Fall of a King ; Battle for Egypt Book 2

Chapter 2 Past and Future Collide

Bakari led me to my chariot. Two white horses pawing at the sand. Tossing their manes back and forth. Ka had given me the chariot and the horses as a wedding gift. Bakari trained me every morning. That was before I became pregnant. Ka did not want me to drive the chariot in my condition, even when I pleaded with him in the early months before I began to show. He would not risk the life of his wife and unborn child. He helped me onto the chariot, I gripped the ropes to hold myself steady. Riding a chariot was not always easy. Especially when carrying a child. Bakari got in beside me. I looked out toward the battlefield, and the walls of Hierakonpolis visible in the distance. I felt anxiety fill me, this was the first time I would be in Hierakonpolis since I went with Ka all those months ago during the festival of Horus. Bakari flicked the reins and we moved forward. As we moved closer and closer toward the battlefield. It was the smell that hit me first. It was a smell I knew all too well. The soldiers would often return with the very same smell on them.

The smell of blood, and rotting flesh invaded my nose. I pulled the robe over my nose to keep the smell at bay. But it did not help. Bodies of the dead and dying were scattered all over the field. The afternoon sun glaring down on them. Some were moaning in pain, others were calling for their mothers. Or Anubis himself to come and take them. So that the pain would end. I began to notice the priests of Anubis walking around the field, preparing those who died for burial. Was this what battle was really like? Men dying horrific deaths for a king they loved? For a cause they thought was just? Was this the way of humanity itself? Would man always fight for one another for what they thought a just cause?  I looked up at Bakari. He kept his eyes on the horses. Pretending that he did not even know that men were dying around us. I felt tears stinging my eyes. But I held them at bay, they died for something that they believed in. For a ruler they believed in. They did not want my tears, they wanted to be remembered. And I would make sure they would be remembered. That today went down in history, the day we defeated evil. We passed under the gates, and once more I was back in the city of my enslavement. Crowds had gathered in victory. Many citizens, they called out my name. Cheering me as their new queen, I first entered this city as a slave. As a scared little girl. But now I was a queen, a queen that was carrying the next heir. Not only an heir for Ta-Mehu, but for the whole of Egypt as well. We continued through the city as many were continuing to cheer and celebrate. Some are already drunk, others well on their way to becoming drunk. The celebration would last long into the night. They deserved to celebrate. After all the pain and hardship that they endured. They deserved to celebrate their new found freedom.

We finally reached the palace gates. Our soldiers stood tall, and cheered for their queen, banging their swords and spears against their already battered shields. I waved at them, feeling pride well in my chest. These men fought for us. They fought, and we won because of them. We stopped in front of the palace steps. A soldier came up and grabbed the reins. Petting one of the horses. Bakari got out and walked over to the soldier. They spoke briefly, Bakari's brow furrowed. Something was not right. I could tell by the way that Bakari looked. The soldier nodded and Bakari walked over and helped me down. I gave him a quizzical look. I would pry out what the soldier said to Bakari.

"What was that? What did that soldier tell you," I asked, motioning over to the soldier who was leading the horses and chariot away from us. Bakari fidgeted with his armor. I could tell whatever news he had been given was not good news. I felt a pit grow in my stomach. That maybe this fight was not over, not yet.

"The soldier was giving me an update on the situation at hand. Ka has managed to capture two of Sutekh's key advisors. But Sutekh is nowhere to be found. They have swept the entire palace but Sutekh has vanished. I sent them to search the city. We had it on good authority that Sutekh would be here," he said. I felt myself gasp, we had Amenhet and Ausar. But where was Sutekh? Did he manage to escape? If he did, then we still had a war on our hands. When we thought we had won the entire war. I felt a swell of disappointment and anxiety rise in my chest.