Running Through My Head

Sorry this took so freaking long to update. I had to get a magazine rack for my comoputer, it has issues LOL Well, here it is, the long awaited chp 8, read and enjoy!

Chapter 8; Far Too Early

The early-morning sun rose almost too fast to catch, so that one moment the sand dunes were barely glittering, and the next they were flashing back enough golden light to dazzle the eye. Not that the Pharaoh could see all this from his current position, but as the light crept in past the sheer hangings around his bed, it seemed that Ra was determined to have him awake.

Royal purple eyes cracked open, then shut tightly again at the sting of sudden light. Yami heaved a sigh and shifted a bit trying to get comfortable enough to fall asleep again. But the body lying next to him, seemed to be made of lead and would not move an inch. This of course was a problem, since the Pharaoh’s hand was resting under the face of his slave-girl, and he felt no particular need to disturb the peace this early in the day. Instead, he merely heaved another resigned sigh, and managed to rearrange himself back to his original position, which wasn’t very hard. But sleep was proving to be a fickle mistress just now, and the Ruler of Egypt only groaned to himself in frustration. But at this noise, Amber stirred a bit. Yami watched her intently, but she simply snuggled in closer to him and went on sleeping. In a way, it was quite funny, because she always seemed to have such a strong aversion to him while she was conscious, and also instead of resting her face on his hand, she was now using his upper arm as a pillow. The Pharaoh grinned to himself, imagining her reaction when she woke up to find herself in such close proximity to him. Hell there was already a light blush in her soft cheeks.

Looking her over, while he was free to do so without receiving a glare, he frowned as he noticed her hair, still in that tightly woven braid. How on earth could she sleep like that? He was certain he couldn’t even if he tired. Feeling the oddest need to do so, and not being able to explain to himself why, the Pharaoh carefully maneuvered his hands around to the tied end of the girl’s hair. There was still that saucy little curl in it. But it was that sparkly stretchy thing she had put around the end. Most women who tied their hair back used sting, ribbon, or the more aristocratic used heavy golden thread or hair ornaments. This thing however, was entirely different. As he stretched and relaxed the thing on his fingers it glittered with black sparkles. He stretched it on his fingers again and it slipped over his thumb and shot past his forefinger to the other side of the room, landing with a soft “ping.” Yami blinked at the small event. Then feeling movement, he glanced back at the woman still sleeping in his arms. Amber was now nuzzling firmly against his shoulder, the way a cat might do when it wants attention. The Pharaoh allowed himself a smile- just a very small one. Going back to the braid, he began to unweave it, with proved no difficulty. At least she had had the sense to do something simple with it. Women could be so peculiar when it came to matters of hairstyles. The Ruler of Egypt forced down a chuckle at the memory of some of the women he had received as a gift, and later received in his bed. Among the more ridiculous had been a few who wore far too many gold and bejeweled hairpins holding the mass in intricately patterned knots. And there had been one woman who had been decorated with all manner of glass beads, gently clinking seashells, and delicate arrangement of prized birds’ plumage. To the credit of those who had dressed her, she had looked quite exotic, and he even told her so every now and again. And she had had such lovely dark skin, darker than his own, as a matter of fact.

The last two insets of woven hair had come loose at last and Yami came out of his thoughts only to run his finger through the now excessively wavy locks. It was nice- he decided still gazing at Amber’s sleeping face- when a woman kept her hair loose or in a simple fashion at most. Then it was no trouble to deal with in any circumstances.

The young man still lying in his bed, was only vaguely aware of the soft texture of hair he was still running his hands through, and pressing his lips against.

That feels nice. He though as he recalled more than one pleasant encounter. Not that any of them had really meant anything of course. It had been human contact that was all. It was fun, pleasure, and a great physical release, particularly on those nights where sleep evaded him. And it wasn’t as though he’d forced any one of them to lay down bare, and do as he said or else. Yami understood his position even before his current age- a young age for a King. He knew that he was expected to be intimidating no matter the situation, be it he bureaucracy, the battlefield, or the bedchambers. Perhaps that had been why most of the women he invited to his bed had complied so readily. There had been one or two that refused him, then immediately collapsed on the floor in tears begging his Highness to spare them and the lives of their families. On those few occasions, he recalled one instance as his arms hugged around the feminine body next to him- that he had knelt down beside the fallen, terrified woman in question. There was the memory of putting his arms loosely around the shaking form of a Spainish girl as she sobbed through a thick accent. One of his hands had rubbed soothing circles on her still-clothed back as he let her cry against his shoulder. And when she was calm enough to only sit there and hiccup, he’d eased back from her, holding her at arm’s length with a sympathetic smile on his face. And judging by her face, whatever reaction she had expected, this had clearly not been it.

Now, Yami smiled against the top of his newest slave-girl’s head. The Pharaoh had been absolutely tender when dealing with the more hysterical of the opposite sex. Nowadays he sometimes wondered what had become of the Spanish girl, for she no longer resided in the palace with him. At the time, he had softly wiped away the remaining tears from the girl’s face and told her to listen to him carefully. Thus the Ruler of Egypt told her, in no uncertain terms, that she did not have to sleep with him if she did not wish; nor would any harm come to her or her family as a result. At that her wide dark eyes had looked all but disbelieving. At the Pharaoh’s offer to take her back to her family, her lower-lip had trembled, and she promptly burst into tears again, this time throwing her arms around his shoulders in an almost painful hug.

At that memory, he did chuckle, a low, warm, rumbling sound. But it seemed sleep preferred Amber to him just now, for she snoozed on, apparently deaf to his slight laughter.

Amber, He thought as he arched his neck, the better to look into her face. Funny, I’ve shared a bed with her, slept next to her, but not slept WITH her. In a way, it was funny- the sort of funny, which nobody would be gullible enough to believe if they knew of it. And as he thought on it, Yami became aware that his right hand kept trailing along the side of the young woman next to him. His hand paused, and finally stopped, on her hip. She was still wearing those odd nightclothes. The shirt had ridden up a little in sleep, enough to show some bare waist.

Without giving it any real thought, the Pharaoh found himself studying her figure once again. Not that the pastime displeased him. On the contrary, he liked what he found. Fair skin like hers was very rare indeed for this part of the world. Ivory, gold, and coral, like something made for a King or… He stopped himself before he could be tempted to think of any other idea. For whatever reason, he didn’t’ like to think that she might be meant for anyone, or anything other than himself. Richly purple eyes watched as the girl slept on. Yami watched the swell and fall of her breasts, though they were still hidden behind that damnable shirt. Watched as her ribs expanded and shrank with breath. He studied the way her shoulders and upper body curved and tapered to her nicely formed waist and hips. It occurred to him that she was really not so skinny as some women. How anyone found appeal in a female with no curve to her was beyond him. But at the same time, she was not so voluptuous as to be obscene. She had just the right figure for bearing children.

A moment later, it seemed as though that particular though had cuffed him sharply around the head. Now why did I think of that? He wondered, and failed to answer his own question. Trying to dismiss it as idle though didn’t help at all. He tried to tell himself that she wasn’t the maternal type, only to be bombarded with memories of how she’d kept an eye on Yugi, and taken that knife-wound for the boy. And he didn’t even bother with trying to convince himself that she was too young, given her age was so very close to his own. There’s no one she’d want to have children with. That though gave him peace for all of five minutes. When all was said and done, he had no idea where she had been in her long absence. For all he knew, she had found another man, stayed in his house, maybe more besides.

Yami grunted with irritation. No, Amber wasn’t that sort, was she? She had morals of that he could be certain. Now that thought did comfort him as he recalled what a fuss she’d made when she had been more or less forced to wear the more esthetically pleasing garments. Or even when she found out that she was expected to share sleeping space with him. The Pharaoh chuckled again as he remembered that night. Although no fists had flown, no physical damage had been dealt, yet there had undoubtedly been a battle. The funny thing was that neither of them had really gotten what they wanted and had unknowingly found themselves compromising. Amber had not been allowed to sleep apart from him, but he had been denied a nights worth of pleasure. So in the end it was even, neither of them had really won.

On these sentiments it seemed that the Pharaoh’s slave had more or less decided to wake. Yami caught himself before he could begin to panic about this. After all, he’d done nothing wrong, not by his standards and probably not even by hers.


Amber came back to conscious only after something very close to her had moved a little, but now she could not think what that something was. Even so, sleep was gone, and did not wish to grace her with its presence again.

Oh well, into each life some rain must fall. She mused with the recollection of one of her mother’s favorite little maxims. Growing up, her mother had seemed full of those funny little sayings, she now realized. With a deep breath in and a slow sigh out, Amber felt a yawn and stretch coming on. Presently, she reached her hands past her head as far as they would go- ignoring the other limbs that were not hers- and pulled the length of her whole body as far as was comfortable. When she relaxed again, she felt the other set of limb- those belonging to the other bed’s occupant- uncoil from her body just a little. Fighting back the urge to be overly annoyed, the young woman opened her green eyes and looked back into a pair of amethyst ones.


They were nearly nose-to-nose, and Yami fancied that he felt warmth like a sudden fever in his cheeks. A short debate between himself and his better judgment took place and was decided quickly. The Pharaoh leaned in, closing the little distance there was, and pressed his lips over hers. Gods, how long had it been since he’d touched and tasted those lips? Too long, even though it had only been a few months. Yami’s arms tightened around her again, pressing her securely against his own body. He felt Amber stiffen a bit again, but after another moment her body relaxed. A soft encouraging sound escaped her throat as her right hand came up and gently gripped his shoulder. Amber wasn’t exactly pulling back or shoving him away, but neither was she dragging him closer. Even so, he allowed his hands to roam over her back feeling the curves and contours of her body. She felt so good in his arms and against his whole form like that. The way she smelled, felt, and tasted, were beyond description. Nothing about her was the kind of thing one read about in books and romance novels. It occurred to him that Amber was simply herself- warm and soft and sweet. Yami didn’t want to let up or let go, she tasted and felt too good.

Now Amber’s nails were digging none too lightly into his shoulder. With a grunt, the Pharaoh eased away from her lips and to his own surprise, gasped for air as he stared at her.

“Sorry,” She said as she too gulped down much-needed oxygen. “Needed air.” She finished. It surprised her when Yami actually laughed a little as he still tried to catch his breath.

“That’s alright,” He said as he brought a hand to her face. “I think I needed it too.” That said, his lips lightly touched her cheek, then her forehead. For a long few minutes he simply lay there, breathing in the scent of her hair, and feeling the soft kisses she put on his shoulder where her nails had dug in. At this, he glanced down at her face again. Seeing her there, eyes closed, lips against his skin, high color in her cheeks, she was quite an erotic beauty. A moment later, she had eased away and rested her head on the pillows again with a deep sigh. She felt Yami’s hand come up and stroke her hair softly. With a more purposeful sigh, she rolled onto her back and stretched again.

“C’mon, we better get up.” She said through a pleasant sort of groan.

“Do we have to?” The Pharaoh asked, and as Amber looked at him she smiled at the playful grin on his face.

“If we don’t you know your brother’s going to worry.” Well, he had to admit she had a point there. And right on cue, a sharp knock came at the door. Before either of the young adults could answer, the panel opened and in bounded Yugi, fully dressed and ready for the day.

The boy paused about halfway to the bed and stared. “Am I interrupting something- that I hope I’m not-?”

“Mmm, not really.” It was Amber who replied in a casual tone. The grin on her face told both brothers that she was teasing one of them, but which one was the question.

“Well, Mana woke me up this morning.” This the boy said to his elder sibling. “She says Mahado and the other Priests are back.” It was clear from a glance that that last sentence had held some particularly special meaning to the Pharaoh. Yami sat up and was suddenly quite awake and alert. “Isis suggested we all have breakfast together and talk afterwards.”

The Pharaoh seemed to spend no more than a moment considering this; then gave a nod. “Go on ahead, we’ll be there shortly.” Both Amber and Yugi had given him a quizzical look at that, but he said nothing more and seemed not to notice. With a swift goodbye, the young prince practically dashed out the door. Amber glanced around as Yami came around the side of the bed, heading to the massive closet in search of clothes.

“Don’t say you told me so.” Yami said with a grin, just as Amber had opened her mouth.

“Well, I did though.” She said with a smile, and looking utterly unruffled.

Both dressed with their back to the other. Yami was only half dressed when he chanced a glance at Amber, who was now in her day-clothes and trying to do something with her hair. She was sitting on her knees and pulling her long mane back from her face, and there was another of those odd stretchy things around her wrist- the one she now used was a sparkly dark green.

“Leave it down.” Amber heard the somewhat gentle order.

She looked around at him, still holding her hair up with one hand. “Why?” She asked curiously. It had not passed her by that she had gone to sleep with her hair braided and woken up with it loose, and she had her own suspicions accordingly.

The Ruler of Egypt looked at her again, and his expression was difficult to read. “It looks nice when it’s down.” It sounded like a simple statement, but at the same time much more than that. With a shrug of sorts, Amber continued what she was doing and tied the ponytail at the top of her head. She had done something clever with it, pulling most of it straight back from her face letting the rest fell from the green tie like a fountain of hair. But she had worked two sections in front to hang so that they framed her face. The Pharaoh observed this with interest, and it crossed his mind that she might just be compromising between what he wanted and what she wanted. Perhaps she has an inclination for compromise? It was such a trivial thing that he gave no more thought to it for the present.


Breakfast had seemed almost a subdued affair- at least it was from Amber’s point of view. The Pharaoh had barely said ten words to her the whole time. The young woman correctly interpreted this to mean that his mind was somewhere other than tormenting her. It made a nice change of pace in one way, and was quite unsettling in another. Near the end of the meal, it came to her mind that she had seen some of these people before. It must’ve been back when she had first shown up here and been given to his Majesty as a slave.

When was that? Three- no- four months ago. Yes indeed it had been four months since her first debut, if one could call it that. It had been four months if she included that one where she had been more or less incapacitated because of that wound on her arm. She sighed as she thought it over yet again. But nothing new came to mind; pale hair and worn clothes, that was all she came up with and that wasn’t nearly enough to figure out who the culprit might be.

“Something bothering you?” The Egyptian King’s voice brought her out of her wandering thoughts.

Amber just shook her head. “No more than usual.” The man seated next to the Pharaoh on his left Hmphed and looked at her with open skepticism. Amber merely spared him a glance. There wasn’t much to take in beyond general appearance, that and facial expression. The person in question was of the same complexion as the rest of them with rich brown hair and even darker eyes. He wasn’t exactly an old man either. If Amber had to judge, she’d have put him maybe four or five years older than the Pharaoh, but no more than that.

“You might try a little more sincerity when you say that.” The priest- for he was a priest of apparently high rank if his attire was any indication- told her.

“Let me rephrase that.” Amber said coolly, hands on hips. “Nothing more than the usual things of late.” And she laid particular emphasis on the last two words. This communicated two things to those listening; it was something that had begun in only recent times, and principally she did not wish to discuss whatever the issue was with any of them.

Yami, for his part, was getting annoyed at this little disagreement going on almost literally over his head.

“If you two don’t mind keeping the bickering to a bare minimum…” He trailed off with practiced eloquence. And naturally it achieved the desired effect of silence, though a stiff silence all the same.


“Who is she?” Asked the eldest of the Seven Priests as they stood around the Pharaoh’s Main Audience Chamber. His Majesty occupying his usual seat of authority, had his chin resting in his hand.

“Remember that girl? The slave I was given just before-.” He cut himself off, and glanced at the floor. It was somewhat painful to think what might’ve happened if Amber had not taken the blow for his brother.

“You mean the half-downed river-rat they tired to clean up?” Yami rolled his sharply purple eyes, then let them rest back on the High Priest.

“Set, need I remind you she saved my brother’s life?” It was an effort to keep his voice level as he spoke. And again, a stiff silence followed

“Strange,” Said the only female among them. “She looks quite different than I recall. I wonder what she’s done to herself.”

“It’s that lion’s mane of hers.” Said the eldest Priest. “She found some way of taming it I suppose.”

“Amber calls it braiding her hair.” The Pharaoh said absently. They all stared at him in some surprise.

“She gave you her name?” Said Set.

Yami shrugged one shoulder. “I asked and she told me, though I can’t think why.”

“Indeed?” Now Set was challenging him again and they all knew it.

“Yes indeed.” Said Yami, not caring that Set was trying to get on his nerves. Amber was supposedly cleaning his room, scrubbing the floors, changing bedclothes etc. And he nearly smiled at the homey image his mind produced. He could picture her washing the tub in his massive bathing room, or rearranging all his clothes in whatever way women will see fit at the time; or even her tucking the corners of fine silk sheets under the warm, deep bedding, sheet that she would sleep in, with him. The Pharaoh breathed out through his nose and used his thumb and forefinger to pinch his sinuses. Life could be so very hard sometimes.

“Wait, didn’t she disappear for a time?” Asked the only woman, making her presence known again.

“Yes Isis, but nobody knows where she went.” His Majesty said in a tired kind of voice. This wasn’t the first time it had crossed his mind either. Where had Amber been in the 3 months she had been missing? People did not simply disappear in a puff of smoke or the swirl of a cape, it just didn’t happen. But the fact remained that in the time and effort they had spent looking for her, all anyone had ever found was the stretch of bare sand where her footprints ended, surrounded by sand and scrubby vegetation. It was strange, of that there was no doubt, and for whatever reason in his gut, the Pharaoh had set a circle of heavy flat rocks around the spot, thought they might’ve been buried in the sand by now.

“We might question her, your Majesty.” Suggested another priest. Yami looked up at him with a somewhat wry expression at first. Then it changed to one of consideration. He glanced up at the man with a bare, tattooed scalp.

“You know Shada, that may be worth while.”

“A word of advice.” Said a female voiced that the Pharaoh recognized instantly. Everyone present turned to see Amber standing nonchalantly, there in the doorway to the Egyptian King’s right. Her green eyes were giving him a very sharp look indeed. “Don’t ever pry into my mind, it’s not a safe place to be.” There was no humor in her tone, nor in her expression, and not even in those pretty eyes of hers. She was dead serious about this. Set’s mouth had just opened, no doubt to make some sharp remark or other, but the girl cut him off. “You never know what might jump out and drag you back in.” She finished this pronouncement over her shoulder as she turned and left a roomful of stunned people behind her. And it seemed in her sudden absence, a kind of heaviness had lifted, one which none of them had even really been aware. It was a kind of…

Gravity. Thought the Pharaoh, That’s what it was. And he was right to have guessed he’d seen it in more than just her physical self, he’d seen it-just for the briefest moment- somewhere deep inside her. She was hiding something from him; hiding a great deal, in fact.

A/N: Ah, the plot start to thicken a bit more... Jeez, took me long enough.
Lemmed know what you think and thanks a bundle for waiting!