“You will be careful, won’t you?” Mana asked, worried as she watched Ba-Khu-Ra gather her things, ready for the journey to her old home. “I mean you’re going out into the middle of nowhere, with only Akhenaden for company and...”
“I know.” Ba-Khu-Ra nodded, tying her pack tightly, “But you’re forgetting something.”
“Oh?” Mana asked, an odd expression on her features as she wracked her brain to try work out what she had forgotten.
“He’s an old man who hasn’t left the palace since the Great War. He’s gotten rusty.” Ba-Khu-Ra smirked, “Whereas I’ve kept my old skills just as sharp as my new ones. I could take him in my sleep, no matter how many morons he’s bringing with us to help him ‘fix’ things. Besides he wouldn’t dare try anything, not with the Pharaoh on my side.” She looked over at Mana, “What about you? You have been keeping an eye on those losers?”
Mana frowned and nodded, fully aware of who Ba-Khu-Ra meant. Neither Mahad or the Pharaoh were aware that the pair of them had been keeping on top of any assassination plots with the help of a few of the guards and servants. In fact there was such a plot in the works right now, one that Mana and Ba-Khu-Ra had been watching carefully to see if it was just talk or whether they meant action.
“I assume you want to be kept up to date on what happens?” Mana asked.
“By now you should be able to handle it.” Ba-Khu-Ra shrugged. She had been teaching Mana quite a few things that she knew neither the Pharaoh or Mahad would have approved of. If anyone could deal with anything like this, she was sure that the thief trained Mage student could. “And you could always bring it to Seth’s attention. You do remember what he did to the last person who tried to kill the Pharaoh?”
Mana did. They had caught three of the plotters, but the fourth had would have succeeded if it hadn’t been for Seth. His version of ‘justice’ hadn’t been pretty. She did have one question though.
“Why not Mahad?”
“Because Mahad still thinks like a posh, palace raised snob.” The ex-thief chuckled, even as she double checked her stuff, “Seth is much more creative, and he’s more tolerable.”
It helped that Seth hadn’t received a Millennium Item yet. He was due to any day, but for now Ba-Khu-Ra didn’t have to deal with the voices whispering in her ears whenever she was around him. Nowadays she even had that trouble around the Pharaoh. She was looking forward to getting away from the palace just to get away from the constant buzzing in her brain.
Not that Mana or Seth were aware of the Truth. The Pharaoh hadn’t seen fit to tell them, not yet and had asked Ba-Khu-Ra to keep quiet about it until she could work out the best way to reveal it. As such everyone knew Akhenaden was in disgrace and was being sent away to atone for something he had done, but no one outside of the closed court was aware of why and Ba-Khu-Ra supposed she could see the logic behind it, even if it grated on her nerves.
“I suppose.” Mana sighed, “He is trying though, Mahad I mean.”
“Mahad is always trying.” Ba-Khu-Ra snorted, “Right.” She picked up her packs and looked around her room. There was surprisingly little to pack. Everything else in the room, which the Pharaoh had promised would still be hers when she came back, no matter how long it took, belonged to the palace or wasn’t important enough to her to take along on the trip. “I think that’s everything.”
“Any idea when you’ll be back?” Mana asked, following her teacher in the less arcane arts out of the room.
“I’ll be back before you know it.” The fully trained Mage chuckled at her, “Things would be too quiet round here if I wasn’t.”
“Good.” Mana looked reassured. “By the way, the Pharaoh wanted to talk to you before you go.”
“She probably just wants to make me promise not to kill her uncle or something ridiculous like that.” Ba-Khu-Ra let out a huff, “Still the sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can leave, so let’s go.”
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