"Are you okay? You look like hell." A slender brunette girl took her eyes off the dark road for a moment to glance at the other girl in the passenger seat. Her blonde hair frizzed out as though she was struck by lightning. The girls makeup was running down from her tears. Cailie sniffled and hiccuped in response. Alicia, the brunette, continued to drive the car down the road. Cailie reeked of alcohol, it was three in the morning and Alicia wasn't very happy. "You knew he was going to leave you sooner or later, why did you go with him?"

Cailie sniffled. "Cause-hic-I wanted-hic-to make sure......" She slurred out weakly. Cailie took her hand and rubbed it against her eyes smearing her makeup more. "H-he acted like I d-din't even ex-hic-ist. The bashtard!" She pathetically slapped the dashboard. "You....were right..Alicia." More tears began to fall from her eyes.

Alicia just rolled her eyes. "I'm always right." She glanced over to her drunken sister. Cailie was the big partier in the family, but she was also really smart so their parents over looked her more....extravagant social activities. "Look I won't tell mom and dad about this, but you owe me big time. I want a gallon of Rainbow Fudge Chocolate Chip Ice Cream."

Cailie snorted. "You know that's the rarest ice cream." She slurred, her eyes beginning to close.

"Yep." Alicia punched Cailies shoulder. The two smiled and began to laugh. Even though this wasn't a good situation, the two found much needed comfort in each other. After all, Alicia wasn't only Cailies sister, but also her best friend. It was them against the world, and they were determined to live their lives to the fullest in all of their endeavors.

Suddenly the car jerked and Alicia pounded against the horn, turning the wheel sharply. Cailie was awoken from her drunken stupor as a very bright and harsh light assulted her eyes. "Alicia!" Cailie shouted. But it was too late. Tires squealed and metal screeched in protest, the last thing Cailie heard was herself screaming Alicia and then everything went dark.

"....now then we are onto the Civil War of Egypt!" Mr. Mellows exclaimed. Callie's green eyes flitting to the front of the classroom. The shook her head as her eyes darted around the classroom in a panic. Where was the door?! It took only a moment for her eyes to set upon the open door to the classroom, and she gave a slight sigh in relief. Mr. Mellows was the World History AP teacher and while she enjoyed him and the class she absolutely despised the classroom itself. It was a small room with a single door and no windows. Being a claustrophobic she was always the last to enter and the first to bolt out the open door to the bigger space of the hallway and then out through the glass doors to the freedom of outside. Shaking her head of the awful memory she began to focus on Mr. Mellows lecture.

"This was a very dark and horrible time in Egypts history. Such that the nation had switched from being a polytheistic religion to a monotheistic one, and that pissed off a good percent of the empires population. Including the royal advisers to the Pharaoh. Poor, guy, trying to introduce some pretty drastic changes. Finally the stress had gotten to him and he fell sick and died. This left Egypt in the hands of his late wife Queen Nailah. While the queen had two sons, the eldest Diomedes could not be put on the throne because his father had origins in Greece. Royals are pretty protective of their bloodlines, often willing to go so far as to marry their siblings to keep everything nice and pretty and pure. Can't imagine the family reunion when your father is your uncle, grandfather, and third cousin. Can you?"

Some of the girls squinched up their faces and the boys looked horrified. In the ancient world, it was common to marry family members and siblings to keep the dynasties as pure as possible. It was the same with the Chinese and other various nations. However in Sumeria the current king was replacing a wife every few weeks. Cailie glanced at the door again as she felt a headache coming on, but tried to really focus on the lecture. She had heard from other students that this was Mr. Mellows favorite period because little was known about it. Historians tried to piece together the era as much as they could, but the walls had the names carved out of them as though trying to hide that this particular dynasty existed at all.

"But anyway, so Queen Nailah ruled over Egypt for a time until she could marry her son Amenoten. Could you imagine inheriting a country at your age? I couldn't. Especially not for a new Pharaoh. Everything was against him. The country was in a state of chaos, as the religion went back to a polytheistic worship. Plaque and famine ran wild and to make matters even worse large chunks of the nation were being taken by the Hittites and the Minitani. Greece and Rome were too busy arguing with each other to grab at the new territory that was cropping up, but about...oh...60-75 years later they make a comeback. Amenoten wasn't the youngest to ever succeed the throne that was King Tut, but while he did reign he united Egypt on the home front. Shortly after he died of 'ill health' and out of heirs to the throne his brother Diometes married his bride and ruled over Egypt. Despite being a foreigner himself, he led a great military campaign against the Minitani and the Hittites regaining the lost land, and even taking a little more....ah, yes Sara?"

One of the redheaded girls in the front had raised her hand. "Yes, sorry Mr. Mellows, but I'm confused. You said Ameno-whatever died of illness, but you say that so skeptically. Why?"

Mr. Mellows cracked a mischievous grin. "I'm skeptical, simply because I believe the real story is he was murdered." That tidbit provoked some of the classes reactions. One of the boys gave him a look. Mr. Mellows shrugged. "Truth be told no one really knows how Amenoten died. Like Tut they did an autopsy on the body but it's all skepticism. I'm sure though, that it was murder. Think about it. A younger brother getting the most powerful position of the nation when the eldest was already married? My money is that Diomedes offed him and then pressured his wife into marrying him so he could inherit the throne." Just as another kid was about to say something the bell to the class rang and Cailie was out the door and off to freedom through the glass doors to the outside world.

~

Cailie was standing outside the library doors, tapping her foot lightly as she waited. The sun was warming her back as she stood, waiting. Cailie loved the library and was a total book worm, but there was no way she was taking a step inside that death trap of a building. Windows that didn't open, the doors were always closed, what if she couldn't make it out in time? What if the building collapsed with her inside?! Before panic began to fully seize control of her, Synthia, one of the girls who worked at the library, walked out with an armful of books. "Okay so, here are the history books you wanted, I also pulled a few of the folklore books as well."

Cailie smiled. "Thank you! I'm sure Alicia would like to listen to the folklore stuff. She's always been into that mystic mumbo jumbo stuff."

Synthia giggled. "Yea, she was. Hows she doing by the way?"

Cailies smile turned sad. "Oh...you know..she's making it.." The blonde trailed off the sentence as she looked down at the books. "I'm sure she's going to wake-up soon. It's been almost a year. I visit her as much as possible but I can't stay in the hospital for very long periods..."

Synthia nodded in understanding. "It's okay, I'm sure she'll pull through. You're booth stubborn as hell."

The two girls giggled before Cailie waved goodbye to the other and began to walk to the hospital. She put the books into her backpack and pulled out her headphones. Putting in the earpiece she plugged the headphones into her phone and began to play music as she walked the few blocks to the hospital. Cailie refused to get in a car, or a bus, or any mode of transportation due to how tightly packed the inside would be. The thought of getting into one of those things sent shivers down her spine. and she winced at the slight pain. Occasionally if she moved a certain way pain would flair in her lower back from where her spinal injury was. Hydrotherapy was helping her regain mobility of her left side, but there were still places where she was stiff in her lower leg. Heavy physical activity was a big no no, but she was going to take the risk if it meant she didn't have to be confined. Cailie figured as long as she didn't sprint, do heavy lifting, or overexert herself, her injury wouldn't worsen and she could live a somewhat normal life. Cars passed her and Cailie took a deep breath as the hospital came into view.

Alright, Alicia, I'm here. Now hopefuly I can stay inside for more than a 15 minute interval.

In the private quarters of an open and airy part of the home, the early night brought a warm breeze through the small house garden. Transparent curtains, partitioning the entrances, folded gently to the whims of air passing through in order to cool the palace’s small oasis. It was a pond the shape of a perfect circle, broken at its radius by a narrow slab of walkway to its center. Petite clay holders floated the soft light of candles across the surface, in addition to the torches whose radiance kept the sandstone walls comfortably warm. The large center of the pond was decorated ornately as the fitting area where a worthy man may retire for a moment of peace and seclusion.

It was here that the slaves had positioned a low table, cushions of deep green fabrics, and three thin golden platters. Refreshments were placed by a pair of young handmaids, pitchers of beer and clear water, humming softly amongst each others’ humble presence in the silent atmosphere. As one of them stepped obediently out from the pond’s tranquil center, the other stood her ground. Her gaze had caught hold of the view outside the open face of the room, for where a wall should have been was a gaping frame of evening sky and the outskirts of the palace. The kingdom stretched on further, silver streams running their course over the rooftops beneath a full moon of opaque glow..

The haughty vibrations of quick steps came as a warning preceding the young man himself. Their own bare feet scurried across to opposite end of the room, and as not to be seen by the angry master, passed through the curtains just when he entered the private quarters.

The family dinner was an idea ployed by his mother, a ritual Naihal had started for herself, Amenoten, and Diomedes since the passing of the pharaoh. Frankly the timing of it on most evenings seemed to cut through the matters of the status of Egypt, politically within itself and in the outreaches of the kingdom where they had messengers come with news of the Hittites and the Syrians. He often would come this meeting of their family late and in a sour state of mind.

Tonight, being of no surprise, his temper sauntered with him into the center of the pond, sitting down on the pillow so hard it did nothing to cushion his tailbone from the stone beneath. Amenoten huffed softly, greedily eyeing the beads of condensation on the gold pitchers. He was early for once but it was profoundly customary to not begin before they were all present. The temptation, only building up the tension in his shoulders, did nothing to lighten his mood by the time his mother and Diomedes arrived.

When they came, the young man would arch up acutely, elongating the muscles of his seated stance to turn and meet their gaze. He was clothed in white cloths that draped around his legs, a rich green sash knotted the circumference of his waist. A small gold amulet gilded by dark emeralds shaped the head of a ram, hanging around his neck on a soft leather strap.

He was never sure what kind of mood to anticipate from Diomedes on any given day. The cousin who he articulated under the title of ‘brother’ had a temper at times that rivaled his own, the cunning control of his words and the curse that they brought upon others burned Amenoten’s seeded jealousy. The maturity of a man much older quite frankly crushed the confidence Amenoten scraped together about himself. After an entire day of commanding men twice his age, and combatting the opinions of the populated senate, Amenoten still had a short man’s inferiority toward the adopted older brother.

Naihal cleared her throated gently, after the slaves began to file in formally, delivering food around them in the form of honeyed dates, hot battered fish sprinkled by roots and onions, and soft sheets of baked bread to rip apart and soak in the sauce of their entree. The weary expression on her round face tilted back and forth her attention on the two young men. “Amenoten, how did the hearing of the senate go today?”

“Over the matter of the famine, or the matter of our resources magically not making it from harvest to our homes?” he gruffly retorted, indecently responding to his queen. The rustle of the slaves quickly working to pass food onto every plate was the only sound to be heard, their prim and swift actions fulfilling the task. Without bid of their farewell, they exited before Amenoten transcribed details…

“It was a much heated and long winded debate over what has become of our food and other harvests. While I understand we have famine in the midsts of a year that followed our kingdom’s religious schism, the numbers that are being given to me do not correlate with what I had personally seen out in the fields.” His frustration came as a rude haste to his words, fingers picking a piece of bread off to drown in the sauce.

“And the worst part is, I can’t stand speaking with them by myself. When you are not there, as our queen, the conversation runs against my current of questions. How am I to find answers without them in my aid!” The outburst echoed over the length of the chamber, fading into the night air. Nothing uncommon from the younger brother, whose attitude ceased their attention and was known for a loose hold on his opinion. The torches danced a reflection of warm colors over his expression, Amenoten looking on to both of them for an input of their own ideas of the matter.

Diomedes groaned loudly as the maid left his bedchamber, summoning him to the 'family' dinner where he would be in the midst of his Aunt and kid cousin. The older male contemplated blowing off the meal altogether and instead going to the whore house. At least there he could attempt to feel something. However, the underworld hath no furry like a mothers scorn. After weighing his very few options carefully he decided that he was going to attend the meal, but he was going to do it when he felt like it.

Diomedes slowly got up from his bed and began preparing for the meal. He had the maid staff clean him and dress him before grabbing his jeweled sword and walking out to the meal. His 'mother' and 'brother' already sitting down and waiting for him before eating. Booth looked rather miserable. His Aunt had grown sickly with state affairs, and his brother was doing no better. Plopping himself on a cushion he stared at the other two not bothering to contribute to the dinner table conversation. Until his brother started getting too heated about the days meeting.

"Perhaps, dear brother, it is because you are still rather young. The senate didn't want to burden you with outrageous numbers." Diomedes took a large swig of wine as his mother gave him a dirty look. "After all, you are only nineteen. Even with all of your intelligence you wouldn't have the patience to calculate what the numbers actually are. Not everything is what it seems." The older male gave his brother a pointed look over the rim of his cup. Diomedes had always had a good relationship with his brother, until their father died of illness. Since Diomedes was older and was once married he met all the requirements to take the Egyptian throne. It was by all purposes his noble birthright. But because his father was from the Grecian nation the senate disqualified him and it was passed to his brother Amenoten.

Their mother sighed. "Seth, you should be more kind to your brother, he's doing the best he can.."

Diomedes snorted. "My name is Diomedes, mother. Since I happen to be of Greek decent." He emphasized the word Greek because it was his linage that was preventing him from the throne. Diomedes knew his brother was incapable of any sway with the senate as far as it came to actually making changes in the country. They weren't going to tell him the real numbers, how the situation was getting worse with the Minitani and the Hittites. Right now they could only hold them off and prevent them from taking siege of more Egyptian territory. Food was scarce and what little of it that was decent as best was sent straight to the front lines. Soldiers couldn't defend the country without food in their stomachs. This was putting a strain on the work force, more people were dying with each passing day due to starvation or being overworked. Slaves as abundant as they were, were being picked off in mass numbers. The economy was going to hell because the nation was still divided as well. If things didn't change soon, then there would be no Egypt left.

Before any of them could say another word about the current state of affairs a maid burst through the door. Diomedes gave the girl a scowl, and his mothers annoyance could not be more felt in the air at the disturbance. The queen set her hands on the table.

"Anatolia! What is the meaning of this?!" She hissed. "You know not to disturb the royal family! Even if you are a head maid to the royal family!"

The girl who had entered the hall bowed nervously, her brown hair falling over one of her shoulders. "Please, my queen, forgive me. I would not have interrupted a private meal had it not been of the utmost urgency."

The queen was still annoyed but waved a dismissive hand. "Alright, speak quickly girl."

"My queen, princes, I have some unfortunate news. It seems that the late Pharaohs grave has been desecrated. The thief cut through his majesties bandages and stole the kings bracelet. The bracelet with the green sea jewel your grace gave to him on your wedding day."

Diomedes snickered grabbing his sword as his mother leaned back in stunned silence. "Now then, dear brother." The older male got up. "Why don't we go on a hunt for this thief? You always were a soft natured brat."



"Today a precious heirloom has been stolen from the Smithsonian Museum of Ancient History. Discovered from an Egyptian tomb the item was once worn on the wrist of the unknown kings tomb. It is a golden bracelet with a pastel sea green jewel in the center. While witnesses did not see the thief every one is on high alert for the artifact."

Cailie shook her head staring up at the small television station. How could anyone do that? She thought to herself, if she remembered correctly that bracelet had been given to the Pharaoh by his wife Queen Nailah. The blonde was sitting in a pulled up cushion chair by her sisters hospital bed. The room was big enough that she could keep the door in her peripheral vision, but she could only stay for fifteen minutes at a time. Cailie was holding Alicias hand as her sister lied on the bed. The brunette was like a human battery as machines bleeped and blooped with the girls heart rate. Her skin once a healthy bronze was now sickly pale, and her muscles weren't as pronounced as they used to be either.

Cailie rubbed her thumb against her sisters palm, trying to feed some life into her. Alicia just had to wake up, she had to. How could they explore the world together if one of them was lying as a vegetable on a hospital bed? Sighing Cailie opened a book and begun to read as she held her sisters hand, squeezing it occasionally and hoping to feel a squeeze back. It never came, and the blonde became startled when the nurse knocked on the door.

"Miss? I'm sorry to disturb you, but it's 11, and visiting hours are over now. Please be safe going home."

Cailie nodded in response, when the nurse left she got up and stretched. Raising her arms to the ceiling and spreading her fingers out. Her back was stiff, but otherwise didn't hurt as bad. That was a good. Cailie gave her older sister one last squeeze before letting go of her hand and packing her things. She checked her phone to see if her mom or dad had texted her, nope just the time. It was 11:00 pm like the nurse had said.

Once the blonde had reached the outside world she had never felt more free. The night sky enfolding her in a comforting embrace. Ever since the accident Cailie couldn't stand to be inside or restricted. Not by her clothes, not by buildings, and not even rooms. So many things could go from bad to worse in a simple second. Cailie put in her earphones and was looking through her music library for a specific song she had been wanting to hear, unaware of her surroundings she bumped into a stranger wearing an all black coat and a hat.

"Oh, I'm sorry.." She said, as the person past her. Whoever they were they were in a hurry. As she walked one of the street lights caught something shiny, and it caught her eye. As the music began to play she dug in the snow pulling up a golden bracelet with a sea green jewel in the middle. Spacing out as she was, she had thought the stranger had dropped it, and pulled out on of her earphones. "Hey!" she yelled walking toward the figure. "Hey! Wait! I think this is yours!" The bracelet slipped from her fingers and down her wrist where it cinched itself tight around her wrist.

The green jewel began to glow, enevolping the girl in a warm comforting light. Then everything went black.

~

When Cailie awoke she was in the center of a canyon area. Rubbing her eyes she looked around confused. "What in the hell?" She asked blinking. Okay this wasn't funny. Did she get kidnapped?! How long had she passed out? She didn't know. Holding up her wrist she saw she still had the bracelet on her wrist, looking at it closer she realized it was the same bracelet that had been stolen from the national museum. Maybe if she went straight to the authorities and explained what happened, perhaps they would mail it back the the museum.

Squinting in the twilight she saw two lanky figures. People probably? Hopefully, maybe they could help get her back home.

That was until they got closer. They saw her and she saw them. The other people took a threatening stance raising there weapons. An instinct in Cailie told her that it would probably be a good idea to run. Preferably in the next few minutes. They would most likely catch her, with her back injury running in sand would not be a good option, if she slipped she would cause her spine further injury and would probably be paralyzed from her lower back down. That still didn't mean she couldn't give them a run for their money though.

The weirdest thing about all of this, though, is that the two people looked as though they were ancient Egyptian soldiers.

On the sake of the argument in his maturity, Amenoten felt the boiling impatience of his own desire to retaliate. Every comment felt like a blow in the gut and the fact that his mother, their queen, was the chiding voice to defend him did nothing to help. The undeniable truth, despite his best efforts to grow the height of his father's shadow, festered under Amenoten's skin.

Plagued by the control on his response, it was a taut argument that broke only under the disruption of unworldly news: a thief captured on behalf of the pharaoh. Without hesitation he leaped from the center of the pond, on the heels of Diomedes with a hand to his sash. Tightly wound under the green garment was the hilt of a slender, curved dagger, hidden like a venomous fang for when the right timed called. In the presence of servants who lead them to the palace's closest foyer, Amenoten used the noble accent to pass a private message amongst himself and Diomedes. "You must be a jackal's ass to believe I would spare the thief of ourgod-king!" The bare heels of his feet pounded down the passage, which snaked through levels of painted pillars, gilded rooms of extravagant nature.

The foyer was a-lit this late still with torches for the royal guards and royal servants with the nightly duties. The unfurling of fire down the hall and banked in each corner, danced the visions of gods and their portraits protecting the entrance of this fortress. They were highly decorated in colors rich with pigments, engraved with the upmost care in their sacred forms. For Callie it may have been a state of unnatural beauty, had it not been for the circumstance of her surreal arrival to this place. This very real and physical world, where two fully weaponized guards stood on either side of the teen. They had no serene nature either despite their golem-like silence and acted on the behalf of a higher power. They had dragged her, without a splinter of hesitation, squeezing her arms in their brute grip. From the skirmish and hurried nature of such an emergency to expose a pharaoh's thief, they were covered in dust and had tracked in sand.

When the cavalry of family members came to a halt opposite the young woman, Amenoten felt his fingers loosen over the hilt of his dagger. What he had expected came nowhere close to the creature before him. His eyes did not avert from her but when she caught his gaze, it begrudged him to feel a mixed amount of uncertainty in punishing this thief. She looked like no other person he had seen in his time... Her skin was absurdly polished, as if someone had taken sand and ran it over her to the transparency of the thinnest papyrus. The dirt and dust powdering her person, her unnatural clothing, and when they came within sight the guards had to jerk her down by the arms to convince her body to kneel to the ground.

"Look, the bracelet," Nailah whispered as she held onto his arm, pulling the attention of her younger son to the green stone set in a gold band. It should have been too big for the girl, crafted for a man's wrist. But somehow it snuggly fit, glimmering in the soft ambience. As the guards rose slowly, the servants scattered into the corners of the room, leaving Diomedes, Nailah, and Amenoten to confront their thief.

Amenoten's fury surpassed the idea to reconsider this girl's plight. The subtle direst of his mother's tone was enough for him to withdraw his dagger. A slithering sound echoed in the large chamber, a hush falling over the atmosphere. Its fanged blade caught the light, balanced in his constricting grip.

"Let me see for myself, what you wear on your wrist," his tone evenly growled, testing the waters of this thief's emotions and mentality, pondering the idea that maybe she did not even speak the simpleton accent to Egyptian. Regardless, he refused to correct himself in this position of power, and the guards thrusted her in the elbow to throw the arm out.

Rhetorically smug, and curdling his words in the back of throat, the darkness of the late hour crept into the young man's eyes as his gaze branded the girl's attention.

There is no way this is real. Cailie thought as she looked around the room. This had to be some kind of prank or sick joke, as the guards held her in place. The sound of approaching footsteps made her head perk up, but as people began filling in the room the guards made her bow forward which caused her spine to groan in protest at the abuse. Pain flaring along her upper back and shoulders. When they rose she got a good look at who had come to meet them and her green eyes widened in a mixed of shock and awe. Whatever joke this was they were being very authentic with the ancient Egyptian aspect. Their clothes were so regal, probably made out of the finest material money could buy. Compared to her jean pants, tattered red t-shirt, and messenger bag she felt very under dressed for this encounter.

"Let me see for myself, what you wear on your wrist." The younger of the two regal males asked. The older one just sat back with a grin on his face. Cailie wasn't sure how she understood what they were saying. She didn't know a lick of Egyptian and out of the languages 700 writing hieroglyphics she only knew about 20 and that was spotty at best. None the less the guards thrusted out her wrist with the bracelet fit snugly around it. She looked from the young prince to the bracelet and back again. With the way the shadows bounced off the wall he looked utterly menacing.

Although his question, made her very confused. "What are you doing, wearing my fathers bracelet?" The look of confusion must have been plain on her face because one of the guards jerked her closer to the male, his blade coming within inches of her shoulder.

"His Majesty Amenoten has asked you a question. Answer him, thief."

Cailies green eyes blinked up at the male, still very confused. "Your father?" She asked, then shook her head. "This can't be your fathers. It was a relic discovered in a tomb in the Valley of The Kings two years ago. It was given to the Pharaoh as a gift from his wife who was..." She trailed off trying to remember what the queens name was. Since the tomb itself was only discovered recently much of the period was still a mystery. "..Queen Nailah. But that was thousands of years ago..."

The girl sighed as Diomedes glared at her, but because he wanted to watch his cousin fail in dominating position, he bit his tongue of the profanity he wished to spew.

"Look, I don't know what kind of joke this is, but it's not funny. I've got to go give this bracelet to the police because it was stolen from the Smithsonian Museum. Now that I think about it, I should probably report that guy I saw too. He dropped it on the sidewalk and I picked it up. Although it's weird that after that I'd wind up in a desert..."

Amenoten was in the presence of someone whose Egyptian as a foreign individual was indistinguishably noble, and to find an outsider of intellectual articulation in their own language was never heard before. Recalling inside of his memory, no human being throughout history of the desert dressed in her materials for garments. They frankly made the silent prince itchy to stare at as he listened. Some words the girl used, 'Smithsonian Museum,' or 'police,' only deepened the crease in his scowl when his eyes averted back to Callie's distraught expression. There was not a reasonable translation for them and the puzzlement intensified his glare upon the bracelet thrusted out for them to recognize.

For Amenoten himself, to stare into those lively eyes translated an honest understanding of the girl's emotions. Albeit fear and anxiety seemed a clear impression, but more importantly he calculated her lack of insanity as she explained a colossal measurement of time, unusually private knowledge, and how she perceived all this as a trick. He was listening intently to the pertinent details, but there were a few signals lost in translation. Continuing to feel his mother's presence behind his back pressured Amenoten to devise a decision.

"How is it so possible for you to speak such Egyptian, but you refuse to treat us as we are, descendants of the gods themselves? We do not need to explain ourselves, foreign cretin, and I will certainly not recant any words I speak! If you say a man was the original thief, then why did you not stop him? Does he even exist?"

"You cannot speak past the clarity of what is being perceived. The circles you spin us around are broken." He motioned the guards with an upward wave of the fist. They constricted their grip on her form as an act of pinning her between them. One brutally stretched her arm from the shoulder, the bracelet within reach of the prince now. He focused on the shine of the jewel and in the glare of gold caught his own muddled reflection in its slender band. When he met the stranger's face, her entire demeanor evoked a sense of insecurity. How could he feel so hesitant, when his father's honor lay unrested by this inception?

The cold gold felt like ice and burst with light--as soon as the prince touched his hand to the bracelet it captured him in a vision. A vision he was lost in, an insurmountable amount of power crashed the core of his being. Amenoten braced his entire body against the wave, his bones jarringly vibrated. Slivers of whispers, voices, screams of animalistic nature had him squeeze his eyes wide shut. But the gust of ethereal fury pulled the lids back, craning his head to look up into the majestic distance. Amenoten could not mistaken it, his vision brought him in the presence of himself, not too long from now, as the pharaoh of their kingdom.

The illumination, bathed by colors of the dawn, waxed in the day and waned by the time of night. Before Amenoten realized he was torn away from the dream, his palm unwrapped from the bracelet in surprise. In his hand, it could only be described as a burn, the sign of the sun and its out reaching rays, imprinted for everyone to see.

Queen Nailah, baffled and darting a frustrated glare toward Diomedes, quickly stepped to the side of Amenoten. Upon observing what lay red in his palm, she ran her fingers over the symbol. It had the warm color of burnt sienna on his tan hand, reddish as a birthmark. Even the guards pulled Callie a couple steps back from the prince. His mother whispered softly, a prayer to the sun god himself, while Amenoten held his hand from his body. "Do you see this? Do you see what she gave to me from Father's bracelet?" He leaped forth and yanked on the bracelet again, practically pulling Callie head first toward himself. But nothing happened, not like before. The cuff also refused to slip off. Abandoning his regal guise, he turned to Diomedes, burning with the knowledge of what he saw inside.

"We should check the tomb tomorrow, under the light of the reborn sun. But you must believe me," he waved away the guards away from Callie impatiently, although he had little care for how tight he squeezed her arm. "Something is ominously speaking of our kingdom through her. And it will not release its hold on her, the bracelet refuses to relinquish her."

Too close! TOO CLOSE! Cailies heart crawled it's way up into her throat as her stomach dropped through the floor. Her slender frame began to tremble greatly as the guards moved closer to her. Forcing her to squish between them as her arm was thrown out even further. Green eyes darted around the room for any sort of exit she could bolt through. As she frantically looked around the ceiling began to get closer and closer.

The smell of burning flesh made her yelp as the guards jerked her back. Diomedes moved himself between his brother and the foreign thief, his blade a slender curve of protection between the two. Cailie began to struggle against the guards to break free. What was only a minor annoyance became full out panic. Her breathing hitched. "Let me go! Let me go!" She cried out trying to jerk herself free.

Diomedes glared at his brother. As the younger male began to try and pull the bracelet off of the strange girl. "Brother!" The older male commanded. "This bitch has wounded you. The penalty for such a crime is death!" Diomedes grabbed a fist full of Cailies hair and forced her head back holding the blade up to her throat. The girls body quivering from fear and paranoia that the ceiling was going to crush them all.

Tears had started falling from her eyes, more out of panic than the possibility of dying. "I didn't steal it! I just found it and the guy dissapeared into thin air!" She took a large gulp of air, it was getting harder to breathe. "Please let go! I don't believe in gods or any of this magic mumbo jumbo! I don't even know how I got here. But please just let go of me!" This time she kicked back against Diomedes grip, her head smashing his nose as she pulled her arm free of Amenoten.

Blood poured from Diomedes nose. He began muttering profanities as Cailie tried to get up and bolt for the nearest exit. The guards quick to catch her and prevent her from going anywhere. Her poor arms where going to be very sore later, but hyped up on fear and adrenaline the flight response in fight or flight kicked in and she tried to escape. Even if the guards were a lot stronger than she was she wasn't going to stop struggling.

Diomedes covered his bloody nose. "Shit, that wench. Brother, she dies tonight for harming a prince of Egypt!" Diomedes grabbed his sword. "As the head general to the Egyptian army, I Seth, will execute this criminal."

"Now you wish to honor yourself Seth?"

The outrage from their maternal leader echoed over the foyer in a stern tone that petrifying every individual from the strength of its assertion. Queen Nailah had taken a worried tendency toward surveying Amenoten's hand in the midst of their physical altercation, realizing the burn swell and immediately subside as if no searing pain had have occurred. The mark left behind immediately flatten in his palm as a healed, burgundy colored embellishment of the sun, like their carvings, an shading of red unmistakable for what it represented on his hand. The token of evidence and her son's words provided the queen with confusing evidence as she wielded the weary power of a mother rather than a king's wife, to resolve this situation.

For her it was much more personal to reprimand the individual rebellions going on inside of this skirmish. No doubt the quarrel of Diomedes had given him the answer his quick actions at times could encounter; a swift knee-jerk reaction of violence. His nose flourished with blood as the panicked thief whimpered and tried to make an escape. She wa son the side of Amenoten's gut intuition, even without his disclaimer of what he had seen.

Amenoten, clinically trying to read his mother's face while his stomach billed up with the turmoil, further relied on the idea of his vision. Of how it was brought to him, by her, through the token of his father. The young girl's protests were of an outraged soul preyed upon by them, something that teared into his conscious upbringing of how to treat a woman of mature age. The fact that she was a foreigner made this so difficult. "Diomedes! The bracelet is stuck to her! And look, my hand is healed from the touch already. Please..."

It was rare he asked for his older brother to pardon a fight he savagely needed to see to the end. Amenoten's stance angled rigidly between Callie and her newest opponent. "Listen, to me, please. I saw something, an omen of the grandest design, that only the gods could conjure through this foreign, absurd girl wearing that bracelet. And look at her, Diomedes! Does she seem like a thief?" The outrage he prepared for, as the queen grew quiet again, watching her sons enact their powers that be. She would not meet the eyes of the girl or the guards, gaze darting back and forth in a contemplative nature on when to step in as an interruption. But the two siblings needed to learn the hard way, for better or worse, how to deal with one another.

"Now you wish to honor yourself Seth?"

Diomedes stopped in his tracks. His body going rigid at his mothers words. Blood at this point had began to clot and stop running down his nose. The elder male took his robe and wiped away the blood from his face. Honor? No, this wasn't for honor. He didn't know why, but that girl in the strange clothes made him feel uneasy. Amenaton was not allowed to die by any other hand then that of his own brother. Cold eyes stared back at his mother. "No mother. It is not about my honor. But for the honor of my brother." Cold eyes glared at the younger male. "As the General to the Egyptian army it is my duty to up hold our laws. Harming a member of the royal family is punishable by death, and that strange girl has harmed booth of Egypts princes." Diomedes turned his blade to Cailie, who at this point was taking deep breathes and struggling mildly. "Besides," Diomedes continued. "how do we know she is not a spy from an enemy nation? Is golden hair not a trait of the Hitties?"

Diomedes took a step toward Cailie as he ran into his brother. He listened to his brothers pleas and grew more angry as the younger sibling talked. "Then just cut the thing off!" He snarled. "Brother, have you not learned that appearances can be deceiving to the eye? Thieves will do anything to coax their way out of punishment. Did you not just witness her trying to escape? That is an obvious sign of guilt!" As pathetic looking as she made herself out to look. Diomedes wasn't going to let her have the chance to escape alive. "Further more, why do you ask to pardon this thief in particular, it is clearly evident that she has desecrated our fathers grave. Tell me are you going soft? Would you perhaps prefer to pardon all thieves who desecrate the graves of past kings?" Diomedes was getting tired of drawing this out. The girl needed to die, and Amenoten needed to get a reality check. The older male pushed his brother out of the way, and began closing the distance between himself and the foreign girl.

Cailies eyes widened as Diomedes approached her. The tears had dried into streaks and her face was red. What could she possibly say to alleviate the situation. She had to think fast if she was going to be able to keep her head. But what could she possibly say? She knew little about this particular point in history. But maybe she could spin it just enough to keep her head. "Wait! Amenoten does become king!" Her voice was a high squeak. Her body begins to tremble. "Amenoten becomes the Pharaoh that unites Egypt and brings forth an era of prosperity!" The girl yelped as Diomedes grabbed her hair forcing her head back.

"Liar!" He growled as his cold eyes stared into her pleading green ones. "You dare to lie as well as steal? Do your morals know no low?"

Cailie began to breath heavily. "I can prove it! I can prove that what I say is true! Please!" The young girl stared at the taller male, her voice getting smaller. "I do have proof that what I say is true.." Her voice had turned into a small whisper as her voice pleaded with Diomedes. But was this really okay? Would this change the course of history forever? Did it matter anyway? Whatever catastrophic consequences were to happen would have to wait. All that was important was that she would be able to keep her head. Cailie had to figure out how to get back to her era and soon.

"Seth! Enough!" Queen Naliahs voice rang through the chamber, commanding as a Queen. Even though the siblings needed to battle it out for themselves, the girls prediction had peaked even her interest. With the fate of the nation hanging on a razors edge, they needed all the help they could get. "As the current ruling Queen of Egypt I order you to step down. If the girl has evidence that her prediction about Amenoten is true, then let it be presented!" Waving her hand, the guards released Cailie who looked at the regal dressed woman in a state of shock.

Queen Naliah approached the girl. "I suggest that you hurry in presenting your evidence, child." Cailie nodded, pulling her back around as the guards raised their spears. Rummaging around her stuff, the girl pulled out a book with little pink and green page tabs sticking out of it. It must have looked strange to the others. Diomedes, was seething in fury. As a direct order of the Queen there was little he could do other than obey his mothers wish. Was everyone in this pathetic little family going mad?!

Cailies green eyes skimmed the pages of her book as she moved through the marked tabs. "Here." She flipped the book around and presented the queen with the printed version of an ancient Egyptian tablet. The hieroglyphs depicted Amenotens name, with the young man on the Egyptian throne. The sun shining down upon him as the lands in the background flourished. Even though the image was a little gritty, it was still legible. "This tablet was painted after Amenotens," She glanced toward the younger male, "coronation ceremony." Well that was the theory anyway.
The tablet had been discovered in the 80's and historians had only recently placed the time period. All that mattered was that it was in the same ball park. As well as, might just spare Cailies life a little longer.