Heretic of the Nile

004

By the time the new year's rituals ended at the Great Temple of Ptah, the sun was already hanging high in the sky and the temperatures soared to a scorching high. After the king stepped out of the inner sanctum, the high priest personally led him to one of the guest quarters for him to cleanse himself and take a breather before the entourage headed back for the royal palace. The rituals only marked the beginning of the five-day-long festival and tonight the palace would be awash with festivities as the king and queen hosted the new year's feast.

"Father's gone. Are you still not waking up?" Nefermaat jabbed Kha in the ribs, making the sleeping boy jerk awake. Kha almost toppled sideways and collapsed onto the floor, were it not for his quick reflexes.

He blinked a couple of times, looking around the inner hall. Right at the front where the towering statue of Ptah stood in all his stone glory, several priests were busy tidying up the offerings from the ritual. Other than that, the sanctuary was almost empty.

"It's over?"

"It was over a while ago. You should go wash your face—and that drool off the corner of your lips." Nefermaat pointed at the left corner of Kha's mouth with a chuckle. He stood up and walked towards the exit. "Once Father is ready we'll be heading back to the palace. There's still the royal feast that we need to get ready for, so the day is only half done. I suppose you're well-rested enough though?"

Kha rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand, scowling as he tagged along behind his older brother. "How do you do it?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"Stay awake! The entire ceremony is so tedious and boring!"

He didn't even remember when he dozed off—it was probably somewhere in between the devotion of the offerings and High Priest Tjethy's reading of the sacred texts. Likely the latter, because Tjethy had such a rich and mellifluous voice that it had a hypnotic, sleep-inducing effect.

Nefermaat swung his arm around Kha's shoulder, leading him out into the temple's main courtyard. "Want to know the trick?" he asked. Not waiting for Kha to nod his head, Nefermaat reached into a pocket hidden behind the pleats of his shendyt, pulling out a small pouch that contained some honey dates. He held the pouch open on the palm of his hand, giving his brother a wink.

"You snuck food into the inner sanctum?" Kha exclaimed.

"Shh!" Nefermaat smacked Kha across the head, quickly hiding the pouch of dates back into his pocket. "Are you trying to get me into trouble?" Other than the offerings meant for the gods, all other forms of food and drink were strictly forbidden within the inner sanctuary—it would have been a mark of great disrespect to be caught eating in the sacred space. Of course, sleeping was just as bad.

Kha laughed, his eyes narrowing into the shape of crescent moons. This was why he got along best with Nefermaat, because the latter had a rebellious streak inside him despite looking all prim and proper on the outside. Nefermaat had no shortage of naughty ideas that he had most willingly shared with Kha throughout their childhood days, most of which would end up with the latter getting caught and punished by the queen while the more quick-witted Nefermaat always got away scot free.

"Where are the others?" Kha asked, looking around and not seeing Kanefer and Iynefer anywhere.

Nefermaat shrugged his bulky shoulders. "Don't know. Perhaps they went along with Father, or maybe they're just wandering around. I need to get something to eat. I'm starving. Do you want to join me?"

Kha nodded. There was no reason not to.

Even though they were princes, they were still considered guests at the Great Temple, so it was only polite if they asked for some food rather than walk right over to the kitchens to help themselves. Nefermaat went to one of the priests to make his request, leaving Kha to mill around the large courtyard.