Disappointment danced in the head eunuch's eyes for a split second before disappearing like it was never there. Nonetheless, he approached her, "Are you rethinking your choice?"

"No, my lord. To serve the royal house is my greatest wish. I… think-" Mayeen swayed on the spot, closed her eyes, "My head… " she whispered softly.

Mayeen knew that once they were accepted by the eunuch, no man except the Pharaoh and the physician could lay hands on them.

"Help her!" The bald man braked, gesturing to the girls to help her.
As the girls got busy, he wheeled around and commanded, "Fetch the physician."

Confusion ensued as none present were aware of the doctor's whereabouts.

Mayeen had counted on this to happen. She chose a moment when no one was paying them any heed and spoke, "If you chose to leave, you would suffer a fate worse than death. Trust me."

An eerie calm blanketed the young girls; they, especially those who had almost made up their mind to leave, exchanged panicked glances.

Mayeen read their mind. "There is no way you can go back to your old lives. All you can do is choose the lesser of the two evils."

"How is she doing?" The eunuch asked, stepping closer. He waved his hand, signaling the doctor who had just entered the hall to approach Mayeen.

"The girl is fine." The physician announced, "She is probably fatigued and dehydrated." He turned to his assistant while addressing the eunuch, "When you sent for me, I had an inkling of what I would be dealing with, so I brought serbat* along."

"Thank heavens!" The eunuch muttered under his breath and crouched next to her. His eyes dilated (obscurely) as he happened on the birthmark below her left ear.
Looking away instantaneously, he rose to his feet and clapped his hand. "Girls, she is in capable hands now. I am still waiting for your decision. What shall it be?"

One after the other, the girls stepped towards their right, and as they did, the morale of the men surrounding them fell; their smiles turned into frowns.

Discontent murmurs broke out among
the armed men when the last girl chose to serve Tutuamen. It was probably the first time that the initiation process had left their hands empty and loins starving.

"Silence!" The eunuch growled; despite that, the men continued to display their displeasure.

With dissatisfaction fueling his courage, the soldier with an eagle's crest embroidered on the top left corner of his tunic, just over his heart, stepped forward. "Msrah, I won't accept this! We were promised skin. You have left us with none!"
The eunuch's turquoise eyes narrowed. Nonetheless, when he turned around, a candy-sweet smile had replaced it. He slowly walked towards the fuming man and spoke matter-of-factly. "Be mindful of your words, Nexeu. We are just tools tasked with fulfilling our master's wishes. I can smell greed on you. It's most unflattering."

"My men have done their part. We waited patiently and did as told. We won't leave empty-handed if that's what you think!" Drawing his gold-hilted dagger, the man named Nexeu advanced on the eunuch, who stood his ground, unafraid. Smiling.

No one saw the arrow that pierced Nexeu between his brows swoosh through the air. Yet, every single one whom it passed could feel the air vibrate.

The impaled man winced, more shocked than pained. It was understandable since it was as unexpected as it was precise. Without a word, he collapsed at the feet of the one he was planning to murder barely a moment ago.

Msrah sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Amten, how many times do I have to remind you that you are supposed to be at our master's side, not mine."

Not wanting to stray from her character, Mayeen followed her peers and huddled in a corner, covering her head.

"Father, I am here on his behalf. Following the orders he gave me." A young man with bronzed muscular arms, angular jaw, purple-rimmed eyes stepped out of the shadows. He was dressed in a lion's cloth covering his body from the waist down, ending at his heels. His shoulder-length hair was tied in braids and held together by a clasp at the base of his neck.
The man smiled, displaying a perfect set of pearly whites to Msrah, before placing the bow behind his back.

"Is that so?" The eunuch scratched his chin, "I guess I am not as important to our master as I thought I was. He doesn't confide in me like before."

Mayeen sensed fondness in words that should have sounded sarcastic.

"No one, including you, believes that, Father." The armed man, Amten, gazed at the girls before crouching down and ripping the soaring eagle sigil off of Nexeu's robes. "The Pharaoh was aware that he was serving the New Kingdom no more. I have been following him for days now." Anger blazed in his purple pools; it was gone before anyone could catch it.

Mayeen was not ordinary. Not only did she notice it, but she also observed that when the man spoke next, his smile, which had, up until then, been playful, had turned forced. "He was the one behind the poisoning incident that killed concubine Seben and prince Sab."

"Nexeu was always greedy. The passage of sand turned him foolish as well." Msrah looked over his shoulder and spoke gently, "Since you all have chosen to serve our master, Tutuamen, I welcome you to the royal household. But before you can become part of the harem, you will be assessed and assigned a rank."

Mayeen was not the only one surprised by this admission. She recalled a conversation that she had had with a noble lady at whose place she had worked as the woman's caretaker a couple of years ago. 'Husband told me that Tutuamen is a very private man. In his three years working as the revenue official, he has not laid eyes on him even once.'

It was also rumored that if the Pharaoh didn't find the girl attractive, he refrained from giving her a second chance; this was why the Pharaoh had sired only one child, a son, a year and a half ago.

Unfortunately, though, both the boy and his mother had died mysteriously about six months ago.
Mayeen felt anxious. If she had to gain Tutuamen's trust, she had to please him the first time she was allowed to do so.

On the one hand, the thought of letting the one responsible for her father's death touch her made her skin crawl with disgust. On the other, her anxiety about whether she would be able to earn Tutuamen's affection increased tenfold.

She felt torn.

"For the next few days-" Msrah's voice broke her out of her reprieve. "-you will call this hall your home. You will be taught how women are expected to conduct themselves in the palace. The better you understand, the higher the chance of securing a higher rank. Now, rest up. Meals will be brought to you. The bath area is at the left end of the hall, and the vanity is at the right. I will come to escort you personally when it is time. Any questions?"

The girls shook their head and watched the eunuch and his son, the man who possessed the most enchanting eyes Mayeen had seen in her eighteen years of life, walk to the other side of the hall while women dressed in dark blue satin pleated tops and matching shirts cleaned the mess Amten's arrow had made.

Though Mayeen desperately wanted to hear the conversation between the bald man and his 'so called' son, she restrained herself. For one, there were many people present around her, and using her gifts now could prove counterproductive. The other reason was much more puzzling, which was that try as she may, she wasn't able to get anything from the godly-looking young man, Amten.

Sooner than she would have liked, Msrah left the girls to their devices. Once again, the blue-robed women entered the hall. Mayeen noticed that they looked hardier than the girls that she knew the nobility, including Tutuamen preferred.

Carrying plates and goblets laden with fruits and meat, the girls left the hall smelling like a cocktail of savory and sweet aromas. The meal served to them seemed fit for the Pharaoh himself, Mayeen thought. Hunger and thirst coiled in the pit of her stomach, but she had no desire to eat what was on offer. She closed her eyes, and images of her exposed body in Tutuamen's bed as he pounded into her relentlessly danced behind her lids, making their corners sting and her heart ache.

She couldn't turn back now. It was too late to change her mind… her plans.

Mayeen reached for the serbat jar; pouring herself a generous amount of the sweet liquid that the physician had recommended, she gulped it down in one go.

It didn't help with the swarm of questions that were plaguing her. Something told her that she wouldn't find the answers to her questions at the bottom of the serbat jar. Mayeen needed another (much longer) glimpse of the purple-eyed man who had not allowed her to peek into his mind, let alone his heart.

'Who are you, and why can't I get a read on you?' Mayeen pondered.
That night as the girl slept in a bed that was more luxurious than the one she was used to, her thoughts kept drifting to two men: Tutuamen, the most well-kept secret of the New Kingdom, and the purple-eyed man, Amten, who was a mystery in his own right.

***

Over the next few days, just like the head eunuch had promised, the girls were taught how to conduct themselves in front of Tutuamen (if they were lucky enough to be granted an audience), the members of the royal family, and concubines.

Msrah made sure that the girls were comfortable and occupied during their time in the hall. He made provisions for the same by providing them fabric and needles, slabs of clay and paints to go with it, paper and ink, and whatnot.

A week into their arrival at the palace, the girls started leaving the hall one at a time. Soon the hall felt too big for Mayeen, who was now the only occupant of the place that was brimming with giggles and gossips from all over the New Kingdom not long ago.

She missed her companions, especially those she had befriended in their short stay together. Regardless, Mayeen was glad that it had panned out this way, for it had allowed her to make friends with most of them. She had also formed a close bond with a girl named Kanak, who was from the northern region of the New Kingdom.

Like Mayeen, Kanak was intelligent, observant, and determined to enter the harem. Growing up not knowing where her next meal would come from, Kanak and her siblings had learned how to survive using their wits. They had gone their separate ways after their mother's passing.

After realizing that she could use her beauty as a weapon and not wanting to spend her youth in poverty, she had turned her eyes towards Tutuamen's harem. Like Mayeen, she had found the scouts instead of the other way round.

Creaking of the door startled Mayeen, who was engrossed in a book about the history of the New Kingdom. The book, which was one of its kind, contained every detail of the royal family starting from the birth of the New Kingdom in the first year of Pharaoh Ra-nefer's reign.

"My lord." Mayeen stood up and bowed her head, "Is it my turn?" she asked Msrah, who had just entered the hall.

"Child, are you lonely?" He inquired, "You seem to have lost weight. Is the food here not to your liking?"

The girl shook her head and sat on her knees, "I have never tasted such divine flavors." she bit her lips, hesitating, "I...every time I try to savor it, I ask myself if I deserve it and am worthy of this bounty that my lord has placed before me? It would be terrible if I got used to it and then never got to experience it again."

"Ah, you are worried that you won't be accepted into the royal household." Msrah tapped her shoulder, signaling her to rise, "But I told you, all those who stay will serve the royal house."

"Of that, I have no doubt, my lord." Mayeen gazed at Msrah for a moment before lowering her eyes. The eunuch seemed interested in what she had to say. It was the perfect opportunity to show him her sincerity. So the young girl took it, "But from what I have observed, not all of us will make it into the royal harem. The bounty hunter who caught me told me in a drunken state that the royal household appoints a lot of help."

Mayeen knew that the eunuch was good at reading between the lines; she didn't have to elaborate for him to understand what she was getting at.

"You are not wrong, child." Msrah sighed and turned away. "Enter," he called over his shoulder, and two blue-robed women entered the hall. They took their place on either side of Mayeen.

The eunuch's eyes caught and held Mayeen's curious ones. "Accompany these women. They will take you where you need to go. Remember, the greater the pain, the greater the reward." The eunuch ran his palm over Mayeen's head, "If all goes well, I will see you again, Child." He said wistfully and walked out of the hall.

[Chapter word count:2303;
Word count so far: 14135]