him moved. Unconsciously, Nyla pulled the sheets tighter around her body. A heavy, tense silence befell them, the Pharaoh in deep concentration, quiet and calm, collected through the inner turmoil that swept the room in his aura.
"Why did you bring me here?" asked Nyla, breaking the thin air.
Her breath wavered as she watched his stone figure come back to reality, strong arms pushing the veils around his bed to the side. As the candles' flickering lights cast shadows across his visage, down his jaw line, and to the outline of his lips, he began to move closer to Nyla, approaching her like he would to a scared, wounded animal.
A thick, gold necklace adorned his shoulders and down part of his bare chest, black as night kohl under his eye and a gentle gaze of brown warming the chilling cold Nyla previously felt. He wore a white half-pleated kilt to the banquet with a lion's tail hanging from the belt to display his power. She noticed how he kept far from the extravagance that previous Pharaohs indulged in from their clothes to their foreign women.
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Stars After Midnight
Historical Fiction*THREE COMPLETE SHORT STORIES* A fairytale of adventures where heroines and heroes meet in different worlds with different customs, where their love has no bounds and their struggles have no limits. Set in a period before our time, these couples ho...
