AUTHOR'S NOTE The beginning of this is taken from Evy's visions in The Mummy Returns. Those couple lines are not mine, but whoever wrote them.
DISCLAIMER Don't own them. Too bad. But I did make up this Bint-Anath.
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Bint-Anath – Name of an ancient Egyptian princess, daughter of Ramesses II who became his consort after her mother died
What she was seeing couldn't possibly be real. She'd always known that Anck-su-namun was evil and that the high priest Imhotep was manipulative at least, but Princess Nefertiri never dreamed that the two were lovers. She couldn't believe her eyes as she watched from her balcony.
Imhotep ran his hands down Anck-su-namun's shoulders, smearing her gold and black body paint. Nefertiri felt slightly vindicated. They couldn't hide from her father now.
Her heart soared when Seti burst into the chambers. When he caught his mistress with Imhotep, the wedding would be called off. Nothing would make Nefertiri happier.
But then she saw Imhotep poised to strike. Fear flooded over her. "Medjai!" she called desperately to her father's bodyguards. "Quick! My father needs you!"
Imhotep pulled his dagger. 'Amun, please let the Medjai reach him in time!' she prayed. Tears gathered in her eyes when she saw the traitorous priest raise his dagger.
"No!" she cried when Imhotep struck the first blow. In her grief and desperation, she pitched herself over the stone railing and fell many feet to the ground.
In the ensuing pandemonium caused by the death of Pharaoh and his mistress and sudden disappearance of the high priest, no one noticed the broken body of the Princess Nefertiri lying under her own balcony.
So she lay there, not dead as she had expected, crying over the loss of her beloved father. Finally she crawled painfully to the nearest temple, horrified to find it dedicated to the goddess Nephthys – the evil twin of the benevolent Isis. She slumped dejectedly in the doorway, too weak and broken to go any further.
A cry echoed through the stone temple. Listlessly, Nefertiri lifted her head again and peered into the darkness. The noise came again from somewhere deep inside the building. Something in the sound compelled her to get up and crawl deeper into the black goddess's temple.
Torchlight flickered eerily on the walls as she followed the cries deeper and deeper. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously when she saw royal guards posted at a doorway further up the hall. What were royal guards protecting in the temple of Nephthys?
One of the guards noticed her as she crawled closer. "Princess Nefertiri!" he cried, abandoning his post.
"Do not touch me!" she commanded harshly. The guard backed off immediately. Nefertiri leaned against the wall and breathed a difficult sigh. "What is this chamber?"
"Princess, this is a private chamber of Anck-su-namun. Only she is allowed inside."
"Anck-su-namun is dead," she snapped. "Help me inside." The guards hesitated, casting doubtful glances inside. Nefertiri was low on patience. "Now!" she barked.
The two guards gently lifted her up and carried her between them into Anck-su-namun's chamber. She winced and gritted her teeth against the pain that assaulted her with each step. She knew that if she wanted to live, she had to see a healer soon.
It was a small chamber, lit by two torches and scented by burning lavender oil. A soft cooing came from a deep, padded stone bed. "Set me down there," she instructed. They complied, setting her as gently as possible on linen pillows next to the bed.
It took all of her strength to lift her head to peer into the blankets. She gasped when she saw the beautiful baby girl lying inside. She looked mournfully at the Princess, her eyes wet with unshed tears.
Nefertiri weakly ran her hand over the cartouche engraved into the side of the stone bassinette. It read, "Bint-Anath, beloved of Nephthys, daughter of Imhotep and Anck-su-namun." A sob escaped her throat. Anck-su-namun had a child.
'I'll take her to the palace!' she thought. 'The servants can raise her and when she is old enough, she can be my slave. Anck-su-namun will always have to watch her daughter serve me as punishment for killing my father!'
Bint-Anath began crying again. Her tiny wails tugged at Nefertiri's heart and she knew that she couldn't enslave her. Instead, she turned to the guard.
"Bring myself and the baby to the palace. Call for a healer." The guards nodded but before one could leave, Nefertiri spoke again. "Tell no one what you know of this chamber. This child is my daughter now. Forget Anck-su-namun ever lived."
Solemnly, the guards nodded. "As you wish, your highness." One left to fetch a healer. The other placed Bint-Anath in Nefertiri's arms and carried them both out of the chamber.