Dark Horse

"Dark Horse"
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Hentai, drama, romance.
Anime: Yuugiou (or Yu-Gi-Oh!)
Written and edited by: Phantom_Panther (or JoeysGal on mediaminer.org)
With the help of...: Various books and websites on the Ancient Egyptian world.
Warnings: Shoujo-ai and yuri follows. Yaoi and het in later chapters.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yuugiou and anything you read about in this fiction is purely for fanfiction purposes.


Phantom_Panther: Nyah! Why is it when I have absolutely nothing else to do that I resort to this? Oh well, at least I haven’t forgotten about this completely xD! Hope you enjoy the latest installment!!

Chapter Nine

**~***~**

“How is she doing?” Atemu.

“She hasn’t improved a lot since last night, I’m afraid, your grace. We believe she is conscious, but asleep. There’s no way to tell if she will be the same again when and if she wakes up.” Shada.

“I don’t understand what triggered the attack. Their argument must have been serious. Her mental medical history has always been very sound.” Atemu.

“Let’s keep it under wraps from the public until we know for sure what it is. We have to find out what’s wrong with her before we come to any conclusions.” Mahado.

“See to it that she is looked after. I am going to check up on Kisara, if you will excuse me.” Seth.

“Of course.” Atemu.

The High Priest left with a brilliant flash of blue and gold robes, a smug expression altering his features as he turned his back on the rest of the council. Gathered in Isis’ room, the priests were in a pickle over what to do with the young, unconscious woman. She had been in a coma since the occurrence the previous night. Seth had claimed that he had walked in on Isis and Kisara arguing about something inside the temple, when Isis went mad with rage and attacked Kisara, slapping her brutally across the face and clasping her around the throat. Seth came in and saw the scenario, quickly using the power of his Sennen Rod to fend off Isis’ atrocious attack on the young woman.

“Fools,” he muttered to himself, gliding effortlessly down the stairwell. “Atemu will believe anything, being the naïve amateur that he is. He doesn’t know the first thing about being the ruler of an empire, let alone his own palace.”

The handsome young priest quietly made his way up to his own chamber, noticing Kisara standing by the window, looking vacantly out toward the desert. A tear slid out of her eye down to her chin, and ran down her neck. Anguish and hurt overcame him as he saw the woman he loved, staring idly out at the desert plains. He knew she was thinking only of Isis – her new lover – and what would become of her when she woke up. What would become of this whole affair? Seth wondered. If he could somehow prove that Isis was mentally unstable when she wasn’t, then she would be locked up, never to bother him or Kisara again.

He was in a position to do as he pleased, however. He could tell everything as it really happened to Atemu, but then he would surely lose Kisara. She would be accused of adultery and thrown in a dungeon, or sentenced to death. Isis would be stoned to death or hung. That was the penalty for either defying the rules of being a priest or priestess, engaging in homosexual affairs, or adultery. Isis had committed all three crimes at once. She didn’t stand a chance.

Seth slowly advanced on the young woman. She immediately turned and glared icily at him, halting him in his tracks. “Don’t come near me!” she snapped.

“Kisara-”

“How do you expect me to ever love you now, Seth?” she interrupted. “When I never did in the first place?”

That last statement hit a nerve in the sensitive High Priest. Darkness shadowed his features and the sun was suddenly concealed behind the clouds. The Sennen Rod glowed ominously at the side of his hip. “Kisara…I would watch what you say to me.”

“I don’t care what happens to me anymore!” she shrieked, accidentally slipping into Russian. Seth stared at her, perplexed. “Everything is ruined! That… that…thing that you used on her almost killed her! Why… No, how could you do something so inhumane, Seth?”

Seth stood, unmoving. “Don’t be a hypocrite.” he spat. “You are the one that lied and snuck around behind my back! And what’s more, you did it with a woman – a woman! And Isis, of all people?!”

“I love her.”

“Say what you wish. You will never see Isis in that way again, for you are soon to be my wife!” Seth yelled in rage, raising his voice.

“I would sooner die than spend the rest of my days in misery with you, you bastard!” Kisara screamed, spitting in his face. “How you disgust me!”

Boiling in his own blood, Seth flicked the wad of saliva off of his cheek. “You really do care for her, don’t you, whore?”

“Yes.” Kisara replied stubbornly, ignoring his vulgar end note.

“You would rather die, than spend the rest of your life without her?”

“I would rather die, yes.”

A thought occurred to Seth that made a twisted grin spread onto his face like a bacterial infection. What if there was a way around this where everyone could get what they wanted…and more? Obviously Kisara did not want Atemu to discover her secret affair with Isis, or they would both be severely punished. Seth didn’t want that, either. If he didn’t have Kisara, he would have nothing. Nothing but his rank and his power, of course. In saying that, though, Seth had the authority to control and manipulate this situation to however he pleased. That thought gave him sudden peace of mind.

“Suppose I strike a deal with you, then, Kisara?”

Kisara’s cold grimace did not leave so easily. “What sort of a deal?”

Seth chuckled quietly. “Well, it’s not like you have much of a choice anyway. Either you go along with it, or I will tell Atemu everything.”

A look of horror glimmered in Kisara’s eyes. She weighed up the options in her head. If Seth were to tell the Pharaoh the truth, then she would surely be sentenced to death, and so would Isis. But if she went along with whatever Seth had planned, then she might actually have a chance of getting to be with Isis again, and escaping. The decision was not easy.

“What did you have in mind?” she asked quietly.

Imperial sapphire eyes blazed with arrogance. “You will sleep with me – the both of you. That way, you get what you want, Isis gets what she wants, and I get what I want….always have wanted.”

Surprise leapt to Kisara’s expression. “What do you mean by ‘always have wanted’?”

Seth coloured a little. “It is no lie that Isis has held my interest for some time. She was always there for me through the grueling training that we endured coming into priesthood…and she comforted me in my darkest hours.” He said. “To be held to her breast through those times was the most reassuring feeling… But she never returned my sincere feelings for her, and now I know why.”

“You can’t force Isis to do something against her will!” Kisara cried in a dry and raspy voice.

“Oh, can’t I?” Seth replied. “You don’t seem to realise, Kisara,” he continued, striding up to her and looking down at her quivering form. “that I am the one who decides in this situation. Obey me, or never see Isis again, it is your choice.” With that said, he left.

Tears slid from Kisara’s eyes as she watched him leave. “You will not get away with this, Seth.” She whispered through grit teeth with as much hatred as she could muster.

**~***~**

“How I wish Lady Isis would wake up,” Isetnofret mumbled through teary eyes.

Mana put a reassuring hand on the girl’s shoulder. “She will, Isetnofret. Don’t worry… Mahado said it could be any time now. He has done much mediating for her.”

“I…I just don’t understand. I can not see her doing such a thing to someone, let alone Kisara.” Isetnofret replied, looking fondly down at the sleeping priestess. “There is something very wrong, I just know it. Lady Isis would never lay a hand on someone, no matter how angry she might be. Besides, I can’t think of a reason in the world why she and Kisara would fight. They have become so close, after all. None of this makes any sense.”

Mana sighed inwardly. Isetnofret was not the only one who was troubled by this unusual situation. She knew something was wrong with Seth’s theory of what events had occurred that night in the temple. Seeing as he, Kisara and Isis were the only witnesses, there was not enough evidence to prove what really happened. Of course, Akunadin could always try to pry into his son’s mind with his Sennen Eye, but Seth could retaliate with the power of the Rod. The circumstances were chaotic, but it was really up to Atemu himself to decide how to go about it.

“You had better return to work before you get caught, Isetnofret.” Mana said quietly, turning to the teen sitting beside her. “We can check on her again before we go to bed.”

The servant girl nodded. “Yes… of course.” She said, and quickly leaned down to kiss Isis’ forehead. “I pray you wake up soon, Lady Isis.”

**~***~**

“Have faith, your majesty.”

Atemu – gaze fixed on the kingdom spread out below him – sighed agitatedly and turned to look up at Seth. “I am trying, cousin. The Gods do not bestow me upon this issue.”

“Everything will come out in the wash eventually, your highness.” Seth murmured, also looking down at the city of Memphis and the Nile meandering through it, leaning against the balcony surrounding the throne room. “I am as puzzled as you are, to be sure.”

Atemu walked back inside and sat down into his throne. He fondled the multifaceted Sennen Puzzle glinting in the sunlight around his neck. “She has not woken since the incident four days ago, Seth. I have had almost every physician from around Egypt in to see her and they have failed to wake her. Even the Sennen Items are useless. Mahado has tried to find the answer by soul searching almost every night, to no avail. We are reaching the end of our rope with Isis, Seth.”

The High Priest silently grated his teeth. He turned his head in hearing the other priests enter the room, creasing his brow in seeing them. “Can you not see that His majesty and I are in private discussion?”

Atemu put a hand up, signifying to the other priests that the matter was closed. “Our conversation is over, Seth.” He said, then, addressing the other priests, “Are there any signs of improvement?”

“I am afraid not, your grace.” Karim muttered, shaking his head in despair and confusion.

“She remains safe and sound, but ceases to wake.” Shada added. “I cannot start to comprehend what has happened to the poor woman’s soul.”

“We must get her back,” Atemu said suddenly. “I will not have one of my royal council perish on me like this. We will do all we can to save her, and when she wakes – I emphasize ‘when’ and not ‘if’ – we will come together and decide on her appropriate punishment. Is that perfectly understood?”

Everyone was about to agree, when Seth interjected. “Your highness, with all due respect, don’t you think we ought to think this through a little more thoroughly?”

“What are you implying?” Atemu asked, sitting back down in his throne.

Seth swallowed. “What I mean is… if the Priestess Isis is not the same as she was when she wakes up, then we will have to think of an alternative punishment. If she is not in her sound mind then she may not understand what she has done wrong, or if anything really happened at all.”

“And what makes you think Isis has lost her mind, Seth?” Atemu retaliated. “I think you are the one that needs to speak up, Priest. What went on in the Temple of Horus that night is still a haze to most of us.”

Anger and humiliation was starting to seethe in the pit of Seth’s stomach. “Your grace, please, give me a chance-”

“Do not talk back to me, Seth!” Atemu yelled, his deep male voice echoing throughout the hall. “You will get your chance, soon enough. For now-”

Atemu was quickly interrupted by a horde of palace guards flurrying up the steps into the throne room, causing a commotion. The priests quickly stood to the side to let them through. The guards immediately bowed their heads and got down on one knee in respect before Atemu before he permitted them to speak.

“One thousand apologies for interrupting you, my Pharaoh.”

“Forgive us, your grace, but we have some important news. The Priestess Isis has awoken!”

Gasps of surprise and astonishment filled the room as Atemu flew to his feet. “When did this happen?”

“Just now, your highness. We thought you should be the first to know.”

Atemu nodded in approval. “Very well. Take me to her.”

**~***~**


Phantom_Panther: Ooooh what did you think? Cliffhanger? Stay tuned to find out what happens!