Wise was Khamid the poet when he said that shadow puppetry represented the closest art came to emulating life, in the artifice it perpetrated, serving perhaps as a dual tapestry upon  which the hidden hands behind the stretched hide screen either anonymously played out the contents of their hearts, or reiterated the familiar deceptions involved in telling a familiar tale for the umpteenth time. As his gaze jumped from the woman he had known since before they had learned that it was wrong to stare, Odion, wrestled with his own inner truths like a pit brawler tackling one of Sobek’s children in one of those almost fatal contests of skill and strength so favoured by the heathen warlords  whose whims polluted the fractured tribes that the Pharaoh’s ancestor’s had forged into one of the mightiest empire’s south of the great sea to the North.  Shaking himself both mentally and physically out of his turmoil, he internalized her softly articulated words. “As you say, my lady,” he spoke back sotto voce, nodding to accentuate his acquiescence, his tongue not giving voice to the old doubts that had been circling in his mind like wolves; where were they to go? What shelter had they and what plans, and with whom? Silently the captain of the royal guard cursed his lack for forward thinking. So fixated had he been in protecting the members of the royal family that he had never in his dizziest daydreams fabricated a possible contingency for just such a scenario as they now found themselves ensnared within.<br/><br/>Leaving in such a manner would undoubtedly arouse some suspicion. Word would have spread far and wide by now, and the fact that the man they knew to be the captain of the Pharaoh’s family guard was here in the outskirts, seeking to discard whatever traces of his former identity in favour of the raiment of a man of no consequence would almost certainly have aroused inquiry.  This inconvenient truth coiled in the pit of his stomach like an irked cobra, and would have manifested in his taking the Princess’s arm to stop her and put tongue to his concern but for one thing. He trusted her, she was no simpering peasant woman, nor did he think that Senu and her brothers were so inclined as to allow years of amity to be lost to the tune of a handsome reward.  Having been raised to the life of the street rat, Odion knew the trio well enough for him to be confident that friendship and a shared history meant more to them than betrayal for a handsome reward which was no doubt being offered.<br/><br/>Trying his best not to allow the sudden climate of fear and clamour to impact upon him, Odion did as was commanded of him. Making his way as casually as he dared along the passageway that led to the trio’s stables passing a few of the so called workers Senu and her brothers had ‘hired’ to provide their little clandestine enterprise with a semblance of respectability, he could tell that the noble war horse had been awake to the reality that something was not quite as it should be. “Well, little brother, this is an adventure and no mistake, huh?” he found a grin lifting the corner of his mouth as the stallion harrumphed in an unamused manner. “What, and you say I never make you do anything other than parade about like a pet pony, faugh!” Having done his best to ensure that the saddle bag did not attract attention, he turned at the sound of fabric to see the princess make her way over to them. He had tried to shut out the sound of growing trouble beyond the 4 walls, but there was no escaping it now; men’s harsh voices were raised, women’s cries and the wils of children were interspersed by the sound of what could only be fists meeting flesh, all accentuated by the periodic shattering of pottery. The inquisition had begun, and the unscrupulous and downtrodden were feeling the ham-fisted impatience of the Regent’s men.<br/><br/>Fool that he was, Odi cursed himself for not discerning the need to make good their escape sooner. While he had done what he could to ensure that none but he would be able to tell at a glance that the bedraggled, dirt-plastered, hack-maned animal before him had been a royal warhorse, there was still the phantom of a chance that one of the men seeking them would make the connection, hailing from the palace as they 3 were. He would not put it past those intent on capturing a would-be murderess to forgo tradition and decency and rip the facial coverings of every woman off to reveal the face beneath. Nanu’s face, exquisite with royal beautification or not, would be unmistakable. The fear upon  the beautiful features he knew so well fed the flame of rage within him. “Whatever I need to ensure your safety, highness,” he hissed between clenched teeth, he was about to turn to the horse when the light, what little of it there was from the entrance to the stables was lessened as a larger shape and 2 smaller ones, the foremost deceptively masculine entered. “Tsk, tsk, we thought we would do you the courtesy of coming clean yourself, but you thought you played us for fools the entire time?” Senu smirked as the giant to her left cracked his knuckles. “Did you think we were gonna let you leave?” he rumbled, eyeing Nanu as his lithe brother stepped forward and,  of all things, dropped to one knee “without our being of further assistance to you, your highness?” Odi’s jaw dropped, all 3 of them were genuflecting, heads bowed, waiting as though for something to return them to motion once more. “Brothers, sister, I…” he began but clearly sensing the need to come clean, he heard the voice of Aegypt’s future Pharaoh.<br/><br/><br/>It was Senu, naturally, who was the first to speak. “How? Well we might have fallen for it, only your ‘husband’ here  has never dropped by, not even for a quick  swig of tea.” The more intelligent looking of her brothers snorted “Begging your pardon your majesty but we know Odi, and there was no way old stone face here was ever going to scurry off into the sands when the prince and princess, them as he swore to protect were in danger.” “Yeah,” chuckled his brother “and begging your pardon, once more, you don’t look like no prince.” The sudden spurt of laughter that  occurred broke the tension, and even Odi managed a grin but it was Senu, of course, who immediately snapped them back. “You 2 need to get out of her unseen. Out there, Harun the hound is tearing through people’s lives in search of you. Now we don’t owe that runt of the litter anything, nor do we particularly care for the royals, present company excluded. As far as we’re concerned, we trust Odi, and Odi trusts you Princess, so do we three. You have never played the people false and for that I believe the people should be grateful, which is we will show you… the Scarab’s path. Come! Bring your horse, you will need him!” Quickly glancing at the princess in rags, Odi made to help her onto Abrax’s broad back. “If this goes ill, my life shall ensure yours remains unknown to the touch of Anubis, my lady.” He said, eye upon hers before he mounted behind her, strong arms curling around her as he tugged the reins. Senu and her brothers had mounted as well, their steeds lean and ready. “Which way shall we take?” he asked, “the streets will be thronged with people!” There it was again, that smirk that sent a shiver down his back. “Not the streets we’ll be using!” called Senu, slamming her heels into her steed’s sides. “We ride the rebel’s highway!”