The Anathema of Akhenaten (Book 3 of the "Patrick Malone Adventures" series)

Chapter Six

Entering the room with Julie, Patrick saw Patch laying upon a blanket on the floor. Standing above him, was a very familiar animal to the couple: a caracal. It was a medium-sized cat with a robust build, long legs, a short face, long black tufted ears and long canine teeth. As this was a male, he stood at twenty inches at the shoulder and had a head-and-body length of thirty-one inches, with the bushy tail being thirteen inches long. He was a reddish-tanned specimen that was looking down at Patch with his yellow eyes while Patch tried to reach up and pet the caracal.

"Familiar?" Julie asked with a smile, holding onto her husband's arm.

Smiling, Patrick went over to the caracal alongside Julie. They both knelt down and he extended a hand to pet the caracal. "Hello." He said. "Did you get lost from your hunting party and end up here somehow?" The caracal looked up at Patrick and hissed at him before walking off and onto the balcony. He could not imagine Ramesses the Great's lion Slayer of His Foes or Nero's tigress Phoebe having been quite the way this caracal was.

"Don't take it personally, dear." Julie said, looking at Patrick's face. His expression was a mix of shocked and insulted. "He seems to be like that with everyone... Except Patch. All he did was stand over Patch and look down at me. The only time he seems to be genuinely aggressive is when he hisses at Elizabeth."

"Then he hasn't met Foster or Morgan, this caracal?" Patrick asked, looking at his love.

"It has just been us and Elizabeth." Julie answered.

"And she would be..."

An aggressive hiss could be heard out on the balcony. This was followed by a cry of: "Be silent, you little beast!" That was indeed Elizabeth Sanders, her voice naturally seductive and deep. Her insult towards the caracal wasn't really much of one. It was obvious that the caracal was little because caracals were a species of small cat and being a cat, he obviously was a beast and thus not a bird or a bat. Another hiss of the caracal and soon Elizabeth came in from the balcony and there did she see Patrick. "You!" she exclaimed.

Patrick stood up, while Julie picked up Patch and got behind her husband. "And I take it your alias would be 'Nefertiti?'"

"I am Nefertiti!" Elizabeth snarled. "When Akhenaten and Aker-Am-heh return, we shall have the power to make the new Akhetaten ours!"

"The new... What?" Patrick inquired, completely confused. He looked at Julie and asked: "What is she talking about?"

"I have no idea." Julie answered. "This is the most talkative she's been since she stayed behind to make sure I don't escape with Patch, and besides where are we going to go? Is the portal even still there, Patrick?"

"I... have no idea, Julie." Patrick replied. "As long as the sarcophagus is open, I think we're good."

"Toronto is the new Akhetaten! The Akhetaten of our time! With the scroll we have come back for, Akhenaten and I will rule the new Akhetaten!"

To Elizabeth's proclamation, Patrick stated: "That is the corniest thing I have ever heard."

"And that might be putting it lightly." Julie added.

A knocking at the doorway soon alerted those presence to Ay's presence. The Grand Vizier stood there with two men behind him. His eyes were on Patrick and he said: " Khaemweset, I believe the captains of the guard for the palace and the city respectively have finally come to me with their reports of your wife and son's abduction by this woman who pretends to be my late daughter and her lover who pretends to be my late nephew and son-in-law, that criminal, Akhenaten. Now that we know your wife Tia is not a servant of this group and that your son Merenptah is in fact yours and not the child of these two pretenders, I can say that I will be revoking our hospitality towards these pretenders and their henchman."

"How dare you!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "I am Nefertiti!"

"Young lady, I fathered Nefertiti!" Ay retorted. "I know full well what my daughter looked like and you have no resemblance to her whatsoever! And for impersonating my late daughter, a former great royal wife and the great royal wife of that Heretic, I henceforth sentence you to death."

"If you sentence me to death, you will know the wrath of Akhenaten."

"We still know the anathema of Akhenaten thanks to his specter hanging over us." Ay gestured towards her and the two guards with him stepped forward to grab Elizabeth.

Elizabeth made a stance that was reminiscent of some form of martial art. The two guards paused and looked at each other. She was unarmed while they were, did she really think this was going to turn out in her favor?

"Come no closer, gentlemen." Elizabeth warned. "I am the most dangerous woman in the world." Julie shook her head and handed Patch to Patrick. She then walked on forward and slapped Elizabeth across the face. An expression of horror formed upon the front of the False Nefertiti and then did she say: "I'll go quietly, don't hurt me again!"

Turning back to her husband and son, Julie muttered with a deadpan expression: "Windbag."

Regaining her composure, Elizabeth exited with the guards. Ay stood there and then looked over at the entrance to the balcony. The caracal was glaring at him with his ears flattened against his skull.