Book of the Forgotten: the Bearded Queen

Chapter 12

Ava listened to the drums echo faintly until silence reigned once more in the courtyard. "What do they mean?" She inquired.

Viv too listened to the drums, her head cocked to the left and a wistful look upon her face. She stayed silent for so long, Ava thought she hadn't heard the question. Finally, Viv sighed deeply, and explained: "During the year of celebration, which is the year in which a new Pharaoh is crowned, the drums announce the start of another celebration."

"So, you said that your book, that you were all about forgotten women. Hatshepsut seems pretty powerful. What makes her so forgotten?"

Viv glanced wretchedly in the direction Hatshepsut had gone. "When Hatshepsut dies, her stepson, Thutmose III will take the throne. He will destroy everything she worked for in her lifetime. She raised him as her own son, gave him an education, put him in charge of her armies, and trained him to take over after her death."

"Why would Thutmose betray her after everything she did for him?" Ava inquired, outraged and indignant.

"Nobody knows. Almost two decades into Thutmose's reign, he ordered her memory erased. The temples and buildings she built were destroyed; her name and image were scratched from the surfaces they adorned; her statues were toppled; and everything she did for her kingdom and her people would be forgotten for a very long time. Although we do not truly know if it was Thutmose who ordered such things or his son, but whoever it was, did so for unconfirmed reasons." Viv eyed the sun as it hung heavy in the sky, firmly nodded before stating, "Come on, it is time to head home."

"Home? We're done already?"

"For a girl who did not want to be here in the first place, you are awfully reluctant to return home," Viv chuckled sadly.

"I never said I didn't want to be here. I was confused, but I like it here. I want to explore. Can't we stay a bit longer?"

"Unfortunately, once the lesson is learned, the magic starts to run out and we must return. If we stay any longer, I will fade, and you will be stuck here. So, if you wish to stay forever, that is your prerogative, but I do not think your Auntie will appreciate that very much."

Ava glanced around the courtyard, trying to memorize the feel of the hot sun on her skin, and the deep beat of the drums vibrating within her chest. "Shouldn't we head back to the beach?" She asked, hoping to spend a few more minutes in this new world she had discovered.

"Here is as good as any place," Viv said smiling.

Before Ava could argue, she was standing back in her playroom in her own clothes once more. The swirling ink that had swallowed her whole slowly retreated down her arms to her fingertips before blinking out of existence. She spun in a circle, looking for Viv, but she was completely alone.

At her feet, the book lay open, its pages blank except for a strange hieroglyphic symbol. The outline of an eye crowned a cross and the letter H. Ava thought it must be the symbol for Hatshepsut, but she wondered why the pages were blank except for it. She also wondered why her adventure with Viv ended so abruptly, and if there would be another adventure.

"AJ! Dinner is ready, darling," Auntie Deedee called to her from the kitchen. Could she really be home just like that? The normality of Ava's life came rushing back to her, but she felt different; as if the magic still pulsed inside of her, setting her alight with colour. She hoped the feeling would never go away.