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 30 - The End of the Beginning � Dom had amazed the physicians by healing far more quickly than anyone had imagined possible, and was soon fully participating in daily life as the horror of the past weeks receded like a dark dream into nothingness. � People were told, after the stabbing, that he had suffered a relapse of the illness that had supposedly plagued the family for weeks, but when no one else fell prey to its malevolence, the palace residents forgot about it altogether. � Dom said later that it was Lij's love for him that brought him through the ordeal. Lij thought Dom's own innate strength of will had much to do with it - but liked the love-thought. � Two months after this, news�was heard�that the Assyrian tyrant Sennacherib had been stabbed to death by his sons as he prayed to one of his heathen idols. Both Dom and Lij breathed a sigh of relief when they heard of it; the spectre of Sennacherib still loomed large in a dark corner of their lives. Dom was willing to wait until Lij decided on a time for exorcism. � *** � After a long day studying reports from various outposts of the kingdom, Lij and Dom sat in the roof garden in the cool of the evening, eating sliced fruit and laughing over the day' s activities with Liv and Orem. � There had been a particularly fat princeling who, having knelt at Lij's feet, couldn't rise. Lij, touched by his vassal's evident desire to pay his Lord due homage, had helped him up, much to the man's surprise. � God was more approachable...less aloof, these days. Some of the older courtiers weren't sure they approved of it. � Liv tired more easily as she grew larger, and the couple left the garden group and retired early to bed.� Liv's baby continued to thrive within her. She became even more beautiful as the days passed, and all the palace rejoiced that the heir of their beloved Pharaoh was safe. � Menkh came up to find Lij in his quiet retreat, and accepted a sliced peach. It was thirsty work, he said, interrogating renegades. He told the two men some Kishlanite bandits had tried to ambush an Egyptian trader a few miles east, but were foiled by the party�he'd been�taking on a hunting expedition. He handed Lij the list of prisoners as was usual, before he left them. � Lij scanned the list and saw a name he recognised. He pointed it out to Dom. � "Would you go to the cells Dom,�and see if it is indeed�the man�and if it is, fetch him to my rooms if you please? I would see him." � Dom left with alacrity. He found Dorsos the Persian tending a fellow prisoner, who had a wound to his head. � Dorsos saw the Lord Payankhi standing in the cell doorway, kilted, bejewelled and regal in stature, and knew his time had come. Ah, well, he was tired of begging for food, and tired of killing. Death might be preferable - at least there'd be peace in the grave. � "Come!" The lord gestured brusquely. � Dom, entering the Pharaoh's apartments with his charge, made the guards stand well back as he took Dorsos forward to an empty chair. � "Kneel, and keep your head down. The Great One wishes to see you. You will not insult him by raising your unworthy eyes to gaze upon his splendour. Do you understand?" � Dorsos nodded miserably. He heard the eight guards and Lord Payankhi kneel, as light footsteps were heard crossing the marble floor. He saw gold brushed sandals encasing slender feet as their owner sat in the chair before him. � "Well, Dorsos of Persia, what have you to say in your defence before I execute judgement?" a cool voice asked. � "I have no defence, Exalted One. I am justly accused. I have stolen food, and I have killed men." � "Argamus threw the whole of my company out of Kishlan when he returned from his visit here, why we do not know." � "We had not been paid. Even our weapons had been taken from us before we were cast out. After a few weeks walking the desert, we were starving. All we had were the clothes on our backs." "We attacked the trader's party for their food, but when the killing started I'd had enough of it, and I ran and hid behind a rock, where Lord Menkh found me.� This is the truth, Great One, and I am ready to die. Do with me as you will." � The figure in the chair dismissed the guard, and when they had bowed themselves out, he stood and came forward, holding out his hand to the astonished man. � Dorsos took the hand and rose to his feet, still not looking at the figure in front of him. What new torture was this, taunting a condemned prisoner? He shivered. � "Dorsos, I have something for you." Dorsos saw the tray, which was being put on a small table beside the king's chair. On it was some small cakes of bread, a jug and goblet, sliced roasted meats, some peaches, and two pomegranates. � "Sit and eat." A chair was brought, and Dorsos sat and fell on the bread and meat as only a famished man can. � "Slowly, man!" the�voice said. "You will make yourself ill." � The Persian took a long draught from the goblet of watered wine in front of him. He was still hungry, but he ate more slowly. � "Why did you give Lord Payankhi and the slave Adom food and comforts in the desert?" The king asked gently across the table, as Dorsos, eyes still discreetly lowered, slowly consumed a peach. � "I felt sorry for them, Great Lord. They are men like me, and were hungry and thirsty and the boy was burnt and shivering. I know what it is like to be hungry and cold. I didn't miss the one blanket; he was welcome to it." � "And the pomegranates?" � Dorsos blushed. "The poor lad looked as if he could do with a treat, so I gave them my share. Pity he couldn't eat it..." � His voice tailed away as the hands of the man�reached out and deftly cut a pomegranate in two and gave him half. � "I have always been fond of pomegranates. I was sorry I couldn't eat it then, but will you share this with me, now?" � Dorsos' eyes flew up unbidden, and he blinked as if the vision before him was a desert mirage. Adom the slave! � "Do you know me?"�the Ruler of All�said, kindly. � "Adom..." Dorsos managed through a dry throat. � "No, you are mistaken. Adom the slave died in Kishlan. I would be grateful if you would strive to remember it. I am not he, do you understand?" � The Persian nodded, and poured and drank again. "Yes, Great One." � "My beloved grandmother has always taught me to repay any kindness shown to me with interest. Especially kindness that is given unknowing of whom I am.� This I would do." � Nekeb came foward again, bringing a beautifully embroidered and bejewelled�silk cloak, which he draped over the back of Dorsos's chair. It was probably worth more than thirty years of a soldier's pay. � The man nodded his thanks, and bit thirstily into the juicy fruit. � "Soraya said you have a good singing voice. Is this so?" � Dorsos nodded again, his mouth full of wonder and cool pomegranate seeds. He was to be allowed to live...and live comfortably! � "There is a place for you in the Temple of Amun as a prayer singer, if you would�like it." � He swallowed the sweet seeds. "Thank you, Great One. I was born to sing, and it is such a joy to me." His feelings threatened to overcome him. "Your mercy is all encompassing, Lord. I would serve you until I die; my life is yours." � The man knelt at Lij's feet and kissed the ground. Lij looked at Dom and smiled. � "Then live it well, and in peace. I shall follow your new career with interest. Take him to Raya, Do...Payankhi. She will care for him."� � Dorsos left the room with Dom, smiling - the cloak in one hand and the other holding the second pomegranate clutched tightly to his chest. � *** � When Dom returned to Lij the room had been cleared of all servants except two. Pen-Nekeb, and a burly individual standing before a heated brazier poking two branding irons into the glowing coals. � Dom raised an eyebrow in enquiry. � "Nuba has made us these brands from my drawings, Dom. One for you, of the Sun in Splendour," - Lij grinned - "and one for me, with your harp Osian on it." � His smile faded, to be replaced by a look of entreaty. He spoke in low tones for Dom's ears alone... � "I would have some token of our love to carry permanently with me...something I can touch when you are not nearby. My life is not my own, and there will be times when duty will part us. I would have something of yours to think on during these times. Something...sacred and personal." � Dom's gaze softened as he looked at his love. "Where shall they be, Lij - on our arms?" Lij smiled again, indicated that his brand, at least, would be positioned in a spot slightly lower than his arm.� � Later that night, being careful not to touch the sore places, Dom and Lij lay next to each other, at peace. � *** Dom was concerned. For a few days, now, Lij had been distracted. He had something on his mind, weighing him down. He had not been eating and seemed to be lost in his thoughts for much of the time. � �Dom was not prepared to rush his love into hasty disclosure. He would tell him in good time. He had known this moment would come ever since they returned from Kishlan. � The time came a few days later. Dom had taken refreshments up onto the roof, so that they could sit quietly together amongst the plants and shrubs - and the onions Lij had begged of Meri, and insisted on tending in secret - after a busy week. Dom ordered no-one be allowed up there tonight�for his Lij needed peace. Kerasonb, on guard at the foot of the stairs, nodded, and folded his arms over his brawny chest. His Lord would get peace and quiet. � Dom thoughtfully shelled some walnuts and waited for Lij to come up from an audience with the ambassador from Punt that had taken longer than expected. � When Lij finally appeared he was still�dressed in his royal robes, complete with crook and flail which he placed on a low bench as he came to meet his lover in the moonlight. � Dom had long since been persuaded not to kneel to Lij when they were private together, but he rose to his feet automatically, as Lij presented such a figure of authority when dressed like this, something deep inside Dom could not help but respond to it. � Lij stopped in front of Dom and put his hand out in a gesture of denial as Dom went to embrace him. Dom stood quietly, alarmed by the look of despair on Lij's face and the pallor of his skin. � Lij slowly divested himself of his raiment, until all he was clad in was the stiff white pleated kilt and his sandals, then to Dom's utter bewilderment Lij knelt in front of him, his head bowed. � "Forgive me, my love - please say that you forgive me. I couldn't bear it if I thought..." His voice failed him, and Dom grasped Lij's shoulders trying to lift him, to make him stand. Lij carefully removed the hands from his body, and remained on his knees. � "Lij? What is it?...I do not understand, love. How?..." � Lij's head was still bowed before him. "Forgive me. Please say it, Dom." � Dom shook his head, standing bemused before the humbled figure of the man he adored. "Forgive you for what, Lij?" he asked softly. � Lij's voice was quiet, but Dom could hear the anguish in his tone, nonetheless. "I have been thinking much lately, Dom, of our early days together. When we met...when I first...Dom, I...did I hurt you, beloved?" � Lij looked up as he asked this question, his eyes pleading and desperate with need. Dom knelt in front of the king, and replaced his hands on the shaking shoulders. � "When you first made love to me, do you mean?" � Lij bit his lip, and lowered his eyes again. "Love? It wasn't love, Dom; it was lust...and nothing short of a rape.� I know, now, what it is like to be someone's chattel, not to be considered...to be powerless...to be nothing...and I treated you - the man I�grew�to love - like that, as if you were nothing." � "I...I wanted you the minute I saw you standing there before me, defiance sparking out of your eyes - and I whipped you hard for that defiance, did I not?� I did not question why you felt such anger. I know better, now." � "I didn't consider whether you wanted me, either - I didn't realise that you had a choice at all, and I just took you, hard, without preparation. It must have hurt you, Dom." � He leant forward and rested his head on Dom's shoulder. "Did I hurt you?" � Oh, gods! Dom didn't think of lying. "Yes, it hurt..." He could hear the breath stifle in Lij's throat. He gathered the man close to him. � "...But I wanted you so much, Lij. From the beginning. From the moment I first saw you. Truly. And you being inside me again was all I thought of afterwards, despite the pain. There is nothing to forgive. I lusted after you, then - I love you, now, with all my heart." � Lij swallowed the thickness in his throat. "And I whipped you and threw the goblet..." Dom put his hand over Lij's mouth, and kissed him on the forehead, and held him tight until he fell silent. � The fountains tinkled in the balmy evening air. Dom's heart ached for his lover. He knew the burdens that weighed on Lij's ardent soul, and he knew these burdens would not be lifted until he talked more of it. He knew his man, now, better than the lines on the palm of his own hand. � Lij released himself from Dom's embrace and wandered over to the nearest�fountain, allowing the clear water to play over his fingers. � "Thank you, Dom. I don't deserve such generosity. You are a good man and a merciful man, light of my soul. I see, now, why they call you...." � He stopped, and took a deep breath. � "...Dom, I...that isn't all..." Lij hesitated, staring into the rippling water. Dom could see Lij needed encouragement so he sat on a bench nearby, and clasped his hands tightly together. � "I am listening to whatever you have to tell me." very softly. Lij didn't turn round. � "I need to tell you, to explain...in Kishlan...I..." � "Lij, you need tell me nothing. I have your heart. I have you, body and soul..." � "No, Dom. I need to tell you. I need to tell of it..." Lij sighed. � Dom said quietly, "I understand." � Lij kept his back to Dom and his gaze fastened at some point in the far distance. "Dom...he touched me...no, please don't speak until I finish, or I'll not be able to go on." � Dom pressed his lips together, tightly. The urge to rise and comfort Lij with his voice and body was nearly overpowering, but he fought it. Lij must do this alone. � "He was a strange man, Dom. Perverted, wicked. He made me do things to his body that...gods!..painful and degrading things... but I did it because at least he hadn't touched me. He just wanted to be humiliated and hurt.� He would come to climax from these things.... I never had to touch him...stimulate his... with my hands... or...and he did not lay a hand on me, until that last night..." � Lij's voice thickened again, and although Dom could not see Lij's face, he knew he was weeping. Dom's eyes filled as he thought of the anguish his love had endured at the hands of that evil man. � "He made me lie on the bed, and he said he'd have me...he'd take me like the bitch I was, but that first..." � "...he took me in his mouth, Dom. My heart nearly stopped with the horror of it. You know how much pleasure we used to give each other in this way, and how since we came back...home... when we make love, we haven't...I didn't even want to try..." � "...He was frantic to arouse me, but I couldn't, Dom. I couldn't, not after you...not after all we mean to each other." � "He said that I must. He said he needed me to come to climax, so he could kill me as I did...as I came. That's what drove him to do everything -�how he killed all his boys. I knew then he was totally mad." � "He lay on top of me, and crushed me. He beat me. He fondled me and mouthed me again, but nothing. He was foaming at the mouth he was so desperate for my arousal and my death." � "He put his hands around my throat, and tried to throttle me. I wanted to die, Dom. I had intended to kill myself before he took me to Assyria. I see now I wouldn't have lasted that long, because although he said no man had ever excited him as I did, the urge to see me dead in his arms was stronger." � Dom, I knew I couldn't live without you..." � Dom bit hard into the hand covering his mouth. � "...but I wanted to see your face just once more before I...before...and I was so afraid for you...what would happen to you.�Argamus then hammered at the door,� and called for him. As soon as he got up to answer it, I fled. � And that was what happened, Dom. He touched me. He tasted me. I am sorry, my Dom. I have betrayed you...I made you suffer those indignities at the hands of Setep-Aton before we...I... then I hurt you, I *hurt* you. I betrayed you... I let that beast touch me as only you have ever touched me... I am altogether unworthy of your love...I...forgive me..." � Dom cleared the space between them in three paces, and crushed his man to his heart. � Lij looked up in wonder at Dom's face, which was glowing with love. Dom kissed him, then knelt at Lij's feet and lifted the kilt, and tenderly kissed him there. Lij sighed into his touch, trembling with suppressed emotions. � "He is gone, Lij. He is dead. He will not come between us again...not even his memory will hurt us, now.The other things don't matter, Lij...never did matter. I wanted you from the first, loved you from the first, and you didn't even know what love was, then, did you?" � Lij shook his head, trying to smile through trembling lips. "No, Dom, I was afraid of it...but now, it is all my joy. You are all my joy." � Dom smiled mistily up at his lover. "And you are mine. When I do this" - he kissed Lij gently on the head of his shaft - "I taste you, my love...not the Assyrian. Just you. Only you..." � He stood and Lij allowed himself to be wrapped in Dom's strong arms. "Lij. Only you...always you", Dom whispered into his ear. � Dom smiled as he felt Lij thicken and rise against his body. � "Only you", Lij whispered back, softly, tasting himself on Dom's sweet mouth. |