The Life and Times of Bonnie Chance

Departure to Babylon

"Beautiful maiden! Drink one cup of wine with me!" Ragash said, pouring wine into Carol's cup. "We're going to become relatives soon! To get to Babylon, we have to spend six days traveling! Three of those days will be spent sailing on the Nile! After sailing the Nile, we will use a camel to cross the desert!" Isis watched the exchange with a cool expression on her face. "Do you know how to ride a camel?"

"Yes! I do!" Carol said.

"I'm sorry! My queen cannot drink wine!" Memphis said, taking the cup from Carol. "Let me drink it!"

"?" Ragash said.

"I also want to go to Babylon to see the ziggurat!" Carol said.

"We do have the ziggurat... but we also have many other sites for you to enjoy, too!" Ragash said. "Queen Carol, we will wait for your arrival in Babylon!"

"Okay!" Carol said.

"Hmm... you seem to like Babylon. You want to go to Babylon that much?" Memphis asked, pouting. He hugged Carol tightly with one arm.

"I'm uncomfortable!" Carol said.

"Huh? Honestly, I don't want you to go!" Memphis told her, annoyed that she seemed so ready to leave him.

"But this is a diplomatic agreement with Babylon! I can't refuse that!" Carol said.

"!" Memphis pouted.

'A little girl like that destroyed the capital of the Assyrian Empire?' Ragash thought.

"..." Isis could only feel pain seeing how reluctant Memphis was to let go of Carol.

Ari could hear the sounds of the party as she was walking through the courtyard. She was carrying the box that she had let the snake out of.

'Oh, queen!' she thought, hoping Isis wasn't suffering too much. 'I will get revenge for you!'

Unas was startled when he heard a maid cry out. He hurried over to see what was the matter.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"She..." the maid said, trembling as she looked down at the body of another maid with a horrified expression.

"She got bitten by a snake!" Ruka said, coming over too. He examined the body. "She has been dead for half an hour!"

"A snake?" Unas said. "The kingdom is having a big celebration! Don't tell anyone about this! Let's hide the corpse! Get someone to catch the snake!"

"Carol, you will die! I have one more snake left!" Ari said, holding the snake box.

"Ari, Ari!" Nakuto and his men called, drawing her attention.

"You all!" Ari said when she saw them gathered near her. "I thought you all were supposed to be defending Egypt!"

"We have heard that you were going to live in Babylon! We couldn't believe our ears, so we came here!" Nakuto said.

"Yes! Yes! We could not believe it!" his men said.

"What?" Isis said, coming out when she heard them.

"Your Majesty!" Nakuto said.

"Why couldn't you all believe it?" Isis asked.

"Your Majesty, according to law, you are still able to inherit one-third of Egypt!" Nakuto said. "Why have you given up on everything to become a queen in a faraway country?" Isis held her face in her hand as she cried.

"Hm! Why? I don't understand why I gave up!" she said, looking up with tears streaming down her face. "But I promise you all one thing... I will not live in Babylon forever! Someday, I'm going to be back in Egypt! The day when I return to Egypt will not be far!"