Chapter 7 The Hem-netjer #3
Zahra raised her head. “All that we differ on is our perceived importance of the moon beside the sun. Your Nebthet would shine as bright as Re if only you could see it.”
Zosar considered Zahra before shouting toward the hallway. “Guards!”
The temple medjay were on her in seconds, pinning her arms behind her back.
Zosar stepped forward, wrapping his hand around her necklace. Zahra tried to pull away, but she couldn’t with the medjay holding her. Zosar tugged hard, and the old chain snapped under the pressure.
“Give it back,” Zahra cried. “Please, give it back! It was my mother’s!”
“Zosar…” Namir started, but Zosar did not listen, handing Zahra’s necklace to a temple servant.
Zahra fought her restraints, but the medjay were too strong. Namir lingered in the room while Zosar followed them toward the entrance. He stopped the medjay, stepping up to her with a raised hand. “Insolent child.”
Zahra tried to get away, but a medjay held her face still as Zosar brought his hand down on her.
Surprised whispers and gasps filled the air as Zahra was tossed off the temple grounds. A pained gasp fell from her lips as her body hit the dirt. A temple medjay kicked dirt in her face before returning to the temple.
Zahra’s lip trembled as she lifted herself from the ground. Her left eye was hurting, and she tasted blood on her lip. Tears formed in her eyes, and she wiped them away. Why was even the great Hem-netjer so unkind? How could her father bear to love a man like that?
The obelisk chimed six times, marking the hour of Re. She had not seen her father once. He was already gone when she arrived. She had been too late.
The sound of rushing water filled her ears, and she stood from her spot on the ground. Past a grove of acacia trees was a small stream.
Zahra fell to her knees by the water, her hand clutching the empty space where her necklace would usually be.
Her cheeks grew wet with tears, and she suppressed sobs as she lightly tapped the areas that were starting to bruise and swell on her face.
She tore a piece of fabric from the bottom of her dress and soaked it in the river.
She cursed herself for what she had done as she applied the wet fabric to her swollen eye.
Why could she not have kept her mouth shut?
For years, she had kept her necklace safe, and now it was gone. Her last piece of her mother was…
Zahra wiped the tears from her face, gritting her teeth. She should never have entered the temple. She should never have agreed to work with the King. She shouldn’t have searched for her father when she knew he couldn’t be convinced.
Selene had asked Zahra to trust her, but Zahra was not sure if the King would help her now.
Quick footsteps approached her from behind, and Zahra scrunched the wet fabric in her fist and stood.
Namir came around the grove of acacias and stopped upon seeing her. She turned away from him and let her curls hide her face. He crossed his arms. “I thought you had left for good.”
“I thought you would be joining your people in worship,” she countered. “I would have waited here until you were done. You may still have time to go.”
As she said it, she was not sure if her words were true. She could have left. Perhaps it would have been better if she had.
“And leave you to embarrass me further?” he scoffed. “I think not.”
Zahra held her tongue, summoning all her strength to keep herself from shedding another tear. “I apologize that I am an embarrassment to you, my King. I tried to warn you.”
Namir laughed. “Warn me of what? That you could not control yourself?”
She clenched her jaw. “I said nor did anything wrong until your Hem-netjer stole my mother’s necklace.”
“Zosar is a righteous man who only seeks to do right by Re. I should have asked you to remove your token before we entered.” He stepped closer. “That was my mistake.”
“No.” She turned to him. “Your mistake was letting me come with you in the first place. You must have known that I wouldn’t be welcome there, whether my feet were rinsed of dirt or not.” She gritted her teeth. “My people are seen as the stain of Aur. That will always be true.”
His eyes narrowed, though not in anger. Within his gaze sat conflicting feelings of confusion and worry as he studied her face.
Zahra’s eyebrows drew together, and she turned away, letting her hair hide her face once more.
“Why do you not look your King in the eye?”
Zahra’s hands shook at her side. “I do not think it wise.”
Namir’s fist slipped into her vision. It was closed around something small. She opened her hand, and he dropped her mother’s necklace into her palm. The chain was broken, but the pendant itself was intact.
“I am sorry he broke it,” Namir whispered. “Zosar is a man who is passionate about his faith. Yes, he sometimes sees enemies where there are none, but such is the life of the Hem-netjer. I am sure he did not intend to break it.”
Zahra doubted that, but she was grateful for Namir’s sincerity. She closed her hand around the necklace. “Thank you.”
They stood there a moment longer before Namir spoke again. “Who hit you?”
Zahra flinched at his question. She glimpsed her reflection in the stream. Her eye was swollen, and the skin around it and her cheek was turning a nasty shade of purple and green. “I don’t know.”
In truth, it did not matter. Namir would do nothing about it.
“Why did you bring me with you?”
Namir sighed and found a seat upon one of the rocks near the stream. He dipped his feet in the water, letting it wash over his ankles. “I wanted him to see you.”
“You wanted him to tell you if I was a sorceress or not.” She hugged her arms. “Well? What else did he say about me?”
“He said that you are not to be trusted.”
Zahra fell silent for a moment. “Do you believe him?”
“Yes.”
There was no hesitation in his voice. Zahra swallowed the lump in her throat. It had hardly been a day, and she had already ruined any chance she had of saving herself and her father. Her lip trembled. There was nothing she could say.
Namir’s voice came clearly. “I still need your help.”
Zahra turned to him with tears in her eyes. “I don’t understand.”
He dipped his hand in the stream, watching the water pass over his palm. “You will continue to help me, and I will hold up my end of the deal.”
“Why?” Zahra asked. “You do not trust me. Your Hem-netjer called me a sorceress. Why would you—”
“I have no other choice.” His gaze lingered on her black eye, and he turned away.
“I am certain I have danced with every maiden at the Feast, but Zosar is right. I must be sure that she is not there before I begin asking those who did not come. To do that, I need another pair of eyes. She could have left early, or she is in a place I am not expecting.”
Zahra studied the side of his face. There was desperation in his voice and fatigue in his eyes.
She couldn’t imagine how long he had lived the day of the Feast, only to be trapped with no way out.
Why had he sought to do this alone until now?
Why ask her for help when he had an entire army at his disposal?
She thought of the shame that filled his face when Zosar spoke to him.
He was embarrassed of himself. If others knew of his mistake, what would they think of him?
Even if they would forget, she felt the King wouldn’t stoop so low as to ask help from his uncle, or even from the Pharaoh Queen herself.
But even though he did not trust Zahra, he trusted her with his secret, for she was a servant, and no one would believe her words if she told another.
She did not trust him either, but he was right. They needed each other, even if their deal was only a means to an end. Perhaps this is what Selene meant.
Zahra turned to the city in the distance. “Where should I start looking?”
“Anywhere.” Namir rubbed his eyes. “She could be anywhere.”