The torches burned low in the Pharaoh's chamber, their flickering light casting long, jagged shadows against the gilded walls. The scent of incense clung to the air, mingling with the sharp tang of sweat and fear. Nofri-it knelt before the throne, his body rigid, his head bowed low. The weight of Pharaoh Cairo's gaze bore down on him like a sandstorm threatening to bury him alive.
"You are my sharpest blade, Nofri-it," Pharaoh Cairo said, his voice cold and deliberate, like a cobra uncoiling in the dark. "And now, I have a task for you—a task no other can accomplish."
Nofri-it did not flinch. He was trained not to. His loyalty was carved into his very bones, his obedience unyielding as the Nile's flow. He raised his eyes slightly, just enough to meet the cruel smirk curling the Pharaoh's lips.
"Speak your will, my Pharaoh," Nofri-it said, his voice steady, though a tremor licked at the edges of his resolve.
Cairo leaned forward, his ornate headdress gleaming in the dim light. "Thebes defies me. Its ruler, Azech-I, grows too bold, too powerful. Blessed by Anubis himself, they say, but I see only a man. A man who bleeds like any other." His eyes narrowed. "You will go to Thebes. You will end him."
Nofri-it's breath hitched for the briefest moment, though his face betrayed nothing. To kill Azech-I—the dark Pharaoh whose name was spoken in whispers, whose power was said to rival the gods themselves—was a mission that bordered on suicide. Yet he nodded.
"As you command, my Pharaoh."
Cairo's smile widened, but there was no warmth in it. He rose from his throne, descending the steps until he stood towering over his assassin. With a hand rough and heavy, he lifted Nofri-it's chin, forcing their gazes to lock.
"Do not fail me, Nofri-it. Should you falter, you will not return to Memphis. You will not live to see another sunrise."
The words struck harder than any blow, but Nofri-it merely bowed lower. "I will not fail."
The Pharaoh released him, stepping back as if the very sight of him had begun to bore him. "Then go. And remember—he is not a man to underestimate. Gain his trust, if you must. Become his shadow, his confidant, his lover if you must. But kill him."
Nofri-it rose to his feet, his body moving on instinct even as his mind reeled. He turned and walked away, each step echoing in the cavernous chamber, each one heavier than the last.
He did not know what awaited him in Thebes. He did not know that the man he was meant to kill would become the one person who could unearth the parts of him he thought he'd buried long ago.
He did not know that in trying to break Azech-I, he would break himself.
To Be Continued...