Opener of the Sky

by Mary R Woldering

“I just never wanted to believe what he told me; that snake -hearted priest! That there was nothing left of you. Gods, I was ready to turn myself into their goddess Aset for you and to run around searching heaven and earth for your body until I could have it and breathe life back into it. By El, I wanted him dead. I don’t know what it was, but I just felt weak around him, like I couldn’t do anything to defend myself. He made me do things…”

  “But that’s his power, don’t you see?” Marai shook his head. “It even worked on me,” he paused to revel for a moment in her look. He wanted to stop her from talking so he could just stand there holding her. “He puts the thought in your heart that he’s not so evil – that he means well, then speaks into your dreams at night and tells you over and over that you’re nothing and that he will defeat you. But, you knew the truth that you were strong.” Marai shrugged, then began to sway back and forth with her. “And look! You beat him! He didn’t break you, not my strong Ari.” He kissed her gently, but her arms flung around him holding him tightly and desperately.

  “You kept the Children of Stone and warmed the hearts of all the royal men,” Marai let her hang gently in his arms. He continued, whispering and reassuring her. “You got Naibe calmed down. You told them how it would be different to be dancers and kuna women, to be good concubines to them who asked for it, even though it was killing you to admit everything bad that could also happen and go on happening forever…”

  “But…” she protested. “I was just doing what I’d done before. Why praise me over that?”

  “But nothing, sweet lady…” he stared down into her eyes again. “Do you know what miracles you worked to get up to the king in just days, past all of his viziers and physicians so that the old man realized he needed to stop you? That’s strength. You looked right into a real god-on-earth’s eyes and fed him tea; touched him… Even if he was a kinder one than his forefathers, people don’t just come up to a king!” Marai felt all of the love and pride for her fill his heart.

  “I bet the old man didn’t even realize at first that it was you who put it in his heart all along and even convinced Wserkaf to show mercy to all of you.” He quipped. “I was the threat! They could have turned all of you into the street or had you killed.”

  “Oh Goddess, Marai. You make me feel so…” she kissed his throat a little, looking around as if she wanted to find a place to ravish him “Powerful” and then thought to herself: Dammit, everything’s brick or stone around here!

  “And you fret over the strangest things,” he smiled, walking her to the entrance of the empty burial chamber. He slipped down the inner ladder below the surface, then turned to look up “Come on. Hop down. See if you like it…”

  Ariennu’s laughter pealed naughtily as she descended and swamped him in an embrace almost before he could slide the heavy stone door above them in to place.

  Found Ari. We are together. We are safe… He smiled a thought to Djerah, then turned to hold and kiss the wine-haired woman.

  EPILOGUE: OPENER OF THE SKY

  Shortly after everyone heard the thought from Marai for them to “not wait up”, the Akaru bid his wife goodnight and suggested Naibe go for a long walk with Djerah.

  “Oh, I would like to walk with you, Djee,” Naibe’s eyes shone in helpful sympathy. “I know you are still torn inside and I do remember how it was when I was reborn. At least you are seeing the changes as they come, not being stunned by them on waking as it was with the rest of us.”

  “Go. Go on. Take a walk, but not to my viewing place.” Akaru rolled his eyes in his own naughty mirth. “I need some space and quiet while I do my evening ritual, then I too will sleep.”

  The elder saw Djerah’s genuine laughter and knew the young man’s heart had become so much lighter. If he sent Djerah on a walk with young Naibe, he could journey among the stars, and perhaps to the mysterious woman who was now with the prince, without distraction.

  “I’ll wait by the entrance to the gated place,” Naibe blew a kiss to him.

  Djerah rose as servants removed the empty plates, helped Naibe to her feet, and then draped her little shawl over her bare arms. She folded her needlework and put it in her sewing and weaving basket. When she had put her things away, he offered her his arm.

  Akaru noticed how happy they looked as they exited the plaza and chuckled as Djerah positioned his knife and sheath so he could grasp it quickly if there was trouble.

  Trouble? No you won’t have any, he thought, then called out: “Stay by the wall, you’ll be safest there.” Fledgling. Akaru thought, and soon he will take his first flight. He is getting incredibly pretty, too, like Marai…like he really is Marai’s son. Marai will have a son soon, and later more children, so why is it important that Djerah be his ‘son’? Wonder what all of this means. If I consult the spirit tonight, perhaps I will learn the answer.

  He carried his lamp to the center of the open plaza. Once he set it down, he crept into the room where Marai and his other guests were staying and brought out the wdjat Djerah had handled and the twelve stones still in the leather bag the sojourner had left with his things. After he set the bag down next to the lamp, he went out to the center and pulled back rush mats that had covered an etched design of the Flower of Life. He found a broom and swept the dust out of the grooved tracks of the pattern so it was easily visible.

  For him, it had always been a place of special conjurations and a contact point of greatest strength since before he was born. Legend had it that the design had been there since ancient times when the gods walked as men. It had been drawn in the sun brick surface by fire from the sky. Most of the time, Akaru meditated in his observatory. Tonight, he needed to make a stronger attempt to call the woman of Ta-Seti who had not returned with the others.

  She had asked him to come, in her own way; Akaru knew that. When she had come to the observatory porch several nights earlier, he had suddenly known her name and mentioned it to her. Sekhet Meri Netert. She reacted and was about to say something, but was distracted and vanished. She had not returned, but he sensed her thinking about him at different times during the week.

  When he lit the little pots of incense, he took the wdjat and twelve stones, placing the crystal medallion in the center of the flower and the twelve in double rows of six placed equally around the perimeter.

  Oh, you are so curious about me now, aren’t you, Sekhet Meri Netert whom they call Nefira Deka. He called you that as well, because you were pleasing. Akaru sat near the wdjat and closed his eyes. But there are things you do not know. Our friend young Maatkare Raemkai distracts you and wakes your hunger, but doesn’t know how to control it. Neither do you. You play with a hotter fire than you can know.

  He knew it would be up to him to distract her into leaving the prince and coming back to them. That way, she could evolve into her full form. Her return would need to be before the prince and his men came roaring though Qustul Amani to gather travel supplies and to go to their boats. That venture, he knew, would have to be swift or they would face battle with any men left in the newer town. Despite the elder’s efforts to calm them, they wanted revenge even if they would lose.

  And young Djerah. He thought as he began to clear his worries and lapse into a trance. If the men from New Qustul return, someone will recognize him as the scruffy creature from down the river and wonder what sort of sorcery is animating and changing him and why their own relatives had not been resurrected along with him. Soon it won’t matter if the dark portion of Sutekh arrives. Storms will already be here. I feel them brew and boil every day. I have to see what I can to do convince her to return.

  “I must speak to you who are lady of this land. I would learn your ways of heka. Allow me to fly to you.” Akaru had the gnawing feeling that the woman was a true goddess walking and was close to the spirit and identity of Sekhmet, Tefnut, or Menhit. Maybe she was the reality of all three… She had passed the tests.

  And that poor bastard Maatkare doesn’t know she could disintegrate his soul into the pri
son of five thousand years just on a whim.

  In the quiet, his thoughts rose and the smoke that rose around him formed into a giant ball of light that lifted his soul from his seated form. The orb wafted by the observatory, entertained for a moment’s bliss by the thought of Marai and Ariennu immensely enjoying each other in an empty sarcophagus. He sped a little faster, pausing to see young Djerah innocently cuddling Naibe, as they sat counting the stars outside the wall. He saw the young man touch her slightly swelling belly and feel for kicks as proudly as if the child was his own.

  He soared over the encampment. A celebration was going on below. Akaru sensed it. There had been a successful small hunt earlier in the day. The skins were already stretched on drying frames by the campfires. Other things were being gathered and tightened as if the group was preparing to break camp soon.

  Planning his move to the boats in the morning? If that’s so, I need to return to myself, because there will be ugliness. Still, I need to speak to her, out here, first. I need for her to be away from him. Akaru sensed blood and killing as he neared the royal tent. For a moment his thoughts froze, because he felt death, too. Has she killed him? Have they killed each other? He asked himself.

  Outside the tent, the two black lions stood guard, but they looked like men. Akaru nodded to them that they were doing well. His shadow sensed her cleaning him, lapping blood from his throat in a strangely erotic tongue kiss. His head was thrown back in joy; his chest heaving. The prince was alive, but something other than drink and sex intoxicated him. Akaru felt a sudden numbness cut through him that was so powerful it almost hurled him back to his meditation area in Qustul the moment he saw her.

  What is that astride the prince? What thing is that? What had at first impressed him as the cinnamon skinned woman mutated into something else. A blue-black, blacker than the darkest Kushite, alien creature that looked like the night sky come to life, bent over him. She was bent-shouldered, eyes red with fire… hair like flame that became golden and rippled into tawny skin that was no longer brown as spice. Her face looked up and, in a brief flash, he saw it wasn’t even human, but caught somewhere between starry night and lioness.

  The prince had become wild and dark in the same way. His black hair fanned out to his shoulders now. He was mad to almost screaming with desire, his fangs bared like a wolf or dog. The illusion of fine black fur coated him. Her stone blazed forth like a drop of glowing red blood. She was a lioness and he a wolf or dog, transformed in the midst of lovemaking.

  “Feel it beloved,” she whispered. “See how good it is. You are great. You are above all men. I worship you as my Ta-Te reborn.”

  Sekhet… voice of heat and dryness. I call you. Akaru Sef whispered, weak, because what she said about “Ta-Te reborn” had struck him like several knives. The name she recalled for the god she conjured was just wrong.

  Daughter of the Eastern wind raise your face to me. One of the names you seek is Sutekh-Sebiumeker, raise your beautiful countenance…

  Deka paused, raising her face. There were haunted shadows in her cheeks and an expression of horror mixed with delight.

  Yes, he affirmed, going to her and embracing her with spirit arms. You have found your lost self. See who you are? I have felt the same pain of loss, and so has he – but not like you. Do not cling to him any longer. Your place is among the stars. Come to me instead. He continued, trying to convince her.

  Akaru Sef’s thoughts froze as Maatkare’s eyes slid open in the realization that there had been a break in this strange wedding of two magnificent creatures. His eyes were glowing green. The stone in his brow was green too.

  The governor lay on his side on the Flower of Life pattern in his open courtyard, numb. He didn’t know how long he had been lying there, or that he had cried out loudly enough to wake his wife Xania. He knew she was there now and that she bent to check on him.

  “Mtoto Metau-te, my Ameny… say you are well,” she gasped. “Oh…”

  His instinct, however scattered it was at that moment told him she realized she had breached the sacred space. He wanted to tell her it was alright, but couldn’t.

  “Too late. It’s too late,” was all he could say.

  GLOSSARY

  Pronunciation note: the pronunciation guides are purely speculative and written in common American English pattern.

  Akh (Ahk) – Intelligence after death, memory.

  Akkad (Ah-cad) – Ancient name for the area of modern-day Iraq; a person from that region.

  Amenti (Ah-men-tea) – Also known as Duat land of the Underworld – The West, Field of Reeds. The place of the dead.

  Ammit (Ay-mit) – “Devourer” or “soul-eater”; also spelled Ammut or Ahemait, was a female demon in ancient Egyptian religion with a body that was part lion, hippopotamus, and crocodile.

  Anhur (On-Her) – The Nubian Lion god.

  Apedemeketep (Ah-ped-eh-meh-keh-tep) – Grandson of Akaru.

  Apep (A-pep) – A huge serpent (or crocodile) which lived in the waters of Nun or in the celestial Nile. Each day he attempted to disrupt the passage of the solar barque of Re. In some myths, Apep was an earlier and discarded sun-god himself. Also called Apohis

  Ariennu (Ah-ree-in-oo) – Similar meaning to name Arianna or Ariadne in Greek meaning “most holy”.

  Asar (Uh-sar) – An Ancient Egyptian deity of the underworld and resurrection. Name of the Nile. Also called Osiris.

  Ashera(h) (Ah-sher-ah) – A mother goddess who appears in a number of ancient sources “Queen of Heaven”, consort of the Sumerian god Anu and Ugaritic El (both bull deities) the word ‘elat’ is used to describe her as “goddess”.

  Bakha Montu (Ba-ka-mahn-too) – The meaning of his name was “nomad”. The warrior nature of Menthu made him a bull god Menthu would also be represented as a man with the head of a bull. There were at least three great sacred bulls of the Ancient Egypt called the Apis of Memphis, Mnevis of Heliopolis and Buchis at Hermonthis (the Bakha).

  Buhen (Boo-hen) – Town and sepat south of Qustul.

  Bunefer (Boo-ne-fur) – Prophetess for Shepseskaf, bodily wife, possible mother of his eldest daughter.

  Buto (Boo-toe) – Ancient coastal city near Alexandria. The goddess Wadjet was its local goddess, often represented as a cobra. Her oracle was located in her renowned temple in that city. King Menkaure received a tragic prediction there, according to legend.

  Deka (Deh-kuh) – Means “One who pleases”

  Djedi (Jed-iy or Jed-eye) – Historical Djedi son of Sneferu. He was the first recorded magician.

  Djehuti (Jeh-hoo-tea) – The Egyptian God of mathematics, writing, and scholarship. In some creation myths He is the voice of Ptah (the word or logos that appears in Christian and Jewish creation myths) as Ptah Emerges from the Cosmic Egg. Also called Thoth.

  Djerah bin Esai (Jair-uh –ben-ee-sye) – Djerah son of Esai, Marai’s great grandnephew.

  Djin (Jin) – Spirit, often demonic.

  Dumuzi (Do-moot-see) – Is a shepherd god who represents the harvest season but also became a god of the underworld thanks to the goddess Ishtar (Ashera).

  El (Ell) – Cannanite for penis. One of the male deities.

  Haboob (Ha-boob) – Dust Storm.

  Heka (Heh-kuh) – Magic, sorcery.

  Heru (Hair-oo) – Horus Hawk deity.

  Hethrt (Heth-uroot) – Hethara Hathor Mistress of Life, the Great Wild Cow, the Golden One, the Mistress of Turquoise, Lady of Iunet (Dendera, Egypt) Beauty, happiness music & dance.

  Hordjedtef (Hoar-jeh-tef) – Also seen as Hardaduf or Djedephor in ancient literature. Son of Khufu, Count of Nekhen. Prince, Scholar, Author of the “Wisdom Texts” faded into semi obscurity after his brother Djedephre became king, but name appears as a living person throughout the rule of Menkaure.

  Houra bint Ahu (Hoo-rah-bent-ah-hoo) – Marai’s half-sister.

  Iah (Yah) – Egyptian Time God Iah-Djhuty.

  Ibu (Ee-boo) – The tent of purification. This is the place where mummification was
performed.

  Inanna (In-ah-na) – Sumerian pantheon in ancient Mesopotamia. She is a goddess of love, fertility, and war.

  Ineb Hedj (In-eb-Hedge) – Earliest name for Memphis (Men Nefer) later Cairo means White Wall.

  Kalasaris (Ka-la-sah-ris) – Woman’s sheath was held up by one or two straps and was worn down to the ankle, while the upper edge could be worn above or below the breasts.

  Ka-reen (Ka-reen) – Kemet-ized word for qua-reen – a succubus.

  Ka’t (Ka-tea) – Woman, vagina, used as a derogatory term woman good for only one thing (Egyptian).

  Keftiu (Kef-tee-oo) –Land of People of the Sea; Crete.

  Keleb (Kay-leb) – Sexually submissive male or dog position in M/M pairings – a Canaanite term.

  Kemet (Kem-et) – Ancient name for Egypt.

  Kentake (Ken-tah-kay) – Title for “queen-mother” of the ancient Kingdom of Kush in the Nile Valley.

  Khat (Koht) – Simpler men’s head scarf, covering.

  Khmenu (Khmun, Hermopolis K’men-oo) – Worship center for Djehuti Thoth.

  Kina-Ahna (Kina Land – Kee-na Ah-nah) – Canaan (Israel & Palestine).

  Kuna (Koo-nah) – Canaanite version of the word Ka’t (see above).

  Kush (Koosh) – Sudan.

  Maatkare Raemkai (M’yat-kah-ray Ra-em-kiye) – The names mean “Truth in the soul of the sun”. It also means “the sun is my life force”.

  Mafdet (Mof-det) – Mafdet was a goddess who protected against snakes and scorpions. Mafdet was also seen as a feline goddess.

  Malak (Ma-lack) – Semitic word for “angel”.

  Marai bin Ahu (Muh-rye ben Ah-oo) – Marai son of Ahu.

  Menkaure or Menkaure Kha-ket (Men-caw-ray Ka-ket) – King associated with the 3rd Giza Pyramid.

  Merytetes (Mary-te-tees) – Common princess name. In this case name of an unknown, speculated daughter of Menkaure.

  Monthu (or Menthu-Ra Mahn-too) – A solar god (hawk or bull), associated with Amun and sometimes paired with Set.

  Mtoto Metauhetep Akaru Sef (Muh-toe-toe Meh-t’ow-tep Ah-kah-roo-seff) – Regional ruler of Qustul Amani and Qustul.