TeenageTells- Sneaky Peaky

Emerald is coming out in 18 days, and I'm super excited. It's available for pre-order here. In celebration, I want to share a fragment, to get the vibe of the story.

Chapter 1: Emerald 

Date: Day 0. 1333 B.C 

Sand brushes my legs as it spins around me. “Morana?” I ask. She was just there, fighting with Flame and now I’m here... wherever here is. How do I – my thoughts are cut off as my mind goes blank.  

Who is Morana?  

The day is bright, and a sandstorm is slowing. There is a tiny structure in the distance – possibly a pyramid rf temple – staring over a town. Realising I’m standing on a sand dune, I step forwards to find a drop. Luckily, I don’t fall, but to my shock, I’m suspended in the air by the sand wrapping around my ankles in a comforting manner. I walk, letting the new ground support my weight, and with each calculated step, the ground shoots up to make way for me. 

I can’t be sure whether I’m making the right choice, but I continue cautiously, my curiosity leading me. With each step, fear rips through me, almost holding me back.  

Carefully, not sure what else to try, when I take my next step, I place my foot lower down, hoping I'll be given some sort of way. It works, and I sigh in relief, although I’m not quite safe yet. I don’t have a clue what I was thinking about, but I know I have to find Morana. I need to find other people. And that temple/pyramid will be the place to do it. 

With each stride, I become more careless, trusting the magical staircase will keep appearing each time I walk. It does. My soul is on fire as I jump, the sand pillars catching me as if I were being held by water. Water that doesn’t want to drown me but hold me in an embrace. I pause. I’m close enough to the earth that I’ll be ok if I fall the rest of the way down, but it could hurt. What is the point of being safe if it leaves me stuck in my own fear?  

I swallow my doubts and leap, feeling weightless before sliding down dunes, laughing as sand prickles my back. I’m going to be there soon! My nerves switch to disappointment as I land on my feet and see how far the structure is. It's hardly bigger than before. Despite my growing impatience, I keep moving onwards. 

The sun is too hot, and the sand heats my feet like some sort of magic, making me have to hop so I can keep going. My mouth is awfully dry, and my stomach is rumbling ferociously. Just a little further. I try to convince myself, but I can’t. I can’t keep walking; my feet ache like they’re on fire, and it’s so hot...  

It’s like death is waiting for me to walk into its trap.  

Falling to the ground, I shut my eyes, so tired I can hardly breathe. Why is it so hot? After only a few moments of peace, the earth seems to stab my back, making me scramble to my feet. So it not only wants to burn me but also murder me. Exclaiming in pain, I squint at the ground, which is flat, and clearly has no spikes, or anything stab-worthy. What did I feel? Apparently, I’m not resting. I can’t do this anymore. 

The Earth raises a wooden plank, and it sails over to me as if on a wave. I pick up a piece of wood that looks eerily like... I’m not sure what, but I almost drop it as hundreds of bugs come crawling out from under it. Holding onto it tightly, I try to avoid touching the bugs as I run to the top of the next dune, using almost all of my remaining strength. I jump onto the wood in midair for a moment, before sliding down, hoping I won’t be sick.  

I laugh hysterically until my voice cracks, feeling free, as if I were flying, my heart soaring. The sand doesn’t let me stop at the bottom but pulls me up to the next hill so I can slide down again. And again. And again. 

A few minutes later, I arrive at the town, the structure looming over it, as if it were coming to attack me. It isn’t a temple, or a pyramid, but some type of extravagant palace that glimmers in the sunlight. Smells of foreign fruit and cooking waft towards me, and I let them wrap around me like a comforting embrace. If I wasn’t hungry earlier, I definitely am now.  

Winding through twisted streets, I look for the perfect thing to eat. And I find it. Sweet-smelling and green-skinned, a yellow fruit peaks out, searching for me. 

Walking among the bustling crowd, which speaks too quickly for me to catch anything, I grab the fruit and admire it. But before I can take a bite, a grey-faced man starts shouting at me. 

Why is he shouting?  

His words mix in a jumble of confusion, and I duck away from him.  

What did I do wrong? 

I return to investigating the market, eating the fruit. Oh, yes. This is perfect. All is good, except I don’t know where I am, who or where Morana is, and a random man shouted at me for no reason. It’s almost as if his bulging eyes and ripped clothes were still following me, haunting me. 

I turn behind me to double-check that isn’t the case, and I’m right. 

“Pharaoh!” a little girl yells, and others follow suit. 

Squinting, I spot who I expect is the Pharaoh. His clothes are significantly richer, and look more comfortable than everyone else’s. His robes are golden with navy blue trims, and guards flank him on either side, as if someone were going to attack him. Most importantly, he’s a young boy – ten at most – and he’s causing a commotion. 

I’m stuck in the middle of the alley, looking him in the eyes. 

“Our God!” he claims, but ‘The God’ is nowhere to be found. 

“Where is he?” I croak in a language I didn’t know I understood. “Who is he?” 

“Why are you a woman?” Someone appears from behind me and the Pharaoh taps me on the back, scaring me half to death. He pokes at me again. “Why won’t it speak again?” he asks one of his guards, but only gets a few shrugs in reply. 

“Welcome to the Kingdom of Kemet. We are glad to have you.” he’s speaking to me again. So, all the people here all speak the same, harsh language. It almost hurts to speak in it, but I have to, because otherwise no one will understand me. 

“Pharaoh.” I try to say confidently, but inside my heart is pounding and my head is running through a thousand possible ways this could go. “Do you have water I can drink?” The crowd  – which I hadn’t realised way forming – gasps. 

“Asking for water from the almighty Pharaoh? Maybe he is not the great leader we imagined he was.” they whisper, just loud enough for me to hear. 

“There is some water the townsfolk can give you; I am sure.” He smiles, snapping his fingers. “Thank you for coming to my country: I’ll be glad to have you as a friend. But I must ask, why did you steal from Amid? He’s my personal supplier of mangos, and I don’t like people disrespecting his skill.” 

“Who? What?” 

“You took the mango from his stall. He worked hard to get it, and works even harder to sell it, and you took it from him.” 

“Stealing?” I am given cool, shining water from a shy boy a little older than the ‘Pharaoh’. 

As he explains, I sip on it. “Stealing means to take something that isn’t yours. It’s terrible, because the Gods hate it. But you, as a God, may take anything you please.” 

“Me?” 

“Yes, you.” That’s why there’s so much attention on me. My skin crawls. What does being a God even mean? What if I mess up?  “And on that topic, you must be hungry. Come to my palace, and I will give you plenty of food.” That sounds so appealing... but shouldn’t I find out where Morana is first? 

“Yes, please. But why are you being so nice to me?” I whisper. I don’t have anywhere else to go, or anything else to do. How could I resist? 

“I explained already. You’re our God. You are Geb, in the flesh. You have come to save my Kingdom. Do you not remember?” 

It doesn’t sound right, and I don’t know why the Pharaoh believes this, but he has to be right. He knows more than me, and I find that a good enough reason to follow him. We head towards the palace, and I wonder how this child is in charge of a whole Kingdom. And how he has a palace. He walks with a swagger, and all his guards don’t bat an eye when he winks at some girls or sticks his tongue out at old men. He’s so rude, probably because of the golden headpiece he wears, decorated with dark blue details. Although, I think it would look much better in silver.  Power must be a way to do anything you want to, with no consequences. He slows his pace to walk beside me. 

“You’re quite pretty.” he acknowledges, and I almost blush- he's so cute. Maybe he isn’t so rude after all, and just a jokester. “And quiet. Do you talk? Well, at least my dad said a quiet wife is better than a loud one!” he laughs and places his arms around my shoulders. I grit my teeth to not do something I’ll regret. Like insult him. He is so rich he must have so much good food... I try to beat the thought into my head. 

“Are we almost there?” I ask politely. 

“Yes. I’m sorry it’s taking so long, it’s because we don’t have camels as I was in the neighbourhood doing my Kingly duties when you arrived, and we rushed to meet you, leaving them behind.” He grins and I scrunch my nose, angered at how he was so stupid to arrive without camels. “Don’t do that. That makes you ugly.” I clench my fist because I have had it with the constant remarks from this kid. He turns his face towards mine, but I back away. 

He approaches me again, and I duck from his arm that threatens to embrace me. “Go away.” I tell him, but instantly feel guilty. I don’t want him to feel bad. 

“Come here, wifey.” Wifey? He laughs again and my legs tremble, the ground starting to crack beneath me. Please don’t do anything, I mentally tell the Earth. He grabs my waist, making my body tense up, and no guard even looks in my direction.  

I shouldn’t expect them to focus on me: this is their glorious leader.  

I scold myself. He lifts his face towards mine, and heat rushes through my body, angry and uncontrollable. The ground continues to strain against my attempt to keep it in place. But my resolve cracks, and a wall of stone shoots up between us. 

“Good luck coming towards me now!” I call, making the heads of his guards turn towards me. With a flick of my wrist which feels more like a last resort, I’m in a shell of stone and sand with life-threatening sharp spikes to keep the guards out. Goodness, I’m making such a scene, but I refuse to let him touch me and violate me one more time. I breathe in deeply but stop half-way when something starts pounding against my sanctuary. 

“Get her out! I need her! How can you all be so stupid?” The Pharaoh shouts at them making me squirm. “Come out come out.” His voice is soft  

In a moment of hesitation, my shields crumble to the ground and I jump back as guards sprint towards me.  

I meet my gaze to the Pharaoh’s as a guard clamps my hands behind my back – as if it could stop me. But it does, because I don’t control the earth: my emotions do. Another guard grabs my legs and sweeps them off the ground, and I hang between the two of them like dead meat.  

“Well, this is a bit unnecessary!” I shout, but no one listens as the Pharaoh smiles menacingly. At least he won’t be able to reach me as his guards carry me above his height.

Read more on May 29th in…

Hope you enjoyed this little teaser. See you next week!