Twilight and its all characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.
I want to thank my beta, i-kno-you-want-me, for doing a wonderful job.
Please, tell me what you think.
The Rising Sun
1. Children of the Desert
The dawn is breaking upon the country of Kemet. The sun is rising; God Ra claiming the Earth once again, from the hands of the owner of the Moon – Thoth. Its first rays still gentle and slightly warm, yet already carrying the promise of heat during the day and a thread for any creature left on the desert by noon.
But no one fears the sun in Nebit. The little temple lies just upon the shore of the life-giving Nile, its coasts always green and full of life. From the eastern shore, a narrow canal supplies the temple with fresh water. It took more than one summer and fifty men to build it. The workers were not slaves, even though none of them were paid; if you asked those who survived, they would probably just smile, tell you that the high priest offered them a chance to work for the God, smile again, bow, and leave. Some of them were left to work for the temple even after the canal was finished and create a small pond and a little island with a beautiful sandy beach in the middle of it. Flowers brought from all known countries were planted on the island and its other coast was left covered with fresh, green grass.
The island was never meant to be inhabited with humans. Not for long, anyway. In the central part of the island, a god is lying. His eyes closed, his head resting on the grass, he enjoys the feeling of first rays of sun on his thick skin. He still feels a little bit sleepy and weak because of the former night's coldness and the fact that he still has not been given any food. Others of his kind can go for days without feeding, but he slowly gets angry. After all, gods are not suppose to starve. And Sebek, a four meter long living incarnation of a crocodile god yawns and dives into the water. He is not content with the fact that humans are too busy to remember their duties.
Inside the temple, the servants of the great priest Nebi seem to disappear, to become invisible, to change into furniture and stay unnoticed. The third wife of the priest is giving birth to their first child. Rumor says, it is also going to be her last one. She is fragile, tiny and still closer to being a girl than a fully grown up woman; she may not be able to make it. Few workers can still remember what happened, when the priests first and second wife died. People are going to be blamed and God Sebek is going to enjoy his enlarged breakfast. Another rumor says Sebek loves the taste of children. A few young girls, who would normally help in the kitchen, were already sent home; their parents can only hope the master is to distracted to notice.
The whole temple is completely quiet, too quiet, so quiet to the point it gets almost impossible to believe a woman gives birth in this place. It wasn't like this during the night, hours earlier; when the lady hired to help the young mistress Hebony with her first child was brought to the house. Everyone seemed to believe a miracle will happen and both the mother and the baby will survive it unharmed. The midwife had large, red hands, a face that shown signs of smallpox she probably went through in her childhood, a deep, husky voice and a warm, beautiful smile. She even brought a wooden toy lion for Kamilah, the youngest child of the priests former wife and asked that Net and Lotus, his two elder daughters, see the childbirth. She also asked that one servant girl stay with them in the room. Some time later, when the night was getting deeper, the midwife asked Net and Lotus to leave. She was still smiling and trying to look at ease, she explained to the girls they were tired and would have plenty of chances to see a childbirth when they got a little bit older. However, her eyes looked frightened when she said it.
After the dawn she walks out of the room for a second time to ask for some water. She looks tired and afraid, and everybody notices how eager she is to leave the chamber even for a little while. Her hands are still red, though this time with blood. A few seconds later she is back in the room, called by the servant girl she left with the mother–to-be.
"Hush. It will be over soon," she says.
There is absolutely no answer, only stillness; the walls seem to have ears in the temple. Two other girls from the kitchen are sent home immediately.
Not far from the temple, on a dune, the priest is watching sunrise accompanied by his grown-up son. The father is in his fifties; the burning sun was merciless with his face, burning wrinkles and brown spots on all of it, but his body is still strong and straight. His head is shaved bald and he wears leopard skin on his shoulder as a symbol of his status.
The son is in his early thirties, slender, with natural shoulder-lenght jet-black hair, a rarity in the country where people shave their heads and wear wigs. Unlike his father and his whole court, this young man seems to be undisturbed by the events in the temple.
"Who do you think it will be? A fourth girl? Or do you still hope for another son?" the younger one asks with a light, almost feathery voice.
"I will happily welcome any child, boy or girl, as long as its mother lives. I begin to think someone has cursed me and any women pregnant with my children. I still mourn after your mother, Aro. The woman who carried Net, Lotus and Kamilah was also very close to my heart. Of cource I wish for another son. The temple is getting bigger every year. You could use some help in the future".
"You are right, Father," the younger one says with a smile. Once again, his father wishes he could be able to read his son like he can other people. The high priest is famous for his intuition. He can guess people motives, their wishes and plans even before they become aware of those thoughts themselves. His only son is the only exception; every time he seems close to knowing what Aro is thinking about, the trail of thoughts changes, all former ideas suddenly completely deserted. Nebi often wonders, if his child didn't inherit a stronger version of his gift, an intuition that would allowed him to see through others even more clearly, almost like he was reading peoples minds. There is something disturbing about it, and not for the first time Nebi feels anxious so close to his own heir.
"See if it is coming to an end."
"As you wish, Father"
A demand and an order, and yet he feels he just lost another battle with his son.
Aro walks like a ghost through the deserted temple. He smiles at the sight of some of his fathers helpers but never approaches them, heading straight to the little garden close to the main chamber. And that is where he waits.
"May I speak to you, Master?" The midwife's voice is weak now and Aro is surprised to see how she was able to change from a confident, strong woman to this little self-conscious wreck with just one night. The fear of death. He smiles to himself. People claiming to be courageous, believing they would face the end with their head high, yet begging for mercy the second they heard the verdict. Why did she even take this job? She knew what would surely happen if anything went wrong! Brave and pathetic at the same time. He marvels for a second.
"Of course, my dear." He almost takes her blood-covered hand, smiles apologetically and finally places his palm upon her bare shoulder instead. There is a moment of dizziness and than he can almost see through her - all her thoughts revealed to him for a second. She is proud. She wanted to prove herself. She wondered how much she could possibly earn. She was sure it was going to be easy. She was so surprised the lady carried twins… Twins? The trail of thoughts is lost. So another mystery is solved. No starving children waiting for her. It was only her pride and greed. Pathetic.
"You can tell me everything," he finishes, already losing his interest. She flinches, surprised, before she begins her explanation.
"There is another child, Master," she says "The Lady is carrying twins. I had not noticed it before, but one of them is smaller than the other. Possibly a stillborn. The other child is blocked by it and I can't take it out. I… Master, I even tried to cut the stillborn while it is still inside" she searches for approval in Aro's eyes but finds none "It's been a whole night and I'm afraid the Mistress hasn't got much time left. She is too tired. I need to speak to the High Priest. He has to make a decision.
"What kind of decision?"
"I… I might be able to remove the stillborn, but I will probably kill the other child while doing it. There is a chance the mother will survive it, but I cannot give my word for it. Or... I may cut her stomach and take both babys out. I've seen it done once. However, there will be no way to save the priests wife after the procedure. That is why I need him to decide.
"I see. And the living child? Did you see it?
"No Master. I could only feel it; it is alive and strong. Lady Hebony said the wheat grew. She suspects it's a girl. Could you please tell you father that…"
"Hush, dear. We wouldn't want to disturb the high priest, would we?" he smiles, another smile that never reaches his eyes. "And there is no need to do so. My father and I just talked about it before I came here. Save the child."
She bows and returns to the room. Aro leaves the garden just as quickly. He has seen enough in her mind; he doesn't want to be able to hear when the surgery will be performed. But the midwife is not going to waste time. A moment before he is out of the temple he hears the piercing scream of the dying mother.
He follows the path leading to the dunes very slowly, wishing to have any information to tell his father and, at the same time not willing to see or even listens to the bloodbath in the master chamber. He is already half way up his climb, when he hears someone is following him. So, Nebi's personal helper is brave enough to break the news to him? Aro would normally find an excuse to be able to touch the man and see his thoughts, but he has already seen enough for one day.
"Well. What is it?" he just asks impatiently.
"The Mistress… She just gave birth to a baby girl. The child will be all right. Unfortunately, Lady Hebony… She didn't survive the surgery...
"Such a tragedy." Aro's face shows nothing but sadness and grief. "You need to tell my father immediately. He will be devastated. His third wife... But I am holding you up" . The old servant is far from being happy when he climbs up the dune by himself, but he is too loyal to ignore a direct order. Aro decides to wait where he is standing. It is already getting hot, but he doesn't feel ready to face his father or go back to the temple.
"Where is the midwife?" the priest sounds at ease, but his son knows better. He can also see some blood spots on the leopard skin. What a shame. He actually liked the old helper. It will be difficult to dispose a body on the dunes. Other servants won't touch it; it is far from the pond and cannot stay where it is. It would attract wild animals; they don't need any other predators so close to the temple. Sebek is enough.
" I believe she is still with the baby girl, father. Do you wish to talk to her?"
"No, Aro. I do not want to see this woman ever again. Take care of it. Was Sebek fed this morning?"
"Not yet. I believe everyone waited to see how the delivery would end. Do you want to punish someone apart from the accoucheuse?
The priests eyes move from his son's face to the bloody marks on his cloth and later up the hill and Aro can only imagine the mess he will find there.
" There is no need to. Hurry up. We should not let the God starve. I believe we have enough problems. There is no need to add an angry Sebek."
The young man has to admit the midwife is brave at the end. She doesn't struggle or fight back when she is taken down the steep stairs and left on the shore. She only panics when she sees the crocodile eyes disappear into the deep water. Seconds after that the animal runs out of it. It surprises her; she probably never expected such a large water creature could move so gracefully on land. He reaches her in seconds. Sebek is not a merciful god., but he is hungry and quick.
It is a busy day. The body of the old servant is tossed into Sebek's little pond. The placenta is thrown into the Nile to unsure the child will stay alive. Just after noon one of the girls from the kitchen decides it is already safe to come back. Her older sister, who gave birth to a child only a month ago is immediately hired as a wet-nurse and brought to the temple. Net and Lotus visit their youngest sister, absolutely delighted to have such a real, breathing, living doll. Kamilah is less thrilled, but she generously gives her new toy lion to the infant. Her little sister, however, isn't ready to play with it and Kamilah gets bored and leaves. Her older sisters follow soon after, tired of having to be quiet and simply watching the child sleep. The priest begins arranging his wives mummification and burial. It is a huge oversight, but the child is not given a name until the early evening.
The heat slowly fades and the red, evening boat of Ra slowly disappears behind the desert. The life in the temple slowly gets to normal, with young servants appearing from nowhere and pretending they spent their whole day inside it. The baby girl is fed and falls asleep again. Her older sisters follow her soon. It was a really long day and they haven't slept much that night. Net cries herself to sleep, sad to lose her best friend and at the same time happy because the wet-nurse let her hold the baby. She is nine years old, only three years younger than her fathers late wife.
Aro finds Nebi on the dune. It has been only twelve hours since their last conversation here, but the priest looks years older now. His eyes are fixed on something far away in the darkness and for a second his son wonders if he could somehow initiate skin contact between them. The scent of servants blood in this place brings him back to reality. His father doesn't know yet, but he already suspects how powerful Aro's little talent has become. The high priest was never a full. He would never believe his son would offer comfort, hug him or even take his hand without having his own reasons. Instead, Aro follows his father gaze. It is a cold, windy night and the sand from the desert flies with the wind, dancing its own, unrhytmic dance. It moves rapidly in their direction, falls gently to the ground, creates little sand twisters to lose its power again. Some grains float with the wind and hit the two man still standing on the dune, but the show is already over. The priest blinks and removes sand from his eye.
"It is a shame she died." There is no good way to start this conversation, but Aro is unable to stay silent any longer.
"Yes" is Nebi's only answer. And for a very short moment his son wishes he had made a different decision this morning and tried to safe Hebony. The woman was sweet, silly and had too much influence on her husband, but she was also too young and unexperienced to be any thread for him. And for some unknown reasons, his father loved her dearly.
"You should name your daughter" Probably another poor excuse to force Nebi to speak his mind, but since the priest wouldn't allow any contact in this moment he cannot think of anything better.
"There were two children. I will call her Kakra than..." Aro flinches at the sound of the old name usually given to one of the twins. "And you don't like it". Interesting. The priests talent is probably much more subtle, but Aro wonders if his father is limited by skin contact the way he is. Or maybe he can't really read peoples mind, but he can sense emotions?
"I asked what is wrong with name Kakra, Aro?" Probably nothing, but he needs a good explanation of his behavior now.
"It is old-fashioned. And too rare. You could give her a Greek name, like people from the cities do." A very poor explanation, he has to admit it, but he had no time to come up with a better one.
"And how do people from the cities" call their twin children?
"It is usually Didymos for the boy and Didyme for a girl"
"Very well. Her name is Didyme than" The priest's eyes wander back to the desert and Aro knows their conversation is over.
Days pass and change into months. Soon Didyme becomes a little sun in the dark temple. She is an easy child, never cries for long, soon learns to sleep whole nights through and unlike other infants, she enjoys other people, even strangers, close to her. It makes her very popular with Net and Lotus, who are taught how to take care of a baby. Kamilah is a little bitter seeing her little sister winning everybody's attention, but even she can't stay angry for long. Soon she is absolutely in love with her younger sibling and glad she will have someone to play with in the near future.
Nebi loves his daughter. It surprises him. He suspected he will always blame her for her mother death and he has never thought he would be so involved in raising a girl, but somehow she manages to wrap the high priest around her little finger. Didyme does resemble Hebony, but strangely it doesn't bring him any sad memories. Her complexion is dark, darker then his other children's, but where her mothers skin was brown, the girl has a beautiful, easy tanning olive skin. She also inherited strong and straight hair from her fathers line. She watches him with her always curious, rich brown eyes. Soon the learns how to giggle, and the cascades of pearly laughter fill the girls room days after. Nebi has to admit that his late wife somehow lives in this girl.
Didyme cares for her dad too, but her real father figure is Aro. It surprises many, because he was never close to anybody in this place, but he is younger and less busy than the priest. After the girl learns to walk, she follows her older brother everywhere, always carrying a small stone tiger he gave her exactly one year after the day she was born. When the young man is busy with his grown-ups stuff, she just sits in the corner and silently plays with her favorite toy. At first he is slightly irritated with his little copycat, but soon he finds it almost impossible to be angry with her.
Peret, the first month of winter brings cold wind from the North once again and little Didyme turns three. She is a lovely young girl now, sweet and absolutely spoiled by her whole family. She likes bright colors too much to accept the regular white linen cloths everybody wears, so her brother makes sure hers are dyed red, yellow or blue. To her fathers horror, she follows Aro's advice and refuses to shave her head. Immediately, her sisters supply her with a mixture of oil and boiled blood of a black cat to enhance her hairs natural jet black color and make it stronger. They are even willing to spend hours brushing it to make sure no insects would be able to survive. However, Didyme is never ungrateful and with the way she smiles and makes people feel good around her, no one seems to be unhappy about it.
"Can I feed him today? Please, please, please, please, please?" her eyes are shining bright and her voice could probably melt rocks when she dances around her older brother. "Father said Sebek will be given a whole cow! Can you imagine he can eat one? And then he won't have to eat for days. That's what Father said, but that's silly. Why would someone swallow a whole bull at once and they fast for days? Don't you think he will be hungry? Aro? Listen to me! " she looks at him slightly annoyed.
"Yes, we can watch him being fed, yes, he would probably be able to consume a whole cow for one meal, and no, he won't be hungry. Please play with your tiger for a while, or the temple will be out of wheat." He throws an apologetic look at the merchant, but this old man from the country of Kush doesn't seem to mind. He is absolutely enchanted with the little girl.
"She's your daughter?"
"Younger sister. Now, please…"
"Do you like honey cookies, little one?"
"Yes," she answers "Do you have some?
"Didyme!" her brothers voice makes her hesitate for a moment and she is just about to start apologizing for being rude when a cookie miraculously appears in the merchants hand.
"How did you do it?" she murmurs, with her mouth already full.
"Nubian magic"
"Can we discuss our payment, please?" It is not in Aro's nature to be impatient, but he is slightly tired with how people behave in Didyme's presence. He had hoped his sister would soften this old man, not that she would steal his attention and make any negotiations impossible. Well, the merchant is soft, as soft as possible right now and absolutely unable to discuss their deal. Instead, he is grinning at the tiny three-years-old.
"Yes, of course, but your sister is surely thirsty now?"
The young man can only hope his sister will politely say no, but Didyme nods with the sweetest smile on her face.
"Bring us some beer " he orders. It is getting unlikely they will finish this transaction during one afternoon, he figures out. Maybe he could arrange for this man to come early tomorrow morning. Didyme usually sleeps till late; it might be possible to discuss things without her.
Their drink is served and for a moment he thinks it will be enough to keep her silent.
"Something is swimming in mine…"
"Probably dates. Here; take a straw, little one. Do you want to know how to make beer?
"Yes!"
"Once upon a time God Osiris taught humans how to do it. It is brewed from barley, which is heated and mixed with yeast and uncooked malt before being fermented to produce beer.
Didyme is starring at the merchant with her eyes wide open and Aro sees his chance.
"The women are probably doing it in our kitchen right now, if you want to see it for yourself. You can also ask Father if the sacrifice for Sebek is ready."
" Yes. May I be excused?" She doesn't bother to wait for their answer. She just turns back and starts running. A few seconds later she is back for her toy tiger which she left on the floor. "You will join me when you finish, right? Aro? Please, please, please, please, please?'
"Certainly, sister. Wait for me in the kitchen and…" he starts, but she is already out of the room. He can still hear her feet hitting the floor and her laugh still fills the air, but the pleasant atmosphere she created is already gone."…And now" he smiles" Back to our payment…".
Didyme is a curious child. She is mesmerized when the cook lets her watch her work. She is also interested in the production of bread and soon she is peppering the woman with all possible questions. The servant is very polite with her, but some of her helpers are gone today and she is busy and tired. That's why she is glad when the girl loses her interest and leaves. She notices a disappearance of a few scraps of raw meat, too, soon after the priest's daughter's departure, but she blames a cat for taking them.
Didyme makes up her mind the second she sees the scraps in the kitchen. The cook is busy and she feels unwelcomed on her territory. Her older sisters are discussing Net's wedding, which will take place in few months. She cannot find her father, and Aro is still talking to the merchant. She still has her toy tiger though. She runs with him to the little garden inside the temple, finds a place in the shadow and sits there. The meat she is holding in her hand looks like some kind of a pulp now.
"You don't want it, do you? Because it looks disgusting!" she smiles, pushing one of the scraps into the tigers stone mouth. Of course, the toy is unable to answer her or swallow the piece of meat. Didyme puts the food aside and lays herself on the ground looking into little tigers eyes " Don't worry, I wont` force you to eat it. Lotus once made me eat too much bread and I threw it up. But you know what?' Her eyes are almost glowing now " We can give it to Sebek. He is going to eat a whole cow today; I'm sure he won't mind eating this…" she looks at the meat pulp on the ground, "…thing. Don't you think so?" Holding her favorite toy in her left hand, and the scraps in her right, she runs in the direction of Sebek's pond.
She moves like a ghost now. Her father does not like it when she is too close to the God, probably because the crocodile should not be disturbed, but she is absolutely positive Sebek won't mind. The stairs are slightly too steep and narrow for her and she has a really difficult time climbing down, but finally she manages to get to the little beach beneath them.
"Sebek?" she asks, unable to locate the god on his island. He must be in the water then. The pond is clear, but also deep and the animal is nowhere to be seen. For a second she ponders if walking into the water would be a good idea, but she cannot swim yet and the thought of losing the ground scares her. On the other hand, some instincts tell her to leave the food and run from this place as fast as she can, but she suppresses that fear. As a matter of fact, she cannot find a reason why what she is doing would be wrong. Father may not be happy if he sees her so close to the God, but she is by no means being disrespectful or noisy in his presence. She just hopes he will enjoy her little offering. Surely, there is nothing wrong with it. "Sebek!" she shouts again. There is still no answer, only a few bubbles of air hit the surface close to the island. The girl gets slightly bored, but she has no other thing to do. Didyme decides to sit down on the sand and wait for the crocodile.
Sebek can see the tiny human perfectly. She is young and still clumsy, a perfect prey. However, she is sitting very close to the first step. If she manages to climb the stairs, he would never be able to get to her. That is why he has to be silent and quick. Sebek is not only a god, but he is also one the world's best predators. He does not like being fed. He wants to hunt. He disappears in the water completely, swimming as close to the bottom as possible.
"Sebek? Sebek!" Aro is too busy talking to the merchant to be alarmed by his sister shouts.
"I guess they brought the famous cow now…" the Kush man smiles, still charmed by the sweet, little girl.
"No, the crocodile won't be fed until evening…" Aro knows something is wrong before he even finishes the sentence.
"I suppose there is no way your sister would be able to get to his pond?" The merchant asks on the edge of panic. The few minutes he has spent in her presence were enough to make him love her dearly, as if she was his own daughter. " The stairs are secured, aren't they?"
Didyme is tired of waiting. Despite the winter season it is a very hot day and there is no shadow on the beach. In general, she adores sitting near the water in the sun, but the pond is no Nile and there is no breeze. The meat scraps in her hand look awful now and they slowly start to stink. Not a good offering for a god anymore. She gives the pond one final look before she stands up and starts walking in the direction of the stairs.
The crocodile is in front of her in only a few seconds. For a moment she finds him funny, running so fast on his little legs. She is surprised, she assumed he would slowly walk out of the water, open his mouth and gently take the food she brought for him. Instead, he is moving in her direction, his jaws wide open, his eyes fixed on her and completely ignoring what she is holding in her right hand. The meat scraps fall to the ground, and Didyme freezes holding her little tiger close to her chest.
Aro catches her just before Sebek's teeth touch her skin. She starts to scream and tries to fight him off, too shocked to realize she is not in the animals jaws. The crocodile stops near the stairs. He can still be fast on land, but he just lost all his agility of a water creature. It takes time before he can maneuver his body to face the humans again.
Aro is surprised. One minute ago he was standing in perfectly safe and comfortable room discussing things that seemed to be important at that time. Now he is standing in front of large crocodile with no weapon and his little sister in his arms. Didyme stops fighting and hugs him with all her strength. The Kush man arrives, shouting at the young man to throw him the girl, but Aro is holding her tight. He loves his sister. He loves her enough to try to rescue her from the hungry animal, but he is not going to die for anyone. If there will be no other way… Sebek will need only a few seconds to kill Didyme, but it would be enough for him to get to the stairs and escape. He will probably have to take care of the merchant later, but it shouldn't be a problem. Sebek may not be hungry when he will be given that cow today, he thinks and almost starts to laugh hysterically.
A few stones hit the crocodile's head. It is not enough to harm him in any way, but it is a distraction. Aro just wishes the old man would be braver and climb down to offer some real help. However, Sebek's eyes aren't fixed on them anymore and he can slowly start moving. The stairs are still blocked, but he is able to get to the central point of the beach. He is facing the beast and the pond is just behind him now, but it still gives him a better chance of survival than standing in the corner. Didyme probably got tired of holding him, her strength is already gone and she is sobbing quietly in his arms. It will be very easy to throw her to Sebek, should he have to.
The animal starts running in their direction. It is still very fast, but the element of surprise is lost. Aro shifts to his right, carefully observing the crocodile's reaction. Its eyes are fixed on him, its jaws open and its whole body gently turns to face the man. Before it gets to close, Aro stops for a second and than abruptly changes direction. Sebek moves much slower now, his eyes still following the humans, but his body unable to turn so quickly. The young man runs through the whole beach and gets to the stairs long before the animal is able to attack again.
At the top of the stairs he gently gives his sister to the old man before sitting on the last step. Below them, the crocodile has lost all his interest when he noticed the humans where out of his reach. Sebek slowly dives in the water and disappears again. The whole temple is absolutely quiet and Aro realizes no one has seen the attack. It might be good that way; the servants should not see the priests son fighting with the god. Sometimes he wonders if those people really believe Sebek is a living incarnation of one of the gods. They see him every day; they see him feed, swim and attack like any other crocodile. He will have to find it out. Just then Didyme wakes up from shock and starts sobbing uncontrollably. He would probably feel for her, if she just didn't try to kill them both. He is just angry instead.
"What do you think you were doing?" he shouts, taking her from the arms of the other man and putting her to her feet. She falls to the ground immediately. It makes her silent; she just sits watching her brother with her eyes wide open.
" I was going to feed Sebek," she answers after a while. Her voice is dreamy, like she still hasn't completely recovered from her previous state. She notices her brother is starring at her. "I had some meat. From the kitchen." she explains.
"Why didn't you wait for me? Or anyone else for the matter?" he pulls her to her feet again. This time she manages to stand up. She is breathing hard to hide the sobs. His hands are still on her arms and suddenly he gets a flash of her thoughts. He can see the beach through her eyes, the crocodile; he can feel her panic and how the numbness took over her body; he can sense her fear when he caught her, her expectation of a giant pain and her desperate urge to fight, the shame she felt when she realized she was fighting with her own brother. Then there is only her absolute trust that he will save them both, the contentment because she is not longer afraid in his arms and her love for him. The flashback ends and he cannot see anything else, just her eyes still wide open, gazing upon him with fear. He gently takes her back into his arms.
"Didyme, I just want you to promise you will never do that again. You saw how dangerous Sebek can be. I don't want you anywhere near his pond, all right?" he asks her gently.
"Mhm…" she starts with a sad smile " I won't go there anymore, Aro. I promise"
"Are you hurt?" he knows exactly she isn't but for the sake of the merchant he has to ask her verbally.
Her smile gets wider; she knows she is already forgiven "Ugh-uh" she murmurs, shaking her head "I am all right, brother. Thank you. Will you tell Father?" she asks.
"I do not think there is any need to trouble the priest. At last, nobody was harmed and I doubt anyone has seen what happened," he answers, smiling.
Her mood immediately changes into a happy one. He can almost feel her contentment. "All right then, but Aro?
"Yes Didyme?"
"We will still go watch Sebek eat the cow in the evening, right?"
Nets wedding is far from being a simple, graceful ceremony that her father wanted her to have. She is wearing her longest, half-transparent linen dress, a black wig with natural, curly hair and probably all the jewelry she could find in the temple. She also wears a very strong green, malachite eye make up. It makes her look years older than she really is. The groom called Mshai is a future painter and an undiscovered poet, whose biggest dream is to discover the source of the great river. It doesn't hurt his cause that he is also the son of the priest of Thoth, which makes it a little bit easier for Nebi to accept his daughters choice. He cares for her to much to force her into marrying somebody she doesn't love. However, he still hopes the boy will grow up and follow his family's tradition.
The contract to establish the rights of both parties to maintenance and possession is signed and Didyme is devastated when she is told that she is too young to be a witness of it. After that, the young couple is free to spend the time with their siblings and friends, while Nebi and the boy's parents discuss the division of the goods in case Net and her husband decided to divorce as quickly as they decided to get married.
"Are you absolutely sure you want to travel that far? If you go south from the country of Kush, you will not even be able to send us messages. Should anything go wrong, you will be completely on your own" Aro gives the young groom a stern look. "I have heard there is only desert out there."
"There are rumors about a large lake and a jungle. It is also said there are mountains somewhere on the way. And I already thought how we can let you know we are alive and well. We will be able to contact you easily till we leave Kush. After that, we may use baskets to send you messages up the river, if there are no strong currents or waterfalls. If there are, we can use kites." Mshai smiles confidently.
"We will be fine, Aro" Net is as eager to go as her newlywed husband.
"Will you see lions?" Didyme asks with her mouth full of grapes.
"We surely hope no to" the future traveler smiles at her.
"Actually, my youngest sister asked you a very good question. You will be walking through the desert where the Nile is the only source of water. You have to be ready to face all kind of predators coming to drink."
"Aro, please. We know what we are doing. We're not going to get killed. We will take twelve men with us. We can always go back, should things go wrong. Stop talking, eat and don't ruin my wedding," Net finishes their discussion with a really angry look.
The celebration ends at dusk. It is time for Net to take all her possession and say goodbye to her family. Most of her things were already taken to her new home during the day, so she just visits the room she shared with Lotus to see if something wasn't left there. All of her clothes, cosmetics and jewelry are already gone. Some of her toys are still lying on the floor ,but she already decided to leave them for her sisters. She doubts she would ever want to play with them again herself and the medical examination she took months ago made it clear, that there is no need for her to collect toys for the future. It made her upset at that time, but now she is actually glad. She may not have married a future priest, but Mshai is exactly what she wanted and the life of a traveler is something she cannot wait for. She leaves her old room happy.
"Goodbye sister" her brother kisses her cheek.
"Goodbye. Please make sure Didyme and Kamilah won't kill each other to move to my former room," she smiles.
"I will try to, but you know the girls." His mood somehow changes "Are you sure you don't want to stay a little bit longer in the Thoth temple? Or even here? No one is forcing you to go south this month."
"I know ,but I already made up my mind. I want to go with Mshai. By the way, Aro, I believe his father would like to have a copy of our marriage contract as well. Could you make one and send it tomorrow?"
"Of course. I will bring it to you myself. I want to see where you live, and, of course, I want to see the preparations for your journey."
"Well, we will be waiting tomorrow than" They reach the other priest's family at that moment. Aro lets go of her hand and their farewell turns more formal at that point. A few minutes later, Net leaves the temple to start a new life.
Aro starts working on the copy in the first rays of sun. The contact is short and very soon his work is done. It is an early morning in the temple; his sisters still asleep and his fathers helpers busy cleaning after the celebration. After his talk with Net yesterday, he decides to go to the temple of Thoth alone. It is not far, a less than one hour walk probably. The sun is shining, there are no animals other than birds near the river and he realizes his sister's journey may not be as suicidal as he think it will be. He never even notices the two creatures moving behind him with abnormal speed and grace.
It takes days till his disappearance is noticed in the temple. People first assume he decided to spend some time in Net's new house and watch her preparation for the journey. However, after one of the servants from the temple of Thoth comes to get the wedding contract it is clear that he never got there. Nebi's people are send to look for him, but they find nothing. His family still hopes he may be in one of the towns not too far away, but after a month they give up the search. The desert and the river take many lives every year and people assume he is one of their victims.