A/N: So, I haven't written fanfiction in a long, long, long time. But recently I saw the Tut mini-series on Spike and Avan Jogia's portrayal of Pharaoh Tutankhamun and Kylie Bunbury's portrayal of Suhad will not leave me alone. If you haven't seen the mini-series, see it! If you've never exposed yourself to the awesome chemistry between Jogia and Bunbury, do it! Those two are magic together. (Do not read further if you don't wish to be spoiled.)

As for this story, it basically picks up after Suhad rescues Tut from the riverbed. I don't change the events in the series so much as I add to them and explore the burgeoning friendship/relationship between Tut and Suhad more fully. Some dialogue is straight from the mini-series but made to fit with my vision for this story. If you've seen the mini-series then you know that this won't end happily but, like I said, there is something about these characters that won't leave me alone. I had to write this story.

Prologue

The arduous journey back into the land of the living was painstakingly slow and fraught with agonizing bursts of pain. He likened the experience to swimming through thick, hot, corrosive mud in order to reach a distant shore. The effort was fatiguing and grueling and quite nearly overwhelming. That was Pharaoh Tutankhamun's first conscious thought as he ascended back towards wakefulness. The fight to live was an incredible struggle for him and yet, even in his weakened state he recognized that it was a battle he had to win.

His second thought, beyond mere self-preservation, was that he felt oddly heavy…his limbs, his head, his eyelids, even the measured breaths that escaped his beleaguered lungs felt hot and weighted and burdensome. Each one he took was a feat of strength. His own beating heart was like a punishing fist thumping in his chest...one...two...three... Conversely, however, it was also the indisputable reminder that he was alive, a gift of favor from the gods, and for that the young ruler was grateful.

Still, he recognized that he would have a long road ahead of him even without truly understanding the full extent of what had happened to him and why he was in such dire circumstances. There was no denying in that naked moment of pure vulnerability and feebleness that he felt very little like the invincible god his people believed him to be. No, he felt quite mortal. In truth, he did not even feel as if he were a man in those moments, but instead every bit the frightened, uncertain and heartbroken boy of nineteen that he was.

He remembered he had been wounded in battle. Those final bloody moments played out behind his eyelids as he clawed his way through the gossamer tendrils of exhaustion that ensnared him. He could hear to sleek hiss of arrows as they zipped past his head with accurate precision, the grotesque thud they made when they found their mark deep in a man's flesh, the bloody gurgling of that same man's dying breath. And there were the smells too…the earthy aroma of grime mixed with sweat, the heavy, metallic scent of blood in the dry desert air, all to be permeated by the ever present malodorous stench of death.

But far beyond the sounds and smells of the battlefield, there was something more that Tutankhamun recalled from that day with far more clarity. It was the sight of his trusted general Horemheb and his best friend Ka, a man who had practically been a brother to him all of his life, standing over him and watching as his lifeblood leaked from his body and then…simply walking away. They both did so, without care or consequence, and neither looked back.

Thinking on it now, he imagined their decision could not have been a whim. No. It was designed. Some planning had gone into that one pivotal decision that had changed everything. It was wanted. His death had been wanted by them, those who were closest to him, those who should have protected him, those whom he had trusted…whom he had loved. What a farce that had been! Tut's only regret now was that it had taken that betrayal, possibly one of the lowest points that he had ever experienced in nineteen years, second only to his father's outright rejection of him, for him to come to the realization that he could trust no one.

Pharaoh Nesubity Nebkhepepure Tutankhamun Hekaiunushema would never forget that day. He was absolutely sure that when he did finally cross over into the afterlife to be greeted by Osiris that would be the vision he took with him. It would haunt him for eternity.

However, that day would not be today, Tut fiercely determined in his heart. There would be no dying on this day. Today, that would image not follow him into the afterlife but instead would serve as the impetus to impel him back to health, to Thebes and his kingdom and rightful place as Pharaoh of all Egypt. He would see General Horemheb and Ka pay for their betrayal of him, as well as anyone who had dared to conspire with them. Now, both literally and figuratively, the young ruler's eyes were being opened. Yes, he could see their true nature now, all those who had claimed to be his confidantes and friends, and Tutankhamun was determined never to be blind to anyone's trickery again.