Title: The Valley of the Dead

Author: LadyElaine

Disclaimer: The characters and situations of The Scorpion King belong to Universal Films, Stephen Sommers, and Chuck Russell.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: How did heroic Mathayus become the fearsome and terrible Scorpion King?

The Valley of the Dead

I. The New King

The first sun of the house of Scorpio rose clear and cool. Mathayus, the new king, and Cassandra, his sorceress and consort, stood outside the city walls to bid farewell to the great Nubian warrior-king Balthazar. Banners and pendants flapped gaily from the standards of both kings' honor guards; the gates of Gomorrah had been flung open in celebration.

"Live free," Mathayus said, a smile coming to his face as easily as the words of the ancient Akkadian salute.

Balthazar had bidden Mathayus to never forget who he was, or the people he'd come from; now he replied, "Rule well."

Cassandra's smile wavered. The proper response was Die well, as the Nubian no doubt knew from his long feuds with the near-extinct Akkadian assassin tribe--but he did know, she realized, as she saw Balthazar's grin harden.

To rule was to die.

A heartbeat later, she had seen it. Her breath faltering, she moistened her lips, then regained her poise. The warrior king had ridden off, and Mathayus stood gazing at her expectantly.

Ah, yes. He was king, and she, his sorceress. She must play her role, as surely as he.

"I see a time of great peace and prosperity," she lied.

Mathayus frowned. "How is it you see this? Don't the legends say you'll lose your powers if you...." He trailed off with a suggestive smirk.

"Can you think of a better way of keeping a king from taking advantage?" she said smoothly. "Well, neither could my ancestors."

The king's smugness evaporated. "And how long will this time of peace last?"

Already, he has taken on the burden--and the pride--of kingship. Cassandra fought to keep the vision from overwhelming her again. "Nothing lasts forever, my king." And then the vision was reflected in Mathayus' eyes, the shadow of a scorpion as it was devoured by a jackal. "And that," said the sorceress, "is the destiny of all kingdoms."

The jackal-headed god of the dead stared through the Scorpion King's eyes at Cassandra. "Then we'll make our own destiny."

* * *

Arpid demonstrated his juggling skills at the celebratory banquet, to the delight of the women and children. But the red guards there, Mathayus noted, were less than thrilled. They grimaced at the horse thief and watched their new king out of the corner of their eyes. They murmured amongst themselves and never looked directly at the sorceress. More than once, Mathayus' sharp ears caught the name of Memnon.

But I am their king now, he said to himself. When Arpid came back to sit beside him with a tired thump, grinning from ear to ear, Mathayus pronounced his first act as king: pardoning a horse thief.

Cassandra smiled, and just for a moment, the king forgot all about his kingdom.

"...And so I told them," Arpid was saying to a lovely lady at his side, "I said, 'I am a high priest of Set! If you do not free me, I will curse you in five hundred different languages!'"

Mathayus chuckled and decided not to correct his friend's memory. Instead, he leaned over and muttered, "High priest of Set? I thought you were a horse thief."

"Aha!" Arpid laughed, "but the two are not mutually exclusive, you understand. What better way for a servant of the god of treachery and deceit to... make a little on the side?"

Treachery and deceit.... Mathayus glanced at the red guards. "Arpid, I have a job for you."