Scotched Veil

~Man is separated into Soul and Body, and only when the two sides of his senses agree together, does utterance of its thoughts conceived by mind take place.~ Egyptian quote.

Note: Chapter has a 'slightly' dark tone. Readers discretion is advised.

Aria, Achin and Ahura along with the other servants all assembled in the throne room.

They were all fourteen in number, seven on this side, seven on that side.

They were the ones who specifically waited on Pharaoh.

Pharaoh had gone to the temple for a few weeks of meditation, along with a huge chunk of the Royal guards and servants.

The Prince Regent now sat on the throne—he'd been appointed to run the Palace in his absence. Now, she and the other thirteen servants were to wait on him.

Aria's hands shook by her side and she tried to will them to stop.

Her heart pounded loudly in her chest.

It seemed Achin had noticed her nervousness and sent her a reassuring smile.

But there was nothing reassuring about the situation.

All their heads were bowed, so she couldn't see him.

She hoped he didn't notice her but she vaguely recalled that he knew she was Pharaoh's handmaid.

Aria released a breath.

"Aria."

He said her name in his deep quiet voice.

Aria's eyes widened and her heart almost broke through her chest.

'Had she heard right?'

She saw both Achin and Ahura stare at her, a little bit of fear and anxiety in their eyes.

"Go," Achin whispered to her.

Aria's hands were trembling so terribly she had to force them against her thighs.

Slowly, stiffly, she broke out of the line and walked towards him, her head bowed.

When she was right in front of the throne, she stopped but she didn't lookup.

Akhenaten watched her.

•••

Akhenaten watched her from where he sat on the throne, she was the second to the last by his right.

He'd noticed her almost immediately.

Her small stature always gave her away. But he wanted to be alone with her.

"Aria." He summoned her.

He could see her visibly tense.

At first, Akhenaten thought she would not come forward and he was already prepared to go to her himself if she refused when he saw a servant beside her say something to her.

No sooner, she got out of the line and walked slowly towards him.

His eyes remained glued to her till she stopped right in front of him.

He stared down at her from his throne—her head was still bowed.

"The rest of you, leave us." He commanded.

They all bowed low and left.

They were alone.

Akhenaten watched her expecting her to look up and say something but she did neither.

"Aria." He called her name.

He saw her shoulders physically tense.

"Yes, Pharaoh." She answered quietly.

Akhenaten stood from his throne and walked down towards her.

When he was directly in front of her, he stopped.

"I'm not Pharaoh yet...at least not fully." Aria heard him say in front of her.

Hesitantly, she raised her head and looked up at him.

His outfit was different, he actually looked like Pharaoh.

Aria stared at his tattooed chest, the bracelets he wore on his wrists and ankles, the armlets on his arms, golden collar on his neck and finally, she stared at the khat he wore on his head before looking into his kohl painted eyes.

His expressionless eyes bored holes into hers and her mouth went dry.

She looked away.

All the while, he silently observed her.

Aria's eyes caught his bandaged hands and she felt a pang in her chest.

"Your hands..." She trailed looking back at him.

"Will heal soon." He answered.

Aria bowed again.

"Is there anything you need my Prince?" She asked softly.

He knew why she was suddenly acting so formal.

"No. But there's something I want." He stated.

Aria swallowed.

"What would that be my Prince?" She asked quietly.

Akhenaten stared at her for a moment.

"You." He answered simply.

Aria's eyes shot up to his, surprised.

"I want you to serve me, worship me." He took another step towards her which made her move back an equal step.

His eyes never left her astonished ones.

"I want to be the only thing you see, nothing else." He took another step towards her and placed a hand on her cheek.

In an instant, their surrounding changed. It morphed into a place Aria hadn't been...in years.

Aria's eyes widened as she looked around her.

They were by the Nile—her secret place—back home in the lower province.

'Home.'

Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw the familiar place where she always went to be alone.

Dazed, she walked near the bank and paused when she saw herself...? Almost three years ago?

She was seated on the sandy ground and she was conversing with someone.

She moved closer to get a better look.

The other person looked Egyptian. Her eyes widened when she got to see his face.

'Ammon...'

She didn't know what to feel.

He looked exactly how she remembered him.

She turned to look at Akhenaten perplexed.

His eyes were glued to Ammon.

"Why am I here? What is this?" Aria panicked.

Akhenaten brought back his attention to her.

He walked up to her and pointed to Ammon, his eyes never leaving hers.

"That is Ammon, my older brother." She heard him say.

'What?'

"Older brother?" Aria looked back at Ammon, he looked the same age as her back then-eighteen.

She turned back to Akhenaten.

He eyes held hers.

"But even at that time, he was already dead." He said.

Aria's eyes widened.

"What did you just say?" Aria questioned not comprehending his last statement.

His eyes were intense as they stared into hers.

"That wasn't Ammon." There was a pause.

"It was me." He said finally.

Aria gasped softly.

Right before her very eyes, Akhenaten's face and entire countenance morphed into Ammon's.

Aria jumped in her skin.

She didn't think her mind could fully comprehend what she'd just seen.

She just literally saw Akhenaten transform into another person—his brother, Ammon.

Her chest heaved out of breath.

"W-What are you trying to say?" She managed to get out.

"It was me you met by the Nile." His voice no longer sounded like his-it was Ammon's.

Aria remembered those dark brown eyes vividly.

"Ammon died a long time ago in this form. I was younger at the time." He explained.

"But then, what were you doing all the way here from your Palace?"

Aria asked still dumbfounded.

He looked into her eyes.

"You know why." He answered.

Aria shook her head.

"I don- I don't."

He stared at her silently.

Aria tried to remember if he'd told her anything of the sort, and that was when she remembered.

'Because I'm an outcast.' He'd said.

But even then she hadn't understood.

"I do remember, you said you were an outc—"

"That's all you need to know." He cut her off.

Her brows furrowed confused. She shook her head taking a step back.

"I always come here to think." She divulged.

He nodded.

"And cry." He added quietly.

"Crying doesn't solve anything." He continued.

"That's not true. Crying helps me release pent up frustration."

"It's an outlet for me to—" Aria's eyes widened and she stopped short looking up into his eyes.

Her brows furrowed.

'That was why he'd known what she had said.'

'Why she had felt like she'd heard those words before...'

She remembered then why those eyes had scared her then.

'Now she knew why.'

It had always been Akhenaten all along.

The only thing that changed was his form and voice.

She couldn't begin to fathom why he'd appeared to her in another person's form.

'Who was he?' She thought as she stared into his dark brown eyes which steadily turned back to their normal amber ones, along with the rest of his body.

'Why her?'

As much as she tried to give an answer, she couldn't find one.

Aria was only just acknowledging how dangerous Akhenaten was to her, how dark the things he'd done were and how threatened and afraid she should be.

She watched him stare at her so intently with those expressionless eyes. It sent shivers through her entire being.

"Who are you Akhenaten?" Aria whispered, terrified.

He held her to him, his eyes never leaving hers before burying his face in her neck and then whispering in her ear.

"Both our undoing."

•••

Aria couldn't sleep, she couldn't breathe.

She couldn't eat.

'What exactly had she gotten herself into?'

She was afraid for her dear life, her sanity, and she now doubted if the cause of her troubled mind had any.

He was dangerous, she was terrified of him, more so after what she'd found out, after what he'd shown her.

He'd disguised as his late brother back then.

Aria shook her head.

It didn't make any sense to her but it was true.

Otherwise, there was no way he would have known what they'd talked about.

As she sat in the dining hall with her two friends, Aria's mind was miles away.

She hadn't even touched her food.

"Aria, are you okay? You haven't touched your food." Ahura said concerned, her eyes were filled with worry.

Her voice brought Aria out of her thoughts.

"Oh. Thank you, I'm not hungry." Aria said looking into her eyes managing a small smile.

But Ahura wasn't convinced.

Aria took in a deep breath.

It wasn't so much that she wasn't hungry...she just couldn't eat.

"I bet it has something to do with Prince Akhenaten." Achin piped up, concern edged in her brows.

Aria's eyes shifted to hers quickly, and she prayed Achin didn't see the fear in them.

"I knew it," Achin stated.

"What did he do to you? Did he touch you?" Achin asked her, anger in her brown orbs.

Aria's mouth went dry and she swallowed.

"You have to be careful Aria. He's notorious for having all sorts of women. They flood his private chambers, he doesn't sleep with the same woman twice." Ahura chipped in.

Aria could see the concern and fear in both their eyes.

She wanted to confide in them. She trusted them.

"It's strange for his highness to just call aside a servant to speak with her alone," Achin added.

Aria nodded.

"What does he want with you Aria?" Achin asked her.

Aria looked down at her trembling hands.

"I don't know." She whispered.

And in truth, she wasn't so sure.

•••

Aria walked along the inscribed hallways. Aria realised that the pictures told their story-she realised it was one of the things that made the Egyptians peculiar.

She was headed to the servant quarters when she felt the walls shapeshift around her and suddenly, she found herself by the lake-his lake.

'No.'

Her heart hammered against her chest.

'How did she get there?!'

She started hyperventilating.

She looked around but caught no sight of him-she could still leave.

She rushed towards the exit but before she got there, a force she couldn't see held her in place.

She gasped softly.

"You can't leave. At least not until I want you to." Aria heard his deep voice from behind her.

Her body went even stiffer.

"I can smell the fear roll off you in waves." She heard him whisper into her ear from behind.

"I know you're afraid of me." He continued.

"Let me go," Aria said quietly.

Akhenaten stood in front of her, eyes void of any emotion.

"I don't want to." He stated.

Aria closed her eyes.

"Why? What do you want from me?" Aria tried keeping her voice calm but she was failing miserably.

He stared at her.

"You know what I want." He said quietly.

Aria opened her eyes and stared at his expressionless ones.

"Yes, you said it, but I still don't understand."

"Or you claim not to." He said.

"I don't." She cried.

"You want me. You want me to serve you, to worship you?"

She felt like she was losing it.

"It's not what I want." She said desperately.

"Then what do you want?" He asked her, his amber eyes boring into hers.

"Not this." She answered quietly.

Something in his eyes changed.

They darkened and to Aria, she had never seen a scarier sight.

"I chose you and you've chosen me, the moment you agreed to talk to me by the Nile." He said, his eyes never left hers.

Aria's eyes widened.

'What?'

"The moment you first stepped foot into this sanctuary." He whispered holding her by the waist and pulling her to him.

Her gaze lowered.

She didn't want to look at him...anywhere but him.

He raised her chin gently so that she was looking at him.

He saw a tear escape her left eye.

It affected him so much he let her go.

"I don-I don't want this. I don't want you." She looked resolutely into his eyes.

"Please, let me go." She pleaded.

He stared at her for what seemed like forever before he finally spoke.

"No one's ever wanted me." He said quietly.

"Even if you don't, I'm okay with that. What matters is that I do."

Aria's eyes widened at his words.

"I will never let you go. Even in death, you belong to me." He stated quietly.

Aria let out a strained gasp.

He held her cheek and leaned his forehead against hers.

He stared into her eyes, he could hear her ragged breaths.

"I will never make you cry." He whispered as he trailed kisses down her neck.

Aria tried moving her body or at least her fingers even, but she couldn't.

He had a complete hold over her.

He held her closer to him.

"Serve me." He kissed her.

"Worship me." Another kiss.

"Let me be the only thing you see...feel...touch..." He whispered against her neck.

Involuntarily, her hands moved of their own accord and slid up his chest tentatively.

Aria forced her hands to stop but she couldn't.

She had no control over her own body.

'No.'

'Not like this.'

'She didn't want this.'

'Why did it feel like she brought this upon her own self?'

She felt him bite her and she inhaled shakily.

"Please, let me go." She begged.

"Don't be afraid, just stay still. I can't have you, at least not yet." He told her.

Her heart raced in her chest.

Aria didn't feel any better.

"You're sick." She couldn't help saying it.

"I agree." He claimed her lips, holding her against him.

Aria's heart was beating so fast, she knew she would faint any moment.

He deepened the kiss.

It was different from the last one.

The last one had been forceful, intended to hurt her, but this one, it felt sad, desperate and even...hesitant.

He broke the kiss and looked into her eyes.

"You're free from my hold." He stated.

And truth be told she could move her hands freely.

She removed her hands from around him and took several shaky steps away from him, breathing heavily.

"I felt your emotions. Your fear, anger...and disgust."

"That's all I feel when I'm with you." She said it deliberately to hurt him.

He smiled.

"We both know that's not true." He said.

Aria bit her lip and didn't say another word.

"You're drawn to me as much as I am to you. It's just easier for you to resist it, but it isn't for me."

He looked away for a moment before looking back at her.

"It's not my intention to harm you but I see clearly now that you want nothing to do with me."

"You're free to go Aria." He stated.

Her eyes widened.

"But mark my words, you'll never be free of me."

With that, he fizzled out right in front of her leaving her troubled mind even more troubled.

...