Heretic of the Nile

015

Baal, the god of the Caananites.

Caanan was a province located on the east bank of the Nile, home to several chiefdoms and a haphazard array of people that the Egyptians deemed barbaric and inferior—who worshipped false gods, like the one whose image Mereneith held between her fingers now. Although trade still took place at the border, there was little else that passed between Egypt and Canaan. Only the scholars would bother referencing anything to do with the Canaanites, and most residents of Memphis—Mereneith included—would go a lifetime without ever meeting one. Were it not for her propensity towards the bizarre and curious, perhaps she would never have recognised the image on the bronze piece.

Mereneith startled at the sudden sound of footsteps descending towards her. Instinctively, she closed her fingers around the little bronze pendant.

She expected it to be one of the priests, but it wasn't. Instead, a dishevelled hooded figure appeared at the foot of the stairs, smelling like rotting kitchen waste. When the hood was lifted, she gasped.

"Kha!"

The prince looked weary and exhausted, purplish-red venation lining the whites of his eyes, but he still found it in him to give her a cheeky wink.

"Had a bit of a close call with some of those priests returning from their meals. Good thing they were too busy arguing about wrestling bets to notice me slipping by," he said.

"I'm surprised they didn't smell you slipping by. What happened?"

Whatever it was, Mereneith had a bad feeling that it wasn't good. Kha was supposed to have returned to the palace to seek help, and that should not have entailed bathing in food scraps and livestock manure.

Kha removed his cloak and sniffed at it. "Sorry, I think my sense of smell is numb after living in these clothes for too long," he said. He left the cloak by the steps, then settled himself down on the floor. "As you can probably tell, things didn't quite go as I had hoped."

Mereneith arched an eyebrow, waiting for the rest of the story.

"My father's been poisoned and lies dying while my mother is having an affair. Also, I can confirm that the one behind my assassination is my eldest brother, Kanefer, who plans on usurping the throne once Father breathes his last."

The prince was speaking in such a detached tone that Mereneith almost felt like he wasn't talking about himself or his family, but gossip about a complete stranger. The corners of his lips were even tilted upwards in a barely-there smile.

A pang of sympathy struck her.

She reached out her hand and placed it over Kha's, realising that he was trembling ever so slightly. He was smiling on the outset, but crying on the inside.

"It's okay, everything will be fine," she said, even though she couldn't believe her own words.

"Will it? No one will help us, Mereneith. I know I promised you that I would help you seek redress for Rekhmir's death, but now I can't even save myself."

"If no one will help us, then we'll help each other. It hasn't been a wasted trip back. At least you now know who the mastermind is, so we have a target to work towards. Also, take a look at this."

She placed the bronze Canaanite disc on the ground in between the two of them.

Kha took a look at it and frowned. "Where did you get this? Isn't this from Canaan?"

Mereneith nodded. "You recognise it too? It's engraved with the likeness of Baal, the Canaan god of fertility. I found this earlier in Sef's room. He has a whole pouch full of these. Do you know what they're used for?"