Ancient Egypt: On the Nile

"We suggest you go home and try to rest. Tomorrow the new pharoah will be appointed and, as you know, the townspeople are invited to all...uhhh...appointings. We have sent a messenger back tonight with the news, so Naqadar's brother, Ramul, will have full power tomorrow morning."

Zafira turned and leaned into Dumi crying. "It's all my faut."

"Thanks you," she helped Dumi up on a couch to rest.

Zafira was in her room. She had cried for hours on end blaming herself for Naqadar's death.

Dumi smiled and thanked Yuma.

Morning came and with it, the crowds gathered near the palace to listen to the new Pharoah address the general public.

"Hear me!" Yelled Ramul...He was a large man, very very muscular. Much bigger and stronger looking than Naqadar was. "My brother gave his life to this Empire to extend it's glory! As will you! He lied about the Babylonians! We attacked them first!" The crowd mumbled..."Yes, we tried to defeat them first and then they counter attacked us when my brother was too weak to defeat them. We will not be! This is a new era of the empire! We will conquer the world!"

"Huh?" said Yuma slightly confused.

"That's right...This is not a democracy, no matter how much my brother tried to make it! This is a dictatorship! I own this country and you do as I say or die! We needed a strong leader, something that my brother wasn't, something that I am! Now, our armies will start making their attacks soon, I can't...Damn it, I won't tell you when! That's all you need to know. Go back to work!" The pharoah disappeared back into his palace...

The crowds started to sperate, go back to wherever they came...There was one, lonely man working on the Temple of the Dead...The marble had been delivered in the past few days, with all the chaos, no one had noticed.

"A dictarship?" asked Yuma as she was pushed into the temple to do a service for the pharoah. She felt her knees wobble in nervusness.

"What is it they are here for?"

"A service, your highness..." One of his servants mumbled.

"What?!"

"A service!" He spoke up...

"You raise your voice to me?!"

"No, your highness...No."

Ramul picked up a spear and launched it at his servant, striking him in the neck...With a few gasping breaths, he died.

"Well, get on with it! I haven't got all day!"

"We are here to honor the Sun God, our pharoah, who has now become our ruler. He is a great and fair ruler. May he live forever!" echoed Yuma off the hard sand walls. "Now the burning of the incense will be for our great pharoah." As she said this many more apprentces came in with incense that was burning and threw it in a fire pit kneeling to the pharoah. "Also let him become the greatest pharoah in all Egypt." Yuma thought all this was fake in the speech she was taught but couldn't say so.

Dumi sighed. He took Zafira to the market place. It always seemed to somewhat cheer her up. Zafira picked up an anklet to admire it. The shop owner smiled.

"I already am the greatest ruler of Egypt! Who came up with this...Bullshit?!"

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In the marketplace...

The hooded man walked up to the same shop Zafira was in...

"It goes well with your eyes...Those eyes..." He said, not removing his hood. He then walked away, back to work on the Temple...

Zafira turned to watch him leave. "It can't be." she whispered. Dumi looked at Zafira. "What's wrong? You look as if you have seen a ghost."

"Why, why, why haven't my troops taken over the main roadways to Babylon yet? WHY?!" Yelled Ramul.

"Sire, they are trying..."

"I will not tolerate failure. If they return home without having Babylon sacked, they will be executed!"

Zafira decided to follow the cloaked figure. She walked a couple feet behind him.

Yuma cowered and was ashamed. Crying she went to the old temple ruins to think about Naquador. She lay down and let the wind rustle through her hair.

Zafira followed the cloaked figure to the temple. She stayed far away to be inconspicuous, but close enough to spy.

Yuma stood up and listened.

The Cloaked man saw Yuma not too far away, close to Naqadar's father's temple's ruins...He decided to go and talk to her.

"What's wrong?" He asked, "I don't like seeing fellow Egyptians upset...Is there a problem?"

Zafira stayed behinf the man. Could she trust him? Was he just being nice?