Mind of a Warrior ((Mandisa))

[Mathias]

There was no real telling what went on in the mind of Mathias. He was a warrior, a killer, an assassin, trained in every form of death, every form of destruction towards anything that moved. It was a profession that was sought after by few, but revered by many. Who would want t o fight an enemy that was better they were? Who would want to fight and enemy that they had very little chance of defeating? Who would want to fight an enemy that they could not defeat? Mathias was a warrior, he was a killer, beyond that, few knew what went on in his mind. Primarily Mathias thought about killing, about different ways to dispatch his enemy. However, Mathias thought about other thins as well. It was rare th`at he thought of anything beyond killing. Mathias thought about women, every man did. He knew that when he was ordered to kill a woman, they were going to try to "persuade" him not to kill them. That never worked.

Mathias walked through one of the palaces of Egypt. He assumed it was one of the princess's because of all of the woman that ran about within it. Of course, the men had females to tend to them, but not this many. Mathias had been out of commission for several months due to his injury, and things had changed in Egypt since this new Pharaoh had assumed control. Mathias had sworn loyalty to him, as was his duty, but he still had to adapt to the changes. In any case, he walked, fully armed through the building. There were a few guards that thought about challenging him and asking him why he was there, but no one actually did it. Woman moved around him, some whispering things to each other concerning the man that was walking fully armed through the palace. He obviously wasn't just a guard because he moved around. The guards in the palace were stationary. In any case, Mathias wondered, looking for anything that would entertain his interest. It was just women and more women. Not that Mathias had any problem with hardly dressed woman wondering around near him. Mathias rather enjoyed it and he continued to walk through the palace, stopping to lean against a column as he looked into the bath house of the palace.

[Mandisa]

The bath house was no different to the other rooms that the lone warrior had passed, it like the others was full of chattering women. Women of exotic beauty which formed the harem of the pharaoh as well as the princesses slave girls. Excited whispers began as a few girls near the entrance noticed the handsome man watching them. They attempted to seduce him, as they recieved so little attention of late.
A few other girls were disgruntled as they quickly rose to leave the baths.

Sitting on a chair surrounded by slaves was Mandisa, niece of the great Pharaoh. She was growing bored as the maids finished the elaborate gold and black tattoos which adorned her body. Her attention was quickly drawn to the commotion as the talk in the room increased.
She waved off the attending girls and rose, wishing to find out what drew so many of the girls attentions.
Striding confidently towards the doorway she laid eyes on the man whom she had seen talking to the Pharaoh in the throne room.
"What draws such a man to this part of the palace?" she asked the stranger huskily.

[Mathias]

Mathias was just watching the women and before he knew it several of them had come over to him and where showing off their bodies to him. Mathias raised an eyebrow as he looked from girl to girl. Well, that wasn't going to end well. Mathias wasn't going to say that he wasn't aroused, however he just wasn't in the mood for anything at the moment. When Mathias did have his way with a woman, or women, depending on the day, then he had to be the one that was wanting it, not the women. Mathias exerted a form of control that way, a control that both he and the woman liked and probably appreciated. The women moved away from Mathias when Mandisa came towards him and spoke to him. Mathias turned his head to her and his eyes remained on her with a vague look as he spoke, "I was bored." Mathias said bluntly. Mathias was not one to find avenues to speak fluently and smoothly. He just spoke his mind because he didn't care what others thought. If they didn't like it, they would fight him and he would kill them. Pretty simple.

[Mandisa]

A smile rose to Mandisa's lips at his answer.
"Such a warrior can not find suitable activities within the great city of the Pharaoh, that he must wander aimlessly where he should not go?" she asked in a silky voice.
"Not that I can say you aren't a welcome distraction ... life as Pharaohs mistress has its riches but I miss the sense of adventure of my past or frankly anything that breaks up my boring routine"
Mandisa walked over to a golden decorated table which held many varieties of fruit and drink. Picking up a goblet of wine she glanced back over her shoulder at the stranger.
"I've not seen you before today, yet your very manner in the throne room today intrigues me" she said, after taking a sip of the rich liquid and placing it back on the table.

[Mathias]

Mathias was not aloud to eat or drink anything that nobility had touched and he was aware of that. Thus he remained standing where his was, his hands on the hilts of his swords, just watching Mandisa for a moment. He kept his right eyebrow raised most of her conversation. She mentioned something about him not being where he should be. Mathias believed that he was the final judge of that and he would have refuted her if she had ceased to speak. However, he would not speak while she was because that could get him beheaded. There were a lot of terms and regulations that he had to follow and that he had followed for a great deal of time. He was used to it by now. Once she stopped to take a sip from the goblet, Mathias took this time to speak, but he was once again very blunt and to the point. "Then you are intrigued by a warrior; nothing else." Mathias said. Mathias didn't have a use for too many words. He spoke with his actions which were far more useful and effective.

[Mandisa]

Mandisa frowned at his answer, to be nothing but a cold blooded murderer was not a healthy lifestyle in her opinion. She had known many palace guards and some of Pharaoh's own bodyguards who lived rich lives, many having a family of their own.
The warrior's own stoic nature annoyed her slightly, blocking her natural ability to manipulate people. She hated the fact that she couldn't figure out who he really was under his tough exterior. The feeling unnerved her.

Mandisa moved slowly away from the table, and looked with a questioning gaze towards Mathias.
"You do not have to be formal here," she said gesturing with a hand to the room.
"There is no need for rules and regulations, frankly I hate them."
She moved to stand near an opposite pillar, her eyes flashing a dark brown as she thought of the rules she had had to live by all her life.
"Are you nothing more than a warrior or do you just enjoy the blood of innocents on your hands" she said bluntly. She had no need for fancy words, no call to impress, so she spoke honestly.
She gazed at his weapons, the long scimitars, wondering silently how much damage he had inflicted with only a blow.
She averted her eyes when she became aware she had been staring, instead looking towards the flickering light from a fire on a nearby pedastal.

[Mathias]

Mathias stood tall and still in front of Mandisa, not moving as she spoke, just staring at her with an almost blank expression on his face, as if he was thinking about something else entirely. He really wasn't because there was a half naked woman in front of him. It didn't matter if it was the pharaohs' relative or not; Mathias was still going to look, natural human nature. He watched her as she went over to the pillar and spoke of killing innocent civilians. Mathias would have smiled at such a thought, but he held back for the moment. Once she had concluded speaking Mathias took a few steps closer to the woman. He saw her staring at his weapons and this amused him. She was no doubt, wondering how well he could use them. She was no doubt wondering if he could inflict considerable amount of damage with them.....he could. Rules and regulations hmm, so didn't like them either? Well that was an interesting thought which Mathias pondered on as he walked closer to Mandisa until he was about three feet from her. He was a good foot taller, so her head was looking into his well muscled chest had she chosen to not look up. "People do stupid things without rules." Mathias said with a smirk on his face. He was well aware of how close he was to this woman, how it was forbidden.

[Mandisa]

Mandisa tried to steady her beating heart as he stepped closer to her. She could hear the rapid pulses beating through her head. She couldn't explain why her mouth suddenly went dry and she became lost for words. Such a reaction to any man had been long forgotten in her memory. One which she thought she never wanted to stir up lest it get her in trouble.

Try not to look at him., you cannot forsake everything you have for a fling. She repeated to herself silently as he drew closer, like a mantra.

She suddenly came to realise how much taller he was than her. The thought that he could simply take anything he wanted, stirred within her, many her come back to her senses.
Mandisa tried to focus on her surroundings of the noise of people far off, but her mind would hardly let her.
Are you really under the command of a man? She thought to herself, would she really let the Pharaoh take everything away that she herself wanted.

She stood staring at his chest for a few more seconds, before taking in a deep breath with closed eyes to steady her nerves. Biting her lip she opened her eyes and looked up into Mathias's face.

"But you must always break rules every now and again" she answered with the hint of a smile.
"Yet such a thing could mean certain death should the rule breakers ever get caught" she continued slowly, thinking about what she was truly saying. Everything she had and everything she longed for ran through her head. Her feelings for her husband were clouded, mixed with her feelings of longing for everything he could not or would not give her.

In that instance she had made her mind. She was not going to runaway to safety where she could not be tempted, nor would she summon the guards or any other such foolish action. The resolution to act was clear to her. She smiled inwardly thinking of what her brother Ramses would think.

"Are you afraid of death?" she asked her voice sounding clear and strong, meeting Mathias's gaze.

[Mathias]

Mathias was very good at reading people and that came with years and years of experience doing so. He watched Mandisa as she looked up at him, watching her eyes, looking at her cheeks as they became a bit flustered, watching a bead of sweat drop from her brow. Mathias had one of those sly, yet seductive smiles on his face and his glistening muscles only more helped emphasize the mood. She would snap out of this particular phase soon enough because it wasn’t like she was a simple mindless concubine. She was the woman of the pharaoh. Mathias had a nagging thought in his mind that he would cause trouble by his actions, but he knew that he could kill anyone that fought against him and escaping would simply not be that difficult. Mathias was an assassin and disappearing was not hard from him because he had an awful lot of experience doing it. It would be even easier in Egypt because he looked like everyone else. There were other people around, but they were not looking at them and Mathias knew how to prevent them from doing so. She looked up at him and asked him if he feared death. Mathias couldn’t help but smile as he thought about the question for all of two seconds, “I do not fear death. I will welcome it with weapons ready if it so chooses to come for me.” Mathias did not see death as a mental and physical thing. He saw it as something that he could kill and he used that knowledge and idea in its context. Mathias reached forward and pulled Mandisa behind the pillar and into the shadows of the palace room. He really was a fearless man and Mandisa was about to see that as he leaned down and kissed her with a great deal of lust and passion. He brought her very close to him, their bodies pressing, hers pressing against his muscled chest and his strong arms held her close.

[Mandisa]

Mandisa felt herself being pulled into the shadows away from prying eyes, and she followed willingly. Feeling the cold roughness of the stone tiles beneath her bare feet.
The next thing she felt was the hard press of his lips against hers, filled with everything she had not exprienced for such a long period of time. She leaned into him, her hand following the path of his muscles up his arm until it came to rest upon his shoulder.
Letting out a lustful groan, she let go of all her fear, instead enjoying the moment.

Pulling back slightly she whispered huskily, "I'm gonna have to reapply all my decorations" A smile spread across her lips.

The sounds of passing footsteps made her turn around quickly, the gold strings in her hair making slight rustling sounds. She was suddenly glad that the palace had many secluded areas. The footsteps turned out to belong to a passing servant girl who quickly disappeared around the corner.

[Mathias]

The moment that they shared was not love and they both knew it and they both didn't care, which just made everything all the more pleasurable. Love got in the way of things so often and it prevented people from being able to really enjoy themselves. This was an act of lust from both of them. Both Mandisa and Mathias saw something in the other that they wanted and they were not afraid to take it. When she pulled away, he kept his body and his lips close to hers, his warm breath on her neck and cheeks as he wrapped his arms around her waist and ran them up and down a bit. "Hmm, perhaps." He whispered as he looked over her body lustfully. He could see why the pharaoh wanted her. She was a perfect woman and Mathias wanted her as well. He then waisted no time and brought her into another lustful kiss as he ran his hands down from her waist to her back and squeezed a bit, exerting more and more control as he kissed her, not really breaking it off, letting out gasps as he kissed her. He doubted that they would be caught because they were in the shadows of the building and no one was really in the building that was looking for either of them and so they could go unaccounted for. Mathias debated going to his rooms with this woman and having her. He wondered how she would feel of that.

[Mandisa]

Quickly abandoning the worry that had fleetingly passed over her, she turned back into his strong embrace. It was one moment in her life when nothing else mattered. Not her position, her power, the wealth ... only the feeling remained.
The feeling of his hands as they ran along her skin, the sheer thrill that they caused her.
She could tell he was attracted to her, the lustful looks he gave her. The feeling so different to that of how her Pharaoh treated her. That in itself, was attractive to her.

Mandisa wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him with a fiery passion. She was breathing heavily and her senses were reeling. Yet something pulled her back. A lone voice that she somehow recognised.
"My lady, my lady ... Mandisa ... where are you?" the voice cried from not far away.

Mandisa broke off the kiss reluctantly, looking up at Mathias and saying with a hint of frustration, "It is my maid ... Tira. Obviously she is the one person who would notice my absense." She had laid a hand on Mathias chest, slightly worried if he would act with anger at the disturbance.
Staying within the shadows of the columns she called out, "Tira, I am here"
Leaning with one hand up against a pillar she looked towards her maid. Luckily, the flickering light and the dancing shadows were effective camaflage for the smudges which now adorned her body.
"I am sorry that I did not attend the temple as was my duty, I was ..." Mandisa hesitated thinking of a plausible excuse, "feeling sick. I am going to go for a walk to clear my mind so I shall see you later, should anyone ask for me" Her voice remained calm and collected, unlike herself.
She could see Tira nod without hesitation and begin to withdraw.

Turning back towards the warrior she said with resolution, "I think we should continue somewhere quieter, yet my rooms are uninhabitable lest you wish my lord to join us. As it would seem, it appears we are destined to be interupted her".
A smile returned to her lips as she walked slowly back towards him.

[Mathias]

Mathias literally climbed the pillar. He heard the voice of a woman calling for Mandisa and as he did, he knew that he was going to need to find an effective hiding place other than shadows caused by the pillars. He would let Mandisa slip out and do whatever it was that she was going to do to shoo away the maid. Mathias looked at the pillar and there were tiny cracks in the marble. So, he took out two knives, stuck them in the cracks and propelled himself up with maddening speed and agility. He was about nine feet up the pillar by the time Mandisa had actually shooed the woman away. Once he saw that there was no more danger, he removed his knives and flipped down to the floor, landing quietly on the alabaster stone floor. He looked at Mandisa as she told him that there current location was not wise. Mathias would have to agree and so he had to find a way to get her alone in a much more private place. He had his rooms nearby. It figured his rooms would be near the women's palace. "Indeed." Mathias replied to her comment and then stood there facing her for a moment, "I shall leave for my rooms. Follow me after a while....i will stay in your sights." Mathias said and walked out from behind the pillar without another word. He walked slowly and casually, taking one of his blades out and twirling it as he walked past two woman who giggled as he walked past.

[Mandisa]

(Soz haven't been on ... had a fever and only just got over it )

Mandisa nodded and watched him walk away. Silently she attempted to compose herself. Which given the fact that her clothes were smudged, provided an obstacle. Smiling inwardly to herself, she remembered of a cloak which she had taken with her into the bath room.

Hugging to the shadows which fell around the pillars, she quickly made her way to her previous seat. She silently wrapped the cloak around her, after carefully unfolding in from underneath some other equipment which the maids had brought with them.
It was lucky, she thought, that most of the girls had already left, with only a few scattered throughout the room. Lest one of them had realised or thought that something was not quite right.


She slowly walked out of the bath area, walking in her natural slow gate. She ignored the groups of girls as she walked past them, much like she always did. She could spot Mathias in the distance, as he walked along the passageway. She did not dare to try and catch up, nor did she wish to lose sight of him. She had no idea where his room might be, there were still so many places within the palace in which she had still to visit.
Smirking as the girls swooned at his swordsmanship, she let out a snicker. The girls in this palace were so easily impressed she thought.

As she walked past a guard she turned slightly, concentrating on the heiroglypics which adorned an opposite wall, detailing the events from a past pharaohs reign. When she was well past the guard, she let out a sigh.
She assumed that Mathias' room was near, and was already anticipating the events to come.

[Mathias]

Mathias was not one of those people that really cared about what random woman and such thought of his swordmanship or of him at all. It didn't bother him that some people thought him to be inferior because they usually died by his hand. It didn't bother him that some people were stupid, because they usually died to. Mathias would always pick a girl that looked appealing to him and that would be who he sent his attention to and laid his desires on. In this case it was Mandisa. Mathias had no doubt that she knew he had slept with many women; such was normal for a warrior like Mathias. He had no doubt that she knew that this was a matter of lust and not love. There was nothing wrong with lust because it was a natural reaction of the flesh. It was a reaction that Mathias would welcome, especially in this case. Mathias walked slowly as he walked through the palace. He didn't want to loose Mandisa because he didn't know what obstacles she would have to overcome to follow him. He would stop and impress some young girl with his skill of sword or with his muscles, just being time for Mandisa. His Rooms were not far from here, just in the adjacent palace actually. Eventually, Mathias found himself leaving the palace and walking towards his rooms. A palace guard walked past him and Mathias paid him no heed. Mathias reached his rooms finally, after a short walk. He lived in the palace, but no where too fancy. He lived in a room that was on the side of the palace. It had been used for an old god that the Egyptians had long since stopped to worshiped. Mathias turned and looked for Mandisa. He made sure that she saw him before he slipped inside the room.

( I am sorry. I am glad you are better though )