Princess, Crown Not Included

I didn't remember falling into bed. The first thing I do remember is Femii shaking me awake for morning rituals.

"Mmmm, I had the best dream, Fems,"I mutered, stretching catlike under the sheets. "I was at the Valley again, and the Pharaoh was there, and we watched a sunset and rode back together and he gave me his cuff, you know the one with the--"

"You mean the one on your wrist?" She cut in, giving me an "oh, please" look. I looked down at my wrist.

"Yeah, that on--" I did a double take. There, glinting on my wrist, was the exact cuff I'd dreamed the Pharaoh had given me. I poked it to make sure it was real. It made a "ting". I sat staring in shock at the gold band, occasionally poking it again, while Femii made the bed around me. "Femii..."

"Astarte..."

"Is this really there, or is this another one of my hallucinations?"

"It's there, Star." She sighed, and pulled me up from the bed, straightening my shift dress to make me presentable for temple. "You rolled in about two hours ago by the sun, muttering something about sunsets, giggled and fell into bed. " She started attacking my hair with a thick brush. "Were you drunk?"

"Not that I remember... Oh, Femii, did it really happen?!" I'd twisted round to look at her. She pointed me the right way again and recommenced work. "How can you be worrying about my hair right now?! Last night, I was at The Valley of the Kings, with the Pharaoh! And you're stressing about my hair! I mean, why?"

"Becase, Oh Excitable One, if anyone found out, you would be killed. Literally. Can you imagine?! The Pharaoh, and the Temple Maiden, Together?" I could hear the capital letters slot into place. "It's an abomination to all that is holy! No offence," she added. I shrugged to show none was taken. "We've got to act like nothing happened. You will act completely normal, as will I, and with any luck and the help of the Gods, no-one will ever find out." She held the door open for me, and we began to walk down to the temple. We walked in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the cool calm of the corridors.

"But you have to admit..."

"I know!" Her eyes lit up with a grin. "My best friend and the Pharaoh... it's so..." We finished the sentence in unison with a high pitched screech that indicated incredible cuteness and broke into a run in order to reach the main temple in time. We just made it, despite much glaring from both Isis and Seto. We'd endured worse things than death glares before.

*Other First Person POV*
I stood in the shadows of the temple, knowing I wouldn't be seen, observing the two girls who'd just catapulted into the room. One of them was not the one I wanted to see, too tall and hair all the wrong colour. But the other... She could be the key to everything. Smirking, I made my silent way back to my horse, and rode back to my hideout. Where I began to plot.