Jewel Of The Nile [COMPLETE]

Chapter Eleven

The two months of confinement that Smenkhkre had ordered on myself and my friends was almost up. Kahmose had recovered completely within a matter of days, although every day for two weeks the three of us were checked over, to make sure the plague had not returned. Honestly, I was a little disappointed that soon this would be over. Yes, it would be amazing to got to my favourite places in the palace, and have the freedom again, but I was going to miss Kahmose and Huy terribly. We had bonded so much during this time spent together. It would be hard not seeing them all the time. We would talk all day, or play games. At night, we would gather in Huy's bedchamber and stay up talking for hours - almost until Aten had risen again. And their reactions to living in the palace were hilarious. I had a dozen servants waiting on us, which they were not used to, and would do whatever we asked of them. They were not used to the clothes (the first time Huy put on one of the dresses that was given to her, she spent almost an hour just staring at it in awe! And that was before she put it on!) and the food - the first meal we had together, they ate like pigs. It would have normally disgusted me, but I knew they did not have this kind of food and the quantity of food in the city, and it was quite funny. Even though they both got indigestion from eating too quickly.
Tutankhaten and my younger sisters often came to visit. They ended up being quite friendly with Kahmose and Huy too. Tutankhaten looked up to Kahmose like an older brother - since Smenkhkre never spent any time with Tutankhaten, all he had was myself and my sisters. But he enjoyed having a 'brother-like' figure with him. And Huy absolutely loved Neferneferuaten Tarsherit and Neferneferure, and they adored her too. It was quite contradictory, actually. Huy and Kahmose were just regular citizens of Egypt - they had no wealth, no fancy titles. They were suffering, as much as anyone else in the city. And yet my siblings, the most important children in the country, siblings of the Pharaoh, were looking up to them. The whole two months was quite amusing.
Sometimes Meritaten would speak to me privately, although she did meet Kahmose and Huy, once. And Ahmose came to give me some catch-up lessons occasionally. But Smenkhkre, Ay, and mother never visited. Not once.
I did miss having Nebt around to help me, however. Every single morning, for seven years, Nebt had been there to help me. And suddenly, she was not. But I suppose it was good to learn to do the things she had been helping me with, by myself. I had grown quite independent.
We only had two more days of quarantine, and then two days after that was father's funeral. The start of the ceremony would be in the courtyard, open to the public, but only members of the Royal Family and up high in the court could go on the procession.  We would all walk up to the Royal Tombs, up high in the cliffs - where Meketaten, Kiya, and Setepenre were buried - and watch as the priests placed my father's sarcophagus in the tomb. Then we would all walk back to the palace.
Huy and Kahmose promised they would attend the start of the ceremony, so at least I had a chance of seeing them there.
I walked into Huy's chamber quietly, and then realised that she was still slumbering, even though it was late morning!
I jumped on her bed and she jolted up in shock. "Wha - what?" she gasped. I laughed.
"Are you aware of the time?" I asked her, climbing off the bed. She rubbed her eyes.
"No, but I'm guessing late? Urgh, sorry. These beds are just so comfortable. And you have actual mattresses and clean sheets and tons of blankets and pillows! I could sleep here forever," Huy sighed, lying back down and shutting her eyes. I grabbed her hand and pulled her back up into a sitting position. She groaned.
"Come on! I heard that the kitchen was serving dates and berries and cream for breakfast this morning! That is is my favourite! You need to wake up now, before it is all finished!" I exclaimed, trying to pull Huy out of bed.
"Fine," she grumbled. I grinned, and turned to one of the servants who had followed me here.
"Can you please get the breakfast from the kitchens, and have it brung here as soon as possible? I am starving."
The servant nodded and scuttled off. I was not that scary, surely!
When I turned back around, Huy was out of bed and reaching for a covering to cover her nightclothes (A/N - this would be what we call a very thin, silk dressing gown).
"I shall see if Kahmose is up. You can get dressed," Huy said, walking into Kahmose's chambers. I nodded, and walked through the adjoining door into mine. I looked in the wardrobe, looking critically at the options I had. They were my least favoured dresses from my wardrobe in my proper bedchamber - another extension of Smenkhkre's punishment was that I was not allowed any of my best or favourite clothes.  However, they were still good dresses.
I selected a soft purple, flowy dress for today. I had sandals that went with it, but there was no point in wearing them. I would not be leaving the rooms.
I heard yelling from Kahmose's room. What was happening? I dashed into his chamber, and saw that he and his sister were having a full-on fight.
"Stop! You ungrateful little rat! You deserve to be eaten by the Nile Crocodiles!" screamed Huy.
"I deserve to?! You still believe you didn't do anything wrong! This is your fault! It never you have happened if it weren't for you! So SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU-"
"Stop!" I shouted, intervening. "What on earth is going on? And do not yell! The palace is very echoey, everyone can hear you!"
Huy and Kahmose glared at each other. "Oh, I don't know, maybe you should ask Huy," Kahmose spat. "After all, she seems to know everything, don't you Huy, you stupid little -"
"Ooookkkkk," I said, jumping in between them. Huy still had not said anything. "Well, obviously there is a bit - well, quite a lot of tension here, and something bad has happened, but for now, why don't we break our fast, and feast on berries, dates, and cream? We shall discuss this afterwards."
I asked the servants to bring the food in Kahmose's bedchamber, which is where we ate our breakfast. Never in all my years had I experienced a more awkward meal than this. We munched on our food quietly. Not even I could enjoy it, which was a pity, because the fruit was especially juicy today, and the cream was soft, light and fluffy. The whole meal was clearly freshly picked/harvested (?).
I cleared my throat. "So...um...what a beautiful day, right? The sun is so warm, so beautiful...right?" I said, trying to break the silence. My friends did not reply.
"Ok...look, I am not going to try and avoid this. In the entire time you have been here, you have not properly argued once. So why now? What happened?"
Kahmose opened his mouth to say something, but Huy cut him off. "Nothing. Nothing happened. It doesn't matter. I'm getting changed," she said, storming out of the room. It was just Kahmose and I. There were not even any servants.
"Are you ok?" I asked, concerned. He was not holding up well. Kahmose half nodded, half shook his head.
"Yes...no...I don't know. Huy and I never fight like this. I don't even know how it started really. I know that she started it, though. I hate fighting with her; I would never deliberately start one," Kahmose answered, staring at the floor.
"Well, maybe you did not mean to start it," I replied gently. I had to tread carefully, I did not want Kahmose mad at me.
"No, no, I would never. Intentionally or unintentionally, I would never start a fight with my sister," he insisted. I could not say anything to that. I did not want him thinking I was siding with Huy. That would not help our friendship.
"Anyway, I am not speaking to her until she apologises," Kahmose continued. "I wasn't in the wrong."
"Maybe you should apologise," I suggested.
"I told you, I am not in the wrong!"
"Kahmose...apologising does not always mean you are in the wrong. No, wait," I added, seeing as he was about to protest. "Apologising means that you are willing to forget about everything that happen, and that you want things to go back to how they used to be, before the fight. You are willing, are you not?"
"Yeah - yeah," Kahmose agreed. "I don't know...I'll think about it."
He looked at me, and my stomach flipped. His pure, green, emerald eyes gazed at me, as though looking into my soul, and I did not want to look away. I could look at those eyes forever.
What was happening to me?
Huy walked back into the room before I could ponder about it anymore. And was I glad for the distraction! Kahmose smiled at me, and I tried my hardest to stop my cheeks reddening.
Huy eyed us suspiciously. "What's going on?"
Kahmose cleared his throat. "Look, Huy...Ankhesenpaaten made me realise that I am sorry about what happened just now. I hate arguing with you, and even though I'm not in the wrong, you are, I want to forget about this and move on. I hope you can accept my apology."
Huy's eyes flashed, and I groaned. "Kahmose! You do not say in an apology that I was right, you were wrong, but I am sorry! How rude is that!"
"But you're the one who told me to say that!"
"I never said that!"
"Yeah! You said that apologising doesn't always mean you are in the wrong," argued Kahmose.
"No, it does not, but it does not mean you were in the right, either," I reasoned. He frowned.
"I don't understand."
I sighed. "It is hard to explain. Huy, Kahmose is sorry about the fight and hopes you can both move on, and that you can accept his apology."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she said eventually. Kahmose grinned.
"Good! So what are we doing now?"
I shrugged. "Well, since we are leaving these chambers in two days, we should probably figure out what you are taking back with you and what you want to leave here. For example, all the clothes you have worn are now yours to keep if you  want. See if there is anything else."
Kahmose and Huy went wild, scouring their chambers. They came back with an arm-load each.
"Alright, let us see what you have gotten," I mumbled as Kahmose dumped them onto the bed. "Hmm...clothes...sandals...a bowl? Ok then... yep...yep...a sheut? Really?"
Kahmose grinned a sheepish grin. "Well, I could always sell it, and get lots of money. Then Huy and I could buy some big fancy meals like the ones here."
"Are you going to be selling the rest of this?"
"Maybe..."
"Do not sell them! Yes, they are yours but they are also precious palace artefacts - you know what I mean. I am giving them to you because you are my friend, otherwise you cannot have them. It would be just like me just throwing these in the city and having complete strangers grab them. And what about the clothes? You cannot have just anyone in the streets wearing palace garments. It is not right!" I exclaimed.
"Ok, ok! I won't sell them then!"
"Please do not. Anyway, Huy, what do you have? Clothes...sandals...a pillow and sheets? Haha, ok!"
"Well, remember how I said how much I loved the beds here? Well, I figured that I couldn't take the mattress, so the sheets and the pillow were the next best thing," Huy explained. I laughed.
"Ok, well, everything you have here, you may bring back to your home and keep for yourself."
"Awesome! Thanks!"
Huy smiled warmly. "Thank you, Ankhesenpaaten."