Pharoah (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Pharaoh

  * * * *

  “What do you have there?” Zuri asked Nafre when she came down to breakfast the next morning.

  “A messenger arrived this morning with a verbal invitation from the palace to attend Pharaoh Masari’s coronation, along with this papyrus with a special message from the Grand Vizier.”

  Zuri frowned. “You’ve been invited?”

  “Not just me, you ninny, the entire family. It is going to be a formal affair, and father is to bring gifts to show our love for him.”

  Zuri sighed. Bringing riches to a man who already had everything did not make sense to her. The Egyptian kingdom thrived, and their economic system flourished. The grain silos burst at the seams thanks to Khai’s hard work and ingenuity.

  “What gift will you be bringing, Zuri?”

  A gift? “I don’t know. What does he like?”

  “Father said he likes animals. Maybe you can give him one of your pets. You have so many.”

  Nafre was right. “Do you think he would like one of Hebony’s litter?”

  Nafre nodded. “It should be old enough to leave its mother.”

  “Very well. I shall choose a male, and that is what I will give him. What about you?”

  “A bit of ivory, I think. You can’t go wrong with ivory or gold.”

  “I suppose we will need something new to wear. It has been a long time since we had something new made.”

  “Especially you.” Nafre spun her around. “You have a very large behind. Maybe we should have the grooms exercise you with the dogs.”

  Zuri rolled her eyes at her. “I cannot help it if I have a big behind.” Nafre called from the royal seamstress who rapidly went to work sizing her and Zuri up for some new clothes.

  “Put her into something that will tone down the size of her rear,” Nafre ordered. “We do not want it calling attention to itself when we are presented to the new pharaoh.”

  The seamstress giggled and left the two young women alone just as their cousin Furaha sashayed into their suite. Furaha was their father’s youngest brother’s oldest girl. They ruled lower Nubia. She was spoiled and pampered and had lots of male admirers.

  Nafre looked up. “What are you doing here? Mother did not say you were coming.”

  “I got bored and decided to come for a short visit and to tell you about being invited to Khai’s coronation.” She giggled. “My dressmaker is busy getting my wardrobe together, and the new pharaoh is going to fall off his throne when he sees me.”

  Nafre chuckled. “Where is your shame?”

  “Shame is for people with no self-esteem.” She pointed at Zuri.

  Zuri frowned and tossed her hair. “I think I have just been insulted.”

  “You should be,” Furaha exclaimed. “What are you going to wear?” She riffled through Zuri’s closet. “You can’t seriously think of wearing any of these. Your father is a very rich man and a king, but you refuse to dress to impress.”

  “What’s wrong with my clothes?”

  “I’ve seen you wear the same thing before to two different occasions. A princess should never do that.”

  “Why? It is only Khai. We have known him since we were kids.”

  Nafre cleared her throat.

  Furaha turned to her older cousin. “I’m talking about you too. Your father is king. He can afford to keep you in lovely knew dresses.”

  Zuri sniffed indignantly. Furaha did not really mean to hurt their feelings. She was a self-absorbed princess who always said what was on her mind. Her father spoiled her unmercifully and let her do whatever she wanted.

  Nafre spoke up first. “For your information we just had our dressmaker in here. She is making clothes for us as we speak.”

  Furaha flopped down on Zuri’s bed. “Good. I would not like to have my relatives looking like common folk at the coronation. You should take a lesson from your mother. She knows how to dress.”

  Zuri agreed. Of course she did. “She is the Queen of Nubia.” Zuri ignored the rest of the conversation between her sister and cousin. Her mind drifted off to the coronation. She would see Khai again. Maybe this time she might say something to him. Zuri rejoined the conversation as the two women discussed going down to the pool for a swim. She picked up the parchment and read it aloud. “All young women are required to dance for Khai at the coronation.” Zuri frowned. “Did either of you read this? He can drop dead if he thinks that I will dance for him.”

  Both Furaha and Nafre stopped talking.

  “How dare he make such a mockery of women?” She tossed the invitation on the bed.

  “What’s wrong with a little harmless dancing?” Nafre asked. “You’re a great dancer.”

  Zuri paced the floor of the bedroom. “That does not matter. I will not be put on display for a man, no matter if he is Pharaoh. I have my pride and my dignity.”

  Furaha laughed. “You can keep your pride and your dignity.” She swung her hips to imaginary music. “Why would pharaoh choose someone like you when he has me?”

  Zuri and Nafre watched Furaha. Furaha was a good dancer, perhaps the best in all of Nubia. She would attend the coronation, not as a dancer but as a spectator. She’d eat his food and drink his wine, but she would not dance, not even if he begged her to.

  Nafre stared at Zuri as if reading her mind. “What happens if he gives you a direct order?”

  “Then he’ll have to toss me to the lions.”

  The two other women went back to their conversation about swimming.

  “Care to join us?” Furaha asked. “I’m hot and sticky and could really use a swim.” She headed toward the door with Nafre close at her heels.

  “Maybe later.”

  The two dashed off without her, leaving her to ponder what the coronation was going to be like.

  * * * *

  Khai entered the throne room. Asar waited for him in advance. They were alone, but earlier the royal servants and decorators had been there polishing the furniture and dusting the statues. Outside the palace, the architects were busy working on his new buildings, and artists were fashioning busts in his honor. The palace servants were busy with preparations and the palace cooks were busy preparing delicious meals. His mother and his younger sister, Isis, were getting fitted for their new clothes, leaving him to make small talk with the vizier who was still after him to pick a bride. “What are you doing here so early?”

  “I want to show you something?”

  “What?”

  “You have to follow me out to the river.” He rose from the throne.

  “Do we really have time for this?”

  “Make time. What else do you have to do?”

  Khai shrugged and followed him out of the palace. “I should be narrowing in on a wife.”

  Asar agreed. “Have you had any luck?”

  Khai chuckled. “No, I have not been trying very hard.” He stretched. “Besides, I am tired.”

  “Mandisa kept you up all night again?”

  “Yes and no.” He paused. “Do you suppose I can keep her after I’m married?”

  “If you pick the right wife, you won’t need to. Besides, whatever woman you chose will know that you have a concubine, and if she doesn’t know, one of the palace women will inform her. That is what they do.”

  “It would be easy if I could just make her my wife.”

  Asar shook his head. “Easy, but not smart. The people would not accept a servant as a queen.”

  “Mandisa is not a servant.”

  “Would you prefer the word slave? I do not like that term.”

  “No, but she’s not a servant. She is more a friend. We have been together for so long.”

  “I will take her off your hands if you want me to.”

  Khai punched him on the arm. “That is a very generous offer but no. I suppose I will free her and set her up in a little house nearby.”

  Asar stopped walking. “As a convenience to run to when things don’t go your way with the wife or she is pregnant?”

  �
�Now you are making me sound like a lousy bastard. No, I will not run to her to sate my needs. She will be a free woman to do what she pleases. She deserves it after putting up with me.”

  “You are so weak when it comes to women.”

  “Perhaps, but at least I stick to one at a time.”

  “Are you calling me a slut?”

  “When was the last time you slept alone?”

  Asar stopped at the riverbank. “In my cradle.” His new present to Khai bobbed in the water.

  “What is that?”

  Asar bowed. “Your new boat. I can’t have you sailing down the Nile in an ancient hand-me-down.”

  Khai and Asar boarded the finely crafted ship. Several oarsmen awaited his command. “When can we take it out?”

  “Right now if you want to. It is ready to sail.”

  “Then let us do this.”

  Asar gave the order, and the boat moved away from the bank.

  It was a beautiful summer morning. The sun was high in the sky, and the water was crystal clear and blue. They sailed up and down the river, capturing the glances and admiration of the people who fell down to their knees when they saw the pharaoh pass by. Fishermen waved and bowed from the banks and from their little boats. “This thing is amazing,” Khai said as he stood on the bow. “How fast can it go?”

  “It is faster than anything your father or grandfather owned. It is made from light-weight wood. The shipbuilders were very meticulous and wanted to use only the best for you.”

  “I am flattered.”

  Asar ordered the men to take them back to the bank. Minutes later, the two men got off the boat and headed back to the palace. “So back to the problem you have. What type of woman are you looking for?”

  Khai groaned. “Can you not give this a rest?”

  “The coronation is in a couple of days.”

  “I promise I will find a wife.”

  “I have taken the liberty of inviting all the royals from nearby kingdoms. Most of them have daughters around our age from which to choose.”

  “I figured you would.”

  “Just think princesses…tiny, petite, and willing to please.”

  “That is all I have been thinking about. I should be out checking on the irrigation system I have invested my time in. I have to make sure that there is an increase in agricultural output in the regions. ”

  “You have time to do that,” Asar assured him. “Believe me, a woman warming your bed every night will take the edge off of you.”

  “What edge?” Khai snapped. “I am not edgy.” He bounded up the stairs and headed inside the palace.

  The activity inside had increased since he left. The artists were painting some of the walls and floors with scenes of people, birds, water pools, and etched likenesses of their deities. Musicians moved instruments around the huge hall, filling the palace with music. He found his mother sitting in the parlor playing Senet with Isis. His mother was still lovely, but his younger sister was turning into quite an alluring beauty.

  Isis looked up at their approach, giving a cool glance to Asar.

  Khai frowned. “I will kill you myself if you trifle with her.”

  Asar laughed. “She is a baby.”

  “You say that now. She will be eighteen soon enough.”

  “By then you will be a married man and will not care what I do with her.”

  They approached the women. “Did you like the boat?” his mother asked.

  “Very much so. It’s a fine ship.”

  “Asar was so excited about it. When will I get the chance to see it?”

  He kissed his mother on the cheek. “Whenever you want to.”

  “What about me?”

  He kissed Isis. “You too. I can just see you standing on the bow commanding the oarsmen.”

  Isis was already a great horsewoman, and she even indulged her fantasy by entering chariot races.

  Asar bowed to her. “I will take you out personally, Princess Isis.”

  Isis’s green eyes lit up like emeralds. “Really?”

  “Yes, really. All you have to do is say when.”

  Isis smiled innocently and went back to her game.

  Khai raised a concerned eyebrow.

  “We will be properly chaperoned,” Asar assured him.

  “She sure will be,” Hathor said, not taking her eye off the game. “By two or four of our biggest guards.”

  Asar kissed Hathor on the cheek. “Ouch. You wound me.”

  “Yes, and I’d tear your heart out, too, and you know it. She will not be added to your harem.”

  Asar rolled his eyes at the ceiling. “I do not have a harem.”

  Isis giggled. “The women of the palace all whisper about you. They say you are a great lover.”

  “Isis,” Khai and his mother said in unison.

  “Such language out of the mouth of a babe,” Khai replied”

  “I am not a baby any more, big brother. I am seventeen, and soon I will be old enough to get married.”

  “Yes, when you are thirty.”

  “Humph. I will be dead by then.”

  The three others laughed.

  “It is not funny. Why should Khai get to marry and not I?”

  Khai ruffled her long black hair. “Dakari is still single.”

  “Dakari is married to his army,” Isis said of their brother. “He prefers war to love.”

  Hathor agreed. “Your father did, too, in the beginning, but he changed once we had Khai. Dakari will find some nice young woman and settle down, too, one day.”

  Khai sat down on the floor next to them, and Asar joined him. “I am afraid I have to agree with Isis. Dakari was barely here for the funeral, and he left shortly afterward.”

  “The Persians still have an eye on this kingdom,” his mother reminded him. “It is never good to let your guard down. Especially now that everyone knows of your father’s demise.”

  “Maybe I should join Dakari.”

  “Not right now. After the coronation and the wedding.”

  “I have not found a bride yet.”

  “You will find one at the coronation. I am sure of that.” She looked down at Asar. “You have sent out the messengers?”

  “Yes, my queen.”

  She patted his cheek. “I knew I could count on you. You will make a good son-in-law one of these days.”

  Isis smiled wickedly. Khai did not miss it.

  “Remind me to have a long talk with you about men, women, and relationships.”

  “Mother already had that talk with me.”

  “I am not talking about you. I am talking to Asar.”

  Asar frowned. “What can you possibly tell me that I do not already know?”

  “You would be surprised what lessons you can learn from the brother of the young woman you might or might not marry one day.”

  Chapter Two

  Khai sat quietly as the priest performed the ritual purification ceremony. They shaved and washed his body, and then they dressed him in a plain white linen robe to signify purity. The lead priest prayed to Ra and recited the ritual over and over again four times before it ended. Later, they took him out to a field and had him run around the marked track several times to rejuvenate and to build up his endurance. He only rested for a moment, and then he received his crown with the family, friends, and visiting dignitaries present. Exhaustion ate at him by the time he crawled into bed a couple of hours later. He slept and then woke, dressed again, and then went down for his coronation celebration.

  Delightful music filled the great hall as he entered. Asar arrived and entered first, announcing him, while everyone fell to their knees to bow as he walked across the floor from the door to his throne. None of this seemed strange to him since he had witnessed this for years during his father’s reign. The amount of people in attendance surprised him. As he walked, a priest read his numerous accomplishments from a scroll before finally proclaiming him the new pharaoh of Egypt. His mother, brother, and young sister were alread
y in place on their thrones awaiting his arrival. The priest continued to name all the pharaohs he had descended from long after he made it to the throne and sat down. The crowd rose, and the festivities began.

  A procession line formed at the door, and then musicians started playing again. Khai was finally allowed to get comfortable with Asar claiming the seat next to him.

  “I bet you never expected so many to come out.”

  Khai shook his head. “They are curious.” The music changed, drawing Khai’s eyes to the door.

  “Looks like the entertainment has arrived,” Asar replied.

  Khai settled back in his seat, not knowing what to expect. Asar had been smiling smugly like a fox since he entered and knowing his friend that could only mean one thing…debauchery.

  “I had this especially arranged for you.” He handed Khai one of the notes that he sent by the messengers.

  Khai unrolled the parchment, looked down at it and began to read. He frowned and then passed it back to Asar. “You should have run this pass me first.”

  “You wouldn’t have agreed.”

  “Exactly.”

  The musicians struck up a lively tune and female dancers from all the nearby kingdoms entered dressed in skimpy costumes from their countries and kingdoms, and they were all vying for his attention. A Nubian princess took center floor. Khai peered down. She was beautiful, with rich caramel-colored skin and long braided hair. Gold earrings dangled from her ears. Her costume was little more than a short skirt made of wood that barely hid her private parts. She had a pair of curvy legs, trim thighs, and a small waistline. Enchanting, he thought, but not what he had in mind for the next queen of Egypt.

  Beside her danced a petite little Egyptian beauty fully dressed in a long red tunic. He smirked. At least she had the decency to cover up her assets. “She is very limber.” He watched with fascination as she tumbled and twirled and contorted her body in different positions. She did everything but smile.

  “See anything that you like?”

  Khai drew his eyes away from her and put them back on Asar. “You should have told me your plans. I would like to speak to them and learn a little about them before you try to marry us off.”