The Forgotten: Aten's Last Queen (34 page)

“I’m saying, come and try to run me through. My arms are tempered by rage. My heart is consumed with thoughts of your death. I am a lioness avenging her children, smelling the stench of your murderous deeds, and I will make your blood paint the floors! All will smell the wickedness of your deeds and curse you for eternity,” she hissed. Then she spat on the ground and began to make her way to Smenkhkare.

He put up his guard as quickly as Mother attacked. I could tell she had strength as Smenkhkare had to adjust his stance to her strike.

Her vengeance was unleashed.

Mother’s breathing was sharp and heavy. Each strike was vocalized by emotion. There was such sorrow there, excitement, anger, and pleasure. Like a king cobra, her movements were precise and quick. She struck at Smenkhkare again and again. I had never seen Mother so powerful. I knew of her mind, but her physical strength was something I had never fathomed. I had seen the propaganda on the temple walls of her as a conquerer, but I thought it was just that. Her lithe movements and heft to her strikes brought awe.

I realized I never truly knew my mother. I took what I could from her -- comfort, strength -- and I learned what I wanted, but I never asked her about herself. Her ba was a stranger to me. She was someone this world would not see the likes of again. She was a god-like woman who graced us for a time, and somehow we never saw her true form. How many other people were in the world like her? How many were lost to time, blown away like a storm in the night? For a time, their voices were loud as thunder, but now they were dispersed in the wind.

She would live forever. I would make sure of it.

Some of Smenkhkare’s followers tried to catch Mother in the back, but Horemheb and Tutankhaten led a charge against them.

Mother seemed not to tire, but Smenkhkare was clearly sweating. Her nostrils flared at him with her breath; her eyebrows were knit together as she continued to strike. Behind her, Tutankhaten fell. His attacker could have taken the blade down on his head, but instead he swung it at Mother.

I screamed for her.

At the approaching motion, she dodged and brought up her blade in the attacker’s ribs.

Her sword stuck.

Smenkhkare smiled. With a quick jab, his drove his blade into mother’s stomach. She let go of her hilt, but she did not fall.

With arrogance, Smenkhkare let go of his blade, stepped backward, and raised his arms in triumph. The sword fell from Mother’s flesh and clattered on the ground. She dropped onto her knees. She had her hands at her exposed belly. Blood was flowing freely through her fingers and coating her nails the deepest pigment of ochre, but she kept her body rigid and upright. Everyone else around us seemed to stop. Their king had won.

“I must admit, you have skill as a warrior. Too bad it all came to naught.” He walked forward and leaned in close to Mother. His voice was like a serpent’s. “How does it feel to lose everything?”

“The cup is at your lips. Taste it. It is my sweet revenge.” Her voice was strong, still commanding, as she flicked her forearms in a downward motion. Suddenly, knives appeared from beneath the leather on her arms. They slid into her open palms. Quick as a snap, she drove the knives into each side of Smenkhkare’s throat. His eyes bulged, and blood poured from his mouth like a decanter.

“Tut!” Mother yelled.

At that, Tutankhaten ran forward and stabbed his sword through Smenkhkare’s gut. His eyes clouded over, and he fell backwards onto the ground, bending Tutankhaten’s sword in half.

It was too fast, it was better than he deserved, but it could not be undone. They could leave no time for stitching up of wounds. There could be no doubt that he was dead. He would leave these lands forever.

“When your heart speaks of your deeds at the gates of the dead, may it curse you eternally!” Mother said with the last of her strength. Then she too fell backwards.

I was there to catch her before her head hit the stones. I curled my arms around her and held her in an embrace. I could feel her body shaking within my grasp. Her ka was slipping out.

“Mother.” I whispered, “Why?”

I drew back my head and looked at her eyes. She still drew breath. She could still see my face.

“This is what had to be done. Now you and my husband’s son,
my
son, can live in peace.” She reached out her hand to Tutankhaten, who came over and held on tightly.

“Why must you die too? Enough has been taken from me. Please stay with me, Mother.” And the tears finally came. It was a flood onto Mother’s chest. Everything from the past seasons spilled from me. All my anger and sorrow finally rolled away from me, like the clouds in a storm, letting me go.

Mother smiled. Her eyes began to roll back in her head, but she blinked twice and found command of them again. “My precious daughter, I will save for you the greenest pastures, the most beautiful house, and we will be there to greet you. But not yet. You must live for us all. Stand tall and firm. Do not let anyone take away your choices.”

“Mother, let me come with you,” I begged. “I do not want to walk this side of the world anymore.”

“You will stay and bring peace to everyone you see. You and Tut can do this. The people love you.”

I spoke in a rush. She would not die before I could say all that I had once held back. “They love
you
. We all have, always. You are the true inspiration behind our city. With you here, we all lived with joy. Everything could have survived. Why did Father have to push you away?”

“He believed in everything passionately except in himself. He lost sight of what mattered, and it destroyed who he was. You cannot blame him. There were other things that influenced our fates. Now, tonight, I have set it right. It is my gift to you.”

“I will be just like you. I will listen and be wise and always fight for our people. I will not let you down.”

Mother coughed gently. Blood began to stain her teeth. “Have I ever told you how much you look like my mother? She was so beautiful.”

“I’ve heard it said that it is you who looks like your mother.”

“The secret is out then.” She tried to smile. Her lips spread into a thin line.

I could say no more. I was choking in my tears. I simply nodded my head as I swallowed hard. My throat was burning.

“I love you,” she said.

It was the last of her. As she said it, a breeze surrounded my face, teased my hair, and finally dashed across the Great River.

I closed my eyes. There was nothing but sound, air, and scent to me now. I could smell the ash of blood growing stronger as the dead littered the ground. I could hear the scatter of feet as Smenkhkare’s followers ran for their lives. I could hear the water rushing beside us, traveling to distances I could only imagine. Another scent caught me by surprise. It was Mother’s perfume, lily.

I stood and walked up to the quay’s altar. I put my hands on it and closed my eyes again. I prayed, “Praise you, Aten, for the men and women who still take in breath this night. But this is not a victory. Our swords were not for You. They did not do Your work. That was man’s work. You gave us courage to do what is best for Your people, but the sacrifices have been great. Guide our hearts to do Your will. This city is now a sea of blood. Let it be that we will leave this place for chaos consumes it. Guide our sails to peace and prosperity. Let not man’s heart lay this land to waste ever again.”

As I stepped back, Ay came up to me. His eyes were riddled with fury. He grabbed me by my arm. At the motion, Tutankhaten came up behind me.

“Where is your daughter?”

“I left her with the nurse.”

“She is not with the dead. She was supposed to be with Merytaten Tasherit. Where is she?”

Tutankhaten answered him, “Enough of this, Grandfather. We have won today. Are you trying to hurt Ankhesenpaaten more? We have just held our mother and watched the life drain away from her. Step back.”

“There can be no other heirs. Where is she?” In his anger, his spit washed my face. I blinked and tried to pull away.

Tutankhaten put his blade to Ay’s arm. “Let her go and leave her be. There will be no more of this discussion.”

“She was not supposed to live.” His hand left my arm.

“Your daughter lies in her own blood, and all you are concerned about is the death of my child?” I yelled at him.

“We made our peace. I have made my sacrifices. I hope you have made yours. Any other child of Ankhenaten’s cannot live. This reign ends with us.” He sneered at me.

His callousness disturbed me more than Smenkhkare. I wondered if I was following the right people, but I knew my brother’s intentions were pure when he had accepted Ay’s help. It was through that help that got us this far. We had defeated a demon.

“There will be no other threats to the pharaoh,” I retorted.

I turned away from him. I could see rage in Tutankhaten’s eyes directed at Grandfather. I could hear his steps as Ay left the quay. When he was gone, I turned toward the river.

My heart beat faster as the events of this night swelled in my thoughts. I listened to the waves washing the shoreline just as they had when I walked with Mayati. Amazing, wonderful people had been murdered, but the world moved on as if nothing happened.

There was a small breeze which teased my hair. A wisp of it blew across my eyes. With a finger of my right hand, I pushed it behind my ear. As my hand dropped back to my side, Tutankhaten caught it. He took my hand in his and started to interlace his fingers between mine. It was a little hesitant and careful. He was unsure of himself. I moved my fingers, and grasped his hand in mine.

He looked over at me and smiled. “We will start over. It will be better. I promise.”

“I can see in your eyes that it will. Thank you for rescuing me.”

“You are worth it.”

I looked down at my feet, stained almost purple from the blood around us, and shook my head. “I cannot imagine anything worth this.”

“Your life is. To me it is.” He paused for a moment to catch his breath. “I know Father has not been kind to you. I know you have not become the person you wish to be. I want you to know that I will care for you. When you are ready, we will be husband and wife. I will begin everything again for you. I will make things better. Will you have me?”

It was a question I did not have to think about. “Of course.”

Tutankhaten smiled brightly at me. He blew out the breath he held waiting for my answer.

I continued, “We need to leave here, though. There are too many ghosts. I am sick of being haunted by the past. I will stand by you for as long as Aten gives us.”

“An, I know you are in love with someone outside the palace, but I hope that --.”

“There is nothing there. You do not need to worry.”

“I just wanted you to know that I will never force you to do anything. If you still love him, it’s all right.”

I shook my head, snapping the sadness from me. I would not allow it anymore.

“You were right, though,” he said to me. “Everything has changed.”

“What?”

“At 9, everything changes. I have a kingdom to rule. I have never given orders before in my life, and now the fate of the world rests at my feet.”

“You are smart. And I will help you when I can. In truth, I do not know much either.”

“Horemheb will stay as my aide. Of course, Grandfather will be part of our counsel as well. His actions today disturb me. I will have to keep my guard up around him.”

I had nothing more to say. He was right about Grandfather. For now, though, we would need his advice and his experience.

There was so much ahead of us. It was as vast as the horizon. Our next step would change everything.

Part Three:

Rebirth of Ra

Every Lion is Come Forth From His Den
1322 B.C
.

My mother had once told me I was born in chaos. I knew with certainty that it followed me closely. During my birth, the destruction of a large monument in honor of Amun took place. Mother had asked Pharaoh not to destroy such an opulent offering to the god when her child was to be born, but he was consumed with rage at the priests. As the stones fell that night, my life began.

But it was not only chaos that surrounded me; death seemed to follow closely on my heels too. The deaths of Neferneferuaten and my grandmother were the most frightening I had witnessed. They had looked fine just seconds before the disease had erupted in them. Their eyes seemed to fade as death laid its shroud over their faces. It made me realize that death could strike anyone at anytime. Even in the happiest of occasions, a ka could be stripped from the body. Laughter did not scare death. Death had no fears. It could be anywhere and everywhere at once. It was not contained by flesh.

I always wondered if Death was a spirit, a lost ka, whose hunger was never satisfied. Perhaps it continued to search for its earthly form taking other ka with it as it passed from body to body. I wondered if one day it would find itself again and wake up in the Afterlife. Maybe then those of us living on the sands would not fear when they would die, they would welcome it after a long and happy lifetime. It would be natural instead of sudden and frightening. It would not linger. It would not feed on the body slowly. It would simply come when the body said no more, this life has been enough.