Son of the SunList of players so far -Lij, the Pharaoh Knefer-Lijedefer- Elijah Sen-Adom, the harpist - Dominic Neferura-Ulive, Lij's wife and sister - Liv Menkh, Chief Advisor - Viggo Pen-Nekeb, A eunuch; body slave to Lij - Sean Astin Seti-Hop, a physician - Ian Mckellan Nefer-Aru, Lij's mother - Cate Blanchett Merit-Aton, Liv's mother - Miranda Otto Setep-Aton another royal physician - Chris Lee Orem, a eunuch, Liv's lover - Orli Captains of the Guard, Zeser-Amon - Sean Bean and His brother, Ankh-Aton - David Wenham Imhotep, the Royal architect - Billy Menep-Atifer-Ankh-Ra - Lij's Granny - An old woman with heart. Several friends, aquaintances and folks who merit mentioning, but no names, please! Part 10 � The Vacant Throne The air was tense in the room. The people gathered there were not sure what was happening. Menkh looked troubled, Liv looked nervous, Zeser-Amon and Ankh-Aton looked angry. Menep surveyed the room with a jaundiced eye. Half the House of Thoth seemed to be there, upon one excuse or another. Why had Tut-Mose left his troubled little kingdom at a critical time to come here? Was it just to see how his sick cousin was faring? And why was Iri-Natjer, Lij's fat cousin, and his equally skinny wife, Pretep, present? They usually took little part in court life. Nefer-Aru was absent. She sat with her son, in his apartments, washing his inert form, and rubbing him with scented oils, whilst Dom rested. Knefer-Lijedefer slept on. He had been asleep - as they called it - for two weeks. Beautiful yet terrible in his stillness, he lay there like a fallen statue, neither speaking nor moving. He still swallowed what liquid and soft foods were put in his mouth, but he was far away, in some place unreachable by those who loved him. Lij's wife, Queen Neferura-Ulive sat next to Menep on the dais. What did the assembly want? Why had Menkh called this council meeting? Liv glanced at Menkh's wife, Merit-Aton, who was watching Tut-Mose closely. She would keep her counsel until she knew what was happening. Menkh rose from his seat beside the dais. He bowed towards Menep and Liv. "Great Royal Wife and Great Royal Grandmother - we are gathered here because several parties"...here he glanced at Iri-Natjer's skinny wife Pretep, and Tut-Mose..."have expressed concern at the fact that our Lord and God, the Pharaoh, is no longer able to govern his demesne. They state that whilst the Lord of the Two Lands lies helpless" - he ground his teeth - "our enemies are scouting our neighbouring borders, watching our movements.We have come together to hear their...concerns". Menkh bowed towards Tut-Mose, who leapt to his feet, eagerly. He was a big man, loose fleshed and heavy, but with some look of his cousin Lij about his piercing blue eyes, which eagerly raked those present . He pulled his face into a mask of spurious concern. "The Great One is near death", he intoned, sonorously. Menep dug her fingers into Liv's thigh to stop her protesting. She remained silent. "The Hittites have gathered a huge army, so my spies tell me, aided by the Hurrians and Hivites. For what purpose, we do not know. Ethiopia looks dangerous, if she allies with these others. The Kishlanites are receiving strange secret embassies from the east. The Assyrians are murmuring. Egypt is surely in danger. She must be protected!" He slammed his hand down on a table, and Menep jumped. She had been thinking, hard, and the sound had startled her. She snorted. "And you, my fine buck, think all this is aimed at the might of Egypt, and that you are the one to do the protecting, do you?" She cast him a look of utter disdain. "You who had to send for your old grandmother to sort out a problem in your tiny kingdom that Knefer-Lijedefer - may he live forever - could have solved when he was eight years old? Some pharaoh you'd make, you fat slug! Besides", she continued, angrily, "my little one is not dead yet. Not by a long way. So keep your hands at your sides. They itch for the double crown, I see, but there are those nearer to the Lord in blood than you who could claim it!" She glanced at Menkh, who stood by her side, his face etched with sorrow. "I will not consider the crown of Egypt, until I see the Great One in his tomb. I have spoken!" Menkh said, finally, stepping back behind Menep's chair. Pretep rose. "Why not appoint a Regent until the Great One has...recovered?" she asked, glancing slyly at her shocked husband's face. He swallowed, hard. Menep clapped her hands, delightedly. "An excellent idea, Pretep. Who would have thought you had it in you? I agree! Menkh, draw up the documents, immediately!" Pretep looked pleased with herself, and sat down again, taking her husband's pudgy hand in his, and squeezing it. He was older than Menkh by two years. He would be chosen, and she would enjoy ruling Egypt through her vacuous husband. He couldn't run a vineyard! Iri-Natjer opened and closed his mouth like a stranded fish, but said nothing. Pretep preened, as she thought of having the entire court under her scrawny foot, and she mentally paid off a few petty scores whilst she listened. Menkh coughed. "I have done so, already, Great Lady", he bowed to his grandmother, smiling wryly. "Shall I read it to the assembly?" She nodded, gracefully. He unrolled the scroll he had picked up from a nearby table, and read. "Be it known to all present, that while our Lord, the Pharaoh Knefer-Lijedefer, Lord of the Two Lands, etc., etc.," Menep looked at him sharply, and then twinkled at him, "lies ...sleeping, The Grand Council of Egypt has appointed The Great Royal Wife, Neferura-Ulive, sister and wife to the King, and the nearest" - emphatically - "to him in blood, to rule Egypt whilst he.. rests. So let it be written. So let it be done!" Pretep rose from her seat, and made as if to flounce out of the room. Menep coughed. "Neither I, nor the Regent, has given you leave, Pretep-Aton-Ra. You will sit!" She sat. "You have our leave", Liv said, quietly, as soon as Pretep's thin shanks hit the seat. "You all have our leave to withdraw. Except the Captains of Thousands. We would speak with you." "Tut-Mose. You will stay, too!" Menep snapped. The room cleared as if by magic. Tut-Mose stood before his grandmother like a whipped hound. "Go back to your little kennel, you puppy dog", she hissed, "and wag your tail, there! Until my Lij sits on his throne again - and he will - make no doubt of it...I do not wish to see you within a hundred miles of this court! Is that understood?" Tut-Mose nodded, glumly. "Yes, grandmother". She rose from her seat, and sighed up at him. The top of her head barely reached the middle of his chest, yet she terrified him. She reached up and took his chin in her hand, examining his face. Apparently she was satisfied with what she found there. She sighed. "You're not a bad boy, at heart, Tut - just...misguided. You could never rule here. Your advisors would slit your throat from exasperation within a week. And no one else has suggested that the armies of our neighbours may be directed at us. From out of all the advisors and careful military men that surround the throne - not one man has even hinted at it.This is merely a fanciful idea dreamed up by you as an excuse to take over the throne." She smiled thinly at him. "Go home to your little kingdom, and to the wife that loves you. You'll be far happier there, believe me." He left the room, shoulders slumped in submission. Menep turned to her granddaughter, and grinned. "Well, Great Royal Wife - what do you intend to do?" Liv stared at her. "Do, grandmother? What do you mean?" Menep sighed. "Come with us", she beckoned to Menkh and the Captains to follow her. "We have much to discuss!" *** Dom sat with Menep at Lij's bedside. The old woman was kneading the muscles in Lij's legs. Sixteen days he had lain here "sleeping". Sixteen days of anguish and hope. Lij had lost flesh. Dom could not only see this, he could feel it under his hands as he lovingly tended Lij. Familiar with every contour and plane of his lover's body, he knew as did no other, that Lij was losing ground very quickly, now. Unable to swallow, in his semi-conscious state, anything more than liquid and the softest foods, he was fading before Dom's anguished eyes. Dom gazed at the sharpened angles of his jaw, of the purple bruising under his half-closed eyes, and felt the first stirrings of despair. He would never wake up. He would lie in this living death until Set claimed him for his own. Dom would never hear him whisper "I love you" again. Never feel the touch of soft lips on the back of his neck. Never see him smile at him across...He supressed a tear. The old woman wasn't crying - how could he? She had loved this man for more than twenty years, after all. He was her baby. Her comfort. Her all. This was no time for self indulgence. She sat down and sighed, rubbing the remains of the sweet oil she'd been using, into her wrinkled hands. "Time for his drink, I think, Dom", she smiled sweetly at him. Dom nodded, and picked up the cup, holding it in one hand and lifting Lij with the other. It was not difficult, he was as light as a feather. Dom pressed the cup to Lij's lips and slowly tipped the liquid in. Most of it was swallowed, but some trickled down Lij's bare chest, and pooled in his groin. It was sweet honey wine. Dom knew if they left it there it would cause a rash to form. The old woman handed Dom a wet cloth, and he laid Lij back on the pillow and began to stroke him with it. The wine had dribbled between his legs. Dom parted them, and wiped, there, carefully. Lij began to rise against his hand. He grabbed the bottle they were now using for Lij's relief, and held it to him. Nothing happened. No urine came spurting out into the container. Dom held it there for a few more moments until Menep said "Put it down, Dom! Let me look!" Dom did as she said. Menep examined Lij carefully. His erection had diminished, but it was still there. She suddenly became more alert. Her eyes flashed up to Dom's. "Dom! Perhaps he's closer to waking than we think. He felt you touch him, there, I'm sure! We just need something to tip him over the edge into waking. I'll leave you, now, and make sure no-one comes in. Wake him up, Dom - arouse him. It may serve." She smiled at him, and left them. The door closed firmly behind her. It was a thick door - not so thick that Pen-Nekeb couldn't hear all he desired through it - but thick enough. Dom smiled at the thought that he had written permission from the king to touch his body at any time. ANY time. Lij loved Dom to touch him, to take him in and suckle. He enjoyed waking up in the early morning and finding Dom's eager mouth on him. Well, would it work now? Dom had felt no sexual desire whilst Lij had been ill. All his emotions had been subsumed within an earnest need to look after his lover to the best of his ability. Nor did he now give it any thought. All his mind was upon waking Lij from his deathly slumber. Dom ran an experimental finger along Lij's semi-tumescent length. It rose further under his touch. Dom hastily divested himself of his linen kilt, and his arm bands, and climbed onto the bed. Lij had not stirred anywhere except ..there. Dom took him in his hand and massaged a few drops of the sweet oil Menep had used earlier, into the swelling length. It thickened. So did Dom's in reply. Lij murmured softly. "Dom? Dom...oh, yes, please." Dom bent his head towards his love, kissed him tenderly on his parted lips, then moved down his body kissing his damp skin. Lij shifted under him as he nuzzled his face into the fine hairs of his groin, pushing himself gently towards Dom's eager lips. "Taste me, Dom. Put your mouth on me", came the rasping whisper. Dom could smell the heady musk of his lover, as he bent his head further and took him in. The sweet oil tasted strange, but Dom was not interested in that at this moment. He was only interested in the fact that Lij's shaft was jerking gently but insistently against the roof of his mouth. Dom reached between Lij's legs, and caressed the soft sac. He fondled the globes, smoothing them with tender fingers - loving them - loving every part of this man's perfect body. One of Lij's legs moved. The tiniest bit - but it moved. Dom was ecstatic. Lij moved, again. He sighed. He said Dom's name again. "Taste me!" the voice said, quiet but clear. His arm moved onto his chest. Dom's heart was pounding inside him. Inevitably, as he watched Lij rise and swell, he swelled, too. All thought of his own aroused state, however was ignored, as he continued to work on his love. Dom swirled his tongue frantically around the heavy shaft inside his mouth, then closed his lips tightly around it and sucked and laved as if his life depended on it - which it did. Lij was his life, and he depended on him. Lij moaned again, louder this time. Both his hands went down to Dom's head, and rested in his soft, fair hair. "Dom" his voice, rusty from disuse, croaked. "My Dom..." Lij came into his lover's mouth with a series of shudders, and Dom felt giddy for a moment. He risked a look up at Lij. He nearly passed out. Staring down at him were two blue eyes. "Dom?" Dom kissed the softening member, and with a choked moan, rose up to hold his partner in his arms. "Lij!" Lij's arm came around him. Dom's head collapsed onto Lij's chest, and he sobbed his relief into the soft skin. "Dom" The voice said, stronger this time. Lij struggled to sit up. "I was asleep" Lij spoke, his words filled with wonder "And you kissed my lips, and woke me, and I wanted you...and in such a way! I had been dreaming you were tasting me. I love your mouth...Dom, why are you weeping?" Dom rose to kiss his lover's beautiful mouth, smiling just for him. "Because I love you. I'm crying because I love you, Lij." Lij held his trembling arms out and Dom fell into them. Gods, it was sweet to feel those gentle arms around him. Dom's sobs grew stronger. The door opened, slightly, and Pen-Nekeb's plump form appeared in the doorway. His eyes rounded in shock. "Great One!" he cried, falling to the floor in obeisance. He too, wept, resting his head on the cool marble. Lij rose on one wobbly elbow, and grabbed the sheet to cover their nakedness. Dom was not capable of any movement, just then, except that of moving his shaking hands wonderingly over Lij's body. "The Great One is back with us, Pen-Nekeb", Dom managed, through a dry throat. "Tell the others." Pen-Nekeb rose, still trembling, and approached the bed. Hastily he bent his head, and kissed Lij's extended foot, and dashed out of the room. Dom rose and quickly put on his kilt. "The whole court will be here in a moment, my dear one. I suggest you keep that sheet..." Lij interrupted him in astonishment. "The whole...what are you talking about? Why..?" Dom smiled gently down at him. "You have been asleep a long time, my Lord." Lij tried to rise up against the pillow, and was surprised at his own weakness. "Dom?" "Sixteen days you have been asleep in the arms of Set, Great One", said Dom, kneeling beside the bed, and bowing his head, arms extended. "The Lady has spared you to us - I welcome you back to life!" |