Kiya and the God of Chaos

by Philippa Bower

  Chapter Eighty One: A Brief Happiness

  Kiya saw with dread the stony look that came over Dennu’s face. He withdrew his arms from around her and said, “May I be permitted to ask who the father is?”

  Kiya gazed at him, imploring him to believe her. “I am a virgin, Dennu. This conception is a mystery, a miracle.”

  “Only you would think up such nonsense,” said Dennu.

  How like his father he is, thought Kiya. Ice could easily form around his heart. She reached out a hand and touched his arm. “Please believe me, Dennu. I love you, but if you wish us not to marry I will leave.”

  “Where would you go?” he said. “At the very least you will have to spend the night here before I can get you out of the palace.”

  “Thank you,” she said. She sat beside him in silence and they both gazed into the glowing embers of the brazier. After a while she yawned.

  “Get to bed, Kiya,” he said. “You have had a busy day destroying hearts and palaces. I need time to think.”

  She leant over and kissed his cheek and he did not flinch away. “Good night,” she said.

  She removed her cloak at the bedside and stood for a moment naked, but he didn’t look round. He sat with his back to her and stared into the dying fire.

  Kiya got into the bed. It was wide and soft. She wanted to stay awake to see if Dennu joined her, but she drifted into sleep and knew no more until the morning.

  When she opened her eyes she saw that Dennu was lying beside her. His head was turned towards her and when he saw that she was awake he smiled. “Good morning, Kiya,” he said.

  “Good morning,” she said and smiled back.

  He slid his arms around her. “We are to be married, are we not?” She nodded. “Then let us say the sacred words that will bind us together.”

  “Really? After all this, you still want to marry me?” Kiya felt as if her heart would soar to the ceiling with happiness.

  “A man cannot choose who he falls in love with. I will be honest with you, Kiya. There are many more suitable women for a man in my position but my mind is distracted by thoughts of you. I must have you in my life or all my achievements are worth nothing.”

  Kiya didn’t know whether to be flattered or insulted. “What about the baby?” she asked.

  “I will love it as though it was my own.”

  Kiya smiled at him. “Very well,” she said.

  He held her gaze and spoke in a resonant voice. “With these words you are my wife, to cherish until the afterlife. At the end of a lifetime spent with you, Thoth will find that my heart is true.”

  Kiya replied, “With these words I am your spouse to bear your seed and share your house. At the end of a lifetime spent with you, Thoth will find that my heart is true.”

  He pulled her towards him. “Whether our marriage lasts or not, I cannot deny myself what I have always longed for.”

  She raised her head for a kiss and his lips pressed against hers, soft, warm and urgent. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with equal passion. The foetus stirred within her and she sensed its awareness.

  She felt Dennu’s hand stroke down her body and fondle her breast. Her pregnancy had made her nipples swollen and sensitive and she flinched slightly at his touch. He withdrew his hand at once. There was a pause and she pressed her body against his, willing him to continue their love making.

  Once more his hand was stroking her, this time it trailed down over her belly. The foetus stirred again and this time Dennu must have felt it, for he rolled away from her and stared up at the ceiling.

  “There are three of us in this bed,” he said.

  “Yes, I am sorry. I think the foetus knows what we are doing.”

  “What kind of monster is it?” said Dennu.

  Kiya sat up. “It is no monster, Dennu. It is something wonderful. Look.” She showed Dennu her arm, where the scar ran scarlet across her golden skin. “This is where Isis hit me with her death ray. I was in agony, but I felt the new baby stir for the first time within my body and seconds later my arm was cured.”

  Dennu frowned. “That is magic, indeed. I suppose I must congratulate you for creating such a creature.”

  He sounded bitter and Kiya tried to comfort him. “It will be our child, Dennu. You have promised to love the baby and we can be a happy family.”

  He shook his head. “This is all wrong.” He got out of bed, wrapped himself in a robe and left the room. Kiya lay back on the bed and folded her hands over her belly. Is this what you wanted? She directed her thoughts at the foetus. Is it too much to ask that I can have a happy marriage?

  When Dennu came back he was dressed in his priestly robes. “Goodbye,” he said and he did not lean down to kiss her.

  There was something final in his words and Kiya looked up at him in dismay. “Are you leaving me?” she asked.

  “You can stay here,” he said. “I have arrangements to make.”

  “I love you!” She heard the desperation in her voice. He did not reply but walked out of the door, shut it behind him and was gone.

  Kiya sat up in bed and willed him to return but the door remained closed. She looked around the bedroom, which was lit by the high slit-like windows usual in Egyptian buildings. In the seating pit, the brazier contained the cinders of last night’s fire as dead as the ashes of her marriage. If only the baby had allowed their lovemaking everything would have been fine – or would it? Dennu was not an easy man. He was powerful and felt emotions deeply. Yet she loved him and knew that if he was straightforward and placid she would not love him so much. What were these arrangements he was going to make? Was he going to have her arrested for trespassing in the Queen’s chambers last night? She knew him as an honourable man, but was his allegiance deeper to the King than to her?

  Kiya sighed. Whatever the day was to bring, she had better be ready for it. She rose from the bed and put on the cloak. There were two doors leading out of the bedroom. One led to the main room at the front of the house, and the other to a dressing room with clothes stands and a sunken bath. The bath was empty but there was a bowl of water on a table and a small container of soap. A crumpled towel lay on the floor. Kiya washed and dried herself then she looked through Dennu’s clothes to find something she could wear.