Jewel Of The Nile [COMPLETE]

Chapter Seventeen

"Princess Ankhesenpaaten? Princess Ankhesenpaaten! Can you hear me?"
"Ankhesenpaaten? Are you ok?"
"Princess Ankhesenpaaten! Why isn't she responding?"
"Someone send the physician! Hurry!"
I blinked, and stumbled. Someone caught my arm so I would not fall. I was suddenly back in the gardens. My gardens; not the strange one I was just in. What had happened? I looked up to see the concerned faces of the guards whom had been training earlier. I looked around at the garden, and was relieved to see no bodies.
"What...what happened?" I stampeded, hoping I would get some answers.
"You were walking inside, and then you just froze. As in, you weren't walking, and you wouldn't respond to us. You looked like you had seen a ghost. You kept muttering about shadows and saying, 'where is everyone?' Everyone was worried about you.," someone explained.
What? I froze? I did not freeze! I walked into the palace and...and... what happened? It must not have been real, then. But it seemed so real. What was it? A vision? A memory? No, it could not have been a memory. What was going on?
The physician ran up to me. "So you are responsive now?" he asked, but without waiting for an answer, he begin checking me over.
"Stop." I waved him away. "I am fine, just a little shaken. Is everyone in the palace?"
He nodded, confused. "Why would they not be? Ankhesenpaaten, what happened to you?"
I ignored his question, mainly because I myself did not know the answer. What had happened to me?
"Where is Nebt?" I asked.
"Would you like us to find her?"
I nodded. "Tell her to meet me in my bedchambers." I exited the gardens and walked down the pristine tiles. Thankfully, the hallways were bustling with courtiers and servants. Many stopped and bowed as I walked past, but this was not unusual. No doubt word of what happened to me would soon spread around the palace. Word spread like wildfire here.
I passed Meritaten's chambers and my heart stopped. She was not there. It was just like my vision (I decided to call it that, or I would have driven myself crazy trying to figure it out). I spun around in a panic. "Hello?" I shouted. There was no reply. I felt tears come to my eyes as I sank to the ground, sobbing.
"Ankhesenpaaten!" Nebt ran up, and scooped me in a hug. "What's wrong?"
I could not speak. I could not talk. All I could do was gasp for air. I was not in a vision. People were here. I was not alone. The demonic shadow would not come back for me. I was safe.
I sniffed, and wiped my face. "I'm fine." I stood and told her to come with me to my bedchambers.
I walked in a flopped on my bed. I was exhausted. Completely worn out. Nebt followed me in like a lost kitten. "What can I do for you, Princess?" she asked loyally.
I sighed. "A bowl of fresh, cold water to put my feet in please. I need to relax."
Nebt bowed and went to fetch what I requested. I closed my eyes, but as soon I did, all I could see were the bodies of my family, lying in the foreign garden. My eyes flashed open again. Great, now I could not even sleep for the fear of seeing that again.
It was definitely a palace in Egypt. That, I was sure about. But which one? There were palaces in every major city, for us to stay if we visited there. I had been to Memphis, Abydos, Saqqara - even Gebel-El-Silcila, the quarry. Although...for some reason, we never went to Thebes. I remembered that I used to think mother and father hated Thebes, for they scolded us every time we mentioned it. I realise now that I was not far from the truth.
Thebes...maybe the strange palace was there? But how would I know if I had never been? And why would I have gone to Thebes in the first place? So no. It must have been somewhere that I had been.
But those palaces looked nothing like the one I saw in my vision. For starters, none of them had the strange statues. But perhaps I had subconsciously ignored them, when I was there. Perhaps they had been there the whole time.
Still...it could not have been Memphis, for Memphis was far inland. It was not near the Nile. Gebel-El-Silcila was not a palace - it was more of an extensive house. That only left Abydos and Saqqara. It had been many years since I had travelled to those places. Apparently, Abydos was close to Thebes. Saqqara - I could hardly remember that place. It may well have been Saqqara.
Although, now that I thought about it; I was born in Thebes. Thebes is where we lived before Ankhetaten was built. But I moved her when I was very little -two, two and a half, perhaps. There was no possible way I could remember Thebes.
But if the memories were hidden deep within me...it is possible that the mysterious palace could be the one at Thebes.
Three palace to choose from. What if it was not even one of them? What if it was another place that I had completely forgotten about? What if I just imagined it?
Yes, that was probably right. I just imagined the palace. It came from my mind. That was all. Nothing more, nothing less.
Nebt returned with the bowl of cold water. She placed it at the end of my bed and asking if there was anything else she could do for me. Shaking my head, I slipped my feet into the icy cold water and sighed in relief. It was very relaxing. Nebt busied around my bedchambers, tidying and doing all sorts of things. My eyelids were heavy but I was still wary. I did not want to revisit the vision in my dreams.
"Oh, by the way, what happened with the rebellion?" I asked Nebt.
She looked confused but proceeded to answer my question. "Oh....nothing. It was nothing," she replied vaguely.
I frowned. It did not take an idiot to work out that she was hiding something from me, and I told her that bluntly. "And you have to answer me truly and truthfully. That is a command," I added, in case she brushed it off again.
Nebt shifted uncomfortably. "Um, well, it was only a small thing. Turns out they were mad at the price of bread. It is true, that in these times before the flood, food is scarce and the city folk are more often than not poor and they cannot afford bread. But the Pharaoh has already lowered the price of bread, but not enough. The leader of the rebellion and Pharaoh Smenkhkre were able to come to a friendly agreement and left on good terms. No damage was done, and the leader said he had instructed everyone that under no circumstances were they to do any damage to anything or anyone. It was just a little fright. Do not worry. And that's the truth," Nebt said defiantly, as she saw I was about to protest.
I closed my mouth and shifted on my new sheets. These ones were golden with a blue rim, instead of the usual white. 
There was a knock at the doorway. "Who is it?" I shouted, not wanting to open the doors for someone who I did not want to see, like Ay or Smenkhkre.
A strange voice came back to me. "I hold a messenger from Queen, Your Highness," the voice croaked, although it sounded more like he was gargling.
I groaned, and swung my feet out of the bowl, dripping with water. "Enter," I commanded, nodding at Nebt, who scurried forward and opened the doors for the messenger.
He bowed as the doors swung open, curtesy of Nebt. "Princess Ankhesenpaaten, the Queen is concerned about your recent ailment and wishes to see you in her chambers right away."
"Oh dear!" fussed Nebt, rushing over with a soft wool towel to wipe my feet. "You are in no condition to see the Queen!"
I laughed. I could not have asked for a better maid. "Nebt, she is my sister. I should not have to worry about how I look! She has known me since I was a baby!" I exclaimed.
"She is the Queen," Nebt argued, sorting through my clothes, trying to find a perfect dress. "It doesn't matter whether or not she is your sister. She is the Queen and you need to dress appropriately."
"Nebt," I repeated, standing up. "I am going. She was my sister before she was the queen. She was my sister before she was married. She is still my sister now."
I left Nebt and the confused messenger speechless in my room. Grinning to myself, I wandered over to Meritaten's bedchamber and knocked on the door. "Meritaten?"
"Enter," she said regally, so I did.
Meritaten was sitting on the centre of her bed, with numerous servants flanking her. To the unknowing, she would have looked cold, callous, annoyed even. But I knew that that look was her look of concern.
"Ankhesenpaaten," she said coolly, whilst servants fanned her from the heat. "I heard about your ailment. Are you alright? What happened?"
I bowed, and proceeded to answer her. "Nothing, sister.  Nothing for you to concern yourself about."
"The soldiers training said you were walking inside and suddenly stopped. That you would not respond, and kept muttering things. What happened?"
"I...nothing. I was daydreaming. Please, do not worry about me," I replied, hoping she would believe me.
She did not. "Tell me the truth, Ankhesenpaaten. Tell me right now. I want to know."
"I promise you, that is the truth." Please, I prayed to my ib. Please, forgive me.
"You had a vision, did you not?"
I failed to reply, which served as an answer itself.
"Ankhesenpaaten," Meritaten persisted. "What did you see?"
"Oh, nothing of importance. I saw the Nile, and I saw the palace. And some people." I did not lie. I just avoided the truth. I did see the palace - just not this palace. And I did see the Nile. And I did see people...just not in the way you would expect to see people. Avoiding the truth and lying were two very different things.
Meritaten studied me carefully, but finally gave up on my interrogation. "Fine," she dismissed. But she did not tell me to leave. Instead, I was commanded to stay while Meritaten gave instructions to her servant that I could not hear. The maid nodded and busied out of the chamber, avoiding my eye.
At the Queen's request, I sat on a small seat with numerous cushions below the window. Since Meritaten had moved into the Queen's chambers, she had significantly redecorated it. When mother was here, it was very structural; everything had to be orderly and stationery; very regal. Boring. But when Meritaten was there it was...I do not know how to explain it...patterned. It was more homely, in a sense. Still rich and queenly, obviously. But friendlier.
Meritaten informed me that she had sent for Smenkhkre to come here and join us. "I think it time we should tell him about what father said," she suggested.
I agreed, but only because I had to. I did not fancy the Pharaoh's reaction when he learnt we had been keeping something from him. And he would not be happy about why father had wanted me to marry Tutankhaten. No doubt he would over react.
The servant came back with a message. Smenkhkre was seeing someone in the Grand Chamber, so he could not attend straight away. Something about a trial?
Meritaten frowned. "A trial? If it is something like that, should I not be there with him? And straight after the rebellion, too?"
The maid bowed. "I am sorry, My Queen. The Pharaoh did not tell me that."
Meritaten pursed her lips. "Well then, if my husband will not come to me, we shall go to him. Let us go, sister, and we shall see why the Pharaoh could not come."
The Queen walked out in such a hurry that I almost had to jog to keep up.
Sure enough, there was indeed a trial going on, with Smenkhkre sitting on his throne, accompanied by Ay and, surprisingly, Tutankhaten. Why was he there? Why him and not Meritaten?
"Smenkhkre," Meritaten called, interrupting the trial and walking across the Geand Chamber towards him. I felt like an outsider, an intruder, and did not want to follow my sister, but I knew that I had to, so slowly, with my head down, trying to remain invisible, I followed her, all they whilst wishing the ground would open up and swallow me.
"Meritaten," said Smenkhkre, his voice sounding strained. "What are you doing?"
"You did not tell me there was a trial going on."
"Meritaten, my love, my Queen, I felt like you did not need to worry about this. You have been so stressed lately, I did not want to give you one more thing to be stressed about. I am the Pharaoh, I can handle this myself."
"Is this the only one?" Meritaten asked, nodding at the accused.
"No," answered Smenkhkre. "We just finished this one, so I do not know why he is here. There is one more. It should be starting soon."
Guards took the mans shoulders and heaved him out, sobbing. What had he done?
"Smenkhkre, there is something we need to talk to you about."
Smenkhkre zeroed in on me. I did not like him. He did not like me either. But we had to pretend, for Meritaten's sake.
"I will get to this later. The next trial is about to begin. This person is said to be particularly dangerous. She is supposed to be skilled in magic. Do not look her in the eye," he warned.
"It is a she?" Meritaten asked. "What did she do?"
Before the Pharaoh could answer, the doors banged open. Meritaten dragged me to the side with her and we watched as an entire regiment of soldiers surrounded this person. As they left her and went to their posts around the room, the girl stumbled forward closer to the Pharaoh, and bowed. She did not seem so dangerous.
She slowly looked around the room, and finally, reached Meritaten and I where we could see her face.
I gasped. My knees buckled and my mouth went dry. Surely my eyes were playing tricks on me! But then she smiled sadly at me, and I knew that what I was seeing was real.
"Huy?"

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I'm such a crap author, right?

Oh, so you know how I told you guys about the sunburn, and my friend who got sunburnt so bad? It was so bad that he didn't even come to school on Monday, and when he came Tuesday, he showed us his shoulder, and it actually looked like he had been stabbed. Not even kidding. And to make it better, we're all going out on Sunday, too.

My sunburn is heeling, I can carry my bag on my shoulders again (I couldn't Momday) although it is starting to peel, which sucks --___--

So what are your thoughts on the rebellion? And Ankhesenpaaten's vision? What do you guys think it means?

Leave your answers in the comments!! 🔽🔽🔽🔽

Anyway, thank you guys for reading this far! It means a lot.

Next chapter is going to be a big one! Promising at least 3000 words (this one was only 2445.)