Prologue

The sun was just beginning to set, and a faint breeze stirred through the dusty courtyard, scattering the grains of sand. The brick walls reflected the last rays of the sun's dying light, becoming a faint orange before deepening to burnished gold. Only the palace servants and guards moved about in the courtyard, maintaining a hushed quiet.

The front gates were suddenly thrown open and royal guards rode in on camels, herding an eclectic group of slaves among them. Most of the slaves were Egyptian, but there were a few foreigners, who looked relieved to have made it to the palace.

He noted that there was a young girl with them, who looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old. She seemed to be alone, holding herself apart from the rest of the slaves, as she looked around the courtyard. Her almond-shaped eyes were a shade of brown so light, they were almost hazel, an unusual color for an Egyptian. She was beautiful but not in a classical way, her eyes were a little too large for her face, and she moved awkwardly, like a newborn camel.

He watched her for a while longer, before she must have sensed his eyes, and turned to look directly at him. He stared back at her, wondering why she didn't lower her gaze, when it dawned on him that she didn't know who he was. She smiled suddenly, startling him, and he quickly looked away and started walking again, his back to her, as he reached the palace doors and walked inside. He could feel her eyes, following him until he disappeared from her sight, and for reasons he couldn't explain, this pleased him.

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The gates opened and they were led into a large courtyard, filled with more guards and servants, who worked in the palace. Even with so many people moving around, the place seemed unusually quiet, as though they were afraid to make any noise. The men and women were both fierce and proud, and they moved with a certain grace and confidence, that she couldn't help but admire. She wondered if she might become like them, if she stayed and worked here long enough.

She was tired and thirsty, her lips cracked from the heat of the desert sun and winds, but her curiosity overcame her, as she looked around. The courtyard was located in the front of the palace and surrounded on all sides by buildings that were connected by a series of arched porticos supported by thick pillars. Beneath her sandals, the ground had been covered with slabs of cut stone, but a thin layer of sand lay scattered across the surface, carried in by the desert winds.

Through the high, stone archways, she glimpsed the interior of the palace and it's marbled floors and richly decorated tapestries. There were intricately carved candelabras made from wrought iron and forbidding statues of the gods, interspersed throughout the high-ceilinged rooms. The shadows had grown longer, stretching up along the walls, as the sun sank lower on the horizon.

She felt the weight of someone's eyes on her and she turned her head, to see the figure of a young Egyptian boy. He stood under the cool shade of the portico, half concealed by the growing shadows, but she knew that he was looking right at her. She thought that he seemed lonely and sad, and without thinking about it, she smiled at him. He didn't respond but instead abruptly turned and walked inside, disappearing into the shadows.

She continued to stare after him, wondering who he was and why he had reacted the way he did. Eventually, she turned away and returned to the rest of the slaves, huddled together in a corner of the courtyard. The guards had returned and were assigning them to different parts of the palace so she fell in line and waited her turn.

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Inside his chambers, he sent for Rehema, his personal slave, who arrived only a short while later.

"There is a new slave girl who just arrived, not more than thirteen years old. Find her and train her, she is your responsibility now", he ordered, and walked into the bath chamber, without further explanation.

Rehema bowed and left to seek out the slave, her feet taking her straight to the kitchen, where she knew that she would find all the new slaves. She entered the kitchen and looked around, searching for the young girl, when she spotted her, sitting on a stool in the corner and quietly eating her dinner.

She was only a small slip of a girl, and with the layers of dirt and her matted hair, it was difficult to tell what her master had seen that would want him to watch over her.

"Finish your dinner and come with me", Rehema said, standing in front of the girl.

She didn't answer, but only nodded her head, and finishing her food, stood up and followed Rehema out of the kitchen. They walked outside towards the slave quarters behind the palace, with only the moon and stars to light the way.

She shivered as the cold night air caressed her, drying the sweat from the relentless heat during the day. She didn't know who the woman was, but she had seen in her eyes that she was kind and her instincts told her that she could trust her. Now that she was alone and far away from her family, she had no choice but to rely on her instincts to guide her.

They reached the slave quarters and Rehema took her to the bathhouse and told her to strip and wash herself, while she waited just outside the doorway. The bathhouse didn't have a door as it was just a large room with a long pool of water in the floor. At this time it was empty, the slaves already having bathed before going to the kitchen for dinner, but it was not unusual for some slaves to wash later in the evening. A girl bathing alone so late could attract the wrong kind of attention and although he hadn't said, Rehema knew that her master wouldn't want the girl to be touched.

The water was cold and she shivered and bit her lip as she descended the steps into the pool. Totally immersing herself, she scrubbed her body from head to toe with the soap that she had been given her earlier, along with clean clothes. Seeing the water around her become brown with dirt, she splashed the surface, dispersing the dirty suds.

After waiting for some time, Rehema was just about to go back inside the bathhouse when the girl emerged, wearing the clothes given to all new slaves. Now that she was clean, Rehema could see why her master had taken a liking to the girl. She had unusual features, that only seemed to add to her appeal, but in time, she would grow to be a true beauty.

Leaving the bathhouse, they went to the slave's sleeping quarters where Rehema took the girl to her room, in a separate building, adjoining the main one. As personal slave to the Pharaoh's son, she was given a room of her own and this was where the girl would be sleeping.