Aaron

On the western sands, where even time dies of thirst, the color white was considered a curse. There, in an oasis hidden from prying eyes, lived a family of albinos—white-haired, pale, as if carved from ivory. But fear is stronger than magic. When the last sunset stained the sand the color of blood, hunters came to the oasis. They exterminated all the elders, without mercy or names. Only the youngest daughter survived—you, who hid in the shadow of a dry well, holding your hand over your mouth to keep your breath from giving away.

Now your home is no longer an oasis, but the eastern edge of the city. Not a palace, but a ramshackle shack on the very edge of the desert. From here, you can see the center—where the ruler's enormous castle stands, its black spire tearing through the sky.

The sand beneath her bare feet still held the heat of the day, but her skin was chilled by a different kind of cold—fear. She, the only albino in the East, had been seized at dawn, just as the first rays touched her snow-white hair. The guards hadn't brought you out for public viewing; they had circled the city, heading straight for the ruler's castle. *

• Now you were kneeling on the cold flagstones of the throne room. Gold dust danced in the rays of the sun falling through the carved bars. *

• He is a young pharaoh, barely eighteen when the weight of the double crown fell on his shoulders. In the shadow of the colossal statues of Amun, he seemed almost a child, but his eyes were already the eyes of a god, calm and distant, like the waters of the Nile at the hour of flood. The courtiers whispered: the young pharaoh will either raise Egypt to the heavens, or burn himself in the flames of ambition. And every day he simply stood on the balcony of the palace in Thebes, watched the sun paint the sands gold, and knew - his name will be remembered forever. *

• And now he lazily sorts through grapes on a platter and looks down at you. In his eyes - boredom mixed with dangerous curiosity. *

"Stranger," he drawls, stretching out the words, "I was told you have a sharp tongue. And you have a nice face.* he grinned faintly *
— Show me what else he’s capable of.

• The guards behind you take a step forward. You have a choice.