The Cursed Pharaoh's Bride

Chapter XV

Carolina

I didn’t think I’d ever hear a former pharaoh beg me for anything, much less to stay. My heart aches at the sound of his tone.

“You’ll tell me everything?” I ask.

He lets out a deep sigh. “I will. But once I do, you have to listen very carefully to the instructions I’m going to give you afterwards. It’s imperative that you do,” he begs, his voice hoarse and desperate.

“Okay,” I whisper. I let him pull me back into his office. There’s a tense silence between us. He moves us to the love seat, which is barely wide enough to fit the both of us. I can feel myself starting to get distracted by the warmth of his thigh, which is pressing against mine. I quickly stand and move to the other couch and sit at the edge closest to him. Luckily, he doesn’t follow me.

He continues to anxiously move his hand through his hair before loosening his tie and unbuttoning the first few top buttons of his shirt. “As you already know,” he finally starts, “I am El-Hasekrah, the first pharaoh of Egypt. And what is said in most of the myths are true. I am the son of Horus.

“I was born within the era in which the gods still existed in our world. They had the ability to change their physical appearance to suit the needs of their environment. At some point, before the gods left, my parents got together. I don’t know much about it except for the fact that it wasn’t for love. My mother was a servant in Horus’s palace but left when I was born. She struggled to find new work after that so we lived in poverty.

“Despite that, we lived happily. Things started to change as I got a little older. Around the age of 12, I started to develop strong magical abilities that could only be inherited from my father. My mother kept telling me to hide my powers. I couldn’t understand why. Until one day I stayed out late one night running errands for some rich aristocratic family I was working for. There was a demon in the house…one of Set’s demons. My mother, she–he was there for me but I–“

He now has his face in his hands, the pain evident in his voice. As if on instinct, I reach my hand out and place it on his knee in comfort. He removes his hands from his face, revealing glossy, tear filled eyes. His large hands envelop mine, the heat radiating off of them making me feel secure. Though, he’s the one who needs to be made felt secure right now. He brings my hand up to his lips and presses a soft kiss on it. I can never get used to the tingles that shoot through my body when he does that.

“What happened a-after that?” I stutter. His hold on my hand tightens a bit as he brings it back down to his lap.

“My plan was to go after Set for what he did. I blindly went into the desert looking for his sand fortress. I got lost and almost died. I was saved by Nephthys, Set’s wife. She warned me to stay away from him or he will destroy me. After that, I sought out my father. I trained under him until I was 17 years old. From there, I had to prove my worth to Rah by slaying seven different beasts that were plaguing the land at the time. It was only after that did he acknowledge me as my father’s son. In doing so, he was also acknowledging the fact that killing my mother, which was an attempt to kill me, was Set’s way of trying to start another war with Horus. That gave me the right to defeat Set in the name of my father. 

“I didn’t kill Set. From what I know so far, it seems that only gods can kill other gods. I brought him damn near close to death though. He was sent to a prison in a world separate from ours. A deal was made after that. Horus and Rah agreed to allow me to be the mortal embodiment of Horus in the mortal world while the gods lived in their own world. They would stay in the Land of the Gods and influence us from afar while I became pharaoh.”

“So you basically are a god,” I reiterate. That explains all the magic stuff. But wouldn’t that mean he is unbelievably powerful? Wouldn’t he have more spells and magic up his sleeve that I haven’t seen yet?

“To an extent, yes,” he confirms. “But a demigod is more accurate. Though, had I not been so foolish, I could’ve been more powerful than I was.”

Foolish? “Elijah, how did you die, exactly?” I press.

He gives me a wary look. His lips are pressed in a deep frown. “I was young when I became pharaoh, only 18. I was ambitious. In my first five years in power alone, I had built up my home village, Thinis, into a bustling capital. I had the blessing of my father and I was able to bring prosperity. Because of my success, the gods said they would gift me with something that would multiply that blessing and unlock more of my godly powers. Someone in my palace, in my court, heard about this. They were a follower of Set, a spy. They orchestrated my murder to take the throne from under me.”

He was murdered? I guess that’s no surprise. How else could he have suddenly died so young? And yet, that still doesn’t explain why he’s here now. “It’s awful what happened to you,” I whisper, “I know what it’s like to be betrayed by someone you think is trustworthy and loyal. But I can’t imagine that betrayal leading to…well, you know.”

His grip on my hand stays firm. I place my other hand on top of his. His eyes meet mine, the pain and anger present in them still, after who knows how many years of being dead. There’s still one question to be asked though.

“How are you alive now?” I ask. “Why didn’t it end there?”

With a heavy sigh, he continues. “Rah was angry with me because I allowed myself to be tricked. That spy had used his knowledge of the gods’ gift against me. He used my impatience against me. Rah told me that as a demigod, I am destined to live longer than any mortal, but because I let my guard down, I’ve made things complicated. As a means to save but also punish me, Rah cursed my body. I was to lay like the dead for centuries, millennia even, until I could be awaken by my soulmate. He said that she is the only one who can restore what I’ve lost.”

I feel a lump forming in the back of my throat as he mentions his soulmate. Only his soulmate can awaken him? Only his soulmate can restore what he lost?

“So this soulmate. She-I can’t-“ I mutter out.

Elijah stands up from the loveseat and moves in front of me, getting down on his knees. He releases my hand and brings his massive hands to my cheeks, cupping my face. “My soulmate is you, Carolina. I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t true. We are destined to be together. You were made for me and I was made for you.”

I pull my face out of his grasp and move around him off of the couch. “Let’s say what you’re saying is true,” I entertain, “How am I supposed to help you restore what you lost?”

“My life is tied to yours now, especially now that I am in a weakened state from being recently awakened. Once we go through a ritualistic marriage ceremony and consummate our marriage, you will officially become my queen and my godly power will be fully realized. My powers will be more than restored,” he explains.

“So once you finalize our marriage, you will basically have all that you need and I won’t be useful to you anymore,” I say sharply.

Elijah immediately comes to my side, grabbing my hands tenderly in his. “That is not true. You’re my queen. Every pharaoh needs a queen,” he stresses.

“Oh, right, I forgot you’re going to need an heir,” I say sarcastically. I pull myself away from him.

“I would love to have an heir but only if it’s with you,” he says desperately, “I’m just telling you what will happen when we wed and finally accept each other as soulmates. I wouldn’t be surprised if you gained magical abilities as well. After all, not just anyone can be the soulmate for a demigod.”

“I don’t want any magical powers. I just want my normal life. And I find it hard to believe that I was born to essentially be a means for you to gain some divine power!”

Elijah gives me a hard look. “If you think I only want you because of the power you can give me, you are extremely mistaken. I want you because it’s you. Carolina, I’ve never met a woman like you. I’m drawn to you. You make me feel emotions I’ve never felt before. It drives me crazy.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “You barely know me,” I scoff, “How do you know you’re not influenced by this connection we apparently have?”

“The bond between soulmates is not meant to control or force ourselves onto each other. It just amplifies any feelings of attraction we might already have for each other. If I find myself falling for you and if you find yourself falling for me, that’s all natural,” He snaps. He then adds, “And on the matter of me not knowing you, from the little I’ve learned so far, I can already tell you’re stubborn-“

I send him a scowl.

“-you’re resistant and definitely not easy,” he continues, “But you also have your moments where you’re caring. I bet you’re smart. You question everything, after all. I’d love to get to know more about the feisty person you seem to be. You just have to let me in.” 

“Knowing that you have more than enough incentive to win me as your prize, I don’t know if I should let you in,” I say lowly. Elijah tries to take a step towards me but I take a step back. “I think I should go now. Don’t bother using the Eye of Horus on me again. It won’t stop me.”

“I figured that,” he says, a hint of annoyance prevalent in his voice. “Before you go, there’s one more thing you must know.”

“Which is?” I urge.

“The followers of Set still exist. They have been monitoring my awakening ever since their influence was pushed out of the royal family long ago. They want to gain control of the world and rule it in chaos. But they can’t do that with me and my followers in the way. Their organization currently calls themselves the Dark Sand Society. The have a limited number of members but many of them can use strong magic. They are extremely dedicated to their cause,” he states.

“How are they relevant to me? It’s not like they know about me,” I say.

“Except, at this point, they do,” he says, “Their organization has these magic users called See-ers. They have the ability to predict a person’s future. However, there are many holes in their visions. They’re only able to predict the future when the person they’re monitoring makes a decision. They also can’t look into the future of gods or anyone with godly blood in them. I’ve interacted with See-ers before, so I know they can’t learn about you through me. But they most likely have learned about you through Lorenzo. That’s why I didn’t want him to bring you to me so soon.”

“So this group who wants to take you down, now conveniently knows about me?” I question skeptically.

“They will do everything in their power to hurt you to get to me, love,” he says, “And there are a limited number of ways to ensure your safety. The best case scenario is for you to move in with me and be under my protection and the protection of my followers at every moment.”

“Fat chance that will happen,” I scoff, “I’m better off protecting myself.”

Elijah shakes his head in frustration. “Seeing how stubborn you are, I know that won’t be possible. At least not yet. Which is why you need to wear the ring I gave you.”

“Why?”

“It has a strong shielding spell attached to it. It will keep Set’s followers from finding you and from recognizing you as my soulmate,” he explains. “I am begging you to wear it, for your sake. Please.”

After hearing everything, my thoughts are a huge jumbled up mess in my brain. I don’t know whether to trust him or assume he’s just lying to gain some power. At this point, I think it’s impossible for me to deny that I’m his soulmate, or at the very least he believes that I am. But I can’t wrap my head around this idea of some secret society. I mean, they existed long ago and stole the throne from him back then. They ended up losing the throne on their own, without Elijah’s intervention because he was already dead. They had to have disappeared or at the very least, why would they pose a threat now? Kings and pharaohs don’t even run the modern world. I think Elijah is trying to give me a reason to just let him have his way with me. I’m not that stupid. 

“Just stay out of my life,” I mumble before finally walking out of the office.

As I step onto the elevator, I glance down at my phone. I look through all the messages Elijah had sent me and scoff. My eye then catches the last text Jay had sent me.

‘The movies sound great. I’d be happy to tag along.’