The Pharaoh’s Favorite novel Chapter 20

The sharp sting of the blade against my skin fades beneath the fire building inside me.

“You think you’re special to him?” Heket’s voice dripped venom. In the dim light, her beauty had turned sharp as a blade. “You think your precious magic will save you?”

The cold stone pressed against my back as her knife bit into my skin. But something strange was happening inside me – a slow burning that had nothing to do with fear.

A slow, unfamiliar heat coils in my belly, not from panic but from something far deeper, far darker. With every insult she spits, something inside me awakens.

“Heket,” I kept my voice steady despite my racing heart. “This won’t solve anything.”

“Won’t it?” She pressed closer, her grip painfully tight. “I’ve watched you swan around this place like you belong here. Like being his newest toy makes you better than the rest of us.”

Her breath is hot against my face, her grip still tight on my wrist, the blade trembling slightly against my throat.

“He looks at you like you’re different,” she continued, pressing closer. “Like you’re the one who’ll finally save him. But you’re nothing. Just another sacrifice waiting to happen.”

Each word should have frightened me. Should have made me shrink back, make myself smaller.

The knife trembled against my throat, drawing a thin line of warmth.

Blood. My blood.

And suddenly, that burning inside me had a name: fury.

The realization hit me like temple bells at dawn – she wouldn’t actually kill me. Couldn’t. Even in her jealous rage, she knew what murdering another of Pharaoh’s concubines would mean.

This was just theater. A desperate attempt to make me feel as powerless as she did.

But I do not tremble. I do not fear her.

She thinks I’m weak. She thinks I’m an easy target.

How dare she.

“You—” she stammers, her voice shaking. “You filthy demon!”