Dramatis Personae

The Noble Riei, Young Prince of Egypt, more reserved than his Achaean counterpart (Randy's past life)

The Beautiful Omorose, Riei's fiancée and one of his closest friends, has no love for Khaba (Theresa's past life)

The Wily Sadiki, one of Riei's closest friends and son of the High Priest of Ra, more likable than some others who can be named (Howard's past life)

The Treacherous Khaba, Riei's royal vizier, intends to kill Riei so he can rule Egypt and marry Omorose (Steven's past life)

The Tragic Khaemwaset, a would-be hero whose head has been filled with tales of his father being Amun, he's got a good heart (Niall's past life)

The Vengeful Akagamunas, Prince of Achaea who intends to conquer Egypt and Hatti, more hotheaded than his Egyptian counterpart (Ken's past life)

ACT I

Memphis, Egypt. A room in Riei's palace

"And I hear that Akagamunas has been wounded by a Hittite spear!" A young Egyptian man, with a somewhat plump appearance, spoke to the three who were present. "The fool thinks he can take Hatti! Ten days into his conquest and he's still nowhere near Hattusa. He'll be dead long before gets there, leaving us with nothing to worry about. No more hearing about how he'll kill you, Riei, because your father killed his in a war!"

Riei, the young Prince of Egypt, looked aside to his fiancée Omorose. Talk of that Achaean prince was something he preferred not to hear. "We shouldn't take him lightly, Sadiki. Akagamunas has sacked every place that isn't Achaean on his way to Hatti. If he should succeed in conquering Hatti we'll have to defend ourselves. I'd rather not see him take Omorose as a war prize."

"No, need to fear that Great One!" Khaba, Riei's vizier, put a reassuring hand on the shoulder of his prince. "I hear that Akagamunas is so faithful to his Klytemnestra that he'd never touch another woman."

Riei wasn't so sure about that. He had met Akagamunas once before and only needed that one time to know what the Achaean was like.

He had met Akagamunas on the day of his father's funeral. Akagamunas and his younger brother Atrides had been brought by their uncle, the current King of Achaea to pay their respect to the late Pharaoh. Not even a second has passed before Akagamunas had pulled a knife to try and kill Riei. The Achaean Prince had shown a brief interest in Omorose, it had been so brief that it passed after a minute.

Atrides was dead now. Killed by Hittite pirates who had sacked Sparta. They had cut off his head, fed his body to ravenous hound and now Atrides' head was hanging from the walls of Hattusa. It was understandable that Akagamunas would want to conquer Hatti first before Egypt.

Riei's father had never been so disrespectful when he had killed Akagamunas'.

Just then, a boy shorter than Sadiki ran into the room with a dagger drawn. He didn't run for Riei, he ran for Khaba. Quickly, Sadiki grabbed the boy who struggled to get out of Sadiki's grip and plunge his dagger into Khaba's heart.

Omorose, who had been sitting on the floor next to Riei's chair, stood up in shock. "Khaemwaset! What is the meaning of this?"

The boy Khaemwaset, for that was his name, pointed his dagger at Khaba. "Most gracious prince, kind princess, good… Uh, Sadiki…" Sadiki looked less than impressed. "Khaba is—" Khaemwaset didn't get any further. Khaba took the boy's dagger and plunged it into Khaemwaset's heart.

Shocked, the Prince, his fiancée and Sadiki all looked at the Grand vizier. "The boy's mad! He actually believes he's the son of Amun, with that belief who's to say he wouldn't want to kill you next, my prince."

Riei looked down at the body of Khaemwaset. People had said his father was the god Amun himself. Since Amun was the King of the Gods, Khaemwaset probably would want to become Pharoah. However, Khaemwaset had never done anything without good reason. His distrust of Khaba was known to all but no one had really known why. But then again Khaemwaset had some difficulty trusting Riei and Sadiki once, while always being able to trust Omorose.

Kneeling down, Riei placed a hand on Khaemwaset's head. "Rest well, my friend."

()

A tomb outside of Memphis.

Seventy days passed. In that time, Akagamunas and his army had made it to Hattusa. The siege had been going on for twenty-three days with no sign of victory for either side. As for those of Egypt, Khaemwaset had been given a tomb worthy of his divine father. And Khaba? He had been given a tool to kill Riei.

Khaba was a person with a plan. Kill Riei, become Egypt's ruler, marry Omorose. Khaemwaset had always been the type of person to sneak around when it suited him and Khaba had always been one to talk to his reflection when it suited him. Khaemwaset must have simply heard Khaba one time. But now Khaemwaset was dead and Khaba had a weapon or minion, whichever he'd use Khaemwaset for.

Standing before the sarcophagus with the Scroll of Thoth in his hand, Khaba resurrected Khaemwaset. This could have been considered the ultimate blasphemy or sacrilege but the end justified the means.

Rising from the sarcophagus, Khaemwaset's mummy looked at Khaba with a dead look in its eyes. Khaemwaset's soul was in a new body now. Khaba had no idea what his minion had been reborn as: Egyptian, Achaean, Hittite or maybe even some far off person whom the people of those mighty nations had never even heard.

"Khaemwaset… I call you from death to make me Pharaoh of Egypt! By doing so you will make Omorose my queen!" Khaba took a step forward to look the mummy in the eye. "You will kill Riei. Strangle him in his bed." The mummy made no sound, no gesture that it understood what Khaba was saying. "Now go! Do the deed!"

And with that, the mummy started its trek to Memphis in the dark of the night. Although the soul of Khaemwaset no longer resided in the body, it still knew the way. With the soul of Khaemwaset no longer residing in the body, there would be no hesitation when it came to strangling Riei. It obeyed whoever held the Scroll of Thoth!

()

Memphis, Egypt. The throne room in the palace

Where was Khaba? Riei looked at the faces in his throne room. His Grand Vizier was nowhere to be seen. His beloved Omorose was here, as was good Sadiki, so where was Khaba?

The lucky vizier wasn't dying of boredom listening to this old windbag of a priest talking about foreign affairs.

"And there is a pestilence in Arzawa so trade might be slow." This night was slow. All anyone wanted to do right now was go to bed. "A son has been born to the King of Hatti. We'll have to send some tribute as soon as the siege of Hattusa is over." Riei and Omorose both rolled their eyes. Talk of that war was all anything was talking about. Would the Achaeans win? Would the Hittites win? It was more than annoying.

Riei stood up. "I think that is enough for tonight."

()

Memphis, Egypt. Riei's bedchamber

As Riei climbed into his bed, a sound came to his ears. The sound of heavy footsteps! Those weren't Omorose's footsteps! By the light of the moon, an undead abomination appeared.

A living mummy! Who was responsible for this?

With outstretched hands, the mummy came closer. Riei retreated and came back with a burning torch and made short work of the mummy. Like an Achaean or Hittite, the mummy was laid to rest.

()

Memphis, Egypt. The throne room in the palace

The next morning, a great discussion was held. A living mummy attacking the prince! The Scroll of Thoth stolen!

What madness was this?

"No doubt we have brought down the wrath of Amun for killing Khaemwaset!" said Khaba. The treacherous vizier was working hard to cover his trail.

"You mean you brought down the wrath of Amun!" objected Sadiki. "You're the one who killed Khaemwaset! You brought down Amun's wrath! Nobody else!"

"Excuse me but why would a god need to steal the Scroll of Thoth?" asked Omorose. Her question brought up a good point. Why would a god need the Scroll of Thoth? Being a god, Amun could just use his divine power to bring the mummy back to life not as a living mummy but as an ordinary human being. "I say there are daggers in men's smiles."

Omorose's comment caused Riei to look at all present. Who would do something so heinous as to resurrect a mummy and send it to kill him?

Notes

The Scroll of Thoth comes from the 1932 film "The Mummy." The talk about the soul no longer residing in Khaemwaset's body also comes from the film. Khaemwaset's mummy is more based on Kharis who appeared in the films "The Mummy's Hand", "The Mummy's Tomb", "The Mummy's Ghost" and "The Mummy's Curse" than Imhotep.

The name "Akagamunas" is the name of the historical Agamemnon, best know for leading the Achaeans (Ancient Greeks) in the Trojan War. The historical Trojans were Hittites. The Egyptians themselves fought the Hittites in the Battle of Kadesh when Ramesses II was Pharaoh and Muwatalli II King of the Hittites. A peace treaty was later concluded between Ramesses and a later Hittite king known as Hattusili III. One would think Egypt would care a people they have a peace treaty with are being conquered. How about sending help?

Khaba telling the mummy to strangle Riei in his bed comes from a scene in the Shakespearean tragedy "Othello" where Iago, the play's villain, tells Othello to strangle Desdemona, Othello's wife whom he believes is being unfaithful, in her bed. Akagamunas is loosely based off of Fortinbras from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and Omorose's "Daggers in men's smile" line comes from "Macbeth."

Khaemwaset soul was reborn in the body of the newborn Hittite prince… Not that he'll live long. I'm sure you're all familiar with the fate of Astyanax.

Scrapped ideas include Riei suffering from an illness, Khaba and Khaemwaset being fraternal twin half-brothers a la Heracles and Iphicles, and Akagamunas having epilepsy.