Amun’s Message, Pt. 3
Synopsis: Mekhayt, Oracle of Isis and sorceress, has agreed to help Nakht marry Princess Nedjemmut. The catch? She gets to meet Pharaoh, a privilege reserved for nobles. Alas, Pharaoh seems to be onto their game, and invites all three to a game of senet.
Some of this is historically accurate. Other things have been changed for plot purposes. The gods and magic were real.
Princess Nedjemmut let go of Mekhayt’s hand and stood from their dining table, her face a mask, truly like a living image of Isis. No fear showed. The same couldn’t be said of Nakht. His body shook with nerves. The music restarted, covering up the sound of his chair sliding back into place.
For Mekhayt, only one thing worried her. Amun gave her two signs, one good, one bad. For an old woman like herself, few would cry if her life ended tonight. But for the two young lovers’ sake, she needed to succeed.
In silence they followed the servant, who led them through many long, intricately decorated halls. A pair of doors loomed before them at the end of one hallway, forged of solid electrum. Hapi, God of the Nile, stood on both sides, tying together lotuses, symbolically twisting the Two Lands together for eternity. The guards at the door stood motionless as the doors opened from within.
They entered a grand room, but the servant led them through a hidden door on the left. Gilded couches lined the smaller room’s red walls, and fresh reed-mats lay across the floor. In the room’s center stood a small ebony and ivory senet table, with two matching chairs.
Nakht was led to one of the chairs and told to sit down. Mekhayt and Nedjemmut lay on the couches.
On a chair directly across from Mekhayt sat the priest Beken. He stared at her, watching. She stared back. Sweat beaded on her forehead.
Through a narrow, hidden door entered Pharaoh. He had removed his headdress, revealing short red hair.
“Who is your guest, Nakht?” His black eyes stared at Mekhayt.
“She is my Sister.” Nakht stood from his chair and bowed deeply.
Pharaoh approached Mekhayt, so close she smelled his spicy perfume. Though nearly her own age, he radiated strength and health. He held out his hands, palm down. In response, she showed her own, rings and bracelets glittering. Pharaoh examined them without touching, and then moved to the senet table.
“Where did she come from?”
“Thebes, Great One.”
Nakht swallowed nervously as Pharaoh stared at him.
“A visit from family is always nice. What an honor, to bring her here.”
Nakht bowed, a stretched smile on his face.
After a few tense moments, the king seated himself. “Shall we roll for colors?”
Without waiting for a response, Pharaoh took the sticks and tossed. He indicated Nakht should roll. After seeing the results, Nakht gave a single clap of excitement.
Pharaoh turned and narrowed his eyes at Mekhayt, annoyance on his face. No words were exchanged between Beken and the King, but a soft rattling of her shell necklace told her that the priest prepared to work magic.
Hands in her lap, Mekhayt readied herself. Nakht picked up the sticks, dropped them, and moved his first piece.
Mekhayt whispered the first words of a luck spell, watching Beken’s own lips move. But when her sight slipped into Other, she saw something that stopped her. With a smile, she changed strategies.
Her opponent’s priestly bald head shone with sweat in the soft lamp light. She whispered one of the most powerful spells in her arsenal, one strong enough to overwhelm another sorcerer.
“Sekhmet, guardian cat of Ra, blow your hot breath toward the man before me. The life in his words, suck it out. Turn back his friendly demons. Check his stride, cut out his tongue, close his mouth!”
Beken breathed in sharply and coughed, as if choking on his own spit. Mekhayt turned her attention to the game. It moved quickly. Already pieces were gone. The game wouldn’t take much longer.
Everyone jumped when Pharaoh slapped the game board, and sent pieces flying. Then, to Mekhayt’s astonishment, he waved his hand and shut her spell down, the yank so powerful she felt it within.
With fury in his eyes, Pharaoh turned hostile eyes to Mekhayt. “Who is this woman?”
“Great One,” Beken held in another cough. “I’m not certain, but I’m guessing that is the Oracle of Isis. She is reclusive. There are only two other powerful magic users in this city, besides myself, and I personally know the other.”
“So you do or you do not know who she is? That’s the best you can give?”
Beken blanched.
“Her name is Mekhayt,” Nedjemmut’s voice fluttered with nerves. “And I hired her, Father. Please don’t punish her.”
“Why are you here, Nedjemmut?” Pharaoh turned to his daughter. He opened and closed his fists.
Nakht spoke before the princess. “Forgive us, Great One. No more lies. We both asked Mekhayt to come here and help us.” He held out his hand to the princess, and she took it. “Please, Great One, we want to marry.”
No one spoke. No one breathed.
“What?” Pharaoh tugged on his nose.
“Nakht won, you must grant him a request.” Nedjemmut stepped forward, her free hand balled in a fist. “He wants to marry me.”
“He didn’t win,” Pharaoh sneered, “because we never finished the game.”
“Well, he would have!” She stomped a foot.
“Yes, by bringing a non-noble sorceress into our private chambers, who then used spells to influence the game. Curiosity on our part, as to what in the Two Lands my beloved daughter was up to, is the only reason events reached this point. And now you demand that we,” he placed a hand to his chest, “grant you a request?”
Nedjemmut swallowed.
“We think your mother cuckolded us.” Pharaoh blew air through his nose. “You are too dense to be of our blood.”
Nedjemmut whitened and dropped her eyes. Nakht bit his lip.
In the following silence, Mekhayt cleared her throat. All turned their attention to her. “If I may speak, Great One?”
“What,” Pharaoh turned toward her the way a hawk turns to rabbit, “by Isis’s tears, could you possibly have to say, Oracle?”
“No cheating took place here tonight.”
“We will tolerate no more lies in our presence.” Pharaoh’s eyes narrowed.
“I tell no lies.” She folded her hands. “Not one spell that I cast affected Nakht’s luck.”
“Then what did you do?”
She pointed at Beken. “I prevented him from casting spells. The results of this game are strictly the work of the gods.”
“Is this true?” Pharaoh indicated to Beken. “The spell I stopped affected you?”
“She silenced my voice and canceled my spells, Great One. All my effort went toward warding her off.” Beken bowed to Mekhayt. “The Oracle is a terrifyingly powerful magician.”
“You must grant the children this request, Great One.” Mekhayt waved a hand for emphasis. “It is the will of the gods.”
“You are overly bold, priestess.” Pharaoh sat once more, and smoothed his kilt.
Ignoring her painfully thumping heart, she said, “I’m the Oracle of Isis. What the gods show me, will be.”
Pharaoh stared at Mekhayt, and then turned to his daughter. He held out his hands, which Nedjemmut took.
“You wish to wed this man, a non-royal?”
The princess nodded.
“The Oracle of Isis says that you two shall be married. Therefore, we grant you the right to marry.”
Tears of joy leaked from Nedjemmut’s eyes, and she jumped as if to hug her father.
“However.” Pharaoh held her off. “No princess of Egypt may marry a lesser man, though he be of noble blood. Therefore, from this day forth, you shall be forever stripped of your royal titles. Pharaoh once had a daughter named Nedjemmut. He does not anymore, she is dead to him. Instead, she is reborn a noblewoman, though one granted a princess’s dowry and salary. Do you understand?”
With a sob, Nedjemmut nodded. “Thank you, Papa.”
“You could have simply asked us, and avoided all this trouble.” Pharaoh kissed her forehead and let her go.
Nedjemmut gave a sharp head shake.
Pharaoh sighed. “We suppose you’re right.” He said to Nakht, “Congratulations on your beautiful bride. She is lovely beyond words. She’s a bit head strong, however. May you have many children and live one hundred years together. Take her and leave, before we change our mind.”
Nakht pulled away, but Nedjemmut said, “What about Mekhayt? She is my responsibility.”
“We will deal with the priestess” — Mekhayt’s heart flipped in her chest— “Leave, noblewoman.”
The young couple bowed deeply and walked out of the room, hands together.
Pharaoh shifted his gaze to Mekhayt. With a crook of his finger, he indicated her to come over. She stood with a grunt of effort and approached. Her heart thrashed like a lion in too small a cage.
Amun showed something bad, and something good, in his omen. She knew now what this meant for Nakht and Nedjemmut, but doubted the prophecy applied strictly to them.
She stopped a foot’s-length away from Pharaoh.
“Show us your hands,” he said.
Mekhayt obeyed.
Pharaoh looked with interest at her jewelry. “Did our not-daughter give you all these rings and bracelets for tonight? We think we’ve seen her wear some before.”
“Yes, Great One. She and Nakht provided everything. They truly love each other.”
“Such a fearless child the gods gave to us.” Pharaoh’s eyes met Mekhayt’s. His irises were so black you couldn’t differentiate them from the pupil. “Beken, do you have a suggestion as to what we should do with this woman? Her rule breaking knows no boundaries.”
The priest opened his mouth, but Mekhayt interrupted.
“Whatever your Majesty decrees.” Mekhayt bowed. “I shall humbly accept. What I did, I did with all my heart. I’m but an old woman.” Ma’at would punish her, Osiris would judge her, but she had no regret.
“Old?” His eyes traveled down her, and then came back up, stopping here and there.
Fire crept up her spine. No man dared to look at her in such a way. She was the Oracle of Isis, a great sorceress, and she scowled when he met her eyes again.
His lips quirked. “Pharaoh cannot be in the presence of non-nobles in his chambers. This breaks ma’at. To make matters worse, because of you, a boy stole one of our favorite daughters!”
Mekhayt’s hands tightened until her knuckles went white.
“Here is our solution to this — you are now the Lady Mekhayt. You shall serve in our court, live in the palace and use your power for our benefit, until you die. You shall serve no other, not even Isis. Does this meet the gods’ approval?”
Mekhayt’s mouth dropped, and heart leapt painfully in her chest, as though it wished to escape. She could not breathe, she thought she would be sick.
Come to court? Become a supplicant to the Great One? Leave the service of Isis? Be around all these people every day?
Her sight swirled and shifted to Other. Before her, sitting in Pharaoh’s chair, sat Amun, his tall crown towering above her, his staff of power in one hand, the ankh of life in his lap.
“Please, Great One.” She fell to her knees, and pressed her nose to the floor. “I need none of this. I simply wish to return to my cell, back in the temple. Let me die in peace.”
Amun responded with silence.
“Please, Lord of Lords! Have pity on an old woman. Let me go home!”
No answer came from the god’s lips. The floor swirled as the magic in the room convulsed with such a powerful presence.
Something good, something bad. What did Amun and the gods intend for her? The taste of vomit rose in her mouth, her vision darkened, she smelled death and chaos all about her.
Mekhayt jumped in fear and surprise when strong hands grabbed her and lifted her up. Her vision shifted abruptly, becoming startlingly clear as Pharaoh’s concerned face came into view, and her heart calmed.
“Are you all right, Lady Mekhayt?”
Her skin tingled where Pharaoh touched her.
She swallowed and took a deep breath. “The gods approve of your plan, Great One. I am yours alone.” Mekhayt placed her own hand on Pharaoh’s arm.
Pharaoh grinned and slapped her back, making her gasp in surprise.
Mekhayt grinned in response, for she understood Amun’s message. The good and the bad stood before her. To resist was to break ma’at.
Redheads in Ancient Egypt? No way! Yes way. Pharaoh Ramesses II truly was a redhead, his well-preserved mummy displays it. Multiple Egyptian mummies have been discovered with red hair. Egypt may be on the African continent, but it is a Mediterranean country. Where there is wide-open water, people with boats will roam. (And spread their genes all around. Ask a viking.)
Senet was a real board game from Ancient Egypt. Sadly, no rules survived the eons, but there are educated guesses. How was Senet played? Turns out, it’s a lot like the game Candy Land. (Not joking.) You would roles long sticks for the number of spaces to move your piece. Some squares would let you slide forward to another, others would send you back to the beginning.
This is a Fantasy in a historical setting, rather than a Historical with fantasy elements. Why? Because a complicated magic-system operates behind it. I will change historical details and facts in this Egyptian sandbox if the magic requires it.
Love it? Yay! Hate it? Email me at TheOraclesSpells@gmail.com, with the subject heading ‘Curse me!’ and I’ll send you a personalized Egyptian curse! (Details will help. Come on, ask me for one!)
