Chapter 33 The King’s Bride
The King’s Bride
Namir wiped at his head with a wet cloth, signing once the cloth was in his lap. “I do not believe this. Why would Zosar try to kill me? He has been there all of my life. He has nothing to gain from my death.”
Ramses offered Namir a cup of liquid. “Perhaps he is not who we thought he was.”
“But he was always there for me.” Namir’s gaze shifted to Zahra, and his eyes softened. She was sitting on the ground, hugging her legs. Her eyes were dazed as the words of the prophecy echoed in her mind.
Namir grunted as he scooted closer to her. He had lost some of his color, and Ramses stuck by his side as if he would fall over or puke again. Namir placed his hand on her arm before he signed. “What else did you see?”
So much. Even before their births, the netjer of chaos had been trying to prevent this day from happening. Now it was here, and Iset and her followers were still fighting.
Ramses signed, “You were saying things in Ionic.”
Zahra nodded. Her voice came out breathless. “A prophecy.”
Ramses looked to Namir in confusion, and Namir translated.
Zahra lifted her hands to sign, but they trembled as she tried to move them.
Namir put his hand on her arm. “I will translate. Tell us when you are ready.”
Zahra thanked him with a nod. She took a deep breath, reciting the words of the prophecy.
“Beware the day of a thousand nights. The sibyl of the blood moon will suffer chaos’s blade.
A child of Re will open Tartarus’s gate, and chaos’s price will be paid.
The timeless King will bear the Pharaohs’ plight, and the children of the eclipse will decide Aur’s fate. ”
Namir finished translating, and Ramses’s brow furrowed with worry. “What is Tartarus?”
Zahra summoned her strength and began to sign. “A place where only the most evil netjeru and spirits dwell. The prophecy has existed since the day of Asenath’s death. Selene knew that Iset would try again, so she sent my ancestors to Aur with a prophecy foretelling Iset’s return.”
Namir’s brow furrowed in thought. “Now that I think about it, there was a papyrus here that said something similar.”
Zahra nodded, and she gestured to one of the shelves. “It is there, with some papyri written in Ionic.”
Namir directed Ramses, and Ramses searched the shelf and pulled out the papyrus. He opened it, squinting to read it in the low light. He nodded. “It is here.”
“But I don’t understand,” Namir signed as Ramses returned to his side. “If the prophecy was written here the whole time, how are we just now hearing about it? I have combed the records in this library many times over.”
“Because of Zosar’s spell,” Zahra explained.
“It is why every time I read about Iset, it felt as if a barrier was pushed over my eyes, preventing me from reading further. I did not understand what was holding those memories back, but now I know. Iset did not want us to remember that we met or anything about what she was truly doing.”
Ramses sat beside Namir, gesturing to him. “Would your parents not have known about the prophecy? This place has existed for some time.”
Namir nodded in agreement. “They should have, along with my ancestors. If the prophecy was here all along, then my mother would have moved the night of the Feast to a different day once she knew about the eclipse.”
“At some point, your ancestors could have forgotten or chosen to ignore the sibyl’s warnings,” Zahra signed.
“The Thoth was created the night of Asenath’s death so that Iset wouldn’t be able to corrupt the title of Pharaoh with an unworthy person.
But the Pharaohs knew who she was, so she created Apep, spreading stories about his wicked deeds until her name fell into obscurity.
It is why there are so few records of her, why she was so easily wiped from our memories.
She has been manipulating us this whole time, making us run in circles until the assassins could complete their task and kill you. ”
“Then why did Iset wish to curse you?” Namir asked. “Zosar’s spell had already bound your memory.”
“Because Iset knew that I was a sibyl. She tried to end the line of sibyls with me the day my home was destroyed, but my mother saved my life. She tried to kill you during the Battle of Henen-nesut, but your cousin saved you. When we finally met, she knew she had to stop me from helping you.”
Ramses’s brow furrowed. “But that was long ago, before Namir was King.”
Zahra nodded. “Yes, but Iset did not need Namir to live. Nubia could have easily become Queen, and Iset would have used her as a sacrifice instead. All she needed was a night where the moon was weak, and she knew tonight there would be a lunar eclipse.”
Namir shook his head. “But that doesn’t explain why Iset would go after me. Nubia was heir until my father’s death.”
Zahra leaned forward. “You are part of the prophecy, Namir. Think about it. A day with a thousand nights? A timeless King? While you have been trapped in this day, you have been timeless.”
Namir leaned back, stunned. “Then you must be the sibyl of the blood moon. Who are the children of the eclipse?”
“I am one of them,” Zahra signed. “I was born during a lunar eclipse.”
Namir’s brow furrowed. “Then if we are both a part of this prophecy, then Iset has already won.”
“I don’t think so. Yes, the pieces of the prophecy are all there, but as long as we don’t let Zosar offer chaos her price—your life—then the prophecy will not be fulfilled.”
Ramses leaned forward. “If Zosar is executed, then Iset will not be able to hurt Namir, right?”
Zahra nodded. “Iset will have no power without her servant.”
Namir ran his fingers through his hair. “I still don’t understand how we can speak of this now if Zosar placed a spell on us so we wouldn’t remember. Is his spell broken?”
“No.” She shook her head. “His spell is still intact.”
“Then how do we remember?”
“Because I am actively fighting it.” She had been fighting it for some time to remember Iset, but not to this extent.
The weight of the spell on her mind was already making her weary, but she couldn’t risk forgetting all they had learned.
“If I had broken the spell, he would have known. We have to ensure he does not know until we are ready to end the Thoth’s spell. ”
Namir’s face filled with worry. “Zahra, what about your ka? When we were in the pr-aa of old, I saw—”
“As long as we end the Thoth’s spell quickly, I will be fine,” she promised. “But that means we need to find Nubia now and remove the mark from her.”
Namir looked down upon hearing Nubia’s name, his brows knitted together. “I still can’t believe she… If I touch her, she will remember everything.”
“I know.” Zahra’s gaze softened. “It will scare her, but the Thoth’s power will bind her memory tonight, and she will not remember tomorrow.”
“I would be glad if she did not remember.” Namir sighed. “One more day, and we can put this whole mess behind us.”
Zahra smiled at the thought. She moved to stand. “Now we must find her.”
“That’ll be easy,” Namir signed. “I know where she is.”
“Where?”
Namir smiled. “Where she is every night.”
Zahra followed Namir to a room on the second floor.
Nubia was on the balcony in her room. She was sitting on a bench with a mass of pillows, reading a scroll.
Her head shot up at the sound of a door closing, and her eyes went wide upon seeing Namir.
She dropped her scroll as she stood. “Menes, where have you been?”
Namir smiled, and Zahra lingered behind. “Out adventuring, as usual. I am here now.”
Nubia clenched her jaw and threw one of her pillows at him. Namir blocked it weakly, wincing as it fell to the floor. “We have all been worried sick. You cannot hear that some assassins have been captured and then run off. Do you wish to send Mwt to an early grave?”
“I am sorry I worried you,” Namir said, “but I have something to tell you.”
Nubia’s gaze drifted to Zahra. She straightened herself. “Did you choose your bride?”
“Yes and no.” He gestured to her seat on the balcony. “Let me explain.”
Zahra stood in the doorway, listening as Namir explained all that they had seen and learned from the Thoth’s vision. “That night, the assassins hurt you, and in the chaos, I gave you the mark. But we have the assassins now, so they cannot hurt you again.”
Nubia leaned back in her seat, her face filled with confusion and fear. “I do not understand. Would I not remember as well?”
“You would if I had touched you since that day, but I have not. I have been searching for whoever had the mark, but all along it was you. Now, I can take the mark back from you so that I can end the Thoth’s spell.”
“End it? With… her?” Nubia clarified, glancing at Zahra.
Namir nodded. “Waaiz has already sent for Zosar’s capture. Once I give the mark to Zahra, I can end the spell tomorrow.”
Nubia rubbed her temples. “I still cannot understand. This is all too much.”
“I know it is,” Namir said, moving beside her, “but I promise all will be well.”
Nubia stood, taking a long breath. “Then do what you must to end this day. I do not want to give Zosar or those assassins more chances to hurt you.”
Namir smiled softly. “Thank you, Nubia.”
Zahra moved closer, and Namir took Nubia’s hand. Nubia sucked in a breath, her eyes widening and filling with tears. She looked overwhelmed, and Zahra’s heart hurt for her, knowing the feeling of remembering so many days at once.
The wings appeared on Nubia’s chest. As Namir held Nubia’s hand, the mark faded from her skin, reappearing on Namir’s chest.
Nubia fell forward into Namir. “I feel weak. I need a physician!”
Zahra helped Namir move Nubia to her bed. “I will fetch the physician,” she said as Namir propped Nubia up with pillows. She went out the doors, leaving Namir and Nubia alone.