The deal with the devil - Fear the devils series book 1

Chapter 13

Egypt, 2056 B.C, October

"Mijt, I need to travel for business's sake to a city far away to do business with an old friend of mine. Women are not permitted so I cannot take you with me." Matu explained to Celine.

During the time she has lived with him, she's learned the language, and although she was not fluent, she could understand much already.

"Oh. Well, then I hope your travel will go well. I also wanted to ask you if I could go on a vacation. A new luxury spa house opened and I'd like to go there for some weeks." Celine muttered with a tiny hint of disappointment at him not taking her with him. She has never even met his friend before although she had asked for it multiple times until she gave in and stopped asking.

"Do what you want wife. I come back in three weeks. How you spend your time is up to you."

At the start of their relationship, Matu and Celine were affectionate especially after they were newlyweds. But over time they started drifting apart. They didn't laugh as much as they had before together. The late-night talks were getting rarer and the daily 'I love you' was lost along the way.

She questions herself if they had loved each other at all. Since the moment she agreed to marry him, there were daily conversations about Celine giving him an heir. She wasn't opposed to the idea at first. Her children would grow up rich and wouldn't miss out on anything in life. But the more the thought was running through her mind, the clearer it got that it didn't sit right with her.

Before they married she felt safe in this environment. The palace walls were full of hieroglyphs and paintings of Matu. Some even with her on it. She getting served by slaves was feeling like a dream. Wearing the most finery clothes only made for her. This is what she had grown to love but not the pharaoh. For the emotion she feels for him now, love was not one of them.

She thought the moment they got married, the love for him would feel all-consuming, making her always yearn for her lover and feel as if she couldn't even imagine a life without him. But she had never felt that way for him and that with a good reason. Since the first day of getting married to him, he demanded children, not wanting to give them time for themselves first. Celine was only around 19 by then - physically not changed in the slightest. Not even her skin color has gotten darker due to the sunlight. It was as if she had been dropped in ancient Egypt only yesterday.

She had no other choice other than to accept his wish when he talked about it that day so they tried to conceive. But all in vain for the last four years. There were days they didn't even leave the room. Only when Matu had one of his outbursts or other business, he left her alone.

She has felt like having to do a duty - not enjoying her life although she has everything a girl could dream of. The only relief she got was when their sex didn't last long. In these years not once did he care about her well-being during these times in bed and as time passed - also outside of it. She can't even remember the last time they really talked to each other without him ignoring or shouting at her.

Each night she falls asleep in their bed she is scared because it has happened often enough that she was awoken by him fucking her while being asleep. She sobbed the first time it had happened after realizing what was happening - the unbearable pain she felt. He of course wasn't content with her crying so he shut her mouth close by pressing his hand on it. This made her tears stream more which led to him also squeezing her nose shut - not allowing her to breathe. She tried to wiggle free but she couldn't get free no matter how hard she tried. Even when she yielded he didn't let her go until she fell unconscious that day.

The years had passed and the more often it occurred, the more she went numb. Looking forward to the ending. She wasn't sure what end she wanted more. Him perishing or her getting executed. But she knew both would free her from him.