Falling for the Pharaoh

Anat - [A Womanizers Partner]

I couldn’t believe how long it took for me to be able to see Nathifa again. The Pharaohs stepmother had made sure that I would be busy for the past few days. I was starting to miss her greatly, this week felt like a long week... and I had never ever spent this much time away from her.

When I walked out of Lady Lin’s room, I was surprised by Whati.

He was leaning against the wall and looked like he was waiting for someone.

I decided it would be best to ignore him, but something made me think again about that. I assumed it was because of what I had overheard while I spied on him and the Pharaoh.

It was pretty clear that the reason for why he told Nathifa that he was going to tell her father about Ausar was to make sure that she wouldn’t get angry at the Pharaoh... who was really the one who wanted to tell her father.

“Hey.” He called.

I stopped walking and took a deep breath.

“Is this really the respect I get for coming here and waiting for you?” He asked, though he sounded like was joking around.

“What do you want?” I asked.

He walked over to me, eyebrow raised. “You keep forgetting who you’re talking too.”

“No. I do not. I’m talking to an awful womanizer—”

“I’m not a womanizer.”

“Then what are you?”

He hesitated. “Not a womanizer. I’m not always looking for sex.”

I knew this conversation was going to get awkward, so I decided to move away from it. “What do you want?” I asked, again.

He looked at me for a moment.

“Well then, I should be going then, Supreme Commander.” I said as I turned to walk away.

He stepped in front of me, blocking my way. “Wait.”

I took a deep breath and looked at him. “I have to hurry. I need to see the Queen.”

“This is important.”

“Then hurry up!”

He frowned. “I know you dislike me... probably very much—”

“Yes. Very much.”

“But we need to work together.” He continued, ignoring me.

“Why?” I asked. Why on earth would he think that we needed to work together?

“You need to help the Queen fall for the Pharaoh. I’ll help the Pharaoh fall for the Queen.”

I raised both my eyebrows.

“The only way that those two can live happily now is to fall for each other and actually become a couple. Splitting up will ruin both of their lives.” He said. “Your queen, I’m not that worried about... but if my friend’s happiness is on the line then I’m not taking any risks. Are you willing to help?”

I frowned. “Well, I’m not worried about your king.” I said, though that was a lie. “But I will help so that my friend will be happy.”

“Good.” He said. “I don’t know what you’re going to do but get to work.”

I narrowed my eyes.

He hesitated. “And...” He took a deep breath. “If we’re going to be partners, then we have to work together.”

“So?”

“I... apologize... for...” He pressed his lips into a thin line for a moment and then sighed. “...For harassing you on the night of the Pharaohs wedding.”

I suddenly felt a great amount of satisfaction.

“But... you have to admit it. You enjoyed it.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear the last thing you said. And it’s okay. I forgive you.”

He smiled. “Good.”

“Now, I need to go see my Lady, if you don’t mind—”

He stepped aside and let me pass. “Don’t forget about our plan.”

I nodded as I walked away. “I won’t.”

When I walked into Nathifa’s room I was very happy to see her. She was brushing her hair, and when she saw me, she smiled. “Anat! There you are! I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages!”

I smiled as I walked over to her. “We haven’t seen each other in ages, Nathifa!” I then pulled the cloth bag off of my left shoulder and pulled one of the wooden boxes out. “Look what Lady Lin taught me how to make!”

When she took the box from me, she opened it and sniffed the soap. “It smells like coconut!”

I grinned. “Remember how I’ve been trying to make that for years? It turns out I’ve been doing it all wrong.”

“You seem to be very happy.”

I laughed. “I am. Lady Lin is very kind!” I said. “I was nervous at first because I thought she was going to be very mean, but she turned out to be such a kind old lady! She’s very knowledgeable too!”

Nathifa smiled. “I’m so happy to hear that!”

“Now tell me what has happened with you.” I said as I put the box back in my bag and placed at the side of her dresser.”

“I have a lot to tell you, Anat.”

“Go ahead! Lady Lin let me take a break for all of today because the Pharaoh’s stepmother has left the palace.” I smiled.

She smiled back. “Well... I believe that it’s good news.”

“Then hurry and tell me!”

She hesitantly looked around, even going as far as walking to the door and making sure that no one was there.

“What is it?” I asked.

She then walked back to me. “The Pharaoh and I came up with a deal... well, I came up with it and he agreed.”

I raised my eyebrow.

She explained her proposal to me and for some reason, every time she finished a sentence, I would get more and more worried.

But I was also somewhat relieved.

At least they were talking now. That was one huge step forward. And now I felt that they had a better chance of actually falling for each other.

“So you and the Pharaoh are getting along?” I asked.

She hesitated but nodded. “I guess so... he’s been kind to me.”

That made me smile. “Well, that’s a step forward...”

She smiled and looked away.

“Nathifa...” I started. “Do you think that there’s any chance you’ll fall for him?”

“When you said those things about Ausar... were you telling the truth?”

“Yes! Nathifa! Why would I lie?”

“You swear?”

“Yes! I do!” I frowned at her.

She looked away and sighed.

“What are you going to do?” I asked her.

She forced out a smile. “I’m going to wait and see what’s going to happen. We’ll let the gods decide.”

I stared at her for a moment and then turned my head. “Whatever you say.”

When the moon had finally come up, I was excited to fall into Nathifa’s nice bed and sleep... but for some reason, I couldn’t.

Maybe it was because Nathifa wasn’t here. Or maybe it was because I just wasn’t tired. But whatever it was, I couldn’t sleep and it led me to roam around that night, hoping that a walk would tire me out.

The strange thing about being in a palace was the fact that it was so silent at night. Back at home, there was always something going on. Usually babies were crying or chickens were clucking or scheming little boys were running around looking for trouble.

But here, it was silent. All I could really hear were my own footsteps and the distant footsteps of a few guards that were walking around, on patrol.

I decided to return back to my room, there was nothing here that was too interesting, but when I turned the corner, I was surprised by the sight of the Supreme Commander sitting on a stool in front of a small building.

A part of me told me to go talk to him, but I froze when I saw that he had company. There was an elderly man with him, and they seemed to be deep in conversation.

I walked off as fast as I could, and when I was out of sight, I was strangely glad he didn’t see me.