Wadi Festival

(The Beautiful feast of the Valley)

Chapter Summary: The Beautiful Feast of the Valley honored the souls of the deceased and allowed for the living and dead to celebrate together while, at the same time, honoring Amun.

MEMPHIS

"How are we on the Beer supplies? Wadi Festival is approaching fast and we still have several things missing" a blonde woman asked to the rest of the people at the table.

"Barley farms are done with harvesting, and according to the brewers, the Beer will be fresh and on time for the festival" a man in red robes and heavy eye make-up promptly answered.

"Good. What about the flowers?" was the next question asked by the blonde, seemingly satisfied by the previous statement.

Looking from the side, and watching how she took care of the organization of the festival, made Atem smile with a fondness only reserved for her. Moreover, since he was supposed to be doing exactly that.

However, once he got the meeting with the other temples going, she quickly but subconsciously took over the organization and funnily enough, nobody questioned her authority.

Even if by all rights everybody had a higher rank than her.

The Beautiful Feast of the Valley was supposed to celebrate the death and the living, and as such, representatives from the temples of Osiris, Amun, Maat and Anubis from all over the kingdom were present to provide the population with a worthy festival.

"Do we have word on the Ship builders? Last I remember, they were going well but were waiting for some supplies for Amun's Barque"

Whatever the answer was, it was quickly ignored by Atem, once he realised he now had company in admiring the blond. Turning around, he was met with Khaba's curious gaze, which was torn between amusement at seeing Massika order and direct the rest of the high priests and priestess to do her biding, and fondness at seeing his friend watch over the girl he regarded as a daughter.

"She's a force of nature, I honestly pity whoever decides to oppose her in whatever she decides to do", Khaba kept watching the proceedings, noting how she was writing down everything that needed any type of follow up, and crossing whatever was done and waiting for execution.

"You should have seen her during the last meeting" Atem suddenly commented, seeing the interest his friend had on the meeting. At Khaba's grunt of interest, he promptly elaborated. "A young acolyte tried to flirt with her, once he realized she was the driving force behind the festival organization.

He thought that using some of his boyish charm on her would help influence her decision regarding the suppliers of flowers. I swear it was scary how using her most polite voice and her sweetest smile, she told him that unless he could prove that his supplier was better fitted, she was not changing her decision to contract with the one previously proposed".

Smiling at the memory and barely suppressing a laugh, he added "she then turned around, and told the rest of the assembled people that she hoped that she was not risking the wrath of the gods, just because of familial relations, so if somebody wanted to propose different suppliers, they should be sure that they were the best the kingdom had to offer".

Atem gestured to Khaba to accompany him outside, so they would not disturb the rest of the meeting. The place selected to hold the meeting was near one of the most popular gardens of the city, so their conversation was halted for the moment. They decided to people watch while walking in an aimless way, and once they found a place to rest and hide from the sun, they resumed their talk.

Since Khaba had been absent for a long time from their temple activities, it was Atem's joy and pleasure to keep him up to date with everything that had happened.

During this chat, Atem told him about the disaster of the food, one day that Massika tried to mix beer with vegetables and meat, and completely forgoing some of the oils used for cooking. He also told him about the latest rivalry between some Seth and Ra's Acolytes and how some of the Bastet Priestesses were the ones putting an end to the competition once it started to affect life in other temples, theirs included.

He also added the funny anecdote of Massika chasing those acolytes outside of the temple once she realised some were trying to sneak inside the forbidden rooms while others were trying to steal the scented oils for embalming.

"You know, you are quite lucky to have her as part of the Temple" Atem threw at Khaba in an offhand way.

Seeing his confused face, Atem gave him an understanding but knowing smile "My friend, I have known you for a really long time, and I love you like a brother, but I have known for a really long time that you are not who you claim you are".

"S-since when, H-how did you…?"

"Khaba, we have known each other for over 20 years, and not once have I seen you age a day. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but once I realised you usually disappeared during certain dates and reappeared after certain events, and that you knew personal details of the people we prepared for the Ritual of the Death, I understood that there was more to you than meets the eye."

Nodding in understanding, Anubis, still clad in his Khaba persona, asked him if anybody else knew about him and why he never said a thing to him before.

The "well, above everything else, you are my friend" made something inside the god fill with warmth.

It was a couple hours later when they decided to go back to the meeting room, but knowing how those gatherings went, they knew that at the most they would be about to wrap things for the meeting next week.

That idea was proved correct once they were near, as some of the voices from earlier were still debating about some thing or another, but considering that it was not really a discussion but more like a checklist of sorts, they knew the meeting was about to come to an end.

By the time they reached the room, everybody was saying their goodbyes before leaving altogether.

"Atem! Where have you been? One moment you were beside me and the next you completely disappeared!" Massika admonished the older Priest, and completely missing his companion.

Said companion however, decided to make his presence known by answering before his friend and telling her that it was his fault since he asked him to talk outside for a moment.

"Oh! High Priest Khaba!" Massika said, before colour filled her face and a shy smile appeared on her lips. Gone was the fierce girl that a few minutes ago was defending her ideas for the festival, replaced by this demure blushing girl.

"By the gods!" was Atem's only thought before he turned around to subtly watch his friend's reaction.

The same fond smile from earlier was there, but now it was laced with something more completely directed at her. It was not a smile that you gave to family nor to a friend. It was something gentler and in a flash of understanding, he understood that something more was bound to happen there.

Atem kept watching their interactions for the rest of the day, not knowing what to do with that sudden revelation.

THEBES

Wadi Festival was about to start. People from all around the kingdom were gathering along the Nile in hopes of having a good place to witness the arrival of the Statue of the God Amun in its floating shrine. Priests and Priestess of the different temples were already gathered, wearing their best robes and just waiting for the ones in charge of bringing the statues of the Gods to arrive.

This year, the honor of carrying the statue of Amun to the Nile and to the barque afterwards fell onto those priests that made something really outstanding on their communities, and in the case of Hardai, their representative was non other than Atem.

Massika was waiting with the rest of her temple representatives, having being left in charge of their group while both Atem and Khaba were away. As such, hers was the most elaborate outfit of the lot.

Anubis and Osiris representatives were supposed to wear black linen, the only thing that really distinguished one another were the different colours they were allowed to use.

In case of the representatives of Anubis, The priests' black Kilts were adorned with heavy belts in gold, turquoise, obsidian and amethyst that matched the necklaces they wore. Some of them, the ones with a higher rank, forewent the necklaces in favour of the skin of a Leopard.

The priestess on the other hand, were wearing long black Kalasiris that were just a bit transparent when the light hit them right. The necklaces they wore were also in Gold with stones, though in comparison with the ones the men wore, these ones were bigger and flashier. Some of the Priestess, were also wearing their customary black wig, adorned with golden beads and colourful stones.

They were a sight to behold, but if you were to ask Anubis, who was hidden behind some of the pillars of a temple nearby, Massika was the one who shone the most.

Her Kalasiris seemed to be of a richer material than the one used by other priestesses, but still light and flowy enough to feel fresh in the face of the desert heat. The wig she was wearing was almost as long as her own hair, reaching her mid back, and having it adorned with gold and blue beads, that were reminiscent of both her eyes and her hair.

He smiled broadly once he noticed that the necklace she was wearing was one he gifted her when her training as priestess of the temple was complete. It was a beautiful assembly of gold, lapis lazuli, emeralds and other coloured beads. There was also a black and gold serpent she was wearing on her arm.

But the most striking thing about her were undoubtedly her eyes. Completely forgoing another colour, The black kohl she was wearing only served to emphasize the blue of her eyes, which shone in tandem with the beads on her wig and the crystals on her necklace.

She looked gorgeous, and he couldn't take his eyes off her.

Unknown to him, he was not the only one watching her from afar.

The festival was real success.

The procession was flawless, with the statue of Amun-Ra in its barque, being towed by the pharaoh's personal ship, always following the pace of the Nile and going from east to west in order to reach the sacred land of the dead. Behind him, were the selected priests that were in charge of attending the god; then the high ranking officials, other priests and priestesses and finally the townspeople.

The offering of tributes while Amun-Ra was first put down was an interesting thing, with curious onlookers who had never seen the god this close or people that came with tributes and questions of the future. For a moment some of the newer priests were nervous of the really big amount of people gathering around the god, and were even thinking of ways to restrict their access. The more seasoned ones, simply let them be, knowing that the fear the people had of angering the deity would prevent them from truly doing something against the statue.

By the time the procession was done for the people and the high priests moved west with the Pharaoh, the celebration truly began.

Beer was offered to everybody who wanted a drink, flowers were given to all those who didn't have their own for their dead ones and the fires illuminating over some of the minor Mastabas gave the entire celebration an eerie feeling.

All the priests and priestesses in attendance were the more sought after people, but most of all, the ones related to Osiris and Anubis because of their roles in the death process.

In fact, if you were to look for any of them you would not see them for more than five minutes in one given place and even then, it was a rarity if you managed to get more than one in the same place.

Then again, if you truly payed attention, you would notice a certain pattern regarding some of the people from the Anubis Temple. The girl in the stunningly long wig was almost always seen near or with one of the two high priests: Atem, the highest priest from the temple of Anubis in Hardai and Khaba, the mysterious traveling High Priest.

She on the other hand, was a complete unknown, a fact which the Pharaoh found to be odd, as he was supposed to know -at least from passing- all of the holy people of a certain rank in his kingdom.

He needed to investigate more, because a beauty like that could not have gone unnoticed this long without at least some whispers from his court.

MEMPHIS

If you were to ask anyone, how was the easier way to keep a proper information web running, some would tell you that an army of spies was the way to go about it. Others might tell you that your trusted advisors should be able to know everything that happens in your country. Then there were the crazy ones that believed that strict laws were the way to control what your people knew and what they were doing or thinking.

Someone as Akh, who was blessed with knowledge given by his mother, knew that if you actually wanted to know something the best way to do it was through gossip.

Courtiers and the people of his inner circle were usually quick to deny those claims, saying that gossip was something only the townspeople indulged on, but he actually knew better. He only needed to say the appropriate words here and there and in a matter of days at most, he would be able to know what exactly was happening on the other side of the kingdom.

His quest for knowledge this time was not of the political or social matter, it was not even related to the whispers of war going on in some remote lands. This time, what he needed to know was more of a… personal matter.

He needed to know about the beautiful priestess from the festival. And he needed that information quick.

He was pretty intrigued, who was she? Where was she from? To which temple was she assigned? Were her eyes blue? Or was the colour just a play of the lights? Is she single? Is someone courting her?

Ever since the day of the Festival, he had not been able to shake his thoughts of her, and the way she laughed or the way she moved… So, saying a few carefully selected words in the ears of certain people here and there, he stepped back a bit and waited.

And he was not disappointed, as a few days later, the girl in question was all that his inner court could talk about.

Her name was Massika, she was part of the main temple of Anubis in Hardai, protégée of High Priest Atem, and close friend with the traveling mysterious one. Her eyes were actually blue and under the incredibly long wig she was wearing, you could find hair as bright as the sun.

She was, according to some of the Magicians and Sacred men of the Court, quite skilled at performing certain rituals and a complete mess at guiding some minor ceremonies, she was good at organizing events as shown by the latest festival and was pretty well loved by the people of the city.

She was an orphan, and nobody knew where she came from, as she was rescued from the debris after the great monsoon several years back.

The rest of the information he gathered was quite useless in his opinion, especially since some of it was based on speculations and rumours with little to no fundament. However, what he did paid attention to, was which was the next festival she would attend and how.

He needed to plan something to get close to the girl, "it seems like Akh, the nobleman might need to make an appearance soon…"