The sheer, almost see through cloth draped and hung to my body; the smooth texture rubbed against my bare skin. It has been said that the baby blue color made my eyes seem like sapphire fires; torches that light up my pale face against my midnight hair. The sun was scornfully hot, burning and torching everything in its reach. Or so I heard my maids say. I, under a canopy of the finest silks from Asia, was being fanned with the rarest peacock feathers so my pure, milky skin would never feel the burning kiss of the sun. Besides all these precaution for my comfort, tiny beads of sweat were still forming around my temples; and how could they not! My dress was made with the best, breathable fabrics but my jewelry was not.

My sandals were made with stiff, pure gold that wrapped all the way up to my knees. My arms, weighed down with the pounds of precious gems, gold, ivory and silver that were molded into bracelets and rings. All of this frivolous nonsense was tolerable, but the crown was not. As Princess of Egypt and the only heir to the throne, it was my honor and duty to wear the mass of gold strapped to my head. I thought of it more as a personal pain and burden that was slowly trying to break my neck.

But a law was a law, and I, being a princess was kept as my father’s favorite jewel. Always pricked and polished, never let out of sight but never let out in the sun. A caged bird with its feathers clipped and it’s spirit beaten out of it. Since I was too young to even say the word Father, I was carried around with canopies and pulled away from the other young children. Instead of learning how to make a rock skip along the water’s surface I learned when I was allowed and not allowed to speak at dinner.

I am not some brainless, doe eyed princess who follows the rules as a house trained cat. I see my self as a tigress, with sly, slanted eyes and a lean body ready for anything. And I felt my eyes slant to those of a predator as the servants put me down in front of my father’s chambers. My lean legs slid off the plush pillows as fluidly as a snake, and I was the only one who felt the smooth, deathly metal of my knife slide against my thigh. The Pharaoh’s jewel was no longer his to hide and marvel at, but will finally be placed in the sunlight to show off its beauty. My father had summoned me to his chambers tonight but I will summon death to his.