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"I'm not endangering the lives of those slaves any more than they already are" Malum replied, looking to the sky in thought, "... I somehow doubt you could set something up with the Pharaoh-but I won't stop you from trying. That's one thing Keg would never expect."
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With this, Asima's head did pop up. "I didn't think you'd agree to that! What could I possible give to Nemiah to...to...to..." Her voice faded away, staring at Malum thoughtfully. "Well," The princess hesitated, "You did get out of prison very well...Hmmm. How about this: Stay at my house until later. I'll 'sneak' back to the palace, tell Nemiah I want to come home, and will give you to him, if he'll let me. I'm sure he'd believe that. You can pretend to get caught, and I'll pretend to visit you. After all, I suppose it's obvious I care for you, so that wouldn't be too suspicious. I'll just say I wanted to apologize and explain things to you. You can do your break out thingie, sneak into the palace. There's a million hideaways. I have one in my room. I could bring you food, and we would both be safe, for a little while...What do you think?" |
"That's-" Malum paused, thinking it over. He had been ready to tear apart the idea with sarcasm but he suddenly was finding trouble figuring out what to say in that regard. "That's... a really good plan." he blinked, looking at her, "Where the heck did that come from?"
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Asima snorted, shaking her head and letting it drop. She turned, starting back through the city. "I'm glad you think so highly of me. C'mon. Let's go ahead and go to my house. I'll get us something to eat for the time being, until night falls." |
"alright" Malum followed, running a hand through his hair, "But seriously, that was brilliant. I can't believe I didn't think of it."
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Asima glared back at him. "Thank you for the compliment." She told him dryly. ~ After a bit, Asima was moving inside the house made for her, gently touching the walls. Soon, hopefully she could run her hand over the true alabaster stone inside the place. "Alright, I'll see if there is anything edible in the kitchen now..." Asima bustled off, located a bit of cured meat. The fruit had spoiled, and had been taken out, Asima automatically assumed the servants had cleaned it, before leaving. |
Malum strolled through the house, getting a good look at it in t he daylight. He hadn't had much time to appreciate it the first time he'd been here, but now he was finding it fascinating.
"Who did all this?" he asked, touching the walls and inspecting them curiously, "Are these... spells?" |
Asima had set the food down, glancing over at Malum and nodding slowly. "Yes, Hemset made the house for me, after I went to the white sand world, to get Lakar. He said I got rid of you, but disobeyed him in the process. So I couldn't stay at my home." She gave a wry laugh, "Thanks, now get out. And people wonder why I'm afraid to live under his rule." "Anyway. He did wonderful, didn't he? Set is truly gifted. Maybe even more than you were." |
"Hm... I would have done it differently, but yeah, that kid's got a talent I suppose." Malum replied, then took a seat.
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"I like how he did it. He modeled it after home." Asima gazed fondly around her, smiling slightly. The princess folded herself next to the table, pushing the salted meats towards Malum. "Eat up. I suppose when you get taken, I'll stop by tomorrow morning...How long will it take Solum to find us?" |
Malum helped himself to the food, glancing around curiously still, "Yeah, it has elements of the palace. But it lacks a certain something..."
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Asima glanced around, puzzled. "It makes me perfectly happy. What do you think is missing?" |
Malum shrugged, "Just a few things, nothing I can really do about it now though eh?" he leaned back.
(hmm, bed time me thinks)) |
"No, but a suggestion is always appriciated." Asima gave a sigh, standing and glancing at him. She stood that way for a minute, simply gazing at Malum, before turning away. "Go ahead and get some sleep. I'm sure you remember where the bedroom is. I'll go talk to Nemiah, alright? Wish me luck, and hope I don't just get locked up." Asima chuckled humorlessly. |
Malum nodded a little, giving her a smile back, "Just don't get yourself killed and it'll be a breeze to get you out of trouble." he replied as he ate a little more, watching Asima leave.
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Asima shot him a glare over her shoulder. She could get herself out of trouble...maybe...possibly... The princess huffed slightly, leaving the house in a hurry. She comes up with a nice plan, and Malum basically says 'Wow, I can't believe you thought of that!'. She risks her neck for him, and he says 'Oh, don't mess up too badly, so I can help you when you do mess up.'. What would it take to prove she was every bit as useful as someone like Sarah. Before Asima knew it, the palace loomed in front of her once more. She quickly slunk inside, glancing up at Nemiah's balconey. Surely, it would be guarded, so how was she to get inside? That would be the safest place to speak with Nemiah, if he didn't have her hauled away first. The best bet Asima could see would be to make her way to her own rooms, and shimmy across the little ledge that made her heart flutter simply thinking of the height. "Keg'll find him..." The female muttered, gathering her courage and moving into the palace, making her way through the darkened corridors quickly. She slipped into her own room, shutting the door behind her. Distracted, Asima glanced around. Why and how exactly had everything gone so wrong? Asima focused once more, stepping unto the balconey, and pulling herself unto the railing. Shimming across the ledge was no where near as bad as she'd predicted, though, Asima kept her eyes closed, gripping the tiny ledge above her and inching her feet on the ledge she stood on. Soon, the princess's feet were touching down on her brother's balconey. Slowly, Asima peeked her head into the room, glancing around. |
Surprisingly Asima's room had not been tampered with since her departure. All had been left untouched. When she got to her brother's room, Nemiah was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling. He had discarded the royal pharaoh's garb and elected to wear something a little more common and comfortable. It was a little strange that he hadn't moved to their father's room, he had accepted everything else but he kept his own smaller abode.
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Asima paused in the doorway, her thoughts floating back to when things were right between them. Everything had been much simplier. Finally, the princess stepped into the room. "N-Pharaoh? Please, d-don't be upset, I...need to talk to you...brother?" The lilt at the end of Asima's words made them sound as a question, instead of a request. |
Nemiah jolted into a sitting position, he looked over at her in surprise, "Asima?!" he questioned, then getting to his feet, moving towards her swiftly, "What are you doing here? How did you get-the hole is still in the wall isn't it?" he hit his forehead as he remembered, "is that how Malum got in to? Is he here now? What's going on?"
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"Umm..umm. Yes, I got in through the hole, no that isn't how Malum got in: He doesn't even know about it, as far as I know." Asima attempted to answer his questions, backing away from her brother as he moved towards her. "N-nothing is going on right now...yet." The princess took a deep breath before continuing, "Nem-Pharaoh, I want to come home. I can give you Malum...H-he's sleeping at my house. I just want to come back home." Asima dropped into a clumsy bow, "P-please?" To be honest, it wasn't even hard to tell Nemiah this, because it was true. She missed the palace badly, even if she'd loved Frodan. What was hard was not being able to call his name, or throw her arms around him. Harder still, was the words he'd spoken to her, and even if she was claimed again, those words still stung, to know that's what her brother thought of her. |
Nemiah hesitated, shaking his head a moment, "Asima, please, stop calling me Pharaoh." he sighed, sitting at the edge of his bed, "... I want you to come home. But I don't know how I can ever trust you." he looked at her again, although there wasn't anger as much as disappointment in his eyes. He was at a loss as to figuring out just what to say or do next.
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Asima stood, but refused to meet her brother's gaze. He was right, and she was decieving him once more... "I...I know." Asima stared, glancing at him quickly, "But, you have to think of how I felt, too, Nemiah. I was scared. I had to leave my home, with no idea how I could upkeep the house given to me. Power changes people, I've learned that much. And you seem so different now. You...disowned me, before. I would have never thought that of you, no matter what I did. We had our..dissagreements, I suppose, but I would never betray you. Ever since I've been with Malum, and in Frodan, I've tried to do everything I could to convince Malum to leave you be..." |
Nemiah glanced away, "I never thought I would either... but I also never thought you would...um..." his words fell short, he didn't exactly want to bring up the whole harem thing again. It had really shocked him before, truthfully he hadn't known how to react at the time. "still... I may have overreacted... a little..."
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Asima wiped her tounge across her lips nervously. "Well, I am offering a way to make it better now...Can I come back, brother? To my home, and to you?" |
Nemiah lay back on his bed again, trying to think this through, "... first, answer my questions. You and Malum came and went so quickly, there's still so much to figure out still. I don't even know who this Keg character is, how come I've never heard of him? How did he get to one of my advisors? Who is this guy and how terrible of an enemy is he to be against both Malum and I? That sounds like the most foolish thing ever to do..."
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