Three Years Later

The Pharaoh's bathroom was larger than the slave's entire bath house with a sunken pool in the middle of the floor, of almost the same length as the room itself. Thick pillars lined the pool on either side and there were two sets of doors at opposite ends of the room, one of which led to a private balcony.

Night had already fallen and outside the clear night sky was filled with a million twinkling stars and a brightly glowing full moon. Below the lights from the buildings in the city shone like jewels, sparkling in the vast expanse of desert. The wind swept through the bathroom, whispering past the pillars before reaching her and playfully ruffling her hair and caressing her face and neck.

A small shiver tickled the base of her spine and she clenched her teeth, hoping that he wouldn't notice, but she was wrong.

"Are you cold Nenet?", his voice always startled her even though she had personally served him for the last three years.

"No Pharaoh", she answered, gently rubbing the wash cloth over his back and shoulders.

She was inside the pool, submerged up to her breasts in the water, as she bathed the Pharaoh with a soft wash cloth. He had been acting strangely recently and even more so tonight when he sent the other two girls away, leaving her alone with him. This part of her job always felt uncomfortable but with the other girls present, she didn't mind so much. Now that they were alone together, a small ball of anxiety had formed in her stomach and she prayed to the gods that it would soon be over.

"Have you ever been touched by a man?", his voice again, startling her and surprising her with his question.

"No Pharaoh", she tried to keep her tone even but she sounded nervous even to herself.

She was standing beside him, in the water, with one hand on his shoulder while she used the cloth to wash him with the other. Wearing only the thin, shift dress worn by the palace slaves which was now wet and stuck transparently to her body, she felt uncomfortably exposed. Twisting slightly to put some distance between them, she felt his hand on her hip and immediately froze, swallowing the gasp that almost rose to her lips.

"How old are you now? Sixteen? Seventeen?", his hand moved up to her waist.

She resisted the urge to flinch away from him and took a deep breath to steady her voice before answering.

"I will be eighteen on the next full moon"

"How quaint. You must be the only eighteen year old virgin in the entire palace", he chuckled almost to himself.

Nenet thought it better not to respond, if only because she didn't trust herself to speak again now that his thumb was lazily tracing circles on her waist. Thinking quickly, she switched the wash cloth to the other hand and turned to the side of the pool to add more bath oils thus dislodging his hand from her waist. With her face turned away, she failed to see the small smile that spread across his lips.

When she turned back, she was shocked to find him standing right behind her, his eyes glittering with an emotion that she didn't yet recognize. She moved her mouth but her lips couldn't seem to form the words and when she tried swallowing, her throat had gone completely dry. His head appeared to be getting lower, moving closer toward her and she became rigid with fear.

The sound of the doors opening shattered the moment and as they both turned to look, Zahra appeared in the doorway, walking quickly into the bathroom and kneeling before the Pharaoh.

"Zahra, what brings you here? Are you not assigned to the kitchen until Ammon’s return?", he didn't bother to hide his annoyance at being disturbed.

"Yes Pharaoh but I have come to ask your permission for Nenet to assist me in a matter of urgency"

"Which is?", he inquired with genuine curiosity.

"One of the young slaves is in labor but the baby is in breach and must be turned lest both mother and child should perish"

"Is there no one else?"

"She is the only one that the mother will allow to do it"

The Pharaoh seemed to consider this for a moment, looking first at Zahra then Nenet and then back to Zahra. Both women waited quietly for him to decide, each of them hoping that it would be in their favor.

"Very well", he sighed as he moved through the water towards the steps.

Nenet rushed after him and climbed the steps, quickly rushing to get him a towel before he reached the top. She grabbed a towel from the pile on a long table beside the pool and rushed back to him, holding it aloft. He emerged fully naked from the water with not an ounce of modesty and waited for Nenet to wrap the towel around him.

This had been a normal occurrence over the last three years and Nenet had grown somewhat accustomed to it. She always kept her eyes lowered but tonight she risked taking a peek, only to be shocked by the size of the Pharaoh's manhood, standing upright between his legs.

"Maybe next time you can have a closer look", he smirked as he walked past her and headed for his chambers.

Nenet felt the warmth of her embarrassment spread across her face and she lowered her head in shame. It wasn't something that she had ever done before and she couldn't understand what had made her decide to look at his nakedness tonight. Stupid, stupid girl, she inwardly scolded herself while lifting her face to look at Zahra, who was waiting impatiently for her near the doors.

Leaving the Pharaoh’s bathroom, they made their way downstairs, weaving through the numerous halls until they reached the slave's quarters behind the palace. The quarters were more like a village with clusters of low, rectangular buildings scattered across the ground, spread out all the way to the palace walls. Inside each building were twenty rooms with ten on each side and a long corridor running in between.

Stepping into one of the buildings closer to the palace, Nenet and Zahra, stopped just inside the door and waited for their eyes to adjust to the dim light. The corridor was narrow, only allowing for one person to fit it's width so Zahra walked ahead while Nenet followed close behind. Each room contained only one bed, a window and shelves on the walls for the slaves to keep their personal belongings, but there were no doors. Some of them had hung pieces of fabric across the doorway for privacy but most couldn't be bothered and had grown accustomed to carrying out their private activities in view of everyone else.

As they walked, Nenet couldn't help peeping inside the rooms as she passed, curious as to what the occupants were doing. The first room was empty but the rooms after that showed the occupants asleep on their beds. While she was busy peeking into the rooms, Zahra had walked ahead and stopped two doors away and was talking to someone inside. As she approached her, Nenet heard low moans coming from the room next to the one where Zahra now stood.

When she eventually reached her, Zahra was standing in the doorway and talking to the husband of woman who was in labor. Nenet waited outside, letting her eyes wander to the room next door which was one of those without a fabric covering the doorway.

Inside the room, a man lay on his back on the narrow single bed while on top of him sat a woman with her legs straddling his waist. Her shift dress was pushed up around her waist at the bottom while on top, the shoulder straps were pushed down her arms, exposing her breasts.

Nenet watched as the woman rocked her hips against his while the man fondled her round breasts and pinched her nipples with his fingers. They both had their eyes closed and they seemed to moan with each thrust of the woman's hips. As she watched, their movements increased in speed with the both of them vigorously thrusting against each other before they cried out together and the woman collapsed onto the man's chest.

She felt her mouth was wet with her own saliva and she swallowed loudly and looked away just as Zahra turned and beckoned her into the room.