The Lost Egyptian Queen

I walked the quiet gardens of the palace, enjoying the company of the moon and the reflective leaves of the plants surrounding me. This had become my nightly ritual, my escape from the palace walls and it's politics, gossip, and the voices in my ear, urging me to marry again, produce a male heir to the throne now that my husband, Pharoh Smenkhkare, had passed. But it had been a year since, and within that year I had become Pharoh in my own right. I was the proud first daughter, and favorite child, of the late Queen Nefertiti, the woman who ruled Egypt practically single handedly, and I knew no other could rule over Egypt as proficiently as I. I did not need another husband to babysit, to make decisions for. And, when I did pass into the arms of Osiris, my eldest daughter would make a fine Pharoh in her own right.

This way of thinking was not appealing to many in my land, but what could they do? Assassinate me? Perhaps. But I did not fear death. I knew death was only the beginning, and though I still had much to secure before passing on, I welcomed the prospect of living out eternity in Paradise.
Ironic, I suppose, considering what fate had in store for me.

It was on one of these nights, a night when I had foolishly dismissed the guards from the gardens in search of solitude, that he came to me. A tall man with skin the color of the desert sands and hair as dark as the night sky I so cherished. He appeared in front of me in a flash, and even in the lack of light I could see the crimson blood dripping from his face.

"Your Highness." He gave an exaggerated bow, his fangs glistening in the light of the moon as he smiled up at me. My breath caught in my throat, my body froze, and I hoped to Aten my guards would appear at any moment. They did not, and yet, I feigned calmness, never letting my proud stance falter, a trait I had inherited from my mother.

"I know not what you want, but know this, I have guards at ever-"
I was cut off by his laughter, and it was not ironic. It was genuine. He found this truly amusing.

"Ah, yes. Your guards," he spoke through a wide smile before bringing his hand up to this chin and wiping at the blood that resided there. He glanced down at his fingers before placing them in his mouth and suckling them, making an appreciative moan one reserved for the most delicious of foods. "They were quite succulent."

It was then that my false confidence faltered, and I shuddered with fear so intensely that the beads in my hair and bangles around my wrists tinkled musically. This only made the man in front of me smile wider.

"What do you want?" I asked in the steadiest of voices I could muster. The man took a step towards me, but I refused to take one back and instead rose my chin higher in defiance. His eyes shifted down to my bare neck, and I could swear he licked his lips before returning them to meet my own gaze.

"Why, my Egyptian Queen... I want you."