After I was dried and given new clothes to wear, I was polished up and sent to the prince's chambers as had been instructed. They gave me a gown similar in color to the one I had worn, and I tamed my hair once more, making sure no stray curls escaped their bindings. I was sent into the care of the large man servant from before who accompanied me everywhere I went and was told to keep me under watchful eye until Prince Moses had arrived from the banquet. As I entered his quarters, I was greeted by two large black jackals that at once pounced on me and began to lick the makeup off my face. Startled as I was, I managed to shake them off before the servant corralled them into a corner where they settled onto a rug to make sad faces for the rest of the evening. The room itself was large with high ceilings supported by grand alabaster pillars, open spaces where trappings and elaborate decorations were placed, and a balcony that overlooked the city beyond the palace. The walls were painted in the typical Egyptian style, but I didn't know what the writings meant. I supposed they chronicled the life of a pharaoh of the past, but I wasn't interested in their history.
Everything was elevated onto a platform that rose from the center of the room. At its heart was a lavish gold-framed bed, canopied by silk drapes billowing softly in the breeze. Animal furs adorned the marble floors, golden statues were placed in every corner, and thick curtains to keep out midday heat were hung from the ceilings. I counted the number of statues in the room. There were twelve. Lamps filled with oil added a soothing ambiance to what was otherwise my prison, and incense of jasmine sweetened the humid air. As I was swept inside, I could not help but feel attracted to the luxuriousness of it all. But I didn't intend to stay.
As the sun set beyond the horizon, casting a dim glow on the stucco houses of the Hebrew slave village beyond the palace, I loitered about examining things that might prove to be useful for my escape. Of course the man servant followed me around as though I might poison anything I touch, and I made a point to – touch everything, that is. I rummaged through trunks of expensive silks, exotic furs from neighboring lands, weaponry displays of spears and knives, boxes of priceless jewels, and accidentally spilt a bottle of scented oil faster than the aged servant could keep up with. He scolded me several times and warned me to "keep my filthy hands off the prince's things," but of course I didn't listen. I continued to pester him until the sun went down, although after he threatened to send in guards did I finally adhere to his chiding. Instead, I glided to the balcony to watch as the last few rays of light faded from shades of mauve to violet and finally to blackness.
As continued to observe my surroundings, I noticed that the two pillars near the open alcove were close enough to the balcony that I could tie something to it and climb down. There was a courtyard below that wasn't heavily guarded and a gate that was far enough away for me to make a mad-dash. If my timing was right, I could slip out at the next guard shift if I watched closely enough… But that meant that I had to get rid of my other company...
Or did I?
I needed a plan, and ironically, it came to me in the form of bondage. The man servant was hunched over on the steps leading down onto the entryway floor when I came back in from the balcony, and I could see the beads of sweat rolling down his pudgy face. I had worn him down with my constant pestering, and admittedly I felt a little sorry for him. He was rather old and his size placed a lot of restraint on him, after all. But I couldn't become soft if I were to escape the palace. I needed to be as quick as possible in order to make the break before the guards changed places for the evening, but I had to be careful so as to prevent the servant from being aware of my presence about the room. I crept as quietly as I could to pull a knife off of its display on one of the far walls and moved silently over to the bed and strung a blanket about my arm.
I had never taken someone hostage before, much less made them a prisoner of any sort, so my hands had become rather shaky and my palms wet with nervousness as I pointed the blade of the knife at the man's back and tied the blanket about his face to stifle any screams he might make.
"Move quietly and I won't kill you," I threatened with a mock deadly tone. The words felt strange coming from my own mouth, and I prayed I might never utter them again, but for the moment they were necessary.
There was little resistance from the man servant, which I was glad of, but the chattering that came from him as I tied his body to the proportions of my own with the bed sheets was unnerving. He kept begging me to spare his life.
"Stay quiet," I hissed, keeping an ear out for any signs of alarm. The old man was tremendously afraid, and I could tell because the bed sheets soon became soaked with his sweat. As I tied the final pieces of cloth around his mouth, I breathed an apology into his ear and dropped the knife. Tying him up had taken much longer than I thought and I ran in a panic to the balcony window to check the guards in the court yard. There were none. My heart skipped a beat and flashes of heat flooded my body. They had begun the switch!
Remembering the trunk full of silk, I ran to its location and emptied the entire contents as fast as I was able. I tied each long corner end together until I made a twisted rope. The bonds were tight enough that the fabric didn't slip. I wasn't sure if it would be lengthy enough for me to scale all the way down the balcony and into the court yard, but I had to try nevertheless. Time was running out. I tied an end to one of the posts near the open alcove and pulled the rest of the rope along. Then I threw it over the balcony's edge. The rope cascaded down until it came to a dangling halt just a few feet above the ground. I prayed desperately that no one had seen it fall. Checking again that my knots were secure, I tugged my weight against the heavy fabric and threw my leg over the edge. Once I was on the opposite side of the slab railing, I began my cautious descent to the ground.
To my horror, halfway down the rope, I heard the clanging of the rings on the doors to the Prince's room above me. My stomach reeled and I began to feel dizzy. My hands were so sweaty that I was beginning to lose grip of the rope, and my heart was racing. Then I could hear voices and footsteps overhead, which could only mean one thing.
I had to hurry.
Dashing discrepancy aside, I slid down the rope as fast as I was able and made a mad dash for the shadows. The guards had just returned from their post exchange and were standing a few feet in front of me by another set of pillars. They hadn't heard my feet hit the ground when I jumped, nor had they seen the rope which meant that they were still unaware of my lurking presence. But not for long if I wasn't quick. I made my way around them, hiding behind the pillars and avoiding being caught in the light of the torches that lit an otherwise dark courtyard. I took a moment to catch my breath and think on my next plan of action.
I still had a problem. I needed a way to get past the guards and the gate without them seeing me. At their current post, I would be in their line of sight. I would have to cause a distraction of some sort to lure them away from their stations long enough for me to slip past… I would also need food and supplies to carry me on my journey through the desert back to Midian. I sighed, trying not to let my fear of getting caught get the best of me. I had no idea what I was doing.
Then, like a divine blessing, I heard the groan of a camel and the tinkling of bells in the distance. I knew then what I had to do. I dashed to the far end of the courtyard, trying to avoid noise or making shadows against the light of the walls, and found three camels tied to stakes. They were feeding on a pile of straw and making a lot of noise in the process, but I noticed that only two of them were saddled. Stepping gingerly around dung and bits of straw, I checked their packs to find some stale bread, a few nuts, dried dates and wine, but very little water. The sour smell of feces made my stomach churn, and I resisted the urge to wretch in my nervousness, but as soon as my nausea subsided another wave hit.
I heard feet hit the ground in the near distance, and I knew what it meant. With shaky hands, I untied the reigns of the nearest beast and began to lead it away from its post. The bells on the saddle cloth jingled with every step the camel took, and I feared that it would give us away. We made our way as far as the gate, the camel groaning because I had torn it from its feeding, and I had to hush the beast to avoid being detected. Luckily the guards seemed distracted, although I could see one of them as I rounded the corner. But then my attention was immediately directed elsewhere.
There I saw the prince, making his way towards the guards, his eyes staring straight into mine.
I froze.
My blood had run cold, and all of a sudden I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. I didn't know what to do. Should I run? Should I stay? Panic overtook me and my mind became overrun by horrible thoughts. But the prince must have been just as surprised to see me as I was to see him, for he didn't say anything and he seemed frozen in place as well. He looked… awkward and… strangely apologetic. Or so I thought.
"Guards," he called from the shadows. The guards jumped to face him, shocked by his sudden appearance.
"P-Prince Moses!" They stuttered. There were several moments of awkward silence.
The prince looked straight at me, and I feared for the worst. Surely he would seize the guards upon me. I held my breath and said a silent prayer. Apparently it was answered.
"Uhhhh… There's a…," he muttered. "There's a man… Tied up... in my room!"
There was silence.
The guards stood there looking confused, and I began inching towards the gate.
"Well… Look into it!" Prince Moses demanded, scattering the men to his quarters.
I took the distraction as a sign to leave and tugged firmly at the camel's reigns. Without a moment's hesitation, we made a run for it through the open gate and never looked back, never slowed down. I knew that I had to keep going until I had reached the desert. I was certain no one would follow me there.
I stopped only briefly in the Hebrew slave village to get water from a well. A tall, gangly Hebrew man with a scraggly beard named Aaron and his sister Miriam, a short and slightly stocky woman with beautiful dark curls, attended me and my camel before giving us instructions as to safe passage out of Egypt. I thanked them as I took my last sip of water from an old wooden ladle.
"God bless you on your journey," said Miriam as I mounted the camel's back.
"Thank you," I replied, taking the reigns in my left hand and a reed switch in my right. "Hut, hut!" I called, and the camel rose from its haunches and took off.
And then we fled Egypt.
I vowed to myself that I would never go back, never relive the shame that I had endured there. My pride was still wounded from the demeaning court display, but I had regained my freedom, my dignity, and my virtue as a God-fearing woman. I was going home to my father, my sisters, and our flocks, to the people and way of life that I had known all my life. I would be at peace, hidden safely within the hills of Mount Horeb, and could sleep in our tent without worry… My problems were over. The nervousness that I had felt in the pit of my stomach was gone, and a heavy weight lifted from my chest. I had nothing to fear, and everything would go back to the way it was. But there was only one thing that continued to plague me – a thing which I could not let go… I would never be able to forget how a prince of Egypt saved my life.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! More to come soon. Please read and review! :D