Of Plots and Plans

(Interlude)

Chapter Summary: A mastaba is a large rectangular structure that was used as a type of tomb, often for royalty, in Ancient Egypt.

THEBES

Using the excuse of several public works were in the development stages, including the Mastaba for the Pharaoh, the members of the Pharaoh's council convinced him to make a small tour along Kemet.

They argued that he needed to personally see what was going on on these construction sites, make sure that everything was going according to plans and projections. They also convinced him to visit some other cities along the way to show the population that he was interested in their needs and wants.

So, an official statement was made, announcing the cities that would soon be visited by the Pharaoh and his entourage, the reason behind said visit, its duration and what could they expect from it afterwards.

They would be visiting a total of 7 cities; curiously enough, Hardai was among them.

The unofficial reason behind the visit, was because of the Council's was attempting to gather more information about this mysterious girl that the Pharaoh was so so fond of. They would need to know who she was, who was she related to, how affable or difficult she could be, if she had any lover and so on.

They had already organized a group of spies to get this information and would be reporting back to them in the guise of communication from the capital. Their stop on Hardai was just to make sure that the Pharaoh was still interested in the girl and, if possible, to watch their interaction with one another.

They were hoping that this little trip only helped to further their plans to seize power, and by the end of the year, they would be announcing a royal wedding.

Days quickly morphed into weeks, and before Ahmose knew it, he was leaving Thebes to go on a trip along Kemet. His entourage -which consisted in almost half of his council and several of his advisors- had been outside of the palace for some time now, giving last time instructions both to the servants that would accompany them and to those who would be in charge of their business while away.

They were also looking over everything he might use during the trip, organizing his personal servants and telling them where and how to pack his items. It was highly efficient, even if a bit annoying.

Someone once told him that it was unwise to make any decision while in anger, in love or desperate. Sadly, Ahmose was now discovering the reason behind the saying.

When a couple of weeks ago, several members of the council approached him to discuss a visit to several cities within the kingdom, he thought that the idea of traveling to all those places at once, was going to be more bothersome than productive. When they mentioned that they also wanted to visit several other cities that were in route to their next destination, he thought that it would not only be bothersome but incredibly boring and tedious.

Then, then they had to mention the places they would go and he was immediately sold. The mere mention of Hardai among the cities to visit just because, sent a jolt of excitement through his entire body. The idea of visiting Massika in her city, of seeing her again, and spending time in her company was reason enough to approve for the council's wishes.

Those thoughts were enough to keep him awake for several nights and daydreaming for several days more.

Now, mere minutes before departing to the first city, he was deeply regretting saying yes to this whole endeavor. Now, seeing how they were in charge of everything made him realize that he could not pack his commoner robes to visit the girl. Even better, if he was to visit her city, he would have to come clean with her or avoid her like the plague to keep up with his ruse.

He would lose either way.

Then, there was the matter of why he would be visiting Hardai. Maybe if it was just a social visit, like it would happen at Bubastis he could play it with restrictions of who could get an audience with the Pharaoh, but since it was to oversee the works of some of the Statues for the Temple of Anubis, he would have to meet with the people of said temple. That, obviously included Massika.

And then, there was the Strange Traveling Priest.

He was still felt ill at the thought of his brief interaction with the man, and he definitely was not looking forward to more interactions like that with him. He just hoped that, since he was basically a nomad, that he would be away during his visit to the city.

That still did not solve his predicament regarding Massika.

Hardai would be the fifth city to visit; that would give him about a fortnight to figure out things. Meanwhile, he needed to study, even if briefly, what he was actually supposed to do during this trip before departing to the first city.

THE DUAT

Contrary to what Anubis do, regarding his own cult and religious practices, Thot sometimes liked to mingle among scribes from all places along Kemet, just for the fun of it. Sometimes, it was to get a better grasp of what was needed in regards to the laws of the kingdom or sometimes because he was bored and wanted to do something while there were no souls to judge and Anubis was away.

However, his main motivation to mingle around with the "commoners" was not as noble or as responsible as one might think. In fact it was far from it. His main reason was just because he loved gossip.

In Thot's opinion, there was no better way to know what was actually going on than to pay attention to gossip. It was also the best way to know when someone was not being as truthful or as forthcoming; all he had to do was start a rumor mill and wait for the results on the matter.

It was also the best way to gather any kind of information, even if there were times he did not know what to do with it.

A clear example of that, was what he heard a couple of days earlier, while exchanging gossip with the scribes of the main council. Perhaps the councilors thought they were being discrete, though going by what their scribes were talking, that was not the case. They were planning on getting the Pharaoh a bride, so he could be distracted while they got to do what they wanted.

The scribes went as far as telling him who they were hoping to get, how they would go about it and the time table to accomplish their goals. All of it, labeled as near state secret.

Any other time, it would find it amusing, especially since he knew that the girl in question was anything but meek and docile. In fact he knew that she was quite headstrong when she set her mind on something and was quite determined to do things right.

He had to concede she was an airhead too, but still.

Any other time, he would be looking forward to seeing the council butting heads with her, trying to convince her of something she would be strongly opposed to, and to see how they were cursing themselves for their foolish gamble gone wrong.

The fact of the matter, however, was who else would be affected.

After hearing the news, he decided to retreat back to the Duat, hoping that putting some physical distance from the source of the news would give him some clarity. He knew he had to tell Anubis what was going on, and what to expect from all this ordeal.

He knew he was in love with the girl, and as far as he knew, already pursuing something with her. He also knew that, if the council managed to convince the Pharaoh to arrange the marriage with the girl, there wouldn't be a way to stop it from happening unless they blew their cover.

they were not supposed to still be walking among men, unless it was

It was a delicate situation. He needed to plan accordingly.

He just hoped he could have some words with his fellow god before all of this blew up in their faces.

HARDAI

News of the imminent tour of the Pharaoh traveled particularly fast, specially for those cities that were included on the tour. On Hardai however, since the visit's main concerns were related to the works around the expansion of the temple of Anubis, the notice arrived there first.

This announcement fell first on Atem's hands who, upon a first glance, knew it would only mean problems to his loved ones. Still, in a rather discreetly way he handed it over to Khaba, so he could decide what to do with it.

They threw a worried glance towards where they knew Massika was fixing some linen for a later use,just to be sure she would not eavesdrop on their conversation.

They knew that the Pharaoh would eventually manifest itself to observe and approve of the works on the temple, but they thought it would be a simple and quick affair, followed by a grand festival where the ruler would sneak like he always did so he could meet with their girl.

The nature of the visit however, left no room for these kind of escapades, which most likely would end up blowing up the cover of the Pharaoh, something that could have several consequences, not of which could end well for them.

"How do you suggest we proceed? Should we let her find out about our imminent visitor?" Atem asked his companion while twisting his mouth in disgust.

Once upon a time, when he learnt about this strange "friendship" between a supposed scribe of the court and Massika, and Khaba told him exactly who this Scribe was, they were worried how Massika would react when she eventually learned of his identity, especially since they thought that she might develop romantic feelings towards him. Now, they were still worried, but not because of heartbreak.

They were worried about her reaction to betrayal.

Not a lot of people had noticed and those who had, had been so confused about it that they wrote things off as coincidences. However, Atem and Khaba were well aware that, whenever someone ended crossing her for an unjustified reason, a lot of misfortune tended to fall to said person and everybody close to them.

It was an oddity they still could not properly explain, but because of this, they were worried about her reaction when she eventually found out about the Pharaoh's deceit.

"Maybe, you should just take her with you and make your next trip earlier than planned" Atem stated, still frowning a bit, but with each passing second, a look of determination replaced his earlier worry and uncertainty.

"I don't know what game the Pharaoh is playing, but I am not going to expose Massika to it." Atem then looked at Khaba with a completely serious face, and a dangerous glint in his eyes, conveying the importance of what he was about to say "I'm going to need your help to shelter her from him as as best as possible"

"You know you can always count on me for everything, my friend. And if that includes keeping Massika safe…" there was no need for Khaba to finish that sentence. His cold eyes and devious smirk told Atem everything he deeded to know.

Notes:

Introducing Thoth, who as part of a Joke with SmokingBomber will sometimes fluctuate between being Thot and Thoth.