It was a dark night in ancient Egypt. It was so dark that even the wild jackals were staying within their dens.
But, if one would look carefully, he would see the shapes of three dark silhouettes that were slowly walking down one of the capital's streets.
"Is it really wise to get out on the streets at such a late hour?" a whiny voice asked. One of the three girls nervously looked over her shoulder. "What if the Nile Bandits are sneaking around?"
"You're a coward, Minak-Osiris," the raven-haired leader huffed. "The bandits would never dare showing their faces in the capital of our ruler, the great Pharaoh Mam-Or-Amun!"
"Don't tell me you weren't worried, Horei," the third one, a tall girl with unusual brown hair muttered.
"Of course I wasn't," Horei angrily snapped. "After all, my father is a member of the palace guard and he taught me how to fight. Stop making such accusations, Ptah-koto!"
"She didn't seem so confident when the queen told us to meet her here, in the slums," Minak-Osiris, also simply called Minak by her friends, whispered to her tall friend Ptah-koto.
"Enough of this," Horei grumbled. "Let's rather try to find the queen. She told us to meet her here... I wonder what would be so important that the Pharaoh's wife would risk her safety by coming to such a place like this."
"Well, her personal guard will most likely protect her," Minak shrugged. "But I still think we should..."
She wanted to say something else, but then her gaze fell upon a dark figure that had appeared on the other end of the street.
"Th-th-there..." she whispered "The N-Nile B-Bandits..."
Ptah-koto gulped. "Are you certain?"
"Who else would dress like that?" Minak whimpered, gesturing at the black cloak and hood of the mysterious figure that was approaching them. "I don't know about you, but I'm outta here!"
She turned around to run, but Horei swiftly grabbed the collar of her clothes. "Stay here! We're in no danger!"
"B-but the Nile Bandits..."
"Would you believe me to be a bandit, Minak-Osiris?" a gentle voice asked while the 'bandit' pulled the hood off 'his' head.
Minak stared at the face of her queen in awe. Then, she and her two friends quickly bowed down. "Y-your Highness!" Ptah-koto stuttered. "I didn't know it was you..."
"What are you doing... in this attire?" Horei wondered when she looked up at her queen.
Queen Serenitete smiled. "Well, it's a good disguise, don't you think? No one would believe that the queen of the Nile would disguise herself as a bandit, right?"
"A wise decision," Ptah-koto nodded. "After all, why should a bandit ambush one of his own?"
"Just as the old saying goes," Minak grinned. "She's like a jackal in camel's clothing."
The others all sweatdropped. "You mean, like a wolf in sheep's clothing..." Horei mumbled.
"Anyway, could we please continue this conversation back at your home?" the queen asked. "I fear there might still other people around that might listen."
"Yes, that would be better," Horei nodded. "Here, it's this way..."
Serenitete turned to follow her servants and friends... but before she took another step, she stumbled over her own cloak and fell right onto her beautiful face.
"Your Highness!" the girls gasped. "Are you all right?"
Serenitete pulled her face out of the dirt and rubbed her nose. "Owie... that hurt."
----
Shortly after, they were all sitting in the humble home of the three servant girls, a small house in the outskirts of town. The three of them were sitting around their queen and listened to her tale.
"You said you moved out of your own bedroom just so there would be enough space for the Pharaoh's riches?" Ptah-koto asked in disbelief.
Serenitete nodded. "I'm afraid so," she sadly smiled.
Manik-Osiris tried hardly not to laugh out loud. Yes, she would love to be in that situation: To own so much gold that you have to make place for it.
"And you decided to stay at our house because of that?" Horei asked, a little bit worried about her queen's sanity.
"Of course," Sernitete smiled. "Why shouldn't I? After all, you are my closest friends since childhood."
"But couldn't you easily sleep in the quarters of your handmaidens?" Ptah-koto wondered.
"Maybe, but this wouldn't be the same," the queen sighed. "After all, you are the only people that treat me like a person, not like the wife of a god... I only want to stay for a while, until the architects came up with a solution. They are all working hard to design the blueprints for a new building, a storage chamber where my beloved husband Mam-Or-Amun can keep his treasures."
"But we haven't enough beds in here," Minak protested. "And they are way too small, so someone would have to sleep on the floor."
When she saw her friends and the queen look at her with big grins on her faces, she instantly shook her head. "Oh no! Nonononono! I won't do that! Nu-uh! Forget it!"
"But Minak, it's for the queen, our friend." Horei grinned like the goddess Bast herself. "Surely, you can endure this for a few nights..."
"Oh yeah, and the nights turn into weeks, and the weeks into months, I know how those things turn out..."
Queen Serenitete frowned at her. "Minak-Osiris, would you prefer I pull out the papyrus with all your outstanding debts?"
"No! Wait! You don't have to do that!" Minak gasped. "Spare me the papyrus... I'll let you sleep in my bed for a few nights." She sighed in defeat.
Serenitete smiled. "Thank you so much, Minak-Osiris! You are too kind!"
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(Posted Sun, 04 Mar 2007 14:25)
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