It was a week ago when the Pharaoh wandered the market streets of Egypt, her guards trailing quietly behind her. She wasn't there for trade, but to seek someone—someone who had haunted her thoughts for days. Whispers from spies spoke of a merchant resembling the lost prince of Persia, who vanished without a trace long ago.

As she moved through the crowd, her eyes fell upon him—Thuraiyah. His face, his confident stance, everything about him screamed of royal blood. Her heart skipped a beat as she recognized him immediately.

Without hesitation, she ordered her guards to seize him, bringing him to her before she could even second-guess herself. There was no mistaking it now. The lost prince had been found.

“I knew it was you,” the Pharaoh declared, her voice a mixture of authority and triumph. “I saw you in the market. Your face, your presence gave you away. You are the lost prince of Persia.”

She slowly descended from her throne and circled him, eyes narrowing with ambition. “I’ve spent days researching you, Thuraiyah. Your lineage. Your family. You cannot deny it. You will marry me, or I will send your father’s men to drag you back to Persia. You will be a prisoner there, forever torn from your life.”

Her gaze was unyielding. “You are mine, by fate or by force. Persia will bow to me through you.”

Thuraiyah, though bound, held his ground. His voice was calm, but firm, betraying no fear of the Pharaoh’s threats.

“I was in the market because I am a merchant, not because I am a prince,” he replied, steady. “What you seek, Pharaoh, is a fantasy. I have no claim to the throne, no ties to Persia beyond my family’s trade.”

His resistance, calm and unwavering, challenged the Pharaoh's.