Shadow of the Sun (The Shadow Saga) (56 page)

In a candlelit room a Maiden with ebony skin received a hefty bag of gold from an adoring man and promises of his eternal devotion. So, these were the Rituals of Love. There appeared to be many ways to perform these sacred acts.

I journeyed to a manicured garden full of imported flowers in rainbows of colors; I noticed couples locked in sweet embrace. With curiosity, I moved closer and was startled to find Tadushet and Smenkhkare attempting a clumsy kiss. In the far corner cuddled Ra-Awab and Keshtuat, their hands exploring unchartered lands. Archollos and Sarawat exchanged a passionate meeting of the lips.

I snapped back into my body and my hand must have hit the bucket with a thud. Rennutet stared. “What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” I said, and hung my head. My face flushed, warmth pervaded my body, envy besieged me, as I yearned for Archollos’s touch.

“Something must be vexing you. I can see it by your expression. Tell me what it is.” Rennutet folded her arms.

“You would never believe me.”

“What happened?” she demanded.

“Sometimes when I let my mind wander I can see things.”

“What things?”

“Archollos kissing Sarawat.”

“She has always favored him.”

“But he should know better.” I said, “Besides, she honks like a goose.” Rennutet nudged me. “You have an attraction to him. I should have known.”

“No, I do not. He makes me angry and I cannot understand why he bothers me so.”

“I do. Your heart knows too,” she said, then giggled. “You should try to kiss him on the
Feast of Hathor
. Everyone will be intoxicated. It will be easy.”

“I will never be like the others and have love, not if I hope to become the High Priestess of Osiris. That is the price of the chastity,” I said. “I am sure Father assigned me to midwifery because I am not allowed to learn those skills.”

“The path of Osiris is only for males,” chided Rennutet. “They would never let you succeed. Choose an easier path so you can still be a Neophyte and have love too.”

I scrubbed harder and fumed. “You make it sound so simple. But it is not.”

O
ver the next five months, Rennutet and I advanced so fast in the art of birthing that we were appointed as apprentice midwives.

The work was as difficult as the head midwife described, but also as rewarding.

Rennutet expected to deliver her child any day; her movements slowed, her mood fouled, her back ached, her legs swelled, making it difficult for her to help the squatting women deliver. In order to ease her last days, I doubled my duties by taking over her night shifts. My knowledge and skills improved. When my superior predicted a difficult birth, she summoned me to give aide because of my healing ability.

The New Year started tonight, and the priestesses of Denderah mixed the large quantities of beer from the Temple of Heliopolis with red ochre for the annual Festival of Hathor. This sacred day of drunkenness commemorated the days of old when Hathor, the daughter of Ra, was sent by her father as the All-Seeing Eye to watch over mankind. Then, when we fell from enlightenment into the time of darkness and man forgot to give worship to the deities, Ra sent Hathor out as the lion-headed deity Sekhmet, to punish mankind by consuming them.

Later, when Ra ordered Sekhmet to cease her bloodlust, she refused. So Ra ordered that red beer be spread upon the land. Sekhmet gorged herself with the blood-stained fields and lapsed into an intoxicated stupor. Ra verily stopped her reign of terror. The Festival of Hathor honored the day the Khemitians escaped annihilation.

The Elder Midwife, Rennutet, and I walked back from the morning rituals in the main temple, the Maidens of Amem prepared for the night’s festivities. They adorned their private chambers with bouquets of flowers, finely woven linens upon goose-down mattresses, and fresh supplies of aphrodisiacs, tantalizing body perfumes, and gold dust to add an enticing sparkle. They brushed each other’s hair and massaged flesh with expensive oils.

We giggled at the titillations as Rennutet waddled past them with a bulging belly, a far cry from those sirens’ nubile forms. From the courtyard arrived attendants leading an assortment of leashed exotic animals: male lions with golden manes, braying donkeys, and muzzled crocodiles. I nearly retched to see that green leathery tail undulate from side to side.

“What will they do with all those animals and reptiles?” I asked.

“Are they for the zoo?” added Rennutet.

“No, they will be used in the Ritual Initiations of the
Opening of the Uterus of Isis
,” replied the Elder Midwife.

“Will they be sacrificed?” I asked with sorrow at the thought of such a beautiful lion being killed.

“Of course not,” she said. “The Maidens of Amem use them for copulation. They believe these powerful, strong and cunning animals and reptiles will transmit their qualities through their semen.”

Rennutet and I winced in revulsion. Our cheeks flushed. Those were brave Maidens.

“Will the animals bite them?” I asked.

Rennutet laughed. “Merit-Aten, you ask so many questions.” That made me chuckle too, and I nearly couldn’t contain my water. Suddenly, Rennutet gushed upon the just washed limestone floor. I saw the puddle and laughed harder because, evidently, she couldn’t hold it either. Then Rennutet looked up at me with a strange expression.

“I think my water broke. Praise be to Hathor. My time has come.”

My laughter stopped at once. “Rennutet, let me help you.” I took her by the arm.

The Elder Midwife made a quick check of Rennutet’s condition and heaved a sigh of relief. “So far all is well,” she said, “But you two girls must head back to the Per Akh. First deliveries can take a long time. Merit-Aten, administer the first herbal tinctures, and I shall be along as time allows.

Also, I have received word that we will have another guest of importance sometime today. The Opulent Room has been made ready. The messenger said it was imperative that secrecy be maintained.”

“It is probably another noblewoman or some mistress of a dignitary,” I said, having witnessed all types of arrangements. Noble women and court officials paraded in all the time to bear children.

The Elder Midwife nodded. “Could be.” I guided Rennutet past the Maidens of Amem who touched her stomach for luck and wished us good delivery. The Maiden with the long coppery crimped hair had dropped to her knees to bring a man behind a curtain to pleasure. I watched her bobbing head and saw his hands clutch the red drapes upon his release. We neared the impassioned couple when the Maiden pulled away, and out came a golden-haired man.

“Archollos?” I said, stunned.

“Oh,” he answered, as if feeling quite drained. “Hail to the fair Maidens.”

“Maidens indeed,” I said with indignance. Could he not see that Rennutet labored? “It is a bit early for carnal indulgence.”

“Day or night always seems to agree with me,” replied Archollos. This temple had turned him into a strutting peacock, and the local peahens had inflated both his ego and his penis. Did I smell beer upon his breath? Somehow I thought his moral integrity would be unassailable. Rennutet clutched her abdomen and moaned as the first expansion assaulted her.

“Renny,” said Archollos, suddenly sober and serious. “We shall assist you to the Per Akh.”

His gesture of caring surprised me. He put his long arm around her, his hand reaching to the back of my waist, which helped to support our classmate. A shiver ran up my spine. How odd, because the humid day already made me perspire. We guided Rennutet, into a clean and empty cell and helped her to a stool. I found a bowl of fresh water and cooled her face with a wet cloth. Archollos drew the curtains and only peeked in.

“May Hathor watch over you and bless you both.”

In that pause between the next sharp expansion, Rennutet and I raised our eyebrows and stared at our classmate. Archollos offered a fleeting but genuine smile of encouragement, then he was gone.

“He is not as bad as you judge him to be,” said Rennutet, panting.

“After all, he is entitled to engage in the Ritual Acts of Love for his training.”

“What makes you think I care even a fly’s speck? Poor boy, his organ must be chafed with all that training.”

“Merit-Aten, back at Heliopolis, Archollos brought bread for me to eat after my morning sickness, and he took over my chores while I napped.”

I was astonished. “I did not know that Archollos thought about anyone but himself.”

“Sometimes he does,” Rennutet insisted. “More than you know.”

Rennutet gasped in pain at another contraction.

Rennutet had given me plenty to think about as I walked her around the room and massaged her abdomen. In between contractions, I slipped out to serve the other women for their deliveries. Raucous laughter from the outer court echoed through our chamber. Hordes of people chattered and consumed the red beer.

A very young woman at the far end of the Per Akh wailed and fought the pain. I ran to her cubicle to give aide. Two other assistants tried holding her arms down so that she wouldn’t flee. The Elder Midwife took the knife to cut her sheath away when the young woman flailed and kicked her. The knife slashed the midwife’s hand, blood gushed from the wound, and she stood in terror as the shock hit her.

“I will deliver this child,” I said. “Go get help.” I turned my attention back to the woman whose baby’s head now crowned. She fought so hard against the pain that I ordered her to stop so as not to hurt her child. Saying her superstitious prayers, she clasped her amulet and calmed herself. “Now, Push,” I commanded in no uncertain terms. Startled by my sharp tone, the woman obeyed, and her baby popped out into my waiting hands. “Ah, a healthy boy.” I gave the squalling infant to the young attendant to clean and wrap in fresh linens.

“Merit-Aten, may I see you?” called another attendant. I congratulated the new mother and stuck my head outside the curtain.

“We have a problem,” she said. “The attending midwife scheduled herself to be on duty tonight, but a messenger just summoned her to the Royal Embalmer’s house for the birth of twins. The mother has had a difficult pregnancy and feared losing the babies by traveling here. Seeing how she and her family contributed great sums to this temple, tonight’s attending midwife felt she owed the Royal Embalmer’s wife her full attention. And, because of the chaos on the waterways due to tonight’s festival, she may not return in time.”