WebNovels

Chapter 18 - The Morning After

Dawn

The first rays of sun broke over the sand as I smothered the last embers of the fire. I had not slept. My eyes burned, my body was heavy, but my heart had never ceased its vigil.

Cleopatra stirred, stretched her arms, and looked at me. She noticed that I did not sit relaxed, but rigid, my gaze fixed on the horizon as though I still awaited an enemy.

"Mehet," she called to me with a drowsy voice. "You did not sleep?"

"No," I answered curtly.

She sat up and studied me for a long moment. "Something happened. I can see it on you."

I bowed my head to the sand. "Only the desert. Sometimes it shows a face you do not wish to see."

---

Her insistence

She came closer, her eyes full of questions. "Mehet, tell me the truth. In the night I felt… as if something touched me. But when I opened my eyes, there was only you. You were guarding me, weren't you?"

I said nothing.

She placed her hand gently on mine. "I am not a child anymore. You don't have to protect me from words. If there is something that threatens us, I must know."

---

His silence

I hesitated for a long time. To tell her everything would only frighten her. To remain silent was to admit that something was hidden.

At last I said quietly: "Something came. A shadow not of this world. It tried to break me. But it failed."

Her eyes widened. "Beings… gods?"

"Perhaps," I replied. "But I will say no more."

"Why?" she pressed. "Why will you never tell me everything?"

---

The inner voice

I wanted to tell her that the truth would only wound her. That I carried a burden which must never fall upon her shoulders. That her peaceful sleep meant more to me than my secrets.

But I did not speak it. I never must.

Instead, I rose, handed her the waterskin, and said: "We must go on. The desert does not wait."

She took it in silence. And as we walked, I felt her gaze on my back—searching, trying to pierce the wall of my silence.

The Journey

We traveled on. The sand shifted, dunes rising and falling as though the desert itself breathed. At times the wind carried the scent of dates from far-off oases, at others only dust that clung to the tongue.

Cleopatra walked beside me. She no longer complained of fatigue as she had in the first days. She had learned to pace her steps, cover her head, drink water in sips. I watched her from the corner of my eye—she was growing faster than I had expected.

---

Conversation on the march

"Mehet," she said as the sun stood high. "You always told me the desert is a harsh teacher. Now I understand what you meant."

"Yes," I nodded. "In the palace they tell you what to eat, what to wear, when to sleep. Here the desert tells you. If you disobey, you die."

She smirked. "Harsh, but fair."

She walked in silence for a time, then went on: "Do you know what's strange? I enjoy it. No walls, no guards, no whispers of priests and servants. Only the sand—and you. It is a freedom I never felt in the palace."

---

Her confession

She stopped and looked into my eyes. "There, I am always the princess. Here, I am just… me. And when I'm with you, I know you don't see me only as the Pharaoh's daughter."

My heart struck harder, but I did not move. "Here you are a traveler, as I am. But the desert's freedom has its price. What it gives, it can take away."

"Perhaps," she said with a smile. "But for a moment at least, I feel what it is to live without a golden cage."

---

The inner voice

I gave no answer. In her words there was more truth than she realized. Yes, in the palace she was surrounded by riches, but always within a cage. I had seen it from the beginning. And now, when she spoke of freedom, I felt the sting—because I was the one who guarded that cage.

Yet whatever the cost, I had sworn to protect her. Even if her freedom could only be found here, among the dunes

Discovery

After days of knowing nothing but sand and wind, a patch of green finally rose on the horizon. At first it looked like a dream, then like certainty.

"An oasis!" Cleopatra cried, running ahead, her bare feet sinking into the sand, laughter echoing across the desert. Her hair came loose, falling over her shoulders, her eyes shining as she caught sight of the palms and the mirror of water.

"Mehet! Look! Water! Trees! Real life!"

I watched her as she rushed to the pool, scooping water into her hands, drinking with the delight of a child and the grace of a young woman.

---

Her joy

She slipped off her cloak to wash, and her laughter rang out as though the desert itself had forgotten its wrath for a moment. Her eyes sparkled like stars, her arms spread as if she wished to embrace the whole world.

"This is what I imagine freedom to be," she declared, her wet hair clinging to her shoulders. "This is life, Mehet! Not gold, not walls, not thrones."

---

His gaze

I stood in the shade of a palm, watching her. She was no longer the child I once held in my arms. She was a woman—beautiful, alive, strong. Every movement, every smile reminded me that time showed no mercy.

And in that moment, my heart ached.

One day, another man would stand at her side. Someone her father chose, or someone she chose for herself. And I… I would have to remain at her side as I swore, guarding her love, her husband, her child. I would watch as she belonged to another.

---

Inner monologue

I love her.

I will never say it. She must never hear it. I am a slave, a eunuch, a shadow. But within me burns a love that nothing can break. It is not love of the body—though my body cries for her. It is the love that was born when I first held her as a newborn and swore to protect her.

Her laughter is my life. Her peace is my reward. And even if one day I must guard the happiness another man gives her, I will endure. Because I do not love to possess. I love so that she may live.

---

Returning to her

Cleopatra turned and shouted: "Come! Mehet, come into the water! At last we can rest here!"

I smiled—a smile she did not see, for it belonged only to me and my pain. Then I stepped toward her, ready to be her shadow even in the paradise of the oasis

More Chapters