The Cursed Pharaoh's Bride

Chapter XXIV

Carolina

I feel a piece of folded up paper hit my forehead for the third time. I stop measuring the samples in the lab to shoot Charles another glare. 

“That’s mature,” I say sarcastically. For the past thirty minutes, Charles has been trying to flick a folded up piece of paper at my face, or at least I think that’s his goal. 

“Palling around with a twenty one year old for the past two weeks makes me forget how to act like an adult. You can’t blame me for that,” he responds innocently. Ever since I gave Charles the order to ignore Elijah’s anti-guy order, he’s been walking me to class and sitting through lectures with me. He enrolled in school and managed to get my exact same schedule. He even dresses the part of a student now. His whole shady hoodie wardrobe has been abandoned and now he sports some of the latest streetwear and urban trends. When we’re not in school, I’d say he spends half his time in my apartment. He still isn’t much of a talker but he at least isn’t actively 

“Why’d you shave your beard?” I ask him as I finish up my data collection. 

“I’m trying to look younger. It would be kind of weird if people saw someone who looks like a Ph.D student taking classes with a girl who’s still trying to finish her bachelor’s degree,” he explains. 

“Are you even in a Ph.D program? Wait, how old are you?” I ask. 

“For your information, I am in a very flexible Ph.D program,” he says with a bit of playful attitude. “And asking an elder his age is very rude.” 

I roll my eyes at him. “I’m going to assume that means you’re thirty.” 

“Twenty eight,” he corrects. “Now that you’re done interrogating me, I get to ask you a question. Have you been enjoying the special attention the pharaoh’s been giving you lately? Wait, no, I should be asking him if he’s enjoying the attention you’re finally giving him.” 

My jaw drops at what he just said. I can’t stop the smile that crawls onto my face. “Charles, I never knew you were one for gossip,” I tease. 

“What else am I supposed to do when I’m bored? Now, don’t change the subject. I know the pharaoh has been in a good mood lately. You visit him more frequently now—I would know. I drive you. What are you doing to him?” 

“I’m doing nothing!” I defend with a laugh. “I’ve just been seeing him more. We just talk and get to know each other better. I’m not doing anything special.” 

Charles shakes his head. “No way. The pharaoh turns into a puppy when he sees you. Don’t tell him I said that,” he adds quickly, “But no man is that happy unless he’s getting some more. You two have to be doing the dirty.” 

“Charles!” I shriek as I hit him with a rolled up sheet of paper. “The most we’ve been doing lately is holding hands.”

Truth be told, ever since our walk on the bridge, Elijah and I haven’t done anything overly romantic or passionate. I feel better about opening up to him after I told him about David. I feel more comfortable around him. But that doesn’t mean I’m ready for him to start treating me like his lover or anything. We’ve been hanging out as friends, friends who like to do a lot of light and playful touching here and there. Meeting up for lunch is becoming a regular thing for us now. Instead of meeting him at his office, he sometimes picks me up from school and takes me somewhere to eat. Elijah, unfortunately, has a bad habit of taking me to upscale restaurants even though I’m not dressed appropriately. He always insists it’s no big deal and he can easily get us in. I let him have his way at first, but I now I try to convince him to go to more casual places. I think we look like a bit of an odd couple in either situation, though: the rich man and the commoner woman. 

“Since you want to talk about gossip, a little birdie told me that Alexa has been making periodic nightly visits to your apartment. I’m sure you two do more than just holding hands,” I tease. 

Charles lets out an unapologetic snort. “Didn’t think you’d care about what I did with my spare time,” he states nonchalantly. 

“I’m just surprised you’d get involved with one of my roommates so fast.”

Charles scoffs playfully. “I wouldn’t say the blonde and I are involved. Your red headed roommate already thought I was sleeping with her cousin so I thought, ‘Might as well’,” he explains. “She and I have fun, there’s nothing more to it.” 

“You better hope she doesn’t find out you’re rich. Or else she’s going to force you to marry her,” I warn with a knowing smile. 

Charles’ nose wrinkles in disgust. “First of all, I’m no where near interested in the idea of marriage,” he hisses. “Second of all, that woman is the last person I’d want to marry. I’ve heard her talk. I can’t stand to listen to that all the time.” 

I can’t stop myself at giggling at him. “I can’t wait until you fall in love with a girl, Charles. It’ll be interesting to see how you handle your feelings.” 

“I don’t fall in love,” Charles grumbles just as Dr. Jones walks into the lab. She passes Charles with a quick “hello” and he responds with a simple “Susan”. 

Dr. Jones then enthusiastically turns to me. “I’m so glad to see that you are still here, Carolina,” she says excitedly. She walks to her desk and pulls a large heavy looking book from a drawer. 

She motions me over to her desk. “Since you still don’t have a magic teacher, I thought I’d bring you a grimoire that will help you with the basics.”

The basics? The book is as thick as at least two college textbooks, maybe even three. And that’s supposed to be only the basics? What’s in that book? And how much studying do I have to do just learn to control my magic?!

Dr. Jones laughs at my horrified expression. “Don’t worry, a lot of this stuff is magic history and technical stuff. You won’t have to go in depth for those sections. You can probably start focusing on basic spells and technique soon,” she assures.

“Wait, I used magic to heal Jay. You’re telling me I can use other kinds? I thought I could only do one thing,” I say in disbelief.

“The limits of your magic use depends on your will and the intentions of your soul,” she replies cryptically.

“What is that supposed to mean exactly?” I deadpan.

Dr. Jones lets out a fake sigh. “I guess I have no choice but to give you a basic description on how magic works,” she smirks, “For starters, while many people call it magic, the correct term is heka. To put it simply, heka is a divine force that has existed long before our world came into existence. While usually accessible to gods, it can also be given and used by mortals. It can be summoned through rituals or into objects in order to maintain the balance of the world. That is how the average person can use heka, if they are trained well enough in the art. Even then, not everyone can summon it.

“When heka is summoned, it needs a medium to pass through to exist in our world. That ideal medium is usually a symbol or an object because of its stability. However, there are a small group of individuals who are able to pass heka through their bodies. Those people are able to maintain a level of mental, emotional, and physical stability that is desirable for heka. Anyone who can summon heka through their body can use it with a level of mobility and versatility that doesn’t exist when heka is used using rituals, symbols, or objects.”

“So this special force passes through my body. That’s why I can do magic?” I reiterate.

Dr. Jones gives me a nod. “But what makes everyone’s magic different?” I ask.

“I’m getting to that, sheesh,” Dr. Jones huffs. “Before heka can pass through the body into the physical world, it has to come in contact with your soul. As a result, the form magic takes in the physical world depends on what makes up your soul, specifically your core values. Take the pharaoh for example. While his magic is in part influenced by his divine genes, he has a strong sense of perseverance and leadership. Therefore, it shouldn’t be that surprising that he has strong fire magic among his other abilities. The fact that he’s so strong willed and can inspire others to follow him also makes him an ideal pharaoh and above else, the son of Horus.”

Elijah can use fire? Does that mean he was purposely not using his magic when he was fighting Cohen? Or is Dr. Jones just saying what one of his powers would be based on speculation? I wonder if he can use another type of magic. I wonder if I can use another type of magic. If I can use healing magic, maybe it has to do with the fact that I care a lot about being close to people so I can help them. I can’t help but want to be there for others who need help. I mean, that’s why I went into nursing in the first place. 

“You obviously value love, that’s why you’re studying nursing, right?” Dr. Jones asks all knowingly. 

I can feel my face heat up. “Yeah, I guess you’re not wrong but I don’t know if love would be the right word. I mean, when I think of love and relationships, I think of…” Elijah…but also…David.

Dr. Jones gives me a soft look. “I don’t know exactly what you might be referring to, so I can only assume,” she starts, “But if you ever doubt your ability to forge positive and easy relationships, it’s not because you don’t care about love. It’s because you care about honesty. If someone betrayed your trust, it can make you doubt. But don’t lose hope, Carolina, you’re too warm of a person to give up on getting close to other people.”

Honesty. Trust. I gave and expected those things from David. In the end, he hurt me. Can I give and expect those things from Elijah? He’s so perfect, more so than David ever was. He could have any woman yet he wants me. Am I even worthy of being with him?

“Dr. Jones,” I start, “Can you be the one to teach me how to use magic? I mean since you’ve been my mentor since at least a year and you already know me so well.”

Dr. Jones gives me a weary look. “I’d love to be your teacher. The only issue is I can’t use magic the way you do. I’m very skilled at summoning heka to make charms and I’ve even started developing potions and a version of alchemy. But I wouldn’t be able to teach you everything.”

“Can you at least start teaching what you can?” I nearly beg. “I don’t want to wait for a teacher to come God knows when. And the Dark Sand Society is still out there. Don’t you think I should start learning how to defend myself?”

“Hey, I’m right here,” Charles whines from behind me.

I ignore him and continue. “Can’t you teach me about how I can at least summon this heka stuff so I can heal? I’d be useful if someone got hurt. Maybe I can use another type of magic.” Maybe if I can use magic, I can even prove that I’m not some weak girl who got lucky to be paired with a powerful pharaoh. Otherwise, that just makes me some fragile damsel in distress. 

“Hey, if you want to learn a few self defense moves, I can teach you,” Charles offers. The look he’s giving me looks somewhat mischievous though and I don’t think I trust him.

“Something tells me you’d be a horrible teacher so for now, I’m gonna have to turn down your offer,” I squeak in slight intimidation.

Charles just shrugs. “Suit yourself,” he says. “By the way, do you know if the pharaoh has someone in mind to teach you magic full time after Dr. Jones is done with you?”

I stiffen when the thought of Charles’ sister crosses my mind. Something tells me it’s best that I don’t bring her up. Besides, just because Elijah brought her up doesn’t mean his word is law. I’m sure if I tell him I’d like a different teacher, he’d have no problem finding someone else in his society. “H-he hasn’t really said anything…” I stutter.

Charles gives me a blank look. “You’re a bad liar, you know. You’ve pulled it off a few times but anyone who’s observant enough can tell you get somewhat nervous when you do it. If they don’t say anything to you, it’s because they’re being polite. Anyways, I’m going to assume that the pharaoh has brought someone up. Who is it?”

“He said something about someone he met when he awoke. But he didn’t drop any names. Do you know anyone he could have met that could be a suitable teacher?” I ask. I mean, I’m not really lying. I’m just omitting the detail that he was referring to his family.

Charles’ expression hardens for a second before any emotion he has on his face leaves entirely. “I suppose there are some people that he’s met that could teach you magic. But I wouldn’t bet on it,” he states. Well it seems like his sister won’t be interested in teaching me anyways, which is totally fine by me.

“Now now.” Dr. Jones interrupts our conversation for a moment. She hauls a pot with a wilting flower over towards us. 

“You insisted that you wanted to learn magic from me,” she says, “So prepare yourself to work hard starting today.

“This plant is going to be your first assignment. Your job will be to use your healing magic to restore it to a perfect state of health.”

“Okay, but how am I supposed to do that?” I question.

“Well, you won’t be doing any magic right now,” Dr Jones clarifies. She opens the grimoire before placing it on my lap. “You will be starting out with these breathing and mental exercises so summon the heka. The method is generally the same for anyone who can use magic. Once you’ve figured that out, you’ll work on commanding it through your body to the flower. If you can’t get that far today, don’t worry about it. You can just take the flower home and train during your free time.” She gives me an overly enthusiastic smile.

Great. What kind of mess did I get myself into?