A/N: Okay, two things. First, you will notice that I start to deviate from the timeline of the mini series a bit. Events relatively stay the same, however. I am just sequencing them differently. Second, this fanfic is now completed, all 27 chapters plus an Epilogue. I will continue to post twice a week though because I am still in the middle of editing some parts.

Anyway, thank everyone for reading and for taking the time to comment and leave feedback. It is very much appreciated.

Chapter Thirteen

In an abrupt turn of events, the queen requested audience with Suhad the following day.

She awakened in bed the next morning to find that Tutankhamun had already risen and gone from her bedchamber. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep in his arms was his grumpy observations that they should spend more time in his bed because it was bigger which then predictably segued into all his supporting arguments for sharing his bedchamber. She had drifted off into slumber caught between smiling over his tenacity and rolling her eyes in exasperation. Now, only his lingering warmth and the faint imprint of where he had lain remained.

However, she barely had time to mourn the loss of his presence or wonder where he had gone because, moments after she had blinked into full wakefulness, a servant materialized at her bedside to inform her that the queen was demanding her presence. Suhad's first instinct was to panic a little. After all, it was an unprecedented event. Never in all the time she had been there had Ankhesenamun shown the slightest bit of interest in talking to her. She couldn't imagine what had prompted the queen's sudden change of heart and, whatever it was that had, Suhad also couldn't imagine that it was good. Consequently, she felt simultaneously dubious and reluctant upon processing the servant's message.

After bidding the girl to repeat herself three times for confirmation, however, Suhad finally dismissed her and rolled upright in bed. The instant she did she was hit with a powerful wave of nausea. She tried to bite down against the impulse but it was a fruitless endeavor. As soon as the bile welled up in her throat she had just enough time to scramble to the chamber pot at the foot of her bed. She heaved and heaved until there was nothing left in her stomach and she was left soaked in perspiration and trembling in the aftermath.

Suhad couldn't be certain if her sudden bout of nausea had more to do with her pregnancy or the growing dread she felt over her impending interview with the queen. She was anxious, reluctant to face her at all and yet, at the same time, more than ready to establish her rightful place in Tutankhamun's life. She wasn't some clandestine lover who should be hidden away in the shadows and she refused to be treated as such any longer. He might be Ankhesenamun's husband, brother and king, but he was Suhad's heart just as she was his...and there was simply no comparison. It was well past time the Queen of Egypt be made aware of that.

Although Suhad had a variety of beautiful garments that Tutankhamun had specially crafted for her during her stay with him, she decided to wear simple village attire when she stood before the queen. It was important to her to establish her identity. She was a simple village girl from Amurru and it was a fact of which Suhad was not ashamed. Furthermore, Ankhesenamun was not someone she was seeking to impress. She would go before the queen as she was, with her head high and with her fierce, Amurru pride on display. That was all the adornment she needed.

An hour later, however, Suhad had a fleeting moment of regret regarding that decision when she was escorted to the queen's chambers and Ankhesenamun emerged from the most inner room draped in hand pleated, ivory colored linen and expensive jewels. Suhad did a quick self once-over and reflexively smoothed down her tunic. She was clean and presentable but it was difficult not to feel inadequate and gauche next to Ankhesenamun's regal grace.

Like her brother, the queen was breathtakingly lovely, particularly up close, with large, almond shaped eyes, dark, burnished hair, unblemished brown skin and a delicate bone structure. Suhad tried very hard not to squirm as Ankhesenamun cocked her head as she surveyed her, as if she could dissect her with her eyes.

"Hello, Suhad," she greeted in a tone as smooth as warm honey, "At last, we meet formally. Welcome to my chambers."

"I thank you, my queen, for the invitation," Suhad replied politely.

"Well, you have been here for some time now and yet, you and I have never had an opportunity to speak directly to one another. I thought perhaps I should remedy that."

"It's understandable that you have not until now," Suhad said, "I imagine my presence here has been rather...discomfiting for you."

Ankhesenamun lifted her brows at what she perceived to be an unspoken challenge. "You mean because you currently warm the Pharaoh's bed?" she asked bluntly, "My dear, you are not the first to draw his attention in that regard and I sincerely doubt you will be the last. A man's lust can be a fickle thing. You must enjoy his affection while you can."

Although she recognized on some level that she was being baited, Suhad still found herself snapping back a rejoinder. "His lordship has made it very clear to me that what he feels for me is deep and abiding and that he wishes for me to remain here with him indefinitely," she replied in a smooth tone, "Perhaps, you've been misinformed about the nature of our relationship."

"Your relationship is quite straight-forward. He is your Pharaoh and you are his subject."

"As are you," Suhad pointed out boldly.

The queen narrowed her eyes in response to that but otherwise failed to acknowledge Suhad's response. Instead, she demanded somewhat coldly, "How exactly did you meet the Pharaoh? Where did he find you?"

"He didn't find me. I found him," Suhad clarified, "His wound was infected and he was dying. I nursed him through his fever and brought him back to health."

"And back to me," Ankhesenamun added meaningfully, "As you do realize that I am his wife and I am the one who will become mother to his heir. I am the one who knows him best. One should be careful not to disregard those truths. Life could become very...challenging otherwise."

The implied threat dangled between them but, rather than compelling Suhad into fearful silence, she was spurred on to speak even more boldly. "Pardon, my queen, but I did not know who he was when I met him. He did not tell me his true identity until long after we had established our friendship. It was quite a while before he even mentioned your existence to me at all. My care for him had little to do with you or his birthright."

The revelation stunned Ankhesenamun into momentary silence. For weeks now she had been pressing Tutankhamun for the details of his recovery and Ka's betrayal in her desperation to understand how their cherished friendship had ended in spilled blood. Beyond telling her of the moment Ka and General Horemheb left him for dead and praising Suhad for then snatching him from the jaws of death, he had not volunteered much concerning his miraculous recovery and return. He had been even less inclined to share with her how he had become so attached to Suhad in what amounted to very little time. Despite his reticent attitude, Ankhesenamun remained full of questions. She determined if she could not get those answers from Tutankhamun himself then perhaps Suhad could be the one to supply them.

"Are you saying that you cared for him for weeks and, in all that time, you had no idea that he was the Pharaoh of Egypt?"

"I did not. He later confessed that he kept silent because he did not want me to look at him as the Pharaoh, but as a man."

Ankhesenamun's jaw set tightly. "Did he?"

"It makes sense considering the manner in which we first met," Suhad considered, "The first time I saw him was in a beer hall here in Thebes and he was dressed as any other commoner. When I found him dying in the riverbed later on I had no reason to believe he was anything other than a soldier fallen in battle. I was moved to aid him because he was in peril and he needed help."

Ankhesenamun grimaced, clearly grappling with the mental picture that created. "You met Tutankhamun in a beer hall? My brother?"

"Yes," Suhad confirmed softly, "Has he not told you these things himself?" Ankhesenamun's features darkened with a momentary weakening of confidence. "Forgive me for being candid, my queen, but it seems to me that you do not know him best after all."

Her daring observation earned Suhad a withering glare from her queen. She tensed, preparing herself to be struck for her insolence. Instead Ankhesenamun stiffened her back and began circling Suhad like a predatory hawk, clearly sizing her up. She offered Suhad an enigmatic smile, very similar to the one her brother often used when he was devising a scheme. Suhad knew from past experience that the tension between herself and the queen was about to increase tenfold.

"Let us put away all pretense, shall we?" Ankhesenamun offered, "You and I shall never be friends. Given the circumstances, it is doubtful that we will even grow to tolerate one another. Therefore, it should be of no consequence if we speak our minds plainly at this time. Do you not agree?"

"I agree."

"I know very little of you, Suhad, beyond the fact that you come from a village in Amurru and you are...Mitanni. However, I know enough to discern that meeting my brother has elevated your station in life in no small measure. What good fortune you've been afforded to have unknowingly saved the life of your Pharaoh."

"I have not asked him for a single thing he has given me."

"Of course, you haven't. There's no need to ask. You are the one who saved his life, who afforded him with someone he could trust when he felt abandoned by all whom he loved," Ankhesenamun theorized, "And now he clings to you out of gratitude and grief and you have placed yourself in the optimal position of benefiting from his sorrow."

"I am not using him and I don't appreciate the implication."

"I am your Queen!" Ankhesenamun intoned haughtily, "You will address me in the proper manner or I shall provide you with a reminder on how to do so."

Though it galled her greatly, Suhad managed to choke out, "Forgive me, my queen, but...you are mistaken if you believe this..." she made a vague, sweeping gesture towards their surroundings, "...is what I wanted. What I imagined for Khaten and I could not be further from this."

The smirk of satisfaction that started to turn up at the corners of Ankhesenamun's mouth collapsed abruptly with Suhad's informal use of Tutankhamun's name. "Excuse me. What did you call him?"

Suhad looked her directly in the eye when she answered. "What he expressly gave me permission to call him, my lady."

Ankhesenamun sniffed disdainfully, somehow more unnerved by that revelation than everything else she had learned prior. "You are much too familiar with him, especially if you feel so free as to address him by a name he hasn't answered to since he was a child! I will speak to Tutankhamun on this matter. His lack of boundaries with you is causing you to forget your place."

"And is that the reason I was brought here today, my queen...to remind me of my place?"

"You were brought here because I wanted to see for myself exactly what draws him to you," the queen said, her eyes raking Suhad in a scathing once-over, "Why you are so...special to him? Thus far I've gleaned nothing impressive. You're quite unremarkable."

"And yet he continues to prefer my bed to yours...'unremarkable' though I am," Suhad replied before she could stop herself. She mentally kicked herself for lacking the ability to restrain her impertinent tongue and prepared herself for the verbal lashing she knew was coming.

The queen whirled on her with a deadly scowl. "Do not be mistaken, Suhad. Tutankhamun will visit my bed again," Ankhesenamun bit out, "He and I have a duty to this kingdom...to produce an heir in our father's name and that will always come before all else. We will have a family and then you will be forgotten and cast aside. I wonder then what your recourse will be."

Suhad did not want to reveal the lacerating effect Ankhesenamun's words had on her heart. The woman was not telling her anything she hadn't considered before. She well knew how paramount it was to Tutankhamun to continue his bloodline. She also knew that, eventually, he would need to turn his attention towards fulfilling that duty. What she had not allowed herself to contemplate too closely was where that would leave her and her child. Once Tutankhamun had an heir with Ankhesenamun would there even be a place for her any longer?

The fear produced in her by the veracity of Ankhesenamun's callous words had her speaking thoughtlessly yet again. "My queen, has something changed in recent months? I was of the impression that the gods do not favor you, hence your inability to produce a child that actually draws breath!"

Despite knowing that she had crossed a line, Ankhesenamun's ringing slap still came as a surprise to Suhad. She managed to swallow back her yelp as her cheek came alive with burning pain, causing reflexive tears to spring to her eyes. However, when she met Ankhesenamun's irate stare once again Suhad's demeanor was as proud as ever.

"How dare you!" the queen hissed, "You insolent girl! Do you not realize that by cursing me you curse him as well?"

Suhad lifted her chin to a haughty angle, refusing to be cowed. "T'was not meant as a curse but a statement of fact. You have yet to produce a child that lives. So, perhaps, I will be the one to give him an heir. Have you ever considered that possibility?"

"An heir?" Ankhesenamun scoffed, "From you? You're a fool. Any half-breed bastard you produce will never sit on the throne! Were such a child to come into existence, it would be a shame to this family and stain upon our dynasty! Such a child would be cursed from birth."

Each word was like a fist driving into Suhad's gut. It was her first inkling that, not only would her child likely be unwelcome in the palace, but possibly despised as well. She thought of her innocent baby, growing rapidly inside her body and heart, being labeled as a "half-breed" and "bastard" and it made her feel physically ill. But also it filled Suhad with protective resolve. No one would make her child feel like he or she was less, not if she had any say in it. For every bit of hatred her son or daughter received, Suhad would love him or her one hundred times more fiercely.

Through indomitable pride and sheer will alone, Suhad managed to keep the tears welling in her eyes from spilling down her cheeks. "I'm sure those are your feelings on the matter," she acknowledged hoarsely, "but what of the Pharaoh's? I suspect he may feel something else entirely."

"Are you really certain you want to place him in the position of having to choose between your theoretical Mitanni bastard and his kingdom? Because that is the issue before us, Suhad. What is at stake here is so much larger than your so-called romance! There are kingdoms to be conquered, monuments to be built and dynasties to be made! If you bear him a child you will destroy everything he has sacrificed to build." Ankhesenamun paused deliberately to let those words sink in before driving home her killing blow. "Is that how you prove your love?"

Satisfied that she had made her point, Ankhesenamun had a visibly distressed Suhad escorted from her chambers. The queen did not drop her facade of superiority to reveal the fact that she was equally distressed only when her rival was well beyond earshot. She stumbled a few steps and collapsed into a nearby chaise, thoroughly exhausted and trembling after her confrontation with Suhad. Herit, the queen's cousin and attendant, quickly discerning her queen's shaken disposition, emerged from her concealed place to minister to Ankhesenamun. She quickly grabbed a towel and a basin of water and began sponging the cool clothe across the distraught young queen's brow.

"You cannot listen to a word she says, cousin," she whispered in reassurance, "The girl is overconfident and does not know her place."

"But is she wrong?" Ankhesenamun countered thickly, "He doesn't confide in me anymore, Herit. He has been distant and remote ever since he returned. More and more, she is the one he turns to for comfort and advice. And as far as visiting my bed..."

"...he must visit your bed," Herit interrupted, "Your pregnancy will soon become known. If you are to convince the Pharaoh that you have conceived his child then you must act quickly!"

"But how can I when he won't even touch me, Herit?" Ankhesenamun cried wildly, "He hasn't come to me once since he returned to the Thebes. I thought perhaps that it was due to all that had transpired with Ka but now I see now that has little to do with it. He stays away because of her."

"You don't know that."

"I do," the queen insisted, "I'm not ignorant. The servants talk. I hear their whispers. He visits her every night without fail. I've no doubt she will conceive soon if she has not already."

"But what of everything you told her?" Herit reminded her, "Her child would never be accepted."

"Perhaps not by Egypt, not at first. But Tutankhamun? He will welcome that child with open arms and any son Suhad bears to him will be a favorite in his eyes," Ankhesenamun predicted, "because his mother is so...deeply loved."

"Do you truly believe he loves her?"

Ankhesenamun inclined her head in a despondent nod. "I've seen the way he looks at her, the way he talks to her, the way he touches her. It reminds me of the way Ka once looked at me...and the way I'm sure I looked at him," she confessed mournfully, "I well know what love looks like, cousin."

"Then you know what you must do," Herit told her, "You must secure your place by any means."

The queen threw Herit an anguished look of self-doubt. "To what end and at whose expense? He is happy, Herit, perhaps for the first time in his entire life! Who am I to deny him?"

"Did he not deny you?" Herit asked, "Do you think for one moment your unhappiness ever deterred him from his duty? He did not hesitate when he took Ka from you. Why should you hesitate now?"

"I do not wish to hurt him, cousin. He has been lied to enough and I have no desire to add to the deception he has already endured. Above all else, he is my brother and I love him. How can I expect our relationship to survive with such a monstrous lie between us? Surely you realize that what we are proposing to do is despicable."

"What choice do you have? He will never accept this child otherwise. If you tell him you conceived a child with his betrayer, you will be cast out! Is it your wish for your kingdom to have a Mitanni heir because that is what will happen if you tell Tutankhamun the truth!"

"That can never happen!"

"Then act, cousin! Do you imagine he will be unhappy that you have presented him the child you both have wanted these many years?" Herit considered, "It will be born of your blood and therefore a part of him as well. He will not deny a child from your womb and he will not deny you."

"But first he must be made to believe that he is the father."

"Then you must seduce him," Herit advised, "Now. Today. Do not wait any longer!"

"How?" Ankhesenamun cried again, "Have you not heard me? He does not want me! That part of our relationship has never been easily fulfilled. It will be 1000 times more difficult now! He has eyes for no woman except hs Mitanni whore!"

"You should then remind him of the duty he bears to you and to all Egypt," Herit said, "You yourself said that nothing will come before that. Use it to your advantage, cousin. Do not allow this peasant girl to steal away what is rightfully yours!" She cradled Ankhesenamun's face fiercely in her hands. "Can you do this, my queen? For Egypt! For your bloodline!"

"Yes," the queen answered, swallowing down her guilt with a resolute intake of breath, "I can."