Chapter 24: Jjuni
Gamal immediately tried to climb out of the coffin and run.
"Kunis, something terrible happened! Adawi...!"
Kunis grabbed Gamal as she tried to rush toward Adawi, spinning her around with such force that it created a recoil effect. He stated bluntly:
"He's dead."
Gamal's confused expression shifted to horror as realization struck.
"No... it can't be..."
Kunis immediately began dragging her away.
"Now."
Gamal stumbled along bewildered, still uncertain whether this was a dream or reality. Kunis peered through the door to check for signs of movement before stepping outside.
"Kuni...!"
"Quiet. They mustn't discover Adawi yet."
With smooth, practiced movements, Kunis guided them out of the village into the forest. Darkness swallowed them whole.
Only after being dragged breathlessly for what felt like hours did Gamal fully comprehend. This was reality.
"Kunis!"
She gripped his arm desperately, crying out:
"Kunis! We need to return to the village!"
Suddenly Kunis crushed her in a suffocating embrace.
"I love you."
His heated confession followed:
"I love you, Gamal."
"Kuni..."
He broke the embrace and violently framed her face with his hands. The blazing hunger in his eyes stole her voice. This was the same desperate look Rantu and Adawi had given her - the raw need of a man claiming his woman.
"Egyptian pharaohs married their sisters."
Slap!
Kunis stared at her in shock, but Gamal showed no remorse for striking him with full force.
"Did you kill them for this?"
Gamal erupted with fury Kunis had never witnessed, her voice erupting from her core:
"How could you? Neither Rantu nor Adawi wronged you! How dare you...!"
She bit her lip until it whitened, tears glinting in her furious eyes.
"Go back to the village. Confess. Atone for your crimes!"
Paradoxically, Kunis loved her more intensely in that moment. The shy twin sister he'd always cherished now stood fierce and unyielding before him - though he'd always known her hidden strength. They were twins, after all.
He seized her wrist.
"Gamal."
Overcome by passion, he pulled her face close and whispered:
"I love you. I need you."
When she struggled, he tightened his grip. "Kunis! Kuni...!"
"Please accept me. You're all I have. I tried loving others - but every woman was just your shadow. This hair..." He buried his nose in her tresses. "This skin..." He cradled her face and pressed lips to her cheek.
Gamal froze mid-struggle when she felt something rigid pressing against her - undeniable evidence of his desire.
Thud!
She shoved him away. "Kunis! You're my brother! We're twins!"
"Exactly!" Kunis roared, the thunderous shout startling Gamal nearly into convulsions. "You were born mine! The gods destined you for me!"
Murder-fueled madness glowing in his eyes, he declared with fanatical fervor:
"You're mine!"
His crushing grip on her shoulders drew a pained cry, but he roared over her protest:
"If I can't have you, why should you live?"
A powerful hand closed around her throat.
"Kuni...!"
Her choked cry became a gasp as pressure intensified.
"Ku...!"
"Say you'll love me!" Kunis nearly sobbed, shaking her violently.
Gamal clawed at his hands until nails broke off in his flesh - but Kunis felt nothing through his deranged haze. Pinned beneath him, her soundless pleas went ignored as Kunis watched like a spectator until...her eyelids fluttered closed.
Kunis abruptly regained awareness.
He recoiled, releasing her. Gamal lay motionless.
"Gamal...?"
No response.
Her once vibrant complexion now bore death's bluish pallor - cruel transformation from the spring blossom bride of moments ago.
"Gamal."
He reached trembling hands toward her.
"Ga..."
The marsh's edge crumbled. Gamal's body slid downward.
Kunis froze when he realized his own feet bordered the unstable ground. He scrambled back instinctively - everyone knew quicksand's deadly grip.
Thick sludge swallowed her face first, then shoulders, finally dragging down legs still clad in bloodied wedding silks. Kunis reached out reflexively.
"Ga..."
He already knew it was too late.
As the last hem of the white wedding dress disappeared into the swamp, an eerie silence fell.
The marsh that had swallowed the young bride's body remained cruelly still. Insects chirred mournfully in the darkness.
Kunis erupted into soundless sobs. Tonight, he had killed three people: the man who married the woman he loved, the woman he loved, and his only brother.
“No… no… NO!”
Kunis collapsed face-first onto the ground, weeping.
“I’m sorry, Gamal. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to… I was just so angry… I never meant this!”
Time passed unmeasured until his shuddering breaths gradually subsided. No one would ever find Gamal’s body now—what the swamp claimed, it never released.
Only Gamal had known Kunis killed Rantu and Adawi. Returning to the village meant no one would ever know what truly happened tonight.
Kunis slowly lowered his hands from his face. The marsh lay silent. Insects sang.
Then—
WHOOSH!
The swamp erupted like an angry god roaring to life. Kunis’ eyes flew wide as he witnessed this divine fury made manifest.
Gamal crawled from the swamp’s grasp, coughing violently. Thick marsh water streamed from her hair.
The swamp was a ravenous monster that never relinquished its prey. Yet somehow she’d emerged—inexplicably, impossibly.
The world sounded deafeningly loud though no one was near. Shouting voices and trampling feet assaulted her ears like physical blows.
“Found her!”
A voice rang out as Adawi’s tribesmen swarmed like shadows. Familiar faces twisted with disgust, rage, and fear—the same people who’d smiled at her wedding now looked at her like something vile.
“The bride who murdered her husband on her wedding night!” someone spat with murderous venom.
Gamal couldn’t comprehend. “Wh-what?”
“Get up!”
Men hauled her roughly upright—one slipped and fell hard on his rear, earning jeers from others.
“Can’t even do this right?”
“I slipped!”
The man scrambled up and yanked Gamal again. “Why so heavy? Is it the dress?” They began dragging her away.
Gamal searched desperately for Kunis. She remembered his shocked expression but couldn’t fathom why he’d looked that way—or where he’d gone.
“Kunis… Kunis is…”
Her whisper drowned in the chaos. No one heard. No one listened.
They shoved through tent flaps into Adawi’s death chamber.
The warrior lay in full ceremonial garb, hands folded over a bouquet of seasonal flowers crowning his stomach, more blossoms framing his face. His skin had turned blueish.
Gamal recoiled—only now noticing the white cloth wound around his neck.
“To do this on your wedding night!” Someone shoved her hard. Though the push barely staggered her, others joined in violently hurling her about like a ragdoll until she fell.
“Witch!”
“Demon!”
Curses rained down as Gamal trembled on the ground. The verbal blows hurt more than physical ones—each accusation lancing through her like invisible knives.
She hadn’t killed Adawi. But she couldn’t say Kunis did it either—not just lacking proof, but because denouncing Kunis… her ever-kind twin who always put her first… was unthinkable.
“Lock her up!”
Hands like animal claws hauled Gamal upright, surely leaving bruises had she still been human. They flung her into a makeshift prison hut where she crashed painfully to her knees yet immediately gasped:
“Where’s Kunis? Where is he?”
The man sneered with undisguised loathing: “He never returned. You killed your twin too?”
Gamal shook her head frantically: “No! I didn’t—”
THUD!
The door slammed shut. Outside remained chaotic with angry shouts vibrating through the walls.
Hugging herself uselessly against tremors, she wondered. Thirstily, she licked her cracked lips. Where had Kunis gone? Why this unbearable thirst?
Her hurting mouth only emphasized unanswered questions.
