A Gift

Previously:-

They entered the room and Jayden quickly locked the doors behind him. He glared at the guards to tell them he would chew them alive if they decided to disturb them.

The moment there was the audible snap of the doors being shut tut threw himself at Isobel and started crying. He kept murmuring under his breath.

'I cannot do it again.'

~`~

Isobel cradled the small boy in her arms as he continued to sob and tremble in her hands. Jayden took his place in front of Isobel and rubbed circles on his back. It was a bit nostalgic but they didn't have time to deal with it at the moment.

Tutankhamun lifted his tear-stained face and looked up at them. His tears were still flowing. With red-rimmed eyes, puffy red cheeks and his lower lip wobbling as he tried to form the words 'I cannot do it again' he broke their heart.

Isobel kept reminding herself that he's just a kid. A kid caught up in a very wrong citation which was beyond his level to deal with.

"I'm too weak!" he wailed, thumping at his fist on his club foot.

Isobel wanted to cry with him but she shushed him and stopped his hand from hitting himself. She buried the boy in her arms and kept massaging his scalp. She looked at Jayden with helpless eyes who shook his head as if he didn't know what to do either. Even so, Jayden opened his mouth to speak.

"You're not weak Tut. you're strong. You're very strong. Even stronger than I am." he told him earnestly.

Tutankhamun pulled his head up and turned to look at Jayden with watery eyes. "I am not," he said shaking his head but his crying had stopped a bit.

"Yes you are," Jayden rubbed circles on his back. "You were there all alone and were not afraid while I had to hold onto Tey. You're so much stronger than we are." he pressed.

Tutankhamun seemed to give it a moment of thought. "You're not lying?" he asked through hiccups. When he received a shake of the head he seemed to calm down. "I'm not weak?"

"No, you're not. You're very brave. I hope you never have to do that again though." Isobel added.

Tutankhamun nodded. He also hoped that he didn't have to order for a kill or had to administer or witness one. He was scared beyond belief but Ay and Tey thought he was strong.

"Do you want to sleep with us?" Isobel asked and again received a nod. She smiled at him and stood up holding him. She perched the boy on her hip and led both of them to the bed which had more than enough for three of them to sleep soundly.

"You know, Tut, I also have a gift for you," Jayden said airily but he knew he caught Tutankhamun's interest.

Tutankhamun's eyes suddenly widened and brightened with joy. The excitement for the gift was evident in his eyes. His lips turned upwards and he looked at Jayden with his wide, pure and innocent dark brown eyes.

Jayden smiled at him as well and went to the trunk in the corner. Isobel furrowed her eyebrows as she didn't know he was going to give Tutankhamun a present but she was happy. It had provided something positive for Tutankhamun to look up to and all of them needed something like that.

He pulled out a bundle of rag and brought it to them. He sat in front of Tutankhamun and smiled as he unwrapped the bundle.

Inside was a dagger. A very beautiful dagger. It was in its sheath that was purely gold decorated with a floral lily motif on one side and with a feathers pattern on the other side, terminating with a jackal's head. Its handle was made of fine gold, which was decorated with cloisonné and granulation work, and had a rock crystal for the pommel. Tutankhamun slowly brought his hands towards it mesmerized by its body. He looked at Jayden, silently asking for permission and with the nod of his head he picked it up.

It was pretty and heavy. Larger than the size of his forearm as it was more than a foot long. Tutankhamun knew he couldn't handle it right now but one day he might.

"It's for me?" he whispered so softly as if he was trying not to say anything in case he scared his dagger, unsheathing it and looking at its sharp shining iron blade.

Jayden had the expression of a cat who got cream and nodded his head rapidly. "It's for my strong boy to defeat his enemies. The blade is from the meteoric iron because my boy deserves out of the world gear," he said ruffling his hair fondly.

Tutankhamun looked up at him like a gaping fish. He quickly sheathed it and hugged Jayden tightly.

"Thank you, Ay," he mumbled and Jayden hugged him.

"Remember, I always love you. I might change in a few days and might be cold but remember what I told you. I am always with you and will always support you no matter what." he said, his voice staunch.

Tutankhamun parted with a happy expression. "Look Tey, it is so pretty." the small boy gushed. Tey nodded and started talking about it.

In his excitement, Tutankhamun slowly drifted to sleep. He was exhausted by today's events and Isobel laid him in the bed properly. Tucking him in.

Jayden and Isobel went to the corner to talk as Isobel unwillingly parted with the boy.

"You didn't bring me anything?" Isobel asked pouting like a child and Jayden rolled his eyes. As if he would willingly buy this nightmare anything. She was a royal pain in the ass on her best days.

Seeing the incredulous and sarcastic expression on Jayden's face Isobel sulked even more. She was such a nice and sweet person, why would Jayden not think that?

She knew Jayden thought of her as if she was a wench.

"You wanted to say something, Izzy…" Jayden prodded, pushing her to talk.

Isobel nodded and bit her lip. How does she go about it? She didn't know. There particularly wasn't a good way of saying that. That is why she decided to take the blunt way. Taking in a deep breath she opened her mouth.

"I think I found something wrong with the world…"

"... And I am not sure we can fix it."