Ari bent to kiss his cheek as if she had been a mother wishing good night to a sleeping son, then didn’t remain beside him any longer. If he woke, he might rally and try for her again, impossible as that seemed. Rising, she tiptoed back into the main area. Everything had darkened in the grand plaza. Damn. How long were we… And him drunk like that. What demon did he call down? Wepwawet indeed? Have mercy.
A few vague shadows remained, milling about in the dark of the plaza. Unable to focus on which people she were there, Ariennu rubbed her brow gently again, wondering why the Child Stone wasn’t working faster. When she did, the nausea rose again. Damn this. Don’t make me sick… just clean… she looked up the stairs that she and the prince had been traveled up and down all night. An ever-present low light streamed from the king’s bedchamber. Tonight, Ari was grateful he wouldn’t be needing his evening tea and conversation. She had not followed Prince Shepseskaf’s dictate and had enjoyed too much fun.
Ariennu blearily sighed in relief that the king had retired for the evening with his chosen concubines. She was growing so ill from the wine and exhausted from the evening that she just wanted to go to the privy, rid herself of it, and then go to sleep. Why does this stone in my head want to punish me? I know it can heal me. ‘s trying to teach me a lesson. Shaking, she stumbled again. She sighed, holding the wall near the outdoor privy, but backing away from the reek of the overflowing trough. She felt the wine in her gut start to rise again, but she paused to regain herself, grabbing her head and rubbing it until the warmth of the stone spread again. I’ll find a different place where I won’t be stepping in it in the dark, she turned and decided to find her way to the women’s quarters and the separate privy.
She cautioned herself as she reached the stairs to the king’s bedchamber and stumbled over the first step. Goddess though… One part of me’s still shaking, for sure, Ariennu paused, stroking her mount and feeling the chill of pleasure erupt again. Better not go up there. I’m still drunk… don’t even think those things, just walk away from this prince and make him forget. Do the spell with the rainbows. There are enough other men in this world, so who needs that man or any man really except for setting off the thunder. Damned beast is good at it though. N’ he thinks that makes him some kind of important. Pah! she spat.
“You, Woman!” Ariennu heard the voice of one of the two guards on patrol near the lower steps outside the king’s stateroom as they stopped her.
She paused, trying to steady her step even though she was aware the men had seen her stumbling and probably the direction from which she had come.
“You were with his Highness?” he asked. She saw his mouth flash in mirth and recognition as he reached to paw at her scrambled bright hair and to examine her torn dress. Ooops… No secret kept this time, her thoughts finished. She almost laughed, but the sick feeling had made her too dizzy to stand upright. “Damn right,” she laughed again and stumbled against him and his partner who had closed in to assist. “I think I broke him, though,” she cackled a little and waved one of her arms in the direction of the storage area. It was a good distance away. She didn’t remember wandering all the way to the royal bedchamber stairs. Ari felt one guard seize her and pull her upright. He began to move her away from her step, supporting her.
The other guard trotted in the direction she pointed, then looked into the little room where she and the prince had been. He went in for a few moments then emerged, shaking his head and chuckling a little. “Lo, He breathes, but his lamp is out!”
“Let’s take the woman to her quarters, then come see if we can get his guards to get him onto his boat before too many know how he was brought down,” the other grimly ordered, but laughed.
Ari slyly picked up his thought about how he might like to bend her over something because she was too drunk to object. “What?” she sagged between the two men as they half dragged her and walked her to the women’s rooms. You want to whaaaat? her thoughts echoed. A horrendous giddiness suddenly overcame her. She wanted to be with the prince again rather irrationally and sensed this was exactly what had happened to Deka. Deka? He did this to her? No. Something else. She would recover and kill him for that. Something else. A spell with the ring? He thought about it. He didn’t do it though. I know it was natural and all him… but… Urrrr… daamn him! “Oh Maaaaaaat – kaaaa – raaaay” her voice trailed, “I wanna good night kiss,” she hooted aloud until one of the guards slapped her, and then punched her belly. She jumped back, cursed, swung at him, and started to fight, but lost her balance and stumbled to the corner to retch.
After a few moments, one of the guards grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
“Let me…” she protested, but then realized she was being quickly ushered to the women’s area and her kalasaris was coming apart again. Ariennu sullenly gripped the sides of the garment as if it had become her armor against tempted guards. Everything in her thoughts was going black and sparkly, but she regained herself enough to walk the rest of the way into the sleep area, let the ruined dress fall to the floor, and then collapse on her bed in utter exhaustion.
CHAPTER 28: THEFT AND SHADOW
The next thing Ariennu noticed was the room spinning. She looked at the shadow patterns the lamp-lights created on the ceiling to try and get control of herself, but they only made her want to vomit again. Closing her eyes, she managed to keep her stomach settled and still herself. Calmly, she thought of everything that had just happened while the Child Stone in her brow quietly pulsed.
I know, you want me to suffer just a little, don’t you? she chided the stone. Just help me put everything together. I’ve learned a lesson, then. I don’t think I want to get this drunk again… can’t even think. Used to like that. Now – Nnnn, old girl, you just made things a lot worse for yourself, she sighed and drifted, feeling the web of warmth start to spread from her brow. For a moment she thought she was going to sleep again, but then the familiar separation and lurch between what the Kemet people called ‘ka’ and ‘ba’ rolled over her.
“No…” she mouthed. “Just want to rest…” the same vision she had when the old man put her hand in the box this afternoon returned. The Children… trying to tell me something? she contemplated the black rectangular thing that gleamed in the torchlight in her vision. It was a burial box of darkest polished stone. She couldn’t see him because the lid was securely on the box, but she knew Marai lay inside it. I know. The Children are telling me Hordjedtef lied to all of us. Marai’s body wasn’t blasted by flame. They found a way to kill him and then they buried him. But… maybe he’s not dead, she continued, wanting to struggle until she was fully awake. Unfortunately, she was still unable. If I could find his body, I could…
It is as Aset.
The voice of a man that seemed vaguely familiar, but at the same time distant and obscured, spoke in her thoughts. It chanted softly, almost seductively.
Aset to bring and nurture life
out of a dead womb
to revive the life of the bull Asar
Take his seed from the pieces
Protect. Defend…
She frowned and rose to miserable full consciousness with a wave of nausea. Taking a deep, gasping breath, she sat up. The memory of her thoughts earlier that afternoon raced through her now aching head. No, she shut her eyes in the darkened room. Stop toying with me. Aset who searches for the body of Asar? Naibe walked into Ashera and Dumuzi with Marai. Me? Aset? I’m just a nobody. The rest of them can be gods and goddesses, but not me. I’m just a stank kuna and a thief who likes a drink and a good hot hunk of a man, she gasped silently in her own horror again, wiping her mouth. Slowly, she steadied her senses and looked around to see who was asleep in the room.
I’ve got to find Naibe and tell her… she thought again about Marai’s body being intact. Naibe-Ellit wasn’t in her bed. Ariennu froze. The concubines, vain little Irika and sesen-pretty Suenma, were in their beds. They fidgeted and snored quietly. Ariennu shook her head madly and tried to sober herself
some more.
What the? Now where did she go? Ari leaned over and dug into her basket beside the bed, paying only dim attention to the fact that Deka’s dark cloak was no longer draped over it. Finding the big shawl she usually wore after any night visits, she wrapped it around her naked body. She stared at the crumpled pile of cloth that had been her dress which lay on the floor. It’ll need more than the strap fixed, she picked up the garment, then dropped it again. I was getting out of that like it was on fire. What a beast!
While she looked for something to wear, a quiet hush, like a gentle soft wind, wove through the open areas of the palace. It was after the middle of the night. She realized she hadn’t seen Naibe since the young woman had started to dance for the king. The king… Ari gasped. She’s with the king, I bet. Damn girl! I thought you might …and over those two ‘girls’ too. I know you’ve got some real enemies now, she snickered. Ariennu was half-mumbling to herself as she pulled something simple from her basket, threw it on quickly, and dizzily made her way to the polished brick stair, just to see if she was right. Silently, she hid just out of sight.
A warm and lovely light emanated from the room at the top of the stair. As soon as the lower guards who had sent her to the women’s area earlier had passed by, she began to creep up the stairs. At the top, she saw the king’s night-time personal guards dozing. They were seated on the floor on the other side of the landing.
Maybe I can still slip by, she raised her hand in the gesture of secrecy and tried to focus her attention on sending obscurity through the ends of her fingertips. She knew the illusion had every chance of not working because of her drunkenness, the rattling evening with the prince, and even before that the encounter with the high priest that had taxed her. She knew she needed to rest so the Child Stone could fully heal her, but she didn’t like the troubling visions they had just provided. They catch me, I’ll just let them know how drunk I am, she resolved.
Luckily, she felt a little of her illusion wrap into a cloak of faint, but darkened rainbow shimmers. Ari moved by the men like a ghost without touching either of them. Her hand parted the heavy glass beaded ropes in the entry with all the stealth of her thieving past. None of the beads tinkled.
As she passed through the beads, Ariennu saw that the king’s bedchamber had been transformed into a place of magical and unearthly beauty. Naibe’s dance garlands had been strewn around the room and seemed to have somehow multiplied. Am I seeing things because I’m this drunk? she wondered. Flower petals were strewn everywhere in the room, from Menkaure’s private reflection pool to his royal couch. Dozens upon dozens of candles and low little lamps had been grouped on tables and set about on the floor surrounding his bed. Ariennu saw Naibe sitting up a little on the king’s couch. The young woman was shielded from clear view by the voluminous-yet-sheer linen netting that draped from a round gold ceiling fixture resembling the rays of the sun. She held the king’s head quietly on her breasts.
King Menkaure was sleeping. For the first time since she or Naibe-Ellit had arrived, Ari thought his face looked peaceful.
Naibe looked up, sensing the elder woman’s presence, then put her finger to her lips. Shh. I know you are here, MaMa. Naibe’s thoughts whispered. He’s resting now. He’s so tired, so very sad. I understand why I could not be with him like this before. We would have destroyed each other with our grieving.
Did you? Ariennu fell back against the doorframe, almost making a sound before she froze. The secrecy efforts were making her feel worse. She knew she would have to leave quickly before her ability failed completely. The Child Stone grew hotter in her brow as it redoubled its cleansing efforts – that hurt too.
Uh-huh. Her thought whisper seemed almost shy, like a young girl basking in the afterglow of her first love and still very much wrapped in her “Ashera” trance. He was good to me, Ari. He lets me use his other name, “Kha-ket”, now. She smoothed the king’s cap-like graying hair a little, then gently caressed a place near his ear. You feel drunk, are you? she asked the elder woman’s shadow.
Very… Ariennu nodded. Still am… beat that crazy man, Prince Maatkare, tho. Put him down! she giggled aloud, licked her lips a little and remembered the almost demon-like frenzy with which he took her; how it was followed by his sudden-death like collapse. It made her wonder all over again if an infernal creature of some kind had been animating him when he was actually useless and unable. Would he wake and remember nothing because it hadn’t actually been him but some random wolf spirit instead? You got romance as usual, and me? It figures, she drifted a little, almost visible.
Shh… Naibe reminded her, pointing out that one of the guards was stirring.
Ariennu turned and left upper alcove. She stumbled a little as she went downstairs, happy to leave Naibe and the king to the rest of their night together. She knew morning would bring so many wonders, because she would likely still be in his arms. Her mirage of secrecy faded with each step she took.
Hordjedtef stood at the bottom of the polished stone stair as if he had been waiting for her. The elder woman froze, her heart suddenly pounding until irritation caught up with the shock of seeing the old man. Ari realized the old priest had been at the top of the stairs while she and Naibe shared their thoughts. “Isn’t it past your bed-time?” she managed to still fire off a remark at him.
Hordjedtef stood very still, silhouetted by the remaining lamplight from the grand plaza, arms folded across his thin-but-sturdy, ancient chest. An ever-present, self-satisfied smirk wormed over his face. “Oh my dear Lady ArreNu, it is you!” he clucked. “Yes it is late, but since you’ve asked me, I’ll answer. I was about to return home some time ago,” his all-wise and condescending tone mocked civility.
Ariennu didn’t even want to stand up or try to pretend she was more sober than she was. She slumped heavily onto the bottom step and held her head, realizing that even the lamplight had become too bright.
“But, on searching for my dear grandson to bid him farewell and good journey, I found he was being entertained, shall we say, and had been quite bewitched into drinking a rather great store of wine with a woman.” The elder priest grinned like a cat sunning itself. “I grew concerned, and decided to stay a bit longer after my dear countesses had gone ahead. When I saw his men take him to his boat more dead than alive, I thought ‘what kind of woman is it who can cripple a healthy young warrior such as he?’ My thoughts naturally came to you.”
“He started it. I warned him,” Ariennu slurred, pouting. She leaned against the wall at the bottom of the stairs, knowing this meeting with the elder priest wasn’t going to go well. He stroked the top part of his hand where she remembered seeing the ring. Blurred darkness had formed over his two middle fingers.
“Perhaps it is true,” his tone became clever. “You are El Lilitu? Is that what they call the handmaidens of vengeance in your land?” his smile and voice taunted.
Ariennu felt a horrid vortex forming, nausea and fever rose through her body. Her Child Stone crackled as if a static spark had leapt through it. The feeling weakened her back and she bent forward, gripping her ribs.
With mocking care, the priest sat beside her on the lower step as if he intended to comfort her.
“Bastard,” she croaked.
His hands caressed the air.
“Stop!” her world grew dark.
Then, the Great one of Five began his lecture: “A first thing you would learn in any serious study is that excess creates vulnerability. It is the real reason why you were not retained in the temples of your beloved Tyre, correct?” Hordjedtef quipped. “My own dear heir, young Maatkare Raemkai, has unfortunately not paid attention to this rule and will not reign in his lust either, feeding it where he will. This lack of discipline allows me to now both see and work you quite easily, to know what you think you have learned from the lips of a drunken wastrel tonight,” his laughter chittered like the rustle of mice in an empty storeroom. “Good Night, my dear, until we meet again.”
Then, blackness
. Nothingness came.
After a few moments, Ariennu felt herself being lifted and shuffled in silence for a long time. She heard the old man’s voice giving instructions to what she perceived to be a crowd of bearers who had begun to carry her somewhere. She couldn’t move. She was trapped in his spell, but felt so comfortable that she had no will to even struggle.
“Excellent. You have her things, then?” she heard him ask.
“Yes, Your Great Highness, I have them,” A woman’s voice answered. She walked with the crowd - it was Deka.
Deka? Deka? Oh Goddess. Deka, what are you… Ariennu’s thoughts began to scream.
“When His Majesty rests again, I’ve informed the guards to fetch the other one. Do be sweet and see if you can discover the missing eight ones for us, my young Ntrt NeferSekht…”
Nefer Sekht? That name Maatkare called her. Beautiful power? Is that it? What the? Deka… Deka… Ariennu screamed in the dark, frozen and unable to move.
Naibe-Ellit became aware of a pulsing, sliding feeling in the moments before she opened her sleep-caked eyes. At first, she reveled in the sensuality of that feeling and the sensation of water flowing nearby. A gentle chunk, an occasional thump, and a swaying feeling repeated in a rhythmic pattern. Rustling cloth sounded in the wind somewhere in the distance. For a sudden instant, she thought of being in the pod in the Children of Stone’s vessel, but it did not last. This was something else and somewhere else. A gentle chanted cadence timed the surging she felt. It was the sound of rowing – men rowing. The back of her neck ached, right at the base of her head. When she put her hand up to it, she felt a slight, sore lump. She opened her eyes wider and saw that she lay in some kind of tapestry-draped shelter which surrounded goose down cushioning. It smelled of wonderful spices and dried flower blossoms.
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