Jewel Of The Nile [COMPLETE]

Chapter Two

Nebt awoke me early the next day, for my siblings and I had lessons. "Have they returned yet?" I asked her as she was dressing me.
"No," she replied, knowing exactly what I was talking about. "A messenger came late last night, saying how hunting had gone later than expected and that they will return this morning  after lunch."
I nodded. "So it will just be Tutankhaten and I for lessons this morning?"
"Yes."
I walked over to the drawers near my mirror and grabbed my pendant of Aten. "Should I wear this? Or not?"
Nebt looked at it critically. "As beautiful as it is, I do not believe it suits your outfit. Perhaps you can wear it tomorrow."
There was that word again -believe, belief. The one Sete said so many times yesterday. But what was belief? The statement that you perceive to be true. But truth? There is no real truth; only one's perception of it. So would that be the same for belief?
What about my father's belief in Aten? In Ankhetaten? In Egypt? Or was that different? There were so many questions to everything, and not enough answers.
I remember, years back when I was very little, when we had just arrived in Ankhetaten, and some sections of the palace were still being built, I asked Nebt what she thought of everything. She replied that she "thought it best to stay out political matters." I do not know if she was serious in her statement, or if she just said that because she thought I was too young to know much. She could've possibly thought I was still too young.
Nebt smiled at me, and offered her hand. "You are turning out much like your mother - beautiful. And you still have years to come! But hurry now, we do not want to miss out on breakfast."

I strode into the room where my brother and sisters and I had our lessons. I liked lessons. Our tutors were not interested in politics, but in learning. We had two tutors - our teacher, Ahmose, and the Royal scribe, Setka. Today, though, we had Ahmose. He was my favourite. He was old, and knew much about the world. He was around in the time of my grandfather, Amenhotep III, and the time of numerous gods - the one that Sete was talking about yesterday. Sometimes he would tell us about all the distant lands he had travelled to, and their different customs. Ahmose made me realise that the world was much bigger than Egypt, Aten and Ankhetaten. The Royal Court would always teach us that we were the centre of the world, that Egypt was the greatest place on earth. But Ahmose didn't seem to think that. He was an intelligent man, Ahmose was.
He smiled at me as I walked into the room. "Good morning Princess Ankhesenpaaten! And how are you today?"
I grinned back. "Good, and how are you?"
Normally when someone would ask me a question, even one as simple as a 'how are you?' I would answer short and sharp, and that would be the end of the exchange.  But Ahmose was the type of person who would make you want to continue the conversation. I loved that.
"Very well thank you Princess! Now, take a seat, and we will begin."
I sat down next to my brother, who was waiting for me. Tutankhaten grinned. "Took you long enough."
I held back a smile. "Where were you at breakfast? We had your favourite. You missed out."
He was about to answer when Ahmose clapped his hands. "Now, if you two are finished chatting like an old man like me, today I will be educating you about something that you should both know much about. This lesson is about Aten."
He pointed to an artwork of myself, my two older sisters, and my mother and father worshipping the Aten. "As you would both know by now, your father created this new religion. The old Priests had too much power, back in Thebes, and the old gods were corrupted and vile. Your father, Pharaoh Akhenaten, in desperation to save Egypt, made the radical decision to abandon those gods, and changed his name from Amenhotep IV to the name you now know him by. He moved the capital from Thebes, to here, in Ankhetaten, where the Aten, the new sole God, could be worshipped in full. It is much easier to see the sun here than in Thebes. Anyway, the Aten.
Aten is a powerful God. He is also kind, merciful and sympathetic. He will listen to your cries, and help you. Aten is the best thing that has happened to Egypt. In fact, did you know that you father has wrote number of hymns to the Aten?"
This was new to us. Tutankhaten and I shook our heads. Ahmose grinned. "He hasn't officially released them to the public just yet. They will be used in worshipping and public events. His most recent one is called: The Great Hymn to Aten. Would you like to hear it?"
We grinned, not believing that he needed an answer. He didn't.
"Alright then! Learning hymns is our new lesson. Take notes. The hymn goes something like this: