Chapter 32
She scratched behind the beast’s ear, making him purr. Urmah, who was dismounting his horse and huffed, glaring at him.
“You are spoiling it. Treating it like a pet and it is a wild animal which will turn against us in our sleep.” The princess chuckled, eyeing him discreetly.
“Asim will never hurt me, but I think if I asked him to attack you, he will, so don’t tempt me.” She was teasing him, of course.
His jealousy, even from an animal, always amused her. It was exhilarating to feel him possessive of her. Even animals for him were rivals. They would share her love, which only belonged to him. So when she could, she pushed him to his limits.
“What?! You gave that thing a name? What does it even mean?” He glared at the lion as if he was his mortal enemy.
“Oh, it means protector.” He took several steps towards her, but the lion cut him off and stood in front of her as if he too, was jealous of Urmah. “Move beast before I behead you. I’m not playing games with you.”
She laughed wholeheartedly and sidestepped her guard, then lowered her face covering and stood on her tiptoes and kissed his mouth and whispered.
“You are my only lion, my Urmah. Never be jealous like that, even though I enjoy that side of you. It makes me feel arrogant.” He growled deep in his throat and roughly hugged her to his sweaty chest, kissing her harshly that their teeth clattered.
“You know this is an inappropriate thing to do in front of your men.” He laughed, burying his face in her hair breathing her in.
“Let them see and the entire world witness that Tiye queen of Egypt is a claimed female that she belongs to Urmah the savage.” She moaned, enjoying his words.
“Yes my lord, she does indeed belong to you, but the one who will question your claim won’t be a male after all.”
Tiye bit his ear slightly and steered his face to the right making him see who she meant. Mandisa was glaring at him. “Goddess, help me. This woman one day will kill me during my sleep or might poison my ale. I don’t know how, but one day I will be assassinated by her.” She patted his back encouragingly, suppressing her loud laugh.
Mandisa still didn’t accept him or their relationship, but in the end, she can’t do anything to prevent it. She knew it wasn’t an act of jealousy, but her sister didn’t trust people easily and she still has her objections. Even though deep inside, she knew that Urmah was a good male.
She kissed him for a second time before turning around. “Go and speak with your warriors. They must be anxious after the disappearance of the cobra.”
She grabbed her cloak and small leather satchel and went to sit under the shade of an old tree. They started traveling two days ago; going back to Sumer, they barely took a rest trying to cover more land before Seshen left them.
The goddess was generous and left her Bomani to protect them as much as she can but this couldn’t be helped without Sekhmet’s presence and the power she provided the great serpent.
She couldn’t stay in this realm and Tiye does not have this much power or control. In the end, she wasn’t the one with magic or strength; she was only a vessel for the goddess of war.
She bit into a piece of dried meat and observed their surroundings. She had the feeling of being watched for a day or more now, but how hard she tried, she couldn’t determine how many or where they were.
Mandisa had confessed her worries to her several times by now, but still she couldn’t do anything except pushing forward. That was why they have been traveling nonstop for two days. Adadanu sat beside her in a friendly manner.
The male treated her like a little sister now, not as a queen or his leader’s woman. She accepted the dried fruit he offered her and bit through it, enjoying the tart but sweet taste.
“You know that we are being followed by a group of five, maybe eight?!” She swallowed and drank some water.
“Yes, I know about them, but I didn’t know how many they are. How did you know?”
“It is a wild guess. I think they need that number at least to keep up with us, but I’m not bothered by this. There is something else that is irritating me.” He turned to look at her face, letting her see his concerned face, making her give him her full attention now.
“What is it?”
“It is the fact that they didn’t attack us so far. What are they waiting for? What are they scheming?”
“Maybe they were afraid of our escort? That serpent can be and is definitely intimidating.”
“I know that, but she left us almost a full day now and at night. Why not then?”
She thought about it, and he was right nevertheless; she argued. “Maybe they are just observing and don’t have any intentions of harming us?”
The warrior chuckled.
“You are not that naïve, princess Tiye. I know you are smarter than that. And trust my word, wishful thinking won’t do anything in our situation right now. Besides, I get dark thoughts from them. These men have murderous intentions that seep from their aura. It chills my body.”
She rubbed her face tiredly, her gut clenching. She had her own fears, but kept ignoring that ominous thoughts. Now she can’t continue doing that. She stood, covering her face again.
“Gather the men. We will move again now.”
“But princess, don’t forget we have ordinary people with us too. They are not cut for this harsh life they need to rest.”
“I know, but we will make use of the daylight and by nightfall, we will rest. Just get them ready.”
She went to her ride and mounted her horse, caressing his long neck, trying to comfort him. Urmah did the same. He drained his water skin, then talked. “So we are moving again. The horses need to rest Tiye, not to mention us humans too.” She sighed.
“Forgive me my lord, but my heart and mind are unsettled, so bear with me.” He nudged his horse and sped to the front of their convoy, silently not quibbling with her. She knew that he too, felt that urgency that compelled her.
The day quickly passed, and the knot in her gut became tighter. She didn’t want to stop, but she has to, so they made a camp where she first met Urmah. This was in the center of Egypt and Sumer.
The distance it would take to bring her home was the same distance to go to Sippar, the capital of Sumer. The men worked quickly, some went to check the surrounding area, others brought big fire and the rest just dropped where they were standing, too fatigued to move a step further.
She cursed silently and helped their Egyptian companions who, even though they were tired too they started to prepare food and handed over the warriors water and ale to drink. She saw Urmah talking with his men intently, but she went to her sister instead with a water skin in hand; she accepted it instantly and drank as if she was perished.
“How long are we staying here, princess? Not long, I presume?”
“I’m sorry Disa, we don’t even have the time to erect some tents. By dawn, we will move again. We need to be as far away as possible from here. Egyptians and Akkadians are after us, and with Sekhmet being gone for now we are on our own.”
“Where did she go when she knew we need her? This was the time for that promise she made to your father and you.”
Tiye sighed. Her sister was angry, and she had the right reason to be. “Some godly things, the Greeks are… What did she call it? acting high and mighty. Even though they are eunuchs or something like that. She was needed there, and you knew she can’t be in two places at the same time.” Her sister grumbled.
“So much for being a goddess.” She gripped her hand.
“Just be careful Mandisa and be patient for more two days or so.” Her sister sighed and left to do her own securing of their humble camp. An Egyptian woman approached her.
“Queen Tiye, I have prepared some hot water for you to clean up if you would like to. Please follow me.” She thanked the woman for her considerate thought and followed her to a secluded area, which wasn’t that far from the camp.
And found a piece of cloth that acted as a tent and a big pot of steaming hot water.
“Let me help you, my queen.” She politely refused her request and undressed alone. It has been a while since she was by herself. She used this moment to clear her mind and think about their options.
The water helped her to relax, and she enjoyed the brief lull, but all of a sudden as if the time went back to the moment when she had lost everything.
The wind brought fight noises and screams. She stood there naked, her eyes open, heart beating harshly in her chest and gasping for air. Her hand shook when she left it to touch her chest to make sure that her frantic heart didn’t burst out.
She took hesitant steps to get out of this cocoon and snatched the cloth away and froze.
The scene that took place right in front of her eyes was a living nightmare she hadn’t forgotten about since that ominous day. It was like her father was about to be killed and her people were running for their life, screaming to be saved and begging to be spared.
“No no, noo nooooooo not again. Gods please, no, nooooo, this can’t be happening to me again.” She kept chanting over and over again. Her legs jerked as she moved aimlessly while looking around her.
The cold wind did nothing to her sweaty naked body, but she jolted when she saw Urmah fall. His hands clutching his heart. She ran to where he was and threw her body on top of him, crying his name, but he didn’t answer.
“Urmah, please answer me. No, no please don’t leave me now. I don’t want to be alone. Please, my love, open your eyes, ha please.” She shook him harshly to get him to react, but there was nothing.
Her tears flew freely down her cheeks, her voice choked as she kept begging him. “Love, my lion, please don’t do this to me. I can’t lose you too. You knew that, without father and you, I have nothing. And you had promised to never leave me, even in death.
You promised, Urmah, you fucking promised me that you will always be with me by my side.” She heard voices calling her name and felt people dragging her away, but she refused to budge. If he died here tonight, she will do the same. Life doesn’t worth living anymore, not without him.
“Tiye, he has been poisoned. It is obvious from his color change and the decreasing of his heartbeats. I don’t know if he would survive this, but you can escape. You can leave now. Please listen to me go.” She wiped her tears and glared at the man who was separating her from the love of her life.
“I did it once and lost my father and I won’t repeat that mistake again.”
The man clutched her shoulders and shook her as if to wake her from a bad nightmare. “This isn’t the time to lose your fucking mind, princess, save yourself. This is what he would want. This way he would leave peacefully knowing that you are sound.”
She pushed him away and straddled her lover’s waist. She lowered her head and listened to his heartbeat. His chest fought with every breath he took. Making up her mind, she snatched the man’s sword and cut her balms.
She wrote the goddess’s name with her blood on his chest, then fed him big gulps of her golden ichor even though he choked on it several times, but she repeated the process until she was sure he drank all.
“What are you doing, Tiye? Please listen to me, you need to go. We can’t hold them back much longer.” She ignored the begging voice and raised her head to the sky.
“To Sekhmet who is great of power, I offer you my praise
O fierce hearted lioness, the great eye of Ra
Beloved of Patah, who creates as you destroy
Hail to Thee Queen of Heaven, Queen of the Two Lands,
Whose wrath falls on the wicked, whose breath of fire
Defeats all foes, O lady of slaughter, lady of red
The Female and the Lady of Fury, Who is the Master of Fear
Sekhmet of the seven arrows, fearsome and furious
You who arose from Ra’s wrath, o bright and blessed one
The Guiding Uraeus, Lady of Life, whom Life and Death are under Her Dominion
The one before whom evil trembles, I call to you, o goddess
I pray to you for favor, to save my loved one
O gracious one, healer of ills and mender of wounds
Hear my desperate pleas and protect our lion “
“I queen Tiye of Egypt, relinquish the goddess mark to Abil_ili of Sumer to protect and guard his body and his soul till his last breath.”
The mark on her wrist sizzled while she pressed her balm to his chest right on top of his dying heart. The cobra tattoo slithered as if it was alive and took place there, to guard the organ that was battling the poison that flew through his bloodstream.
She wiped her face and stood. After a couple of harsh breaths and few erratic heartbeats she addressed the man who stood vigilant beside her lover’s weak body.
“Protect him with your life. He will survive this.” I hope, she whispered before walking toward the mayhem, but the man cut her way.
“No, I won’t let you do this.” She sneered.
“Step away warrior I need to do this, they are here for me not for anyone else.” She sidestepped him and looked for her cousin, who she knew was watching her from a distance. She found him on top of his horse grinning while people were getting murdered.
“I’m here; pilis there is no need to kill others to torture me.” The male just chuckled and held the reign of his mount and walked the other way. She fell to the ground and didn’t fight the men who shackled her, whatever it took to save them. Her life doesn’t worth theirs.