Pointing at the hulking soldier, Mahu said, “Suty and two others sleep on land with me. The rest of you stay on board. If the river comes up quick and pulls the barge away, Akhenaten will have our heads. It’s happened before this time of year.” The tall, lean captain glanced down at me. “Sleep wherever, but do not go back inside the tent after you’ve served dinner. And remember,” he scratched his smooth chin and looked east into the desert, “nights can get cold. Shelter and warm torches of the palace won’t be found out here. We need to conserve our fuel and supplies. Stay close.”
Glancing around with trepidation, something hit me in the face, knocked my head back, and bounced onto the ground. Suty roared with laughter, pointing to a rolled blanket.
I gritted my teeth in frustration, swept up my sleeping gear, and climbed back onto the boat. Picking through the supplies, I chose the best-looking loaf of bread for Nefertiti and several of the worst for the others. How long before the mold started, infecting loaves with its decay? Then we’d have to eat grain. I snatched a blue jar of honey, one of wine, and a vine of dark grapes, stacking everything in my arms.
As I sauntered to the tent, the Aten sunk into the underworld, his twilight leaving only fleeting rays and long shadows to crawl across the desert floor. God would wage his nightly battle with Apep. Only after defeating the vile serpent could he emerge again. What if just once the Aten couldn’t overpower the evils? Would day become night? God’s might was irrepressible, but how could a snake continue its attack unless it were also powerful? Father told me not to worry, but how could I not? The entire world would end if the sun-disc did not rise.
“Servant awaits with food and drink,” I announced outside the royal tent.
A rustling sound carried out of the flap doorway before an oddly deep voice replied. “Get in here, I’m famished.”
Parting the flaps, I stepped under the towering canopy. A central torch warmed the air, sputtering below a small vent. Akhenaten sat upon a wooden chair at the head of a short table, his hungry eyes staring. Sulking in a corner with tear lines staining her cheeks, Nefertiti clutched the top of her white linen dress—
“Leave the food and drink and be off,” Akhenaten said, pulling my attention from her.
My gaze fell to the ground. Placing the food on the table, I turned to leave but cast Nefertiti another glance. Her dark irises glazed over, conflicting with her green eye paint. My breathing quickened with fearful curiosity. What was going on?
“Get out!” Akhenaten yelled and gnashed into a hunk of bread, pointing to the exit.
I hurried away.
After serving dinner to the soldiers, I spread my blanket on the sand beside the tent. I felt closer to Nefertiti here. Lying down, I gnawed at earthly bread and gazed up at the expansive sky painted with stars. Captivating beauty radiated from the heavens, even in the absence of the Aten. Shapes took form amongst the points of light. What did the scorpion or the man represent? How long had they been in the night sky? Stars flickered back and forth, as if communicating. The glinting stopped. Was that a sign? For me?
A female’s scream pierced the night, followed by a thud. The sounds originated from Akhenaten’s tent. Springing to my feet, I lunged toward the entrance. The two guards stationed outside beside a torch looked at me as if I’d sprouted wings like a locust.
I advanced.
Suty, the hulking monster of a man beside Mahu, shook his head. “What’d ya think you’re doin’?” Hefting and twirling his curved sword, he winked. The motion revealed a jagged scar that wound down the side of his face and through a hideously deformed ear. This appendage looked like the pointy ear of a pig. His monstrous appearance drove fear into my heart.
Did Akhenaten’s personal guards all have disfigurements? To help mask his own? “It sounded like someone was hurt,” I said, my teeth chattering as I looked at the captain.
“You got no business in there ’less Akhenaten asks for ya,” Suty replied, in a more uneducated dialect then his comrades. “No ’ceptions. Probably gonna hear a lot a noises on this trip.”
I stood immobile and horrified. Noises? Only Akhenaten and his cousin were inside!
Another muffled wail. Suty’s scarred eye popped open and his deformed ear twitched downward. “Ya master’s in there and you his servant. Act like it or take yer punishment!”
I stepped toward the tent.
Suty rammed the edge of his shield into my knee, and I collapsed in a heap. Kicking me in the stomach, I sailed into the distance as if made of papyrus. Air rushed from my lungs, and I choked on dirt. Several minutes passed before my chest could expand and suck in a breath. Groaning and pleading escaped the confines of the royal tent. Forcing myself to my feet, I turned to face them.
Journal Translation
“PLEASE! I BEG YOU, Nefertiti’s being hurt!” I yelled to Mahu, but watched Suty.
“Boy, ya come back an I’ll decapitate ya,” the beast of a man snarled, broken yellow teeth flashing in the night.
I leapt toward the tent. Suty raised his sword and Mahu leveled his spear.
What could I possibly do? Whirling around, I dashed off into the desert, unable to accept the situation. Rhythmic wails of protest cried out as I squeezed my eyes shut and clamped my hands over my ears. Stabbing needle-like pain pricked my heart.
I ran until I collapsed, sobbing. The Aten blessed my life, but I couldn’t accept this. How could the world be this way? Was it true what Akhenaten believed, that those near to God could act however they desired, and others had to live amidst their shadows? Howling in despair and hopelessness, I punched and kicked the dirt until my knuckles and toes bled. I should’ve given praise and offerings to the Aten, to right the wrongs, but at that moment I cursed the sun-disc—God himself—and wished he wouldn’t reemerge in the morning.
“I pray Apep will swallow you whole this night!” I screamed into the heavens. “Let his chaos digest your sphere like the devoured lump of a rodent winding through a serpent’s entrails!”
Staring into the night sky with teary eyes, I shook my scrawny fists. A flapping sounded in the dark, followed by the outline of a great bird passing across the thickest river of stars. Massive wings rode the wind before disappearing into the black. Straining to locate the strange beast amongst the backdrop, I spotted a pair of stars arcing across the sky. Horror squeezed my small heart. Those where not stars, but the whites of hunting eyes circling back toward me! Trembling, I blinked away the tears. Had the Aten already brought forth punishment?
The bird-like creature swooped closer. An unmistakable head of a man sat upon its feathered neck! I cowered in terror just as the creature vanished again. A ba—the piece of a person’s soul that can travel the earth after death! But a ba should never roam outside its tomb at night. These invisible souls could travel the world by day but must return to their mummies before the Aten descended, or risk being lost forever.
A hollow thud resonated behind me. Jolting, I spun around. The monstrous avian loomed over me, feathers stretching out like fingers from the underworld. Recoiling in horror, I attempted to scramble away but my hands slipped through the sand like water.
“Hear me!” a gaunt face cried into the night. Its echoing voice sounded as old as the halls of eternity and reeked of decay. “I cannot stay or my ba will be lost. I already risk too much!”
My heart drummed and my limbs trembled, but I couldn’t move.
“Remember!” Its neck snaked out toward me. I flailed backward. Crocodile teeth flashed in the moonlight and descended. “Do not turn around. Whatever you do, do not turn around!”
The head advanced and I spun away. Mutilated parts of a human body lay strewn in the sand before me. The corpse’s decapitated head faced the heavens, its eyes frozen in terror. I recognized the face—one of Akhenaten’s soldiers. Screaming, my body jerked.
The first pink and purple rays of the Aten crested the Red Sea Hills, consuming the adjacent stars. I lay in the sand shivering and baffled. A nightmare? I’d ha
d my share of peculiar or terrifying dreams, but never with a ba.
Rising to my knees, memories of last night flooded my mind. I punched my thigh in frustration. My actions would cast me out of favor with the Aten. I needed to salvage what hope I had left, as I’d never survive in this vast desert alone. Neither would Nefertiti, and she couldn’t stay with Akhenaten. She needed my help.
Running under the expanding light, I retched and coughed. My limbs remained numb, carrying bluish undertones. God must’ve stricken me ill for my blasphemies, my body no longer able to receive his life-giving warmth.
But what did the mysterious ba want? Not to turn away and see the mangled body, or not to return for Nefertiti? The soul could’ve been a trickster, or more likely just a dream. Little did I know its words should’ve been heeded, but that they had nothing to do with returning to the barge.
The river snaked into view, and all lay quiet. The Aten hadn’t yet crested the horizon, but its red light shown all around. Hopefully in the underworld God couldn’t hear all my thoughts and screams.
Orange and white fur rose and fell in steady breaths, snuggled onto my blanket outside the tent. One bed lay empty, the missing soldier who was the dead man from my dream …
Scooping Croc up, my purple fingers trembled and didn’t respond as expected. A fit of coughing and shivering spiraled through my body.
“You look like death,” the captain said, rolling over.
I headed to the barge.
“Listen, boy,” Mahu said with a hint of sympathy as he rubbed his eyes and sat up, “there’re things in this world you may not want to accept, but the sooner you realize you can’t change fate or the will of God, the better everything is.”
I continued marching away, without acknowledging him.
“I was once like you, having a terrible time with things. Everything I had believed in and thought to be true changed. I’d resisted a transition with my comrades, but watched friends suffer or die. Eventually I gave in to the way things are, designed by powers far greater than my own. Now look at me. I’ve been rewarded, promoted to captain of Akhenaten’s personal guard. I married a beautiful woman, have three happy children, a house, enough rations for my entire family, and I serve the line of god-kings. What else could a man desire?”
Clenching my jaw in annoyance, I boarded the boat. Even though physically smaller, Mahu carried more power than the scarred beast, Suty. I respected and wanted to be like the captain, but at the moment I couldn’t accept it.
“What’s your name, boy?” he asked, following me.
My voice cracked through chattering teeth. “H-Horemheb,” I said, rummaging through the crates for breakfast.
“Whenever you say your name, say it with pride. Put your trust in the Aten and you’ll be rewarded.” Pounding on the side of the boat, the hollow thudding woke the others.
Serving breakfast, I overheard fearful whispers about our missing comrade and what might’ve befallen him. Soldiers mentioned magic and curses, Dark Ones and Shadows. The image of the mutilated corpse from my dream released a shudder along my spine.
I sat and ate, not entering the tent. Warmth gathered in my chest, and my fingers grew more flexible.
“I am ready,” an eerie voice called from the desert. Akhenaten shuffled into view, holding a throw-stick—a short, curved hunting tool carved into the shape of a snake. The carcass of a large rodent dangled in his other hand, along with his walking stick. Flinging the corpse aside, he said, “Commoners use traps and nets to snare fowl and fish, but royalty hunt game with skill. I am among the most adept to ever throw. Perhaps even my servant will linger over the juices of meat for the first time.” He grinned as he approached, grabbed me by the neck, and ran long fingers over my scalp and growing stubble. Kissing his own hand upon my head, he said, “I will take care of you, my good servant.”
A warm feeling blossomed inside. Finally, praise and appreciation. Perhaps Mahu was right, I needed to get over what I felt was proper and follow orders. But something inside me arose in defiance, suppressing the urge to capitulate to the order of things. Tapping me with his throw stick, he caught me low on the back. Somehow sharp pain shot down my legs, making me cry out in surprise as he let me go.
The soldiers collapsed the tent. Nefertiti sat in the dirt with tousled hair, staring blankly. Gobbling down his breakfast, Akhenaten strode over to her. He kissed her cheek and straightened her hair, whispering in her ear and smiling. Pain and jealousy clawed my heart.
With a broken posture, she sauntered to the barge and boarded with the last soldier. I tried not to stare, but couldn’t control myself. Dark bruising encircled her neck, her dirty cheeks carrying clean tear paths beneath smeared eye paint. She sat at the stern, alone.
If only I could help her … but I couldn’t. I was powerless.
“We sail without him then?” a stocky soldier asked Mahu, scanning the eastern desert for their missing comrade while wringing calloused hands.
“Disembark!” Akhenaten said.
The crew cast each other uneasy looks, but took up oars and pushed off.
As we sailed with the humming of the wind, my emotions screamed for justice. But the Aten blessed the journey with a strong northern gale. Days blended together and became routine. Nefertiti slept in Akhenaten’s tent, but never spoke to him during the day. The horrible wailing that haunted the first night in the desert did not recur. But her cries had burned themselves into my soul, never to be forgotten … even in the next life.
Journal Translation
“WE HUNT!” AKHENATEN SAID early one morning, pointing into the distance. “Take us to the marsh.” Reeds grew in thickets along the margin of stagnant water at the western shore. Hundreds of vibrant birds and ducks chirped and pecked through the muck under the golden rays of the Aten.
I shivered in the cool dawn air as two soldiers collapsed the sail, slowing our momentum. Mahu guided us in without a sound, rank swamp odor sweeping over us like a fog. The fowl chattered and dove for cover amongst the brush. Akhenaten cocked his throw-stick back and paused, scanning around. Releasing a breath, he unwound his torso and flung the weapon. The stick twirled end over end with a whirling hiss and disappeared in the foliage, creating a dull thud. A duck’s blue-gray body fell from the reeds and plopped onto the water’s surface, floating on its side. Picking another throw-stick from a stash, Akhenaten continued his massacre.
“Dock and release the cats,” Akhenaten said, motioning to the crates.
The boat drifted into the vegetation, and three gray cats were released from a cage. One crouched low and revved up its hind legs before pouncing and vanishing into the green. Five ducks flushed from the brush and took flight, screaming curses in their own tongue.
Akhenaten displayed deadly accuracy as his cats continued to drive prey out from hiding. Within an hour all colors of fowl littered the area as if a rampant disease had decimated the population. My eyes closed and I caught my head in my hands, sadness and guilt rising in my chest. We couldn’t possibly eat them all before the meat spoiled. What would become of the wasted lives and souls? Would they return, hatching again next spring? Perhaps they could be reborn as different creatures or live in the afterlife.
Akhenaten held up a hand. “My faithful servant shall be granted a chance to partake.”
I swallowed hard with trepidation. Akhenaten motioned for me and I obeyed, keeping my gaze low. Shoving a throw-stick—fashioned in the shape of a snake—into my hand, I tentatively grasped the tail.
“Choose a target, envision success, and throw,” he said.
“Hunting is a great honor,” Suty said, eyeing the weapon in my hand.
I didn’t feel honored. Hitting a small bird with a stick would be nearly impossible, and my gut told me I shouldn’t succeed in front of my master. But I didn’t want to look foolish to Nefertiti. Raising the stick, the snake’s eyes burrowed into mine. The object felt heavy and a power emanated from the wood, carrying into my hand and up my arm. Its mouth ope
ned, revealing wooden fangs and a moving tongue! Heat scalded my palm. Yelling in surprise and pain, I hurled the stick with all my might. It landed short of a long-legged bird, splashing and creating small ripples before bobbing on the water as if to mock me. Steam arose from the murk around the weapon.
Snorts and roaring laughter burst out from the soldiers. No one seemed to have noticed the magic of the stick.
“The hunt is only for those who wield physical prowess,” Akhenaten said between bouts of roaring merriment as his lower belly jiggled. “I do things for you, things you will never comprehend.” His amusement halted, his eyes unblinking. “You were only created to serve. God made it so. Do not forget!” A firm pat landed on my back and I stumbled away.
Embarrassment and rage spiraled together in my heart as I clenched my jaw, blood rising in my face. I wanted to punish Akhenaten, but I’d never be able to do anything to him. Shuffling to the rear of the boat, I plopped down to sulk. Nefertiti sat there but hadn’t even lifted her head to witness the spectacle. A touch of relief settled over me. Croc lay beside her, his ears perking up when a hunting cat hissed. Launching from the boat, Croc landed amongst the reeds.
Gray cats emerged from the papyrus with birds dangling in their jaws, only to have soldiers pry away the spoils. Popping out of the brush, Croc lugged a large duck. Suty reached out to snatch the game. Croc hissed and swatted the approaching appendage. Jumping, the soldier jerked his hand back.
“Ya little …” he said, reaching for his sword.
My throat cramped with fear. Sprawling over the boat, I crashed face first as reeds poked into my eyes, mouth, and nose. Croc scuttled away, his tail puffing to twice its normal size.
“Please don’t hurt him!” I begged, reaching out. “He isn’t trained!”
Suty seized the dead duck, snapping its body in his fists with a sickening crunch. “He bites or scratches again, I crush him.”
Eve of the Pharaoh: Historical Adventure and Mystery Page 8
