Shards of Ankh

Chapter Thirty-Six

"Ankh!"

Thea ran to catch up with the Pharaoh. He was walking so fast he was more or less jogging. The speed of his gait made his large double-crown nearly fall off multiple times, and he kept having to adjust it. As he strode down the massive hallway, several patrolling guards broke off to join him. Each and every time he shouted at them to leave him alone.

By the time they reached his personal chambers, Thea was winded. Ankh himself was panting lightly. Ankh spun and nearly slammed his door in her face. Thea shot out her hand and braced herself. Once Ankh realized who it was, he opened the door for her. Thea entered, quietly shutting the door behind herself.

Ankh was pacing around the room. He slipped off his crow, placing it on his bed. Afterwards he took off his wig, tossing it down. As the sun set, and his outline was illuminated with brilliant splashes of pinks and reds, Thea was pained to see him still barely holding back from crying.

"I must collect myself," he muttered to himself, over and over, rubbing his temples.

This went on for several minutes. Finally he sat down on the edge of his bed, holding his head in his hands. Thea went to him immediately, kneeling in front of him. Before she could say anything, Ankh spoke.

"He's right, you know."

His voice sounded like gravel.

"Who?" Thea asked.

"Gyasi. My uncle."

Ankh lifted his head and looked at her squarely. "We don't know what happened to my mother. She was murdered upon returning from a family trip to a new country we had recently started trading with."

Thea was intrigued. "New country? What is it called?"

"Qin," Ankh said. "Upon her return, she told us of the country's beauty. She came back with gifts, some of which I still have. Beautiful pottery and a fine material of silk, which they color beautifully, both for their clothes and tapestry."

Thea started. "This...country. Tell me more, please."

Ankh rubbed his eyes. "What importance does it serve?"

"Perhaps much importance," she said, excitedly now. "Please, tell me everything you remember about what she told you."

Ankh sighed heavily but humored Thea. "She said everyone there was beautiful, with skin paler than even the Roman's. Their eyes were lidded and dark, and everyone had beautiful, thick black hair that was worn in a variety of different styles, held up in buns with ribbon. Their wardrobes were strange to her, and they were fully covered at all times.

"They wore thongs—wooden shoes—and covered their feet with wrappings. She said their perfume was strong but sweet, coming from a tree that produces a fruit called cherry." He smiled wistfully. "She brought me back a strong, strange tea, and something called an orange. It's a fruit, very sour, but also sweet and juicy. It was rather enjoyable."

"May I please see some silk, or the pottery? Anything you have?"

Ankh gave her a wary look. "Yes, I suppose."

As Thea followed the Pharaoh deeper into his chambers, he spoke to her.

"She dropped much of it off at Fustat."

Thea's heart leaped into her mouth. Fustat was Cairo—an archeological site which held the most must abundant Chinese ceramic artifacts out of any Silk Road trade route. Without even seeing anything, she was sure Ankh's mother had gone to China.

"But I saved one coin piece of jade, one dress, and a small carving."

Ankh pulled out a drawer, scooping up two items and depositing them into Thea's hand. As he went into his wardrobe, Thea looked down; there was a ivory carving of a tiger, and a green jade coin, just as he had said. Before he even came into view, Thea knew exactly what she would be looking at.

Sure enough, Ankh emerged holding a beautiful ancient Chinese dress.

"China," Thea breathed.

Ankh looked confused. "Hm?"

Thea shook her head. "Never mind."

Then all at once something clicked in her head. Horrified, she realized something. Never before had she wished for a smart phone so badly. Even so, she was at least sixty percent positive her thoughts were accurate. She clamped a hand over her mouth.

"What?" Ankh asked, looking worried.

"That snake," Thea breathed. "I know why no one has ever seen it before. It's because it's not from here—at all."

Ankh looked intrigued.

"It's what's called a King Cobra. They're native in a region of the world called Asia. It's where China is—" she shook her head, correcting herself. "Where Qin is."

Ankh was just as stunned, if not moreover, than Thea. "Wait...You're saying that serpent, the one that was going to kill you, comes from the far away land my mother visited before she died?"

Thea nodded, feeling slightly faint and panicked.

"But what does that mean?"

"It means your mother seems to have made an enemy while traveling abroad."

Ankh rose an eyebrow. "She said no such thing."

Thea shook her head. "I'm not sure what else it could mean."

For awhile Ankh merely blinked at Thea. Then Ankh put his mother's dress away. When he emerged, it crushed Thea to see him look so defeated. As the air was taken over by night, and servants rushed in to quickly light candles around his room, Ankh sank onto his bed. Thea sat next to him once he stared off at nothing, lost in his mind. He waited for the servants to leave before speaking.

"I think I owe Gyasi an apology."

"It being a King Cobra is just a hunch on my part," Thea said quickly. "He is still a suspect."

Ankh looked at her, sadness enveloping his looks. He shook his head. "He loved her. He loved her deeply. The more I think about it, the more sense it would have made for him to have killed my father for stealing her away, not her."

Thea didn't know what to do. The Pharaoh looked back at the ground.

"I was barely more than a child, Thea," Ankh said, and when he blinked a tear drop fell from his eye and hit his sandal. "I loved her, just as any child loves their mother. She  believed in everything I stood for, anything I ever wanted. When she died, a piece of my soul went with her. Try as I might, Osiris refuses to relinquish it back to me."

"Ankh..."

The king rose his head, tears trickling down his cheeks. "Her death made me stop caring. I don't care about the God's and Goddesses. I didn't care about living, Thea."

Thea took in a sharp intake of breath.

"If it were not for Lapis, my dearest Lapis, I am sure I would not be here. He kept me preoccupied. He was there from the time I awoke in the morning until I bedded down. He encouraged me to follow my family's political prowess."

Ankh wiped his face, looking shameful. "Anything I didn't like, Lapis hated. Anyone I hated, Lapis loathed. Lapis is usually my voice of reason, but when my mother died, and I was so sure my mother had died at the hands of my jealous uncle...Well, Lapis didn't try to talk me out of exiling him. He just wanted me to be happy again."

"It was a mistake," Thea said firmly. "Please, don't hold this against yourself."

Ankh looked at her. "How? If it were not for my childish pain, the belief that I knew everything, we may have found her killer spans ago. I wouldn't have exiled an innocent man."

"Ankh," Thea said, and gently moved his face to look at her. She smiled, stroking his cheek. "You also wouldn't have met me."

Ankh smirked. "That is true, my dearest Thea, that is true."

Thea hugged him tightly. "I'm happy you smiled a bit. I'm not trying to make this about me. I'm just trying to make you feel better."

Ankh pulled away and looked at her fondly, clasping her chin and looking at her in a certain reverence. "I know," he told her softly, and they kissed.

Thea ended up falling asleep that night after making love with Ankh, limbs entwined, the troubles of the long day forgotten.