(Chapter 3): Oxen Lady

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
James 4:7

Not even the laughter or the chatting of the people will distract me from the silhouette of the Priest Yahya as I try to walk swiftly inside of the Hypostyle Hall to catch up with the main Priest, attempting to move out of the people's way so they will not block my path to my unknown destination where I am about to head. I am struggling to try not to look at the bronze statues of the gods and goddesses right in front of me. The temptation of reaching my tan hand just to touch the statues is such an agony!

No! Leave the poor gods alone now, for I have other important things to do! Of course! I need to follow Priest Yahya to question him about the damn Prince Amenhotep lV that is trying to be pharaoh, and I know he has something to do with the illness of Pharaoh Thutmose, his brother. It makes perfect sense. If Amenhotep kills Thutmose, then he will be next in line to claim the throne as the right of the family lineage, but just accepting this gruesome truth makes my heart cringe with aching grief. How can someone live with themself with trying to do harm to another being, especially if it is related to blood with blood? All I know for certain is that the prince's conscience will eat him alive, and although it terrifies me deeply.

Turning back to reality, I turn my head to all directions for the shadow's outline of the Priest with my hair blowing by the hot Egypt air, but all I see are people standing idly inside the temple, talking to other relatives or shopping around for votive tablets for the gods to listen to their prayers.

Damn. Where did Priest Yahya go?I clench my fist tightly in anger beside me for not being attentive to my surroundings and letting my thoughts go swimming rapidly inside my head without my will's permission. I lost the Priest and won sightseeing wanderers from around the world walking beside me to get a closer look at the statues of the gods – of the same gods that a second go I was trying to touch with my damn temptation getting ahold of me.

"Where do the priests go that is foreign to the common people or better to say that is a sanctuary to them?" I whisper to myself quietly with my black painted eyebrows furrow in puzzlement as I look at the mighty bronze polish pillars inside the temple for an answer. "The Sanctuary!" I cry out loud to the four winds, fill inside with excitement and winning stares of the people again that have stopped their actions to look at me.

"Oxen lady, keep it down!" A bizarre young man, dress in white with white pants and shirt (though I could clearly see that their material is cotton, not Egyptian fibers) wearing a red and white checkered print scarf around his head that covers half of his fair neck though from his strange attire what surprises me the most if his fair, light skin. He must be a Hebrew, clearly not Egyptian with his garments, skin color, and his facial features on his handsome face.

How can a Hebrew speak so well in the Egyptian tongue, and what is he doing inside the gods' temple?
I thought they have different gods or, to be more precise, a God?I stand in awestruck in front of this odd man, forgetting the other goal that I am supposed to be doing and lost the will to speak as my thoughts roam with a million questions.

"Oxen lady?!" I yell out to him in pure indignation when I recollect myself with my hands exaggerating in all directions. Of all the other questions I wanted to question him about, I have to challenge him with this one. Thank you, oh brilliant gods, now the people have nicknames for me, no, do not get distracted, for I must look for the main Priest!

"Yeah, are you not the lady that was about to get trampled by the furious oxen outside in the marketplace?" He asks with a smug smile implanted on his lips with his brown eyes shining with humor, as a fair hand runs through his facial hair on his face.

I swallow a lump that was inside my throat as I glare at this bizarre stranger right in front of me. "And if I am?" I try to speak calmly as I can, with my eyes never leaving his outline and crossing my tan arms in my chest. "There is nothing wrong with walking in the middle of the street in the market like everyone else does."

"Ah, you are correct, lady." He chuckles, looking to his sides quickly of the throng that has gathered around us who are whispering among each other and then right at me with his eyes boring through my soul. "But not if there is a stampede of oxen, am I right?"

I do not have time for this, for I know I am wasting valuable time!

"Listen, Hebrew," I state with the last word made of malice, and an instant, the young man raises his right eyebrow in smugness. "I got other important things to attend to then to waste my time speaking to dim-witted people. Now, if you will excuse me." I pass by the bizarre stranger to the direction of where the sanctuary is, past the Hypostyle Hall of the gods and goddess and shoving him slightly by the shoulders as I pass by him. I try to look at his face to see any sign of wonder by my actions, but all I see is his face full of arrogance.

"Are not the Hebrew people supposed to be humble and modest? This guy is full of foolish ego and pride. How … odd?" I ignore my thoughts as I turn around to see if that bizarre young man in white is still there standing there, but all I see is the mob of people dispersing to all sort of directions of the temple like how they accustomed to when the "show" is over, and to my relief, he is gone. Gone like the hope of the faithfulness in the dark abyss being overstruck by a dark fiend lurking in the shadows' grasp.

. . .

The hallway inside the shrine is dark with mist (probably from the incense of the altar) creating an eerie effect as I turn my head in all directions in alert of not only getting caught but of a demon that may be lurking in the shadows. I gulp from the foolish thoughts of demons lurking in between the walls of the darkness because they cannot be seen in this dimension and only possess humans from the inside of their soul, not the outside, but could there be a different realm that is connected from our world to the underworld? My hands tremble slightly from the unknown yet reckless fear that is crawling inside of my fast-beating heart, and I quickly walk faster inside the hall to get to the sanctuary as I pray to my god, Amen-Ra, that Priest Yahya is inside the sanctuary doing whatever he needs to be doing.

Do not think of unwise thoughts for the imaginary fear is eating your insides. Concentrate on the goal! I look at my surrounding calmly to view the paintings of the gods with Egyptian writing beside them. One specific drawing is of Amen-Ra, the falcon-headed god of the sun, in his glorious boat that carries the spirits of the dead to the underworld to be judge by the god Osiris, Lord of the Underworld.

"Oh, my sun god, will we ever meet in this lifetime? You already proved to me that you listen to me and are attentive to my prayers, but will that suffice the anguish in my heart of destroying our already perfect religion?" I whisper to myself, all thought of fear of the unknown died at the moment I lay my eyes on Amen-Ra as I touch the wall painting with my hands, feeling the rough surface turn so soft on my long, slender fingers.

Then out of nowhere, a loud and frightening sound reaches my ears as I look behind me to see – to hope a person is behind me with my wide eyes looking frantically everywhere to see all around me black shadows with little light by the torches hanging on the cracked walls.

"Demons!" I breathe as I take a step backward with my back touching the wall of no escape, and the fearsome noise becomes louder and louder with each second. "No! I cannot die here in this horrible hallway, but how can there be a being of the underworld inside of the holy temple!"

I hope, no, pray for a miracle that if I stand still, the shadow will only pass by and not notice me. However, don't they live off fear of humans? I try to run as far away from this wretched place, but my legs are frozen still, intertwined with the cracked floor as if it is a whole body. The damn fear has immobilized my body, and I cannot move!

"No, please … Amen-Ra help me." I whimper quietly, feeling the room getting colder and menacing each second with my back frozen from the coldness of the wall.

If it is a murderer that is trying to kill me, I would not have felt fear inside of my heart because I know that a human being has a consciousness, and no one is born evil. It is the evil they choose, the wicked path they walk on since they have selected it. In fact, I will die with honor and not see my tormentor full of satisfaction when they thought to see the fear in my eyes for all they will see is anger and indignation.
But this? This is no human being with any sort of sentiment. This is a demon with no mercy, no heart, and full of pure evil from the tainted underworld. They will eat me whole, and I could not do anything about it; just watch the damn demons tear my skin and rip my limbs by limb. What a horrible death! No one to hear my pleas of help, with no sense of clemency. Nothing.

My thoughts turn back to my worthless reality when I hear a high-pitched sound right ahead of me by a few steps, and the shadows move in an instant.

This is it! Mother, Father, and Sister forgive me for dying a dishonorable death, and please do not be frightened when you find my body torn apart with a few body parts missing from my whole body. All I wanted was to save our Pharaoh of Egypt, Pharaoh Thutmose, from the gates of hell, but instead of the demons taking him, they will have to take me. I will die in happiness that I die for the cause that I wanted to save. My family, we will meet again in Fields of Yaru, where there is no such thing as fear and only paradise beside the gods. Amen-Ra I ….

The noise and beast move out of the shadows to reveal a … mouse? A small brown-colored mouse with a black spot on its back scampers across the hallway, squeaking away with its heart content to the opposite side where I am about to head.

"What!?" I yell loudly with my fist clench tightly on my long dress from pure red anger boiling inside of me. "All this time, the 'demon' was a puny mouse?!" The nerve of that rodent to give me such a fright!

"Oh, no thank you, gods, for being such generous and kind gods," I say sarcastically as I turn around to face the painting behind me to view the Amen-Ra's straight-line curved a little from the humor of causing fright to a mortal. "If I have paint with me at the moment, I would have paint all over you, not caring if I will be in prison my whole life!"

Right when I am about to smack the stone wall, I hear two voices talking in-depth of the hallways, making me stop.

"I think that is the voice of Priest Yahya, but who could the other voice be? It sounds like a woman." As I think, I walk to where the voices are coming from to stop right in front of massive golden two doors, and the voices become louder and clearer, putting my ear next to the door to hear the conversation while I hold my Ankh amulet in my chest to pray of not getting caught.

"…Pharaoh Thutmose…." I could hear the woman's voice say about the king.

Maybe the Priest is talking to the priestess about the illness of the king?I stand still as I can, breathing very slowly as not to disrupt the conversation between the two holy people.

"Priest Yahya." Princess Nefertiti says to the chief Priest inside the sanctuary. The only place she knows where no one will interrupt their conversation regarding essential matters. "Tell me more about the sickness of my Husband's brother, if you may."

"Of course, princess." Priest Yahya bows down at the royal, and then stands straight to look at her eyes. "We have done the healing ritual for about two weeks but with no effect. When I finally see the progress of Pharaoh Thutmose, his illness has dispersed. The next day he will be even sicklier than the day before, your highness." He closes his sad eyes in shame that his magic has no effect.

"I see priest," Nefertiti says casually. "If all fails, then we should start working on his tomb and getting him ready for the afterlife."

"What?" Yahya opens his eyes in an instant at the princess careless remark. "But…"

"What, priest?" The princess narrows her eyes to him. "Death is inevitable as you should know; besides, the only thing certain in this world is death, and we should try thinking of having my husband, Amenhotep, as the next Pharaoh of all Egypt." She smiles wickedly.

"And have your imaginary god take out of our gods, of our perfect religion? I think not for I will fight for my beloved pharaoh until the end of eternity!"

"Princess Nefertiti." Priest Yahya states calmly as he can and not letting his thoughts take control of him. "We should not jump into the unknown and uncertain matter when we have the present here beside us, not the future." He wins a death glare from his royal highness. "Besides, not all is futile." He continues. "I have other plans – other ideas to play to save our king."

"Oh, really?" Nefertiti states amusingly. "And like what? If you may priest."

"Here in the temple, we are planning to have a Temple Festival to heal the sick king. Where different people around the world of different races, religions, and cultures will come together and bring their most prize healing herbs and potions." He finishes with a smile of triumph on his face.

"Yes. That is most brilliant main Priest Yahya." Nefertiti states evenly, but Yahya could see the alarm in her narrow eyes. "Well, I see it is all settled. When will the festival start?"

"Later the week or even before, if all of Egypt helps with the setting of the booths and the other material."

"I must report this to my dear husband. You will not defeat us, Priest Yahya. Our god, Aten, will drive all of your false gods away to the dark abyss of nothing!" Nefertiti thinks darkly as she is about to turn around to walk away from Yahya. "Good. Then let it be a good festival then, Priest Yahya." She turns her face to look at him one time before walking away from him.

And the footsteps become louder with each second.

"She must be coming out of the sanctuary," I whisper to myself as I run away from the door where I was listening to and hide in between the shadows like the demon I thought there was so I will not be seen.
"So they are planning to build a festival for our sick king, eh? Maybe this is a good way to get more information about this certain matter of the dark secrets that lurk in within the royal family."

The golden doors creak loudly to reveal a long, slender shadow walking out of the sanctuary to the opposite direction of where I am at. As she walk pass by me, I could get a more unobstructed view of Princess Nefertiti, wearing a very refined golden long silk with a red ribbon wrap under her bosom with a faded red veil behind the dress that reaches to the floor and adorn with exquisite turquoise jewelry on her chest in shape of a falcon and with falcon shape dangly earring on her ears. Her hair black and straight that reaches to her shoulders with blunt bangs adorn with gold beads in her ends.

Wow, she truly is beautiful, fit to be a princess! Maybe she is a goddess herself with such loveliness!
It is a shame that real beauty cannot be measure with physical beauty. My eyes go wide with such beauty, and soon Princess Nefertiti is out of sight and out of hearing. I get out from my hiding spot of the shadows next to the wall to make sure she really is gone.

When I hear the door creaking again to announce a newcomer.

"Oh, no," I whisper to myself in alarm, going again to my hiding spot where the shadows conceal me from any sort of view to spot Priest Yahya walking out of the golden two doors and closing it, ever, so slightly.

He walks to the direction of where Princess Nefertiti went earlier.

"This is my chance, even if it means going to prison for entering prohibited places in the shrine." My thoughts surround me as I take a step outside from the wall to reach Yahya. My steps are quiet, and soon I catch up to him, but I do not think he knows that I am walking beside him because he has not noticed me, and I see his face full of worry.

"Priest Yahya…" I state in concern and slowly as I put my small hand on his shoulder to make him jump in shock and removing my hand quickly as I put it in the first place.

"What in the name of gods?!" He shouts, turning around to face me with wide eyes. "What are you doing here, child?!"

"Um…" Dammit, I should have thought of this in the first place of the random questions.

"Wait…" The Priest recollects himself as he narrows his long eyes to me with his hands on his shaven chin. "Are you not the girl from the Hypostyle Hall that broke the votive tablet?"

"Uh, yes." I try to make my voice sound even, playing with my hair like when I do when I feel the most embarrassed. "I think I took a wrong turn, sorry." I let my hands fall into my sides slowly and bow down before the Priest.

"You do realize that no one outside the temple walls is allowed to roam in these hallways, correct?"

"Now, I do." I cough to clear my throat before I stand correctly. "Please forgive me."

Priest Yahya chuckles quietly (probably from my stupidity). "Ah, what a silly young lady you are and relax I will not put you to jail." He winks at me, maybe because he remembers when I told him not to put me into jail when I broke the votive tablet inside the Hypostyle Hall earlier, and we both laugh together like we are the merriest souls of the land that have known each other for a lifetime.

"Yes, thank you," I reply when I have stopped laughing and bow down to him again.

"Go with the gods child." He beams me a bright smile, turning around to walk away from me to an unknown destination.

"Wait, Priest Yahya!" I shout towards him, who turns around to stare at me with eyes made of surprise, and I walk swiftly to him. "Do you have any work that I can do?" Okay, where did this infuriating thought came from? Oh right! To work inside the Festival Temple for more information before I can officially talk to the Priest about certain matters.

"Work, dear child?" He questions me, crossing his arms in his chest, tilting his head to the side.

"Yes, about oh … I do not know … maybe at a festival?" I try not to reveal more information that I already know, but with the look of bewilderment on the face of Yahya, I think I fail. "I mean … you see..."

Priest Yahya thinks, "What a strange girl? Did she hear the conversation that I had earlier with Princess Nefertiti? Perhaps she is the girl that I saw in my vision – the vision reveal from Amen-Ra himself to help me save our king of Egypt and to drive out the wicked Prince Amenhotep from existing on this earth!" Heremembers earlier this week he has received a message, a vision, from the sun god himself during the healing ritual in the morning.

"All right." The Priest answers, trying to contain his happiness. "Today, we are about to set up booths for the Temple Festival. You can help me with that and try to gain more people to help us so we can celebrate earlier this week. Tell the ship-men, the foreign with their different cultures, religion, and race! Get the news spread all around the country or the world itself!" He shouts with his hands going in all sorts of directions.

"Oh, that is easy, Priest Yahya," I state with my eyes full of good humor. "The people around town already call me 'oxen lady'." I win a surprising look from the Priest with his painted eyebrows high on his forehead.

I laugh, covering my mouth with my hands and running out of the, not petrifying, hallways to have the sun touch my tan skin, making it shudder from happiness to be out in the hot, perfect weather and I look up to see the sun, to see an outline of a man in a boat in the middle of the sky.

"Amen-Ra!" I breathe in awestruck as I try to recollect what I just saw, but the light-rays blinds me making me look away and when I try to view the sun again to know what I saw was not imaginary, but all I see is the round yellow sun standing still, looking all over Egypt with the world on the bottom of its feet.

All right, meet my new OC, the bizarre Hebrew stranger!

Quick Facts:
-The Fields of Yaru – the Egyptian heaven. It is a peaceful land of fields, marshes, and canals. After death, good people live there among the gods and have to work in the fields, so to avoid this, wealthy Egyptians put small statues called ushabtis: they believe the servant will do their work for them.
-They were Hebrews living in Egypt during the reign of Amenhotep lV (New Kingdom, 18th century, 1364-1347) since the Hebrews were brought by Joseph, son of Israel (Jacob), probably in the time of the Middle kingdom, 12th century.