Chapter Twenty-Six

By the time Ankhesenamun came whipping into her brother's chambers, coldly determined to finish the job that Nahkt had failed miserably in carrying out, the physicians and his attendants were already there and situating Suhad more comfortably upon the bed. Ankhesenamun furtively concealed the dagger she held in her hand behind the gossamer veil of her flowing, green skirt before it could be detected by those presence. Once she was composed, she darted a questioning glance at the physician.

"What is happening?"

"The child is coming, my queen," the physician informed her in between coaching Suhad on the position she would need to assume for the birth, "We must prepare mistress Suhad for the birth." Suhad and Ankhesenamun locked eyes across the distance in a silent clash of wills as the physician added, "By morning light, the Pharaoh shall finally have an heir to his throne."

To her credit, Ankhesenamun's expression barely faltered with that pronouncement though she felt as if an agonizing void had yawned open in her heart. It was the culmination of everything she had been fighting against since the moment Suhad had stepped foot in the palace. She had lost...as if the inevitably of it all had been ordained from the start.

"May the gods be praised," she uttered thickly, "Please keep me informed of your progress."

The blood was fairly roaring in Ankhesenamun's ears as she stiffly exited the chamber, so disoriented by the news that she did not immediately discern Ay's sprinting approach until he was directly at her side. She surveyed him with vacant eyes. "Please, my queen..." he panted out, "Please, tell me you did not do something rash..."

"Calm yourself, Ay," Ankhesenamun replied gruffly, "I did nothing. Suhad lives. What's more...she is to give birth this night."

"It cannot be. I thought her time was yet weeks away."

"As did I. According to the physician, however, the child should arrive by the morning." She wilted back into a nearby post, the dagger falling from her loosened grip and clattering uselessly to the floor. Her expression was haunted as she looked ahead with unseeing eyes. "It is over now."

"My queen..."

"My brother will finally have his son and his queen and I will likely be executed for treason."

"Do not be presumptuous. The night has not concluded. You have no idea if the child will be born alive, let alone healthy and thriving. There is no guarantee that Suhad will even bear a son. There are still many variables involved, my queen. You don't know what is going to happen."

Ankhesenamun grunted a humorless laugh. "But I do know," she whispered, "It is just as Tutankhamun has always believed, Ay. This is the will of the gods."

"You are distraught. You do not know what you are saying."

"I cannot lie to myself any longer. It was never just about producing an heir. I wanted a child. I wanted that child, my child so much. He was all I had left of him..."

"The Pharaoh?" Ay ascertained softly.

The queen shook her head slowly as silent tears began to track down her cheeks. "Ka. It was his child that I miscarried, Ay. But the gods took him from me just as they took away the previous two children that belonged to my brother. Their message is clear. I'm not meant to be a mother."

"Listen, my child," Ay hissed in a fierce whisper, "You must never, never repeat what you just confessed to me to anyone else. It cannot become known to the Pharaoh ever!"

"Of what consequence would it be?" Ankhesenamun wondered with a dismissive shrug, "I'm a dead woman no matter what. There's nothing left to lose."

Ankhesenamun had every intention of remaining shut away in her chambers until Tutankhamun himself arrived to drag her out but, as it got later and later into the night, the sounds of Suhad's laboring cries as they echoed throughout the palace halls eventually beckoned her out of self confinement. Something deep and inexplicable compelled her to be present for the birth. Perhaps it was her continued loyalty towards her brother or even her own natural curiosity. Whatever the reason, Ankhesenamun found herself surreptitiously entering the birth area through the open double doors once more. This time she kept herself tucked quietly in the corner of the room and quietly watched events unfold without alerting anyone to her presence. There was something masochistic about vicariously living out an experience she had yearned to have most of her adult life through the eyes of her most hated enemy.

Suhad was helped to balance on her haunches near the edge of the bed by two of the physician's assistants, one flanking her on either side while the physician and his mid-wife talked her through each contraction. She was completely naked now. Her sheer, linen nightgown which was stained with blood and body fluid had been discarded long ago. Her hair had long since come completely unbound and hung about her perspiring face in messy, coiling locks. If the agonized grimaces that contorted her features every other minute were any indication, Suhad was most certainly experiencing the worst pain of her life and... Ankhesenamun had never envied a woman more.

When her contraction finally passed, Suhad collapsed back against the bed, half panting, half sobbing. "Please...please...I cannot..." she moaned pitiably, "...I cannot anymore... Where is Tutankhamun? I want Tutankhamun..."

"The head is crowning," the mid-wife informed the physician, "She needs only to push a few more times to expel the child."

"Suhad, you must listen to me," the physician urged, "I know you are tired, child, but your son must be born. With your next birth pang you must push with all your might and you must continue to push until he has come into this world. Do you understand?"

In spite of her flagging will, Suhad managed a feeble nod. "Yes..."

"Get her into position," the physician said, "We will start again with her next contraction."

Less than an hour later and after waging the mightiest fight she had ever known, Suhad finally gave birth to the future Pharaoh of Egypt. The silence of the room was pierced with the sound of the infant's strident cries just as the physician joyously announced, "It is a son! He is small, but he appears to be strong and sound."

No one noticed as Ankhesenamun slid down the wall with silent, wracking sobs because they were all too busy admiring the newborn's stunning beauty, chuckling over his righteous indignation over having been so unceremoniously delivered into a cool, foreign world, and carefully inspecting his body for any defects. After rubbing him completely dry, the mid-wife finally placed the swaddled infant into his anxious mother's arms. Suhad took one look at her son's tiny, puffy features with his swirling jet hair and pink cheeks and she instantly fell in love. No man besides Tutankhamun and her own father had ever laid claim to her heart so effortlessly but her son, her small, helpless, newborn son had, within seconds, taken hold of it in his tiny fist. Suhad knew that he would hold it for the rest of her life.

"He's so beautiful," she breathed, carefully unwrapping him to inspect every miniature finger and every miniature toe. She placed petite kisses to each one. "You're so beautiful...just like your father. I love you so much, little one. I'm so happy that you are here." She fixed the physician with an overjoyed smile. "He's perfect. Everything about him is perfect. I cannot wait for Tutankhamun to meet him."

"The Pharaoh will be pleased."

"I want word sent to him immediately that his son has been born," Suhad said, "I want him home."

The physician nodded to a nearby servant. "Make it so. Inform the messenger that he should ride nonstop if necessary." Once the servant had scurried off to fulfill the order, he turned back to address Suhad while his mid-wife attended to the afterbirth and cutting of the umbilical cord. "What will you name the child?" he asked Suhad.

Suhad never once lifted her eyes from her son when she answered. She feathered her fingers lightly across his cheeks and nose and eyes, unable to stop touching him at all. "Tutankhamun and I will decide that together when he is home again."

"That is certainly a wise choice."

At the sudden intrusion of the queen's voice, everyone within the chamber went quiet and still. Half a dozen pairs of eyes swung around to regard Ankhesenamun as she emerged from the shadows where she had been concealing herself, clearly dismayed and surprised by her presence. Suhad reflexively clutched her son closer to her breast, eyeing Ankhesenamun with wary suspicion as the queen made her approach.

The physician was the first in the room to recover from his shock. "My...my queen, how long have you been present?"

"Long enough to know I have become aunt to a nephew," she said. And then she inclined her head towards Suhad and forced a small smile. She held out her arms. "May I?"

All eyes then turned to Suhad in anticipation of the new mother's response. "You may not hold him," Suhad determined gruffly, "But you may come closer to look at him...if you must."

Ankhesenamun offered no rebuke in response to Suhad's terse edict but instead gracefully accepted her rival's grudging invitation and climbed the steps of the dais to look upon her nephew for the first time. He blinked his eyes open as she made her approach and she noted that they were dark and enigmatic much like his father's. His skin was paler than she had expected, his cheeks were round and ruddy and his tiny nose and mouth were equally pink. The silky hair atop of his head was thick and clung to his scalp in jet waves. He clutched his mother's finger in one, tiny fist as if he never meant to let her go. Ankhesenamun felt her heart swell with something she had not expected, something kindred that drew her to the baby even as her heart yearned to reject him.

The queen lifted glistening eyes to Suhad and uttered with genuine sincerity, "You are right. He is perfect. Absolutely exquisite in every way."

"You mean in spite of being a half-breed bastard?" Suhad bit out coldly.

A small wince flashed across Ankhesenamun's countenance before she resumed her usual impassive mask. "None of that matters now, does it? That fact is no longer relevant as we both know that he will become heir to his father's throne."

"And I will be queen," Suhad added tautly, "And once I am, I will make sure that all threats to my son are removed." She regarded Ankhesenamun with a ruthless stare. "That is a promise, Ankhesenamun."

Flustered and filled with dread at the direct threat Suhad had launched against her, Ankhesenamun abruptly straightened and cleared her throat. "Of course... Well...I'm sure you would like some private time to get better acquainted with your child. I will leave you to it then."

When Ankhesenamun finally stumbled from the chambers she did not seek the solitude of her own rooms as she first intended but instead sought out Ay. Despite his many machinations and manipulations, she knew that he was possibly the only person in the entire palace who could provide her comfort right then. He was the closest thing she'd had to a father while growing up and, right then, she needed his support regardless of what motives he might have for giving it. Without preamble, she staggered into his inner chamber, struggling to hold back her anguished tears. Ay took one glance at the emotional devastation darkening her pretty features and he knew immediately what had left her so gutted.

"Suhad has born a son, hasn't she?" he concluded flatly.

"Yes. And he is healthy and...beautiful, almost indescribably so. He is small, that is true, but it is clear he possesses both his father and his mother's stubborn will. He will be a mighty one."

Ay squinted at her in surprise, easily detecting the pride underneath the defeated sorrow in her tone. "You have affection for the child?"

"I did not expect it but...I am drawn to him. He is my blood, after all."

"What will you do now?"

Ankhesenamun scoffed. "What can I do, Ay? It's over. Suhad has made that abundantly clear. She seeks my death and, likely, she will have it."

"No, my queen. It is only over when the Pharaoh returns," he told her, "Until then, you are queen. At this moment, you still have time to act."

"And do what?" she cried.

"Your earlier concerns are still valid. You must do what you feel is necessary."

"I attempted to do that earlier this evening if you recall. You did everything in your power to stop me," she reminded him.

"Because you were acting without thought. You weren't being rational when you grabbed that dagger and rushed off! You cannot murder her outright. Such matters require artifice and finesse. Emotion cannot have a part in it at all."

Ankhesenamun flicked her hand in an indifferent wave. "Well, that is no longer an option now."

"How so? Suhad remains your enemy, does she not?"

"She does," the queen confirmed, "She has taken everything of value to me. But it was different while she yet carried the child inside of her. He was a threat to me, one that needed to squelched at all costs but he was merely a construct at that time...an idea. He was not real to me. Now he has a face and eyes that are reminiscent of my brother. I see in him all the things my child could have been and I cannot harm him, Ay."

"I understand the reason behind your sentiment. It is the mother in you that softens your heart towards the boy, but remember... He is still a threat, my queen," Ay pointed out softly, "To your ancestral bloodline. To your history. To the Egyptian race! There will be a Mitanni Pharaoh on the throne. Your forefathers' blood will be forever wiped from history. The purity of your bloodline will be no more. Is that what you want?"

Ankhesenamun wrestled with the answer to that question for the next four days. Ay's frank considerations had struck of chord of valid concern within her. Since her childhood, when she had yet been too young to even understand the duties that would be thrust upon her as queen of Egypt, the paramount need to maintain a pure, untainted bloodline had been drilled into her just as it had been drilled into Tutankhamun. They had always been united in their common goal to fulfill that purpose. They had always been of like mind and heart...until she came.

Now it was all falling apart. She would most certainly be executed. A Mitanni queen would sit on the throne of Egypt and her son would one day be crowned as Pharaoh. Hundreds of generations would be negated by his very existence. He would be the first Pharaoh to sit upon the throne who was not a god reincarnated in man's form. A portion of him would always be common and ordinary because his mother had been common and ordinary. He would, consequently, pass down that flawed bloodline to his sons and his sons' sons and so on and so on until the history of her and Tutankhamun's forefathers was thoroughly erased. Ankhesenamun knew that she could not allow that to happen. She had to do whatever was necessary to protect her dynasty and bloodline.

With that resolve fixed firmly in her heart, Ankhesenamun crept into her brother's bedchamber several hours after midnight. Suhad lay curled on her side near the edge of the bed, sleeping soundly. Her son's basinet was situated next to her less than a foot away, close enough for her to reach out for him should he awaken in the night. Ankhesenamun tiptoed closer, angling a peek over the edge of the basinet in order to study the infant.

He was lying on his back with his eyes open, surprisingly alert and looking incredibly content. He blinked up at Ankhesenamun with a guileless expression and, in that moment, Ankhesenamun could clearly see traces of her brother in his features. She noted that in the four days since she had seen him last, his pale complexion had darkened to a smooth caramel color though his cheeks and small mouth remained pink and vibrant. He was so incredibly lovely that it was almost impossible for Ankhesenamun not to feel a pull of affection towards him. With a faint smile, she reached down to finger the downy softness of his cheek. Her smile only widened when she moved lower to touch his hand and he caught hold of her finger in his tenacious grip.

For a fleeting moment, she let herself imagine what it would be like to be a mother to him. With Suhad gone, she and Tutankhamun could raise the child together as their own. He would never have to know of the disparity in his bloodline. She and Tutankhamun could finally have the family they'd always intended. Perhaps the gods would finally smile on her then and grant her a daughter and the traditions of their ancestors could be continued as they had been for generations. The purity of their bloodline could be restored or, at least, preserved.

Perhaps it did not all have to be lost, Ankhesenamun considered. After all, Suhad was the true threat. She was the one who counseled Tutankhamun to the detriment of his people. She was the one who had blinded him to his duty. Surely, things could go back to the way they had been, especially now that Tutankhamun had an heir, were Suhad no longer a factor. The more she considered that fanciful scenario the less ludicrous it seemed. So caught up was she in that delusional fantasy that Ankhesenamun didn't even discern that Suhad had begun to stir on the bed until she bent forward to scoop up the baby.

"Get away from him!" Suhad leapt off the bed with the speed and precision of a striking cobra, shoving Ankhesenamun back with all of her might before she could gather the baby into her arms. The queen went careening across the dais, crashing against the floor in a tumble of arms and legs. "Don't you dare touch him!"

Ankhesenamun quickly scrambled to her feet as Suhad stalked towards her with brutal intent. She took hold of the queen's upper arm in a punishing grip and yanked her forward. "You are never to go near my son again! Don't even look at him! Is that understood?"

"Let me go!"

"I will kill you first!" Suhad ranted, shaking her forcefully, "Do you hear me? I will kill you!"

"Release me!" With a shove of her own, Ankhesenamun freed herself from Suhad's grasp and delivered a punishing slap to her enemy's cheek. "How dare you come against me in violence?" she hissed furiously, "I will see you dead by morning!"

Suhad launched herself at Ankhesenamun before she could even attempt to call for the guards. She quickly yanked up and fistful of the queen's hair and smacked her across the face with a closed fist. "Not if you're dead first!" she growled.

The two women struggled and heaved against one another, slapping and scratching, kicking and biting, grunting harshly as they drew blood, left deep gauges in one another's flesh and vied with each other for the upper hand. Both women were evenly matched in strength and equally motivated. Ankhesenamun had a small advantage over Suhad due to other woman's recent childbirth and weakened state as well as powerful incentive to ensure her own survival. Suhad, on the other hand, was spurred on by a mother's love and the fierce, animal instinct to protect her young.

Somehow, in the midst of their brutal wrestling, they ended up on the bed together with Suhad straddling Ankhesenamun's prone form. Suhad's slender fingers were wrapped around the queen's delicate throat in a vise grip as she attempted to choke the life out of her enemy. Ankhesenamun struggled desperately for air but she was unable to peel Suhad's hands from her throat. Her grip was too tight and her determination to end Ankhesenamun's life too fierce. The queen flailed helplessly, her panic growing as she felt the life slowly slipping out of her, her vision gradually growing dimmer.

As her world began to reduce down into a single pinpoint of light, Ankhesenamun used the last of her waning consciousness to grope blindly for something, anything she could use as a weapon. She would not die in this manner, she determined in her heart, and certainly not at the hands of her brother's common village whore! When her fingers finally landed on something solid, a heavy, stone statuette that had been positioned on the table next to the bed, Ankhesenamun snatched it up frantically and swung it forth with all of the strength she had remaining.

The object met the lateral portion of Suhad's skull with a sickening thud. She slumped forward with the blow. At first, Ankhesenamun could process nothing beyond shoving Suhad's prone figure aside and dragging great gulps of oxygen into her starved lungs the instant Suhad's grip on her throat loosened. She coughed and sputtered, willing away the waves of dizziness and nausea that assailed her. Only when she was certain she wasn't going to faint did the full impact of what she had done fully settle on Ankhesenamun.

Suhad lay sprawled across the bed, eerily quiet and unmoving, her eyes fixed in a lifeless, vacant stare. There was almost no blood present, only an innocuous trickle that escaped from one nostril and meandered down her cheek to soak into her unbound hair. What was more alarming was the small indentation in her skull where Ankhesenamun's killing blow had found purchase. The queen gagged, recoiling with a repulsed gasp as she recognized her hated enemy was dead. She turned away, clamping her hand against her mouth in an attempt to keep back the bile that rose in her throat. At long last, she finally had the thing she had been wanting for months and none of the satisfaction she had expected. Instead, she felt empty, broken, lost and, most of all, afraid.

She rose up on trembling knees and nudged Suhad's still form, shaking her again and again as if she thought she could simply awaken her from sleep. "No...no..." she wept over and over again, "...wake up...you cannot be dead...you cannot... He will never forgive me! Do you understand? I will lose him forever..."

But Suhad was beyond hearing her tearful pleas and she did not wake up. Ankhesenamun knew that it was much too late for remorse and regret then. What was done was done and she could not go back now. With a tremulous whimper, she reached forward and closed Suhad's eyes with shaking fingers. "May you find peace in the afterlife," she whispered.

It was only then that Ankhesenamun became aware of her little nephew's discordant cries sounding behind her. She slid from the bed on wooden legs and approached the basinet with detached calm. Now there could be no traces left. Tutankhamun would never be able to look upon his son's face without the reminder of her betrayal. He would never consent to allowing her to be near the child now. Their bond would be permanently destroyed. He would most certainly put her to death.

There could be no fulfillment of her earlier fantasy, she realized, and without her the impurity in their bloodline could not be prevented. All that she had feared would happen and worse as it was likely her nephew would take a wife as common as his own mother had been. The precedence had been set and her brother, with his skewed judgment, would only encourage it. She had to face cold, harsh reality and that reality was that she had set an entire scheme of events into motion with her first attempt on Suhad's life. Now she had to finish it.

Overwhelmed with corrosive self-hatred yet resolute in the course she had chosen, Ankhesenamun bent over to gather the squalling infant into her arms and cradled him close against her. She nuzzled sweet kisses across his downy scalp, soothing him with soft words of endearment and comfort until he finally quieted. With her tears soaking into his delicate skin, she reassured him that he was loved and would have been loved greater still by his father. And then she gently, but firmly covered his tiny mouth and nose with her hand. The baby flailed in her arms, his indignant whimpers muffled behind her fingers.

"May Osiris greet you with open arms, sweet prince," she murmured hoarsely as the baby's jerking motions finally slackened and stilled completely, "You are with the gods now."