Arrangements

(Variations of the Truth)

Chapter Summary: The pharaoh was the political and religious leader of the Egyptian people, holding the titles: 'Lord of the Two Lands' and 'High Priest of Every Temple'.

SAKKARA

The Pharaoh's arrival to Sakkara was both uneventful and filled with anticipation for almost everybody involved in the planning of the trip. This visit was supposed to be an overnight stop, where the pharaoh and his entourage were supposed to offer some prayers to the local deity, hear some of the request of the citizens and leave the next day, finally heading to Hardai.

The councilors that were plotting the eventual marriage saw this stop as the perfect excuse to investigate further about the mysterious girl that had enchanted the pharaoh so thoroughly, especially since, as if fate had arranged it, it was not uncommon of the girl to visit this particular city at least once every two weeks as part of her temple duties. As such, they were able to glean a bit more about her life and personality.

They were quite satisfied with their findings, especially since almost everybody seemed to have only good things to say about her. Some people praised her organizational skills, others her diligence at work, while some others were quite enamored with her happy and easygoing personality.

The more they kept asking, the more they were convinced that the girl was quite simple minded and would be an easy target for their manipulations. Besides, they were quite sure that there was nothing that could hinder their plans, because… who in their right mind, especially someone as simple as her, would reject the opportunity of being a queen and have a lifestyle of rest and riches?

They couldn't wait to get their hands on her.

For his part, the Pharaoh was just waiting for the time he could see Massika again, for her to spend some time in his company, and maybe even convince her to travel the rest of the tour as part of his detail.

He knew it was quite improbable,especially by doing that he would be blowing his cover as a royal scribe, but then, he considered, it would be quite useful to reveal the truth behind his person. That way, she might agree more readily to comply with his requests.

There was still some time to decide on how to proceed; he needed to first finish the visit on Sakkara, before finally moving to Hardai.

HARDAI

It was just breaking dawn when a lonely messenger arrived at the outskirts of Hardai. As he kept moving, he knew it was way too early to arrive either to the temple of Anubis or to the government palace to announce the imminent arrival of the Pharaoh. Still, he decided he needed to at least try before moving to some place to wait till the city woke up to a new day.

It was not surprising that there wasn't someone able to receive his message on the Government Palace, even after waiting for a few minutes in hopes of someone suddenly opening the door. He considered going to the governor's home to deliver his announcement, but decided that since the temple was on the way to the governor's home, he would try his luck there first.

Much to his surprise, there was already someone at the temple, a strange silver haired person, with a gaze so scary that he could easily give the Pharaoh's angry gaze a run for his money. Which was impressive, considering that this guy was not even fazed by his presence.

He shuddered just to think how that stare would look when actually angered or annoyed.

"Wasn't the Pharaoh supposed to arrive today during the morning?" The silver haired man asked with a frown after once he was done reading the announcement on the scroll.

"He was, but problems at Sakkara delayed him somewhat. Unless some other unexpected thing happens, he will arrive to the city before sunset". The silver haired man just nodded before turning around, effectively dismissing the messenger, who proceeded to go find the governor at his place.

By the time the rest of the temple was finally up, the adjustments for the delayed arrival of the Pharaoh were almost over. In fact, since most of them were not supposed to be part of the welcome committee with the exception of High Priests Atem and Khaba, their morning ended being pretty similar to any other.

Still, there was some sort of anticipation in the air that could be attributed to the festivities in honor of their local deity, or the rather rare visit of the pharaoh to this side of Kemet.

The anticipation of the inhabitants of Hardai only grew with the passing of time, with everybody in the city awaiting their arrival, and already lining the streets to be able to see them, even if briefly.

When they finally arrived, there were collective expressions of awe and reverence. Children were pointing at the people on the open carriages, some others were trying to see if they could get a look at the pharaoh and others were just enjoying the extravagance of the traveling party.

The reveal of the Pharaoh, who after the impromptu parade, was finally able to greet the welcome committee, managed to get three different reactions. Delight, from the citizens and Governor; there was annoyance from the high priests because of his pretentious introductions.

But above all, there was surprise.

Surprise in the form of a rather loud gasp from a girl in white and gold robes, who was wearing a rather elaborate and adorned wig, just as she always did for important events. A girl who, just in that moment discovered the one she thought was a friend and a commoner like her, was anything but.

Because Massika just found out that her friend Akh the Scribe, was none other than the Menmaatre Ahmose, Pharaoh of Kemet.

Her eyes shone with confusion and betrayal; the initial shock making her frown slightly, though she managed to quickly school her facial features into a look of controlled amusement and a bit of condescension and disinterest. On the inside, however, she felt the confusion eating at her, wanting nothing but to leave the place and try to sort out the jumbled thoughts that were circling around her head.

However, she knew that she had a duty as a maiden of the temple, so she steeled herself into enduring the introductions and brief speeches of the traveling party.

Still, the moment she was able to, she fled from there, without a set destination.

It was several hours later, when the sun had already set and the ocean breeze could be felt by whoever was walking nearby, that Massika stopped to think some more about the most recent revelation.

She could now admit she was mostly upset about the secret; at first, she thought that maybe Akh had been playing with her, possibly even laughing behind her back whenever she believed him about his job as a scribe. Now, that she could actually analyze the situation, she concluded that maybe, just maybe, he was just trying to have a bit of normalcy in the middle of his hectic life as a Pharaoh.

She could now understand it that way, still, she was not condoning his behavior.

Then again, that would certainly explain why she had been selected as his future bride. Before today, she just thought that it was mostly a whim, that the man and his council had just selected her because her name came out during a celebration or a festival. Now, she thought that maybe she was selected because she already had a somewhat close relationship with the man.

Again, she was not happy with the arrangement; she loved Khaba with all her heart and this just came to disrupt her plans to spend her life by his side. However, she thought that with time, and some effort, she could get used to her new reality.

With a clearer head and a lighter heart, she decided it was a good time to get back home.