Son of the SunLij, the Pharaoh Knefer-Lijedefer- ElijahSen-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. Sennacherib, King of Assyria - Karl Urban Argamus of Kishlan - Hugo Weaving Garmen - Craig Parker Iri-Natjer - Lij's cousin Pretep-Ra - Lij's cousin and Nat's wife Agor - Kishlan captain Soraya - Kishlan healer Lygia - Mistress of the Slaves Leila Khatun - Keeper of Mysteries Ahmose - Lij's chief concubine Peri - Aton - Another concubine Chief Herald Several friends, aquaintances and folks who merit mentioning, but no names, please! Part 29 -� Apocalypse � The meal had been excellent; the gazelle roasted to a turn, the company relaxed and talkative. Menep, surveying her family with pleasure, hoped that was the end of all their troubles. � Lij looked happier than she had ever seen him, with Dom pasted to his side like another skin. Liv and Orem fed each other tid-bits from the table and giggled like children. � Menkh and Merit smiled benevolently upon the little party. Lij and Dom were home. The family re-united. � Later, Lij kissed his mother a fond goodnight, and asked his grandmother if she was not busy to attend him in the morning. � "I hear from Nekeb that you spent a considerable sum on the goods you bought from the perfume seller whose place you took, Menep mine. I would reimburse you." � She snorted, loudly. "My child, I am the daughter and wife, mother and grandmother of Gods. Do you think I am so destitute of substance - a trader to be bought off? No, my chick, I am not so mean spirited, nor so lacking in funds." � She tried to school her face, but failed. She laughed. "Besides, Gia and Raya will tell you, dearest, I sold all my merchandise at the Kishlan court at a very good profit. � Leila Khatun has a good base on which to start her practise in the court. She will do well, there. The sick of Kishlan will be well and expensively tended." � Laughing, they bade each other a good night. Dom and Lij retired to their bed immediately, and lay wrapped in each others arms until they fell asleep. � *** Iri-Natjer tried to open his eyes. He felt as if they were filled with treacle. With terror�in his heart, he reached out for his wife. The bed was empty where she should have slept - and cold. � Drugged me, the bitch! The wine! he thought, heaving himself out of bed. He threw on a robe and ran through the corridors as if Set was after him. He raced into Imhotep's room, and dragged the man out of his bed. � "Tonight!" he yelled, as the man grabbed a kilt. There was no time to alert anyone else he could trust to keep silent, and the palace was huge, and the king's rooms some distance away. � Nat knew nothing of the secret passage. � *** � Setep-Aton and Pretep-Ra stood outside the adjoining door at the end of the secret passage dividing her apartments from the Queen's. � Setep-Aton had two phials of poison, one for Dom, one for Lij. Pretep had one. One was enough for Liv and the baby. � Orem had been rendered helpless by the addition of a judicious amount of sleeping potion to his nightly wine, as had the drink of all the servants and slaves in attendance that night. Some still slept at the tables in the common hall where the tainted beer and wine was served. � Orem would not sneak from his rooms into the queen's bed tonight, that was certain. � Dom and Lij's wine had been doctored also, in the hope that they would drink their usual cupful before retiring. It would be simplicity itself to pour the poison into unsuspecting ears. And no outward sign of its�terrible effects would be seen on the bodies, when, in the morning, they would be discovered dead by horrified servants. � Pretep would then have it whispered abroad that the dead had all eaten at Menkh's board the night before, and that he must have poisoned them. She had money to bribe false witnesses. Menkh would fall - the crown was as good as on Nat's head.� She smiled comfortably. All was going according to plan. � Setep-Aton crept across the room to Lij's adjoining door, casting a glance at his fellow conspirator. The deeds must be done simultaneously, in case the noise of their death throes alerted the other. All his hopes lay in this moment. Pretep stood poised at the foot of Liv's bed. The queen lay fast asleep, her dark hair fanning the pillow. Pretep-Ra thought how beautiful Liv's hair was. She would order the priests in charge of the embalming to save it for her. It would make an excellent wig. She would wear it with great pleasure. � Setep-Aton slowly opened Lij's door just as Iri-Natjer came screaming like a demon into the room with Captain Kerasonb and Imhotep at his heels. � "Hold!" he cried out�in sheer desperation. "Liv! Lij! Lij!" � Lij appeared naked at the adjoining door, and Setep-Aton howled with a fury that belied his years. There could be no poisoning�in secret now. His hatred�twisted his expression and filled his soul as Lij�struggled�for the possession of the phials�the assassin�held in his age-twisted hand.�It mattered not to Setep-Aton�that he had been discovered. All his thoughts burned with a desire for revenge and death.�Lij's fingers curled round the phials and Setep-Aton laughed. A joyous laugh as he let them slip through his fingers, causing Lij to stumble and�instinctively try to catch them. � As Lij was distracted he did not see Setep-Aton's hand bring a knife from his belt and thrust it up, ready to send him into the darkness. "NO!"� There was a flurry of bodies.� Arms, legs, confused and tangled. Three men now, not two. Dom, sliding to the floor with a knife embedded in his side. � Kerasonb ran to help Lij,�while Iri-Natjer and Imhotep�raced across the immense room towards Pretep, who was struggling to release the top from her bottle. Liv was cowering in her bed in horror,�drugged and unable to move . � Setep-Aton, sensing his victory, pulled out the knife, smiling at the gasp�of pain from the Pharaoh's whore and�ready to kill the man he hated most. Yet he did not expect the vice -like grip that descended, a grip fuelled by a hunger to survive. Lij was stronger than he looked and Setep-Aton watched, hatred already replaced by fear as the knife was turned towards his own body. "The dogs will�feed on�you this night." Lij hissed and plunged�into the traitor's heart; then turning on his heel he hefted it skilfully, and threw it through the air just as Kerasonb reached�them and neatly broke the dying physician's neck. � Pretep had lifted her arm to throw the poison at Liv. The blade, flying across the room pierced her throat. Screaming silently, she pulled it out and cast it away. � Nat caught her as she fell. The poison spilled onto her feet, and on the floor. Nat dragged his wife away from the tainted spot. � Pretep was dying, but not dead. Nat sat on the floor and held her as she struggled for breath. She looked at him with puzzled eyes, the blood running out of the corner of her mouth. � "How did I know, wife? You talk in your sleep. Not how and when, but the intention", said the man sorrowfully. "You know full well what my name means - Iri-Natjer - Guardian of the God.� Thothmes the God dedicated me at my birth to protect his son, when he should be born. No-one but Lij and Menkh knew of it, and it has been my sole purpose in life. I am sorry, Pretep. There could have been no other end than this." � Her brother Imhotep knelt by her side as her eyes glazed over in death. "It was time, my sister. You were full of hatred, and your hate has succeeded in breaking the heart of the Beloved of Egypt." � He looked over in sorrow at Lij ; he was sitting against the wall, holding Dom close and crooning love words into unheeding ears... "...and the�flood will come soon, my love. And we shall ride out and stand beside the rising Nile and rejoice that Egypt will blossom again from the good black mud that it brings to our lands." � Kerasonb and Im-hotep looked sorrowfully at each other. The danger was now past. These words were not meant for their ears. They left quickly to get help to remove the traitors and alert the physicians. � Lij tightened his grasp round his beloved's body. His voice was urgent as though these thoughts alone could stir Dom from this strange sleep. "I shall take you to Memphis and Luxor, and Per-Ramses, and show you the wonders of Alexandria. I will reveal your beauty to all of Egypt, and all shall envy me because I alone amongst men have earned your love." � "We will walk the leafy glades, and pick dates off the trees in Kamphet. We�shall lie on the roof there, and gaze up at the heavens, and I shall dance for you,�and we will make love under the stars... � "We'll stand under the catatacts of the Nile laughing, my love. Will you come with me? Make me happy? Speak to me, Dom. Will you not wake, my life?... Dom?� My Dom?" � Lij ran a trembling finger over Dom's cheek, and holding him closer kissed his closed eyes and his mouth, soft and gentle. "My love?� Please?"�� His voice broke. � Soon Seti-Hop and Raya and several of the Nubians were rushing�through the door. � A swift examination by Raya showed her that Pretep and Setep-Aton were beyond aid, and she came to Lij, and knelt at his side. � "Let me take him, Lord," Seti-Hop was saying through his tears, obviously not for the first time. "You must let him go." � Lij clasped his arms more tightly around Dom, unwilling to�release him�- holding the limp body close to his chest. The blood ran slowly down Dom's side and dripped onto the floor. � Raya looked at it carefully. "Lij", she said, quietly, and when he gave no answer - more loudly. "Lij!" � He stared at her with death in his eyes. It could not be borne. It would not be borne. He would follow his love into the Otherworld. They would walk together again. � "Lij, my dear, " she said quietly but clearly. "He bleeds. He would not bleed if he were dead. Let us have him." � He saw the truth of it in her face. Lij allowed Raya and Seti-Hop, aided by Kerasonb to carry Dom into the bedroom, whilst Nat and Liv covered the trembling king with a sheet, and led him to a seat. � Lij sat there whilst Kerasonb's Nubian guards, sworn to silence on pain of death, cleared up the mess and removed the bodies. � Nat looked in sorrow at his wife as they carried her out, then turned his attention to his charge - the Living God. � Menep came hurrying in, and her first look was at Lij sitting there, encircled by Liv's protecting arm, and staring blankly at the wall. She touched him. He was cold. � "Fetch a blanket for him, Nat, will you, my dear? And take him into his own chambers. He will be more comfortable there." � Nat, who had been standing behind Lij with a trembling hand on his cousin's shoulder, drew himself up, and went to do the old woman's bidding. He wrapped the warm woollen blanket around Lij, and guided him through the adjoining door. � Lygia brought a ewer full of a warm tisane, and pouring it out into goblets, gave one to Lij. He sat in his favourite chair, gripping it tightly. � Pen-Nekeb was holding himself up rather carefully. Obviously he too, had been a victim of a drugged drink. He took his place behind Lij. No matter what else happened this night, he would be by his lord - and friend's side. � The time passed in silence. Moments crawling to the point where Lij would be told. � Gia knelt in front of the king, and, holding his free hand, spoke quietly. "He is not dead, Lij. I have seen him. He lives." � Menep's head turned sharply as she heard the Exalted One addressed in such familiar terms. Then she relaxed and smiled. It had worked. Lij was listening. � "Raya is truly a wonder with stab wounds, my dear. You know Dorsos, do you not? He had an identical wound to Dom's. A Hittite spearhead lodged in his side. But he lives. Have faith! Dom is unconscious but he lives. Trust my Raya, she does not lie." � Lij could hear the priests of Sekhmet chanting a healing spell outside the door: � "You are Amun, the Lord of the silent �Who comes at the voice of the sick; �When I call to you in my distress, You come to rescue me, �To give breath to him who is wretched, �To rescue me from bondage. �You are Amen-Ra, Lord of Thebes, Who rescues him who is in�danger; �For you are he who is merciful, �When one appeals to you, You are he who comes from afar. Heal my body, O Father of the Faithful, For I am wounded by spirits of evil." � It�lifted his heart a little. He quickly swallowed the drink, and stood up. "I must go to him, I must..." � Gia forestalled him by gently pressing him back into his seat. Liv sitting nearby, stared, but remembered that these women were Priestesses of Amun, and therefore, even if in name only, Wives of the God. They could touch him. And Nat - Guardian of the God. For the first time in weeks, she felt safe...both for herself and her baby, and for Lij. � "You will only be in the way, my dear." Lygia nodded at the door to Lij bedchamber. "They are working hard in there with spiders webs and gauzes and sheep dung, healing stones and honey. No, I have not the remotest idea what they are doing. Raya promised me she would send word as soon as she could, to let us know how he is. Be patient." � Lij smiled tremulously at her. "Yes, mistress," he said. � Menep let out a bark of laughter. "Well said, my chick. You chose well in these women to help you. Very well, indeed." � Orem was still not quite steady on his feet, and Liv rose to greet him, and folded herself into his embrace. There was no-one there that did not know of their love. There were guards outside the door. No one was allowed in that did not have Menep's permission to enter. � Menep told Orem to take the queen to her apartments, and put her into the old queen's bed. "Fetch her mother to her and stay with her, man - make sure she sleeps. She'll need your support and love." � Orem bowed low, and clasping Liv gently with one arm around her waist, removed her from the room. � Menep turned to Nat, still standing behind Lij. "Sit down, nephew. You may guard him just as well from a seat. Yes, I know of your sworn duty, too. My son Thothmes could never keep a secret from me." � "I am sorry for your loss, my dear. But sometimes the end is seen from the beginning. She had no virtue in her, Nat. You know this is true. The only good thing ever to come out of her was your daughter Semenue. She is a good child, and she will be a solace to you." � As she spoke these words, the girl walked in close behind Lij's mother, bowed low to Lij, and went to her father, who, drawing his daughter to him, finally wept. � Seti-Hop came out of the bed chamber, wiping his hands in a clean cloth. His eyes were shining. "She has consummated a miracle! I do not know how or why, but it is so. She has stopped the internal bleeding. � Lord, he is asking for you. He is still very weak, and has a long road ahead of him, so be careful not to... � ...tire him", he finished, to Lij's disappearing back. � *** Lij allowed Nekeb to wipe the blood from him, and fasten a kilt around his waist before entering. Calmness was needed here. Dom must not see him distressed. � He drew in a deep breath, went into the room and grabbing Raya in a tight hug, squeezed her until she squeaked. She left the couple to revel in their joy for a few moments. � Lij sat by his lover's bed, softly kissed his lips, and held his hand. Seti-Hop and Raya reappeared, and quietly went about their business. Raya laid a flat healing stone on Dom's belly, and asked Lij to hold it there. The marble warmed quickly under his hand. An hour passed. No one spoke a word. No words were needed. � Dom looked up at Lij, and smiled gently. He had saved him, his Lij - that was all that mattered. He would mend, he could feel it deep inside himself. The stone's heat travelled deep into Dom's body, soothing and healing. Contented and comforted, he fell into a deep sleep. � *** Later... � "My Dom, are you in pain?" � "Of course I am, you foolish man!" � "Where does it hurt?" � "Everywhere. Lij...I love you very much; you know that, I hope?" � Lij nodded, and burying his face in his beloved's shoulder, well away from the wound, wept for joy. |