Chapter ~ Caged Pet

The chamber was silent, save for the soft crackling of the braziers and the distant sound of the Nile's eternal current.

The golden cage cast intricate shadows on the sandstone walls, as if trapping not only the man within but the ghosts of the past that lingered between them.

Azech-I had not moved. He remained by the bars, his fingers curled loosely around the gold, his expression unreadable beneath the kohl that lined his piercing gaze.

Nofri-it knew better than to mistake his stillness for restraint.

"Tell me, lioness," Azech-I's voice was smooth, measured, yet laced with something dangerous, "do you dream of Cairo's dungeons?"

Nofri-it did not answer.

He would not give Azech-I that satisfaction.

But the Pharaoh saw it anyway—the way his body tensed, the way his fingers twitched involuntarily, the way his gaze flickered for the briefest moment.

Azech-I chuckled, low and knowing.

"You were never meant to be caged," he murmured. "And yet, it seems that is where you always find yourself."

The words coiled around Nofri-it's throat like a serpent.

He hated that they were true.

First Cairo-IV's dungeons, now this—this mockery of a prison, lined with silk cushions and perfumed air, as if gilded bars made captivity any less suffocating.

Azech-I stepped back, surveying him with the ease of a king admiring his prize. "How fragile you have become," he mused. "It does not suit you."

A flicker of heat rose in Nofri-it's chest, a ghost of the defiance that once burned so fiercely in his veins. "Then let me go."

The Pharaoh smiled.

Slow. Amused. Infuriating.

"You mistake my mercy for weakness, Nofri-it."

He turned away, his dark robes sweeping across the polished floor as he moved toward the grand throne that loomed over the chamber. There, reclining with a languid grace only a ruler could command, he lifted a goblet of wine to his lips.

"You are here because I allow it," Azech-I continued, his gaze sharp despite the casualness of his posture. "You breathe because I have not yet decided to finish what Cairo-IV started."

Nofri-it's fists clenched. "If you wish to kill me, then do it."

The words echoed in the vast chamber, swallowed by the flickering torchlight.

Azech-I said nothing for a long moment, merely watching him. Then, slowly, he tilted his head.

"Kill you?"

The way he said it—so soft, so mocking—sent an uneasy chill down Nofri-it's spine.

"No, lioness," Azech-I said, rising from his throne with slow, deliberate steps. "Death is too simple. Too final. And you—" His fingers ghosted over the cage bars, his voice a dark whisper. "You do not deserve an escape so merciful."

Nofri-it's breath caught.

Azech-I reached through the bars, his fingers tracing along the sharp line of Nofri-it's jaw before gripping his chin, forcing him to meet his gaze.

"You took something from me," Azech-I murmured, his grip tightening ever so slightly. "Five years. Five years I spent searching for a ghost, hunting shadows, setting fire to empires in the hope of finding you again." His voice dropped lower, almost a growl. "Only to learn that you were sent to kill me."

Nofri-it swallowed hard, but he did not look away.

He could not.

Azech-I's gaze burned into him, unreadable, unrelenting. "You were Pharaoh Cairo's deadliest weapon," he continued. "And yet, in the end, you failed. Tell me, lioness—" His fingers brushed lower, resting against the fragile pulse at Nofri-it's throat. "Was it because you were too weak? Or because you could not bring yourself to do it?"

The air between them was heavy, suffocating.

Nofri-it did not answer.

He did not have to.

Azech-I's smirk was slow, predatory. "Ah," he mused, fingers trailing away, leaving behind a ghost of heat. "So even then, you were mine."

Nofri-it jerked back, his breath uneven, his skin burning where Azech-I had touched him. "You are delusional."

Azech-I laughed. "Am I?"

The Pharaoh turned away once more, his movements fluid, unbothered, as if he had already won this game they were playing. He stopped beside the golden tray of fruit and wine, plucking another fig between his fingers.

"You starve yourself out of pride," he said, inspecting the fruit idly. "You sit in silence, convincing yourself that you are still the same man who entered my city all those years ago." He bit into the fig, the dark juice staining his lips. "But I will remind you, Nofri-it, piece by piece, of who you truly are."

Nofri-it's stomach twisted.

Because he knew Azech-I meant it.

The Pharaoh turned to face him fully, eyes gleaming like a predator who had just begun to play with his prey. "I could have left you to rot in Cairo's dungeons," he said, "but that would have been merciful." He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "And you have not yet earned my mercy."

Nofri-it's breath was shallow, his body taut with unspoken tension.

Azech-I smirked.

"Tomorrow," he said, as if it were a casual thought, "you will be presented before the court."

Nofri-it stilled.

He had not stepped before Thebes' grand court in years—not since he had once stood at Azech-I's side as an honored guest, a foreign warrior who commanded respect with nothing but his presence.

Now, he would stand before them as a prisoner.

As a trophy.

As a caged pet.

The realization struck like a dagger, but Azech-I was already moving toward the balcony, his gaze cast over the darkened Nile, his voice carrying effortlessly through the chamber.

"You should rest, lioness," he said, his tone almost… amused. "Tomorrow will be a long day."

And with that, he left.

The doors closed behind him with a finality that echoed deep within Nofri-it's chest.

He exhaled shakily, his fingers trembling against the cold metal bars.

Tomorrow.

The weight of the word settled over him like chains.

To Be Continued...