The Eyes of Horus (The Ennead Book 1)
Prologue
31 BCE
Temple of Isis in Philae
Screams can be heard through the marbled halls, and the smell of smoke and ash fills the air. It is the sound and smell of defeat. All the while, Cleopatra awaits in the antechamber clutching a hastily written note given to her by one of her four loyal handmaidens.
The ruler clasps the table in front of her and bows her head in grief. Her lover, champion, and husband is gone. She knows that she is next, but now is not the time to mourn. It is the time to act.
Isis was clear in her note that the god Set is behind the Roman unrest, just as they suspected. He wants what all gods of chaos want: destruction and power. For him, that means ruling in Osirus’s place in the Duat. For if you rule the dead, you rule the living as well.
She knows that he can never be allowed to reach the secret gateway hidden in this very temple. Isis will hate her for this choice, but there is no other in this time of defeat. Time is of the essence so the choice is hers alone to make as the last pharaoh of Egypt.
Cleopatra raises her head, looks meaningfully at her handmaidens, and turns to look behind her. Fitted in the wall, the size of a large book, is the sacred Tablet of Osirus. It was magicked by Thoth and Isis to create a gateway for the gods to travel through to the Duat. It was designed specifically for Isis to visit her husband even in death.
Cleopatra knows that the gateway must close. Set must never reach the Duat, for he is at the height of power and could take over without much fight. In making this choice she is not only closing the gate to Set, but to all of the gods on this plane, which means Isis will never be able to visit her beloved. There are not many choices in war, and the few choices left are bad or worse.
With determined steps, Cleopatra strides up to the tablet and pulls it out of the wall. Immediately, the wind in the chamber picks up in the room and stills just as quickly signaling that the gateway is closed, but that is not enough. Set can never find the sacred tablet.
The ruler places the tablet on the lone table in the room as her handmaidens look on from the other side. She looks up at the four women that she trusts most in this world and knows they will not let her down.
“I am not long for this world, my friends,” she says while looking down at the tablet. “I need your help one last time before the end draws near. Set is coming, but he will be disappointed to find in his hour of triumph that he was thwarted by the woman queen he so despises.”
Suddenly, Cleopatra pulls a khopesh saber from the sheath along her back. Gifted to her from the god Thoth, it was magicked to be able to cut through any object to help her in battle. Now she will use this gift to cut the gods off from their friends and loved ones. She pulls her arm back and swipes the khopesh through the middle of the stone tablet cutting it in half. With one more downward stroke, it is cut into four pieces each the size of small journals.
“Each of you will hide your piece of the tablet so that neither I nor your fellow maidens knows where you have placed it. It will need to last through the passing of time, so choose well and wisely,” Cleopatra says while placing a piece of the tablet in each of her handmaids hands.
“Now go! Travel to hide your piece. May we be reunited in the Field of Reeds when our time comes!”
“Yes, your majesty,” the handmaidens reply in unison while bowing to their pharaoh one last time.
All four handmaids file out of the antichamber into the chaos that awaits them filling the halls of the temple. It will take skill to make it out without being captured or killed, but they have been trained well. Above all else, they must hide their piece of the sacred tablet so that Set and his spies can never find it.
Back in the antechamber, Cleopatra sits on the marble floor of the temple with ankles crossed, eyes closed, and meditates. She knows these are her final moments and is ready to make peace with the gods and for her soul to enter the Duat.
Suddenly, the cries of battle die away, the room temperature plummets, and the feeling of hopelessness and dread seeps into her soul. It’s as if time is holding its breath for this final meeting between pharaoh and god.
Without looking up, she says, “We finally meet in person, Set. It has been too long playing this game of cat and mouse.”
“I think you know this game has now reached an end, little mouse,” came a deep voice from the door of the chamber.
Looking up, Cleopatra lays eyes on the god of chaos that has taken her love, her throne, and now her life. He stands tall and proud. His bulked tan skin is on display while dressed in his battle armor with his dark hair pulled back with a thong. Blood was already drying in his beard. She could only hope that none of it was her handmaidens.
Set looks behind the pharaoh and realizes the gateway is closed. He throws up his hands and yells, “What have you done?!”
He strides forward, but before he can reach to yank her up, she pulls out her khopesh and slices at Set before rolling backwards into a crouched position.
“That will cost you, little mouse,” Set seethes while looking at the long gash on his thigh.
“You have already taken everything. What more could you do?”
“Where is the Tablet of Osirus? I tire of waiting. Tell me and you just might live to see the end of this bloodshed.”
“It is gone. It has been shattered and is gone with the wind. You will never find your precious tablet. The Duat and the world will be safe from your reign of terror.”
Before she can blink, an ax is at her throat. “Tell me, Cleopatra, or your children’s lives are forfeit.”
“Even now, Isis is hiding them from your spies. You will have to kill me and get your revenge, for you have lost. The Duat is not yours to rule,” she replies with her head held high even with an ax to her throat.
A slow, sly smile forms on Set’s mouth. “An ax is too quick of a death,” he says as the sound of hissing comes from the doorway.
He lets her go and backs away towards the three large black asps that are slithering toward her from the only exit.
She backs towards the nearest wall so that they cannot slither behind her and readies her stance with saber in hand. The asp on the left lunges for her thigh, but she is able to easily cut off its head before impact. The other two launch at the same time, one high and one low. She dispatches the one coming for her throat, but all it takes is a bite to the calf and she knows she is marked for death.
Cleopatra looks up at Set one last time as she falls to the floor, “Live knowing that this woman queen is what stood between you and victory.”
The room temperature rises and noises start to filter through the door signaling Set’s departure. She closes her eyes and feels the venom spreading quickly. She knows that she has an hour at most. So, she breathes in and out until it feels like hours have passed. She then opens her eyes to a familiar silhouette crouching in front of her.
“He did not make it through, my goddess. Please do not hate me for my decision to break and hide the tablet,” Cleopatra rasped as her heartbeat slows.
“I do not fault you for making a difficult choice, my child,” came the urethral voice of Isis. “But please tell me where I can find the pieces.”
“Handmaidens.. hidden.. he cannot.. find..” Isis looks on as Cleopatra breathes her last.
Days Later in Alexandria
Safe in a lone servant quarters room, the first handmaiden writes a coded message in both hieroglyphics and Greek. She slips the message and her piece of the tablet in a hidden compartment of her jewelry box given to her by a Roman lover several years prior. Interesting that if that lover were to find her now, she would be executed or sent as a slave to Rome. She has escaped that fate for now.
So, she will grieve her pharaoh and loss of Egyptian reign but will live to see the box pass into unknowing hands. For it must last through endless cycles of time.