Submission and Addiction [Part 17]
Finally!
The Pharaoh’s advice was that, for now, continuing palace life as it was would be the best course of action. Lady Merrick wouldn’t be suspicious of any forming plans for Adam’s escape. The Pharaoh had told Adam that if they knew Kris would be waiting outside at a certain time at a certain night, the Pharaoh and a few of his guards would fight through Lady Merrick’s guards to get Adam out and to Kris. Adam would be free, and conflict within the royal family would be limited. The Pharaoh knew war with the Assyrians was only a matter of time, and so he preferred this discrete plan. By the time Lady Merrick knew of Adam’s escape scheme, he would already be gone, and the Pharaoh’s future order that Adam was never to be searched for or any attempts at capture made, would keep Lady Merrick powerless to dissent.
The next morning when the royal family was seeing petitioners, Adam stood off at the edge of the throne room, watching the proceedings by peeking out from behind a pillar. He knew sometime soon, David would make his way in to deliver messages to Lord Merrick. When Adam finally saw David walk up to his master, kneel, and hand him several scrolls, Adam crept forward just the slightest bit, being careful that no one else would see him. When David stood up and turned towards Adam’s direction, Adam waved his hand, beckoning David towards him and then quickly placing a finger over his lips to denote secrecy. David looked away from Adam immediately, and walked almost all the way out from the throne room before ducking behind the row of pillars, so no one would see him.
“Mister Adam!” David exclaimed when he went over to where Adam was standing. “I haven’t seen you in ages! What is it?”
“David, I really need your help. Could you do me a huge favor?” Adam asked, kneeling down towards David’s height as Adam produced a small, rolled up piece of parchment from inside his robes. “Do you remember the tent where Kris and I live?” David nodded immediately. “I need to get this to Kris,” Adam said as he placed the parchment in David’s hands. “It’s very, very important. But it’s also very secret. You’re the only one I can trust with this.”
David looked at the parchment in his hand and held it tightly. “It’s secret?”
Adam nodded. “No matter what, you can’t tell your master. He can’t know you’re delivering anything for me.”
David nodded, a serious expression on his little face as he tucked the parchment into a big outside pocket of his tunic. “You can count on me, Mister Adam! I’ll bring it to Kris right away, and I won’t tell no one.”
“Thank you, David.”
David flew forward and hugged Adam lightly around the neck before scurrying off towards the doors. Adam smiled as he walked back to his room. He was already imagining the joyous look on Kris’ face when he received Adam’s message.
“Kris! Come outside for a moment!”
Kris had been curled up in Adam’s bed with a book when he heard Michael’s yell for him. He set the book aside, crawled out from under Adam’s blankets, and shuffled out to the door of the tent. When Michael saw him, he pointed towards a figure approaching the tent from the distance.
Michael said, “Isn’t that Lord Merrick’s messenger boy?”
Kris squinted, trying to see him better, before he responded, “It looks like him.”
“If he’s carrying anything from that bastard lord, I’ll tear it to shreds and burn it,” Michael grumbled, crossing his arms.
When David approached, he ran directly up to Kris.
“Mister Kris! Adam sent me to deliver this to you. He said it was a secret.” David produced the rolled-up parchment from under his tunic and held it out to Kris.
“This is from Adam?” Kris asked as he took the scroll. David nodded, and Kris quickly unrolled the parchment. Michael hurried over to stand behind Kris, reading the message over his shoulder.
My dear Kris and Michael,
I finally have good news. I have been able to find an ally, although a rather unlikely one, the Pharaoh himself. I’ve had to sway him the same way I would any man, but I have found him to be a truly good man, and I trust he will be true to his word and help me escape. We’ve come up with a plan together. One of you must ride to the palace, the night of the lunar eclipse - exactly four nights from tonight. At precisely midnight, wait outside, before the main front gates. The Pharaoh’s guards will make a path for me through Lady Merrick’s guards at the doors, and get me out to you, where we’ll leave. The Pharaoh and I are keeping the plan under wraps, so everything should go smoothly. I wish I didn’t have to spend another minute within this wretched palace, but I think I can wait four more days. Once I leave, the Pharaoh will order that I’m never to be captured or searched for again, so all should be well for us to return home. I wait anxiously. Every minute here is torturous, when I know what I’m waiting for. Kris - I cannot wait to see you, and hold you in my arms again. I miss you more than I could say. But if you noticed, I’ve written this whole letter without any aid, thanks to your reading lessons.
Adam
As soon as he was done reading the words, Kris clutched the parchment close, hugging it to his chest.
“Michael, he said only one of us should go. I want it to be me.”
Michael nodded. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been expecting it, “That sounds fine. You’ll be more inconspicuous than me, anyway.”
“I have to get a horse…Have to get ready…” Kris muttered to himself in a daze, as he turned and went back inside, still holding the parchment tightly.
“I think he’s in shock,” Michael said with a little laugh. He looked back down towards David, smiling wide. “Thank you for bringing us this, kid. You did Adam a huge favor,” he said, patting David’s head once. David grinned. “You came a long way. You’re probably thirsty, right? Here, c’mon inside, I’ll get you something.”
Back in Adam’s room, Kris sat curled up with Adam’s message, reading it over and over again. He traced his fingertips over the ink, knowing that just shortly before, Adam’s hands had been moving over this same piece of parchment.
In the past weeks, Kris had spent most of his time huddled in Adam’s bed. Kris ached for when he would have the chance to touch and hold Adam for real - not just blankets that smelled like him.
There was a red blotch on the inside of Adam’s wrist. He’d noticed it when he got out of bed and was getting dressed. It could have been some kind of rash, but it was an odd shape. Adam rubbed at it a bit, but it didn’t go away. He pushed thoughts of it aside, as there were far more important things to dwell on.
Today was it. Finally - the last day he had to spend in the palace. Tonight was when he’d meet Kris or Michael outside, and would finally be free. Adam was grinning and dancing around his room as he got dressed, just from the thought of seeing Kris again.
The other harem boys and girls glared as Adam walked through the kitchens for his morning meal. Word had spread like wildfire about Adam’s intimacies with the Pharaoh. The three wives were sitting at one table in the back of the kitchens, and Ahura and Layla looked a second away from throwing their knives in his direction. His current spirits unable to be dampened, Adam grinned at them cheekily and wiggled his fingers in a half-wave. Nesa giggled softly to herself, and the other two’s glares swiveled over to her. Adam picked up a plate of food and on his way back to his room with his food, he asked the whole roomful of people watching him, “Lovely morning, isn’t it?” He laughed to himself at their shocked expressions as he left the kitchens.
Back in his room, Adam picked out the traveling robes from his closet he planned on wearing tonight. His cough had been lingering throughout the whole day, but he refused to let it bother him. He could picture it all perfectly. After the Pharaoh breaks through Lady Merrick’s guards, Kris would be there, sitting on the back of a horse, looking stunning. Adam would climb onto the horse behind him, and tilt Kris’ head back to kiss him deeply before they rode off. Then Adam would never, ever have to be anywhere near this damned palace again, and he and Kris would never be parted.
Before Adam could reach what he envisioned, he had to go through one last palace unpleasantry - entertaining at one more banquet. The Pharaoh several days before had already established to Lady Merrick that Adam was to be nothing more than an entertainer, and she could no longer force him to bed guests, or ‘serve’ food. Thanks to this, the evening looked bearable. Adam got himself dressed, and then checked out his back in the mirror. The slashes had scabbed over and healed a bit, and now were raised, dark pink marks. They were perfectly visible, but Adam knew they wouldn’t put anyone off. His usual servants combed and smoothed his hair, and painted makeup onto his face. He watched himself in the mirror, feeling excitement and triumph with the knowledge that this was the last time he would have to do this.
As he looked into the mirror, he was hit by a sudden spell of lightheadedness. He grappled for the edge of the table and gripped it tightly for the few seconds until the weakness passed. Similar feelings had been happening all day, but passing quickly. He shrugged them off.
When Adam was introduced that evening, he stepped up onto the table with a wide smirk. Seeing as this was his last night here, he might as well give it his all. He danced his way up and down the table. For the occasional attractive young man, Adam would give his glossed lips a few liberal licks as his hands would tangle in the man’s hair and he’d straddle his lap. Adam was almost having fun, knowing the end of this horrible lifestyle was in sight.
After pecking a kiss to a lady’s lips and tossing his head back as he stood up on the table again, a cough erupted from his throat that he couldn’t hold down. As inconspicuously as he could, he covered his mouth for a few seconds until it passed. Adam straightened up again immediately after, slipping back flawlessly into the rhythm of the music. But as he danced, in the next few seconds he suddenly felt his strength draining away. It seemed twice as difficult to lift his feet, to shift his hips. He felt his limbs growing heavy and sticky, but he did his best to fight the spell of weakness.
The Pharaoh was reclined in his throne during the banquet, speaking to petitioners or ambassadors. He kept up only sideways glances towards Adam, not wanting to pay him too much obvious attention, but also not wanting to miss any guests grabbing at him or attempting to hurt him. He noticed when Adam’s dancing started to slow and seem lethargic. His face grew concerned as he turned his attention down to the table.
“Wait a minute,” he told the man he’d been speaking to, dismissing him with a wave of his hand. He watched Adam continue to force himself to move, to dance just a minute longer, and the Pharaoh rose slowly from his throne.
Adam’s vision was starting to blur and swim. He felt as if he had smoked some kind of opiate - everything around him seemed suddenly thick and slow-moving. He could only see in a blur, but it looked as if the red spot on his wrist had tripled in size. He lost control of his limbs, and then his knees gave out and he went falling from the table. The Pharaoh had already rushed down from the dais, and he ran forward and caught Adam long before he hit the ground. Murmurings erupted from everyone in the room as the Pharaoh shifted Adam to cradle him carefully. The Pharaoh held his breath, counting the seconds between the soft, shallow breaths coming from between Adam’s parted lips. Adam’s head was limp, leaning against the Pharaoh’s shoulder and his eyes closed. Lady Merrick had stood up from her throne, looking horrified at the close attention the Pharaoh was paying to Adam’s health.
“Adam!” the Pharaoh said, shaking Adam lightly. He didn’t stir, or respond. His eyes stayed closed, and his breathing raspy and weak. The Pharaoh cursed softly as he turned from the table with Adam in his arms.
“Wait!” exclaimed the slave keeper as he ran out onto the throne dais, seeing what had happened. “But he’s not finished his work!” The Pharaoh whirled around with anger in his eyes, and the slave keeper took a fearful step backwards, knowing he had overstepped his boundaries.
“I don’t know who first gave you your position, but you’re a disgrace to my name,” the Pharaoh said hotly. “Consider yourself sacked. Don’t ever let me see your face again.”
He turned to carry Adam from the room. He brought Adam to his own private bedchambers, and laid him on the wide bed. Adam still didn’t stir. The Pharaoh frowned deeply, and touched Adam’s hair lightly.
He summoned his personal servants, and the several nurses that lived in the palace. He sent a messenger out to bring a doctor as soon as possible. The nurses only aided with childbirth, so a doctor was needed. The servants and nurses gathered around the bed, changing Adam out of the skimpy performance garb and into loose, comfortable robes that actually covered him. They dabbed water across his brow and cooling ice to the red spots on his skin that were beginning to multiply and swell.
“Do all you can to wake him,” the Pharaoh said concernedly, watching over their ministrations. “He has somewhere to go tonight.”
The Pharaoh knew he had to return to the banquet to quell all the unrest that had surely erupted from Adam’s collapse and his own departure.
The Pharaoh returned promptly to the grand hall, and took his place in his throne again. Conversation in the spacious room gradually returned to normal, but Lady Merrick was watching the Pharaoh darkly from the side of her eyes.
“Hold your dirty looks and your tongue, Sister,” the Pharaoh said, without even turning to look at her. “You have already placed yourself in a dangerous position with me for your unacceptable behavior and treatment of Adam.” She huddled back in her throne, frowning and crossing her arms.
As soon as the guests started to file out from the grand hall, the Pharaoh hurried for his chambers. To his distress, Adam’s condition had only worsened.
“He hasn’t awoken, my lord,” one of the servants said, frowning as she dabbed a wet cloth across Adam’s face. “And his breathing has become more labored and uneven.” The Pharaoh moved to stand next to the bed, looking at the angry red welts that had appeared along Adam’s arms, neck, and face. “Our concern is that there could be internal swelling as well,” the servant said softly, “Especially in his throat.” Each of Adam’s breaths sounded more hoarse, more difficult for him than the previous. And still, his closed eyes didn’t show the slightest flicker of movement.
The Pharaoh crossed his arms and frowned, his fingers digging into the skin of his arm as he considered what to do. Kris would be arriving soon, prepared to pick up a healthy Adam who could leave with him, but obviously, Adam was unable to go anywhere.
He asked one of the nurses, “How detrimental could it be if he’s carried out from the palace?”
The nurse’s brow furrowed, looking displeased with the Pharaoh’s question. “I can’t say we know the details of his condition, but moving him anywhere would doubtless be a bad idea, Your Majesty. It could cause whatever he’s fighting to spread more quickly. And why would you want him to leave? We can tend to his health here, and the best doctor is on his way to treat him.”
The Pharaoh nodded slightly, massaging the bridge of his nose with his fingertips as he deliberated over what to do.
Finally, he told the servants and nurses, “Wash him and give him fresh robes, then leave him alone to rest. I’ll return later to watch over him.” He turned from the bed where Adam was lying, and left the room.
The Pharaoh moved through the empty corridors of the palace, passing guards, and a few servants that scurried past him, bent over in bows as they went by him. When he reached the front gates, sure enough, he saw three of his sister’s guards watching sentry. The Pharaoh ordered them to part and he slipped past them. He knew she had given them explicit orders only to keep Adam from leaving. They would only challenge his authority if he went through the gates with Adam in tow.
The Pharaoh saw the shadowy figure of a horse huddled behind one of the tall trees that lined the entrance pathway to the palace. After making sure no one was watching, he walked closer, and saw someone dismount from the horse’s back.
“Kris?”
Moving away from the horse, Kris stepped out from behind the tree. He was wrapped up in dark traveling robes, and had an anxious, hopeful expression on his face.
“Y-your Majesty…” Kris stumbled over his words as he took in exactly who was standing in front of him, and he started lowering himself to his knees.
“Don’t bother with formalities, there’s no time. Listen to me, Adam cannot leave with you. He has fallen ill, too ill to be moved.” With those words, Kris had risen back to his full height, his head lifted immediately with a panicked, frightened expression.
“He-he’s sick? It’s his cough, isn’t it?” Kris asked softly, voice weak.
The Pharaoh nodded. “He cannot travel anywhere. But I’ll bring you inside to see him. He might not be awake, though.”
“It doesn’t matter. Please, let me see him.”
“Make sure your horse is secured, and come with me.”
With trembling hands, Kris tied the horse’s reigns to a low branch of the tree it was standing behind, and then he turned to follow the Pharaoh through the front gates. Kris’ heart was pounding like a drum in his chest, he could feel its rhythm thumping throughout his whole body, and fear was growing like a cancer in his mind.
Adam was ill. …..Adam.
When they got inside, the Pharaoh said to Kris in a hushed voice, “We must split up, so no one sees and reports to Lady Merrick that I’ve brought you inside. I’ll have a servant show you the way to my chambers, where Adam is. I’ll meet you there.” It was still important to the Pharaoh to minimize conflict within the royal family.
Kris just nodded, dazed by his own fear for Adam, and just wanting to see him as soon as possible. The Pharaoh beckoned over a servant, and murmured instructions to him. The servant told Kris to follow him, and started winding his way through the dimly-lit hallways of the palace, Kris on his heels.
The Pharaoh took an alternate route to his chambers, and sure enough, he passed the spying eyes of several of his sister’s servants. He took a quick shortcut to his bedchambers. As he stepped past his guards, he instructed them to let Kris in when he arrived.
The servants and nurses had left, like the Pharaoh had ordered. Adam laid still on the bed, dressed in loose, black robes. The servants had washed and dried his hair, and his dark, soft hair lay against his face and over his shoulders. His hair had grown considerably longer during his time in the palace. The image of him lying still and relaxed could have been the simple, beautiful portrait of him sleeping. But the peaceful beauty was cracked and ruined by the harsh sounds of his breathing, each one a wheeze and a struggle. As the Pharaoh walked over to stand at the bedside, he desperately hoped that Adam’s health would recover, so he could leave the palace, be free and happy like he couldn’t here. He could cut his overgrown hair, dress like he wanted to, and spend his time with the company he chose of his own will.
Adam shifted on the bed, and movement flickered beneath his eyelids. If Adam was finally waking up, the Pharaoh prayed Kris would arrive soon to be here when he did. Adam’s voice made a rumbling, murmuring sound that was indiscernible. One of his hands lifted slowly up into the air, like he was reaching for something. Then the Pharaoh could understand Adam’s repeated murmurings.
“Kris……Kris…” Each time he repeated the name, his reaching and clawing through the air grew more desperate. “Kris…” Adam’s voice broke, soft and vulnerable and weak. “..Kris…where are you...?”
Adam’s eyes were still closed, but he was clawing and grabbing at nothing with both hands now, as desperately as if he were a drowning man searching for the rope that would carry him back up to the surface.
The Pharaoh dropped down onto his knees beside the bed. In attempt to quell Adam’s distress, he closed one of Adam’s hands within both of his own. Adam slowly stilled after a few minutes, then he was clutching tightly to the other man’s hand. Still under the darkness of his closed eyes, Adam couldn’t tell the difference between the man he’d been calling out for, and the man currently at his side.
Kris burst through the door. He had kept telling the servant who had been guiding him to go faster, faster, Kris had been desperate to get here and see Adam. From the door beside the bed Kris had entered through, it just so happened that the first thing his eyes landed on was Adam’s hand clutching tightly to one of the Pharaoh’s, who was kneeling next to him. Kris had seen Adam do a lot of things with customers, but never that. It threw Kris off kilter for a few moments. But then the next thing he was looking at was Adam spread out and too still on the bed, and every other semblance of thinking left Kris’ mind.
“Adam!” Kris cried out as he rushed out of the doorway and towards the bed. After the sound of Kris’ voice calling out his name, Adam’s eyelids flickered before they slid open. Adam’s hand was quickly pulled from the Pharaoh’s as Adam struggled to sit up. “Kris? Kris?!”
The Pharaoh stood to move aside, just as Kris reached the bed and climbed immediately onto it, to kneel at Adam’s side.
“K-Kris, you’re here…” Adam wheezed out as Kris gathered him close in his arms, and Adam clung to him.
“Oh Adam,….” Kris whispered, an anguished, terrified expression on his face as he held Adam as close as he could. Fear gripped him like iron chains as Kris had Adam right there in his arms, and could see how bad his condition was - how he struggled for breath. The visible skin of Adam’s arms and chest had turned red and swollen, and the blemishes were beginning to spread up his neck, with dark blotches beginning to surface across his face. Kris bit his lip hard enough to draw blood as he looked at Adam, and his fingers shook as he stroked them through Adam’s hair.
“What is it?” Kris asked in a weak whisper, “Adam, what’s wrong with you?”
“I…I don’t know…” Adam whispered helplessly.
The Pharaoh spoke up from where he’d been standing backed away from the bed, “A doctor was summoned earlier. He should arrive any minute now, and he’ll be able to tell us what’s ailing him.” Kris nodded, his eyes never leaving Adam, as if he was afraid Adam might vanish or leave him if Kris didn’t keep his attention fixed firmly on him.
They settled down on the bed together, with Adam’s head resting back in Kris’ lap, and Kris with one arm around Adam’s shoulders supporting him, and the other combing soothingly through his hair. The scraping, strained sound of Adam’s breathing sent Kris’ mind into an awful, helpless panic each time. Each consecutive one sounded like more and more of a struggle from him.
Sure enough, the doctor arrived only a few minutes later. After a few words with the Pharaoh, the doctor came over to the bedside. Kris helped Adam lay back on the bed, but kept a tight hold on one of his hands. The angry welts that had bubbled on Adam’s hand burned Kris’ skin like brands, but he held on tightly nonetheless.
The doctor lifted Adam’s other arm, squinting as he closely examined the coloration and swellings on his skin. Adam blinked slowly, sleepily through the haze of his loud breathing, seeming to hardly even notice the doctor as the doctor moved over his body, examining him. The doctor opened Adam’s robes a little more, so that he could see how the redness was spreading over the whole area of his chest. A cough suddenly came from Adam. He struggled to sit up as he coughed violently, and Kris hurried to help support him.
“How long have you had this cough?” the doctor asked.
As Adam’s cough was still dying down, Kris hurried to answer, “Only recently, perhaps the last two moons or so.”
Adam shook his head weakly. He avoided Kris’ eyes as his cough dissipated and he responded weakly, “A long time. Over a year.”
Kris frowned and his fingers tightened against Adam’s shoulders as he learned that Adam had been struggling with this since before he’d met Kris, and had never said anything.
“It’s only become troublesome recently,” Adam whispered, his voice hoarse. “The cough used to be really rare, then started getting worse. Then just today, this happened…” Adam weakly raised his reddened arm.
“And only most recently, there has been some blood accompanying his cough,” the Pharaoh added. Adam nodded, looking weakened and almost shamed.
The doctor nodded, frowning as he considered the things he was hearing, and examined the physical illness of Adam’s skin. He reached into the bag he had brought with him, and produced a needle that he pricked the skin of Adam’s arm with. He raised a bowl, and collected a small amount of Adam’s blood, to examine the coloring and consistency of it.
The doctor frowned as he lifted his head from examining the contents of the bowl, “I believe he’s had a disease within him for even longer than he’s realized. It’s been dormant and ineffectual for a long time, and did not begin emerging until his cough became regular. Now as it flourishes within him and attacks his body, it’s spreading out into his skin and producing this effect.” The doctor lifted a hand to press two fingers against the underside of Adam’s throat, feeling for swelling. The redness had spread up his neck, but there also seemed to be some internal inflammation. “Swelling within the windpipe is causing his breathing problems.” The doctor withdrew his hand from Adam. He looked up at the Pharaoh, and then focused on Kris, his face steeled. “While we’re concerned about the physical effects on his skin, the illness is wreaking entirely different havoc within him, unseen and far worse. The external redness is not too concerting, as it’s not harming him. But under the skin, the disease took root long before even he realized something was amiss. For it to have been dormant for so long, just spreading so deeply internally, he must have also contracted it internally. Perhaps from a contaminant in food, but more likely from intercourse. But the disease is matured, and strengthened. He’s dying. And it won’t take long.”
Kris choked on the words themselves, and tears flooded into his eyes, as quickly as if a switch had been flicked to summon them. Adam just closed his eyes, not looking much more affected than if the doctor had told them the weather.
Adam murmured in his weakened voice, “I’ve bedded too many men to begin counting. I knew it would happen eventually.”
Like a punch directly to the stomach, Kris realized that Adam was already resigned to this. He’d already given up.
“No.” Kris snapped, his voice more strengthened and resolute than it had ever been, despite the tears in his eyes. “You won’t die,” he said firmly, his arms tightening around Adam. “Don’t you be weak, and just give yourself up to this. You’ve never been the kind of man to act like that.” Kris’ gaze flew up to the doctor. “There must be something to do, some way to cure him. Anything!”
The doctor’s eyebrows knitted in a thoughtful expression as he scoured his knowledge for any possibilities.
“I can only think of one, a tonic made from extracts of the San Qi herb. But I haven’t the slightest idea how we’d go about getting it. I’ve never seen the herb with my own eyes, it only grows in distant countries.”
The Pharaoh was quick to say, “I have gardens and crops grown by my servants all throughout my lands. I’m sure it is somewhere within our reach.”
The doctor shook his head with a frown. “It cannot grow in Egypt, or anywhere near. The ground and climate is too dry.”
“And you know of no other possible remedy?” Kris asked desperately. The doctor shook his head.
As Kris began to despair, Adam started coughing again. But his cough was an attempt to speak. As Kris did his best to support Adam’s shoulders, Adam gasped out between gasps for breath, “A-ah...mad….”
“What?” Kris questioned softly, but then he thought over what Adam had attempted to say, and all of a sudden it clicked in his mind, and hope surged through every inch of his body with incredible force. “Ahmad! That merchant who came to see you! He carries wares from all over!” Adam nodded weakly, and Kris hugged Adam to his chest a bit.
“This is what I meant,…by not giving up. You’re going to make it, I know you are. You have to…” Kris pressed his face against Adam’s hair, clutching Adam tightly to him. Kris had never been more frightened, more utterly terrified and desolate in his life - not when his mother had first sold him, and not any of the times Dallon had beaten him. Watching Adam in front of him, knowing he was dying … Kris would rather have brought death to himself than have to stand at Adam’s bedside unable to do anything to help him.
“You have to live,” Kris murmured in nothing but a heartfelt whisper, against Adam’s ear, “I love you more than I could say.” Kris couldn’t know if Adam had heard him or not, because when Kris pulled back a little to look down at Adam, he saw that his eyes had fallen shut again, and Adam had gone limp and unconscious in Kris’ arms.
“Adam…” Kris murmured helplessly, biting his lip hard to keep back tears as he carefully laid Adam back down on the bed. Between the three men still conscious in the room, none said anything through the sounds of Kris’ tiny sniffles.
When Kris’ soft sounds had died away, the Pharaoh finally spoke up to ask, “Who is this merchant you spoke of?”
Kris scrubbed the back of his hand over his nose, and blinked the last remnants of his tears away as his eyes remained fixed for a few more seconds on Adam’s unmoving face. Then Kris tore himself away from Adam, spun around and leapt off the bed. As if the Pharaoh was nothing more than a slave, Kris said with complete determination and authority, “Don’t worry about him. I know what he looks like, and how to get him to give up the tonic. He has a thing for Adam, and I’ll use that. I’m going to go to the markets and travel the trade routes until I find him. You’re going to stay here and watch over Adam. Make sure he’s well-nourished and gets any and all care he needs.”
The Pharaoh only floundered with shock for a moment over the way Kris spoke to him, but then the Pharaoh was nodding in agreement. Kris obviously had determination that far exceeded the meaning of the word, and the Pharaoh could see how much Kris endlessly cared for the man currently laying out unconscious on the bed.
“Wait here for a quick moment,” the Pharaoh said before hurrying off to a corner of his chambers where there was a chest of drawers and digging through it. Meanwhile, Kris returned to Adam’s bedside. Kris sunk down onto his knees beside the bed, and watched Adam with concern as Kris submerged his fingers into Adam’s hair again, lightly stroking the strands back from Adam’s face. Despite the redness spreading across Adam’s face, he looked perfectly serene.
“Here,” the Pharaoh said, after returning to Kris’ side. Kris stood up, and the Pharaoh placed a small leather satchel in Kris’ hands. “I don’t want you to have to rely on this merchant’s generosity or liking for Adam. He’s probably crooked, like all merchants in these times.” When Kris opened the satchel, nestled inside he saw countless shimmering golden necklaces and armbands. “They’re all real, and each is worth a fortune on its own,” the Pharaoh said. “Use these to pay for the tonic.”
“Thank you,” Kris said immediately as he closed the bag again, and tucked it inside his traveling robes, making sure the incredibly precious satchel was secured. “I’m going to return as soon as I possibly can. Adam doesn’t have much time…” Kris trailed off, biting the inside of his cheek.
“I’ll send two of my guards with you, and three horses to carry you all. Mine will be faster than the horse you arrived here on.”
“Could you lend me a fourth as well? I need to pick up Adam’s old guard, Michael, on our way. He’ll help me.”
“Of course,” the Pharaoh said immediately, and he stepped out from the room to summon two of his guards and give them quick instructions. The Pharaoh waved the doctor from the room as well, dismissing him. Kris found himself left with Adam, for one final moment before Kris left. Kris allowed himself to look back to the bed only for a moment.
“You’re not alone anymore, Adam,” Kris whispered to the empty room and Adam’s unhearing ears. Kris hoped that somehow, through whatever it was Adam was having to fight within himself, he could hear Kris’s words, “You’re going to get better, and then you’re never going to hurt again. Even if I have to stake my very life on it, I’ll make sure of that.”
Kris wrenched himself away from the sight of the man on the bed. Kris hurried from the room, determined to return presently, with the draught in hand that would revive and save his beloved’s life.
[[Next]]
A/N: Disclaimer of sorts - I've practically made up most of the historical stuff in here, as well as Adam's illness. In this chapter I suppose I created my own STD? I'm more focused on these details fitting into and adding drama to the story, rather than being all accurate. So yeah, the medical stuff is just from the realms of my own mind!
Sorry for the bit of a delay on this part. RL is rather on the crazy side right now. :/ This month and the next are both super jam-packed. As always, I'll be writing whenever I have a spare moment. But, sorry to say, I don't think anything will be posted within the next two weeks. My school Mock Trial team has our competition next weekend and I'm freaking out a bit. D: D: So pretty much all my time until the competition will be sucked up by that. After that I have my driving test.....then college visits....then AP exams around the corner....and agh, I'm stressing myself out more. ;_; I'm gonna stop rambling at y'all now, and just leave off with a simple promise to update as soon as I can! and a 'please comment to tell me your thoughts in detail!' :) Love you all!
The Pharaoh’s advice was that, for now, continuing palace life as it was would be the best course of action. Lady Merrick wouldn’t be suspicious of any forming plans for Adam’s escape. The Pharaoh had told Adam that if they knew Kris would be waiting outside at a certain time at a certain night, the Pharaoh and a few of his guards would fight through Lady Merrick’s guards to get Adam out and to Kris. Adam would be free, and conflict within the royal family would be limited. The Pharaoh knew war with the Assyrians was only a matter of time, and so he preferred this discrete plan. By the time Lady Merrick knew of Adam’s escape scheme, he would already be gone, and the Pharaoh’s future order that Adam was never to be searched for or any attempts at capture made, would keep Lady Merrick powerless to dissent.
The next morning when the royal family was seeing petitioners, Adam stood off at the edge of the throne room, watching the proceedings by peeking out from behind a pillar. He knew sometime soon, David would make his way in to deliver messages to Lord Merrick. When Adam finally saw David walk up to his master, kneel, and hand him several scrolls, Adam crept forward just the slightest bit, being careful that no one else would see him. When David stood up and turned towards Adam’s direction, Adam waved his hand, beckoning David towards him and then quickly placing a finger over his lips to denote secrecy. David looked away from Adam immediately, and walked almost all the way out from the throne room before ducking behind the row of pillars, so no one would see him.
“Mister Adam!” David exclaimed when he went over to where Adam was standing. “I haven’t seen you in ages! What is it?”
“David, I really need your help. Could you do me a huge favor?” Adam asked, kneeling down towards David’s height as Adam produced a small, rolled up piece of parchment from inside his robes. “Do you remember the tent where Kris and I live?” David nodded immediately. “I need to get this to Kris,” Adam said as he placed the parchment in David’s hands. “It’s very, very important. But it’s also very secret. You’re the only one I can trust with this.”
David looked at the parchment in his hand and held it tightly. “It’s secret?”
Adam nodded. “No matter what, you can’t tell your master. He can’t know you’re delivering anything for me.”
David nodded, a serious expression on his little face as he tucked the parchment into a big outside pocket of his tunic. “You can count on me, Mister Adam! I’ll bring it to Kris right away, and I won’t tell no one.”
“Thank you, David.”
David flew forward and hugged Adam lightly around the neck before scurrying off towards the doors. Adam smiled as he walked back to his room. He was already imagining the joyous look on Kris’ face when he received Adam’s message.
“Kris! Come outside for a moment!”
Kris had been curled up in Adam’s bed with a book when he heard Michael’s yell for him. He set the book aside, crawled out from under Adam’s blankets, and shuffled out to the door of the tent. When Michael saw him, he pointed towards a figure approaching the tent from the distance.
Michael said, “Isn’t that Lord Merrick’s messenger boy?”
Kris squinted, trying to see him better, before he responded, “It looks like him.”
“If he’s carrying anything from that bastard lord, I’ll tear it to shreds and burn it,” Michael grumbled, crossing his arms.
When David approached, he ran directly up to Kris.
“Mister Kris! Adam sent me to deliver this to you. He said it was a secret.” David produced the rolled-up parchment from under his tunic and held it out to Kris.
“This is from Adam?” Kris asked as he took the scroll. David nodded, and Kris quickly unrolled the parchment. Michael hurried over to stand behind Kris, reading the message over his shoulder.
My dear Kris and Michael,
I finally have good news. I have been able to find an ally, although a rather unlikely one, the Pharaoh himself. I’ve had to sway him the same way I would any man, but I have found him to be a truly good man, and I trust he will be true to his word and help me escape. We’ve come up with a plan together. One of you must ride to the palace, the night of the lunar eclipse - exactly four nights from tonight. At precisely midnight, wait outside, before the main front gates. The Pharaoh’s guards will make a path for me through Lady Merrick’s guards at the doors, and get me out to you, where we’ll leave. The Pharaoh and I are keeping the plan under wraps, so everything should go smoothly. I wish I didn’t have to spend another minute within this wretched palace, but I think I can wait four more days. Once I leave, the Pharaoh will order that I’m never to be captured or searched for again, so all should be well for us to return home. I wait anxiously. Every minute here is torturous, when I know what I’m waiting for. Kris - I cannot wait to see you, and hold you in my arms again. I miss you more than I could say. But if you noticed, I’ve written this whole letter without any aid, thanks to your reading lessons.
Adam
As soon as he was done reading the words, Kris clutched the parchment close, hugging it to his chest.
“Michael, he said only one of us should go. I want it to be me.”
Michael nodded. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been expecting it, “That sounds fine. You’ll be more inconspicuous than me, anyway.”
“I have to get a horse…Have to get ready…” Kris muttered to himself in a daze, as he turned and went back inside, still holding the parchment tightly.
“I think he’s in shock,” Michael said with a little laugh. He looked back down towards David, smiling wide. “Thank you for bringing us this, kid. You did Adam a huge favor,” he said, patting David’s head once. David grinned. “You came a long way. You’re probably thirsty, right? Here, c’mon inside, I’ll get you something.”
Back in Adam’s room, Kris sat curled up with Adam’s message, reading it over and over again. He traced his fingertips over the ink, knowing that just shortly before, Adam’s hands had been moving over this same piece of parchment.
In the past weeks, Kris had spent most of his time huddled in Adam’s bed. Kris ached for when he would have the chance to touch and hold Adam for real - not just blankets that smelled like him.
There was a red blotch on the inside of Adam’s wrist. He’d noticed it when he got out of bed and was getting dressed. It could have been some kind of rash, but it was an odd shape. Adam rubbed at it a bit, but it didn’t go away. He pushed thoughts of it aside, as there were far more important things to dwell on.
Today was it. Finally - the last day he had to spend in the palace. Tonight was when he’d meet Kris or Michael outside, and would finally be free. Adam was grinning and dancing around his room as he got dressed, just from the thought of seeing Kris again.
The other harem boys and girls glared as Adam walked through the kitchens for his morning meal. Word had spread like wildfire about Adam’s intimacies with the Pharaoh. The three wives were sitting at one table in the back of the kitchens, and Ahura and Layla looked a second away from throwing their knives in his direction. His current spirits unable to be dampened, Adam grinned at them cheekily and wiggled his fingers in a half-wave. Nesa giggled softly to herself, and the other two’s glares swiveled over to her. Adam picked up a plate of food and on his way back to his room with his food, he asked the whole roomful of people watching him, “Lovely morning, isn’t it?” He laughed to himself at their shocked expressions as he left the kitchens.
Back in his room, Adam picked out the traveling robes from his closet he planned on wearing tonight. His cough had been lingering throughout the whole day, but he refused to let it bother him. He could picture it all perfectly. After the Pharaoh breaks through Lady Merrick’s guards, Kris would be there, sitting on the back of a horse, looking stunning. Adam would climb onto the horse behind him, and tilt Kris’ head back to kiss him deeply before they rode off. Then Adam would never, ever have to be anywhere near this damned palace again, and he and Kris would never be parted.
Before Adam could reach what he envisioned, he had to go through one last palace unpleasantry - entertaining at one more banquet. The Pharaoh several days before had already established to Lady Merrick that Adam was to be nothing more than an entertainer, and she could no longer force him to bed guests, or ‘serve’ food. Thanks to this, the evening looked bearable. Adam got himself dressed, and then checked out his back in the mirror. The slashes had scabbed over and healed a bit, and now were raised, dark pink marks. They were perfectly visible, but Adam knew they wouldn’t put anyone off. His usual servants combed and smoothed his hair, and painted makeup onto his face. He watched himself in the mirror, feeling excitement and triumph with the knowledge that this was the last time he would have to do this.
As he looked into the mirror, he was hit by a sudden spell of lightheadedness. He grappled for the edge of the table and gripped it tightly for the few seconds until the weakness passed. Similar feelings had been happening all day, but passing quickly. He shrugged them off.
When Adam was introduced that evening, he stepped up onto the table with a wide smirk. Seeing as this was his last night here, he might as well give it his all. He danced his way up and down the table. For the occasional attractive young man, Adam would give his glossed lips a few liberal licks as his hands would tangle in the man’s hair and he’d straddle his lap. Adam was almost having fun, knowing the end of this horrible lifestyle was in sight.
After pecking a kiss to a lady’s lips and tossing his head back as he stood up on the table again, a cough erupted from his throat that he couldn’t hold down. As inconspicuously as he could, he covered his mouth for a few seconds until it passed. Adam straightened up again immediately after, slipping back flawlessly into the rhythm of the music. But as he danced, in the next few seconds he suddenly felt his strength draining away. It seemed twice as difficult to lift his feet, to shift his hips. He felt his limbs growing heavy and sticky, but he did his best to fight the spell of weakness.
The Pharaoh was reclined in his throne during the banquet, speaking to petitioners or ambassadors. He kept up only sideways glances towards Adam, not wanting to pay him too much obvious attention, but also not wanting to miss any guests grabbing at him or attempting to hurt him. He noticed when Adam’s dancing started to slow and seem lethargic. His face grew concerned as he turned his attention down to the table.
“Wait a minute,” he told the man he’d been speaking to, dismissing him with a wave of his hand. He watched Adam continue to force himself to move, to dance just a minute longer, and the Pharaoh rose slowly from his throne.
Adam’s vision was starting to blur and swim. He felt as if he had smoked some kind of opiate - everything around him seemed suddenly thick and slow-moving. He could only see in a blur, but it looked as if the red spot on his wrist had tripled in size. He lost control of his limbs, and then his knees gave out and he went falling from the table. The Pharaoh had already rushed down from the dais, and he ran forward and caught Adam long before he hit the ground. Murmurings erupted from everyone in the room as the Pharaoh shifted Adam to cradle him carefully. The Pharaoh held his breath, counting the seconds between the soft, shallow breaths coming from between Adam’s parted lips. Adam’s head was limp, leaning against the Pharaoh’s shoulder and his eyes closed. Lady Merrick had stood up from her throne, looking horrified at the close attention the Pharaoh was paying to Adam’s health.
“Adam!” the Pharaoh said, shaking Adam lightly. He didn’t stir, or respond. His eyes stayed closed, and his breathing raspy and weak. The Pharaoh cursed softly as he turned from the table with Adam in his arms.
“Wait!” exclaimed the slave keeper as he ran out onto the throne dais, seeing what had happened. “But he’s not finished his work!” The Pharaoh whirled around with anger in his eyes, and the slave keeper took a fearful step backwards, knowing he had overstepped his boundaries.
“I don’t know who first gave you your position, but you’re a disgrace to my name,” the Pharaoh said hotly. “Consider yourself sacked. Don’t ever let me see your face again.”
He turned to carry Adam from the room. He brought Adam to his own private bedchambers, and laid him on the wide bed. Adam still didn’t stir. The Pharaoh frowned deeply, and touched Adam’s hair lightly.
He summoned his personal servants, and the several nurses that lived in the palace. He sent a messenger out to bring a doctor as soon as possible. The nurses only aided with childbirth, so a doctor was needed. The servants and nurses gathered around the bed, changing Adam out of the skimpy performance garb and into loose, comfortable robes that actually covered him. They dabbed water across his brow and cooling ice to the red spots on his skin that were beginning to multiply and swell.
“Do all you can to wake him,” the Pharaoh said concernedly, watching over their ministrations. “He has somewhere to go tonight.”
The Pharaoh knew he had to return to the banquet to quell all the unrest that had surely erupted from Adam’s collapse and his own departure.
The Pharaoh returned promptly to the grand hall, and took his place in his throne again. Conversation in the spacious room gradually returned to normal, but Lady Merrick was watching the Pharaoh darkly from the side of her eyes.
“Hold your dirty looks and your tongue, Sister,” the Pharaoh said, without even turning to look at her. “You have already placed yourself in a dangerous position with me for your unacceptable behavior and treatment of Adam.” She huddled back in her throne, frowning and crossing her arms.
As soon as the guests started to file out from the grand hall, the Pharaoh hurried for his chambers. To his distress, Adam’s condition had only worsened.
“He hasn’t awoken, my lord,” one of the servants said, frowning as she dabbed a wet cloth across Adam’s face. “And his breathing has become more labored and uneven.” The Pharaoh moved to stand next to the bed, looking at the angry red welts that had appeared along Adam’s arms, neck, and face. “Our concern is that there could be internal swelling as well,” the servant said softly, “Especially in his throat.” Each of Adam’s breaths sounded more hoarse, more difficult for him than the previous. And still, his closed eyes didn’t show the slightest flicker of movement.
The Pharaoh crossed his arms and frowned, his fingers digging into the skin of his arm as he considered what to do. Kris would be arriving soon, prepared to pick up a healthy Adam who could leave with him, but obviously, Adam was unable to go anywhere.
He asked one of the nurses, “How detrimental could it be if he’s carried out from the palace?”
The nurse’s brow furrowed, looking displeased with the Pharaoh’s question. “I can’t say we know the details of his condition, but moving him anywhere would doubtless be a bad idea, Your Majesty. It could cause whatever he’s fighting to spread more quickly. And why would you want him to leave? We can tend to his health here, and the best doctor is on his way to treat him.”
The Pharaoh nodded slightly, massaging the bridge of his nose with his fingertips as he deliberated over what to do.
Finally, he told the servants and nurses, “Wash him and give him fresh robes, then leave him alone to rest. I’ll return later to watch over him.” He turned from the bed where Adam was lying, and left the room.
The Pharaoh moved through the empty corridors of the palace, passing guards, and a few servants that scurried past him, bent over in bows as they went by him. When he reached the front gates, sure enough, he saw three of his sister’s guards watching sentry. The Pharaoh ordered them to part and he slipped past them. He knew she had given them explicit orders only to keep Adam from leaving. They would only challenge his authority if he went through the gates with Adam in tow.
The Pharaoh saw the shadowy figure of a horse huddled behind one of the tall trees that lined the entrance pathway to the palace. After making sure no one was watching, he walked closer, and saw someone dismount from the horse’s back.
“Kris?”
Moving away from the horse, Kris stepped out from behind the tree. He was wrapped up in dark traveling robes, and had an anxious, hopeful expression on his face.
“Y-your Majesty…” Kris stumbled over his words as he took in exactly who was standing in front of him, and he started lowering himself to his knees.
“Don’t bother with formalities, there’s no time. Listen to me, Adam cannot leave with you. He has fallen ill, too ill to be moved.” With those words, Kris had risen back to his full height, his head lifted immediately with a panicked, frightened expression.
“He-he’s sick? It’s his cough, isn’t it?” Kris asked softly, voice weak.
The Pharaoh nodded. “He cannot travel anywhere. But I’ll bring you inside to see him. He might not be awake, though.”
“It doesn’t matter. Please, let me see him.”
“Make sure your horse is secured, and come with me.”
With trembling hands, Kris tied the horse’s reigns to a low branch of the tree it was standing behind, and then he turned to follow the Pharaoh through the front gates. Kris’ heart was pounding like a drum in his chest, he could feel its rhythm thumping throughout his whole body, and fear was growing like a cancer in his mind.
Adam was ill. …..Adam.
When they got inside, the Pharaoh said to Kris in a hushed voice, “We must split up, so no one sees and reports to Lady Merrick that I’ve brought you inside. I’ll have a servant show you the way to my chambers, where Adam is. I’ll meet you there.” It was still important to the Pharaoh to minimize conflict within the royal family.
Kris just nodded, dazed by his own fear for Adam, and just wanting to see him as soon as possible. The Pharaoh beckoned over a servant, and murmured instructions to him. The servant told Kris to follow him, and started winding his way through the dimly-lit hallways of the palace, Kris on his heels.
The Pharaoh took an alternate route to his chambers, and sure enough, he passed the spying eyes of several of his sister’s servants. He took a quick shortcut to his bedchambers. As he stepped past his guards, he instructed them to let Kris in when he arrived.
The servants and nurses had left, like the Pharaoh had ordered. Adam laid still on the bed, dressed in loose, black robes. The servants had washed and dried his hair, and his dark, soft hair lay against his face and over his shoulders. His hair had grown considerably longer during his time in the palace. The image of him lying still and relaxed could have been the simple, beautiful portrait of him sleeping. But the peaceful beauty was cracked and ruined by the harsh sounds of his breathing, each one a wheeze and a struggle. As the Pharaoh walked over to stand at the bedside, he desperately hoped that Adam’s health would recover, so he could leave the palace, be free and happy like he couldn’t here. He could cut his overgrown hair, dress like he wanted to, and spend his time with the company he chose of his own will.
Adam shifted on the bed, and movement flickered beneath his eyelids. If Adam was finally waking up, the Pharaoh prayed Kris would arrive soon to be here when he did. Adam’s voice made a rumbling, murmuring sound that was indiscernible. One of his hands lifted slowly up into the air, like he was reaching for something. Then the Pharaoh could understand Adam’s repeated murmurings.
“Kris……Kris…” Each time he repeated the name, his reaching and clawing through the air grew more desperate. “Kris…” Adam’s voice broke, soft and vulnerable and weak. “..Kris…where are you...?”
Adam’s eyes were still closed, but he was clawing and grabbing at nothing with both hands now, as desperately as if he were a drowning man searching for the rope that would carry him back up to the surface.
The Pharaoh dropped down onto his knees beside the bed. In attempt to quell Adam’s distress, he closed one of Adam’s hands within both of his own. Adam slowly stilled after a few minutes, then he was clutching tightly to the other man’s hand. Still under the darkness of his closed eyes, Adam couldn’t tell the difference between the man he’d been calling out for, and the man currently at his side.
Kris burst through the door. He had kept telling the servant who had been guiding him to go faster, faster, Kris had been desperate to get here and see Adam. From the door beside the bed Kris had entered through, it just so happened that the first thing his eyes landed on was Adam’s hand clutching tightly to one of the Pharaoh’s, who was kneeling next to him. Kris had seen Adam do a lot of things with customers, but never that. It threw Kris off kilter for a few moments. But then the next thing he was looking at was Adam spread out and too still on the bed, and every other semblance of thinking left Kris’ mind.
“Adam!” Kris cried out as he rushed out of the doorway and towards the bed. After the sound of Kris’ voice calling out his name, Adam’s eyelids flickered before they slid open. Adam’s hand was quickly pulled from the Pharaoh’s as Adam struggled to sit up. “Kris? Kris?!”
The Pharaoh stood to move aside, just as Kris reached the bed and climbed immediately onto it, to kneel at Adam’s side.
“K-Kris, you’re here…” Adam wheezed out as Kris gathered him close in his arms, and Adam clung to him.
“Oh Adam,….” Kris whispered, an anguished, terrified expression on his face as he held Adam as close as he could. Fear gripped him like iron chains as Kris had Adam right there in his arms, and could see how bad his condition was - how he struggled for breath. The visible skin of Adam’s arms and chest had turned red and swollen, and the blemishes were beginning to spread up his neck, with dark blotches beginning to surface across his face. Kris bit his lip hard enough to draw blood as he looked at Adam, and his fingers shook as he stroked them through Adam’s hair.
“What is it?” Kris asked in a weak whisper, “Adam, what’s wrong with you?”
“I…I don’t know…” Adam whispered helplessly.
The Pharaoh spoke up from where he’d been standing backed away from the bed, “A doctor was summoned earlier. He should arrive any minute now, and he’ll be able to tell us what’s ailing him.” Kris nodded, his eyes never leaving Adam, as if he was afraid Adam might vanish or leave him if Kris didn’t keep his attention fixed firmly on him.
They settled down on the bed together, with Adam’s head resting back in Kris’ lap, and Kris with one arm around Adam’s shoulders supporting him, and the other combing soothingly through his hair. The scraping, strained sound of Adam’s breathing sent Kris’ mind into an awful, helpless panic each time. Each consecutive one sounded like more and more of a struggle from him.
Sure enough, the doctor arrived only a few minutes later. After a few words with the Pharaoh, the doctor came over to the bedside. Kris helped Adam lay back on the bed, but kept a tight hold on one of his hands. The angry welts that had bubbled on Adam’s hand burned Kris’ skin like brands, but he held on tightly nonetheless.
The doctor lifted Adam’s other arm, squinting as he closely examined the coloration and swellings on his skin. Adam blinked slowly, sleepily through the haze of his loud breathing, seeming to hardly even notice the doctor as the doctor moved over his body, examining him. The doctor opened Adam’s robes a little more, so that he could see how the redness was spreading over the whole area of his chest. A cough suddenly came from Adam. He struggled to sit up as he coughed violently, and Kris hurried to help support him.
“How long have you had this cough?” the doctor asked.
As Adam’s cough was still dying down, Kris hurried to answer, “Only recently, perhaps the last two moons or so.”
Adam shook his head weakly. He avoided Kris’ eyes as his cough dissipated and he responded weakly, “A long time. Over a year.”
Kris frowned and his fingers tightened against Adam’s shoulders as he learned that Adam had been struggling with this since before he’d met Kris, and had never said anything.
“It’s only become troublesome recently,” Adam whispered, his voice hoarse. “The cough used to be really rare, then started getting worse. Then just today, this happened…” Adam weakly raised his reddened arm.
“And only most recently, there has been some blood accompanying his cough,” the Pharaoh added. Adam nodded, looking weakened and almost shamed.
The doctor nodded, frowning as he considered the things he was hearing, and examined the physical illness of Adam’s skin. He reached into the bag he had brought with him, and produced a needle that he pricked the skin of Adam’s arm with. He raised a bowl, and collected a small amount of Adam’s blood, to examine the coloring and consistency of it.
The doctor frowned as he lifted his head from examining the contents of the bowl, “I believe he’s had a disease within him for even longer than he’s realized. It’s been dormant and ineffectual for a long time, and did not begin emerging until his cough became regular. Now as it flourishes within him and attacks his body, it’s spreading out into his skin and producing this effect.” The doctor lifted a hand to press two fingers against the underside of Adam’s throat, feeling for swelling. The redness had spread up his neck, but there also seemed to be some internal inflammation. “Swelling within the windpipe is causing his breathing problems.” The doctor withdrew his hand from Adam. He looked up at the Pharaoh, and then focused on Kris, his face steeled. “While we’re concerned about the physical effects on his skin, the illness is wreaking entirely different havoc within him, unseen and far worse. The external redness is not too concerting, as it’s not harming him. But under the skin, the disease took root long before even he realized something was amiss. For it to have been dormant for so long, just spreading so deeply internally, he must have also contracted it internally. Perhaps from a contaminant in food, but more likely from intercourse. But the disease is matured, and strengthened. He’s dying. And it won’t take long.”
Kris choked on the words themselves, and tears flooded into his eyes, as quickly as if a switch had been flicked to summon them. Adam just closed his eyes, not looking much more affected than if the doctor had told them the weather.
Adam murmured in his weakened voice, “I’ve bedded too many men to begin counting. I knew it would happen eventually.”
Like a punch directly to the stomach, Kris realized that Adam was already resigned to this. He’d already given up.
“No.” Kris snapped, his voice more strengthened and resolute than it had ever been, despite the tears in his eyes. “You won’t die,” he said firmly, his arms tightening around Adam. “Don’t you be weak, and just give yourself up to this. You’ve never been the kind of man to act like that.” Kris’ gaze flew up to the doctor. “There must be something to do, some way to cure him. Anything!”
The doctor’s eyebrows knitted in a thoughtful expression as he scoured his knowledge for any possibilities.
“I can only think of one, a tonic made from extracts of the San Qi herb. But I haven’t the slightest idea how we’d go about getting it. I’ve never seen the herb with my own eyes, it only grows in distant countries.”
The Pharaoh was quick to say, “I have gardens and crops grown by my servants all throughout my lands. I’m sure it is somewhere within our reach.”
The doctor shook his head with a frown. “It cannot grow in Egypt, or anywhere near. The ground and climate is too dry.”
“And you know of no other possible remedy?” Kris asked desperately. The doctor shook his head.
As Kris began to despair, Adam started coughing again. But his cough was an attempt to speak. As Kris did his best to support Adam’s shoulders, Adam gasped out between gasps for breath, “A-ah...mad….”
“What?” Kris questioned softly, but then he thought over what Adam had attempted to say, and all of a sudden it clicked in his mind, and hope surged through every inch of his body with incredible force. “Ahmad! That merchant who came to see you! He carries wares from all over!” Adam nodded weakly, and Kris hugged Adam to his chest a bit.
“This is what I meant,…by not giving up. You’re going to make it, I know you are. You have to…” Kris pressed his face against Adam’s hair, clutching Adam tightly to him. Kris had never been more frightened, more utterly terrified and desolate in his life - not when his mother had first sold him, and not any of the times Dallon had beaten him. Watching Adam in front of him, knowing he was dying … Kris would rather have brought death to himself than have to stand at Adam’s bedside unable to do anything to help him.
“You have to live,” Kris murmured in nothing but a heartfelt whisper, against Adam’s ear, “I love you more than I could say.” Kris couldn’t know if Adam had heard him or not, because when Kris pulled back a little to look down at Adam, he saw that his eyes had fallen shut again, and Adam had gone limp and unconscious in Kris’ arms.
“Adam…” Kris murmured helplessly, biting his lip hard to keep back tears as he carefully laid Adam back down on the bed. Between the three men still conscious in the room, none said anything through the sounds of Kris’ tiny sniffles.
When Kris’ soft sounds had died away, the Pharaoh finally spoke up to ask, “Who is this merchant you spoke of?”
Kris scrubbed the back of his hand over his nose, and blinked the last remnants of his tears away as his eyes remained fixed for a few more seconds on Adam’s unmoving face. Then Kris tore himself away from Adam, spun around and leapt off the bed. As if the Pharaoh was nothing more than a slave, Kris said with complete determination and authority, “Don’t worry about him. I know what he looks like, and how to get him to give up the tonic. He has a thing for Adam, and I’ll use that. I’m going to go to the markets and travel the trade routes until I find him. You’re going to stay here and watch over Adam. Make sure he’s well-nourished and gets any and all care he needs.”
The Pharaoh only floundered with shock for a moment over the way Kris spoke to him, but then the Pharaoh was nodding in agreement. Kris obviously had determination that far exceeded the meaning of the word, and the Pharaoh could see how much Kris endlessly cared for the man currently laying out unconscious on the bed.
“Wait here for a quick moment,” the Pharaoh said before hurrying off to a corner of his chambers where there was a chest of drawers and digging through it. Meanwhile, Kris returned to Adam’s bedside. Kris sunk down onto his knees beside the bed, and watched Adam with concern as Kris submerged his fingers into Adam’s hair again, lightly stroking the strands back from Adam’s face. Despite the redness spreading across Adam’s face, he looked perfectly serene.
“Here,” the Pharaoh said, after returning to Kris’ side. Kris stood up, and the Pharaoh placed a small leather satchel in Kris’ hands. “I don’t want you to have to rely on this merchant’s generosity or liking for Adam. He’s probably crooked, like all merchants in these times.” When Kris opened the satchel, nestled inside he saw countless shimmering golden necklaces and armbands. “They’re all real, and each is worth a fortune on its own,” the Pharaoh said. “Use these to pay for the tonic.”
“Thank you,” Kris said immediately as he closed the bag again, and tucked it inside his traveling robes, making sure the incredibly precious satchel was secured. “I’m going to return as soon as I possibly can. Adam doesn’t have much time…” Kris trailed off, biting the inside of his cheek.
“I’ll send two of my guards with you, and three horses to carry you all. Mine will be faster than the horse you arrived here on.”
“Could you lend me a fourth as well? I need to pick up Adam’s old guard, Michael, on our way. He’ll help me.”
“Of course,” the Pharaoh said immediately, and he stepped out from the room to summon two of his guards and give them quick instructions. The Pharaoh waved the doctor from the room as well, dismissing him. Kris found himself left with Adam, for one final moment before Kris left. Kris allowed himself to look back to the bed only for a moment.
“You’re not alone anymore, Adam,” Kris whispered to the empty room and Adam’s unhearing ears. Kris hoped that somehow, through whatever it was Adam was having to fight within himself, he could hear Kris’s words, “You’re going to get better, and then you’re never going to hurt again. Even if I have to stake my very life on it, I’ll make sure of that.”
Kris wrenched himself away from the sight of the man on the bed. Kris hurried from the room, determined to return presently, with the draught in hand that would revive and save his beloved’s life.
[[Next]]
A/N: Disclaimer of sorts - I've practically made up most of the historical stuff in here, as well as Adam's illness. In this chapter I suppose I created my own STD? I'm more focused on these details fitting into and adding drama to the story, rather than being all accurate. So yeah, the medical stuff is just from the realms of my own mind!
Sorry for the bit of a delay on this part. RL is rather on the crazy side right now. :/ This month and the next are both super jam-packed. As always, I'll be writing whenever I have a spare moment. But, sorry to say, I don't think anything will be posted within the next two weeks. My school Mock Trial team has our competition next weekend and I'm freaking out a bit. D: D: So pretty much all my time until the competition will be sucked up by that. After that I have my driving test.....then college visits....then AP exams around the corner....and agh, I'm stressing myself out more. ;_; I'm gonna stop rambling at y'all now, and just leave off with a simple promise to update as soon as I can! and a 'please comment to tell me your thoughts in detail!' :) Love you all!