The Great City

I spent the rest of that day training and preparing.

Archery. Knifework. Agility. Speed. All needed to be completely perfected.

The rest of the time, I was planning, trying to think of all the possibilities choices I would have to make, and which would yield the quickest, most satisfying kill.

Something about my mission bothered me, even though I had been trained for this since birth. Since I could walk, Mother taught me how to hunt and fish and fight off enemies.

But this would be the first time I would need to kill a person.

That evening, I placed all I was sure I would need in a leather bag. Food for the journey, my only set of extra clothes, money-

"Here, child," Mother said.

I looked up to see her holding up a small pouch. When I opened it up, it was to find it full of seeds. I looked at it in confusion.

"This is a variety of seed close in effect to the henbane plant, used as a remedy for sleeplessness. However, it is also one of the world's deadliest poisons. In large enough amounts, it causes delirium and hallucinations, even death with just the right dose. I received them from a trader from north of the Delta. I trust you will know what to do with them."

I nodded.

"And take this." Mother handed me another pouch containing a beautiful purple stone.

"This stone is magic, my son. Drop this into your cup, and no matter how much wine you drink, you will not be intoxicated. I expect you will need it."

"Thank you, Mother," I replied, slipping both pouches into my bag.

"Now, do you have your knife?"

"I do," I replied, showing her it was sheathed at my hip.

"I do know you adore that knife, my child, but make certain to have other weapons."

I nodded. "I made a bow yesterday. I'll get it."

I walked over to the corner of our hut and showed Mother my bow, demonstrating I knew how to unstring and restring it and showing her the flint arrows I had made, before putting the arrows and my bow into the woven quiver I had made.

"That's my boy," she said proudly. She looked outside at the sun sinking lower in the sky, dying over the horizon in a burst of flame.

"Come," she whispered. "You need to rest tonight for your journey."

We ate the remainder of the fish Mother had caught yesterday. As I gazed into the embers of the dying fire, content and sleepy after the long day, Mother carefully undid my ponytail and began brushing through my hair. I tensed up at the touch, as Mother had never done such a thing in years, ever since I was old enough to do it myself. Mother's laugh, sounding like bells in my ears, made me relax again.

"You are going to meet no less than the Pharaoh himself tomorrow. The least I can do as your mother is ensure you don't look like a wild desert boy."

Carefully, she picked out the knots in my hair, leaving it to fall like a waterfall down to my shoulders, a mirror of her.

Mother always expressed gratitude that I looked like her and not her violator.

"Imagine if you had that demon's blue eyes," she said once with a shiver. "I could never look at them again."

"There," Mother said, jolting me back to the present day. "You look almost princely." She laughed again, as if at her own private joke.

Mother and I had never spoken about it, but I being the son of Aknamkanon, however legitimately, did, of a sort, make me a prince.

I didn't want to think of myself as being related to that man.

"Now go to sleep," Mother said. "I will wake you at first light to begin your journey."

I set my bow aside along with my sack of supplies, and laid down on my sleeping mat. Mother sat down in the doorway, a dark shadow against the sprawling banner of the night sky, looking out at the desert outside.

"Soon," she whispered, almost desperate, like a person starving. "Soon."

She began to sing, a haunting, quiet lullaby without words, which echoed across the desert like the cry of a dead spirit.

I closed my eyes, floating away on the melody into another dream.

I was shivering. Wet. An infant's wails filled my ears, and my hands, tiny and chubby, snatched back at the darkness behind me. We were on horseback, riding hard through the pouring rain and tearing wind, which I could hardly see through my tears. I could sense the fear of the person holding me. Something was after us, something dangerous.

The horse slowed, then halted, panting and foaming. The person holding me cuddled me close, gently but firmly shushing me.

Mother's voice floated over me. "We can't stop, my love. We'll be killed."

I looked up, fascinated, at the blank impassive void of the person's hood. The person's hood fell back a little, and I saw Mother's face. She smiled at me. "Don't worry. We will arrive soon. Then we will be safe."

The sound of hoofbeats in the distance caused Mother to kick the horse harder to spur it on, the animal screaming louder than me.

I awoke with a start, blinking at the milk-white glare from the moon shining full and round overhead. Mother was gone from her post by the door. A quick glance showed she was lying asleep in her own bed. Drawing my bedclothes tighter around myself, I sat up and looked out at the clear sky, polar opposite to the dark, stormy night I had dreamed of.

I remembered from Mother's stories that we had not always lived in our hut. I had been born in the home of a friendly couple who lived on the outskirts of the Great City, and Mother had been offered room and board there. However, she had felt unsafe there, a feeling that had been confirmed when the Pharaoh had gone looking for her, wanting to keep her from exposing his adultery. We had left the City and traveled to our small hut, and had lived there ever since.

But why would I dream about that time that had long since faded from my memory?

There was something somehow wrong with that memory, like a puzzle missing a vital piece.

It bothered me.

Turning away from the blank, staring eye of the moon, I laid back down and went to sleep. This time, no dreams disturbed me.

The next morning, I awoke at first light. Mother was already waiting for me at the hut entrance as I picked up my quiver and bag of supplies. I carefully ensured my knife was sheathed at my waist, and Mother meticulously combed through my hair again, helping me pull it back, and helping me line my eyes with dark kohl. She carefully ensured my gleaming ruby choker was secured around my neck.

I had always worn that necklace, and had never questioned why. All I knew was that I was never supposed to take it off. Ever.

"There, now," she said. "Now you are ready." I straightened, trying to tell myself I felt just as ready as I evidently looked.

Mother wiped her eyes. "It seems only yesterday you were a child. I cannot believe…" She gently pressed her hand to mine, interlacing her fingers with my own and squeezing.

I nodded. "I won't let you down, Mother."

"I know you won't," Mother replied.

She released my hand, and I turned, taking a deep breath and walking out into the desert.

As I climbed out of our little hollow and turned back, I saw Mother standing in the doorway. From this height, she looked vulnerable and small.

She raised her hand in farewell, and, after a moment, I waved back.

Then she disappeared into our little hut, and I, taking a breath and telling myself my heart was racing from excitement rather than nerves, began picking my way up the nearest sand dune.

I had left our hollow a few times, but this one was different.

More final.

When I came back, I wouldn't be Kinslayer, the peasant illegitimate son of Aknamkanon.

I would be the Pharaoh of Egypt.

I had to be.

For Mother.

Or else come back to her disappointment. To her anger.

I won't fail, Mother. I promise. When you next see me, your son will be a king.

With that promise etched into my mind, I kept walking with renewed purpose, allowing the hollow to be swallowed up by the desert.

I passed through the village on my way, knowing I shouldn't get distracted but wanting to reassure myself with familiar faces.

I didn't visit the village as often as Mother, but I still recognized a few of the people in the bustling crowd. Notably, Abasi, the metalsmith from whom Mother had bought my knife several years ago.

"Abasi," I greeted bluntly.

"Oh, hello," the gruff man replied back. "Remind me who you are?"

"I'm Kinslayer," I said, confused when Abasi gave me a quizzical look. "My mother, Layla, comes to this village often for supplies."

"Layla? Layla of Thebes? So you're her boy. The one she never let anyone see." He looked up, his gaze a little friendlier. "What brings you to the village then?"

"I'm only passing through on my way to the Great City. The Pharaoh has sent a summons for all the magically adept boys and girls in the kingdom for a contest, to ascertain who is chosen to be acolytes to his priests, and I have chosen to enter."

"Really? Is your mother alright with it? From what I gathered, she doesn't think much of those higher-ups in the Great City."

"She has given her blessing," I replied, concealing my true mission. I did not want harm to fall on Abasi in case I failed, and his allegiance was a mystery to me. Would he turn me in?

"Well, she's always been a mystery, that one. Subtle as a sphinx and set in her ways as a rock." His eyes found my knife.

"How's my knife been working for you?"

"How do you know-?"

"That I made it? Oh, I always know. A smith who can't recognize the blade he forged is a poor example of the trade. So, how has it been treating you?"

"Very well, sir. Thank you."

"Glad to hear it. Now, you'd best be on your way. You're wasting valuable daylight chatting up an old fool like me."

"Yes, sir." I bowed, feeling slightly awkward and silly as I did so. "Which way is quickest to the Great City?"

Abasi hmphed. "So you want to go to the Great City, but you don't even know where it is?"

"No, sir."

"The Great City should be due east of here, across the desert. Good luck!" Abasi called after me. "Take care of yourself, you hear?"

The familiar face had left me feeling more confident as I strode out of the village. On the very edge, I stopped.

Stretched out in front of me was the vast sweeping sand of the desert, extending in every direction for as far as I could see.

Right, so Abasi said the Great City is due east. Mother had taught me long ago how to find the east.

"The sun always leaves the Underworld on the eastern horizon, and enters it again in the west. Keep the sun in front of you by morning, and behind your back by evening, and you will always be going east."

I carefully changed my direction so I was walking toward the sun being birthed in a streak of flames across the horizon.

"I'm coming, Pharaoh," I said to the sun. "You'd better be prepared to meet me, because I am prepared to meet you. The time has come for you to answer for your crimes."

I shouldered my bag and began running due east, eagerly anticipating the moment the Great City would appear on the horizon.

I trekked all throughout the day, remembering all I had been taught about the desert and the way of survival in it. I refilled my waterskins at oases. I stuck to the shadow of the dunes as best I could. All day I kept the glow of Ra's barge in my sight, carefully moving in a straight path toward it in the morning and away from it at sundown. When it disappeared over the horizon behind me in a burst of flame, I kept walking, using the moon as my guide in its place. I kept my dagger ready. Wild animals such as lions, jackals, crocodiles, and water horses were more active after dark. The last thing I wanted was to end up on the wrong side of any of them.

Every so often I stopped, staring up at the starry sky that slid past me like an enormous banner painted with glowing sweeps of stars. The stars, Mother taught me, were a guide of their own. She pointed one out to me once, one that, unlike its neighbors, never moved, one that always hovered in the northern sky, the other stars spinning around it. She told me that the star, though it wasn't very bright, would never change its direction from due north. It was easy then to find south, west, and east using it.

It would be helpful as the moon waned and the new month drew near.

Right now, the moon was beginning to shrink, now only missing a small sliver of its light. Soon, however, shadows would darken it entirely, heralding a new month was coming.

I had to arrive in the Great City before that happened.

After several hours of traveling in the darkness, I heard something.

I stopped, glancing around to see what was making the noise.

After a moment I found the disturbance: a water horse returning to the river. He was a massive fellow, towering high enough above me I would have to have help to get on the creature's back. Several of his wives followed after, slightly smaller shapes in the darkness. The water horse snorted when he saw me and flicked an ear. I froze. Water horses could be fiercer than lions, and males in particular were aggressively protective of their wives and territory. The water horse opened his mouth, revealing his massive teeth, but then turned, apparently satisfied I had gotten the message that this was his section of the river. I would need to refill my waterskins somewhere else.

I traveled through the rest of the night without incident, sleeping in short spurts and awakening, as I had trained myself to do, at the slightest noise. As soon as I was able to, I lit a torch taken from a fallen tree and used it to light my path and ward away more hostile animals.

The night was far from lifeless. Several lionesses prowled in the grass not far from me. I could barely see their tawny bodies in the darkness, but their eyes, shining in the dark, gave them away. They sniffed curiously at my presence, but stayed well away from my fire.

A jackal's call broke the silence, and frogs chirped in the river.

A viper slid across the sand not a stone's throw away. He lifted his broad head, flicked his tongue, and as soon as he determined I wasn't food or a threat, he slipped away into the darkness.

When the sun rose up from behind the horizon in a blaze of light, I put out my torch and stowed it away, sure I would need it later.

The next few days and nights were much like the first - walking, stopping every so often to redirect myself or fill my waterskins, and catching small moments to rest. The moon shrank from round and fat to a half-lidded eye. I trained my blade work and archery, preparing for the moment I would look into the Pharaoh's eyes and end him.

I'm going to kill you, Pharaoh. I'm going to kill you, carve out your heart, and give it to my mother. Don't bother to beg.

I practiced what I would say to him, how I would gain his trust. I practiced the few spells I knew and told myself it would be enough, even though I didn't even know my own ka.

Some of the other prospective acolytes would have spoken with their kas enough to know them, as a friend and ally.

My own was a stranger to me. Was it powerful? Weak? Would it grant me great strength? Cunning and subtlety?

I spent some time each night meditating, calling out to my ka. I knew I would need it, at least have an idea of what it was so I could plan a strategy.

Every so often, I could feel a strange warmth and power, motivating me to keep walking when my waterskins were empty and the sun beat down on my head. When I practiced with my knife, an unseen knowledge guided my footwork.

But in all of these meditation sessions, I could sense no sign of my ka's identity.

I knew from infancy what I was - the instrument of my mother's revenge.

Was that not enough to know my ka?

It was roughly halfway through my journey that the norm was interrupted.

I was kneeling by an oasis, filling my waterskin, when I heard a scream.

In an instant, my hand jumped to my knife and I leapt up, looking around to find the source of the noise. It took me only another moment to find it.

A stone's throw away from the oasis, a girl, slightly younger than I was, sprinted out from behind the nearest sand dune. She was the source of the screaming. A lion was bounding after her in hot pursuit, most likely why she was screaming.

I gave a cursory look around. There was no one around to witness what was happening.

No one but me.

Everything Mother had taught me told me that I should simply leave her to her fate. The desert was harsh to anyone who was not prepared to meet it. If this girl had not prepared herself to survive, that was not my concern.

But I could not ignore her screams, especially as she drew closer and spotted me.

"Help! Help me!"

For a minute, I grappled with indecision. Should I stop to help this person, halting my journey? Or should I let the desert deal with her?

"Please! Help me!"

The desperation in her voice decided it.

First I looked around, to determine if the lion was alone. The last thing I wanted was to have to fight off an entire pride. It looked like the animal was an unaccompanied young male, recently cast out of his birth pride but having yet to start his own.

I stepped forward, nocking an arrow to the string and firing it at the lion.

The arrow hit its mark, embedding deep in the animal's shoulder. With a roar, the lion changed his direction, charging at me. Hurriedly stowing my bow away, I leapt to the side, feeling the animal's massive paw catch and tear away a few strands from my ponytail, and the girl screamed again.

"Run!" I ordered her. The lion was already charging again, and this time I couldn't get out of the way before he pounced, knocking my knife out of my hand and falling upon me, sinking his claws deep into my chest. We both plunged into the water, the lion pinning me under the surface with his weight. Thrashing and kicking did nothing to remove myself from underneath the lion's underfed but still enormous body. With a panicked shove, I pushed the lion away for a second, just long enough to catch a breath.

All my ambitions of enacting my mother's vengeance faded from my mind. It was becoming ever more clear by the moment that my journey would end here.

I'm sorry, Mother. I tried…

"Hey, boy-whose-name-I-don't-know! Catch!"

I barely had time to recognize the voice - muffled from my being underwater - as the girl's - was she stupid? Why wasn't she running? - before my knife landed beside me with a splash, floating down into my hand.

The tossing, rippling image of the girl visible above the water still had her arm outstretched; it was clear she had thrown the weapon to me. I seized the handle of my knife and, without thinking, plunged it into the roof of the lion's red mouth.

The lion choked, red mist bubbling up from its mouth around me, and I used the time to scramble out from underneath the animal. Stumbling weakly, the lion took a few shaky steps, then collapsed, twitching and shuddering as the water finished the task my knife began.

Panting, I slowly got up out of the water, approaching the lion's body and wrenching out the arrow I had shot. I dipped it in the river a few times to wash away the blood and fur still sticking to it, before I dried it with the hem of my tunic.

"Um… excuse me?" the girl asked.

I slid the arrow back into my quiver, then went back to retrieve my waterskin.

"Excuse me?" the girl asked again. I was annoyed, thinking she would be on her way now that the danger of a lion-related nature was gone, dead in the oasis. Finally, accepting she wasn't going away, I looked up.

"Yes?"

"Um… thanks for saving my life back there. You're a really good fighter!"

"Of course I am. I have trained since I was old enough to hold a blade."

The girl gave me a quizzical look, but then smiled. "I'm Mana!"

For some reason, I was strangely drawn to that smile. It seemed to light up her whole face, her green eyes glittering like the oasis beside us. It looked vaguely familiar.

"And you are…?" the girl prompted.

I knelt by the oasis and calmly cleaned my knife. "No one of consequence," I replied.

"That's a funny name."

"It isn't my name," I retorted. "You don't need to know my name."

"Well, suit yourself, Master Nobody," the girl giggled. "Where are you heading?"

"The Great City," I replied after a moment of thought.

"Ooh, that's where I'm going, too! Maybe we could go together?"

"No. I travel best alone. A companion would only hinder me."

The girl pouted. "Mean!" She then put on a pleading look.

"Can I at least stay with you for tonight? The desert gets lonely at night, and I'm scared!"

I was about to say no, but the words died on my tongue at her shining green eyes.

"Fine. But you have to keep up," I replied.

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" the girl chirped, bouncing on her toes. She adjusted her hat - which was slipping down over her eyes with how much she was bouncing around - and started running ahead, bouncing in place. "You won't be sorry, Master Nobody! I'll keep up, and I can do some spells, a-and cook, and-!"

"Yes, that will be helpful," I observed. "But don't call me Master Nobody."

"Okay, can I call you Lionslayer, then?"

"Don't call me that either."

"Come on, I have to call you something!"

"Does it matter?"

"Yeah, it does!"

The girl called Mana chattered all day, filling the air with noise like a flock of ducks on the Nile. Any hope of my journey being kept secret was dashed the moment she started speaking. She assailed me with questions, asking where I was from and why I was going to the Great City in addition to where my knife was from and how I had learned to shoot a bow as skillfully as I did. I kept my replies as terse as possible, and eventually she stopped expecting me to reply to her, instead prattling on so much I wondered how her tongue didn't drop off from fatigue, jumping from one subject to another like a frog in the river. The sun set, and we quickly made camp in a small clearing by another oasis.

Mana tried to help by using her magic to gather kindling for a fire, and I couldn't help but watch enviously as dried reeds marched through the air and landed in a pile beside me, turning several hours of work into mere moments.

We ate, and still Mana talked.

Finally, while I was meditating, she fell uncharacteristically silent. Feeling a twinge of worry for my chatty companion, I opened my eyes to see she was asleep, her face frozen in a peaceful smile, her breathing the only sound. I found a smile creeping across my face at the sight of how content she looked.

For the rest of the night, I kept watch, scaring away any approaching animals with my torch. It was when the sun started to peek over the horizon that Mana awoke, and, seeing me keeping watch, exclaimed, "Oh, Master Nobody, have you been up all night?!"

"Someone had to stand watch. I am used to getting by on little sleep."

"But you could have woken me up. I could've stood watch for a little while."

"It is fine, Mana. As I said, I'm used to going without sleep."

Mana looked at me nervously. "Just what kind of crazy people were you raised by?"

I ignored her question, wondering why she was so concerned. As we broke camp, I heard voices in the distance.

"Mana! Mana!"

A small procession of people - traders, perhaps?- were passing by a stone's throw away. Mana got up, her eyes welling up with tears. "Father!" she called to the man leading the procession.

"Mana!" the man exclaimed as the girl barreled into his arms. "There you are, my precious girl! Where have you been?!"

"I got lost, Father," Mana replied. "I lost the procession in the dark."

I stopped listening to their conversation, then, and slipped away into the desert. Mana had reunited with her traveling company. There was no reason for me to stay. I needed to hurry if I wanted to make it to the Great City by the new moon.

"Mana, you mustn't wander off! You could have been killed!"

"I was okay, Father. I had Master Nobody to protect me!"

"Who?" Mana's father asked.

"Him!" Mana called, pointing to where I had been standing. "Wait, where did he go?"

"Mana, what are you talking about?"

"There was a boy… he saved me from a lion… I camped with him for the night…"

I steeled my nerves and took off running, letting her voice die in the wind. I had lost a lot of time. Mother would be disappointed.

With Mana gone, the days fell back into their normal, silent rhythm. The moon slowly shrank from a heavy-lidded eye to a curved blade floating overhead. I avoided trouble, as if making up for my rash decision to help that girl.

Mana. Every time I thought about her I felt nervous and off-balance. Everything about her, from her smile to her laugh to the way her eyes glittered, like pools of green, captivated me. Something nagged at me, a memory just out of reach.

I shoved it away. I was running out of time. The moon was almost dark. I had only a few nights before I had to arrive in the Great City.

Besides, chances were high that I wouldn't see her again. The Great City was a large place.

One night, as the crescent moon floated over my head, I dropped off into sleep. And when I slept, I dreamed.

I was crawling across a soft lambskin, feeling the fleece beneath my tiny, chubby hands. The sweet smell of incense filled the air. A laugh caught my ears, strangely familiar.

I was picked up, wrapped in the scent of perfume, and then carried away, the laughing fading into the air.

Then, lightning flashed, and I was soaked with rain again, wailing as the horse clattered down the stones of a city street. Torches and yelling voices pursued us, black phantoms lit up only occasionally by the storm.

"There she is! Stop her!"

Mother, cloaked in a hood, gently hushed me.

"It will be over soon, child. Soon we will be safe, my precious one."

"Stop her!"

I awoke with a start, lifting my head from the sand to see the sun rising. I stood, shouldering my bag and scanning the desert. I had lost valuable time in going to sleep. I needed to hurry if I wanted to reach the Great City in time.

I scrambled over the dunes, running as fast as I could. All the while, I searched the horizon for the first signs of the Great City in the distance.

Then, I saw it.

Rising out of the desert, a gleam of alabaster stone. Thousands of caravans of people were entering in at the massive gate, only visible as dark splotches and spots, like ants.

I shouldered my bag, checked if my knife was still sheathed at my hip, checked if my quiver still hung from my back, before I began sprinting for the massive city.

Each step I took, I could see the Great City inching ever closer. Each step brought me closer to the moment I would look into the Pharaoh's icy blue eyes and drive my knife into his throat.

Get ready, Pharaoh, and pray. Your sin against Layla of Thebes will be your undoing.

The city grew from a spot on the horizon to a massive, towering collection of buildings. I stopped on the crest of a sand dune, taking it in.

I could see why it was called the Great City. For a moment, I stood there, absorbing every detail of the carved stone walls and glittering gold ornaments.

At the center of my focus was the massive gate, yawning wide open like the jaws of a great animal.

I slid down the other side of the sand dune, finding myself in the middle of the multitude.

"Hey, watch it, kid!" a man shouted as I narrowly stopped myself from running into him.

"Sorry!" I called to him, before I stopped to catch my breath, forcing my heartbeat to slow down and my breathing to even out. Putting on a mask of calm innocence, I allowed myself to disappear into the crowd as they were admitted into the great gate.

"You there! Boy!"

I tensed up. The last thing I wanted was to attract attention, and here, already, I had without even stepping past the Great City's gates.

A man walked up to me. His fine clothes were proof that he worked at the palace - perhaps a manservant or a messenger?- and he was looking me up and down.

"Yes, sir?" I asked.

"Who are you? Never have I felt such powerful magical talent as yours."

I bowed my head. "A simple peasant boy. I have made the journey to the Great City in response to the Pharaoh's invitation to all eligible young men and women to come to the palace for a contest of magical skill."

"You…" the man trailed off. "You must be the one Khnurn spoke of, whose power was radiant enough to shine beside the Pharaoh. The boy from the desert hollow."

I vaguely remembered Khnurn as the man who had presented my invitation to the Great City. "Khnurn was the one who told me of the contest. Do you know him?"

"He is my brother," the man replied. "He will be pleased that you came." He bowed. "I apologize for bothering you." He then turned and disappeared into the crowd.

I watched him go, my mind racing with what I had just heard. My power? Great enough to shine beside the Pharaoh?