V.E.: I don't know why, but this is a rather difficult chapter to put down. Part of the reason being laziness, but I guess it might be for the fact that for the next couple of chapters Kisara really doesn't do anything aside from her studies. I mean, in my mind it makes sense that she be devoted to them, but I'm also wanting to introduce her to the other characters. Introductions in this story, however, are going to be tricky in this story.
Alright, you might want to know that I'm going to be talking about the Egyptian pharaohs a little this chapter so I might want to give you a time period when this is. Judging by the real timeline(AKA 3000 years ago, AKA not the English Dub) I place Aknamkamon and Atem's reign around the Intermediate period, between the New Kingdom and the Late Period. So a long time before Cleopatra, who in fact was Greek not Egyptian.
Alright, I suppose I better get this show in the road! Oh wait, don't think about roads. Long story I don't want to explain. Roll chapter!
Kisara groaned as she felt like banging her head against the desk, scrolls unfolded and scattered all about.
This is hopeless.
Nonetheless, she slowly picked her head up and tried to put her focus back onto the scrolls. However, it didn't change that it was all a jumbled up mess to her.
Reading it wasn't the problem. After several weeks on the writing program, Kisara had managed to learn the basic letters quite quickly. Probably because she had very little else to do, she often practiced in her room in the evenings. So the words were actually quite clear to her.
No, the problem was the information she was reading.
"Problem?"
Kisara was startled before she calmed down as she realized who the voice belonged to. She turned to find Nephthys observing her.
Kisara shook her swiftly and gave her a smile. She had learned in her period of being tutored, there was to be no complaining. She had to obey Nephthys without question; no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Plus, she didn't want to worry her.
"Nothing, it's fine."
Nephthys, however, didn't seem to be buying that as she crossed her arms and gave Kisara a very searching look.
"Really?"
Kisara tried to hold up her smile, but she couldn't as her pretenses dissolved into a sigh.
"Okay, I don't get this."
Nephthys sat down next to her on the chair nearby.
"Alright, what don't you get?"
Kisara sighed as she held up the scroll she was currently reading, depicting Anubis weighing the heart(which looking to the pictures, was definitely outweighing the feather and was going to be devoured by Ammit).
Nephthys got the idea quick enough.
"Oh, I see."
Kisara shook her head.
"I just…don't really understand your gods."
Nephthys looked interested by her statement, her legs crossing.
"In what way?"
Kisara seemed a little uneasy as she began, but as the conversation went on, she seemed to be warming up to the topic.
"Well, it seems like there are a lot of contradictions about them. Like with Horus, one scroll says that he is Osiris and Isis' brother, another said that he was their son. Then there's Hathor, the cow goddess, which I found that some call her Ra's mother and others Ra's daughter. Also, with Anubis, most scrolls I've found says that his mother is Nephthys…"
At that, the priestess gave a small smile.
"Yes, I'm well acquainted with that story."
"But there seems to be some debate going on whether Osiris or Set fathered him. Also, how can a pharaoh be a living god? This all just seems….so…..so….."
Nephthys managed to pick up her train of thought.
"Confusing?"
Kisara sighed as she found her head back on the desk again.
"Yes."
Nephthys thought for a moment before she spoke again.
"This is all very different compared to what you believed in your homeland, isn't it?"
Kisara brought her head up again with that.
"Yeah. Amma didn't really believe in the gods specifically, but there were a lot of superstitions in my village like crossing a field on a full moon or failing to offer up a portion of the crop to our ancestors gone by. I remember the stories of men wandering into the forest because of beautiful women and never returning."
Kisara stiffened as she remembered something.
"Ummm…."
Nephthys picked up the change in moods quickly.
"What is it?"
Kisara played with her hands as she went on.
"Well…..back then I got angry one time and I think one of the village boys saw the monster inside me…"
That got Nephthys' attention, her eyebrows went up at an alarming rate.
"Your ka?"
Kisara shrugged.
"That's what you people call it. Anyway, after the villagers basically thought it was going to eat them unless a sacrifice was provided and they left out a sheep tied to a tree."
"What happened to the sheep?"
"Nothing actually, it went on for about three months. When they saw the sheep weren't being taken and that my dragon hadn't reappeared, they thought Jorg was lying. He was a big liar, the irony was that it got out because he was telling the truth."
Nephthys nodded before she spoke again.
"I see your point, but my dear don't your homeland's believes have contradictions as well?"
Kisara thought for a moment as she realized that there was a point.
"Well aside from the incident with my dragon, some said that trickster sprits stole precious items while others said it was our ancestors because we forgot their offering. Another story I heard when I was a kid was about a hero who became a god, but another storyteller said he died a gruesome death."
Nephthys smiled at that.
"There. Do you see something in common?"
"You mean aside from the fact that both Egyptians and my people honored the dead?"
Nephthys nodded.
"Yes, at least they got something right, but that's not the point. With every set of gods, there tends to be some level of contradiction. The majority do tend to be somewhat alike though."
Kisara seemed unsure of what she said next.
"Well, there just….seems to be a lot more of what I have to know. Do I really have to believe in all this stuff?"
Nephthy's answer was straightforward.
"I don't expect you to believe in anything."
Kisara was taken back while Nephthys went on.
"Kisara, no one can tell you what to believe, that's something you decide for yourself. I certainly don't expect you to believe in gods that you've just begun learning about. But as a princess of Egypt, you'll be expected to know them."
Nephthys thought for a moment before going on.
"There are actually too many gods for any one person to learn about, along with the gods of other countries we do commerce and war with at times. You'll be expected in the future to worship in the temples and participate in the festivals. As a princess, you'll have everyone's eyes on you."
Kisara sighed.
"You said that before. So what am I supposed to do?"
"Exactly what I just said. Worship the gods in public, but in private your thoughts are your own."
Kisara look confused at that as Nephthys sighed and went on.
"Do you remember yesterday, when we went through the scrolls, we came across on Ramses the II?"
Kisara still looked confused, but answered.
"Also known as Ramses the Great?"
Nephthys smiled at that.
"Right. He was perhaps the greatest pharaoh Egypt has ever known. He was known to be the quite the warrior, though not perhaps very good at judging people. Before his battle at Kadesh, he was deceived by two spies of the Hittites and divided up his army. By the time he realized the truth, it was too late. His heroic actions saved his life, but he lost a third of his army and Kadesh. And do you know what happened when Egypt heard of all this?"
Kisara honestly didn't know it, but she took a stab at it.
"Umm, the people were mad?"
"Not at all. In fact, there was a lot of celebrating."
Kisara's eyes widened in disbelief.
"But he lost!"
Nephthys smiled as if Kisara had grasped something very particular.
"Exactly! But along with being a great general, Ramses was also a master of public relations. He would paint walls announcing his great deeds, regardless of whether it was a victory or a defeat. He got the whole battle to sound like a victory in that the Hittites would now take Egypt seriously and would not taste war with her any time soon then."
Kisara looked surprised at that.
"I can't believe people bought that."
"Most people get their information from the pharaoh or the priests, it's not that much of a surprise. The only time that's been in contradiction was during the reign of the Heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten, but we'll talk about that later. But do you understand what Ramses did?"
Kisara responded to that.
"He…lied through his teeth?"
"He used what facts he had to make the most of it for himself. It wasn't about what happened or what he believed, and I certainly believe that Ramses thought it was a failure, it's about how you portray it. How you react to it. It's not too different in the royal court. Act how's expected in public, but keep your true feelings in the only place it's safe, your head."
Nephthys seemed to think before adding something else.
"Also, you might want to keep your thoughts about the pharaoh's divinity in your head too. It's a very serious thing and no one is allowed to get away with it, not even those closest to the pharaoh."
Kisara nodded her head in understanding.
"Yes, Lady Nephthys. Will I always have to live like that?"
Nephthys shrugged.
"Perhaps one day you'll learn the way to merge the two lives, but that's doubtful. I've always had to do such."
Kisara looked slightly depressed then.
"So that's my future? Lying to everyone who I am for the rest of my life?"
Nephthys spoke after that.
"Such is the life of a princess."
Kisara sighed as Nephthys realized the last statement didn't help. She thought for a moment before she spoke again.
"I suppose it's time for a break. Kisara, would you like to see the gardens?"
Kisara looked up at that.
"Gardens?"
Kisara left out a sigh in relief as she sat by a nearby pool, her eyes taking in everything.
This is amazing!
It truly was. Kisara had always known the herb garden her Amma had always grown, but she had never seen a garden inside a person's residence, let alone a palace. Nephthys had left her alone for a moment to really see it, though she strongly told her student not to wander off.
Still, the greenery was amazing in this desert climate that was prevalent just outside the palace walls. So many flowers and fruit trees, the smell was so nice. Of course the small pond was what Kisara was currently looking at, with its lotus flowers, as she twirled her finger around in the water, savoring the wetness.
But something made her pause as she heard a faint noise. She listened and she heard something.
"Mrr?"
Kisara turned her attention away from the water, her hand out of it as she began to seek out where the noise was coming from.
"Hello?"
Her voice seemed to startle some a bush into rustling. Kisara warily made her way over to it, pulling back the leaves to find something she hadn't expected.
A slim black cat seemed to batting it's paws at a small ball. The loss of its shade made the cat look up with its green eyes at the pale girl.
Kisara felt the immediate urge to pet it, but she started with her hand slowly to it.
"Aw, what are you doing here?"
The cat seemed slightly wary of her, but as the girl began to stretch behind the ears the cat relaxed. Even more so when the pale hand began stroking her back, scratching it a very nice spot.
Kisara smiled at the effect she was having on it as she lowered herself to sit on the grass. One of the nice things about animals, was that they weren't scared of her. At least not as much as they were scared of people in general, but animals always seemed to like her.
The cat was currently becoming her new best friend as the ball was forgotten and it rolled over onto it's back. Kisara started to scratch the cat's tummy(which revealed it to be female) as it arched it's back in pleasure at the touch.
Kisara's smile became softer.
"Well, it's nice to have one friend here. Though if some else had food, you'd probably leave me too."
The cat sat up at her voice and light green made contact with blue eyes. It stretched itself up and found her way into Kisara's lap. The black cat curled up there and began to purr lowly.
Kisara chuckled as she began to scratch a little soft spot by the neck, causing the purring to get louder.
Another chuckle soon resounded behind her.
"Well, look what I have here."
Kisara turned around to discover Nephthys looking incredibly amused.
"It seems like my lesson about respecting cats isn't necessary."
Kisara looked slightly confused even as she kept petting the black creature.
"Respecting?"
Nephthys nodded.
"Yes, cats are the representatives of the goddess Bastet. Most pharaohs were buried with their mummified pets, but there are many cats among them. To kill a cat, even by accident, means death."
Kisara looked back down at said example in surprise.
"Wow. Where I come from, animals like cats were just meant to be scared away or killed because they ate food and attacked the other animals."
"I'm starting to understand how this is all starting to be a little too much for you. It sounds like your homeland and this kingdom were quite different from each other."
Kisara had to smile at that.
"That's true enough."
Nephthys smiled as she looked around before her head stopped. Kisara was surprised as she turned in the direction of where the priestess was looking, but found no one there so turned back to her mentor.
"Lady Nephthys?"
That shook Nephthys out of whatever she was thinking.
"Oh, yes. Well I suppose now that we've had a break, it's time to be getting back to our lessons."
Kisara nodded, albeit somewhat reluctantly.
"Yes Lady Nephthys."
"And please leave the cat here Kisara, it will go back to its owner eventually."
Kisara looked down at the cat with a regretful expression and sighed. She carefully gathered up the cat and set back onto the green grass, meowing in some protest.
"See you around kitty."
Kisara stood up and began to walk back with Lady Nephthys as her guide, back to reading about the Egyptian gods and the men of history.
V.E.: Well, that was less stressful than I thought it would be. This strikes me as quite the filler chapter, but nothing's really happening yet. And to any of you who's wondering, Nephthys did see something but I'll get to that later.
In my experience, cats can be sweet or the devil incarnate. My aunt had three cats; Mickey, Minnie, and Buzz. Buzz didn't mind me, Mickey was a sweetheart, but Minnie was an absolute nightmare. Though to be honest, I'm more familiar with dogs than cats.
Please review.
Preview: Kisara meeting some people we know and a surprise gift from a surprising giver.