Abidos III. He absolutely hated his name. It was not a strong name, not like those of his younger brothers, who would never find themselves to be rulers of Egypt. But it was the name his dear, sweet grandmother had given him.
He did not see anything sweet or dear about that woman. She was nothing but a thorn in his side, always criticizing his moves and comparing him to his father and grandfather.
She was the most powerful person in Egypt, too! The pharaoh was only slightly more powerful. She was a Priestess of the court, keeper of the Millennium Scales. She literally held Egypt's balance in her hands. And she could use that to stop his father, her son, from doing anything. She could even make him do things, like exile his mother.
Abidos would never forgive her for that. He lost his precious mother because of that. She was just a vile, old woman, bitter over the loss of her husband.
But at night - at night, she seemed weak and fragile, like his sisters. At night, he could hear her praying for forgiveness from the gods. She could hear her apologize again and again and again to the wind that would never answer her.
"Abidos, you have won a great many duels," she said to him when he took the throne. His father was dead from an infected wound, and his grandmother had once again outlived another man in her family. "More than Seth or my brother or your father."
"I-I have?" he asked, stammering. His grandmother had never told him of a time that he had ever surpassed anyone in anything but foolishness.
"Yes, you have. I applaud you, my grandson," she said, smiling slightly. "But, Abidos, keep in mind not to let all these victories become your downfall. Remember to remain humble. A humble king is far better than a conceited one."
"Yes, of course, Grandmother!" he responded, caught in the euphoria of finally being worth something in his grandmother's eyes. She smiled again, more widely.
"I always knew you would be a great king, Abidos. That is why I gave you the name of my grandfather, who was a great king himself." And she walked away, returning to her chambers, where she spent most of her time sleeping.
That evening, he saw his grandmother staring at the full moon with a pensive face. "This is the first time I haven't seen you praying and apologizing, Grandmother."
"Do you make a habit of spying on an old woman, Abidos?" she responded, not turning her face away from the moon. He hadn't ever really intended to spy on her. It had always been by chance that he would roam the corridors and find her on a balcony. But that had become a habit, he supposed. "Come, join me, child."
"It is a beautiful night, isn't it, Grandmother?"
"Yes, quite beautiful."
"Why do you always pray for forgiveness, Grandmother?"
"A long time ago, before I was officially named the queen, I sinned, my child. I committed a crime against my own family and betrayed them, and what was worse was that I betray that man, too."
"That man?"
"Yes, that man. The man who stole my heart, but you must not want to hear an old woman's tale of lost love. All you need to know is that I sinned and betrayed all those around me, and now I seek forgiveness from the gods and our ancestors for the transgression I made in my foolish youth. Take care not to repeat my mistakes, Abidos. Be wiser than this foolish grandmother of yours."
"But, Grandmother, you've always seemed so righteous, maintaining Egypt's peace with the Scales!"
"But those acts drove my own son to hate me for freeing him of a woman planning to poison him. She would have killed you as well, Abidos, to place that unfit brother of yours on the throne."
"Woman? My mother? My mother planned to murder my father and me? Grandmother, do not speak outrageous lies about my beloved mother!"
"I speak not outrageous lies about your mother. I speak truths about my daughter. She was far too similar to that insane uncle of mine. Ah, how beautiful, a red moon."
"That is an ill omen, Grandmother."
"My dear child, believe what you will about this old woman you call your grandmother, but do not doubt that I treasured you. You were the purest of my grandsons, and I am fortunate that you were the eldest."
"Grandmother?"
"And be sure to say what you mean before you find your time has run out. Our lives are brief, like the wind that blows across the desert. Now, I bid you a good night, my child. I must rest now."
"Of course, Grandmother. May your sleep be restful. We shall continue this conversation when the sun rises." He saw her smile, but he did not understand it, and in the morning, he could only assume that she knew her end had come.
"That vile grandmother! She's the reason that thief is-is-is-!"
"Was she really that bad?"
"Ah, well, no. She was just...tough on me, but to think she was the lover of a thief!"
"Maybe to her, he wasn't a thief. Maybe to her, he showed a different side, you know?"