Soldiers clustered around this one man; this one man who was capable of killing a god.
Drums banged as they marched forward, blocking him from our sights.
Tutankhaten sat on the throne, head up high. He looked so small - so little - against the chair that signified the power of Egypt. He was at the mercy of all these big, powerful men.
We were at the mercy of all these big, powerful men.
The prisoner procession left and the guards stationed themselves around the room, leaving a rugged, dirty looking man on his knees.
The killer looked up around in mock awe. "Wow. So this is what a palace looks like."
"Silence, prisoner!" Ay spat. "You shall not speak while your crimes are being read out."
The man did not respond, so Ay continued. "You have been found guilty of committing the most blasphemous of acts, the worst of the treasons. You have been found guilty of murdering the Pharaoh and his Queen in front of hundreds of their subjects. The punishment is death. You will be publicly executed -"
"Wait," I interrupted. Ay, Tutankhaten, and everyone else in the chamber looked at me quizzically.
"Wha - what are you doing?" Ay stammered, speechless.
I ignored him, and leaned forward, taking a closer look at this man. "No," I said quietly. "Not death."
"But...but My Lady, he ...he killed your siblings!"
"Yes, he did," I agreed.
Tutankhaten frowned, and leaned over to me. "Ankhesenpaaten, what are you doing? This man does not deserve to live!"
"No, he does not," I muttered softly. "So live he shall not. But death...that's what this man wants. To be reunited with his false gods; because this man clearly believes that he will be rewarded in death for his horrible, ghastly crimes."
"My Lady, you flatter me -" The man begun.
"Silence from you!" Ay roared. Then, more quietly, to me: "My Lady, what is it you wish?"
"Sentence him to a life of hard labour. A life of limited food supplies, a cell for a home. The rest of eternity serving the family he so hates," I stated slowly. "Surely that would be a punishment equal to death?"
"My Lady, he murdered the Pharaoh and the Queen!" Horemheb interrupted rudely.
"Yes, General, I am well aware of the blasphemous crimes this evil man has committed. But as I said before, death, for this man, is a reward. It is too light a punishment. This is not."
"My Lady, I cannot thank you enough -" the man began.
"Silence!" I hissed angrily. "You think you are worthy enough to address someone as high up as me? You think, after what you have done, I would allow you to speak to me? You are a fool. You think your gods exist? You think you have faith for them? Tell me, when you are shivering and rotting away in your cell at night, awaiting another day of hard, gruelling, back-breaking labour, tell me, where will your gods be then? What kind of God rewards a murderer? And that is exactly what you are. A murderer. No, your gods will have abandoned you. You will wish you had received death as your punishment. And when you do finally draw your last breath, you shall be banished in the afterlife, to spend all of eternity in darkness, and your name forgotten. You should consider yourself lucky that you are not receiving a punishment even harsher. You killed the three most important people in all of Egypt today. And now you will pay."
The man frowned. "Three? My Lady, it was only -"
"Silence!" Ay spat. He looked at me quizzically, as if I were not supposed to say what I said. Well, this man should have known what he did. And I intended on telling him.
"She means Meritaten," Tutankhaten said in a hushed voice. "Meritaten was pregnant."
The man's mouth dropped to the floor in shock. "You - you mean -?" He stampeded. "The Queen was with child?"
"Yes!" I replied angrily. "And you killed the heir. You are the reason for the death of three people. One of which was not even born yet. How ghastly can you be?"
"Oh?" The man raised an eyebrow defiantly. "And how many deaths did the Pharaoh have on his hands? A hundred? Two hundred? More? And what was his punishment? Coming back to this -" he gestured around the room. " - every night? You people think you are so high and mighty, but if you don't change your ways soon, you will be known as the people who lead Egypt to ruins, and I the one who tried to save it. In fact, already many people - your people - view me as a hero after my actions today. And I am not the only one who will attempt to do such an act in the future."
He let the threat echo around the chamber in silence. Nobody dared move a muscle - not even Ay.
Tutankhaten shakily rose from his seat. "Send him to the cells," he commanded, in a small, scared voice that betrayed his young age.
The soldiers around the room, led by General Horemheb, complied. The onlookers left the chamber, clearly dissatisfied on the outcome. Only Ay remained.
He wandered up to our matching thrones and bowed as he reached the foot. "My Lord," he said respectfully.
Tutankhaten nodded, and Ay rose. "My Lord, I pledge my allegiance to you and your rule. I will serve you, like I did your father and brother. I will take care of you."
My brother looked up to this man we had known our entire life with a mixed facial expression. Sadness, despair, aloneness, and yet - amidst all the dark, gloomy emotions - was a sliver of hope. And suddenly I found myself considering Ay - someone who for many years I had looked down on - as perhaps a true ally; someone who truly did have my best interests at heart.
Maybe I had misjudged him all those years. After all, he was a trusted advisor of my father, and my brother. They would not rely so heavily on someone if said person did not prove himself to be worthy of a pharaoh's praise.
A large bang sounded from the end of the room as the large wooden doors opened once again. General Horemheb marched into the chamber and bowed as he approached us.
"My Lord, what is it that you wish to be done with the prisoner?" he asked.
"Have the prisoner remain in the cell until the morning with no food or water. At dawn, he shall face his execution," Ay replied quickly.
Horemheb nodded quickly, and just as he turned to leave, Tutankhaten spoke up.
"But what about Ankhesenpaaten's idea?"
Horemheb shared a look with the vizier that I could not decipher.
"General, your question has been answered. Make the preparations for the execution," Ay insisted hurriedly.
Horemheb bowed and exited without another word being said.
Ay cleared his throat. "You two will have to decide on when you wish the coronation to occur. I suggest while the Nile waters are still low, before the floods. Within the next year or so."
" Coronation?" I burst out. "But we are still mourning! It hasn't even been one day. And what about a funeral?"
"Hard to have a funeral when there is no body," Ay replied critically.
"What do you mean, no bodies?"
Ay bowed his head respectfully. "My Lady, the bodies of your siblings are on the cliffs still. They are in an area which is too dangerous for our soldiers to retrieve. If they even attempt such a feat, I'm afraid the death toll will rise."
I slumped back into my chair in defeat. "So we cannot even bury our predecessors."
Ay remained silent. He didn't answer. He didn't have to.
Tutankhaten shook his head. "How are we to be good rulers if we cannot even bury our own family?"
Ay shifted uncomfortably. "Majesties...Meritaten and Smenkhkre, as with your father and the Queen, had a ... controversial ideal on how to rule as kingdom which is that of Egypt. Ideals that do not, and will not, go down in history well. If you were to look for guidance from any of your predecessors, I implore you, look to your grandfather instead."
My brother frowned. "That has nothing to do with what I said -"
The Vizier turned on his heels during the midst of Tutankhaten's sentence and headed towards the two giant wooden doors, which I thought was quite rude indeed, considering my brother's newfound importance.
"I suggest us and the General meet here to discuss coronation plans. The event must take place as soon as possible, otherwise the people will become restless."
With that, Ay swept out of the room, leaving a handful of guards scattered around, and Tutankhaten and I.
Tutankhaten cleared his throat. "Well...that was...strange."
I nodded, trying to stop tears the tears that were approaching my eyes. "Indeed," I replied quickly, then, following Ay's footsteps, slipped out of the Grand Chamber.
There was only one place I could go to in this circumstance. Only one place where I could truly let out my feelings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey guys!! Thanks for reading so far, I almost have 2k reads!!!! It seems like yesterday I only had 100...wow. Thank you guys so much!!
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