The Princess and the Thief

Arius - [Broken Father]

“I’m not going to just sit here and do nothing.” I said to Lord Asim and General Boman. “You two must be insane to think that I will do such a thing.”

The two large men looked at each other. “My Pharaoh.” Lord Asim started. “Egypt is soon going to be in panic.”

“Rumors have already started to spread about the return of the King of Thieves and the people needs you to be there to reassure them of their safety.” General Boman said.

“But my daughter is missing!” I yelled.

The throne room silenced and my voice echoed around.

“My daughter Lord Asim and General Boman. The girl that this man had the nerve to kidnap is my daughter!”

The two men looked at the floor.

“I will not rest until that mans head is at my feet.” I growled.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Alexandra looking at me. I turned and looked at her. We stared at each other for a moment, and then I looked back at the two men.

“I will speak with the public.” I said, sighing. “But I’m not going to sit here while my daughter’s life is at risk.”

Lady Akila bowed. “I will make public the news that you will be speaking to the people of Egypt.”

I nodded at her as I turned around and walked back up to my throne.

I slumped down on it and sighed.

The second I found out she was gone, I sent my army out in all directions to look for her. At the time, I had a strange confidence that we would find her instantly. After all, our army was the best that ever existed.

When I realized that it was the King of Thieves that took her, I quadrupled the size of the armies and offered a reward that would make any poor man rich. And that confidence I had slowly started to disappear.

Days have passed and the armies were still searching. Finding the King of Thieves the first time was hard enough. And I knew that it would be even harder the second time around.

The King of Thieves was smart, and I knew if he had learned anything from our past encounter, he would have learned from the mistakes he committed.

I heard the throne doors open as Tabia walked in.

“Have you heard anything from the neighbors?” I asked Tabia when she reached us.

“They’ve expressed their sympathy.” Tabia said. “And the kings of Persia and Babylon have offered men to aid in the search.”

I nodded my head. “Tell them I say thank you. And that I will need all the help I can get.” There was no point trying to show Egypt as powerful right now.

All the nations that knew and were hurt by the King of Thieves wanted him dead.

Tabia nodded. “And the King of Mesopotamia says he will send men if you allow his son to marry-”

“No.”

I could see her holding back her smile. “Got it.”

I stood up. “General Boman, you are in charge of the military search.”

He bowed. “Yes my Pharaoh.”

I turned to my son, who was standing to the right of me. “Take over for a moment. I need to speak with your mother.”

He nodded his head. “Yes father.”

I watched him carefully, seeing the distress on his face. But then I turned around and walked over to Alexandra.

When I reached her, I placed my hand around her waist and led her outside of the throne room, where it was a little quieter.

“They’ve found nothing?” She asked.

I shook my head. “I can’t believe he’s back.” I said. “I should have believed her.”

“You can’t blame yourself Arius.” Alexandra said. “Amunet’s games made us all think she was lying.”

I shook my head. “But she wasn’t.”

When Amun had come to our bedroom and informed us of what happened… we still didn’t believe that it was the King of Thieves. We only believed it after that guard who had fought him had regained his consciousness and told us that it was the King of Thieves.

“Arius…” Alexandra took my hand in hers. “Is he going to hurt her?”

I looked away, fear filling my insides. “No.” I said. “If he wanted to hurt her, he would have done it by now and we would know.”

“Then what does he want with her?”

“He wants to torture me.” I said. “And if we aren’t quick, he will kill her soon enough.”

Alexandra pressed her lips into a thin line. I could tell that she was trying to be strong.

“We’ll get her back.” I said, leaning forward and kissing her lips. “And this time, I won’t let him live.”

“Is there anything at all that I could do?” She asked as she pulled away.

I knew that she wanted to help as much as I did, so I smiled. “Go with Tabia. Help her out. I think that’s the best job I can give you for now.”

Alexandra nodded and made her way into the throne room to join Tabia.

I took a deep breath and savored the silence for just a moment.

My hands balled up into fists as I pictured the Thief’s head in my mind. He had won this round. He had kidnapped my daughter and made me a broke father. But this would be the last of his victories.

The thought of him always angered me, after all, he disturbed the peace in Egypt that I had worked so hard to create.

I knew nothing about him though. I didn’t know who his mother was, or his father, or if he had any siblings or friends. And I definitely never knew why he ever did what he did.

But one thing I did know was that he hated me because I brought justice to my people.

That was what made me so determined to kill him for what he did.

Because he was a man filled with no righteousness or sense of justice.

I was sure he thought what he was doing was right and because of that, I would join the hunt for him and force it into his head. I will force him to understand his mistakes and I will force him to feel sorry for himself because of everything he has done.

My heart sank at the thought of how scared Amunet would be. She was so kindhearted and knew nothing of defending herself.

There was so much he could do to an innocent girl like her, and the thought of that made me cringe.

And then I prayed that when he looked at my daughter, he couldn’t bare to hurt her. I prayed that he’d return her to me and everything would be fine.

I just prayed that she would be safe.