Tehk Festival

(The Feast of the Drunkenness)

Chapter Summary: The Feast of Drunkenness: This festival was dedicated to Hathor ('The Lady of Drunkenness') and commemorated the time when humanity was saved from destruction by Beer.

KHMUNU

Communication between "Akh, the Advisor" and Massika continued even after the festival ended; the pharaoh went as far as using one of his most trusted messengers just so he could exchange some words with the girl in question.

The pharaoh became distracted in the middle of meetings, seemed to be spacing out at odd points and he was caught daydreaming once or twice during meals with other nobles. His actual advisors soon noticed this behavior, and confronted him on the identity of the mysterious lady who seemed to have stolen the pharaoh's attention.

His lack of answers made people speculate. Some bets were on a lady of the court, especially one that was known for her coquettish ways and flirty nature. Some other were aiming for maybe a girl in the Harem, wondering if the usually ascetic pharaoh finally found a girl more to his liking there.

There were some that speculated that it might be a peasant girl, though nobody could be sure where or when he could have met such girl.

Either way, with the passing of days, they noticed how the pharaoh became more and more distracted, only paying attention to what was being said if it involved a festival or a religious celebration. This, coupled with his constant disappearances during said events started to give the councilors and advisors some pause.

Nobody had suspected it before, mostly because he was almost never seen with any of the priests or priestess of any god outside of the necessary just for the sake of hanging out. But all the signs pointed to the mysterious girl being someone from religious background.

They needed more data. They also needed to keep better track on where he kept disappearing to during festivals and if there was someone he was meeting in secret in them.

Not only because of curiosity, but because it could even delve into matters of the Kingdom's security.

The Tekh Festivities were just around the corner, but this time, unlike the rest, the Pharaoh was not as happy as everybody in the court expected, which was a shock actually, since it was one of the most joyous events in the year.

In fact it was the only thing a lot of people were talking about, priests and priestess from the temples of Re, Hathor and Sekhmet were already planning on how everything was going to play out.

Two days before the actual celebration, recreation establishments and barley farms would be selling all kinds of beer to be used during the festival. Afterwards, there would be parties all over the kingdom, where all kinds of activities would be held for everybody to enjoy.

Which was the main problem, in Pharaoh Ahmose's opinion. Beer consumption had to be indoors, and something to be solemnly shared with family, close friends and important people. And the parties were a local affair, meaning he had no excuse to sneak out to meet with his lovely priestess for an evening of all kinds of fun.

Adding a layer to his righteous indignation was the fact that part of the fun activities that would have place was a visit to his personal Harem, where he would share some good moments with his concubines and any other lady or men of the court who were still single and wanted to have a pleasurable time enjoying themselves.

Any other day, it would be something to look forward to. This year he only wanted her. He wanted to hold her tightly, run his fingers through every inch of her skin; to discover what made her tick and what makes her moan. To watch her expressions of ecstasy and pleasure.

Instead, he got to share these moments with plain women, along with lesser men. And while still enjoyable, the mere thought of it left him with the sense of something missing.

There was nothing he could do about it. He was on Khmunu, she was on Hardai.

With a sigh, he tried to hide his disappointment while willing away the arousal the thought of her among his sheets provoked. He still had a country to rule.

HARDAI

The Tekh Festivities were just around the corner and Massika was eager for them to come. As part of her duties, she had already arranged for the temple to be provided with large amounts of Beer, brewed from different types of hops and with interesting types of brewing processes.

She was not exactly looking forward to drinking the night away, even if she sort of liked the taste of some of the most exotic beers she could get. The fact that she sometimes loses a bit of control whenever this festival came around was not exactly something she would like to remember, and the horrible sickness for the following morning was an experience she could happily live without. Still, she knew that no matter what, since it was a formal affair, she was safe while still at the temple.

What she was quite eager about, was the celebration and festivities planned for the next day.

The day would start whenever the first of them woke up. Then the sound of the ceremonial drums would help wake up the rest of the population of Hardai and once the ceremonial toast for Hathor and the lighting of the torches were done, the party would start.

There were already some musicians hired to play their music all around the city, along with some performers and and food vendors. All in all,everything was already coordinated with the rest of the temple people of the city about what they would do and how to go about it.

And Massika was really excited.

Better yet, she had on good authority that High Priest Khaba would be in attendance this year for the Tekh Festival and she was really looking forward to spend the evening with him, dance a bit and share a drink (or five) with him. If she was lucky, she could even convince him to take their party to a more private place.

But first things first.

She needed to finish her duties of the day, and then she needed to find the perfect outfit for the occasion.

Turning around to keep mixing some of the oils used for embalming, her eyes fell upon the scroll she received a couple days ago. After a rather enjoyable evening talking and dancing during Wepet Renpet, Akh asked for her address in order to keep in touch. He said that he wanted to get to know her better, and that maybe exchanging some words now and then would help them with it. She agreed with him, thinking he was just half serious.

The truth was, he was really serious.

It had only been a couple of months since Wepet Renpet, and he had already sent her at least 6 scrolls. The messenger was supposed to wait for her answer before returning to wherever Akh was supposed to be at the moment.

It was nice, but it was a bit suffocating. And she was glad he would not be there for the Tekh.

Aloud, she said "I really need to answer that scroll soon…" before deciding to just leave it for the time being. What she really needed was to finish these oils before Atem decided to murder her and use them on her.

KHMUNU

The arrival of several boxes of beer to the palace was the first announcement that Tehk was upon them. The almost frantic pacing of several of the priests and priestess going in and out of the palace was the second one. There was no denying it when, by midday, one of the maidens asked him if he was to spend Tehk's eve alone or in the company of the rest of the council members.

He would have preferred to spend it alone, using the beer as an excuse to wallow in his misery, but his station made him unable to do so.

He gave the maiden a fake but convincing smile and told her to please announce to his councilors and advisors that he would join them by the time the sun was setting in the main hall of the palace. As an afterthought, he asked her to please extend the invitation to any holy people that would be in the palace by that time.

Ahmose went on with daily routine as if it was any other day; he looked over some proposals for construction of working centers, revised some of the latest trade agreements he had with lands nearby and was even witness to the mediation between two struggling parties over a portion of land.

However, his mood was turning sourer with the mere passing of time. He tried to disguise it, as he consciously knew his foul mood was not fault of any of the people surrounding him. But he was still feeling irritated.

He knew that the Tehk festivities were a solemn affair, and that he was not supposed to be thinking on interesting ways to spend his inebriated state with someone during this particular celebration. His brain -and his instincts- were not really in agreement on this.

The afternoon was finally coming to an end, which only meant that he was soon expected to make his way towards the main hall where servants and some of the lesser priests of the temples of Hathor and Sekhmet had arranged the beer and the food that was to be consumed during the night.

As the human representation of Osiris, King of the Gods, he was considered the Highest Priest of the Temples all along Kemet, and as such he was the one to announce, at least in this city, the beginning of the ceremonies for the Goddess Sehkmet.

With a resigned sigh, he began his walk.

Unknown to the Pharaoh, several councilors and noblemen were quite eager for the Tehk festival to arrive, and contrary to what one could expect, it had nothing to do with the beer, the food or the party the following day.

Or well, maybe it had to do with the beer, but not because a real desire to drink the night away. Their real motivation laid within the Pharaoh's desires.

They were planning on taking advantage of the Pharaoh's loose tongue while drinking to get him to spill the reason behind his frankly odd behavior.

Or rather, they would make him tell them who is that managed to steal his attention so thoroughly.

Some could argue that they were tired of him spacing out in the middle of an important meeting, or that they saw the need for an actual queen to finally take the throne beside him.

But underneath it all, they were looking for someone to control. Someone who they could manipulate or at least sweet talk into convincing the Pharaoh into agreeing to their requests. They needed someone who could be used as counterweight of the absolute power of the Ruler of the land.

They could try to force him into marrying someone of their choosing, but they knew that if that was the case, the girl in question would never have any power over the Ahmose.

So they designed this plan, and they were quite confident in it.

By sunset, everything was set in the main hall; everybody was waiting for the Pharaoh to arrive so the vigil of the celebrations could begin.

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, there was not a lot that had to be done for this part of the celebration to do, except to offer a prayer to Sekhmet, as a thank you for humanity's continued existence, and then to make a simple toast so everybody could start with their drinks.

Initially, the Pharaoh was seated by himself in a rather big table, where once upon a time, his parents and some of their siblings would come and sit while drinking their beverages. Now, his parents were dead and the rest of his relatives were part of the council or were ruling cities of the kingdom, so nobody was really there to share the Space.

It was then that the Pharaoh started to daydream again. And it was then that the councilors set their plan in motion.

One by one, the noblemen starter to join him at his table, encouraging him to drink some more beer or even presenting him a new glass themselves so he did not have to move to get it. They were careful to make him drink while making the illusion that they were also drinking.

A couple of hours later, and the questions began.

They started with simple matters, like funny memories or stories to remember, just to assert how far gone the Pharaoh was. Then they started to ask about people they knew, updating him about gossip that ran along the palace's walls and finally, they started to probe the actual knowledge they were seeking out.

And the unsuspecting Pharaoh spilled everything. He told them about priestess Massika, about the temple and city where she served, about her looks and her likes. He spent almost half an hour describing her beautiful eyes lined with Kohl and the way her wigs were beautifully coordinated with the rest of her outfits.

Never mind he had only seen her twice.

The councilors and noblemen were taking mental notes on everything the Pharaoh was telling them, while mentally preparing a plan to get to this girl and bring her to the palace.

By the time the Pharaoh's comments regarding the girl started to get a bit too crude, he was also about to fall asleep. One of the noblemen prompted him to finish a glass of beer that was near and a few minutes later, the pharaoh knew no more.

"Gentlemen, we have a marriage to arrange" the oldest of the group declared.

HARDAI

Even though the faint sound of the ceremonial drums rouse her from sleep, Massika was reluctant to move from her bed. The fact that the sound of said drums was aggravating her splitting headache, only made her more determined to never leave her place and hide away forever.

She knew that was an impossible endeavor, but she still wished she could actually do it.

Sitting up on her bed, she proceeded to look for the outfit she selected for this special occasion. Her kalasiris was made of an almost see-through white linen, though she selected a vibrant yellow undershirt to go with it. She picked a sash that was made of red and orange thread, with small crystals that reflected the light while walking.

She also chose a rather large collar, made with rubies, orange and yellow citrine, and garnet. Everything was interwoven with gold, creating the figure of a phoenix embracing her shoulders.

Jewelry at her arms and wrists matched this design.

Finally her wig was one of her shorter ones. It had several braids with little golden beads that hanged on the sides but were also woven to form some kind of circlet on her head.

All in all, she looked shiny. And she was sure more than one person would look her way while she danced the morning away.

She only hoped that the one person she wanted to impress was pleased with her outfit.

After checking herself over for the nth time, she decided there was not much she could do to her appearance. So took a really deep breath and marched outside of the temple.

There was a festival to enjoy, and a High Priest to find.

Midday was fast approaching, and there was no sign of her High Priest.

She knew he was there, since she saw him earlier during the prayers for Hathor and the burning of the morning torches that marked the beginning of the second part of the Tehk Festival. She tried to look for him immediately afterwards, but it was as if he simply vanished. She searched for him for about an hour before deciding to enjoy the festival while looking out for him.

So she danced a lot, drank one or two glasses of beer and other brews, sang with a band and played some games with children of the community. And there was no sign of him.

She was about to give up on her search and just try to drown her frustration with beer when she finally saw him, practically hiding behind the pillars of the main temple of Anubis.

He was no longer in the black and white robe he wore for the main ceremony, and his usual black, Anubis mask was also missing giving Massika a clear view of his face and Gray eyes lined with kohl. He was now wearing a white and gold Shendyt , with a sash made mostly of gold with black and red accents. Holding it in place was the image of a golden scarab. His arms were covered in golden vambraces and his leather sandals were tall enough to brush with the lower part of his shendyt.

As a priest of his rank, he could forgo the ceremonial wigs some of the population was so fond of and instead he was allowed to wear a headdress that matched the rest of his jewelry, which was also in black, gold and red.

He looked majestic. Even better, his outfit matched hers.

For a moment, she debated on playing coy and just dance in front of him without really acknowledging him until he reached out to her for a dance, but finally decided that there was already a lot of wasted time and she really wanted to spend some time with him.

She steeled herself and walked towards him, thinking that maybe she could take him by surprise if she was stealthy enough to sneak up on him.

He noticed her not two steps later, and did not look away while she approached. Her greeting then turned more open and happy, which prompted a small but fond smile on him.

They tried to make some small talk, though with the time they had known each other, they quickly left the simple topics behind before launching into more complicated discussions.

It was during one of these that a band of musicians passed near them, which prompted Massika to ask him for a dance. Said dance, quickly turned to two more and before they knew, they had danced together for the better part of the afternoon.

They were happy together; they were drunk on beer and on each other. Sometimes, he circled her waist with his hand while talking, or she would hold his hand while looking for something to eat or drink. Then there were the times when she would press her nose to his neck while dancing which only made him hold her tighter.

By the time the sun was setting and the festival was coming to an end, neither could be apart from the other.

It was during one of those times where she pressed herself against him while dancing that he finally kissed her. It was a sweet, but brief thing. The tentative kiss of someone unsure of the willingness of the other person. Of someone asking permission for more. Massika just smiled at him and kissed him again.

Light filtering through his bedroom window announced to him that a new day had arrived. The warm body beside him, a sweet reminder of what happened the night before and how much they enjoyed their activities.

His companion was still asleep beside him, holding him in a half embrace as if making sure he wouldn't disappear in the middle of the night, which sadly was something that could have happened.

Not that he wanted to, though.

Running his fingers along her naked back, he remembered what happened the night before, or more specifically, the conversation he forced them to have before engaging in something more than a few hot kisses in the privacy of his room.

"I'm not just a traveling priest and master of embalming practices for the Temple of Anubis, but the actual deity" he began his tale, recounting how he and several others did not leave Kemet when the rest of the gods retreated to other planes of existence. He told her of his role, the expectations of his job and why there were times when nobody could reach him. "I need to go back from time to time to the Duat, to pass judgment on the souls".

He explained that even if they wanted to pursue something more than what they already have, they could not have a future together, at least not in this plane of existence.

He also told her that he loved her, that he had for a time now, and that he probably always would.

She was speechless for the better part of his confession, making him fear that perhaps, what he got from her until that point would be the only thing he would ever have, and that the wonderful evening they shared earlier would be just a bittersweet memory for centuries to come.

He wouldn't force her to do anything, so he would abide to her wishes, whatever they were.

Understandably, she was mad, but she still wanted to be with him, even if they could not have a fairy tale love story.

His musings were interrupted by her moving a bit in his embrace which told him that anytime now she would be waking up. When she did, the smile that painted her lips at seeing him made his heart skip a bit.

The temptation to kiss her again was too strong to resist, and before long, they were sharing something more than kisses and caresses.

Their regular morning activities, it seemed would start later than expected.