He did not get far before they began to catch up with him. The heels of his shoes clicking on the concrete as he ran. Damien threw himself round a corner, crying out as arms reached out to grab him. He spun round them but momentum kept pulling him forwards and he stumbled into one of the crates. Wood bruising his shoulder as he threw himself into a duck as the two soldiers that had cornered him grabbed at him again. Knees hit the floor with a crack and he was scrambling up and staggering away from their arms into a stumbling run. Fear making him pick up speed as his pursuers gave chase.  

Damien risked a glance back as he tumbled round another corner. The two Egyptian soldiers were barefoot and held no spears but they were catching up on him. It was this moment where his attention was on the people behind him that made him slip up. He turned round just in time to see two more soldiers round the corner in front of him. He skidded to a halt. The corridor was block and he had no where to go. Still, he struggled as the men forced his arms behind his back and began to march him through the maze. He fought their grip until one unsheathed a knife and held it to his throat. He let himself be marched forwards grimly.

Damien lost track of how many turns they had made, not that it would have helped. He had been lost by the time they had caught him and this did not help his sense of direction. Their tight grip on his arms was the only reason he didn't try and make a break for it. They were holding him too tight for that. When they finally exited the maze of crates, it was to see Kahmenrah waiting for them. He was dressed in a shorter wrap around sash than the one that Ahk favoured. He wore an ornate breastplate of gold and lapis lazuli which matched the oval of his headpiece.  He smirked slightly as Damien was marched forwards and shoved onto his knees at his feet. His knees cracked on the hard concrete floor and he bit his lip to hold back a gasp of pain. 

"Ah, if it isn't my little brother's friend", he remarked as he crossed his arms. Then the smirk became a leer. "Or should is say lover? His soulmate". 

Damien blew his hair out of his face and put on a disdainful expression. It was an expression he would wear back in university to keep unwanted people from talking to him. "And if it isn't the murderer, the false king. I would say its my pleasure but I honestly can't think of a worse way to spend my time than in your company". 

Kahmenrah hissed at the insult an his hand struck out. Damien felt the blow knock him to the side, cheek bright red with the imprint of a handprint across it. "You should hold more respect for a king". Kahmenrah's voice was harsh and angry. 

"You are not my king. News flash, you have been dead for four thousand years. The world does not care for your rule. You are recorded in history as a traitor and a murderer who stole the crown by force. Ahk is the true king and the only one I'll follow". 

Kahmenrah snarled and grabbed Damien by the collar of his shirt, heaving him up so that their faces were close together. He immediately spit in the Egyptian's face. Kahmenrah dropped him and he landed heavily on the stone floor as the man stumbled back away from him, one arm rubbing the saliva from his face. "Seize him!" He cried, one hand pointing. Two soldiers snatched him by the arms and hauled him up and wrestled his head down. Damien cried out at the rough treatment and gritted his teeth against the bruising grip. 

"You", Kahmenrah seethed, eyes narrowed down at him. "Will regret choosing my brother over all that I could offer". 

"I doubt that", Damien grinned, half his face was pink and there was a dot of blood on the corner of his lip. "I have never felt more alive than with him. So, fuck you". 

Kahmenrah jerked his hand in a order. "Bring him. We shall see if he still has such fight when we kill his friends". 

The soldiers dragged him forwards as Kahmenrah strode off. Damien let them support his weight, legs half stumbling. His knees hurt from when he was shoved and his face stung sharply from the slap. The exertion of spending hours running was finally catching up with him and he felt exhausted and therefore did not feel guilty about letting the soldiers half carry, half drag him along. Kahmenrah walked as if he knew where he was going and Damien was stuck with a sudden panic. Did the man know where his friends were hiding?

"Oi. Murderer", he called. "Where are we going?" 

"To find your friends so that I may crush them", Kahmenrah snapped back. 

"Do you even know where they are?" 

Kahmenrah paused and the soldiers all stopped around them. "No. But they must be here in this room somewhere. Why else would you come down here?" 

"How do you know I have friends?" Damien gave a smirk, wincing slightly as it tugged at his cut lip. "It could just be me and Ahk". 

"Do you think I'm stupid?" (Damien expected that the question was rhetorical. If it wasn't, then his answer was yes). Kahmenrah jabbed a finger at him. "I know you have friends because last night I had my soldiers follow you down here. Why would you come here if not to meet up with somebody? You have allies. Now where are they?" 

"Why would I tell you?" 

Kahmenrah grabbed his shirt again and pulled him painfully up. Damien glared spitefully as they came nose to nose. "You will tell me. If you don't, I will force you to watch as I kill my brother again. Only this time, I will gut him and force him to bleed. No poison this time. And as he's dying, I will slit your throat so that he can see his lover die and both of you will be powerless to stop it". 

Damien drove his head forwards. His forehead met Kahmenrah's nose with an audible crack. The pharaoh let him go and stumbled back with a howl of pain as blood began to pour from his nostrils. Damien was pulled back kicking by the soldiers. "You filthy little beetle!" Kahmenrah screamed. Damien lunged forwards in the soldier's grip, wanting noting more than to pummel the man into the ground. 

"You will not fucking touch one bloody hair on his head, you pathetic excuse for a human! If you do, I will make hell seem like a dream. You spineless coward". The words were hissed with such fury that it made Kahmenrah's eyes widen. Damien now had a bruise blooming on his forehead but he didn't care. It was worth it to see blood on the man's face. 

"Keep him away from me", Kahmenrah ordered and two more soldiers ran over to help pull Damien back. The blond still struggling as fiercely as he could, blue eyes bright and angry. Kahmenrah turned and looked around at the large storage room. "Ahkmenrah!" He bellowed, the stone echoing his voice back and forth. "Little brother! I have your boy! I will trade! Him for the tablet!" 

Damien went still and silent. For a second there was no sound in the room. Then a familiar voice rose. "How do we know this isn't a trick?" It was not Ahkmenrah's voice. It was Jedediah's. Damien looked around quickly, eyes scanning for the miniature. There!

Up his on one of the crates was a familiar monkey. Dexter waved from his perch when Damien spotted him. Then the monkey turned and disappeared behind a crate with a flick of his tail. "This is no trick!" Kahmenrah shouted. He turned to Damien and waved a hand. "Shout for your lover". 

Damien kept his lips firmly closed. Kahmenrah sighed and waved a hand. One of the soldiers lowered his spear so that the blade rested on the soft skin of Damien's neck. The blonde eyed it but did not make a sound. "Oh for Ra's sake", Kahmenrah muttered, running a hand over his face. Damien grinned. The man raised his voice again. "If you don't answer Ahkmenrah, I will make your lover bleed!" 

"Stop!" The shout echoed around them. Damien turned as much as he could in the soldier's hold. Ahk stood in the corridor between two aisles of crates. He was still dressed in Damien's clothes, bare feet on stone and green eyes filled with rage. The tablet glowing gently from where it was tucked under one arm. He stood tall and determined and despite the different clothing, he looked more like a king than Damien had ever seen him. He looked furious. 

"Ahk", Damien breathed, slumping in the arms restraining him. Ahk's gaze flicked to hi and took in the bruises on his face, his swollen cheek and the blood on the corner of his mouth, before resting on the spear held at his throat. Ahkmenrah's face seemed to grown cold with rage. 

"You. Brother", the word was spat. "Will let Damien go". 

"If you give me the tablet", Kahmenrah smiled. "Now hand it over and your lover will be spared". 

"Don't!" Damien called, blue eye widening. "Ahk! The time!" Dawn was approaching. He could feel it. Ahk nodded at him but didn't move. Damien blinked in surprise. Ahkmenrah was waiting for dawn. Something had happened. His lover had a plan. He smiled slightly. 

"Hey Kahmenrah", He called. 

"What is it?" The man snapped back, face still turned towards his brother and the tablet. Seeing them together, Kahmenrah and Ahkmenrah looked nothing alike. Other than a similar skin shade, Kahmenrah had brown eyes while Ahk had green. Kahmenrah had harsher, aged features compared to Ahk's smoother face. It was a wonder that they shared the same father. Ahk must take more after his mother. 

"Why do you keep on calling me Ahk's soulmate?" Damien asked. 

"Dami", Ahk began but stopped. 

Kahmenrah looked between them with a visible rising glee. "You don't know? Have you not told him brother?" Ahk didn't respond and Kahmenrah smiled. "I call you my brother's soulmate because that is what you are. Only his soulmate can activate the tablet's magic". 

Damien paused in surprise. He had only asked the question to buy the more time for the sun to rise. He had not been expecting this. Kahmenrah took in the expression on his face and continued. "My father and his wife loved their son so much that when he was born, they had his fortunes read by the priests. It was foretold that he would die before he ever met his soulmate and so my father had the tablet created so that Ahk would be able to be with his soulmate beyond death. So that their family could be together. The tablet would only activate once his soulmate was close enough". Kahmenrah waved a hand. "Disgustingly sentimental. But it is good for me, because without the tablet I couldn't take over the world. I should thank you, really". 

Damien didn't know what to say. He had never expected something like this but now everything made sense. All of Ahk's little comments. The way he sometimes acted as if he had waited for him to arrive, because in a way he had. Falling into that tomb all those years ago had led to far more than he had ever imagined in his wildest dreams. Wide eyes, he turned to Ahk for confirmation. The curly haired man was watching him with almost concern. 

"I didn't want to tell you in case that made you feel pressured. I wanted you to choose me without the expectation", His voice was gentle. Damien smiled softly. 

"I would have chosen you anyway". 

"Aww. Isn't that sweet?" Kahmenrah cooed. Then he raised a hand and pointed at Ahk. Immediately the remaining soldiers all raised their spears threateningly. "Give me the tablet". 

Outside, dawn rose. 

unedited

Damien now knows. They're soulmates guys! This book is one long complicated soulmate au. Enjoy.