Responses to Comments:
NeferNeferi - Yep, and you'll find out what happens to them soon too.
Kuruelna - I actually wanted to post this chapter two days ago but something was screwy with Fanfiction.net. It wouldn't let me log into my account!
Chapter 11
{Outside of the Palace}
The group of priests took advantage of the dusky and unclear night to quickly slip away from the Palace. They carefully walked to a ordinary house with it's lights still lit.
Knock! Knock, knock!
Hearing the secret code through the rhythm of the knocks, the owner of the house opened the door.
"Was it a success?" the person asked.
"Hmm, you can regard it as one." The leader of the group of priests answered.
"Please come in." the person opened the door wide to let the group enter the house.
{Inside of the House}
The owner of the house was an elderly, retired former High Priest whose status in the court was still revered even today.
At this time, he invited all of the priests to sit down as he asked, "Did anyone find out about tonight's operation?"
"No, it was even easier than we thought because of an unexpected incident occurring." Replied the leader of the priests.
"Unexpected incident?" the aged priest repeated uncertainly.
"During the ceremony, the Queen fainted. Probably from being sad from the events happening around her. We took the opportunity as a way to shift the attention away from us." The head priest said.
"Hmm …" The old priest thought about this for a moment. "Then, what of the Prince? From what I know, the one that was to be sacrificed was a boy."
"He's here." Another priest revealed the infant he was holding in his arms.
"Hand him over to my wife."
As the old priest spoke, an elderly but amiable woman stepped forward to hold the child. She then left the room.
The others began to talk over amongst themselves on how to allow this Prince to continue living until he reached the age to have his adulthood rites and could return to the Egyptian royal family. Just when they were discussing these topics hotly, the old woman hurriedly reentered the room, looking slightly panicked. She whispered something in the ear of her husband while his expression slowly changed. He stopped the discussion, asking, "I have something I need answered. Did you men verify that the child was the young Prince?"
"Of course we did. We had seen them during the naming ceremony so we know how they look like."
"They?" The elderly priest asked, confused.
"The Queen gave birth to twins. A boy and a girl." One of the priests responded.
"Ah. I see. Then it's not surprising that you would take the wrong child." The old priest stroked his chin.
"Wrong child?!" All of the priests repeated in confusion.
"The infant you brought here is a girl. From what you have just told me, I think the Queen must have deliberately switched the young Prince with the Princess so she would be sacrificed in his place while his life would be spared." The aged priest calmly explained what he thought from the evidence.
"What?!" All of the priests shouted out, not believing their ears. "Yet … it is possible because the young Prince is, after all, the future Pharaoh. The Queen would naturally want to protect him. The Pharaoh is old and if the Prince dies, it would mean the end of the Egyptian royal family's bloodline." They discussed this among themselves and felt that the old priest's words were not unjustified.
"Although the child with us now is not the Prince, she is still a member of the Egyptian royal family. The blood in her body is that of the Pharaoh of Egypt so we must do our duty and raise her until she can return to the royal family in the future. Now, do you have someone in mind that can do this? Who can raise the Princess while not divulging her whereabouts?" The elderly priest asked them.
"Hmm … I think that perhaps she could do it …" one of the priests said.
"She?" the others asked.
"A servant loyal to the Queen. From what I have heard, it seems that she is preparing to take her leave of the Queen so she can return to her hometown to make the preparations for her child's funeral."
"Her child's funeral?" On the tops of everyone else's heads were a bunch of question marks.
"Her child was the one we used as the sacrifice in place of the Prince. The one who died in the flames. Yet, she volunteered to this." The priest spoke.
"Oh. Then you must contact her quickly. It would be best if you can bring her here before sunrise."
"Understood!" One of the priests changed out of his priestly robes and, using the cover of the dark night, vanished along the dark path.
Author's Corner:
Do you know who the 'she' the others were mentioning was? Maybe the more intelligent readers have already guessed her identity. That's right! It's the one who was willing to have her child be sacrificed … the middle-aged maid …
Youlan: Could it be possible that there are some who feel that they have been played with by me? In the end, they still used a substitute.
Yami Youlan: It seems you have some sense after all. The group that you played a joke on are all waiting outside …
Youlan: How … how many are there altogether? (Already trembling)
Yami Youlan: Hmm … let me see … 100, 200 … there's too many. I can't count them all.
Youlan: You can't let them charge in here …
Yami Youlan: (looking at the door with several gashes in it) It's too late …
First posted on April 27th and updated on May 6th of 2004 by Rika.