Ch. 1 The Interruption
1459 B.C in the year of our Pharaoh Thutmoses III
"Xenia hurry, mother is waiting!" A princess sat perched on a golden stool, two servants carefully brushing her long silky hair. She cautiously turned to the entrance of the chamber, relieved when a girl no bigger than herself stood at the door. The girl was fifteen with bright green eyes and a long braided ponytail.
"Be patient, Zaida." Xenia hummed enjoying the gentle strokes of the combs. "I'm not the one getting impatient. The celebration is in five minutes, and we have to be early. "Xenia raised her right hand and the servants stopped tending to her hair." That is enough. You may go. "The servants bowed, exiting the chamber with Zaida and Xenia following behind them.
The princesses reached the main intersection of the chambers. There stood a foot solider and a tall dark-haired woman dressed in flowing white garments and a gold- feathered crown. Behind her were two girls: one was dressed in similar attire as the woman, only she wore a gold and blue band on her head. The second wore a creamy tunic dress with flowers decorating her hair.
Xenia and Zaida kneeled before the woman. She appeared displeased with their tardiness. "Late again," The woman muttered. Xenia opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Zaida. "It is my fault. I accept any punishment you give me mother." The queen openly sighed. "I will deal with you later. Now line up."
The girls obeyed, joining their sisters. The family formed a line, the queen being first, then her daughters by their birth order. The foot solider stood on the side as the royals marched to the throne room.
"Zaida, why did you do that? You know that it was all my fault," Xenia whispered. "Today is the harvest celebration. The last thing we need are bad omens," Zaida whispered keeping her posture straight as they walked.
"So this is why mother had us dress in extravagant garments," Xenia answered before Neith interrupted their conversation. "Also, father wants us to look presentable in front of his officials," the oldest said as another foot solder appeared on the princesses' left. Behind the soldier was a beautiful young woman in fine cloths. She held the hand of a small boy wearing a sashed tunic around his waist. Queen Henutmire's gaze remained straight ahead, attempting to ignore the woman's presence.
"Good morning, Henutmire!" The young woman said, dragging the boy beside her. He smiled at the princesses, (who following their mother's example) paid him no heed. Zaida on the other hand, returned the smile. "Hadassah. I thought you and Amun would be in throne room by now." Henutmire muttered in a cold tone. The young queen pretended not to notice it and walked closer to the Henutmire. "Yes, but Amun wanted to see his sisters. He never gets to because our chambers are in separate areas of the palace." Hadassah stated hoping for once to have a decent conversation with Henutmire.
"The separation is a blessing from the gods, Hadassah. I warn you not to diminish what my husband has established for his household." Henutmire stated her distant tone refusing to falter. "Henutmire, please, let's not fight. We are both Thutmose's wives and have given him children. Why can't there be peace between us?" Henutmire stopped walking, and turned to face Hadassah.
"There will only be peace when you are not at my husband's right hand." Without another word, the queen guided her daughters away. Her frown transcended into a smile upon seeing Thutmoses approaching the girls.
Thutmoses held out his arms to his children. Immediately he was tackled. "We missed you father!" Zaida said kissing his cheek. "I have missed you as well. Now the celebration can begin." Thutmose replied.
The pharaoh took his wives' hands and walked with the queens to his throne. Queen Henutmire was positioned on his left with her daughters, while Hadassah took the right with Amun. He kissed each of their palms, then retreated to sit in his seat, Zaida stood next to him.
She was in awe at the amount of people in the room and the princess became nervous. Sensing her uneasiness, Thutmoses gently patted her head and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. The pharaoh stood from his throne and ushered both Amun and Zaida to his side. "Honored guests, I welcome you all to my palace as we celebrate another year of harvest. I implore you to eat, drink and enjoy yourselves."
The crowd clapped at his words and went back to the celebration. "That includes you two." Thutmoses whispered to his children. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving." Amun said rushing through the crowd. Zaida shook her head before running after her step-brother.
She found the prince near a female servant holding a tray of food. The servant bowed, when the princess approached him. "Amun, father doesn't want us to go far." Zaida stated watching the boy stuff food inside his mouth. "Calm down, There are guards everywhere."
Zaida frowned, waving her hand to make the servant leave. "That is not the point, any of these people could be a thief or worst!" Amun grew nervous, his sister had a point. "Alright, let's get back to the family." He said allowing Zaida to take his hand as they wandered through the crowd.
"There they are." Amun and Zaida heard Vada say as they walked up the steps. The pair saw their sisters resting at the bottom of the throne. A tray of sweets beside the girls. "Were we missed?" Zaida asked. Neith shook her head. "Father knew where you two were." Neith said before allowing her sister to speak. "We had the servants bring us food." Xenia added. Zaida frowned at Amun, he should have followed their sisters' lead.
Zaida took a few sweets from the tray and sat on the stone steps. Amun joined her, munching on the treats in her hands. When the celebration was in full swing, Thutmoses commanded the dancers and instrumentalists to entertain his guests. Zaida and Amun had a front row seat, the pair enjoyed watching the dancers.
They vaguely noticed two figures walking into the throne room. The figures were a man and a woman dressed in wool garments. From their appearance, Zaida could tell they were Midianites. The same descendant as that of their Hebrew slaves, the pair stopped in front of the throne. By then, the dancers were finished with their performance. "Moses? Is it really?" Zaida heard her father say as he hurried over to the man.
"Moses!" Thutmose shouted, embracing the man. Zaida moved from her position on the steps. Queen Henutmire was awestruck at the man's presence. "Who is this Hebrew man?" Zaida asked the queen. "He is your long-lost uncle." Henutmire whispered. The princesses were stunned, their father never mentioned having a brother.
Zaida rejoined Amun and listened to their conversation. From what she heard, her uncle fled Egypt after murdering a taskmaster. The priests informed Thutmose that Moses needed to face death, for his crime against the gods. But, the pharaoh pardoned his crime, declaring Moses would once again be welcomed as a prince of Egypt.
"In my heart you are my brother, but things can't be the way they were." The court heard Moses say. Thutmose wondered why as did Zaida, Moses was forgiven. There wasn't any reason why he couldn't come back home. "You know I am a Hebrew, and the God of the Hebrews came to me. He commands that you let his people go."
Murmurs spread through the crowd at his words. Confusion played on the faces of Thutmoses and the royal family. Zaida's family worshiped many gods, they were unfamiliar with any others outside of Egypt. "Commands?" Thutmoses asked.
Moses took the staff in his hand. "Behold the power of God." Slowly the staff transformed into a snake. Zaida shivered, she absolutely loathed snakes. Thutmoses smirked, motioning to his priests: Hotep and Huy. "Give this snake charmer, our answer." He said gathering both Amun and Zaida in his arms.
"There is no need to fear children. Our gods are greater than this Hebrew God." Thutmoses stated, watching the priest use their magic to change two long poles into snakes. The royals were amazed at the power and the devouring of the priests snakes.
The display sickened Zaida and she retreated into her mother's arms. While, Thutmoses spoke with Moses privately. "I can't believe what I have seen. Moses has truly changed." Henutmire stated overwhelmed. "Mother, why aren't there any statues or hieroglyphics of Uncle Moses?" Vada asked.
Henutmire replied. "There were, but when he committed murder. Your grandfather had everything reminding him of Moses destroyed, and decreed that his name never be spoken. We all love Moses and hopefully he will stay here with us." The doors to Thutmoses chamber opened, and the family saw Moses being led out by the guards.
"Thutmoses what happened?" Henutmire questioned. "Moses has revoked his title as prince of Egypt." Hadassah and the children were shocked. "What did you do?" Henutmire accused.
"That is none of your concern." The pharaoh said. "I am taking my leave for today to survey the kingdom. Amun and Zaida will accompy me." The children nodded and followed their father out of the room to the chariot outside.