Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh by Katie Hamstead

Author:Katie Hamstead
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Historical Romance, Biographical, Romance, Historical, Genre Fiction, Ancient World, Literature & Fiction
ISBN: 9781620072462
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Published: 2013-04-29T05:00:00+00:00

Abi and I walked out of the women’s wing together, dressed in our finest. I wore a white dress with a beaded overlay. On my head sat a long wig, with matching beads tied to the ends and a gold band across the forehead. I also wore a heavy gold necklace with a large turquoise stone in the middle, and a pair of gold bracelets on both wrists. I hadn’t gone to my lesson that day so I could prepare for the feast that afternoon. Abi filled me in on who she expected to be there, including her father. I sensed her excitement to see them again.

The feast was held in a room overlooking the river. The sun dipped down and touched the far horizon, and the river gleamed in the late afternoon light, creating a beautiful backdrop.

The instant we appeared, a man, whom I assumed was Abi’s father, rushed up to her. He embraced her warmly and kissed her cheek, then led her away.

I found myself alone. I turned to the tables of food and looked over them. Half the food was forbidden, according to the customs of my people, and among the other half, I struggled to find anything appealing, despite my hunger.

I felt a hand wrap around my elbow and I turned to see Akhenaten. “Eat something, my dear.”

I looked back down at the table. “I’m trying to.”

“What’s the matter?”

“It all looks divine, but I cannot bring myself to eat any of it.”

He gently pulled my arm. “Maybe if you mingle for a while you will build up an appetite.”

He brought me over to a group of Nubians and he explained to them that I recently learned their language, so they should be patient with me.

They spoke with me, and to my surprise, I easily understood them, but replying was another matter. They affably laughed at my mistakes and corrected me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nefertiti enter. She stared at me in utter bewilderment before rushing over to Akhenaten to protest. I saw him cut her off. They argued for a moment, before he shook his head and walked away from her. I couldn’t help smiling to myself and attempted a joke in Nubian, which received laughs more for its poor execution than its punch line.

Some time passed, and I felt that if I didn’t eat, I would faint. I excused myself and headed to the tables again, where I found myself in the same predicament as before—I couldn’t find a thing that I felt like I could actually eat. But, because I felt starved, I picked up a pomegranate and tried to swallow what I could.

I turned and saw Horemheb enter with his wife. I smiled at how handsome a couple they made, but my smile fell as she walked away from him the instant she saw someone else she knew. He watched her for just a moment, then he went on his way to mingle as well.

I wanted to speak with him, so after I quickly looked over the table over once, I made my way through the crowd.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.