"What could an exiled prince possibly offer you?"

"That is.."

"He was asking your master, not you," a scraggly man replied whist leaning on the olive-wood desk behind him. Various manuscripts written in multiple languages sprawled across the desk's surface while blank sheets of papyrus were seen stacked neatly in a corner.

Outside, the harsh summer winds beat against the backs of the Egyptian commoners, but with the help of the prince's manservant, the mud-bricked walls were moist with the water that had not been reserved for washing.

After his scraggly servant answered, the minor Babylonian prince raised the bare clay cup to his mouth, and sipped it, giving off a contented sigh of refreshment when he was finished.

"I have nothing to offer an illustrious Egyptian noble as yourself," he responded back.

"How did you?", the startled noble's servant started.

At once, the prince's manservant smacked the other nobles' servant, leaving the formerly shocked servant to become indignant and cry out that the other was being impudent.

"Be Quiet!", the Egyptian noble commanded. Before the exiled Babylonian prince could even take another breath, he exhaled, "Please, do go on."

"What you want from me and what you need done are two different things. I hope that you understand that going forward."

"What would be the price for your assistance?", the unnamed Egyptian minister inquired.

The Babylonian prince clicked his tongue before saying, "Would access to the Royal Egyptian Archives be too much to ask?"

The other noble's servant swallowed hesitantly as his master answered, "No! Not for a renown scholar like yourself! I thought you would ask for something more...much harder to get."

Balthazar turned around and let his grin go up to his mud-colored eyes.

"What else could I seek?

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Author's note: I am separating this chapter from the first chapter and making it a short prologue because it has quite a different tone. Expect a new set of characters to be introduced.