It had been a long but most entertaining day. Samira and her son were just arriving home to the palace after having visited Seth. She was fond of anyone who made her son smile the way that young brunet did, and no one seemed to make him smile quite as much. Atem disembarked from the horse he was riding with his mother, looking up at her with a smile. She waved him away with a gentle smile in return.

"It is late, Atem. Go quickly into the palace to prepare for bed." They hadn't told anyone where they were going, except the two guards that accompanied them. She didn't want to risk her son getting into trouble.

"Yes, mother." He continued smiling, turning on heel. "And thank you."

But how could certain people not notice the disappearance of the Queen and young Prince for that amount of time. As Atem made his way into the palace, he was stopped by on Akhenaden. He looked very tense, very upset. Atem bowed to him.

"Good evening, Prie-"

"Where have you and the Queen been all evening?" His tone was stern, something Atem was familiar with.

He frowned. "We went out for a ride in the desert."

The Priest bristled, knowing too well that the Prince was lying. He'd caught him enough sneaking outside of the palace walls, and thought better than to let the King worry about such nonsense. He was going to put a stop to it now. "Do not lie to me, boy."

"Please, Akhenaden, we can discuss this in the morning." Despite the fear Atem held for this man, and why he was not exactly sure, he wasn't about to back down.

The man stepped forward. "You will not put the Queen in danger. I have had enough of your gallivanting off into places unknown. You are a prince and you will start acting like it. Would you like for your mother to be slain while you are out there?"

Atem's eyes widened. "No, but-"

"Or worse, for her son to be raped and murdered for the crown he wears? Do you want to bring that sorrow and shame onto the royal family?!"

The man might have had a point, but Atem wasn't about to give up. He would never give up visiting Seth. "I can see whomever I please!"

"See?" The prince was in a relationship..? He stepped closer, Sennen Eye seeming to light up.

Atem tensed. "You cannot. You cannot use items on-"

"Do not tell me what to do."

There was a very painful intrusion into Atem's mind, he winced, but froze on the spot. Akhenaden saw the entirety of what had been happening. The young brunet known as Seth with the kind mother taking care of her "widowed" family. Suddenly his hand reached forward, anger surging through him, he gripped the front of Atem's tunic, pulling him off his feet.

"You stay away from that child." He growled. Atem was frozen in fear, but thankfully another voice interrupted them.

"Akhenaden, put my son down, immediately." The Pharaoh was approaching closely, his tone very dangerous.

"F-father.."

The Priest released the prince, letting him to his feet. Atem in turn raise his hand to his heart, never having felt it beat so harshly in his life. "I can explain."

"Then you might, otherwise we will have some issues to discuss with your position." Brother or not, family or not, he would absolutely not tolerate anyone handling Atem that way.

Akhenaden bristled slightly, but the explanation came to him rather quickly. "Your son had taken the Queen outside of the palace walls with little protection, on some trip to see a family barely known. He coaxed her into it and could have gotten them both killed. On top of that, he's been sneaking out nearly every night and becoming lax with his own duties. I wish to put a stop to these things before permanent damage is done."

Aknamkanon looked between the two, frowning deeply. If what the priest was saying was true, he and Atem had a lot to discuss. On top of it it meant that Atem had been acting out of line… and endangering his wife. "I see…"

"You might think of grounding him and sequestering your wife until both can learn better." Akhenaden saw the break and knew he could use this chance to usurp the situation and punish both- and make sure they never saw that boy again. He'd buried his family.

"Perhaps-"

Atem stepped forward. "You are NOT the King! You cannot tell him what to do! You cannot abuse his family relationships simply because you have none. You do this constantly and I will not watch any longer! You cannot tell my father what to-"

There was a harsh sound that echoed through the halls. Atem found himself wide-eyed, a stinging burn across his face. Akhenaden's hand was raised, though whether he hit the prince or punched him was unknown, the action had been too quick. Atem waited a moment in disbelief before raising a hand to his face. His nose and lip were bleeding.

"Out of line!" The Pharaoh would not stand for that.

But Akhenaden raised his hand once more, Atem turned away to wince. "Once was all that was needed. Your son is out of line, Pharaoh, and a little physical punishment will do him well. He is being raised to be a Pharaoh, not a rowdy troublemaker. Do you not agree?"

Atem looked at his father with sad eyes. In turn his father frowned back at him, but was in turmoil over the situation. Atem had endangered himself and his mother. That was unacceptable. "Atem, go to your chambers. We will discuss this in the morning."

The prince held back the tears, still holding his hand to his face to stop the blood flow. "Yes father. I am sorry for my transgressions." He wouldn't fight with his father. But he still couldn't believe how he was being treated.

He fled, down the hall, bumping into his mother. "Atem, what-"

He bowed to her. "I am sorry mother, for endangering you, for what I seem to be becoming. I am sorry…" With that he ran away, to his chambers.

The look of fear and absolute upset on her son's face crushed her heart. And had… he been bleeding? She became extremely angry. Heads were going to roll.

Atem meanwhile shut the doors to his room, sitting on his bed for a moment, wiping the back of his hand across his face. The bleeding still hadn't stopped. He'd never been struck before in his life. And his father took the Priest's side. He didn't know what to make of it. His eyes strayed towards the balcony, and he decided that he couldn't sit there and wallow in it. Despite the grief and the pain he was experiencing… he only knew one person that might make him feel better.

He was going to see Seth.