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Fanci` let's play a game He walks in... the facepaint and bodypaint golden in color... he has a solemn look upon his face as he enters your room slowly She brushes the hair away from her face, feeling it puffy and red from hours of crying ... she looks up and searches his face He: You have made the preparations? She shakes her head forlornly He stands by the silk curtained entranceway She: I beg you .. I will do anything .. help me! He looks up at her curiously He: What do you mean... this is an honour for you She feels hot tears streaking down her cheeks again and curses the womanly emotions that cloud her mind now, when she must be thinking clearly She: It is no honour to die .. I am young .. He: Our pharou becomes a god on this day... Her voice trails off as another paroxysm of tears engulfs her He wrestles with his own emotions She rises slowly, goes to the window and looks at the crowds below He: Dont cry.. please She: "Look at them .. they are never satisfied! He walks slowly toward the window She: They tormented him .. with their constant begging for more rain ... She: intervene, they said! She: get the Gods favor She: selfish fools! She: Didn't they know his heart was weak .. She: and couldn't endure so many fasts? She flings herself on the floor again He takes a step back "You speak like an infidel...why?" She stiffens She looks up with challenging eyes She: What do you know of infidels? He looks down at her showing no emotion He: nothing Her shoulders drop, as if last hope has faded She: I was brought here .. a captive She: I accepted my Fate .. to be His handmaiden He: It is a great destiny.... you should be honoured... I dont understand why you feel this way She: and now .. I must die with Him? She: Because ... He: You will live eternal She: I want Life! He: Everlasting life... you shall have it She: Life as a woman .. a warm creature .. one to love a man .. and bear his children She: I want to live! He shakes his head slowly He: It is not to be He: You must be brave She draws herself up proudly and uses the hem of her garment to wipe her swollen eyes He: the time draws near She: Soldier .. She looks to him with a little smile playing about her lips He looks at her... a tear flowing down his cheek She: Is there nothing I can say? She: Nothing I can do? He: No She: Do you have a woman? He: No She: One to warm your bed .. prepare treats for you? She: One to sing to you .. dance for you? He turns away She: I am trained in all these things He: I am not allowed women She: It is not necessary that anyone know He: you dont understand She: a small place He walks to the window She: only a room .. it would be enough He: I am not allowed women She: I could make you happy! He: NO... I shall hear no more! She walks to stand close behind and her hands slip around him, gently drifting over his chest He grabs her by the arm very roughly She: It could be sweeet She looks to him with clear blue eyes He: You must compose yourself He: You must stop this She: I am composed She: I am offering you myself .. my life He releases her She: Does that not mean something? He: I am no longer capable of accepting you She: Can you look at me and deny your wanting? He: I am the Pharous bodyguard He: and yours as well He: that is all I can ever be.. in this life She takes a step closer and touches his breastplate softly She: We could find passage on a ship He hears the horns and knows the time has come She: return to my homeland in Jericho He: No She: My father would reward you She: and I would be all that you would ever wish a woman to be He: I shall get my reward She flings herself away She: And..... She: what will that be? He: Now come... the time is now She: an extra portion of that dreadful wine? He walks to the curtained entranceway She spits scornfully He: you dont understand She: You are a weakling She: a Coward! He: to be a bodyguard... I had to be modified She: You are no man at all She gasps He looks down He: You are right She looks to him with stricken eyes She: Oh She: Oh He has tears running freely upon his face She: Forgive me, Soldier She: I had ... She: Forgive me She: You have lost your life too .. just as I must He: Now you must follow me... it is time She: One moment, then He nods She: allow me a moment to compose myself He: only one She turns away She adjusts her head covering and brushes the wet lashes He looks down She drops her head and shudders with a long sigh She straightens her garment and sighs again, more heavily this time ... then ...He looks up He ((outside the horns blare)) With a quick lunge, she flings herself out the window onto the stones below He runs to the window in horror He: NO! She cries as she hurtles through the air He turns away quickly She: I will choose my fate .. myself She feels the speed of the dizzying descent He says with a faint whisper "no..." In the moments, she thinks of her family, the man she never loved, the children she never had She feels herself strike something ...but its not the hard stones Dazed .. she tries to make out what has happened He weeps An odor of animals surrounds her ... she hears bleating, as if from a distance ...and her hand grasps a wooly sheep that struggles and bleats in its effort to escape ((other guards walk in slowly, not knowing what has just happened... "Soldier" they say to him.... "Your time has come to be with the Pharou and guard him in the afterworld" Her head reeling .. she hides among the animals, creeping in their midst as their shepard drives them through the crowd He says outloud, but more to himself about the girl that just threw herself to the stones below "you never would have been alone in your fate....never" She thinks of the Soldier who was prepared to take her ... and keeps remembering that odd spark of something she saw in his eyes
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