~Three Years Later~

"It is a pleasure to have you again, Princess Sadi. If you will excuse me, I have business to attend to, but I will see you at dinner. Alati, please take the Princess to her quarters."

The princess smiled and bowed, exiting the hall and leaving the pharaoh alone to his thoughts.

Sadi had visited three previous times over the past year, and compared to other princesses showcased before him, she was the most respectable. There was no way to avoid marrying now. He needed an heir. The thought was ever more present in his mind as the royal architects worked on building his tomb. Sadi would most likely stay at the palace this time and become his wife. He was numbed down now to the idea of marrying, and found the woman attractive, though lacking in personality.

Still, he could never quite forget the one girl he would have married in a heartbeat. He hadn't heard from her since he spent that one special night with her. He didn't blame her for not contacting him at all. It hurt him too much, and knew it hurt her too. It was better to keep their distance.

Keeping distance was not that simple though, as Atem soon found out. Less than a week after deciding to marry Sadi, a letter came for him.

"What is that?" Sadi asked, standing behind him, hand on his shoulder as she tried to read the letter from behind him. Wondering the same thing, he started reading. But he was barely a sentence in before he turned pale and stood up abruptly.

"What's wrong?" Sadi asked, concerned.

"I'm sorry, Sadi. I have to go." Atem sprinted from the room, leaving his future wife utterly confused behind him.

Moments later, he burst in on his adviser and good friend, Mahado, who was poring over a table, observing something that Atem didn't have the patience to care about at the moment.

"Mahado, I need your help."

"What's wrong?" Mahado asked, concerned, noticing the tone of his pharaoh's voice. He took the letter and skimmed through it. He looked up abruptly as he finished reading.

"Sir, what do you want to do?"

"I am going to go of course. I know you don't think it's wise, but I have to…" Atem trailed off, biting his lip anxiously.

"It isn't wise," Mahado agreed. "But I still think you should go. You would never be able to live with yourself if you didn't. And I will go with you to keep you out of trouble."

Atem smiled at his friend. Together, they rode out of the palace less than an hour later, accompanied by Isis, Seth, and a score of royal soldiers.

It caused quite a stir in Beni Suef two days later when the royal procession entered town. The stories began running wild through the crowd when it stopped outside the house of the merchant and his mysterious daughter.

"I'm glad you could make it, your majesty," Aktun said, bowing to the pharaoh. Atem was surprised to see him look more fit then he had last time he'd seen him three years before. "She did not think you would come."

Atem didn't know what to say. His words stuck in his throat, and he just nodded to the elderly man and entered the house slowly, followed closely by Sekhmet. He quickly found what he was looking for.

"Atem," Nefret said hoarsely. Her voice was barely more than a whisper, and even with the blanket over her, she looked as though she could be blown away with a small gust of wind. He walked slowly over to her beside and knelt down, taking her boney hand in his.

"Nefret," he said softly, afraid to do more than whisper back. "I've missed you." She smiled up at him, but it looked more like a grimace of pain then a smile. Atem wanted to break down and weep at how frail she was, but he couldn't.

"I brought healers with me, Nefret. They can help you get better."

"It's too late for healers," she replied, squeezing his hand with what little energy she had. "I've been ill for a while now. I only sent you the letter when I knew I wouldn't make it." Hearing her talk like that broke Atem's heart.

"Don't give up yet. You're still here."

"Not for long," Nefret said. "I was only hanging on until you got here. Though I'm surprised you brought Sekhmet. It is good to see her again, though her age is starting to show." It was true. The lioness was turning gray around her muzzle, and she did not look as sleek and strong as she had in her prime.

"She wanted to see you again, too," Atem said with a smile, looking fondly at the lioness. "She refused to be left outside."

"I am glad she did," Nefret said, closing her eyes. For a moment Atem thought she had gone, and he leaned over her more in panic. But she opened her eyes again with a shaky sigh and looked into Atem's eyes.

"There was a reason I asked you to come, though I admit I was not expecting you to come at all."

"You should have had more faith in me; I would have traveled much farther in order to see your face again." He kissed her hand and fell silent, waiting to hear what she had to say. She surprised him when she called out for Djer. Slightly hurt, Atem's smile faded, until her heard footsteps behind him. Turning, he saw a small child walking hesitantly toward him. Or rather toward Nefret. Watching Atem with wide eyes, the child gave him a wide berth, and walked around to the other side of the cot.

"Djer," Nefret said softly, putting her thin hand on the boy's cheek. "I told you some day I would let you meet your father."

As soon as he saw the boy, he had his suspicions. But she had named him Djer, which made Atem think he was in fact the child of the man whose namesake he had been given. However, when the boy looked up at him with wide eyes, half hidden under a mop of black hair, Atem knew the truth. His eyes met with an identical pair, wide and frightened though they were.

"Atem, I wanted to tell you," Nefret said, watching as the two males at her side stared at one another. "But I didn't want to complicate your life. I wanted to tell you myself, which is why I asked you to come. Now you know."

"Nefret," Atem started, but couldn't find any other words to follow. He didn't know what to think, what to feel, or what to do.

"My father will make sure he is safe and comfortable," Nefret continued, her voice losing strength as she kept talking. "I just wanted you to know…"

"Nefret," Atem repeated, finding his voice finally. "I can't just leave him here, now that I know. I will take you all with me to the palace. You, your father, and our son." The last part was a shock to actually say out loud. He had a son. It was a lot to take in.

"Atem, I am not going to make it. But if you would look after my father and Djer…" She stopped talking, her breathing becoming more labored. She closed her eyes, worn out from the effort. Her chest was moving still, so Atem waited to see if she would say anything else.

"Mommy," Djer said quietly, gripping her hand tightly with his much smaller one. "Mommy, you can't leave me!"

"Djer, I love you. Don't forget that. Atem," she said, looking up at him again. "I have always loved you, and always will. Take good care of our son."

"I will," Atem said softly, kissing her forehead. "I love you." Nefret smiled faintly and closed her eyes again. After a few moments of silence, her chest stopped moving. Atem let go of all the tears he'd been holding back, and gripped Nefret's hand tighter, bending over her as his body shook with sobs. It made him cry harder when he heard little Djer calling out, "Mommy, mommy wake up."

Many minutes later, the crowd that had gathered outside the merchant's house watched as the pharaoh stepped from the house, carrying a small child in his arms. The village had seen the child before, but seeing him in the arms of the pharaoh was a sensation. As for the royal procession, every one of them stood in shock as their lord told them he was taking the old man and the child back to the capital with him, and that they were to also bring the body of the girl Nefret.

"Aktun, I would like you to come back to the palace with me. I will be taking Djer with me, and he will need a familiar face."

"Of course, your majesty. There is nothing left for me here."

"Daddy," the little boy said softly, looking up at the man carrying him. Atem looked down at him, his eyes softening as he saw the look in the boy's eyes. "Is mommy going to be safe?"

"Don't worry Djer," Atem said, holding him closer, feeling the little heart beat against his chest. "The God's will take good care of her. There has never been a more noble soul to go through the underworld." Seemingly satisfied with this answer, Djer wrapped his arms around the neck of the father he'd met less than an hour before.

"I love you, Daddy."

"I love you, too, Djer."

From the shores of the Nile, the people watched as the royal ship sailed down the river, transporting very valuable cargo. They could see their pharaoh standing silently on the deck, his queen a step behind, seated on a royal couch. Next to him stood a graying old man, who kept his head bowed. On the pharaoh's other side stood a small child who held his hand tightly. Tears slid down the child's cheeks as he stared. In front of him lay a wooded sarcophagus, beautifully painted to look like the woman whose body occupied the inside.

The people watched, sad because their pharaoh was sad. One young boy stepped forward toward the water and gently set down a pure white lily into the water. Slowly, it caught the current and drifted away, following the ship. The boy felt his father put a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up at the older man.

"She would appreciate the gift, Hoten," he said softly, turning away from his son. The boy sniffed, remembering the last time he had stood on this shore and had given an identical lily to the living woman whose life had been so brief, yet so special.