Disclaimer: I (obviously) do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!. I only own the plot and my OCs.

To the readers of "A Lover's Tale" who have waited ever-so-patiently, I have returned with the new story. It is the same; don't worry, but it has changed slightly, to clear up some confusing points. I hope you all enjoy this one.

As I Lie in Wait

Prologue:

As I lie here on the floor, of the servants' quarters… in wait…

I wonder what I have done to come this far, and what I have left behind to get here.

I swallow and turn over. I remember just a few mornings ago, when the Queen said I was to be married to the Prince. 'ME?!' I thought in pure shock with a tint of horror.

I roll back over with my back to the door, the light, and the hope that I can walk away from this.

I am only a servant, an Apprentice at my absolute best. I have not been trained in the ways of a Lady or even a woman. I have not been prepared to be a noblewoman, much less a Princess, let alone a Queen. I have only been prepared to be a Priestess: a Priestess to the Mother. I have only been trained to write in a few languages, speak even fewer, and stand still for hours while the other Priestesses perform the Rites or say the Prayers or do whatever the Pharaoh commands of them.

I bite my lower lip as the tears come to my eyes, as the memories come to my mind… the memories that accompany this sham of a territory I call being a servant.

I close my eyes as the tears come streaming down my face. I am nineteen years old. I am entirely too old to be thinking, dreaming, or even wishing of marriage. My life is half over. In just a short twenty-one years—fewer if my prayers are answered—I will die and be led by Wepawet (1) to be judged by Lord Osiris himself, and Ladies Meshkhent (2), and Mut (3), along with the Queen Isis herself (4). Maybe, hopefully, Ammut (5) will swallow me alive like he does all the damned…

My mind keeps wandering back to the Queen Mother. I have no right to invoke her name or speak it or even think it. I'm already a failure as a mother and therefore have no hope to any man as a wife, let alone a budding prince soon to become a great Pharaoh.

I hear him crying… clear across the Palace… in the Quarters of the Priests. I shake my head as my mind tries to fight my body and soul. "You will NOT go to him, Nefertiri… He is a part of the past… a part of the past that you will walk away from…along with all the pieces…" It is a losing battle, however, for I already have another charge inside me, driving me farther and farther into Blessed Damnation. My whole body begins to shake as I continue to try and fight this losing battle.

I curse the Instinct that I've been fighting all this time. My mind leaves me as my soul takes over and drives my body to him. The tears leave my eyes as I all but float to his room… to their room.

I go to him, pick him up from out of his father's arms. "Mama's got you, baby… Your mother's got you just like she always does…" I swallow as he wraps his little arms around my neck and rests his head against me. "… and like she never will again."

I turn away from his father. I take one step before I collapse to my knees and bring my head to the floor, almost as if my son, my new baby, and I are in prayer… to the Mother. He whimpers softly and wraps his arms more tightly around me. I let my hair shroud us both in its darkness. He takes a lock in his tiny hands and begins to play… in his own little place… in my arms.

"… Nefertiri…" That voice. "Have you come to see our son? Or perhaps to tell me about how our new little one is doing..." That Goddamned voice!

"Yes. I came to get MY son." I begin to shake in rage now. I rise to sitting position.

"Adorable, isn't he? The spitting image of his mother… with his father's eyes, of course. I only hope the new baby will be as pretty as you..."

The lump in my throat swallows itself. "He has nothing of yours! Only of mine."

"Now, now, let's not get angry… remember the little one…"

I shake so hard now that I disturb my son. "Enough…"

"The new baby…"

"Be quiet."

"Let's not disturb him…" I can feel his smirk on my back, going down my waist and to my hips. "Especially now that you have to—"

"I SAID—"

"Pass this new one off—"

"BE QUIET—"

"As a Pharaoh's child…"

"SILENCE! I've had enough!" I am standing now. My chest is heaving. My son is crying, and my own tears streak my face again.

"… Good luck…" I hear him say as I stalk out.

I take a few deep breaths as I let my steps and hair comfort him, and I allow my son's comfort numb me once again.

He whimpers as I walk into the room. The room I have been fortunate enough only to have to share with one other. I shush my crying son. "Shh… Easy, little one. Easy, Anon…" I swallow as a tear lands next to his face on my pallet. "Let's hope you can stay Nameless forever…"

I can't stand to look at my son any longer. I go to the opposite wall and rest my forearm against it. I lean my head here and let the tears flow again.

I clutch my lower stomach with my left hand, the accursed hand… as another agonizing cramp hits me. My fingers happen to squeeze together. They squeeze my ring finger… the finger that holds my engagement ring… the symbol of the Hope and Agony that I am about to have to endure for the rest of my life. I grit my teeth as I begin to bleed again… from the netherrealm. From that damned place that has been my torture on the inside for so long.

My right hand begins to try and keep its spot on the wall as my body slides down in its pain. I curl up like my baby with both my hands pressed desperately to it now. I find myself praying that the blood is from my little one, and not from me. I'm instantly sickened and ashamed of myself.

I manage to find the words to speak, to command myself rather, to stay my baby's pain and remember. "Go back to that morning, Nefertiri… That heavenly horrid morning… two weeks ago…"

1-Wepawet: meaning "Opener of the Ways"—Usher of the Dead

2-Meshkhent: meaning "Birthing Place"—Goddess of Childbirth

3-Mut: meaning "Mother"—Theban Mother Goddess

4-The Queen Isis: "The Throne"—the Queen of the Gods and the Goddess of Magic

5-Ammut: "Dead Swallower"—Demon who ate souls.

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Dead Reckoning