War Of Egypt

Chapter 29: Tower Of Keti

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    Once again the blanket of night was rolled out over all of Egypt. Nut had placed a beautiful display. Sanhir was following Niuen through the soldier quarters. Every step she took, she took it cautiously, her eyes never left the soldiers on either sides of her, and her hand beneath her dark cloak was on the hilt of her sword. Ready. One false move by one of Kha's men and she would destroy everything and everyone within a radius from her.
    She caught someone's eye under her hood and he frowned. Possibly because of the unnatural gold that luminated her eyes. She was ready to strike but recoiled when she noticed the soldier was drunk beyond reason. He thought what he saw was a hallucination brought on by the drink, and so he glared at the bottle perched up on his thighs before he shook his head and tossed it away.
    Sanhir smiled and ran to catch up to Niuen.
    Since the palace had the highest point and was now under Kha's control, they were on their way to the second highest point in the Southern Kingdom. The Tower of Keti. The four directions; North, East, West, and South were handed to the first four children of Amun-Ra. These children were Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys. Isis the East, Osiris the North, Set the West and Nephthys the South.
    Pre the Great Battle, each god and goddess built a Kingdom in each direction and the South belonged to Nephthys. Keti was the famous wife of the fifth pharoah that ruled the Southern Kingdom when it was formed by Nephthys. Queen Keti was beautiful and charming, loved by all including her husband, the pharoah. 
    There was however, one, that did not speak in awe of her and that was her twin sister Sumes. Sumes was beautiful like her twin, but she was not as charming and she had the blackest heart in the entire Kingdom. She wanted the power Keti had.
    One night, Sumes who was skilled in dark sorcery, went to the royal chamber and placed a curse onto Keti. They next day, the curse took hold and Keti could see terrifying things that were not visible to the mortal eyes; spirits and dark forces from the Underworld's Plains of Emptiness.She turned mad.
    The pharoah, devastated but pressured by his followers, took his beloved wife away and locked her in the tower which was made specifically to be the second highest so the Pharoah could still keep an eye on her from his chambers which was the higest point.
    Subjected to frequent nonstop torment from demons and spirits, Keti pleaded to Nephthys for release. And like the caring goddess she was, Nephthys heard her prayers and turned Queen Keti into a beautiful huge white eagle because for as long as Keti was human, she was still bound to the curse.
    Sumes was killed by the falling off the Tower after trying to check on her sister, only to find a beautiful white eagle in her place. And the eagle watched over the Southern Kingdom for the rest of her days, her duties as Queen, and waited for her  beloved until he passed. They met once again in the presence of Anubis and Osiris.
    Sanhir and Niuen made it into the Tower and started climbing the winding staircase that sprialled upstairs. They made it to the very top. Niuen kicked open the chained tower doors and they entered the room. On a wall, a flame torch sparked light in the room.
   "This tower is very tall," Sanhir moved to the window on her left and stared down.
    The men looked like ants.
   "Just look up and you can see the Pharaoh's chamber—Kha's chamber. Look," Niuen instructed as he went over to stand by her. He pointed up and Sanhir followed his direction. True enough, they were looking into Kha's chambers.
    Shadows passed the room and Niuen almost squealed, "someone is there! It must be Kha. Wait! Wait—there is a second individual."
    Sanhir raised her head and sure enough, someone else walked after Kha. A lady. She turned to Niuen and asked who the lady could be.
    He shrugged, "maybe Nawete the sorceress. Kha and her stir up a lot of things at night, in their chambers." He grinned jokingly at Sanhir and the goddess groaned before waving him off and turning away.
   "I do not wish to have my night ruined by the sight of Kha and his mistress fornicating like animals!" Sanhir took off her dark cloak and stood in a long-sleeved white dress that covered her from neck to toe, including her arms. She adjusted the sword lying by her waist.
   "Wow, how could you hide all that under the dark cloak," Niuen turned to look at her.
    She flashed him a smile, "the white gown?"
   "Yes," his eyes were like saucers. "And just everything. You are very beautiful Lady Sanhir."
   "Thank you Niuen. But don't be fooled by beauty."
   "I know malady...umm." Niuen trailed off and stared out the window.
    Sanhir smoothed out her dress and walked over to stand by Niuen, "what are you looking at—not fornication I hope!"
   "Yes and no," Niuen ignored the goddess's sigh and moved to make space for her. "The woman, she does not look like the sorceress, does she, goddess Sanhir?"
    Sanhir, clearly annoyed, looked over with her sharp godly gaze, "she is probably a whore of Kha." Her eyes went to Kha and then to the woman. Her mouth gaped open and her hands tightened around Niuen's arm.
   "I believe Kha is not that caring and oh so loving to a mere harlot," said Niuen. His eyes big as he too, recognized the lady.
    Kha was caressing her face and she was touching his arm. Sanhir could see every small detail with her godly sight that was far better than any human. Kha kissed the lady, Sanhir's hands clenched Niuen, and she watched as Kha laughed and went to stand behind the lady. He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and was talking to her. He looked genuinely happy.
   "I have seen enough!"
   "Goddess Sanhir," Niuen addressed her out of fear for the first time. "Was that—"
    The sentence hung in the air. They both knew who the woman was—who the goddess was.
    Sanhir was already on her knees, her hands moving furiously to find something beneath the dark cloak she had stripped off. "Yes Niuen. That was the goddess—Princess—Ametis. I do not believe my eyes, however."
   "There has to be a reasonable explanation," Niuen ran to her side.
    There was a small clatter as something hit the concrete floors of the tower. Sanhir stood, her hands went down and she grabbed the most important item she was searching for. The moonlight caught the sharp edges of the item.
    Niuen stepped away from the goddess, "Lady Sanhir, what is that?"
   "It's called Amat, and was gifted to me by my father," she tapped the item and held it up for both eyes to inspect. 'Pretty little thing' rang more like 'pretty lethal thing'. They were looking at a solid gold arrow. It's body was engraved with a significant design that stated the arrow belonged to Sanhir and for some reason, it stated only she could 'control' it. The only feature that stood out was the clear glass arrowhead.
   "I thought you said the item to send General Sebmet the signal was a sword—not an arrow."
    Sanhir glared at him, "oh it is. But Amat can be used for something else."
    Niuen looked at the chamber that loomed over them and a frown crossed his face. If Sanhir was thinking what he guessed, it would mean trouble. He moved towards the windowsil and faced Sanhir.
   "The Egyptians have always been one of the strangest deities to rule," Sanhir moved towards the window—towards Niuen with the arrow glinting dangerously in her grip.
   "The strangest is right," commented Niuen, leaning up against the windowsil.
   "My father sent me to this war to make sure the Egyptians do not go out of place—something that would upset our relationship with them. I am to help in the war but to also eliminate any nasty surprises that would lead to more serious matters," she open her palm out and lifted it up. The arrow rested on her hand, facing Niuen, and she smiled, "move."
   "What?" Niuen gasped. "You cannot kill them like they are one of the mortals that displease you. They are also gods like you!"
   "I cannot kill them. But I certainly have rights to kill one," she eyed Kha's image. "At my command, the arrow will fly out of my hand and stike down Set's offspring. The arrowhead will conceal his blood and return to me as proof I hit my target." 
   "Nice—I mean stop, will you?" Niuen gripped the windowsil. "This is wrong."
   "It is right in my mind. If I kill Kha now, by tomorrow his army would be destroyed and all will be well by the following day."
    Niuen looked shocked as he just stood there, his eyes on the arrow, but also looking back to see if hopefully the two deities moved out of the way. "What if you shot Ametis instead?
   "Amat never misses it's target."
   "You have no bow."
   "Haven't I said it flies?"
    Sanhir smiled as she realized she had defeated Niuen. However, the soldier was yet to move out of the way. She gave him a deathly stare. Niuen was conflicted. He didn't know whether to move aside or stand his ground like the man he was. Even if he stood his ground, it would make no difference, for he would be facing off with a goddess who also was carrying a lethal weapon. However he was willing to at least try, before he became one with the earth.
    Sanhir frowned as she viewed Niuen flipping aside his cloak to place his hand on the hilt of his sword.
   "Very well," said Sanhir. She was about to throw the arrow into the air when a look of surprise came over Niuen and he shouted for her to stop.
    He blinked again, "stop. Listen, you want what is good for Nubia—even your father, right?" He paused but Sanhir just stared back at him—expressionless. "I don't know what is going on but does that look like a bewitched Princess to you?"
    They both looked back and could see Ametis smiling as held onto Kha's arms snaking around her.
    Sanhir lowered her arrow, shaking her head, "it is still wrong in the eyes of her people."
   "But it is not your problem. What you need to understand is that whatever that is—it is genuine. If you kill Kha now, it might be possible that you will draw Egypt's anger towards Nubia. The other gods do not have to agree to have Ametis attack your Kindom." He looked at Sanhir and moved towards her. "Let her deal with it, or, you will lose a friend and cost your Kingdom dearly."
    It was a long moment before Sanhir tossed the arrow back onto her cloak and smiled at the soldier, "you speak so wisely. I apologize for my unthinkable actions." 
   "You are all right," he sighed in relief and moved to collapse by the cold, hard tower walls.
    He reached out and grabbed the arrow Sanhir dropped. She watched as he inspected carefully and then held onto it with a tight grip. "I am going to get some sleep, wake me up at dawn, when we are supposed to send away the signal."
   "I sure will, Niuen," the goddess flashed him a smile before she turned to stare out the window. She had never seen Ametis so happy. It was the type of happiness Horus and Hathor would have loved to see plastered over their daughter, quite possibly, permanently. However, she believed that Ametis's source of happiness, to the King and Queen of Egypt, would be unwanted.
    Poor, happy and beautiful Ametis.
    If the others knew, they would brand Ametis as 'fallen from grace.' First, her brother and now her...it really was a pity.
    Sanhir sighed and turned to face the only other window that faced the opposite way, out into the desert. By tomorow, she was sure the war would erupt.
    Her thoughts were disrupted by a low, faint snoring. She turned to see Niuen fast asleep, the arrow between his hands falling loose. Sanhir reached over to take it and put it away, but, she stopped and clenched her hand. Let him have security, she thought and moved to sit beside him.
    She placed her head against the wall and closed her eyes to sleep, but she was sure that was going to be the last thing Ra would grant her.

Sorry, late upload again. But like all writers on Wattpad, life is so hectic. Especially when you're in High School. Anyway hope you enjoyed it.

Love Y'all Handsome & Beautiful Nile Deities
—L 💙❤💙❤💙❤💙❤💙❤💙❤💙❤💙❤