Prologue
1132 Words
The Kings, noblemen and noblewomen from various nations were all looking at me. But they all remained quiet, at least until the King of Ethiopia spoke. "Rumours have been passing around, my Pharaoh."
"And most of us do not believe that these are just rumours." The Hittite King continued.
I frowned. These men were known for beating around the bush. "I don't understand."
"I think you do, Arius of Egypt." Said the King of Persia, who kept his eyes narrowed.
"And this must stop." Said an Ethiopian nobleman.
"What must stop? I'm sorry but I don't understand."
Kiana looked at me, as did other Syrian noblemen and women. "It has been rumoured that you are giving protection to the King of Thieves."
My heart stopped. I should have known that this was what they were talking about.
"Arius of Egypt," the King of Persia called, "this is unacceptable. You do understand that, do you not?"
I looked at the old, respectable man. His beard was longer than my hair and his eyes held a strong glare. "I didn't say I was giving that man protection."
"Then why do my spies in Egypt—"
"Why," I shouted as I turned to her, "in the name of Ra do you have spies in my country?"
"If you had nothing to hide, that would not be an issue, my Pharaoh." Said a Hittite nobleman.
"No." Said the Babylon Prince. "My Queen of Syria, you do not have any rights to keeping spies in the Pharaohs country." He said. "We are trying to maintain a peaceful relationship and spies will not do us any good."
Kiana scoffed, as did many of the noblemen and women around her. Suddenly, the hall broke up into a great argument between the great leaders of many great empires, including Rome, Greece, Persia, Mesopotamia, Babylon, and even many of the Egyptian Court that stood behind me.
"He killed my son!" Yelled a Mesopotamian nobleman.
"He stole valuable jewels from my Queen!" Said the Roman Emperor.
"He and his band of thieves destroyed a village in my nation!" Screamed the King of Persia.
"They massacred half of our army!" Yelled many Babylon noblemen.
I could only take this for so long.
"Enough!" I yelled. The sound of my voice was enough to silence everyone in the hall. "We started having these meetings to prevent such arguments and to solve problems properly. Do you all understand that?"
No one said a word, but some of the wiser looking men nodded.
"Arius of Egypt," The Persian King started, "you must pardon us but we want justice. Hand him to us."
"No!" Said the Hittite King. "We want him."
"He belongs to us." Said the Babylon Prince. "We will have his head."
The hall broke out into arguments again.
"I said, enough!" I yelled once more.
Silence, yet again.
"I did not say anything about giving this man protection. I want his head just as much as any of you."
"Really now?" Kiana asked.
I looked at her and she smirked at me. I knew this woman hated me for a reason but I was getting a little annoyed with her high, know-it-all voice.
And judging by the look on her kings face, he felt the same way.
"What do you want, Kiana?"
"That's Queen Kiana to you." Said a Syrian nobleman.
I ignored him. "Well, do you have something to say?"
"Your family means the world to you. Do they not? First comes family, in your eyes. Only after that is your nation."
"What is your point?"
She narrowed her eyes. "Would you really want the head of the man that your daughter is having an affair with?"
I kept a strong hold of my glare, trying not to flinch, as the hall broke out into whispers and then shouts of objection.
I felt Tabia's hand on my knee and somehow, her nervousness was added to mine.
I let the members of the hall quiet down on their own this time, and when they did, all eyes were on me again.
I closed my eyes and opened them again. "Kiana," I started, without taking my eyes off of her. "I will have the tongue ripped out of the spy who dares to disgrace my daughter with lies such as this."
Tabia squeezed my knee.
The Persian King looked from me to her and back at me. "Forgive me, Kiana of Syria, but we shall not have your personal hatred for Arius of Egypt taint these discussions."
Her glare finally broke away from me as she turned and looked at the Persian King. "Really? You don't believe this?"
The Roman Emperor watched me carefully. "To be honest, I find that believable."
Kiana smiled at him. "Thank you."
"None of us ever understood what goes on behind the walls of your palace." The emperor said. "Your father killed your mother, your father killed his father-in-law, you took part in killing your father, and then you married a slave."
I felt my hands ball up into fists. "What is your point, my dear Emperor?"
"My point..." He adjusted his head dress. "My point is that it wouldn't be a surprise if you were giving the King of Thieves sanctuary."
I smirked. "I will repeat this, listen carefully." I said. "I am not protecting this man, and I have no reason to. He and his band of thieves have killed many of my men and have caused a good deal of destruction in my country. And as he is of Egyptian blood, I feel more anger and hatred for his actions than all of you combined."
The hall was quiet.
"And if I do find him... I will rip off his head myself."
"Good." Said the Persian King.
"Because you should know that we are all willing to go to war for his death." Said the Hittite ruler.
My heart stopped but I pretended I didn't hear him and I turned my head. "Kiana, remove your spies from my country or I will purge them all."
Kiana smiled. "As you wish, my Pharaoh." She said. "And I hope your daughter is satisfied with your decision."
"You will keep my children out of this discussion."
She just smiled. "As you wish."
I got up, my court followed.
As I left the hall, Tabia caught up to me.
"Sometimes I wish I kept my father's policy of keeping the foreigners subdued." I said, angrily.
"Arius," Tabia started, "calm down."
I took a deep breath.
"You lied." She said, angrily.
She was right.
But I had no time to care about my little lie... I had more important things to deal with... like what on earth was I going to do about the villain that my daughter was in love with.
- Writer
