I’ll make you Pay, Pharaoh Amsety

Victory over the Nubian Desert

1st Month of Flood, Thy 1400BC

House of Aarun, The Private Bath House.

Only the Royal and affluent could afford this place.

For the rest of Egypt, they had to use the River Nile or go into Public Bath Houses to rinse themselves off the dirt from the soil and perspiration from Ra’s fiery sun.

For the Aarun household, the reason they could afford this was simple.

Abasi Aarun was the biggest wine distributor and sales person in Thebes, including owning the famous beer parlor.

He was also a large land owner and had many farms where he produced wine.

His wife, Rashida was a cosmetic maker.

Makeup was the rage in Egypt and she made simply the best, alongside selling the best woven linen.

Intimidating Gold Pillars built with Faience of blue and green and the images of the gods Ra, Maat and Khonsu lay above the pillars before connecting to the high spiral ceiling.

All of these displayed the ostentatious taste of Abasi Aarun and his devotion to the gods.

The large oak wood doors were pushed back and a wheelbarrow of hot red stones were pushed in.

The Ushabti (servant) stopped at the pool and poured the stones into the water, causing the present occupant of the cleansing waters to be startled.

Zahra pushed her head to the surface of the water and peeped at the corner before letting out a relieved sigh.

It was just one of the new Ushabtis.

She’d been under water for almost a minute and She did not want her servant girls to worry about her.

Zahra paused thoughtfully and cringed, hearing herself call them servants.

They were her sisters, Mintaka and Panya.

Even though Mintaka was from the Hyksos tribe she loved her dearly.

Zahra didn’t have any friends for some odd reason and because she grew up with the two girls they eventually became best friends.

“It was only a few red stones to heat up the water . Do not be afraid Miss” Panya stepped forward.

Zahra gave her a pointed look and pouted slightly.

“I told you I won’t reply if you call me Miss” she said, turning around and pushing back her golden hair from her face.

“Master said-“

“Master is not here. You grew up with me Panya. And you are older than me with Twenty months” Zahra interrupted her.

From her peripheral vision she could see a pout forming on Panya’s face, making her look like a mouse.

But that was Panya’s form of rebellion. She was never going to listen to Zahra and not call her Miss.

Panya’s mother has been rescued from forced labor by the Abanoubs and since then they surrendered their freedom to work for the Aarun household as gratitude and also in fear of getting recaptured again.

Panya had gotten used to a life of slavery and will not address anyone above her anything other than Miss, Madame, Mistress or Master.

“You vex my spirit so much Panya,” Zahra sighed, combing through her hair with her fingers.

“But what will I do without you? You’re the most responsible between us three girls”

“Well at least I’m fun” Mintaka stuck out her tongue.

“You’re only fun because you know when you both get into trouble The young Mistress always stops you from getting a heavy beating” Panya rolled her eyes.

“I motivate her to do what she wants to do!” She argued.

“Yes, including not getting married!” Panya snapped.

“What? I told you the Lieutenant Commander sleeps around in brothels! He is a man of many wives, is unfaithful to them and disrespects his own mate!” Mintaka argued.

“Hush It! You could get hanged for speaking ill of the lieutenant! Mintaka your mouth is too big! And besides, You are only an Ushabti that works in this household. How could you possibly know of all this?” Panya asked.

“This is what everyone knows. Maybe if you Listened to the other household staff while we work you would know about this” Mintaka argued.

“You all have bad work ethics-“

“Panya, Mintaka,” Zahra rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her naked breasts underneath the steaming water.

“Yes miss?” They bowed slightly.

“Everyone gossips. Everyone wants to know what happened and what is just a rumor. When we are at parties And events the noble’s daughters and wives always gossip. It’s a normal thing really” Zahra sighed.

“But what I feel is not normal is when people in our ranks gossip. I heard a servant was beaten with a club to his skull when heard speaking of ill of his master. And you know the people that have been hung for this Miss, please don’t encourage this behavior from us. I would want a man to marry me some day and I pray to Ra he doesn’t find a fraction of my hair pulled out because of gainless gossip”

The girls giggled sheepishly and Zahra started to emerge from the water because she did not want her skin to wrinkle.

She climbed a steep and small set of stairs carefully to avoid an unpleasant fall.

Droplets of water rolled down her body and steam surrounded her whole frame as she padded softly towards Mintaka holding a towel.

Mintaka wrapped it around her Frame immediately and with a sigh said;

“Lest you catch a cold”

“Lest one of those mannerless manservants see her nakedness” Panya added.

Zahra shuddered at the thought and immediately she was led through a private and narrow passageway into her room.

Zahra sat by a wooden stool in front of her large golden crested mirror and the girls rushed to her side to attend to her.

Panya settled her feet into a ceramic bowl of warm water and started to cleanse her feet.

Mintaka wrapped a smaller towel made of sheep’s wool around Zahra’s head and gave her a good massage to her scalp.

Zahra’s eyes rolled back to the back of her head and she purred, wiggling her toes slightly with a slight playful smile on her face.

“I wonder why she loves this so much” Mintaka giggled, watching Zahra’s satisfied expression in the mirror.

“It’s because she has a wolf. For some reason wolves love a good scratch” Panya added.

One of the reasons behind Egypt’s unfailing success were werewolves.

The Moon god Khonsu had blessed Egypt with his firstborns and had asked them them to procreate to strengthen their men.

The first class of people to accept those wolves were the High Class because they wanted protection and continuous strength to guard their wealth and power.

Now in present day, the Egyptians that had been too stubborn to accept the wolves were still human.

And because they were seen as weaker beings, they became slaves to the werewolves.

In order to survive, in order to be the greatest and in order to conquer their enemies, The Egyptians had to breed with werewolves.

That was exactly why Khonsu had created them.

Panya slipped on some slippers for Zahra after cleansing her feet and she stood up, watching her almost dried golden locks in the mirror.

Mintaka peeled away Zahra’s towel and she was left standing nude in front of the mirror.

“Oh to have your body and beauty” Mintaka gushed, carrying a small box filled with ointments and perfume.

“You are pretty Mintaka, You should embrace what Hathor has given you” Zahra flashed a nice smile at her friend.

“Well when Panya and I serve the most beautiful girl in all of Thebes and most likely Egypt I do not see why we cannot be envious” Mintaka continued.

“After all, you have lighter skin than the rest of us” she added with a giggle.

Panya shook her head and brought the heated towel to wrap it around Zahra’s head.

“I am just saying, Zahra. If I were you, I would have been married by now to a handsome Prince” she whispered mischievously.

Zahra shook her head with a small smile and turned back to her reflection in the mirror.

Egyptian men for some reason, preferred women with lighter skin.

The lighter your skin was, the more likely you were to marry during the mating season.

Sadly, the darker skin girls were often shunned and looked down upon by society.

Zahra hated the grave injustice done to them for something they could not control.

And this all comes down to the reason why Zahra did not have many friends.

It did not help that her name meant beautiful and neither did it help that the song composers included her name in all their songs, praising her golden beauty.

For her hair shone like gold and her eyes even brighter.

Her eyes the shape of almonds and her nose tiny and shaped like a button.

Her cheekbones were high and perfect and her bright pink lips were a small, pouty Cupid bow.

She was quite short and possessed slight curves that were quite pronounced because she was so slender.

She was perfect, and everyone wanted to be like her.

It was not the case that there were ugly girls in the whole of The capital of Upper Egypt.

But comparing their beauty to Zahras’ was like comparing the stature of a donkey to that of an Arabian Stallion.

She had everything laying on her feet.

Wealth, a strong golden wolf, wisdom, beauty and the perfect voice.

The jealousy of most girls was so bad that they did not want to talk to her and they would spread lies about her, saying she was rude and snobbish.

But Mintaka had a very large mouth and she would never stop praising her mistress.

The only friend that Zahra had after the girls was Asenath, Amsety’s half sister.

But she had married her mate and was now Queen of lower Egypt.

She often visited Upper Egypt and made sure to stop by The Abasi Aarun Villa every single time.

“Have you heard Zahra?” Mintaka whispered, brushing through Her mistress’s hair.

“What?” Zahra rose a perfect curious brow at her.

“Pharaoh Amsety has conquered the Nubian desert. And also, they are to return today. There will also be a party celebrating their victory. It is said they are most likely going to be at the Master’s beer parlor”

“Good for them” Zahra replied, her face indifferent with disinterest.

“But aren’t you happy- you could come see them-“

“Oh my goodness Mintaka! Why are you trying to encourage unlady like behavior from the young mistress!” Panya snapped at her with narrowed eyes.

“But-“

“If you do not recall I’ve never been to the royal Palace. I do not attend any event held by the royals. My father forbids it and you both know why. As much as I’m glad for their victory, we all know that all Egypt has are winning streaks in Battle.” Zahra lowered her voice.

Fear made her father do it.

Of course it had to do with the love he had for her but it was also fear.

Zahra had never seen the Pharaoh of Egypt but from what she heard, he was an exceedingly handsome man.

If Horus was attractive enough to make the goddess of love and beauty fall in love with him, then Horus’ son had no reason to be short of looks.

However, Pharaoh Amsety was such a w***e. He travelled the ends of the earth and each time he came home, he brought tons of exotic women with him.

Some Roman, some Greek, some Jewish and all were beautiful.

Together he filled them up in a Harem and slept with different ones each day.

It was rumored from the royal Servants that the only surviving son of Horus did not want a mate.

That made sense as he had killed other people’s mates in the past.

The only person he wanted as his Queen was A certain god’s daughter that had been prophesied to exist, but as a punishment for his evil ways she had been hidden away and never to be found by him.

And this all came down to the reasons why Zahra never attended any event regarding the royal family and even missed Asenath’s wedding.

Abasi Aarun knew that his daughter was beautiful and had features a lot of other Egyptians saw as exotic and different.

Not many people had golden locks on their hair and neither did they have Zahra’s beautiful amber eyes.

If the Pharaoh saw her he was most likely going to try and covet her.

If the case was better he was only going to lay down with her once or twice but that meant taking away her honor and leaving her undesirable to wed as she will be no virgin.

So therefore Abasi did not want his daughter to either be a slut to the Pharaoh or even let him dishonor her because he was not going to wed her.

Zahra after all, hated the Pharaoh for her personal reasons.

So Ra Forbid it that she ever crosses path with the shallow god.

A sharp knock on the door brought Zahra out of her thoughts and she turned around curiously to see what was going on.

When the doors were pushed open she turned around to look at her father standing in the middle of her room.

By now she had already donned a white sheath dress and was dressed appropriately with her jewels.

Her servant girls bowed their heads to their master and scurried out of the door to give them privacy.

“Father,” she stood up and made her way to him.

He narrowed his eyes at her and she bowed her head to show respect so that his anger would not reach any further level.

The doors shut behind him and he stalked towards her, his fists balled in annoyance.

“Look at me Zahra,” he called out.

Zahra rose her head and peered at his tall frame curiously.

“I found your bows on the passage way. Before that, your mother had seen it!” He hissed, his teeth gritting.

Zahra paled.

She has forgotten to put them away after practice with her father’s brother!

“Father I-“

“I had to tell your mother that it was your Uncle’s bow and arrow so you are safe. But you have to be more careful. You’re supposed to be learning how to manage your own household when you get married! Not learning how to fight but ever since you were Fourteen I have allowed you” he lowered his tone.

“Your mother will never forgive me if she learns the reason why you are not yet mated. And I am sorry but I cannot hold back any longer. This Season you have to find your mate and settle down. The People are beginning to whisper Zahra, you are turning 19 this year” he told her.

“But I haven’t found my mate yet. Am I not supposed to wait for him?” She asked him.

“Zahra,” he started shakily.

“When the season comes you will find him. And if you want to keep practicing with your bows and sword then you need to start attending your lessons. You’re my only daughter,” his voice softened.

“And I want to be alive to see my grand pups. I need to see you get mated and married too. Do you understand?” He asked her.

“Yes Father” she nodded.

“Alright then. Your lessons with your mother and proprietress starts the day after tomorrow as there are celebrations for the victory of Egypt. I might send for you later in the day if the Pharaoh does not show up at my parlor. Okay?” He asked.

“Okay” she nodded.

He nodded once more and left her room.

Zahra released the breath she did not realize she was holding.

*********

Amsety trailed his fingers around the golden curve of the chariot he was seated in.

The warrior’s chants and excitement were supposed to be uplifting his mood.

He was supposed to be living in the moment but instead, he felt nostalgic.

Some people called him Seti, which meant son of Seth, the god of war and Chaos.

As much as he hated Seth for the constant destruction he brought amongst the gods, it was a pleasurable thing to be called in battle.

Because it meant he was extremely successful in the battle arena and would never come out of a war as the failure.

He had remembered his first war, how elated he was.

Then he remembered the next that came not long after his first.

Then the next and the next and the next until he grew bored of winning all those battles and wars.

All he could think of was the excitement he had while riding his chariot back to Egypt in his youth.

Now he felt nothing, numb even.

Because it just felt like a dumb task he had to repeat over and over again.

Fighting with non wolves happened to be very easy.

So he wasn’t surprised to come out of this war as victor.

All those Nubian people that were causing Egypt trouble could do was steal, not fight.

He wanted a challenge, he was really getting bored of all this nonsense.

The only challenge he had was finding the other end of the scroll that contained the prophecy that would change his life.

And it was so tiring it wore him out of patience everyday.

“Someone does not look happy” Ammon, his best friend stated dryly, pushing Amsety’s arm with his.

Amsety rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his armor plated chest, uninterested.

“Come on, what makes your mood so sour?” Ammon asked.

“I am bored” Amsety drew his sword from its scabbard.

He trailed the dried blood on it and his lips curled into a snarl.

He needed his sword washed and sharpened.

He had barely noticed it when they had entered the huge gates of Egypt.

Now they were already in the affluent side of Upper Egypt that comes before the royal palace.

“We are stopping by a parlor. You should come In and have some wine too Pharaoh” Ammon added.

“No, I will not waste my life away on wine” he refused.

“So you rather waste it on the women in your harem?” Ammon stared at him with disgust.

“Maybe I just need sleep and your annoying mouth shut” Amsety growled.

“Why are you so opposed to drinking? The Abasi beer parlor has the best wine in all of Egypt. The owner is said to travel the ends of the Earth to bring all of the best foreign wine he has tasted to Egypt. Surely you cannot reject that” His friend urged him.

“Very well then.” Amsety yielded.

“I hope it satisfies your ego that I said yes to you”

When the god looked back, he noticed that almost all the warriors had flooded into the beer parlor.

Maybe it would not be such a bad decision after all.

*****

Zahra was attempting some embroidery with her mother when her eyes rolled back into her head.

She felt the normal ring in her head before she heard it.

Her father was mindlinking her.

Zahra....

“Yes father?” She replied.

“Go into my room. Remember the special key I gave you? It is to unlock a box filled up with very special wine. Ask the servants to put the box into our family chariot and come to the parlor. We have high ranked wolves here..... including the Pharaoh” he added.

“But father-“

“He will not see you. I honestly need someone I can trust to deliver this wine to me as it is very expensive. Just follow through the back and I will be waiting there for you. Cover your head with a shawl and try your best not to come through the main door. That is where he is”

“Alright father. I will arrive soon” she assured him.

Muttering a word of affirmation, he blocked the mind link.

Zahra hoped that nothing was going to go wrong today.

When everything was.......