It would take more than a ragged robe and a moth eaten scarf to disguise a princess, Odion was painfully aware of this unfortunate reality. As the elder of the Pharaoh’s children is was Nanu’s face and person upon whom the attention of the populace fell upon much like the moon receiving the light of the fiery orb in order to illumine the night to stave off the evils of the darkness. It was a blessing from Isis herself that the queen in waiting had always been more inclined to slum it if it meant a welcome escape from her stifling duties, and as such vanishing behind a completely fabricate person was not altogether much of a stretch. Already, as he cast a watchful eye over her altered form, nobody who did not know her for specifically who she was would have gussed, based on the evidence of their eyes that the seemingly shy maiden was the unabashedly confident princess, heiress to the Sun Kingdom.<br/><br/>Affecting a more dominant stance, Odion  had to remind himself that their situation currently was not altogether so different from the numerous times, when as children, he, the prince and princess, would don the guise of common sand urchins and slip past the unseeing eyes of the ever vigilant guards. “Feels like old times eh?” he whispered, barely able to conceal a wicked grin as he felt once more that intoxicating elixir known as adventure. “With your skill, my lady we will be as flies evading the ponderous deterrent offered by Ra stupefied camels!” If she too umbrage at being called a fly, Nanu did not show it, which once again told Odi that she was still the little she-devil he had known. “Husband?” Naturally the deception had to be as such in order for it to work, but there was something about the readiness with which she donned the lie that caught the young captain of the palace guard by surprise. “I, yes, I mean, come along now, uh, Fatima, we mustn’t dawdle.” Once they were out of sight of the frequenters of the town’s few major thoroughfares, they would be able to drop the pretence, but until then it would serve. “Hey you, get out my way!” Odi gave Abrax’s bridle a sharp tug that the horse did not appreciate, protesting loudly as a fat man at the head of a procession of camels forced his way past. Odion’s other hand flew to secure the princess’s pulling her unceremoniously to him so that for a moment they were in what some might call kissing range. “Lumbering brute, who does he think he is?” he growled, glaring after the sudden intrusion before realizing his predicament. “Ah, forgive, uh, I mean, are you quite alright, my dear?” He could tell she was enjoying her role a little too much and it was partly this that persuaded him to guide them down one of the dimly lit side streets.<br/><br/>Free from the eyes of passersby, Odi allowed himself some degree of relief. “I guess it must be the sand urchin in me, but I always did prefer such places to the hustle and bustle of the main streets,” Still holding the princess’s hand in his, he released it, marveling at the juxtaposition of refined softness and calloused hallmarks of a more rough and tumble existence. “Before we meet her, I think I owe you a little explanation about my friend. Senus is… she’s complicated. Seeing is better than saying when she is concerned, but I beg you, princess, things will not be as they seem. Trust me, Nana, I will let no harm come to you, not now or ever.” Odi narrowed his eyes as they made their way swiftly along passing shrouded doorways behind which persons unknown stirred, their path intermittently strewn with the dregs of society’s poorest and most wretched. Beneath his cloak, Odi had a hand tightly fastened upon his khopesh. The palace guards may not seek them here in the spiderways of this out of the way town, but that did not mean that danger was not close by.<br/><br/>“Going somewhere in a hurry noble sir? That’s quite a fine beast you have there, perhaps a trade, neh?”<br/><br/>The voice came out of nowhere as they turned a corner, like a knife slithering from its sheath. Odi stopped, eyes fastened onto the source of the speech, a tall, powerful, olive skinned behemoth who had seemingly been invisible before. “Alas no, sir, I an my lady wife am in need of him, perhaps you would be so kind as to allow us to pass?” Behind them, Odi was suddenly aware of another presence, this one dragging what sounded like a short blade against the rude stone wall. “It is wise not to be rude, affendi, my brother wants a horse that means a horse he shall get or your pretty wife there gets to watch you die slowly.” Now it was his turn to unsheathe his weapon. A soft intake of breath followed as the weapon of the royal guard caught the stagnant sunlight. “Rather far from the palace aren’t you, Captain?” This came from a third speaker, the voice of whom was decidedly different than the first 2. “It is not often we have such lucrative strays.” The speaker was a young man dressed in weathered robes, a ratty mustache adorning his top lip. He bore no weapon, but his eyes, flashing emerald, were mesmerising . “We have nothing you would want, leave us be or suffer the consequences.”<br/><br/><br/>He was not used to his warning’s receiving raucous laughter, but such came from their 3 would-be thieves. “Jabar, Arib, tell this painted statue  what it means to cross us!” Interposing himself between their attackers and the princess, Odi gave Nanu a swift reassuring look before enaging the first of his two foes. Faster than he looked the man mountain called Jabar came at him with the speed of a charging biull. Sidestepping at the last second, the khopesh hissed through the air  and the giant gave a loud cry as blood blossomed from a shallow cut on his stone-like shoulder. Arib on the other hand proved more of a bladesman but it took only a few slashes before the royal guard’s skills came to bear and the short sword tumbled away ,  hooked out of the brigand’s hand by a deft counter. With the blade to the man’s throat, Odi looked at the youth who had commanded the assault. “Satisfied, Senu you queen of sand serpents?” Where moments before there was menace and machismo, suddenly there was smiles and an embrace. “You are quite the man now eh?”  Odi laughed, indicating the youth’s mustache which was prompty pulled free, the head covering following to reveal a spider-haired young woman of a definite masculine bent. “We had to see that palace life had not made you soft. Hah, and you 2 thought you could take him? Not even in your dizziest storm dreams, heh!” Tearing a strip of fabric from his tunic, Obi offered it to the grinning giant who seemed to have forgotten his wound. “Here, bind your arm you great oaf. Stone might now bleed but you do.”<br/><br/>“Ah, of course,” Seeming to have forgotten his privileged escort, Odi hurriedly took his ‘wife’ by the hand. “Sweetheart, these 3 Set accursed scaremongers are the ones I told you about, Senu and her brothers  Jabar and Arib  grew up with me in the whore house I called home, before my father took me away to train at the palace. You three spawn of jackals, this is my Sun and Moon, Tima.”