Chapter 11

After 75 days...

The whole country mourned for the queen's death. Eventhough they are in mourning some where asking...would the Pharaoh take another wife? While the people outside the palace; nobles and peasants alike prepare for the funeral, the ones inside the palace were somber especially the two persons actually three who lost the person most.

The pharaoh himself was looking outside his balcony...while the Crown Prince was not speaking any word to his friends and cousin inside his rooms. He was busy preparing for the final moment that he would be having with his mother; to walk with her to her tomb. Meanwhile the midwife was busy taking care of the Princess.

This day was actually a day for mourning a loss of someone...but for some it was not. It was the time of the opportunity to do something to the royal family...to inflict injury on the Pharaoh or the Crown Prince...but not the youngest one yet.

As Atem was preparing himself, he couldn't shake the feeling that his mother had left him, like this...missing a part of him. While brushing his hair, he remembered the moment that his mother usually brushes his hair for him.

flashback...

After taking a bath, Atem went back into his bedchambers and grabbed his brush. He didn't need to brush his bangs it stayed right that...but his hair was sticking out in every way and it pains him to see himself like this...if ever Mana will see his hair like this she would tease him to no end. Struggling to brush the tips of his hair, he heard a knock on the door.

'Ra, please not Mana.' he prayed, while brushing his hair. His prayers were answered.

"Atem, are you in here?" asked someone from behind the door. He then sighed in relief, it was his mother after all.

"Yeah, I'm here." he replied. The door opened and in came Arsinoe, she wears an orange colored gown, the sleeves were long that it actually trailed on the ground. She then looked at him, then went beside him, reaching out for the brush.

"Give me the brush. I'll do it for you."

He gave her the brush and she silently brushed his hair for him. They were silent for awhile. He then twisted to look at her, and she smiled, he then smiled and it wavered, which concerned her.

"Atem, what's wrong? Is something bothering you?" she asked, as she put the brush on the table and looked at him.

"It's nothing, mother." he sighed, as he looked at her, "I was just thinking...what if you die?" he asked the inevitable, "I couldn't take it if..."

"What makes you say that?" she asked as he tilted his chin up, "I would never leave your side...even if I die..." she promised.

"Promise?" he asked. She then smiled, "I promise." She then took him in her arms. If only they knew...if only Atem knew.

Atem was woken up from his memories when he heard a knock on the door. He then went and opened the door, seeing Seto and Mana, who has her fist raised about to knock again.

"What do you want?" he asked, as he went inside, turning his back on them.

"Atem...we just wanted to talk to you...mourn with you." Mana told him, while walking towards him.

"I don't need your condolences." he said, as he sat down on his bed.

"Cousin, we just wanted to talk...a few days after the queen died...you were never the same and we wanted to know why." Seto told him, while walking towards him and holding his hand.

Atem removed his hand from his cousin's grasp and stood up, "It's because I lose someone that I cared about most."

"I too lost someone I cared about...even Mana...even Mahad...even your father." Seto reminded him, "Don't make it look like you were the only one who lose someone."

The young prince turned to him, "She was everything I have! She..." he sobbed.

"I know...but you just have to get over it...we all know that all human beings have to die." his cousin reasoned, "Atem...with the time you spent on quietly mourning...you haven't noticed your father acting the same...even all of us here in the palace have been in mourning...even all of Egypt have been."

"Yeah, and me too...I would never forget your mother Atem she's so kind to me and treats me like her own daughter." Mana told him, while putting her arm around his shoulders, "You know when a person dies...her/his presence was never forgotten...it remains here in our hearts." she then moved Atem's hand to his heart, " And I know you are going through such sorrowful times...even then you mustn't forget about your mother. She doesn't have a say in this...it was fate that decreed it." she finished, then hugged him, "I'm sure your mother would always be at your side...wherever she may be."

Seto then patted his back, "I'm sure what Mana said was right." he then looked at the girl who was still holding his cousin's hand, "And where did you get those words?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It came to me." Mana answered, "Why?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering... that a four years old was able to say that."

"Hey! I'm already five years old!" she argued, "And eventhough you were like... counting with her fingers, "4 years older...it doesn't mean we are not capable of saying things."

"Thanks for cheering me up, you two." Atem smiled, "It sure helped me to get over this."

"Oh, it doesn't matter! Group hug!" Mana was about to hug him when Aknankamon entered.

"Are you ready, son?" he asked as he was about to check on him.

"Yes, I'm ready father." he told him, "Would Seto be coming to?"

The pharaoh nodded, "Yes, he will." then looks at Mana and smiles, "Mana, I'm afraid you have to stay behind."

"Why would I be?" she asked, "Seto's coming!" she knew that it was not a good idea to answer the pharaoh's authority but then he allowed her to speak her mind whenever she likes it.

"It's because you were..." the pharaoh looked at his son, "It was told to me by Mahad that you have the tendency to cry at funerals."

"Oh, alright then. I wouldn't mind it." she told them, "I would be in my rooms all day."

Atem then thought about his sister then looked at his father, "Will Atemu be coming to?"

The pharaoh shook his head, "No, son. She's too young."

"Yeah, and what would a baby do in the funeral anyway?" asked Mana.

Aknankamon then headed to the door, "Come on. Let's go." then he looked at Mana, "You can play with Atemu if you like." he told her.

"Okay. That wouldn't get me bored." she said as she headed to the door, going out first before them.

"She sure forgets her manners." Seto shakes his head.

"Oh, don't worry about it. She'll get over it...one day." Atem assured him.

"Now come on, you two." the pharaoh told them.

Atem's POV

I was looking at the people who were carrying my mother's sarcophagus to her tomb. I know that wherever she is now...she will remain forever in our hearts. I then remembered my sister who was still too young to comprehend this.

I was standing near my father who can't keep his anguish hidden. It was out in the open, to think that a Pharaoh should remain strong and get over whatever challenges life itself throws in their way, but then the Pharaoh is also human, a person who also feels sadness, grief and a thousand other things. This is the only time that I have ever seen him cry, maybe because Mother is the only woman whom he had loved all his life. That may be true because he never took another, a concubine at least. I may be six, but I know a lot prior to observing everything that a palace life holds.

I was then oblivious to the chatter around me, about the state my father was in, if he ever should take another, I then growled under my breath, How dare they talk like this? Didn't they see that my father was grieving?

"How sad it is that the Pharaoh lost a wife..."

"Will he take another? I do hear that someone had caught his fancy."

I then looked at the people who were murmuring about my father. Seriously they should stop hoping that they could ever replace my mother as the queen. When they saw me watching, they diverted their gazes away. I then turned to my father.

"Father, those women..." I pointed at the group I heard earlier, "Were talking about you."

My father whispered back, "Son, it's not good to listen to what the adults are saying."

"I'm not really listening...I just heard them." I said,defending myself.

The funeral ceremony continued on, until the entrance to my mother's tomb have been closed for all eternity. I know somehow that there were pictures painted on the walls of her tomb, about her life she had before, the life she had now and the life that was waiting for her in the afterlife.

A few hours later at the funeral... nighttime at the Valley of the Queens...

Aknankamon couldn't even believe it himself. He had lost a wife...but for reasons he only understood. Maybe the gods decided it to be this way...but he keep thinking about his daughter. She would grow up with no mother at all...but atleast he had Mana and Atem to be there for her, whenever she needs them to be.

He then looked up at the sky, 'Arsinoe, wherever you are...I wish that you would continue guiding Atem and Atemu and give them the motherly love that you know that I couldn't give.' he felt a tear dropped, down to his cheek. It was too sorrowful.

"Father?" Atem asked, as he tugged on his robe.

"Son, what are you still doing out here all alone?" Aknankamon asked, "You know it's quite dangerous...especially when it's nighttime."

Atem sighed, "I didn't go out here alone...I have a couple of guards along with me."

His father then knelt on the ground and touched his shoulders, "Son...why? I recently lost your mother and now...I can't take it if I lose you too."

Atem hugged him, "Father, it's you who I can't live without."

"Why did you come back? I thought you already arrived in the palace?"

"Well I can't honestly leave the pharaoh here, can I?"

Aknankamon smiled at his son, then picked him up, "You sound older than what you really are."

Atem then looked at his father, again, bringing the subject up once again, "I saw you shed a tear earlier. Are you really sad about mother dying?"

His father didn't know what to say, he just couldn't explain it, but then he couldn't hide anything from his son, so he made it up, "Son, to tell you honestly I am. But you all know that we have to die...and I came to accept it...then he drifted to his other child, "How's your sister?"

Atem looked down at the ground, before his father spoke, "Atem...tell me. What happened to your sister?"

"You'll know later when we got back to the palace." the young prince replied.

They arrived where the entourage was patiently waiting for them. Aknankamon then signaled them to move. While journeying back to the palace he prayed that nothing serious have happened to his daughter.