Responses to Comments:
Aika Hanyou - Thanks for your comments. I hope you'll like this chapter.
NeferNeferi - Ah, I see. I was planning on e-mailing her later on when I'm pretty much done with this story and tell her about the comments left here.
Anyway, you'll see who the child that was thrown into the fire soon enough …
Kuruelna - Well, you'll get part of the answer to those notes this time around.
Chapter 10
What exactly did happen to cause the Queen to faint over during the ceremony?
Why didn't their detailed plan succeed?
What actually occurred?
Let us take a look …
{Ten minutes before the ceremony begins}
The Queen was extremely anxious because Captain Paneb, who was supposed to come help them, hadn't come at the appointed time!
'Oh Ra, in ten minutes the ceremony will start! Why hasn't Paneb come yet?!'
She was so worried that she dispatched all of her servants and maids to search for him. They were also flustered at this turn of events and searched anxiously everywhere. But after five minutes had passed, they all returned to the Queen's chambers.
"Have you found him yet?! Have you found him?!" The Queen asked urgently, while the servants all had worried looks on their faces.
In the end, it was Sala who spoke, fear in her voice. "My … my Queen, it seems like we had practically searched through the whole palace … but we couldn't find Captain Paneb … Not only that …" She paused for a moment, then continued speaking. "The guards who watch over the major entrances of the palace have already started to be suspicious of us. Because of your power in the palace, other than the places with special rules, we are allowed to go where we please without obstructions. However, because of our large number, it often attracts attention from them. As a result, we had no choice but to return here …"
At the end of her speech, it seemed that Sala had spoken with a voice that only she could hear. The Queen felt despair as she fell to the ground.
'Ooh … Gods! Why? Why is it that I can not avoid this fate? Why?'
She held her head in her hands as she bitterly called out to the heavens.
"Your Highness …" Sala went over and knelt by her side. "Right now … we don't have any other way but to …" She looked over to the two babies sleeping peacefully on the bed. "Use the young Princess to replace the Prince." In her eyes revealed a bit of unwillingness.
"Alright …" The Queen stood. "We can only do that …"
When the Queen saw the baby in her arms be carried away by the priest during the ceremony, she felt something that was indescribable.
'My daughter … Tameri … it's not that I am willing to leave you … for your brother, the Prince of Egypt and the future Pharaoh, I don't have a choice but to sacrifice you … Tameri … please forgive me …'
After that, she saw the child be thrown into the fire and from her mind burst a whiteness that blinded her. Then her two legs became unsteady and she fainted over from shock.
When she fainted, everyone present panicked. They quickly had the Queen taken back to her chambers for treatment. It was during this time when everyone's attention had shifted over to the Queen that the priests who had just completed the sacrificial ceremony had quietly slipped away from the Palace through a back entrance.
One of the priests was carrying in his arms a little sleeping baby …
Author's Corner:
Youlan: Finally … we're entering the end of the first half of this story …
Yami Youlan: This time you really had dragged out posting these chapters for such a long time … All together it took you a week to post this!
Youlan: What can I do about it? It's not my fault that I didn't get any inspiration and couldn't type it up. Even more, the writing I type without any inspiration is very unsightly. No one will look at it. Afterwards, my reputation will fall to nothing.
Yami Youlan: You never had much of a reputation in the first place …
First posted on April 21st and updated on May 6th of 2004 by Rika.