The Forgotten: Aten's Last Queen (8 page)

“We do not call our god Aten. He is Adonai to my people. And we cannot speak His sacred name as you can your Aten. Only the chosen one of Adonai can.”

I crinkled up my face at the thought. Why would the people not be able to call upon their god by His name? How else would He hear them?

He continued, “Adonai protected my father, and Father rescued my mother. She was terrified and was so far from home. She had no place to go. Her family had been traveling to your lands to start their own business. Being a traveler himself and selling his wares in many different cities, my father knew the Greek language. My father offered to protect her on the rest of her journey here,” he continued, his eyes now meeting my gaze. “But she had nothing to offer him and nothing to sell anymore. Her goods were ruined. Her father, fluent in many languages, had been slaughtered. My father says when he looked into her eyes for the first time that day, he knew that Adonai had sent him there for a reason.”

“The Aten is wise. What a wonderful story. So he took her as his wife then?”

“They were journeying back together to my father’s land to see if they could find her passage home. On the way, they fell in love. When they got back, he announced to his family that they would marry.”

“So that is where your hair and eyes come from, your mother! I bet she is beautiful!” Again my cheeks flushed at this. I did not understand why I said that.

“She was lovely, my father carries around a sketch of her that he did himself, but that is all I have. And our people did not approve of the marriage. They said she was nothing but a slave, and Greeks were the enemy. They did not want her in their lands, thinking of her as a spy. The people called her evil names,” he said sadly.

He looked down at the grass. One of his fingers slowly traced designs in the blades. “They had to leave. So they decided to come here. Their journey was blessed almost the whole way. They joined other travelers when they could. Mother was very good about caring for my father who does not do so well in the heat in the middle part of the day. She would wash his forehead and keep plenty to drink. She knew where to find water and how to ration for the journey. She was also quite used to the heat and seemed to come alive in it, as my father would say. He often speaks of how the sun would shine on her face and make her look as lovely as the stories of goddesses from her land. But then she became pregnant with me. They almost made it here, but they were lone travelers again when I came… before Kemet was on the horizon. My father helped her all that he could, but she died, and I lived. He did not know what he would do with me without a mother and without food, but he would not abandon me either. Yet Adonai was there. Father walked for only a few steps when a large group of people appeared over a dune. They took pity on him and found a wet woman to feed me. They went back to where my mother had departed from us and helped to bury her out in the desert and let Father join their caravan. They became our new family. They taught us about the One, and my father felt something he never had before. He felt peace. Before we had worshipped many gods, but now all we needed was one God.”

“One God, just like my father has taught us! These people must have been followers of Aten!”

“They were not Khemtu if that is what you mean. There were only a few Khemtu people with them who helped to teach me the language. Actually, the caravan was fleeing from Kemet.”

“That is silly! Why would they not enter it? And Father has never had to send his army out. Why would they flee from us?” I replied with a wrinkle in my nose. The story was confusing. “Have you been here long?”

“When I was old enough, my father finally decided to travel again. Father appreciated their hospitality, but he wanted to find a home for me. He did not want to live as wanderers do. And those people were waiting for something, a home, but they could not enter it yet. Perhaps they have found it by now. For my father and me, we have found a small house that suits our needs here in this new city, but the heat still bothers him. I must care for my father so he does not get fever as my mother would have…” His voice broke.

I felt tears prick at the corner of my eye. Full of emotion, I leaned over and hugged him tightly. It was something that the nurses always did for us when we were upset. It seemed such a natural thing to do. His touch felt good as he wrapped his arms around me. I could feel my shoulder wet with his sorrow. His breath was hot on my neck, and his hair pressed softly against my cheeks. I felt as if we were the only two people in the world, until my sister saw us, that is.

“Ankhesenpaaten! Get off the ground!” She snapped.

Startled, I jerked away and got to my feet quickly. I almost knocked a different table over as I tripped over my feet and fell backwards. Meketaten was staring at me just like Mother would. She had the gaze of disapproval down pat, and she had only a year on me. I flushed a bright shade of red that spread down my cheeks, neck, and across my chest. I put my hands over my cheeks and could feel the heat behind my skin beating like a drum. Meketaten had a bracelet in her right hand. She swiftly came over and jerked me around with her free hand. With my back to the boy, she pulled me toward the entrance to the interior palace. In fear, I did not look back.

Once we were out of earshot, her scolding began. “How could you touch a boy like that? Do you want people to spread gossip about you? You haven’t even outgrown your youth lock. And you cannot be touching
commoners
like that!”

The tears gathered up and began to cool my burning cheeks as they spilled. I did not know how to respond. It felt so innocent. The worst part was, I never even asked him his name. Meketaten continued to pull me up and over the bridge connecting the two parts of the palaces.

“I will not speak of this to Mother,” she continued, “but you must pull yourself together. We have to make our appearance this afternoon.”

“I’m sorry.” It was all I could think to say. So many emotions were coursing through my body all at once. I did not know how to make sense of them all.

Meketaten stopped and looked me in the eye. Her face was softer than before, “He is a very different boy. It’s not often we see his likeness here. But you must control your feelings. We are princesses of Kemet. Father has a plan for us all, and I know they do not include merchants’ sons. Besides, you can do so much better!”

We continued walking the rest of the way to our rooms with Meket prattling on about the boys in our afternoon class. I had no idea how to respond. When I entered my room, the servants dressed me in pure white linens. I asked Tia to weave ribbons through my lock, my mark of childhood, only because I wanted more time to sort out my thoughts.

I thought about the boy, his face, his touch, his breath. Why was I feeling this way? I had never felt that way about a boy before. I was only 7, why was I having feelings like this? Once my bloods came, I was bound to be married to some noble from the city or perhaps from another land. That would probably be in a couple years. So what was happening to me?

I thought of his face as he had looked at me. He was attractive. I had never seen anyone like him before. He was so easy to talk to and listen to. I bet he had many stories to tell. He was a good storyteller, and I knew that his father was staying to sell jewelry here in Father’s city. I would have to find him again and apologize for my behavior. It was obviously some misunderstanding as I had never seen anyone like him before. The nurses sometimes would take us into the markets, so I knew I could find him. A plan felt formed in my mind when Tia finished up and guided me to the Window of Appearances.

The front entrance court of the king’s house was my destination. There rested a stone terrace atop mighty pillars with a canopy over it to shield our heads from Aten’s rays. The closer we got to His realm, the more we were exposed to His powers. Striding through the central gardens, we came up to the terrace from behind.

I could see my mother and sisters already gathered at the base of the ramp. Tadukhipa’s daughter, Marahkaten, was also standing near but clearly an outcast from my mother’s children. She was staring up at her mother and father already waving to the crowds. Tadukhipa’s father was up there too. I could hear cheering from the mass gathered outside the walls.

Everyone turned to look at me as I approached, clearly later than I realized. Everyone turned, that is, except my oldest sister. She had a large gold diadem on her head, god skin around her arms and neckline, and looked more like a queen than a princess.

My mother walked briskly towards us, faster than I would have expected for someone just days away from delivering her seventh child, and said, “There she is. Tia you are too slow and have delayed our appearance. Bring my daughter here promptly when I ask you to. Next time I will have you dismissed!” She then looked down at me, and her expression changed. “I wanted to thank you, my sweet, for going with Meket to pick out this lovely gift. It is beautiful. I hope to visit this jeweler myself. He is a fine craftsman.”

On her right arm was the bracelet Meketaten had picked out from the Canaanite stall. It was made up of six gold hoops which hugged her delicate wrist and were connected by a bar on one side. The hoops were decorated with blue-, red-, and green-colored beads. In between the colored beads, there were golden lotus flowers which dangled and made soft tapping sounds as they bumped one another. Mother had always enjoyed bracelets as her favorite piece of decoration.

I nodded my head and said, “I heard that they have a shop set up here in the Golden City. I would feel honored to accompany you sometime, Mother. Maybe I could get one too?”

She smiled down at me and then left to stand beside Merytaten. Mother once again looked like the most beautiful woman in all the lands. She wore a garment made of white and trimmed in colorful blue patterns. The top swooped around from her back, across her breasts in one piece, and wound around her left shoulder with the extra material hanging down her arm. Her right arm was left exposed, and the new bracelet stood out among her flawless skin. The lower part of the garment sloped over her large belly and trickled down to her ankles. She stood barefoot, as the rest of us were. Her long neck bent down to Merytaten as she shared a few words in her ear. I had often wished Mother and I were close and spent our days together. Merytaten never showed any affection, but I knew I would have loved to have spent that much time with someone so beautiful and elegant. Mother knew so much about the kingdom.

As we heard the crowds begin to cheer again outside of the walls, Mother waved her hands about her to gather us together. Finally, Father looked down and nodded for us to join him.

I stood at the back of the procession with my youngest sisters, carried by their nurses, and Tadukhipa’s daughter. She looked at me quickly and then stared ahead again. We never spoke to her, my sisters and me. We shared a classroom, but Marahkaten was always the outcast of the group. I was not really sure why this was, it just was. My sisters and I gathered together. Sometimes I did not even know she was there as we were so preoccupied with each other. Marahkaten was born the same year I was, but she had no connection with any of us. She usually stayed in her room with her mother when we were not in our classroom.

She was taller than me. Her face was round, and it almost looked too big for her small body. She also had a youth lock which was much longer than mine. In it were golden bangles shaped as cats. She was a lover of cats and had one in her room that she called Brave One. Like her mother, Tadukhipa’s daughter had brown hair and eyes. Her small nose had freckles about it. Her lips were full and pink. But in my mind, one of her best features was her long eyelashes. She seemed very shy and demure, especially when she was looking through her thick lashes. Her head was almost always tilted towards the ground. I was sure she was nice if one of us would attempt to speak to her, and I resolved to try this next time we were in class.

The light grew brighter as we got closer to the terrace’s open mouth. I could feel that Aten was powerful even before slipping fully into His gaze. I had retreated to my room for preparations before He had fully risen in the sky. I had forgotten all about Him for a while. Stepping out into the sun, His warm breath surrounded me like a shroud. The people were waving and smiling at us. I looked for the boy, but he must still be at the market helping his father. It was midday now, so they might also have taken shelter from the thick heat.

My mother stepped up next to Ahkenaten, Tadukhipa on his other side with her father beside her. Watching the sun reflected off their features, my family looked like gods. The jewelry everyone wore was blinding at this height, standing so close to Aten. I instead looked down at the gathered crowd and their excited faces. How strange to think all these people were happy to see me. I knew no one in the crowd. Yet they called our names and bowed down to us. It was frightening to see so many people yelling up at us.

Father came prepared. Once we were all present, he opened up a sack full of small bread loaves. Everyone reached in and began throwing the bread to our citizens below. The cheering rose, and praises were sung to Pharaoh. Father loved these moments. The clamor of the people below all loving and worshipping his name caused his entire face to alight in bliss. He threw as much bread as he could hold at one time. It was an emotional experience for him. He would throw up his arms and sing the Hymn of Praise to Aten that he had written. He would sing mightily for all to hear. His voice was strong and could be heard over the combined roar below. Tears would flow down his cheeks, but at this height, the people could not see his salty flow of joy.

Tadukhipa and my mother enjoyed these moments too. Mother was observant though. She tried to aim her throws to people who were not in the line of most of the tosses. While everyone else threw haphazardly, she watched and made sure every family received gifts. Merytaten stood next to her and did the same. She watched Mother intensely.

At that moment, I was glad I was not in Merytaten’s place and surrounded by strangers all calling out for you every day, every hour, every minute, even every second. The crowd of people below us was enormous. To keep that many people happy every moment of the day was a frightening task. I could not imagine how Father could balance all their lives. I wondered if Meketaten desired still to be a great wife. Did this throng of people frighten or excite her? Her face looked happy. Of Merytaten’s expression, though, I could not read. A part of me felt sad for her. Would this be Merytaten’s choice if she had one?