The Demon of Egypt: Imhotep's Story by Amber Riel (reading an ebook TXT) 📕

          An evil smile grew on Nala’s face.

          Tommus continued to hold onto Nala’s neck but his eyes flew to his uncle.  Confused and worry had formed on the young man’s face.  “But she just killed an innocent man.”

          “I don’t care.  She is just like a goddess and apparently a chosen bride for one of our dear gods.  I am proud of her.”

          More confusion grew on Tommus’s face while shock slowly made its way into the mix.

          Nala slowly started laughed evilly and she removed Tommus’s tiger like fist from her humanlike skin.  “I win.  I will always win.”  Her eyes moved around the room, watching each of us humans.  “I may be considered a demon to most of you but you can’t do anything to me.  I am unstoppable.”

          The room grew silent.  I wondered what everyone would say now that Nala had proven her evil horrifying self to be the most demonic person around.  She was indeed up to something a thousand times worse than slaughtering one human.  Grim stood in the shadows, watching.  He clearly knew something would soon happen to her highness.  He shook his head at her.  I didn’t know if she seen him or if it was just a coincidence but somehow I knew he was there for her.  When Nala’s attention moved around to the distance of the room, I watched Grim move over to the man’s lifeless body and remove the life of the man.  He moved over to me with a sadden expression on his face.  “You’re time is soon.”  He vanished, leaving me stuck in confusion.

          I shook my head and shrugged off his icy words.  “Well, the princess has spoken,” I finally spoke up and worked my way over to Nala.  I pulled the wool over the others eyes, making it seem like I really cared for the princess.  “Next time keep your dirty work out of the public eye,” I muttered to her.

          “You’re next on my list,” Nala replied, “and I still plan on having you for dinner.”

          “You can’t kill me,” I answered, letting an evil smile grow on my face.  “Your father won’t allow it.  I’m an important part of his council.”

          “Believe me,” she spoke with a cruel tone, “I’ll find a reason and I’ll use it against you although I might just let you suffer in pain by the human guards.  Then I might have taste.  If I like it then you’ll be a good meal, if not then you’ll be a mummy with a bit mark.”

          “Evil little brat.”

          “Annoying piece of meat.”

          If I could have hit the princess then and there I would have.  I knew what would happen to me if I had though, therefore I kept my hands to myself.

          “By the way, I see the way that you look at my future step-mother…. Beware…. If you even consider touching her, I will know and I will have you both murdered.  Have respect for my father.”  She left the room without another word.

          I stood in my small room when someone knocked on the door.  “Come in,” I spoke softly.

          The door opened and Antinique walked in.

          I bowed.  “And what might I have the honor of your presence?” I asked, sounding more of an idiot than anything.

          “You don’t have to bow to me,” the woman answered.  She rested a hand on my right shoulder.  “You are an attractive man.  I’m sure Nala will be glad to have you as her husband.”

          I stared at the woman then shook my head.  “She’s not the one I really want.”  I sighed.  “We despise each other.  Believe me, there’s no telling what she’ll say when she learns of the so call engagement after I ask for her hand from the pharaoh.”

          Antinique titled her head, confused by my words.  “Then who do you really want?”

          I sighed and looked away from the woman.  “You,” I answered, quietly.

          “Excuse me?”

          “I said, ‘You.’  You’re the one I really want,” I replied.

          A smile slowly grew on her face and somehow I knew she felt the same.  She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me.  Before I could say anything, her beautiful slim pink lips were against mine.  It was wrong but it felt right.  We were meant to be together forever.  The only problem was that she belonged to the pharaoh and I needed to keep this a secret.  She pulled away from me and smiled.  “I’m yours,” she said.

          Her words made me smile and kind of blush like a child but I quickly gained my composure.  “You should leave now but first we should pick a secret place to meet where we’ll be alone and we don’t have to worry about anyone, especially the princess, catching us.”

          Antinique nodded.  Once we figured out a place where we would meet, she left the room.

          I kept my smile while a lightly touched my lip with my middle finger.  Finally, I thought.

          “This is only the beginning of your torture,” Grim’s voice spoke from behind me.

          I turned to face the skeleton, kind of ticked off that he was ruining my moment of joy.  “What do you want?”

          “She is yours for now.  You’re playing with fire and I think you should stop,” his words sounded like a warning but I cared less.

          “Whatever.”

I wondered around the palace like a love sick puppy.  That kiss was amazing and I know it may have seen childish but I was lost in some kind of day dreaming daze; while I walked down the hall when I had spotted Simba chatting with one of his other cousins.  I quickly pulled myself together because I was on a mission.  “I’m sorry to interrupt, Prince Simba, but I’m looking for your sister.  Have you seen her?”

          Simba took a moment to think then nodded.  “She’s in the throne room with Niki.”

          “Thank you.”  I left as soon as possible, trying to figure out how I would bring up my proposal.  I heard voices from the throne room and the closer I got I knew it was Niki and Nala.  I stopped at the doorway and took a deep breath.  I gave it a few moments before I actually walked into the room.  Once I had my time to collect my thoughts, I walked into the room.

          Nala shot me a look of hatred when I walked into the room.

          “What are you two talking about?” I asked, sarcastically.

          “About our father getting remarried….” Niki began but let his voice trail off without continuing.

          “Is that right, Prince Niki?”

          The prince shot me a similar look that his sister wore.  “That is true, Imhotep.”

The twins looked at each other for a moment then quickly turned their attention back toward me.

          “My sister doesn’t want to talk right now,” Niki replied.

          “I can respect that.”  I began to leave the room.

          “Imhotep!” Nala’s voice called to me when I neared the door.

          I stopped and turned to face her.  “Oh.  Now she talks.  Yes, Princess Nala?”

          “I want you to stay away from my stepmother.”

          I should have known she would say something like that.  How was I supposed to propose to someone who obviously would reveal the true reason I would think of such a horrible thing?  I was beginning to rethink my idea but decided that I had to go with it in order to get closer to Antinique.  Once I had Antinique in my arms, then I would think of how to eliminate the evil demon of a princess I had to work for.  “Okay.  Is that all?” I asked with a smile.

          “Yes,” she replied with an almost angry voice.

          I left the room without another word.

          I was out in the courtyard of the palace, pacing. There was no easy way that I could think of in order to propose to the evil princess. She needed someone who was much more powerful than herself and like her wasn’t human in order to be able to control her whereas I was only a mortal. I had no inhuman abilities and even though I was willing enough to place my fate in her hands I wasn’t stupid. Most of the other men in Egypt were afraid of her and it wasn’t hard to see why. I needed a way to get through to her.

          “Playing with fire,” Grim reminded me.

          “You need to stop appearing out of nowhere,” I warned him.

          “What are you going to do kill me?” he asked. “I’m death and the minute you touch me you’ll be dead.” Clearly it wasn’t smart to threaten the angel of death but I didn’t think before I spoke. “Proposing to Nala will lead to a horrible place for you.”

          “I’m going to kill her,” I replied.

          Grim didn’t speak or move. He clearly knew something that I didn’t know but I had a feeling asking wouldn’t do much either.

“What am I supposed to do?” I asked.

          “I can’t answer that for you. You have a choice to choose life but if you don’t then you’ll have to suffer.”

“What do you mean? The gods will welcome me with open arms in the afterlife once I rid this world of that monster. As long as me and Antinique are together I don’t care what happens to me in the end.”

“You really believe that the creatures you worship are gods?” he asked with a serious tone.

“Yes, you’re just a massager. Clearly, meant to scare me.”

“You think I work for-?” he stopped midsentence. “Very well then; you get what’s coming to you if you don’t change.” Grim vanished without another word.

At that moment, I thought I heard the faint sound of a woman screaming at the top of her lungs. I looked up toward the palace and from Nala’s chamber which was closer to the sky than the ground a baby was falling to his or her death. Before I could say anything, Tommus had flown into the air and caught the child. He landed a few feet away from me. I hurried over to him to make sure the baby was alright. I didn’t have to ask to know that Nala had something deal with the situation. It was a good thing that she wasn’t a mother because there was no telling what she would have done to her own child if she had one. “The baby,” I began to ask, “is he or she alright?”

“The baby’s fine,” Tommus answered, looking toward the opening of the palace. “I need to find the mother of this child. I will not let Nala get away with this. She already murdered my baby brother for no reason and this is too far, even for her.”

I listened and watched Tommus. I wasn’t a fan of the inhumans but at least Tommus wouldn’t put up with his trouble causing cousin.

Tommus began to walk away when he stopped and turned toward me. “I