13 An old tale

"But why did you do that for me?"

His feet were halted by her timid call.

He wanted to turn around and give her an explanation that would have both of them satisfied but he had none.

"No reason. If it had been someone else, I would have done the same." He replied without turning around and left.

She kept gazing in the darkness until his silhouette completely faded.

"It's ok Claudia. You can do this." She mumbled to herself as she turned on the flashlight that he gave her on the way, searching for the light switch.

Soon she found it and hurriedly she flipped all the buttons down. The small area lit up with a sharp white light, illuminating the surroundings for her to observe. It was a small lounge with an attached open kitchen. The lounge area was without any television or fireplace. It just had a cough, a bean bag and a small coffee table.

She turned around in search of a washroom and saw a closed door on her right. She assumed it to be the bedroom and entered it cautiously. As expected, it was indeed a bedroom consisting of a small but cozy looking bed, a wooden side table, a small closet and an attached washroom.

The place turned out better than expected and she was glad it wasn't a huge place like the Palace she was used to living in. For some reason it made her feel comfortable and in control without having to worry about someone hiding in some hidden corner far away from her eyes.

She set her little bag on the bed, took out a comfortable satin gown she luckily grabbed before leaving and disappeared behind the washroom door. It took her a little time to figure out how to take a bath in that little place with just a tap and a shower, without a prepared warm bathtub and maids.

After taking the shower, she came out with loose wet hair dripping all over her gown. She didn't have anything to dry them up and for a moment she felt like crying out of frustration. She checked the closet for something but it only had a thin blanket inside it. Life outside the Palace was indeed hard.

She took off the grey bed sheet and layered it up in the shape of a towel by folding it multiple times and wrapped it around her head. After the wet hair problem was solved, she suddenly started feeling cold hence she immediately crawled over the mattress and wrapped up in that thin blanket which wasn't anywhere near as soft as her covers in the Palace.

She was missing her night tea, scented sheets and fluffy stuffed toys but she knew thinking about it would make it all worse so she decided to distract herself before falling asleep.

She hadn't picked up her phone purposely because she knew they would track her through it anywhere but now she was desperately missing it. At least she could have talked to Lisa and Selena to pass some time or could have watched some show to take her mind off the quiet dark house.

Suddenly she remembered the book she had been thinking about reading lately and picked it up while she was packing necessary stuff. Happily she took out the old looking book from her bag and laid back in the bed.

She felt the book's cover with her fingertips and it felt rough under the delicate skin of her hands. The book's cover was appearing black in the yellowish hue of the lamp's light but she knew it was brown as she had seen it many times in daylight.

It was the only love story that intrigued her because as far as she had heard about it, it wasn't any typical story of a Princess and a handsome Prince but an old tale of a powerful Pharaoh who was rumored to be something else than a human due to his inexplicable powers and wisdom, falling in love with an ordinary maid.

Some say it is just a mythical tale written by some fantasy writer and some say it was a twisted and altered form of original history events with addition of lies and romanticism. Despite the contradictions, it was one of the most popular tales of their history and an important part of their folklore nevertheless.

She found the book in the old library of the Palace and was always curious to read the legendary tale of The Pharaoh Thabit and Nefreti but the book has just stayed in one of her drawers for months as she never got the time to sit back and read it peacefully.

Carefully she lifted the thick cover, revealing the front page. The library keeper informed her that it was the only copy of the direct translation of the original manuscript that consisted of symbol writing. The copies of the tale that sold in the market were a rewritten form of the original one.

She was only allowed to take it from the old library because she was the Princess and had promised that she would return it safe and sound after reading it. She wasn't sure if now she would be able to fulfill the promise any time soon but at least she could keep it safe for the future.

The front page was just a key consisting of the old egyptian symbols used for writing purposes back then, marked with their modern day alphabet replacements.

She started reading the first volume but was just a few pages through when a knock on the door startled her.

"Who could this be?"