The Princess and the Thief

Amunet - [First Sight]

I was young... and as a young child often is, I was wild. Throughout my childhood I found it amusing to run around the villages and prank people. And that was exactly what I did. I enjoyed the excitement that ran through me when the guards chased me, even though the excitement would turn into fear when they caught me.

But of course, my pranks would not, and could not, be tolerated for too long.

I had lived for about ten years when I was sitting on a log in the village, tired. The guards were walking around closely, watching me. They knew well that I was a troublemaker.

But today, I was just so hungry.

So I walked into the market, knowing the guards were following me, and stopped at a booth where a man was selling bread.

“Good morning!” I smiled.

He watched me carefully. “Morning.” He finally said.

I tip toed so that I could see the bread and saw that the man was still watching me.

So I shrugged.

I grabbed a piece quickly and turned to run.

The baker yelled. “Thief!”

I giggled, turning to look at the angry man, but was shocked when a hand grabbed my arm tightly.

That was fast.

A guard looked down at me angrily.

The baker walked over to us and grabbed the bread from me. “I have had it with you!” He yelled and then looked at the guard. “Punish the child!”

The guard looked down at me with a frown, and when I grinned, he shook his head. “That’s it!” He said. “Come with me.”

He easily picked me up and placed me on his horse, getting up behind me.

When the horse started to move, I leaned to a side and peeked behind us, three other guards followed.

I looked forward again, grinning. It took four grown men to contain me!

I felt so powerful.

But soon, my grin faded.

We were headed for the palace.

We walked into the throne room, the guard still had a tight grip on my arm. Soon enough, I saw the King sitting on his throne.

He sat there proudly, the King of Egypt. Pharaoh Arius.

As soon as he saw me, his eyebrows rose slowly. “Again?”

He asked with a sigh. He turned to the guard who was holding my arm. “What happened this time?”

The guard let go of my arm and bowed, knowing that I wouldn’t dare to cause trouble in front of the King. “Stole bread, my King.”

Anger flashed in the Kings eyes. “Stealing?” He looked back at me.

I pouted and looked down, scared. I was also a little embarrassed. I was covered in dirt and my hair was messy. I hated looking bad in front of the King. It probably made him angrier.

“Stealing is the worst you’ve done yet—”

“But I—”

“Do not speak when I am speaking.” The King said, raising his voice.

I let out a small whimper and kept my eyes on the floor.

“Stealing is wrong, it is a crime. Do you understand?”

I nodded, feeling the stares of all the people in the court, I felt more embarrassed. Plus, the guards must have been satisfied with this.

“If you don’t stop, I’m going to have to throw you into the dungeons along with the other criminals. Understood?”

I kept my head down starting to get scared. But then I looked up at him through my long eyelashes, batting them at same time. “Sorry Papa.”

He tried to stay serious, but I knew he couldn’t resist that face. So he sighed. “Come here.” He said.

I heard Aunty Tabia chuckle.

I smiled as I skipped over to him, being careful on the staircase to make sure I didn’t trip.

He leaned forward and looked carefully at me. “I will not be pleased if my daughter is labeled as a thief.” He said. “Promise me you will stop.”

I nodded. “Yes Papa.”

“Good.” He said as he lifted me up and placed me on his lap. He kissed my cheek and I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

When I pulled away, he was looking at me. “Amunet...” He sighed. “I want you to stop leaving the palace for now.”

The guards sighed in relief, which made my father smile.

But I frowned. “But Papa! Why?”

“Because you are causing trouble, and these guards need a break.” He jerked his chin at the four guards who returned me.

“But—”

“Listen to me, love.” He said. “I am not banning you from leaving. I am just asking for you to stop for a while. You are too young to be running around like this. I want you to wait until you are grown and more responsible.”

I looked down at my hands, frowning. “Yes Papa.” Even though I didn’t like the sound of that, I agreed to it.

My father meant a lot to me. I admired him greatly and even though I love to have fun, I also hated to let him down.

So I decided to listen to him, because it would make him happy.

He smiled and kissed my cheek again. “That’s my girl.” He then lifted me off his lap and placed me on the floor. “Go find your mother and clean yourself up, you’re a mess.” He smiled.

I nodded my head, smiling too, but I was a little disappointed when my father nodded at the four guards who bowed and followed me.

I listened to my father after that, I never left the palace unless it was with him, my mother or my brother.

It didn’t really change much though. My twin brother Amun was very good at keeping me company, and since we were so close, he even let my play with the wooden swords he and his friends made.

He and I are still close. So close that even as years passed, we continued to sleep in the same room, on the same bed.

My mother had raised us that way.

My mother. I loved her just as much as I loved my father. I admired her just as much too. She was called, by many, the Slave Queen or the Queen of Slaves. Her achievements as a queen, former slave or not, were uncountable. I wanted to be just like her. Helping many, rebuilding villages, loved by everyone... Plus, she was so beautiful.

She was surprisingly stricter than my father was, which was often why I was more attached to my father, but I loved her all the same.

My brother, who was also my best friend, was the kindest brother in the world. I knew it.

And our relationship stayed the same as we grew.

He was actually with me the day my life changed for good.

It was seven years after the bread incident and my brother and I had left the Palace together to socialize with the peasants.

Now that he and I had grown to be seventeen, my father trusted us more, and he knew the peasants loved our presence.

Most peasants no longer remembered how much of a troublemaker I once was. Unlike when I was a child, if I were to take bread from the baker now, they would consider it a blessing, not a theft.

Now, I was the beautiful Princess with the long black hair and gorgeous green eyes.

I remembered everything about that day, it was a day I could never forget. I was wearing a long beige robe and was covered with jewels. My black hair was parted in the center and fell well below the small of my back. I also wore a thin gold headband which was placed on my head.

My brother, who stood by my side, was taller than me, and now that we were older, we looked less alike. The only similarities we had left were the color of our hair, our green eyes and the shape of our noses.

His hair was cut short, but since it was cut quite a while ago, it began to fall over his eyes. He was muscular and quite manly for a seventeen year old, but he wasn't too muscular that he was scary.

His voice had changed, and was deeper now, not deeper than my father’s though.

He was wearing beige harem pants and no shirt, but most of his bare body was covered with jewels.

It was when my brother was speaking with a craftsmen that I saw the cute puppy.

It had white fur and brown spots.

I watched it for a while. Dogs like this were not easy to find in Egypt. I wondered where this one came from.

So I followed it.

When it saw me, it turned around and rushed into an ally between two large mudbrick buildings. I followed it, I wasn’t scared, I just wanted that puppy.

Soon, we had made it to a dead end. The puppy rushed to a corner and looked at me, scared.

I kneeled down and held my hand out. “Come here, little baby. I won’t hurt you.”

I suddenly gasped when I saw something drop in front of me. It took me a moment to realize that it was a man.

I was about to scream but he pushed me back, startling me, and pinned me against the ground.

“Give me your jewels.” He said.

I hadn’t noticed my eyes had been tightly shut until he spoke.

When I opened them, I saw his brown eyes widen, but he narrowed them again quickly.

I scowled and tried to pull away. “How dare you!” I said. “Do you know who I am?”

He raised an eyebrow and gave me a half smile. If he wasn’t trying to steal from me, I would have called him attractive. “I don’t think I care.” He said. “Now hand me your jewels.”

I looked at him and then quickly lifted my knee, attempting to kick him in his sensitive spot.

But suddenly, my knee started to ache and when I looked at him, he grinned. “I was prepared for that.”

I wanted to laugh at the thought that he had covered his sensitive spot with armor. Men were amusing. But in the current situation, I was a little too nervous to laugh.

Instead, my eyes widened, but I forced myself to relax and looked at him again. He was tall, and like my brother, had an average build.

He had short brown hair which fell over his eyes, but it was long enough for him to tie some of it back into a stubby ponytail.

He had chiseled features and was clearly someone who excercised often.

He raised an eyebrow and smirked. “What? You find me attractive, beautiful?”

I opened my mouth to say something but closed it.

I wasn’t going to let him steal my jewels. Especially since I was wearing my favourite snake eye necklace and earrings.

They were one of a kind and could not be replaced.

So I thought quickly and smiled. “Yes, you are very attractive.”

He gave me his attractive half smile.

“Can I know your name?”

He scoffed. “You don’t know who I am?”

I hesitated.

He smiled again and leaned forward. “The man who is on top of you right now is the great King of Thieves.” He whispered into my ear.

My heart stopped.

If he was telling the truth, I definitely had to get out of here.

The King of Thieves, one of the most vile and hated criminals in all of Egypt and many other neighboring nations.

What on earth was he doing here?

I shook that thought aside. I had to think.

“You’re scared.” He grinned.

I didn’t show my fear. Instead, I smiled. “Oh... that sounds interesting. I feel even more inclined to be attracted to a man like you.”

He c****d his head to a side but sighed, he let go of one of my hands, held my wrist and placed it over my necklace. “Remove your jewels.” He said.

But before he could remove his hand, I grabbed it.

He wasn’t at all startled by this. Instead, he looked at me.

I took his hand and placed it over my left breast.

Of course, I was unbelievably disgusted and unbelievably uncomfortably, but I had to get out of here. And of course, he was just another evil hearted man. And my friends have told me what evil hearted men lik him want.

“You are quite the man.” I said, giving him the most seductive smile I could make.

His eyes narrowed again, but the half smile returned.

And then I had to force myself not to gasp when he squeezed.

I swallowed hard and placed my free hand behind his head, moving his head closer my face.

He was smiling, but watching me carefully, his hand still on my chest.

After staring into his eyes for a moment, I pulled his head closer to me and kissed his lips.

It was my first kiss and though I was upset that I wasted it with this thief, I was immensely proud of myself, my plan was working.

He may have been a thief, but he was still a man, and I was a woman.

He deepened the kiss.

“Are you a prostitute?” He asked against my lips.

I was insulted by that.

He didn’t wait for a response though, instead, he kissed me again and started to move his hands. I didn’t let him go any further though. I pushed him with my free hand. His lips ripped away from mine as he fell to one side, on his back.

I quickly got up and sat on top of him.

But before he could figure out what was going on, I bent forward and kissed him again.

When I pulled away, I saw that he looked dazed.

I then slapped him, hard. "I'm a smart Princess. Not a prostitute." I said

I got up quickly and ran, only stopping to pick up the dog which was walking away.

When I turned, I saw that he wasn’t following me.

Instead, he sat there, one hand on the cheek I had hit, staring at me as I ran off.

I was so tempted to stick my tongue out at him, but forced myself not too. I wanted to look professional. So instead, I simply smiled.

For the first time in years, I felt powerful again.

To be honest, I never ever thought I would see him again, let alone the next day.

Amunet - [First Sight]