Pharaoh’s Pet [BL]

The chain tightened with every step Azech-I took, forcing Nofri-it to follow in silence. His body obeyed, but his mind rebelled. This was not the man he had once held beneath the moonlight, nor the lover who had traced his scars with reverent fingers.

This was Pharaoh Azech-I.

The beast whispered in hushed tones. The ruler who had razed kingdoms for lesser offenses. And Nofri-it, in his shattered state, was being paraded before him like a trophy.

The court's murmurs swelled as Azech-I led him through the grand hall. Nofri-it felt their stares—some filled with amusement, others with intrigue, but the cruelest were those who pitied him.

He despised that the most.

He could endure pain, scorn, and even hatred. But pity? That was a slow, festering wound.

The chamber they entered was vast, its towering pillars carved with the stories of gods and monsters. A raised dais stood at the far end, and at its center was something that made Nofri-it's stomach twist.

A cage.

Not of iron, but of gleaming gold, adorned with intricate carvings of falcons and lotus flowers. It was a thing of beauty, meant to deceive, but a cage nonetheless.

Azech-I turned to him then, golden eyes glowing in the torchlight.

"This is where you belong now," he said, his voice quiet but cutting. "Not as a warrior. Not as a prince. Not even as a man."

He lifted the chain, looping it around one of the cage's bars before releasing it. The sound of metal clinking against gold rang out in the silence.

"You will sit here, beneath my throne, for all to see." Azech-I's lips curled into a smile that did not reach his eyes. "You will watch as I take what was once yours—your pride, your freedom, your very name."

The air felt thick, suffocating.

Nofri-it knew what Azech-I intended. He would humiliate him, break him piece by piece, until there was nothing left of the man he once was.

But Nofri-it had already been broken. In Cairo's dungeons, he had lost everything. He had no pride left to steal.

He stepped into the cage without hesitation.

Azech-I stilled, amusement flickering into something unreadable.

But Nofri-it did not waver. He knelt within the golden bars, raising his chin, his dark eyes unwavering. You cannot destroy what has already been ruined, his gaze seemed to say.

Azech-I exhaled through his nose. His expression smoothed into something impassive, but Nofri-it knew better. He had caught a glimpse of something else beneath the facade—something dangerously close to anger.

Good.

If he could not fight Azech-I with steel, he would fight him like this.

With defiance. With silence.

Azech-I's fingers brushed against the bars of the cage, his voice dropping into something almost gentle.

"Five years ago, you ran from me." His head tilted, as if studying a creature of curiosity rather than a man. "Tell me, Nofri-it, how long do you think you'll last this time?"

The challenge hung between them.

Nofri-it did not answer. He only watched as Azech-I turned and strode back to his throne, leaving him kneeling in the gilded prison meant to break him.

But he would not break.

Not yet.

To Be Continued...