Prologue
“Do not believe what the priests have been muttering amongst themselves. Have faith in our new pharaoh, the new heir, the ruler of our country”.
These were the words that I spoke aloud to the people of Egypt outside of the temple and palace. I do not regret my words nor will I apologize to any other for the weight that they had in the world as I knew it. Words cannot explain the passion and resolve that I felt in that moment and can therefore admit that in that moment I was not truly myself. However I will never withdraw what I said as it was what was in the minds and hearts of all that heard ,no matter what they claimed was their view. It was not my place to say so nor would anyone allow me if they knew beforehand what I would do and the repercussions that it would have. It was but a small while ago that the talk of the new pharaoh buzzed around the town and I did not understand a word of the talk .However now I truly believe that this was the path that our world had to take to remain strong. Of course this was not how it was recorded in history. It was written that people were afraid to voice their views and that they would not dare deny the pharaoh but this is not true, this is not the true story. I will now share with you the tale through my eyes, the tale of the Woman King.
Chapter 1
I was not born to royalty; quite the contrary, my mother widowed and poor raised me on her own. As I grew we made ends meet through weaving garments from the crops that grew on the soil of our country. To sell we would enter the winding labyrinth of stalls and shops full of color and life. When I attended to the stall I had to be careful. Times were hard and I was often taken of advantage of because of my youth. People looked upon my naïve face, eyes full of innocence and saw only weakness of which all advantage would be taken. Through this I learnt that you must be strong, or suffer.
After the death of my father the state of my mother’s mind teetered on the edge of sanity. There were times when I would go several days without hearing a word from her. This taught me to depend on no one and although I loved my mama I knew that when it came down to it, on her I could not rely. I would spend hours at the loom, until my fingers blistered and bled. However I stayed resolved that no matter what the cost I would trust no one as it would already cause more pain than I already held in my young body and mind. I decided when I reached the age of twelve that I would never marry. It is common knowledge that by now most of those of my age are planning matches if they have not already done so especially those of my social standing.
Many of those who I had observed as I went about my daily duties whose circumstances mirrored mine had bettered their lives in the ways of possessions and material gifts through marriage. But when I looked upon their faces and into their hearts I saw sorrow. There were the few who learned to love and be loved by their husbands but the vast majority, after marriage, simply existed. They had been separated from their families in the favor of a stranger who although cared for and showered assurances upon them that they were their one and only, but these were lies. I had seen too much of the world to believe these fairytales and wished that others would not befall their tricks.
It was with this that I swore that I would never hold my heart out to be torn from me and dashed to pieces only for no one to know as there would be no one in which I could confide my true feelings. Even those who recorded the supposed truth would say to the future generations that these young girls who were torn from their lives live them out in happiness only to realize, when their husband was dead that all they had achieved in life was to produce the heirs to their existence.
There have been quite a few brave women who chose to own their own land and for that I respect them. However they were rich, noble women to whom money was no object, and for this, I envy them.
I was told of the joys of motherhood but the thought of others enjoying a caring, loving mother and family only reminded me of what I grew up without. I have been looked down on for my entire life for these views, for rejecting what society has given me, but I remain strong in my view. I did not look down in those who chose a different path to mine but hoped that they would find the peace that I knew that I could not if I was in their position.
I wanted more from life than just to be a homemaker and wife. I envied the men of our town. They travelled and explored new lands, met new people and slowly but surely changed the world. This was a gift that I was never given the chance to receive.
Now that I had decided that I would never conform to anyone’s wishes but my own I knew that I had to find a new way to live in this world. I searched for a new way to support myself as the prices to buy linen were now far too high and I could no longer afford my stall at the markets.
Finally a job arose. It was as a servant at the palace. I, like all others revered the gods and although I knew it to be dangerous, I also hated them. This life that had befallen me and so many others was not pure chance. We had done everything to support ourselves and yet nobles and others alike were able to sit there, do nothing and watch us suffer. In this job I would serve the very ones I loathed, but what choice did I have. My mother could no longer work and we were slowly but surely starving to death. I supported both of us on a feeble income and before our savings would run dry.
I went to see the next day if they would accept me to serve and clean in the palace. It was far easier than I expected to find work there for some dispute had arisen. Thutmose III was only three at the time and could therefore not rule Egypt although he was the rightful heir. Consistent to protocol Hatshepsut, Thutmose II’s half-sister is now co-ruler. However now, some debate had arisen. Hatshepsut was not male however she often paraded around in men’s apparel. For all means and purposes she was now pharaoh and although this had been seen before there were still mutterings amongst the priesthood over whether this should be allowed. I had no opinion on the matter as I rarely involved myself in politics and wished to remain distant and invisible to those powerful enough to hurt me.
I took the job and over the following weeks I overhead many conversations held in whispers over the legitimacy of her claim to the throne. The temple had made an open statement that Thutmose’s distant male cousin had a better claim than Hatshepsut simply because of his gender. The priests resented the fact that we as a society were straying from old traditions.
I went about my work and tried to block out all of these arguments. It seemed if you agreed with the temple then you put yourself in danger of the wrath of the god on earth herself. If you sided with pharaoh then you were messing with a group of men who had the power to communicate with each and every god. Either way your life was in danger. The less you knew, the better and this was how I tried to escape what was happening around me. I told myself that it did not concern me and that I should leave the subject alone.
However I broke this promise to myself one night when I feared the wrath that the gods would lay upon us. I was confused of were my loyalties lay so that night, unwillingly I was forced to choose a side.
