"Of Princes And Slaves"
Part 14
by Osiris Brackhaus & Beryll
- Ardeth Bey (Oded Fehr) -
"What is this sound?"
I looked over to Nekhem, who had stopped his horse and now tilted his head, listing to the faint keening and whining that carried on the breeze of falling evening.
Again it struck me how different he looked, compared to the last time we had passed this way. He was wrapped in the dark cloth of my people, his face hidden except for his beautiful eyes. He looked like one of us, not like the Egyptian prince who I had tied to the back of a horse and brought to the desert with a heart full of spite and hatred.
I wondered if fear would stir in my heart again when he was back in his princely garb, when he was back with his own people. Would he be a stranger to me then? Again a cruel godless master?
As if he had heard my thoughts, he drew back the veil covering most of his face and breezed in the cool evening air, uncovering the markings on his cheek.
No, he would never be a stranger to me again. On his face I had written my love for him. Even should he never know, I would hold true to my pledge.
"Ardeth?" he asked again, gently nudging me with one of his feet. "What are you thinking of, love?"
I shrugged, not willing to tell him my mixed thoughts of darkness and hope. "Nothing really. That sound is the wind, singing in a special formation of rocks. It's called 'The Weeping Wind'. We passed it on our way here but I would expect you wouldn't have paid attention to that..."
The pout I had hoped to produce on his face was as cute as I had anticipated. "No, not really." he agreed. "I was... preoccupied. Are we going to spend the night there?"
There suddenly was a very familiar glint in his eye and I could tell that he was planing something. Something that involved both of us without clothes.
"We can." I answered his question. "It's said that the place is often visited by spirits of the night, but you wouldn't fear those, as you are one of them." I brought my horse closer to his, reached over and gently caressed his cheek. "It's only a days ride from the 'Weeping Wind' to the border of your father's realm." I continued, not completely able to suppress the anxiety in my voice.
His eyes darkened and a slight frown appeared on his brow. "Do not look so pained, love," he whispered, leaning into my touch. "I know we go into grave danger, but I swear I will do anything to see us through it alive."
I nodded, but my mind's eye was on the last couple of weeks. A time of joy and constant fear alike. We had taken our time, preparing for our journey, carefully laying down plans in the darkness of our tent, snuggled together like children planing something forbidden.
Usually talk had slowly subsided to be replaced by touches and kisses, sometimes passionate, screaming out our love for the desert to hear, sometimes low and intense, leaving us dizzy and overwhelmed with the sheer size of our emotions.
And during the days we had lived the life of my tribe, clinging to the normality of it, pretending that we were going to be there forever.
With one exception. Nekhem had put it into his head to learn how to fight. He had cornered the swords-master of my tribe one morning and simply pestered him till he gave in. In a way it had been funny to watch. Had I asked for lessons for Nekhem, they would surely have been refused, but like this, the princeling got what we wanted.
Some days later the swords master came to me and asked me to talk Nekhem out of it, but I simply told him that he would have to talk to my cute lover about that, as it was none of my business. Sometimes half the tribe watched the lessons that were equally nerve-wracking for the master as for the student. But Nekhem learned.
Maybe it was this what awakened the ever watchful suspicions of my father. His question had been blunt and straightforward as ever. "What are you two planing?" As there was no way I could come up with a convincing lie, I had simply told him that we had to go back, that Nekhem's honor demanded he resolve the situation with his brother. And that my honor demanded I accompany him.
He had not liked it one bit. But he had not argued. The pain in his eyes had been deep, but he had simply nodded, stating his acceptance. He knew as well as I did that there was a good chance I would not return this time.
Again I was brought out of my dark thoughts by Nekhem nudging me with his foot. "Come on, stop brooding." he said, his expression soft. "Let's get to those weeping stones and make camp."
He urged his horse forward again. He might never become a good fighter, but he had turned into a decent rider at least, I mused as I followed him.
---
- Prince Nekhem (Orli) -
So now night was falling, revealing the star-studded body of the goddess Nut arching above us. We were making camp at the feet of the weeping wind hills, and it was so strange to realize how much this kind of life had become normal to me.
Like I had never done anything else, I tended the horses, brushed the dust out of their fur. Ardeth was making a fire of dried dung we had brought along for our journey through the desert. The whole moment was so tranquil, so peaceful, that I could hardly keep in my heart the fact that we had set out to murder my brother.
And yet, Theben was only days away, and so was our fate.
I had started to train my meager skill as a swordsman, but I was far from
convinced that I would be able to kill Hept-Seshet with my own hands. And
if Ardeth did so, even I would not be able to safe him, for I would see him
guilty myself. Silently, I prayed to the gods that this would never happen,
that there had to be some other solution.
There was no-one served by me failing heroically and dying in the process,
and even the gods couldn't be that cruel to have me safe my people though
I had no need to and losing my lover in return. I hoped they weren't.
But these were thoughts I had worked on every single night
since month, and I would not let them spoil this unique night. The faint wailings
in the air were lessening now that the sun was sinking under the horizon,
but there was still a soft, incessant note on the wind. The night air was
cool, yet lacking the chill it usually had.
Probably, this heralded another week of the chamsin, hot winds from the heart
of the desert that carried red dust and nightmares. But tonight, it would
just keep the air warm enough for two lovers to lay in the open, with no need
for shelter beyond what they found in each other's arms.
Smiling softly at the image that formed in my head, I walked over to Ardeth who was preparing dinner. I had often though of making love to him under the stars, and each sparkling little light appearing on the indigo belly of mother Nut was like a step there.
Kneeling down next to him without a word, I softly kissed
his temple, taking the flat earthen bowl he handed me with a nod of gratitude.
Dates, naturally, were the main part of the food, but there was also a strip
of dried meat, some goat cheese, some almonds.
Not at all what would have been passed as a suitable nightmeal for a prince
of the realm only month ago, I though with a fond smile. But I had left this
life so far behind me I didn't even feel sorry for the lack of comfort anymore.
Sharing this simple meal in the presence of my lover made it sweeter to me
than all Phoenician honey could have ever been.
"What are you thinking, love?", Ardeth asked after we had been eating in silence for a long while.
I raised my eyes to look at him, and for a heartbeat, both love and fear of loss battled in my heart for supremacy. But, as always, there was no fear strong enough to touch me when I knew him near. So I smiled at him, saying:
"This is a lovely night, lover, and not as cold as usually. I'm not tired yet, and sore of sitting on the horse the whole day. Would you mind to have a walk with me?"
Ardeth grinned as he noticed that I was not talking without second thought, and nodded calmly.
"I will just secure the fire, and then we can go", he replied, and I nodded in gleeful anticipation.
Once we had cleaned up the few things we had unpacked, Ardeth
gestured me to walk up the crest of one of the dunes we had set our camp between.
Walking in silence for a while, I put my arm around my lover's waist, thoroughly
enjoying to feel his warm body move underneath the thick fabric.
As soon as we had left the little valley we were camping in behind us, the
sounds of the fire and the horses were almost gone, and all that was to be
heard was the weeping wind and the perpetual soft grinding sound of the sand
it was carrying.
Up and down along the crests we wandered, until suddenly, Ardeth stopped on top of an especially high dune, sighing deeply.
I looked up, and had to hold my breath of what I saw. Stretching out until the horizon ,the desert was lying like a frozen sea, wave upon wave, each single hill tinted dark blue, each one grazed with a crown of flying sand gleaming in the pale moonlight.
"This is your home, Ardeth", I said softly, "this is what you love."
Chuckling softly, he said nothing for a while, just hugged me, then said equally soft:
"You are the one I love, Nekhem, and if ever I had to choose, it would be you I'd give my heart to, neither the desert nor my tribe."
"I know", I whispered, "but still."
Seeing this vast sea of sand, this serene landscape apparently only limited by the sky itself made my wonder how he had been ever able to stand the confined life in a city, let alone the immense crowded chaos that came with it. Looking at him, remembering how he was when we were still in Theben, I realized he probably hadn't.
"I am sorry."
He turned me around to look at my face, asking:
"For what?"
"For having had you brought into the city in the first place, and for bringing you back there once more."
"Shhh."
Gently, he pressed my head against his shoulder, adding:
"Let's not talk of this. We both have no other choice, and we both know that. Don't suffer for things you neither can nor want to change."
Being so close to him made the blood race in my veins, and without really thinking about it, my hands sneaked along the well-knows folds of his garb, finally touching the bare skin of his chest.
"I love you so much", I whispered, and instead of an answer, his fingers lifted my chin.
His lips on mine, the stubble on his skin, his embrace - all this made my worries trickle away like water on sand, and soon, there was nothing in the world but the two of us and our love.
Expertly, he unwrapped my shirt, leaving my chest bare, then he loosened my belt and let my pantaloons drop into the sand, all the time his lips sealing mine with a tender kiss. My hands explore his skin underneath his shirt, so well known to me by now and yet new to me every single time. His hands were stroking my back, my arms, Ardeth kissed my cheeks, my throat.
If there had not been the fear in my heart that I might lose
him forever in but a few days, this moment would have been so perfect the
gods would have come down to stop us from making them envious.
But maybe, that's been why.
I felt Ardeth shiver softly as his shirt fell down to join
my clothes on the ground, felt his skin react to the relatively cool air.
Scratching my fingernails across his back, I could feel him shiver differently,
delightful, hardly restraining his desired to push me onto the ground and
take me.
Through his trousers, I could already feel him harden in response to my own
excitement, and I eagerly freed him of his last pieces of clothing.
For a moment, we both just stood there, naked in the moonlight,
holding our entwined hands close to our lips. Both of us were already breathing
hard, hearts pounding, blood racing, and we didn't need words to decide that
we wouldn't wait any longer.
So we sank down onto our outfits, spreading the dark fabric like a blanket
underneath us, kissing, embracing, pressing our bodies against each other.
I turned my lover on his back, gently stroking his almost
painfully hard manhood. Placing myself on top of him, I caressed his whole
body with mine, preparing me with my own fingers, biting my teeth not to whimper
in need for his cock to fill me, to see his eyes fill with lust and desire
the moment he filled me.
Then, when I thought myself ready and not willing to wait any heartbeat longer,
I guided him into me, sinking down on him with my own weight, shuddering and
grinding my teeth as he entered my body, hot and hard and passionate, my fingers
clawing in the muscle of his chest.
A soft moan escaped Ardeth, and I could see in his eyes how much he was filled with passion, how much he loved what I did. When a soft shudder of lust shook his body, the unexpected movement echoed through my body in like, making me scream in lust and desire.
Yanking up my head, I stared at the stars, my hips moving softly with the beat of our hearts, and I furiously thought at whichever of my gods would notice:
'Do you see this? Do you listen? I am the mortal child of two gods, and I have chosen a lover, in body and in soul! I am the son of Isis and Osiris, and YOU WILL NOT PART US!'
----
- Ardeth Bey (Oded Fehr) -
The tall white walls of Theben glistened in the soft moonlight pouring down into them. But they were also still filled with the stifling heat of the day so they beauty was pretty much lost on me. If there was any beauty in them at all. I could see the faint longing, the feeling of 'being at home' on Nekhem's face. But to me it felt like the walls were closing in on me, like they were trying to bury me under mounts of unyielding stone. And we had only been here for a day.
Drawing the thick dark cloak that Nekhem had 'acquired' from a inattentive merchant closer around me, I tried to suppress the shiver running down my spine. I had not excepted the city to affect me this badly. Only now did I realize how much I had withdrawn into my precious desperation when Nekhem had brought me back here as his slave. Now I was free and the suffocating stillness of this dead place seemed to seep into my very bones.
Right now we were hiding in the deep shadows, cast by a high building, a temple to one of their evil spirits. My princeling was crouching next to me, wrapped in a similar cloak, intently watching yet another temple across the street. He was sure that we would find allies there, should we be able to get inside unnoticed.
But he had been sure about that with the captain of his guard as well. I had had my doubt when he told me of his plans to contact the giant Nubian. Of course he was loyal to his prince. I did not doubt that. But I had also been very sure that Nekhem's brother would know this as well and remove him as quickly as possible. My naive princeling had maintained, that he couldn't do that without a good reason.
Only when he had come to Senem-Nef's house and he had seen the seal of his brother's guards on the door had he been willing to give up on that hope.
I still felt the urge to pull him into a tight embrace, when I remembered the haunted look on his face when we had passed the house, both dressed in the simple, dirty skirts of slaves working the fields and carrying big bundles that inconspicuously contained our weapons and real clothes.
He felt guilty for the fate of his loyal guardian. And there was nothing I could do to lift this weight from his heart. At least he had been able to find out that Senem-Nef was still alive. Imprisoned in the dungeons beneath the pharaoh's palace and sentenced to be thrown to the crocodiles for high treason soon, but still alive none the less.
One look at him had let me know that he would try to save him, just as he would try to kill his brother against all odds. It was madness, but a madness I knew well. A madness I could understand. A madness called honor. The reason why I was beside him now, when I could have slept under the star-filled sky of the desert without fear of a shamed and painful death.
"We will just have to try..." Nekhem whispered next to me, drawing my attention back to the present. "I just have to speak to Lady Mereth. She will know what to do."
"If you trust her so much, why can't we just go in?" I asked, wondering again at these peoples strange customs.
"Because men are forbidden to enter the inner temple." he explained patiently. "She allows me inside, because our Lady Isis has graced me with her gifts. But I don't think her guards would recognize me at the moment..."
Now that I had to agree with. He looked less princely than ever before, wrapped from head to toe in the cloak, his face hidden in the shadow of a deep hood. And I had to look even stranger, more menacing with my great height.
"So we sneak inside?" I asked and he nodded.
"I just don't see a way..." he added.
Thoughtfully I turned my attention to the building across the street. I could see guards at all the entrances on this side and I was pretty sure that any other ways inside would be guarded as well. At least the obvious ones, he thought, as my gaze traveled upward, coming to rest a the edge of the flat roof that all the great buildings of Theben sported.
"Do they have guards up there?" I asked Nekhem softly and he looked up as well, revealing his face to the light of the moon, clearly showing the smile suddenly curving his beautiful lips.
"I don't think so," he said and I smiled as well.
Some minutes later we had moved around the building to a side that had no entrance - and no guards watching. The wall was steeper than the one of the palace, but I had no doubt I would be able to get up there without to much trouble. Especially as this time I would be able to do it without my hands tied.
Nekhem looked much less enthusiastic.
"Ardeth...?" he whispered softly. "Did I mention that I'm somewhat afraid of heights?"
He was so cute, looking up at me in exasperated self-loathing, that I had to grin and that made him flush even more embarrassment. I leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.
"Just hold on to me and keep your eyes closed," I told him, "I'll get the two of us up there."
I made him climb on my back and hold on tied. He had gained some weight since he had started his sword training but still he didn't weigh much more than a boy so he did not really encumber me.
Still it took me a couple of minutes to get up on the roof. It was as empty as we had hoped it would be. And it fell away into open gardens in the middle of the temple just like I had thought it would.
The way back down into the gardens was much quicker and soon we were both in the private gardens of the high priestess Mereth, Nekhem looking seriously shocked at the ease with which we had entered here.
He was about to slip through the veils curtaining off the private chambers of the lady, when I heard the telltale crunch of sand under sandals, grabbed Nekhem and pulled him back just in time to safe him from the arrow, hitting the wall where he had been seconds before.
I whirled around, drawing my sword from under the cloak to face the two guards, who had sneaked up to us as silent as the night, their expression as grim as should be expected of them.
---
-Prince Nekhem (Orli) -
It was only when the arrow hit the wall right next to my head that I noticed the two guards approaching us. For but a heartbeat, I stood frozen, Ardeth already drawing his sword, ready to strike.
"Ardeth, NO!", I yelled, desperately hoping both he and the guards would be restrained enough before any blood was shed. I was here as a petitioner, and it wouldn't make any good first impression if I faced the High Priestess with the blood of her guards on my hands.
Instinctively, I shed the dark cloak I had wrapped around me, kneeling down in prostration.
"By the grace of our Lady Isis, we are seeking counsel!",
I called to the guards, my forehead pressed to the ground, eyeing sidewards
to gesture Ardeth to follow my example.
My huge barbarian was still standing there, his sword raised undecidedly,
his dark robe dramatically flapping around his bulky frame.
But both guards were sufficiently confused, at least for a moment, and it was all my lover needed to decide that this was a place I knew the rules of, just as much as he knew about life in the desert.
But with a derisive snort, one of the guards said condescendingly:
"Nice try. But what man would come to the Lady Isis to seek councel?"
Menacingly, he raised the curved sword in his hands, stepping closer across the paved ground.
I could see Ardeth getting ready to jump and strike, like a desert-cat preparing to attack.
"Hold!", I exclaimed once more. "As a lost daughter of our Lady, I seek sanctuary at my mother's place!"
The guards stopped dead in their tracks, and I could hear the startled grunt of my lover next to me. I had dearly wished to solve this situation less shamefully, but fate hade decided otherwise. I could feel my face burn and just prayed that the darkness was deep enough to conceal my embarrasment.
With an exhasperated laugh, the first guard said softly:
"Unexpected wonders walk the night in this town, truly. I cannot claim I understand how this is possible, but I can't deny what you have claimed. I will tell the Lady Meret, maybe she will want to see you indeed."
He turned around, still shaking his head in disbelief, and started to stride back into the building.
"Lost daughter, huh?", Ardeth snickered with unveiled, malicious glee. "You city-dwellers are strange people."
Wordlessly, I vaguely kicked in his direction, smiling despite myself. It was good to have him at my side, even if I was far from sure we would survive the night.
"Just tell me, love - if you knew they would have to offer you sanctuary, why didn't we just walk up the gates and tell them?"
"Because the guards at the gates don't know."
No living man was allowed to know that the Temple offered Sanctuary to all who were in need of shelter. Except maybe those who were considered blessed by the goddess.
For a while, we just stood in silence, under the watchful eyes of several guards that had silently, one by one, come into the little garden to join the one that had stayeyd with us.
"So do you think she will help us?"
"I hope." Giving a soft sigh, I looked at Ardeth, looking strong and impressively tall in the dark cloak. Fighting down the urge to just hide in his arms and wait for all this to end without me, I added: "We will need the support of the major three temples if we want to survive ... the task we are here for."
All the gods, I was standing in the heart of Theben, plotting
high treason against my own family! The enormity of the fact suddenly hit
me, and my knees felt like turning into millet gruel.
Taking in a deep breath, I tried to focus on the facts I was telling my lover,
hoping to stay calm.
"I am very sure Lady Meret will hear me, and will pledge the Temple's support if I am not wholly mistaken. The Templef Osiris is another matter, but mybe we can take some advantage out of the fact that the crown-prince has imprisoned their high-priest. And the temple of Horus? I am completely at a loss on how to get them on our side - they always were very fond of my brother, and I can hardly imagine he managed to squander that."
"Can't we just go in and - do what we are here for?"
"Sure. But there will be as much as no chance to do so unnoticed, and even if we can sneak in, we wouldn't get out. But if we have the support of the major temples, they will just allow us to leave."
"Really."
Ardeth sounded all but convinced, but I knew that if we could
bring the temples of both Isis, Osiris and Horus to back our deed, we would
not be charged with anything, for our actions would have merely been enforcing
the will of their gods.
But I would be heir of the Realm then, and I wasn't sure if they would really
let me LEAVE.
Luckily, it was then the first guard returned, distracting me from my unpleasant thoughts.
With a polite bow, he montioned us to follow him into the building, not hiding his amazement.
Entering the cool halls of the inner temple was like coming
home to me, and the incense that was still hanging in the air brought up memories
of blissfully ignorant days.
Days that were not so long ago, I realised.
But now, we were brought into one of the many rooms adjoining the Hig-Priestess's quarters, several slaves hurriedly lighting lamps and readying the place for nightly visitors.
Ardeth and I were propped on a lavish pile of pillows, offered
cold tea and fruits until our host would arrive.
I had spent many hours of lively discussion and friendly chatter, but even
the safety this place meant to me didn't manage to lift the dreadful weight
on my heart.
With a sidelong glance at my suspiciosly silent desert warrior, I noticed how much the ways of my people irritated him. And now I could even see why. The polite discreetion of the slaves was sneaky submission in his eyes, the cool shelter of the building a deadweight of stone piling above him, and before all, far too many people hushing around in a way so very unlike the lifely commotion of his tribe's tent-village.
Then, only a few minutes later, Lady Meret arrived. I had
not noticed how much I had missed her until I saw her familiar faced emerging
from a crowd of vaguely nervous priestesses.
I stood up, eager to hug and greet her, but to my shock, she just crossed
her arms in front of her chest, bowing slightly, formal and very unlike the
gentle cheek-to-cheek greeting we had been used to before.
My shock must have been visible in my face, for she flashed
me a reassuring smile, together with an explaining glance at the sheathed
sword at my side. She was right, of course.
I was no longer the boy that had been happily walking the streets of innocence
before. I had grown into a somewhat boyish man, and the sword at my side was
a rather ugly proof of that.
So I bowed, returning her greeting in like, saying:
"I have lost much, mother."
With a gracious nod, she gestured me to sit down again, taking her time to watch me and Ardeth for a while. The way her lips curved upwards in an appraising smile the longer she looked at my lover made my rather aware that I could get possesive after all.
"Your loss is more than apparent, your Highness, but to me it seems as if your gain is just as precious."
Barely managing not to beam proudly at her compliment, I replied just as formally:
"Reverred mother, I hope that by coming here I have not caused you distress, nor by bringing a man into your inner temple."
"You are always welcome at my temple, my Prince, though I would prefer a day-time visit next time. And," she added with a definitely approving look at Ardeth, "there surely is nothing at your lover that could displease me."
What a terrible woman, I thought, fighting hard not to blush again. In a way, it was nice to know that she approved of my choice, but it was hard for me to stay calm and not to scratch her eyes out for looking at him THAT way. And I was not sure how long Ardeth would still manage to stay calm under her far too self-assured gaze. Lady Meret and Rheza would have made tremendous friends if they ever had a chance to meet.
But I had to stay with the important things at hand. First
of all, she had called me Prince, and 'your Highness'. So she didn't believe
a word of the treason I had allegedly commited, and the banishment didn' carry
any weight with her.
So now we only had to tell her I was now about to commit treason far worse
than the one I allegedly had.
"Lady Meret, a falcon we all adored has turned out to be a snake, a snake that now is nutured at the very heart of Egypt."
With a sad nod, she acknowledged the accusations I had just voiced against my brother.
"I cannot allow this snake to poison our country, let alone rule one day."
"But many still see the falcon, many of them despite better knowledge."
"If the Wisdom of our Lady Isis will tell them the truth, they might learn better."
"The temple has always tried to reveal the truth, and with great joy notices you have come to take on the responsibility you have been destined for."
"But one temple is maybe not enough to convince all of Egypt."
"Maybe not. But others can be pursued, and the rest will follow"
With a relieved sigh, I took a sip of the cool mallow tea
I had in front of me. If Lady Meret saw a chance we might convince the other
temples of our rightousness, we had already managed a great part.
The rest would be politics.
And this tiny fact of breaking into my parent's home and murder my brother.
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to: Osiris Brackhaus & Beryll
go to PART 15