Pharoah (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Pharaoh

  “Asar.”

  “Oh, no.” Not him.

  “He will not say anything. He gave me his word.”

  “We are speaking of the same Asar who used to pull my pigtails.”

  Khai swept her up into his arms and walked her over to the bed and put her down upon it. He removed his shenti. “Yes, we are talking about the same Asar.”

  Zuri watched him with interest. “What are you doing?”

  “About to join my queen in her bath.”

  “Oh!” The idea of bathing with a man seemed too intimate.

  “Is there a problem?” He removed his collar, exposing that marvelous chest to her.

  “No, no problem at all.”

  He scooped her back up into his arms and carried her into his bathing room, which overlooked the Nile River.

  “The river looks beautiful from here.”

  He began undressing her again. “Yes it does.”

  Zuri hadn’t realized he was referring to her body until she caught him admiring her naked form. She tried to shield it from him.

  “Do not do that. Your body should be worshipped.” He carried her down the marbled steps and placed her into the warm water and gently began washing her with scented soap. When he finished, he took down her hair and began washing it.

  Not to be outdone, Zuri took the soap and loofah and washed pharaoh. The next thing she knew he had her spread out on a chaise lounge with his head buried between her legs having his way with her. Zuri sighed contently after the throes of the orgasm he gave her. Maybe she could put off going home to Kush for another day.

  * * * *

  Khai rubbed his temples. Bandru had been going on and on for nearly an hour about why a Nubian queen would not be good for Egypt. “The reasons you have given me are fine, but I am sure Zuri can handle it. She is very intelligent.”

  “Are you thinking with your mind or with your penis?”

  Hathor stifled a cough.

  “That has nothing to do with anything. Asar said I must choose a queen, and she is my choice. She satisfies all the criteria, including being of royal lineage.”

  “She is only eighteen years old. I do not think she is mature enough.”

  Khai looked over at the wizened vizier. “Is it her age or her race you are having problems with?”

  Bandru reddened. “Well, if you must know I am concerned about her race too. Your children’s skin will be dark.”

  Khai frowned. “What does that have to do with anything? I am nearly as dark as she is. The only difference is that mine was caused by the sun. She cannot help having dark skin any more than she can help being Nubian. Personally, I think we will make beautiful babies.”

  His mother agreed. “Nice, perfect little brown babies with the intelligence of both nations in their blood.” She frowned at Bandru. “I had no idea that you harbored such prejudices. And, as for her age, I was fourteen when I married Kemosiri, and I don’t think I did such a poor job as queen.”

  “No, you are an excellent queen. Even at the tender age of fourteen you were exceptional.”

  Khai scowled. Huh, the old coot is infatuated with my mother. Khai looked over at Asar, noting a look of surprise on his face at his grandfather’s statement. Khai shook his head negatively, not agreeing with the old man’s choices. “So we agree that age has nothing to do it, which just leaves race.”

  Bandru continued. “And that scandalous dance she did for you on your birthday. She was the talk of the evening the way she shook her hips at you.”

  Asar cleared his throat this time. “I found it enchanting.”

  Bandru scoffed. “You would. You have your father’s lascivious blood running through your veins. Which brings up another fact. Have you not noticed that my grandson is also interested in the future queen? How do the two of you plan to handle this situation?”

  Khai cast his glance at his vizier again for a denial of the accusation. None came. His love for Zuri was written all over his face.

  “There will be no problems,” Asar replied. “Khai has made his decision. I do not plan to interfere.”

  Khai frowned. He heard it from Asar’s lips, but he did not believe it. Why didn’t Asar deny that he was in love with Zuri?

  * * * *

  Zuri crept away from the throne room door embarrassed to be the object of the conversation. She hadn’t wanted this to happen any more than she wanted to be queen. Huh, she thought. Asar is in love with me. I never expected that. She had to leave, and right now while the others were distracted seemed like as good a time as any. She walked back to her room.

  Their home in Thebes was too far away for her to walk to. Her only other option was to find a horse and ride back on her own.

  Zuri gathered up her possessions and snuck out of the palace. The stables were on the far side of the compound, and, like everything else, they were heavily guarded.

  “Good morning, Princess Zuri.”

  Drat. She had been discovered. Luckily she had hidden her things before approaching. “Good morning.”

  “How can I help you?”

  “I was wondering if I can borrow a horse. I am in the mood to ride.”

  “Would you like for me to send a guard to accompany you?”

  “No, thank you. I am not going far.”

  The guard nodded to one of the others, and several minutes later, she was presented a horse and assisted up on it. An hour later, she had passed through the gate and was headed home to Kush.

  * * * *

  “What do you mean she is gone?”

  “She is not in her room, sire,” Bast told Khai. “Or yours. When I went to check on her, I discovered all her things gone.”

  Khai stormed out of the throne room and headed up the stairs to search for himself. Maybe she had just wandered off. He entered Zuri’s room. It was as clean as when she first arrived. He looked around. Bast was right. All of her possessions were gone. He bolted out of the room and went up another level to check his suite and the bathroom. She was not there either. Furiously, he stormed back down the stairs, shouting orders to his servants. “Princess Zuri is missing. Find her.” The servants scurried in all directions to search.

  Hathor came out of the kitchen. “What is the matter? You are shouting loud enough to wake the dead.”

  Khai paced the foyer. “Zuri is gone.”

  “Gone? What do you mean she is gone?”

  “She has taken her things and left the palace.”

  “But where did she go?”

  “The question is not where but why. I thought she was happy here.”

  “I thought so, too. What are you going to do?”

  “I am going after her.” He left the palace and summoned his guards.

  The captain of the guard arrived alone. “Yes, sire.”

  “Princess Zuri is gone. I need every able-bodied guard out searching the compound for her. She could not have gone far on foot, and her cousin left days ago with the litter.”

  The guard hesitated. “She has a horse.”

  Khai turned on him. “Where did she get a horse?”

  “Well, she got one from the stableman. He said she told him she felt like riding.”

  “And he just gave her one?”

  “What was he supposed to do? He told me she smiled at him. I would not have refused either.”

  Khai frowned. Even his guards were smitten with her. He supposed they heard about the dance. “Saddle my horse. I am going after your new queen.”

  The guard slapped his fist against his armor. “Yes, pharaoh.” He turned on his heels and left before Khai could take out his frustration on him.

  The guard arrived with the horse, and Khai mounted.

  “Are you sure you don’t want us to accompany you, sire?”

  “You would only slow me down. Send some men to search the rest of the compound and then have some follow me later.”

  “Where are you headed?”

  “Kush. She’s headed back home to her palace.”

 
* * * *

  Zuri climbed down from the horse and let it have its fill of water and feed at the oasis. They would be crossing the desert at the hottest part of the day, and she wanted to make sure the horse survived. She purchased herself a meal from a roadside vender and enough to carry with her for the long journey, and then she emptied her bladder and rested for a moment before pulling herself up and re-saddling the horse. At the rate she was going, she would probably be back home in two or three days. Shorter if she had her way. Khai must have discovered her gone by now and would be sending the guards behind her to fetch her back. Her plans were to get home and then send a rider back with the horse and a message thanking him for his hospitality so she would not be accused of being a horse thief.

  The desert loomed before her as far as the eye could see. Zuri wiped her brow. She had crossed it numerous times before in a litter. How hard was it going to be to cross it alone on a horse? She reined the horse forward and began singing a song to keep herself company.

  * * * *

  “Are you going to tell me what happened or do I have to guess?”

  Zuri tried to avoid looking Najre straight in the eyes.

  “Why didn’t you return with Furaha? Mother has been so worried.”

  “Why didn’t you wait for me after Khai talked to you? If you had, I might not be in this predicament.”

  “I had to get home.”

  “What was so important that you could not wait for me?”

  “I knew Furaha would make sure you would return safely to Kush.”

  “Then I guess that answered your questions. Furaha left me even though she knew I could not leave because Khai had not gotten around to interviewing me.”

  “Do not try to blame this on me. It is not my fault that there were so many other young women there. You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble by being your usually pushy self and demanding he interview you first.”

  Zuri flopped down on her bed and frowned. “I am not pushy.”

  Najre sat down next to her. “Well, what happened? Why did you come home unescorted on a horse? Do you realize you could have died of heat stroke in the desert or been kidnapped?”

  “Of course I know that. I had to leave quickly. Things were happening too fast.”

  “What sort of things?”

  “Things you do not want to know about.”

  “What have you done?”

  Zuri looked up at the ceiling. She could not say what she felt. “Khai and I finally got a chance to talk.”

  “Why do I get the feeling that you two did a lot more than just talk?”

  Zuri nibbled on her bottom lip.

  “Ah ha. I knew it. The two of you have had another argument.”

  Zuri rolled her eyes at Najre. “I have made a mess of things.”

  “What did you do? Come on, tell me. It cannot be that bad.”

  “I slept with Khai.”

  Najre gasped. “No!”

  Zuri nodded. “I did not mean to, in fact, it was the furthest thing from my mind. One minute Asar and I are arguing about Khai’s concubine, Mandisa, and then, next thing I know, I am the new queen of Egypt.”

  Najre jumped off the bed. “You are what? You have left out a considerable amount of explanation.”

  Zuri pulled her sister back down next to her. “Khai made me his queen.”

  “Mother is not going to like this.”

  “She won’t if we do not tell her.” Even she knew that it was a secret too big to keep.

  Najre moved again. “We cannot keep something like this a secret. He will surely come for you.”

  Zuri worried about that, too. “I sort of ran away from him.”

  “Why? Was he mean to you? Did he take advantage of you?”

  “No. His father’s vizier does not think that I will make a good queen. He gave some pretty good reason, citing my age and inexperience. I agreed with him up to that part, and then he said something dreadful.”

  “What?”

  “That he did not think I would be a good queen because Khai and my babies would be dark skinned.”

  “Then he is an asshole.”

  Zuri’s head sprung up at the sound of her mother’s voice. Zuri shook nervously. How much had she heard? Did she hear the part about her sleeping with Khai?

  “What does the color of a person’s skin have to do with anything?” She sashayed into the room and sat down on a stool across from her daughters. She wagged her finger in their faces. “The color of a person’s skin is inconsequential. Being a queen is a state of mind. It takes intelligence and patience. You will make a superior queen of Egypt.”

  Everything made since to her except her mother’s last statement. “So you are not opposed to this marriage?”

  “No, why would I be? I have known Khai since he was a boy. He will make you a good husband.”

  “He is so arrogant.”

  Samanya laughed. “That is one of the things I admired about your father.”

  “There is one other thing I need to explain. I cannot go back to the palace because I also found out that his vizier Asar is in love with me. Everyone knows, including Khai and Bandru.”

  Both her mother and her sister gasped.

  “He is an abomination,” her mother replied. “I would never agree to you being with him. He has been fraternizing with harlots and whores since he was a child.”

  Maybe Mother was not the right person to discuss Asar with, she mused. To be fair, she did not think that Asar was that bad. There was no proof, just speculation and gossip. He did not help matters much by not denying it.

  “Stay as far away from him as you possibly can.”

  “That will be hard to do if I return to Egypt. He is the vizier. Anyway, you do not have to worry about that. I do not like him in that way. And I have not said that I will go back to Egypt. I do not want to be queen. I just want to be me, Zuri, and I cannot break up a friendship. I will not be in the middle of him and Khai’s relationship.”

  “Asar is very attractive,” Najre added.

  Zuri shook her head at Najre. She was not helping. “I know that, but he is a menace no matter how good he smells or how perfect his smile or how broad his shoulders are.”

  Samanya reached over and shook Zuri by the shoulders. “This is not good.”

  “What are you saying??”

  “You say you hate Asar, but you have put all his best assets into your memory. I am trying to shake them out of you. I know you think that you hate him, but I am not convinced that you do.”

  “That is preposterous. I do not like him. He is an insufferable lout.”

  Najre rose. “She does not sound very convincing, does she, Mother? But I do not have any more time to dedicate to Zuri and this problem.”

  Zuri turned on her sister. “What do you mean?”

  “I have plans. Prince Chitemo is coming to see me. He and his family are visiting friends nearby. I must get ready.”

  Samanya clapped her hands. “Both my daughters will soon be wed and out of this palace.”

  “Chitemo is coming back here?” Zuri asked. “Have I missed something? Why is Prince Chitemo coming here, and why is mother sounding like she is glad to be getting us out of the palace?”

  Samanya rose. “Birds have to fly.” She left the room without answering either question, leaving Najre and Zuri to continue their private conversation.

  “Prince Chitemo wants to marry me. He is arriving today to get my answer. He proposed to me the last time I saw him.”

  Zuri hugged her sister. “Is this why you left Egypt so suddenly?”

  “Yes, I did not want Khai to choose me. I do not wish to marry him.”

  “Like you had a chance,” Zuri teased.

  Najre ignored her and then hugged her.

  “I am so excited for you. Furaha is going to be green with envy.”

  “I am not worried about her. She will latch herself on to some rich man one day. You never know. I think she and Asar would make a perfect couple
.”

  Zuri agreed.

  Najre fell silent. “I am worried about what is to be expected of me on my wedding night.”

  “You mean the intercourse?”

  “Yes, what if I am not good?”

  “I really do not see how you can’t be good. You are beautiful, and you should just let nature take its course.”

  “Can I ask you something? How was it when you and Khai coupled?”

  Zuri fell back on her bed. “Magical. He was so sweet and gentle.”

  “And you ran away from him?”

  Zuri sat up. “I was confused, and I did not know what else to do. I still don’t.”

  “Do you think you will succumb to Asar’s charms?”

  Zuri sighed. “I do not know that either.”

  “You will never know unless you go back.”

  “I still have time to figure things out. I at least have until Khai arrives.”

  “Horses are approaching,” someone shouted from outside.

  “Or maybe not,” Asar replied.

  * * * *

  It was not Khai. Asar stepped down from a horse and marched up to her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. “Are you crazy? Why did you leave Egypt like a thief in the night?”Khai folded his arms around her. “You had me so scared. I thought something might have happened to you when you did not return to the palace.” He kissed her forehead.

  Zuri moved out of his grasp.

  “Khai will be furious.”

  Zuri looked around. “Where is he? I do not see him. See? He is not concerned.”

  “Oh, he will be here. I am just ahead of him, I am sure.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I saw you leave on horseback, and when you did not come back, I came to look for you. It did not take me long to figure out that you were leaving Egypt and heading back here unescorted. That was a damn fool thing to do. You could have been ambushed. You are the queen of Egypt. It is not safe for you to travel alone.”

  “No one knows that except for a couple of people.”

  “You are also a princess of Nubia. You should not be traveling alone.”

  “Well, you can go back to Egypt. I have made it home safely.” She walked away from him.