Jewel Of The Nile [COMPLETE]

Chapter Seven

I sped through the streets, weaving in and out of people, being reckless yet careful as to not knock down anything or anyone. Once the two princes of Nubia had left a few days ago after staying for a week, the reality of my father's health started spreading around the palace. He was not getting better. He had said he would be walking by now. He could not even more his legs. The atmosphere in the palace was so, so, deadly - I had to get out. I did not even care that it was daylight; that I was in one of my best dresses. I wanted to talk to Huy. Not even about my own problems; just to talk. I needed to relax.
"Ow!" I exclaimed as someone ran into me. I stumbled backwards, tripped, and fell flat on the ground into a dirty puddle. Everything hurt. I had to blink back tears.
"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry!" A boy about my age, a bit older perhaps, reached out his hand to help me stand. I took it, and brushed myself off.
"So you should be! Watch were you are going! Aten gave you eyes for a reason." I was angry. My dress was ruined. What was to tell mother? I would have to throw out this dress on my own. But what if someone found that it was missing?
"I - I apologise sincerely. I guess I so stunned to see someone as beautiful as you running through the dirty city streets," he said. I blushed, although I tried to hide it.
"Yes, I needed to speak to a friend. Do you know where I can find the boatman's daughter?" I asked carefully, remembering the instructions my friend had given me if I ever needed to find her.
"Huy? You want to talk to Huy?" he asked, surprised. I held my head high.
"Yes, I do. Please direct me to her."
"Why would you wanna talk to her? Talk to me instead. Come on, I'm right here," he coaxed.
"Excuse me? No. You have ran right into me, ruined my dress, and left me with a pounding headache. Do not insult me further by flirting with me. Now, please direct me to the boatman's daughter!"
To my further enragement, he threw his head back and began laughing. "This is not in the slightest funny! Who do you think you are?"
He doubled over, trying to catch his breath. "I am sorry," he gasped. "I believe I have not introduced myself properly. I am Kahmose, and if you call Huy the boatman's daughter, the you would call me the boatman's son."
Kahmose led me into a small, dark house. I had a moment of panic. What if he was not Huy's brother? What if he meant me harm? No one would find me here. I would be stuck.
"Huy?!" he yelled, dashing my concerns.
"What?" she shouted back, from somewhere else in the house.
"There's a girl here to talk to you. Hurry up and get here now, or else!"
I looked at Kahmose in shock. I would never talk to my siblings like that!
"Coming," grumbled Huy. She suddenly appeared in the room we were in.
"Ankhesenpaaten?" she said, surprised. "Is everything ok?"
Kahmose started laughing again. "Ankhesenpaaten? Haha! You have the same name as one of the princesses! Hahahahahaha!"
Huy and I just stared at him, waiting.
His smile faded once he noticed we were not laughing. "Wh-why aren't you guys laughing?"
We stared at him some more. Waiting.
His face went from confused, to understanding, to utter fright. "Oh dear Aten! You are the princess! Why didn't you tell me?"
"You were too busy flirting with me!"
Huy burst out laughing. "You were flirting with the princess? Oh, how I would hate to be you right now, Kahmose."
"Speaking of which, Huy, you never told me you had a brother," I said.
She grimaced. "Ankhesenpaaten, meet my twin brother, Kahmose. I didn't tell you about him for a reason. Who would wanna know him?"
"Excuse you! I think everybody would love to know me!"
"You think incorrectly, brother."
We all laughed. I felt so much more relaxed here; it was so different from the palace. I almost forgot why I had came here in the first place."
"Wait - Ankhesenpaaten, what happened to your dress?" Huy gasped.
With a side-long glance at Kahmose, I answered her. "Your brother is what happened. He ran right into me, knocking my onto the ground and into a puddle."
"Kahmose! How could you? You could be tried for treason for hurting the princess."
He shrugged. I rolled my eyes. "Please, I would not tell anyone it was him. I will just have to think of another excuse."
Huy sigh. "You wanted to talk to me?"
"It's just...many things have been happening, and I just wanted to talk to my friend, not necessarily about my own problems, just talk," I replied with a small smile.
"Kahmose, get out. Ankhesenpaaten, follow me. Whatever is wrong, you must tell me."
"Yes, my loving sister," Kahmose muttered as Huy took my hand and led me into a nearby room. I sat down on her bed as she closed the door.
"Sorry about the dirt, and the mess, and, well, the house," she apologised. "This is one of the best homes in this side of the city. We are lucky enough to share it with two other families."
"Two other families?" I exclaimed. That would be many people in one small house.
Huy nodded simply. "We are very lucky. Most homes have the same amount of people in a home half the size."
I gawked. I must admit I had no idea the conditions the people were living in. It was appalling.
"Anyway, what's wrong?" asked Huy, generally concerned. I hesitated. Where to start?
"Ankhesenpaaten, we are friends, aren't we? You can tell me anything. I won't mind."
"It's just...I don't know how to say it...father is ill. Dreadfully ill. He has been sick for months, but since the princes came, it got worse. The doctors say..." My voice cracked. "The doctors say he will not survive the week. The atmosphere in the palace is death. I had to get out." Even though I tried to stop them, tears began forming in my eyes and dribbles down my cheeks. Huy leaned over and hugged me - exactly what I needed.
"Oh, Ankhesenpaaten," she said. "Tell me exactly what happened."
I gulped. "When the two Nubian Princes came, father took a turn for the worse. He could not move. He kept coughing up blood. He was in horrible condition, so much so that he could not even greet them at all during their week-long stay. He was not getting better or worse, but as soon as they left, it was as though someone had flicked a switch. His condition dropped instantly. That was three days ago. I should not even be here. What if....what if when I return..." My voice stopped working. Huy just hugged me tighter. She did not say anything - she was just there. Like I was with Meritaten. And it helped. A lot.
After a while, Huy pulled back. "You will be ok. Just remember that. Even if Prince Smenkhkre does become Pharaoh, you will be ok. You are still a Royal, you will still be looked after. And hey, you are always welcome to visit Kahmose and I at any time, if you need to run away for a bit, like today. Or even at any time at all. You'll be right," she said in an upbeat tone. I smiled sadly.
"You are right - I know you are. I just needed to tell someone this. Thank you, Huy," I said. She grinned.
"Anytime, princess. Anytime. Now let's get you back to the palace. You can come tomorrow if you want. Do you remember how you got here?"
I nodded. "I think so. It was not far from where I bumped into Kahmose."
"Good. Let's ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Huy cried, as she disappeared from besides me and ended up hunched on the floor in agony.
"Huy? What's wrong?" I asked, panicking. "Kahmose!"
"What?" he shouted, dashing into the room. "Holy Aten! Huy! Are you ok? What happened?"
"I must've twisted my ankle," Huy explained. "It's ok now, it just really hurts to move. Kahmose, you're gonna have to take Ankhesenpaaten to the palace."
"What?" we exclaimed in unison. "I do not fancy having my dress ruined again," I grumbled.
"You can't expect me to leave you here!" Kahmose protested. Huy waved it away.
"Are you kidding me? Have you met me? I'll be fine. Just set me on my bed and I'll be fine in no time."
Kahmose helped her up without anymore complaints. Huy and I said our goodbyes, and Kahmose and I set off.
"So when did you meet my sister?" he asked. I told him, and our conversation sprung from there. It turned out that he was not such a bad person, unlike my initial thoughts.
"What's it like, living in the palace?" he asked as we reached the gates.
"Um, well, it has its perks," I said, indicating to my dress. Kahmose laughed. "But, I mean, nothing is perfect. I do not have all the freedom that you have. They will control my life, but they mean well. It has its downsides, yes but it is not the worst."
Kahmose smiled softly. "I am sure it is not. Good luck, Princess Ankhesenpaaten, and goodbye. I trust I shall see you soon?"
I smiled back. "Of course, Kahmose. How could I stay away from you?"
He chuckled. "Nicely played."
"Indeed. Now, I must be returning. I promise I will see you and your sister soon."
"See you soon," he said. I grinned, but as I walked through the gate and back up to the palace gardens my happiness turned to confusion and panic as I heard my name being called repeatedly.
"Mother?" I shouted, recognising one of the voices.
"Ankhesenpaaten?" she appeared out of nowhere and wrapped her arms around me. "Where in the name of Aten have you been?"
"I...went for a stroll in the gardens. Why? What happened?"
She would not look at me. "Your father wishes to see you."
"What?" I looked at her, alarmed, but she still would not look at me.
"Go," she said again, but quieter.
I ran off, leaving her there. I dashed through the gardens, into the halls and, breathlessly, arrived at father's bedchambers. I burst in, gasping, praying for it not to be bad news.
My siblings were already at his bedside. I walked up slowly. Ay looked at me, and shook his head sadly. Tears sprung to my eyes. He couldn't mean - surely not.
Thankfully, as I walked up to him, father looked up. "Ankhesenpaaten," he rasped. I could not believe how bad he sounded. I blinked angrily. I had already cried today. I would not cry again.
"Go," he said to my siblings. They obeyed him, without a further word. I watched as, one by one, they left his chambers, leaving just myself, Ay, and one physician.
"Come here, Ankhesenpaaten."
I did as he said. As I knelt by him, I could not help one tear fall down my face. I had already broken my promise.
"Father, you cannot...surely not..." I could not say any more. To my horror father nodded.
"I am. I know I am. But it is ok. It will be ok," father replied, looking at me. I couldn't look at him. It was the exact same words that Huy had spoken earlier.
"Ankhesenpaaten, I need you to do something for me. I need you to obey me."
"Anything, father."
"Daughter...Smenkhkre is Pharaoh. No, do not argue with me on it. He is. But he and Meritaten are not going to have a child, otherwise they would have by now. I do not know why Aten has wished this, but he has. Which means that, eventually, Tutankhaten will become Pharaoh too. And, Ankhesenpaaten, please, do not act irrational, but there is something I need you to do," he explained. Tears streaming down my face, I nodded.
"I...I need you to marry Tutankhaten, Ankhesenpaaten."
I gasped. "Marry him?"
"You will be Queen. And there is nobody I would rather trust with my country, than my daughters. And what if he is to be Pharaoh in a few years? He will still be a child. He needs someone with a clear mind to help him. That is you."
"Me?" I couldn't grasp the idea. I was flattered that my father wished me to rule Egypt, but, I had not thought of marriage for years.
"Please, Ankhesenpaaten. Say you will do it," my father pleaded. He was overcome by a fit of coughs. What if this was his last command? I could not say no.
"I will, father," I sobbed. "I will do it. I will. But -"
"Ankhesenpaaten, you need to go. Get your mother. I need...to speak to her. And Ankhesenpaaten - stay close to your friend in the city. As you grow older, you will need friends."
Still crying, I rose and slowly walked out of the room. Ay caught my eye and gave me an apologetic look, but I ignored him. I did not even wonder how father knew about Huy. I had to find mother.

She was still in the same place that I left her. It was not like her to remain still, but there she was, stationary.
"Mother...father wishes to see you," I said quietly, delivering my message. I followed her inside and then retreated to my own bedchambers, away from the people, the atmosphere, everything.
I cried and I cried and I cried.