Chapter 37 - At the temple

At the temple



Kaede awoke, groggy and tired. She lifted her head and smiled to see that the sun was shiny so bright that it was as though it had never rained. She stretched and prodded Yuula in the back, in order to wake her up.

`Ow!' Yuula said furiously. `Thanks SO much for waking me up!'

`Guess what day it is?!' Kaede grinned happily, jumping out of her bed. She ran into the shower and washed as quickly as she could. Then she pulled on her dressing gown and went back to her room. Inside, each of her friends were just getting up.

`Right, shower, now!' Kaede said to Yuula, and pushed her towards the bathroom.

`Aww, why?' Yuula moaned.

`No unclean people at my wedding!' Kaede said, slamming the door behind her. `And I'll know if you haven't had one!'

As one by one, her friends had showers, Kaede rushed downstairs. Her grandparents had already laid out breakfast of croissants, pain au chocolait, freshly made bread and lots of different spreads and a good old pot of tea and another of coffee waiting for them. Kaede hugged and kissed both of her grandparents and sat down at the table and pulled a bit of everything towards her.

`Now, the hairdresser and the make-up woman are coming in about half an hour's time,' said her grandmother, sitting down beside her and pouring her a cup of tea. `And when they're done we're leaving for the Kaiba's mansion at about 12 ish.'

Kaede beamed. `Thank you so much. I couldn't have done this without you.'

`We know, darling,' she laughed. `So, did the five of you have a good hen night?'

Kaede laughed and told her about the stripper Tea had hired. Her grandmother laughed and turned to face Tea when she entered with Sakura, both of them in their pyjamas, waiting for the shower to be free.

`So, got a thing for sailors, have you Tea?'

Tea went bright pink but was saved by Marik, Ishizu and Odion entering. Marik immediately went hyper when he saw Kaede and glomped her as soon as he saw her, squealing that she was going to get married. Ishizu smiled and said congratulations and Odion kissed Kaede on the cheek.

`So, any last wishes as a single woman?' Her grandfather smiled at her.

`Nope, I can't wait to be married!' Kaede grinned.

`Only because you never want to have to work again,' Sakura laughed at her. Eventually everybody managed to have a shower by the time Kaede's hair had nearly dried, and the hairdressers and make-up people arrived. There were at least five of each, so Kaede and her four bridesmaids were always being attended by a hairdresser and a make-up stylist at the same time. Kaede was sat in her room in a chair in front of her mirror having her hair styled and her nails done and the same time. It took them ages, because she had to have a full manicure, pedicure, make-up done perfectly and hair done so perfectly that there wasn't a hair out of place. When at last she was free to inspect herself she saw that her make-up was mostly pinkish coloured and her nails were done in a shiny, light pink varnish. Every single on of her nails had been clipped to perfection and her hair was coiled tightly at the back of her head with smooth curves held tightly with pins, and not a wisp of hair escaping from it.

She went downstairs and stood in the dining room, looking at her dress. It was still in its plastic covering, waiting to be put on. She pulled out one of the chairs that stood around the chairs that stood around the dining room table and sat on it, looking at the dress, admiring its beauty.

It's much nicer than my other one, Kaede thought. But then she shook her head. What was she talking about, she'd never had another wedding dress. She'd never been married before.

But then suddenly, as though she had fallen asleep, she found herself being transported back through time, to a land where the sun was so bright it burned the yellow sand surrounding the cities. Kaede found herself looking at the land, when suddenly something appeared on the horizon. She watched it, intend on knowing what it was. As it came closer across the burning desert Kaede saw that it was a camel. It was bearing two riders and their luggage, and seemed to have been going for a long time.

Priest Seto put his arm around Hebeny's waist in case she fell asleep and fell off of the camel onto the burning sand below. She turned around and smiled at him, and then turned back to watch ahead. She could see nothing in front of her, just endless desert. Hebeny sighed and pulled a goats skin flask out of the bag that sat on her lap. She opened it and took a sip, quenching the thirst brought on by the heat of the afternoon sun. She passed it over her shoulder to Seto, who also drank from it.

`How far are we now?' Hebeny asked him as he handed her back the flask.

`Not long now,' Seto said. `A couple more hours.'

Hebeny sighed again and leaned back against him. He hugged her tighter as her head fell against him shoulder and see fell asleep. Seto took the reins of the camel from her hands and continued to steer it forwards.

Hours past and all Seto could see was desert. He looked up to the sky and saw the sun beginning its descent behind the sun dunes and urged the camel on. He didn't want to be caught on the desert at night.

As the camel plodded on, Seto began to make out a town through the haze made by the heat. He raised his hand in order to shield his eyes from the sun as he stared towards the city. He could make out the image of a large building in the centre of the town, the temple of Ra, his first home. Seto smiled and brought the camel into a run, and they sped towards the town.

The change in motion jogged Hebeny from her sleep and she opened her eyes to see the town ahead of them. She laughed and sat up in her seat, new found joy dispelling her fatigue. They approached the city quickly, and entered it just as the sun was disappearing behind the dunes.

They slipped through the city, hidden by the crowds making their way back home after a long day at the market. Their camel took them through the crowds into the shadow of the temple. Seto leaped off of the camel, helped Hebeny down, and then stirred the camel into the stables behind the temple. He took all their bags off of the camel and came back for Hebeny, took her hand, and together they slipped between the shadows until they reached the door of the temple. Seto opened it and looked in to make sure that no one was about, and then he entered, pulling Hebeny in after him.

The temple was lit only with candles and was almost entirely empty save for a priest prostrated before the statue of Ra at the back of the temple. Seto took some robes out of them bag and gave them to Hebeny to change into, and then he made his way to where the priest knelt. Seto waited there for him to stand, and when he did, Seto greeted him warmly with a hug.

Hebeny watched them as she changed her clothes into the robes that Seto had given her. Her travelling clothes were dusty and covered in sand, and these new robes were clean and pure white. She put them on and looked into a looking-glass that was hanging up on the wall of the temple. She smiled; no one would know that she was merely a slave if they saw her in these robes.

She turned back to what Seto was doing. He and the priest were holding deep conversation, and the priest was shaking his head sadly. Seto seemed to be slowly winning their argument, and, a couple of minutes later, he lead the priest down the temple to where Hebeny stood.

Hebeny bowed when they reached her, but looked up when he put his hand on her cheek. She stood upright, and Seto moved to stand next to her, slipping his arm around her shoulders.

The priest looked Hebeny up and down, and then sighed, before turning back to Seto.

`You know I am not allowed to perform this wedding?'

Seto nodded grimly, his face set.

`If anybody finds out that I married the two of you, I'd be killed.'

Seto nodded again.

The priest sighed once more, and ran his hand over his face. He looked upwards to the roof of the temple and began muttering something so quietly that Hebeny, who was standing just in front of him, couldn't hear what he was saying. He closed his eyes, and then looked down at Seto and Hebeny again, and opened them.

`Very well,' he said, finally giving in. `But on your own heads be it.'

He turned and walked back to where he had been knelt in front of the statue and Seto, after grinning at Hebeny, pushed her forwards, and they followed him.

He disappeared and came back wearing the robes of a priest performing a wedding. He stood in front of Seto and Hebeny and sighed again, looked around the temple as though worried that someone might be watching, and then began the ceremony.

He muttered a lot of stuff in the dialect of the priests and Hebeny could hardly understand any of it, only the words that Seto had taught her, such as marriage and love. The only time she was required to do anything was to nod when the priest looked at her, and that was rarely.

The priest finally finished and Hebeny looked up at Seto. He smiled and reached out a hand to touch her cheek. Pulling her closer towards him, he kissed her gently, before pulling back, and smiling at her warmly.

The priest was just about to say something, but the door to the temple flew open. In came a crowd of people, lead by a dangerous looking man who was glaring angrily at Seto and Hebeny. Seto looked around for the priest, but he had fled, not wishing to be caught up in this. Seto swallowed, and turned to face the crowd.

`It is you! I knew it was him!' the man shouted as he came close enough to see them properly.

Hebeny realised who it was just too late. Arms grabbed her and threw her to the floor, and several people began to tie her arms and legs together. They ripped her robes and pulled her hair, laughing as they saw her struggling against her bonds.

`What are you doing? Let go of her!' she heard Seto shouting, and saw him struggling against the people who held him, desperate to get to Hebeny.

`Stop your shouting!' the man who had lead the group cried about Seto's shouts. `Unless you want your precious wife to die!'

Hebeny felt something cold against her neck and knew from the look of horror on Seto's face that a knife was tracing her throat, deadly and poised to kill on demand.

The man left Seto and slowly approached Hebeny. He stood above her, looking down on her, and smirked. Suddenly, his leg struck out and the toe of his boot caught Hebeny on the side of her face. She felt a trickle of blood drip down her chin from the corner of her mouth and looked up to face the man, glaring at him.

Smirking again, he crouched down and slapped her, and her face burned from where his hand had cracked upon her skin. Again, she forced herself to meet his eyes, and he spat at her, and laughed cruelly.

`So, we've finally recovered our stolen merchandise,' he laughed, and he cronies joined in, their cruel laughter filling the temple and Hebeny's head. She closed her eyes to block out the sound of it, but she couldn't stop it from seeping into her head.

`Stop it!' she heard Seto shout. `Leave her alone!'

`Leave her alone!' the man laughed bitterly. `When she is my property! I paid good money for her, and I'm not going to let some thieving priest take her from me.'

He turned back to Hebeny, and smirked again. `Yes, I bought you that day in the market when I saw you dancing. I recognised you immediately, and knew that I had to have you as mine. But as soon as I had paid for you, that priest come and took you away. The trader selling you wouldn't give me back my money, so when I saw the two of you of that camel as I was coming back from trading at the market, I followed you to the temple. When I saw you go inside I ran back to fetch my men. And here we are, reunited at last.'

Hebeny looked up into his eyes, the eyes that had haunted her nightmares since she was a little girl. She had always told the thieves that she knew her father was a kind man, but in her dreams she always saw a horrible man with cruel eyes attacking her mother and forcing her to sleep with him. She had imagined her mother's screams and his awful laughter as he took pleasure in her pain.

Hebeny looked away, unwilling to have to look at him. He laughed again, and knelt beside her.

`What's wrong, Hebeny?' he said, mock kindness drenching his every word. `Don't want to look upon the face of your father?'

He grabbed hold of her and forced her too look at him, and only when her eyes met his did he let go.

`Ha,' he said, triumphantly. `You look exactly like your mother! She was a beautiful woman, your mother was. But she was a whore, and I can see that likeness in you as well.'

He reached out and touched her. She tried to kick him away, but he laughed even more.

`You're not a virgin, are you? You little whore, you are your mother's image,' he laughed. `Well, come on, darling, won't you give your daddy a hug?'

He pulled her towards him and started to remove her clothes. She yelled and kicked him away, but he pinned her legs down. He ripped her robes even more and his hands ran up and down her bare skin.

Seto looked away, unable to watch him ravage her, but the man holding him grabbed a handful of his hair and turned her head to Hebeny. Seto couldn't look away. He was forced to watch as Hebeny's father took her, again and again. Tears of anger and pity for Hebeny streaked Seto's dusty face and he closed his eyes to save himself from having to watch, but Hebeny's screams filled his head and he couldn't stop the image in his mind.

Eventually he straightened up and laughed again, spitting at her in the face. Hebeny flinched and turned away, trying to cover herself. One of the men threw a cloth at her and she hid beneath it, crying with pain and embarrassment. Her father laughed again.

`What are you doing, whore?' he shouted at her. `I thought you liked that? No? Well, why didn't you say so?'

He ran forwards and grabbed her wrist, dragging her to her feet. She clutched the cloth to her body as her father threw her against the statue of Ra. Two of his men ran forwards with robes and tied her to the feet of Ra. The ones holding Seto pushed him forwards and made him stand next to Hebeny. She saw his tears and struggled to free her hand from her bonds, trying to grip his hand in hers. But she couldn't reach him.

Her father walked forwards again, and stood in front of her. He rolled up his sleeves and then grabbed hold of Hebeny's hair. He pulled her head and moved in to stand right next to her, holding her head in his hands.

`Well then, Priest,' he said to Seto. `How much do you love dear little Hebeny? What would you do to save her?'

Tears fell renewed down Hebeny's face, and she shook her head frantically at Seto. Her father saw her tears and let go of her roughly, throwing her head against the statue top which she was bound to. Her father walked forwards Pain blinded her for a second, but as soon as her sight came back to her she saw a fist flying at her from nowhere. It stuck her on the side of the face and her head smacked against the statue. Before she had time to recover, another punch hit her in the stomach. Had she not been bound, she would have collapsed to the floor in pain.

Her father stood back, looking at her, satisfied with his work. He was just retracting his arm to take another blow at her when the temple doors banged open.

Pharaoh Atem's royal guard entered the temple, their swords unsheathed. Hebeny heard the shouts of her father's men as they ran in fear of the guards. She looked up to see a battle waging between the Pharaoh's guards and her father's men. But soon she saw no more, as she felt Seto untying her bonds and catching her as she slumped to the ground. He picked her up in his arms and carried her through the back entrance of the temple.

It was now night time, and would have been pitch black had their not been burning torches, carried by even more members of the pharaoh's guard, and there were a sea of camel's waiting for them. Leading them were four camels. One was empty, but was set for two riders. The other three were being ridden by Pharaoh Atem, his consort Herya and Isis. Seto grinned to see them, and covered Hebeny's body a little more with the cloth as he climbed into the seat of his camel.

`So you thought you could just run away, did you?' Pharaoh said, shaking his head. `I'm afraid that you were very much mistaken. As soon as I heard you were gone I rode out with my guard to bring you back.'

`What happened to Hebeny?' Isis called from her camel.

`I'll tell you on the way,' Seto answered, gripping Hebeny more tightly to him, fearing for her safety. And then he remembered that now she was his wife. He looked down at her beaten face and whipped away the trickle of blood that ran from the corner of her mouth down her chin.

`I love you,' he whispered into her ear, as their camel stood as Pharaoh's did, and they rode out of the city.

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