Eve of the Pharaoh: Historical Adventure and Mystery by R.M. Schultz

Author:R.M. Schultz [Schultz, R.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: R.M. Schultz
Published: 2017-11-03T07:00:00+00:00

Journal Translation

I DROPPED AND SPRINTED TO my left, running for my life.

“Wait!” a high-pitched voice said.

Stopping, I glanced back. A small frame with tousled hair stood outlined by torches. The dance of distant flames landed on my face, but shadows concealed hers. She was wearing plain white cloth. Mutnedjmet or possibly Nefertiti disguising themselves as a commoner? No grown soldier stood before me. As I inched closer, fragments of her facial features stood out, soft and cute. Nefertiti’s sister stood in front of me, or some kind of magic betrayed my eyes. I almost smiled despite my suffocating thoughts, but her eyes appeared swollen and red, as if she’d been weeping.

Holding a hand up toward me as if to ward off contamination, she said, “What’re you doing out here?”

“I-I …” Would she blame me and Father for Thutmose’s death?

“I won’t tell,” she said. “But did you see someone else? Strange things have been happening, starting with your father and then my cousin …” She choked back tears. “I was out in the gardens, where I go when I need to be alone. The place that reminds me of Thutmose. A man draped in black ran by and climbed this wall rather than going through the gates. Then you popped out of the desert like some sort of sand monster. You’re not some kind of magician, are you?”

I laughed. “Just a servant. But I was trying to follow the figure you saw.”

“Are you infectious?” she asked, stiffening her raised arm.

“I don’t think so. I haven’t developed any marks.”

Her defensive palm relaxed and she brushed her hair back behind her ears.

“How’d you get out?” I asked.

“I’ve been doing it for years,” she said. “It’s not difficult for Ay’s daughter to slip or talk her way past a couple of tired guards. My family’s so busy trying to comfort Pharaoh and Tiye that no one even notices me. But how did you get out here?”

I remained silent, guarded.

“You better hurry, if you want to follow him.” White teeth flashed against her shadowed face, forming the inside of a grin. “Because you’re going to have to help me over that wall.”

Shaking my head in annoyance, I said, “It’s not safe for a royal daughter to run around the city at night, especially with me.”

“I don’t think it’s safe for someone exposed to the plague and quarantined to his room to be running anywhere.” She folded her arms across her chest.

I clenched my jaw with growing frustration, not sure what to do. “Okay, but we move quickly and quietly.”

She motioned with an open palm to lead the way.

The palace’s perimeter wall was diminutive in comparison to the mighty walls surrounding Memphis itself, but no less white. Slipping on the plaster, I made another attempt to grip the edge. Mutnedjmet giggled but kneeled on one leg, leaving her other thigh for me to stand on. Easing my foot onto her skin, her eyes became captivated by my hideous scar. I stretched, scrambled with my legs, and pulled, heaving for breath as I finally reached the top.

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