King Nebuchadnezzar was a beast of war, ripping through nation after nation and carrying home spoils to great Babylon. He was unaware of two ruthless spiritual entities tasked with keeping his war-mongering in check, neither did he contemplate gods...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
2 and half years later
In the past months, I made a new friend. A ten-year-old Egyptian care child who rarely speaks. She also serves in an obscure temple in the inner city of Tahpanhes.
She had visited my shop, bought a basket of the cheapest aish baladi bread and asked for my name. She reminded me of you when you were new in your father's palace—quiet but smarter than your years.
Now she visits often when I am in the middle of closing the shop. Her visits are not what I find most peculiar about her, no. Her odd gifts are. Once every month since I have known her, she discretely gives me a small parchment containing details of the affairs of the Egyptian high court. Understand that I would have found it near impossible to attain these details despite my skill as a spy. Upon further findings, I learned that every piece of information on the parchment was accurate. All my persuasive skill was wasted in my attempts to learn how she came about her information.
Princess, that is not the strangest thing about her. Sometimes her eyes appear unusual. I swear they turn the shade of Topaz on some occasions. When I told the head spy of my observation, he dismissed it but encouraged me to maintain my association with the girl. I assigned spies to the home she shares with a one-eyed priestess but they are yet to find anything of interest.
The life of a spy is most riveting, is it not? Now I excel at baking, so much so that I now receive the attention of many females. I cannot tell if it is my appearance or my bread that makes me attractive to them. It is always awkward when I explain that I cannot love them as they should be loved.
Amytis paused her reading and chuckled. Usman was never shy about laughing at the fact that he was an eunuch. Mother would tease him about it and he would laugh with such careless ease... mother. Amytis's eyes stung with the press of tears.
Blinking repeatedly, Amytis went back to translating Usman's enciphered letter. It had become a beloved pastime of hers. Whenever his letters came, she would diligently go about deciphering them with the relevant translation texts to teach her as she went about it. In the first year, it would take her about a month to go through one letter. Now, it was too easy, like a second language.
Amytis looked up as the breeze from the courtyard snagged at the loose curls around her face. Birds sang in the garden. It was a cool morning. The air was sweet with the scent of flowers. And she was lonely, so dreadfully lonely and homesick that her body had succumbed to the force of her longing three times in the past six months. Still, he did not visit.
More tears stung Amytis' eyes, but she sucked in a fortifying breath. Today was a good day. Usman's letter had come after many months of silence. She had lived each day worrying that he may be caught in his line of duty and killed, but the gods have been merciful unto her so far.
The other day, I received a notice from the palace. It is possible that I will soon become one of the royal bakers of the pharaoh. Do not worry about me. I will not go about poisoning him. That is not the method of King Nebuchadnezzar. He is no coward. I shall do my duty of baking the tastiest bread with all diligence and perform my other duties with equal fervour.
