Shadow of the Sun (The Shadow Saga) by Merrie P. Wycoff Page B
Authors: Merrie P. Wycoff
Tags: General Fiction
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curling horns appeared like a transparent ghost over Sit-Amun, first a ram’s head, and lastly the body of a man. Huge muscled biceps overlaid those of the fleshy arms of Sit-Amun. Her grunts turned to a guttural moan, which curdled my stomach. Sit-Amun dumped the bowl of red liquid onto her head, and then like a desert jackal, she devoured it. The thick red tongue lapped it up. Blood. I could smell it.
She pulled out a dagger, brandishing it over a doll modeled after Grand Djedti. “Ti-Yee, I curse you. May death come to you upon the toes of night. May the ram of Amun emerge and consume the blood of this Semite.” A hot, wet trickle soaked my sheath and puddled at my feet. I knocked over the candle holder. Into the thick of the courtyard’s jungle I raced. The ale made my stomach churn. My head spun. I ran as fast as an ostrich. A woman shrieked, “Fire!”
Guards scattered. The courtyard erupted in chaos. A loud gong sounded. Attendants ran from every door with pails of water. My head pounded. I tripped. My white horse slipped from my hand and disappeared in the foliage. No time for tears.
Someone threw a blanket over me and dragged me away. My savior waddled to the closest door. Guards yelled orders. Heavy footsteps trampled the foliage. She banged against a locked door. The next one swung open. We tumbled in.
“Hurry,” said Hep-Mut, “into the storage closet.” She glanced both ways then yanked my hand. We slipped past scared attendants spreading news of an assassin. Hep-Mut tossed the flowers from a vase, dribbled the stinky water on my head then wrapped me in a dirty towel. “To the nursery.” Hep-Mut sang silly bath time songs to me down the hallway.
“Someone tried to kill Sit-Amun,” yelled the guard. They burned down her tent!”
Hep-Mut shooed him away. “The royal child must nap. Post the guards outside the nursery.”
“Yes, Mistress,” said the guard, bolting the door.
Hep-Mut turned and stared. “What mischief did you get into?”
My stomach felt hot. I purged upon the limestone floor then belched.
“Beer. How can that be?” Hep-Mut’s eyes grew wild. “Merit-Aten, did you eat the food laid out near the niche in the wall?”
“Yes.”
Hep-Mut wailed. Her little fists beat upon her chest as she moaned, although not nearly as loud as when she cleaned up the ink from Sit- Amun’s tray. But, orange swirls poured forth from my dwarf ’s abdomen signaling her irritation.
“Dearest, I set your lunch by the fish pond. The other was an offering to Amun, who will eat that food in solitude, then give blessings to Sit-Amun.”
“Why would Amun bless Sit-Amun for trying to hurt Grand Djedti?”
“What do you mean?”
I thrust my hands upon my hips. “She cursed Grand Djedti and tried to hurt the little doll.”
Hep-Mut narrowed her eyes. “You cannot tell anyone.”
I shivered and prayed. How could I have crossed her path yet again?
The Celestial Lords sent me to save my family. Now they were in danger because of me.
O ver the next seven months, not a day went by without my recalling the gruesome interlude in the red tent. I worried that Sit-Amun would command my family to depart, so when a courier arrived with a papyrus wrapped with a golden string, I burst into tears.
HeMeti tore off the binding. “Why tears? Grand Djedti Ti-Yee requests that you accompany her to Karnak. Merit-Aten, this is quite an honor.” Meti stroked my face. “Women pass on all the knowledge of Khemit. You and I will be a link to our past and to our future, which bonds us and keeps this chain of history strong. Learn well, Little One.”
The Captain of the Guard, a large barrel-chested man, lifted me onto a gilded palanquin carved with golden heads of hawks. The Lady Ti-Yee wore the crown of two white ostrich feathers in front of a copper solar disk. A royal blue sheer shawl covered her left shoulder and tied at the hip over a
She pulled out a dagger, brandishing it over a doll modeled after Grand Djedti. “Ti-Yee, I curse you. May death come to you upon the toes of night. May the ram of Amun emerge and consume the blood of this Semite.” A hot, wet trickle soaked my sheath and puddled at my feet. I knocked over the candle holder. Into the thick of the courtyard’s jungle I raced. The ale made my stomach churn. My head spun. I ran as fast as an ostrich. A woman shrieked, “Fire!”
Guards scattered. The courtyard erupted in chaos. A loud gong sounded. Attendants ran from every door with pails of water. My head pounded. I tripped. My white horse slipped from my hand and disappeared in the foliage. No time for tears.
Someone threw a blanket over me and dragged me away. My savior waddled to the closest door. Guards yelled orders. Heavy footsteps trampled the foliage. She banged against a locked door. The next one swung open. We tumbled in.
“Hurry,” said Hep-Mut, “into the storage closet.” She glanced both ways then yanked my hand. We slipped past scared attendants spreading news of an assassin. Hep-Mut tossed the flowers from a vase, dribbled the stinky water on my head then wrapped me in a dirty towel. “To the nursery.” Hep-Mut sang silly bath time songs to me down the hallway.
“Someone tried to kill Sit-Amun,” yelled the guard. They burned down her tent!”
Hep-Mut shooed him away. “The royal child must nap. Post the guards outside the nursery.”
“Yes, Mistress,” said the guard, bolting the door.
Hep-Mut turned and stared. “What mischief did you get into?”
My stomach felt hot. I purged upon the limestone floor then belched.
“Beer. How can that be?” Hep-Mut’s eyes grew wild. “Merit-Aten, did you eat the food laid out near the niche in the wall?”
“Yes.”
Hep-Mut wailed. Her little fists beat upon her chest as she moaned, although not nearly as loud as when she cleaned up the ink from Sit- Amun’s tray. But, orange swirls poured forth from my dwarf ’s abdomen signaling her irritation.
“Dearest, I set your lunch by the fish pond. The other was an offering to Amun, who will eat that food in solitude, then give blessings to Sit-Amun.”
“Why would Amun bless Sit-Amun for trying to hurt Grand Djedti?”
“What do you mean?”
I thrust my hands upon my hips. “She cursed Grand Djedti and tried to hurt the little doll.”
Hep-Mut narrowed her eyes. “You cannot tell anyone.”
I shivered and prayed. How could I have crossed her path yet again?
The Celestial Lords sent me to save my family. Now they were in danger because of me.
O ver the next seven months, not a day went by without my recalling the gruesome interlude in the red tent. I worried that Sit-Amun would command my family to depart, so when a courier arrived with a papyrus wrapped with a golden string, I burst into tears.
HeMeti tore off the binding. “Why tears? Grand Djedti Ti-Yee requests that you accompany her to Karnak. Merit-Aten, this is quite an honor.” Meti stroked my face. “Women pass on all the knowledge of Khemit. You and I will be a link to our past and to our future, which bonds us and keeps this chain of history strong. Learn well, Little One.”
The Captain of the Guard, a large barrel-chested man, lifted me onto a gilded palanquin carved with golden heads of hawks. The Lady Ti-Yee wore the crown of two white ostrich feathers in front of a copper solar disk. A royal blue sheer shawl covered her left shoulder and tied at the hip over a
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