The Goddess and the Golden Sunflower

Chapter six

“Tony, listen. I know this girl in my class, who’s been dying to hook up with you, bro. She keeps asking about that sexy friend of mine; is he with someone? Where does he hang? Blah blah blah,” John said. “But she has that really hot girlfriend I’m into, so… you down or what?”

Anthony fiddled with his fork. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Come on, Tony. The girl’s straight fire, and you need to get laid.”

Anthony stared at him. “When have I ever slept with a girl without having feelings for her?”

“Feelings?” John snickered. “She doesn’t want to marry you, Mr. Sensitivity; she wants to smash you,” he said. “This’s college, dude. How many times do I have to remind you of that?”

Anthony laughed, his eyes wandering outside the café’s glass walls.

“Why are you laughing?”

Anthony peered at the inquisitive faces of his friends; Tommy and Claire seemed to be waiting for the answer, too. “Because this is ridiculous.” Anthony looked down. Besides, I’m still not dating. You know… not fully recovered from the—” he made air quotes, “—Emma syndrome yet.”

“We totally understand,” Claire said. “No need to rush anything. Take your time.” She glared at John. “Right, John?”

Anthony glanced at his Rolex. “Anyway, who needs a ride tomorrow to the new apartment?”

“I do,” Claire replied quickly.

Tommy glanced at her. “I thought you were going with me tomorrow.”

“Um… my classes will finish later than I thought, and I know you wanna be at the apartment as early as possible, so…” She flushed.

“Yeah,” Tommy muttered.

Anthony sneered at John. “And you?”

John made a face. “I’ll go with Tommy.”

Anthony bit his cheek. “Okay.” He nodded at Claire with a labored smile. “I’ll pick you up after school.” He stood and put on his backpack. “I don’t have any party flyers left. Give me some more.” He looked at Tommy. “I gotta get going now, but I’ll distribute them today.”

“Where are you going?” Tommy asked as he gave him the papers.

“The library… I have research to do.”

“Can’t it wait?”

“No. Actually, we agreed to meet at four so…”

“We?! Who is ‘we’?” Claire inquired.

Anthony sucked in a deep breath. “My study group. We’re supposed to do that project together. It’s a really big one, so I gotta run.”

“Dude, it’s only 3:20,” John said.

“I know it’s 3:20… but I have to… make sure… all the books we need are available. Yeah! I have to go early and collect these books before anyone else,” Anthony stammered. “Now you’re making me late. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

****

Wishing he could make a good impression on The Queen, Anthony headed to fetch the books that he knew would massively help in the research.

As he waited for The Queen, his eyes flicked between his watch and the library door every ten seconds. He tapped his fingers on the table, but the sound of them was loud and irritating enough that people had to ask him to stop.

After apologizing to the angry students, Anthony grabbed the first book in front of him and started reading.

“Starting without us.” A resonant voice snatched him out of his line of thought.

Anthony jerked his head toward the person standing at the table. He stood and put the book down. “You came.”

The Queen walked toward the head of the table.

He was going to pull out the chair for her, but Maestro had already done the job.

“You thought I was not coming?” The Queen asked, making herself comfortable.

“Well, you do have this habit of disappearing,” Anthony said.

The Queen looked fixedly at him for a few seconds, and then she nodded at her friends. Maestro sat on The Queen’s left side, Blond sat on her right, and Angel took her seat beside Maestro.

Anthony, who was dying to sit beside The Queen, stood still as he watched his seat being taken.

“Why are you still standing?” The Queen asked.

“My seat was taken,” he said, glaring at Maestro.

“Your seat is right there, beside Blond. We have told you the rules before, haven’t we?” Maestro said.

Anthony glanced at The Queen for confirmation. She didn’t object to what Maestro had said.

Aggravated, Anthony took his backpack and went to sit where he was told.

“Since we have a newcomer with us today, one who might be joining us for a few more days, it would be wise to familiarize him with our rules,” The Queen said. “We all shall forgive his first day inevitable mistakes.”

Anthony folded his arms and huffed.

“Rule number one: you are not allowed to sit beside me,” she started.

“I think we’ve already covered that one,” Anthony said.

“Rule number two: you are not allowed to discuss anything that happens among us or mention anything related to us to strangers.

“Rule number three: you are not allowed to object to anything I say or do. Rule number four: you are not allowed to interrupt me while I am in the middle of doing or saying anything.”

Anthony scrunched his eyebrows and took a deep breath instead of speaking out and violating rule number four.

“Rule number five: you are not allowed under any circumstances to touch me,” she added.

What the hell does that mean? He managed to hold his tongue. He was sure, however, his face wasn’t that discreet.

A ghost of a smile touched The Queen’s lips. “This means no handshaking or physical greetings of any kind. It also means that even if you see me fall down the stairs or anything similar, do not try to catch or help me,” she explained. “Is that clear?”

Anthony was taken aback. His eyes widened in disbelief.

“Anthony, is that clear?” she repeated.

He uttered a sound in the back of his throat, while shaking his head. “Sure,” he lied.

“Great,” she said, her eyes glinting with mockery. “Thank you for your understanding.” She glimpsed at the mountain of books on the table. “Now, I can see that you’ve gathered some books. Have you found anything useful, yet?”

“Um, actually I read them all before, and yes, they have all the information you can find in this library regarding the Eighteenth dynasty. I got them all to save us some time,” he boasted.

“Good for you,” she said. “Angel, please take care of these.”

Angel collected all the books and brought them to her side. Then she racked them up into two piles and moved them to the far end of the table.

“May I ask why you did that?” Anthony inquired.

When no one answered, he fixed his eyes on The Queen. “What’s going on?” he asked, throwing his hands in the air.

“You said you have already read those books, right?” The Queen said.

“Yes,” he said in exasperation.

“Are you interested in knowing something new, something you have not already read?”

He frowned. “Sure,” he mumbled.

“Maestro, Angel, please get our books,” she commanded.

Anthony watched them leave. He narrowed his eyes at The Queen.

Her lips pulled back with a hint of a smile.

“May I help them, Majesty?” Blond requested.

“Yes, you may, Blond.”

Anthony felt a tingling spreading to his limbs as he watched the last obstacle between him and The Queen dissolve. His gaze loitered on the vacant seat beside her. Then he stared at her.

She was looking at him as well, her eyes dazzling him with their sparkling beauty.

Anthony sauntered toward her, without moving his eyes away from hers. Neither did she. Although he wanted to jump and sit by her side, once he reached her, he paused. He took a deep breath and shrugged.

“Sit,” she said.

Anthony stood motionless.

The Queen arched one brow. “Anthony, I said, sit.”

“I’ll be breaking the rules,” he said.

The Queen chortled. “No, you are not. Sit.”

Anthony finally embraced the opportunity given to him.

“Rule number six: I’m the only one who can change those rules whenever I wish,” she said.

He could feel his cheeks dimple.

“I can sense that you have a lot to say to me. I hope it’s not questions, because I will not be answering any,” she said.

He rested his chin on his fist. His gaze locked on hers. “You make it inevitable to ask questions … but I won’t be asking them now. They can wait.”

She chuckled. “Instead of gazing, you should start talking. You don’t get an opportunity like this every day.”

“Right.” He blinked. “First I want to give you this.” He went through his bag, his fingers twitching. He got out a stack of paper, mostly party flyers. He picked a specific piece of paper and handed it to her. “Hope you like it.”

She took a quick glance at him before she held the piece of paper with her fingertips. Once she laid her eyes on what was in it, her face lit up with admiration. “It’s a portrait … of me.”

“Do you like it?” he asked, his voice low.

For a nerve-racking minute, she continued observing the painting without giving him an answer. She put it down and stared at him with unreadable eyes. “You will make a very good artist, Anthony. It’s very detailed.” She scrutinized his face for a few moments. “I know you do not have any pictures of me to help you paint me this accurately. It’s either that you pay a lot of attention to details, or you have a photographic memory. My guess is that you have an eagle eye for details.”

“You guessed right. I don’t have a photographic memory.” He shrugged. “But I don’t have an eagle eye for details either. It’s just…” He moistened his lips and chuckled. “I only have an eagle eye for your details,” he said, rubbing his palms on jeans.

“Only my details, huh?” she said with a smirk. “Well, tell me what you have noticed so far.”

He scratched the bridge of his nose. “If I tell you, what will be my reward?”

She raised her eyebrows and cracked a surprised laugh. “Not only smart … audacious, too.” She pursed her lips. “I like that.”

His heart thrashed, his eyes fixed on her.

“You’re staring again,” she said.

His ears burned. He ran a hand through his hair. “Um… you still haven’t said anything about the reward.”

“Well, it depends. Let’s see what you have, and I’ll decide what it is worth.”

“Fair enough.” He shifted in his seat. “Your skin color is… you have this milky white skin with pink shades on your cheeks. It’s so … beautiful.” He took a moment to breathe. “Your hair is always down. You add some accessories to it, but it’s always down. Yesterday you put some blue beads in two locks. Today you have two braids on each side.”

Her lips lifted upward showing perfect teeth.

“You and your, er, friends always wear similar outfits, but you are the only one who wears a different color. It’s like a dress code or something. You don’t wear the same make-up they wear either.”

She grunted.

“What?”

“You seem to see me quite well… on the outside.”

“Not only on the outside.” He shook his head. “For instance, everybody makes sure your first name remains a secret.”

“You didn’t see my name when you checked the list?”

“No. All that was written there was Miss S. Zain El-Din. Even the school seems to be protecting your identity.”

“It’s protocol.”

“Protocol?”

“Yes. Diplomacy dictates that my identity is not to be revealed for my own protection. However, nothing remains a secret for long. Eventually, everybody will know who I am.”

“Does this mean you’re…?”

“Royalty.”

He gaped at her. “For real?”

“Well, I descend from a family that used to rule Egypt a million years ago.” She chuckled. “They all died and Egypt has been a republic for over sixty years, but yes, I still get to be a Princess.” She clasped at her arm with her hand. “It’s an honorary title. Nothing more.”

He squinted at her. “I don’t buy this for a sec.”

“Excuse me?’

“You don’t have a tan. You barely have an accent.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m not Egyptian. We come in all shades. As for the accent, I believe I have lived here long enough to have one.”

“Even if that’s true, princesses don’t ride kill machines. And if your title is just honorary, why do you need all this protection?”

She sighed. “Enough with the questions. Tell me what else you have noticed.”

He leaned back and bit his lip. “You never call your gang members by their first names, always with their titles, like you’re in the military.” He raised his eyebrows. “You all share the same last name, but they don’t strike me as your family. They’re more like your entourage—”

He saw an uncomfortable look in her eyes that made him stop. “—I’m sorry.”

“I think that’s enough. You made your point.” She paused for a while. “What do you want for your reward?”

“Yeah?” he asked incredulously.

“I never say things I do not mean.”

He sucked as much air as he could into his lungs. “Then, I want a chance.”

She rested her back against the chair. “You want a chance?”

“Why do you always repeat what I say like you don’t understand a word I’m saying?”

“You make it inevitable to ask questions.”

Anthony snorted.

“I really don’t understand much of what you mean most of the time. Your words bear a lot of meanings,” she said.

He leaned so close to her that he felt her warm breath tantalizing his face. “I want you to give me a chance to be with you. That’s what I’m asking for,” he whispered.

The Queen stared at him, her brows furrowed.

“I know you’ve already given me a lot today.” He shook his head. “But I want more.”

She kept watching him without a comment.

“Just tell me what to do. Name it and I’ll do it in a heartbeat.” He finally stopped talking.

The Queen winced for a moment, but then she tilted her head back and laughed out loud. “I cannot believe you. You want to be one of my … entourage,” she mocked. “I do not need another one of them. They are more than enough. Thank you very much.”

Anthony’s eyes darted around, checking if others were annoyed by the volume of her laugh, but no one was looking.

“That’s not what I meant. I know you don’t need another servant,” he said.

She set her jaw.

“What about a friend?” He swallowed. “Can I be your friend?”

She shut her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, her expression changed into a stricter one. “You need to go back to your chair … now.”

Anthony glowered. “What?”

“What are you waiting for?” she asked under her breath.

He glared at her and shook his head. He collected his papers and faltered back to his chair. He blinked and found himself standing next to his chair.

Anthony gasped in horror. He twisted and gaped at her. “What the hell just happened?”