Epilogue

Tutankhamun awoke upon the softest bed on which he'd ever had the privilege to sleep.

His first instinct was to turn over onto his side and snuggle deeper into the blankets but something inexplicable kept compelling him to awaken fully. That was the moment he realized that he was not in any pain, physical, emotional or otherwise. There was no unabated throbbing in his leg or suffocating ache in his heart. He felt content and warm and undeniably happy.

Those feelings were so incongruent with the last memory he had that Tutankhamun immediately opened his eyes and slowly took in his surroundings. There was nothing at all familiar to him and yet he didn't feel any fear or alarm at the discovery that he was in a strange place. He lay upon a bed bedecked in white linen and satin and bordered on all sides with a diaphanous, linen canopy, which was secured to the bed posts in order to allow for the cross current which wafted from the window just beyond the bed.

As he began to survey his environment, Tutankhamun saw that he was ensconced in a small hut of some sort that was filled with foliage that seemed to creep in from the outside and curl through the cracks in the wall and slated ceiling. In addition to the greenery, brilliant streams of sunlight flooded in through the large, open windows that were situated in each corner of the hut. Above his head long, skeins of gauzy white linen hung from the rafters and billowed in the gentle, circulating breeze. The air smelled clean and vibrant and was accented with a vague, floral aroma. But the thing that he noticed most acutely was the quiet, the all encompassing peacefulness that pervaded his senses.

He pushed aside the blankets and raised himself up onto his elbows, noting for the first time that he was almost completely nude except for a small scrap of cloth that girded his groin. He also noted that his leg, which had been grotesquely injured the last time he had seen it, now appeared to be completely healed. There was no bruising, swelling or deformity of any kind detectable in the limb, almost as if the bone had never been shattered at all. In fact, Tutankhamun realized slowly, he seemed to bear no scars on his body at all, not even the ones that had long since faded in his childhood. His skin appeared smooth, unmarred...perfect.

But Tutankhamun hardly had time to puzzle over that particular strangeness because his attention was almost immediately diverted to the empty cradle situated at the bedside. He froze, his heart rate gradually accelerating as he surveyed it. Wherever he was there was evidently an infant in the vicinity but whose infant he did not know. Furthermore, he couldn't seem to recall the details of how he'd even come to be in his current location at all. Tutankhamun dragged all ten fingers through his unbound hair, desperately trying to make sense of how he'd managed to arrive at this point when the last thing he remembered with any sort of clarity was dying in his bed.

It was while he was wrestling with himself for understanding that Suhad breezed into the hut, cradling their dozing four month old son in one arm and a basket full of fruit in the other. She stopped short when she found him awake and sitting upright on the bed. She favored him with a glowing smile. "Hello," she greeted cheerfully as if she had not been dead the last time he had seen her, "I was beginning to think that you were going to sleep the remainder of the afternoon. It would have been understandable, I suppose. The journey here is always quite exhausting."

Tutankhamun gaped at her, caught somewhere between abounding joy at seeing her standing there, burgeoning fear that he had possibly gone mad because she was standing there and confusion because, if Suhad really was standing there, then he must be in the after-life and, if so...it wasn't quite how he would have imagined it. Suhad watched each unspoken scenario filter across Tutankhamun's stricken features in rapid fire succession, noting his intensifying alarm with each passing second. She set aside her basket and immediately went to his side, her tone soothing and gentle when she said, "Try not to panic. I know you must have many questions at this time..."

"Am I dead?"

She bit back a smile and shook her head. "No."

"Am I dying then?"

"You already died once," she answered, "But that has been undone now."

"What? What are you talking about? I don't understand what's happening. Is this a dream? Am I dreaming? Am I ill? Having a fit of delirium? Is this some kind of vision from the gods?"

"No, you are not ill and you are not dreaming."

He directed a tentative glance around at their surroundings. "You did say I had died. Is...is this the afterlife then?"

"Not exactly..." she hedged, "It is...and it isn't."

Tutankhamun regarded her with a desperate look, clearly processing nothing she had said to him thus far because he was too busy reeling over her presence. There was truly only one question to which he urgently needed an answer. "Tell me this...are you real?"

In answer to that, Suhad swept up his hand and pressed it to her cheek. "Yes, my love, I am real..."

His features crumpled with a thankful sob as he feathered his fingers across her skin. He skimmed his touch across her eyes and cheeks and lips as if he'd never been acquainted with them before. It was difficult for Suhad to hold back her tears as she witnessed the pure, unguarded joy lighting his beautiful face right then. However, she lost the fight against weeping completely when his eyes finally dropped to the sleeping infant she held in her arms.

"And is this...?"

"Yes," she confirmed in a tear roughened tone, "This is your son, Tutankhamun." He lifted his hand to touch the baby, only to snatch it back at the last second as if he feared doing so would cause the child to evaporate into nothingness. "Calm your heart, my love. He is real as well," Suhad reassured him gently, "You can hold him if you like."

Tutankhamun nodded wordlessly, his body shaking almost uncontrollably as Suhad carefully deposited the baby into his untrained arms. "Support his head..." she directed him softly, "...you'll be fine. He's nearly five months old now and quite solid. He will not break."

"He's so much bigger than I remember him...fatter too, but no less beautiful," he whispered in awe, his heart expanding with love when the baby yawned and stretched before settling comfortably against him once more. The baby felt warm and soft and wonderfully real in his arms. It was a stark contrast with the last memory Tutankhamun had of holding his son, a good one. He soaked in all the changes, taking keen interest in each one.

In addition to being plumper, his indistinct baby features had become more defined. Now, Tutankhamun could definitively see traces of himself and Suhad in the baby. The baby's brow line, eyelashes and mouth were definitely his own, but his nose and ears belonged to his mother. Tutankhamun traced his son's tiny features reverently, noting also that the soft, black waves that had once crowned the baby's head had now been replaced by fat swirls of messy, dark brown curls.

He nuzzled a kiss across his son's unkempt hair, laughing softly when the baby grimaced in his slumber, as if displeased with the disturbance to his rest. "He's perfect, Suhad, incredible..." He glanced up at her with glistening eyes. "What is his name?"

"I call him Theshen," she replied, "I wanted to wait for you but...I could not determine how long it would be before you arrived here and he could not be called 'little one' indefinitely."

Fairly overwhelmed with emotion right then, Tutankhamun whispered the name to himself, practiced it on his tongue before his attention was drawn once more to his son's sleeping face. "Theshen. I like it. It suits him," he whispered as bittersweet tears began to fall, "It's a good name."

Suhad ducked her head down low in an attempt to catch a glimpse of his expression which was hidden behind the falling screen of his long hair. She pushed back the dark waves, smoothing her thumbs tenderly across the wet ridges of his cheeks. "Are you happy, my love?"

"Yes," he answered gruffly, "I'm happy and...overwhelmed... I have so many things running through my mind all at once...so many questions to be answered..."

"I understand. We will take them one at a time."

"But more than answers, Suhad, I want..."

"What...what do you want?"

He leaned forward suddenly and pressed his lips to hers in an ardent kiss. There was no hesitation or awkwardness in either of them with the impulsive flare of intimacy between them. Suhad immediately melted against him, seeming to need the contact as much as he did. When they finally broke away from one another, Tutankhamun rested his forehead against hers with a satisfied sigh. "I wanted to do that," he whispered around the lump of emotion lodged in his throat, "I missed that. I missed you."

"I missed you as well," she whispered back.

They exchanged several more kisses before Tutankhamun gradually pulled away Now that he had affirmed to himself that Suhad was not some specter conjured up in his desperate imagination, his mounting confusion once again came to the fore and asserted itself. "Where are we? What is this place, Suhad?"

She lifted her shoulders in a noncommittal shrug. "I've never been told a name but, I like to call it bliss because that is how it feels," she said, "There's no sickness here, Tutankhamun. No old age or declining health. No death. No war. No hate. No separation among the people. We are all brothers and sisters. Everything is green and lush...there's an abundance of food and land for everyone and no one is oppressed or misguided or subjugated. We are all equal here. We are all free."

"How did you find this place?"

"I didn't. It found me," she told him, "All I know is that I awakened on the banks of the great river and Theshen was lying beside me. When I opened my eyes again, there were people all around me and they tried to explain all that had happened to me because...it had also happened to them. I didn't understand at first why I was here or where 'here' was and I was quite certain everyone around me was mad and then...then I saw my brother and I knew what they were telling me was true."

He blinked at her in disbelief. "Your brother?"

"Yes, he's alive," she confirmed with a giddy smile, "I never thought I would see him again and then there he was...and it was like no time had passed. He's staying with friends tonight. We thought it best not to overwhelm you with too many new faces your first night. But you will meet Kiknata tomorrow as well as the others."

Tutankhamun dragged his free hand down the length of his face, clearly reeling. "Do you have any idea how farfetched all of this sounds?"

"You're in disbelief. I can sympathize. I felt quite the same when I was in your place," Suhad murmured, "But true understanding will come with time and patience. The people here taught me many things and explained my purpose for being here as I will explain to you. They told me that, while I had to die to come to this place, I am not dead now and I need not ever die again."

"What? What does that mean? Are you saying...are you saying that we are with the gods now?"

"Not with the 'gods' exactly but we are here due to the will of a supreme being. We are special to Him. We are here because we've been chosen, Tutankhamun."

"Chosen to do what? Who is this supreme being? How exactly did I come to be here? Why was I chosen?" he asked with some skepticism, "Did the Nile River vomit me up as well?"

"Yes, it did actually," Suhad informed him with wry satisfaction, "That is exactly where you were found. You were lying on the banks, almost as if you had been delivered there...because, in manner of speaking, you had been. That is how all who are chosen arrive here."

"What does it mean to be chosen? Is it because I am Pharaoh that I was given this honor?"

"It is because your heart is pure and honorable and He saw something valuable within you," Suhad replied, "Not everyone who was a king in their former life finds themselves here. In fact, more often than not, men who held positions of great importance prior to coming here are rarely among those chosen. You are a member of a very privileged few, my love."

"And why is that? I don't understand any of this."

"I know you don't," she replied with a smile, "But you will. Give it time. It is too much to process all at once and definitely not in one day. There is much you have to learn first."

"The last thing I remember is the feeling of floating outside of my own body...and then nothing," he said, "When woke up, I wasn't near the Nile River at all. I was here in this bed."

"I know. You were still quite disoriented when we found you. We brought you here to rest."

"We?"

Suhad smiled. "I told you. We're not alone in this place, Tutankhamun."

He frowned to himself, trying diligently to process each new piece of information she revealed to him. Unfortunately, the harder he tried to put together the cryptic bits she had unveiled, the more confused he became. Rather than risking further bafflement and frustration by asking more questions to which he wouldn't grasp the answers, Tutankhamun instead decided to shift the subject altogether. Consequently, he asked the question that had been nagging at him for the last several minutes.

"Do you know what happened to you?" he asked her tentatively, "How you came to be here, Suhad...how you died?"

"Yes. It was your sister's doing. We had a fight. She was the victor and I was not." Tutankhamun averted his eyes in guilty shame though Suhad's tone was devoid of any recrimination when she answered him. "Is that what happened to you as well?"

"No. I did not die at Ankhesenamun's hand," he replied gruffly, "I was injured in the battle with the Mitanni. I think I died the day after you did."

That revelation caused tears of regret to well up in Suhad's eyes. "Oh, Khaten...no. I am deeply saddened to hear that news. You had so many plans for the future. It was my firm hope that you would have a long and prosperous life, that you would fulfill all the greatness that you had set out to accomplish. You died much too young, my love."

"As did you. And I did not deserve to live any longer, not after the way I so thoroughly failed you and our son. I am so sorry. I should not have left you unprotected. I had my suspicions but I never imagined..." He paused to swallow past the bitter lump of tears that burned in his throat. "I should have anticipated that she might go after you directly. I should have stopped her."

Suhad pressed her fingers to his lips to staunch his apologies. "Do not condemn yourself. What's done is done. I have made my relative peace with your sister's actions long ago. In an odd way, I can even understand what might have driven her to do what she did. My feelings where she is concerned are complicated, but...I don't hate her...and I don't hate you, if that is your fear." Tutankhamun regarded her with an astonished expression. "Neither does Ka."

He surveyed her with dubious eyes, straight, dark brows drawn together in a deep frown. "Ka? Why do you speak of Ka right now?"

"Because he is here," Suhad informed him gently, "He was chosen as well."

"Wait! Stop a moment!" he cried, struggling to process what she was telling him, "You've spoken to him? You've seen him? He's alive?"

"Yes. He is alive. He was among the first to welcome me to this place although he did not know who I was at the time. However, I knew him and I wasn't very pleasant in the beginning. It took me quite some time to trust him. Thankfully, he persevered in his overtures for peace and amity and he has become a good and valued friend to me since."

"I once thought that as well," Tutankhamun said brusquely, "That was a mistake."

"He is not the same man you remember, Khaten, and he has many regrets, most especially about you. He wants to see you but he is afraid that you will not want to see him."

"No! I cannot..." he protested, wildly shaking his head, "It's...it is too much. I...I don't think I'm ready."

"It's fine. There will be time for that later," Suhad soothed him, "You still have much to process and you are not yet at a point where you can hear it all. Tomorrow, then we will begin. Kiknata will be here to help with the baby and then I will provide you with all the explanations you seek. But tonight, I want you to eat and enjoy a proper night's rest."

"I couldn't possibly sleep at all." He dragged his finger over the plump curve of his son's cheek. "I'm afraid this will all be gone when I wake. I'm half convinced I've gone mad or else...you have."

"It is neither," she laughed, "You are not mad. You are not dreaming. This is real. We are real."

"Will you be here with me tonight?" he asked anxiously, "Will you stay and lie down with me? I won't believe it unless you do."

"I'm not going anywhere," she promised him, "Never again."

After pulling on the clothing Suhad had generously provided for him, Tutankhamun watched her every movement with keen interest for the remainder of the evening. He studied her closely as she prepared the evening meal, tidied up their simple surroundings and bathed their wiggling son. He could hardly believe he was looking at her at all and yet, her mannerisms were reminiscent of everything he remembered about her...the inflection of her words, the way she glared at him when she was annoyed, the unrestrained joy of her laughter. It was really her. They were really together again and not in some murkily imagined afterlife but sharing a real life in a real home with a real family.

He was so intent in his scrutiny, so overwhelmed by her presence that Suhad began to grow self-conscious under his steady and intense perusal. She finally threw up her hands in exasperation. "Are you truly planning to do this the entire night?" she cried.

"Do what?"

"Watch me as though you expect a horn to sprout forth from my forehead at any given moment?"

"Do you know what I thought about the entire time I was away in battle?" Tutankhamun wondered aloud in a quiet tone. Suhad shook her head, mildly annoyed. "I thought about you. Every second of every day that we were apart, I thought about coming home to you, Suhad...you and our son. It was all that I wanted, all I could imagine. And when I finally did come home, it was to find that you both had been taken from me. So yes, to answer your question, I am absolutely going to watch you all night because I never imagined I would have the opportunity to do so again."

Her exasperation with him immediately forgotten, Suhad hopped up to kiss him because it was impossible not to do so right then. Afterwards, she made no further complaints about Tutankhamun's avid interest and, to his credit, he tried to be a little less obvious about his admiration. However, when the time came for Suhad to nurse Theshen before putting him down for bed, she found herself growing a bit skittish once more.

She cleared her throat nervously, trying to remain nonchalant as Tutankhamun's eyes widened when she began to bare her breast in preparation to feed their son. "I...I need to nurse him," she stammered in explanation, acutely aware of the moment the baby latched onto her nipple because Tutankhamun did not look away at all. Instead, he watched Theshen suckle with an expression suspended somewhere between awe and envy.

"Does that cause you discomfort when he does that?"

"No. Not anymore. In the beginning, however, it was learning process for both of us."

Tutankhamun struggled to keep his thoughts neutral and attempted to distract himself by leaning out the window to count the stars while Suhad finished feeding the baby. Unfortunately, his perusal of the night sky was a blind one because all he could think about was Suhad's naked skin. He didn't understand why watching her that way was affecting him so. After all, she was nourishing their child. It as a pure and sacred act, remarkable and yet unremarkable at the same time. Still, it stirred something primal within him and the thoughts he was having about her right then were neither sacred nor pure.

He was forcefully reminded of how long it had been since he and Suhad had known one another intimately. It felt like it had been an eternity. He knew he missed that part of their relationship and wanted to resume it but he wasn't altogether certain how Suhad felt about the matter. In many ways, it was as if no time had passed between them at all whereas, in others, it was almost as if they were starting anew.

The resulting awkwardness made no difference to his starved body, however. Once his desire for Suhad began to make itself manifest, Tutankhamun had a difficult time stamping it back down. By the time he finished murmuring his goodnights to Theshen and he and Suhad climbed into bed together, the last thing on his mind was sleep.

With his heart thumping in anticipation, Tutankhamun tentatively coaxed Suhad back into the circle of his arms. He relaxed only when she came without resistance, scooting herself against his body so that they were spooned together. He was quite sure that she was intensely cognizant of how much he wanted her right then. His need for her was rather prominent between them. Despite that, Tutankhamun dropped a tender kiss to the bare skin of her shoulder that was full of earnest entreaty. Suhad answered by circling her hips against him suggestively before drawing his hand around her to place his palm directly over her breast. For Tutankhamun, that gesture was answer enough.

Sometime later after they had finished making love and they lay heart to heart with limbs intertwined, Tutankhamun lifted his head to peer over the top of Theshen's cradle. He half expected to find a very awake and very disgruntled baby. Instead, he was surprised to discover that Theshen had somehow continued to slumber through all the noise he and Suhad had made, which simultaneously amused and mortified him.

"Don't worry," Suhad yawned, "Your son can sleep through a marching battalion. He won't wake again until his belly demands it."

"Dare I ask how you made that particular discovery?" Tutankhamun murmured dryly.

"Certainly not this way," she giggled.

Tutankhamun grunted a laugh and snuggled back against her with a contented sigh. "I can't believe that I will actually have the privilege of watching him grow into manhood..." he marveled, "...that he will become a man at all..."

"So you're not disappointed?" Suhad asked.

He raised his head to peer down at her in bewilderment. "Why would I be disappointed?"

She tipped back her head to regard him. "Because you were not raised up as a god as you always believed you would be."

"And what would I possibly do as a god?" he posited with a dismissive shrug, "Could I enjoy the sound of my son's laughter? Could I lie next to you? Could I hold you like this? I'd much rather be here with you as I am now." He hitched his chin in the direction of their sleeping son. "And with him."

"Even if that means that you are no longer a Pharaoh either?"

"Have I ever given you the impression that was a title for which I had aspired or had even wanted?" Tutankhamun asked, "You are the only thing that I have ever truly wanted, Suhad. You and our son. That is all I need."

Suhad slipped her arm around his waist and settled herself against his chest, tucking her head beneath his chin. "We can have more children, you know? You don't have to resign yourself to only one."

His answering chuckle at her implied suggestion rumbled against her cheek. "I think perhaps I should get used to the one first," he laughed before adding after a pensive beat of silence, "Though the idea of a daughter is rather agreeable."

"Yes..." Suhad agreed as she slipped off into sleep, "...I think so as well."

The End