Chapter 14

Yoam gave a heavy sigh and stared out of his bedroom window; it was the evening before his twenty-sixth birthday and he was miserable. All he wanted to do was run off into the desert and celebrate with his friends, but his wife had other ideas. She wanted him to spend the night rubbing shoulders with some of the richest families in Egypt; why he had ever consented to marry her was beyond him. With a heavy sigh he made his way back into the room and flopped down onto his bed.

'For someone about to become a year older you might want to show some more enthusiasm.' A voice sounded from his window.

'Simüte,' he sat up and stared at his friend, 'what on earth are you doing here?'

'I have a message from Lilly.' A huge grin spread across his face. 'She wants us to meet her by the oasis halfway between here and Lun.'

'When?'

'Now, I guess.'

'But I can't, my wife would kill me; I meant to be helping Toya arrange my birthday celebrations.'

'Do you want to?'

'Not really.' Yoam lowered his gaze.

'Then slake off.'

'What?'

'Have you learnt nothing from me?' Simüte gave a sly sounding laugh. 'Slake off, escape the boredom and spend time with some of your dear old friends. You know, the ones you actually like.'

Yoam couldn't admit he wasn't tempted, but there was just one problem.

'They'll see me going.' He shook his head.

'Not if you go out the same way I came in.' Simüte's eyes sparkled with the same kind of mischief that had been there when they were youths.

'You mean out the window?' Yoam half frowned.

'You bet!'

The temptation was almost too much for Yoam to bear. He did his best to pretend he was mulling the idea over, but it was too difficult for him to keep a straight face when he did. The answer was obvious and there was no point claiming otherwise.

'Alright you're on.'

With an almost devilish air the pair made their escape via the window and raced each other to Lillyannu's meeting place. When they arrived they were both panting hard. She, on the other hand, was serenely sat under the shade of a small tree. The setting sun turned the sky behind her a deep orange and the evening breeze carried with it the sweet perfumed fragrance of flowers. As Yoam gasped for breath, he couldn't help but think of how her beauty set off the landscape.

'Are you sure your husband won't mind you meeting us like this?' Yoam did his best to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

'My husband knows to mind his own business. Besides,' she got up and placing a hand on the rather obtrusive bump on her stomach, 'fresh air's good for a woman in my condition.'

'Oh right, I'd forgotten about that.' Yoam looked away in disgust.

'I have to secure an heir to the Ashmar line Yoam. Just as you must secure an heir to your dynasty; it's the way the world works.'

'Don't remind me.'

'I didn't come here to fight with you,' Lillyannu gave a heavy sigh and massaged her temples, 'I thought we were past all that.'

'We are. I'm sorry. So why did you call me here?'

'Yoam, my father is dying.'

'What?'

'The doctors, they give him less than a week.' She paused for a moment as her eyes glistened with the tears of fear. 'I shall be queen, head of the Ashmar line, in less than a week. Oh Yoam, I'm so scared, I'm not ready for this.'

'Oh Lilly...' Simüte took a step towards her, then hesitated.

'It's okay Simüte; I have made my peace with it. And it's not why I brought you here.' Lillyannu took a deep breath in and appeared to gather her thoughts. 'Simüte, my dear sweet friend, when my father dies you'll be head of your family and I know your father will be resentful of that, but I also know you are not meant to be caged in. My good friend, my dear friend, my sweet and loyal friend, you shan't ever be caged. You need never attend a council meeting or political function if you don't wish to be there. You shall be a wonderer, like many of your ancestors were. You shall be my line to my people, just as Makay was Sil's line to his. With all the power that is vested in me, Simüte, I promise you, you shall be free.'

'Lilly,' he stared at her, his eyes glistening with tears, 'thank you.'

'Oh Simüte, how could it be any other way?' She took another calming breath in and her attention turned to Yoam. 'My dear sweet prince of Egypt, my equal, my friend, my heart and my soul, the love of my life; how fate is a devil with its tricks,' she took a lily shaped pendant off from around her neck. 'My love I want you to have this.'

'But why?' Yoam stared at her in disbelief.

'As a reminder of me; I may never get the chance to see you like this again. Though I'll try, I swear on my life I'll try.' Tears reformed in the corners of her eyes. 'But this way they'll always be a part of me with you and, when you ascend to your throne, we shall rule together in spirit. Two nations united in love.'

'Only we won't be, not really.' Yoam shook his head.

'But in spirit we will. In spirit forever and the day that forever ends. Yoam I do love you, you know that.'

'I know. I know you love me. But what good does it do either of us now?'

'Fate is a cruel a devil as ever was...'

'Or ever shall be.' Simüte finished, his voice muted with the weight of the words.

For a long time the three friends stood staring glumly at each other. They knew without a doubt their lives were about to change forever. Their care free days and rule free nights would become nothing more than a distant memory; a memory to be replaced by the weight of the world which was to rest upon their shoulders. Only time would tell how this weight would change them and not one of them could stop the hands of time.