Happily ever after

[Neferet's POV]

The next day, a giant feast was held. There were heaps of bread, meat, beer and wine, rivalling the amounts that could be found at festivals. The only difference was that this wasn't a public event. Granted, there were a lot of people present, but all these people had some connection to Amon or Neferet. Or both.

So far Neferet had spotted Intef, Amenemhat, Merenre, Nebet, Amtes, Tuya, Sabu, Sapar, and even Haruw. But there were many faces she had never seen before too.

Merenre's wife and kid for instance. It was her first time meeting Baketmut. Her facial features betrayed that she usually was very slim and elegant, but at the moment she was VERY pregnant. Pregnant enough for Neferet to worry she might blow up any second.

"So you are the beauty who tamed the beast," she said once Merenre introduced her.

"Baketmut! Watch your words!" Amon instantly warned her.

"You don't get to boss me around, you sorry excuse of a ruler! You should be thankful that I've borrowed you my husband for so long," Baketmut retorted unfazed.

"You're lucky that my brother cares for you. Otherwise I would have beheaded you a long time ago," Amon bit back.

"They don't get along. They are both too headstrong," Merenre whispered near her ear. Neferet quickly hid her giggle behind her hand, but before she could say anything else, her attention was seized by a few small tugs at her skirt. It was Merenre's boy, Idu.

"Hello!" he said as he stretched his little arms towards her, indicating that he wanted a hug. Neferet looked down into his big bright eyes. Her heart instantly melted at the sight of his chubby cheeks and the traditional tuft of hair on his otherwise bald little head. He must have been one or two years younger than Intef and Amenemhat. She instantly bended down so she'd be on eye-height with him.

"Why hello, big boy!" she cooed as she scooped him up in her arms. "Aren't you friendly? How are you?"

He blushed and pressed a slimy, wet kiss on her cheek.

"Love you!" Idu said, giving her a big and proud grin. Merenre instantly plucked him from her arms, throwing Amon a worried glance.

"That was a very dangerous thing to do, Idu," Merenre scolded. "Brother Amon could have killed you for touching his woman."

When she glanced over at Amon, she saw him raise an unimpressed eyebrow.

"I'm not that desperate, Merenre," Amon said.

"Yeah, right!" Merenre defied him. "I've seen you fight with the twins more than once just to get close to her."

"First of all, it's called 'play fighting'," he retorted in a sulky way. "And second, it's different with them because she's their mother. I have to share her with them."

Neferet snorted. "You have me for yourself all night though."

"Hmm, thank Ra," he said with a hungry look in his eyes at the mention of their bedtime, but refrained from kissing or touching her.

"Ok, ok, enough flirting you two!" Baketmut said as she linked arms with Neferet and pulled her along. "Introduce me to your khener! I'm a big fan of all travelling artists. They must come and play at our house sometime!"

Neferet chuckled and looked over her shoulder briefly. As she did so, she saw Amon ready to follow her, one hand already outstretched towards her, his eyes following her. But before he could call out, someone caught his attention.

It was a woman in a long, white dress and a huge wig with thick, lush, wild curls on her head, a golden headband keeping everything together. She must be some sort of princess, judging by her luxurious clothes.

Neferet didn't like Amon's reaction towards her. The way he had reacted to her call immediately, even though she had only called out once. Neferet huffed and turned her attention to where she was going instead.

"Sister!" Amtes yelled as they arrived and hugged her closely. "I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too," Neferet said as she squeezed her gently. "Have you been listening to Tuya like a good girl?"

"Of course not!" she complained. "If I'd be listening to her I'd be pregnant by now."

"Oh? What's this? I thought you liked matters of the heart?" Neferet asked surprised.

"Sex has nothing to do with the heart! It involves some completely different body parts to perform!"

"There was this really cute boy in Memphis, totally into her," Tuya joined in on the conversation. "She blew him off. Saying she wasn't interested!"

"There are lots of ways to prevent pregnancy," Baketmut said, smiling happily. "And what's wrong with being pregnant anyway? I like it."

"Who are you?" Amtes asked.

"Ah, this is Baketmut. The wife of Amon's brother," Neferet introduced hastily.

"You're pregnant," Amtes observed with big impressed eyes.

"I am," Baketmut laughed.

"Can I touch your belly?" she asked, blushing fiercely.

"Of course you can," Baketmut said as little Amtes gently fingered her belly. "Be gentle."

"Being pregnant might be fun for a married woman," Nebet joined in too. "But it would be devastating for our line of work."

"I see," Baketmut muttered thoughtfully.

"Baketmut? These are my sisters; Nebet, Amtes and Tuya," Neferet introduced them quickly.

"Nice to meet you," Tuya said. "Just so you know, I'm the youngest."

The others giggled.

"Where is Sapar?" Neferet asked as she looked around to see if she could spot him.

"Well, he was stuffing his face earlier, but now he seems to be playing with your sons," Tuya said.

And indeed, there he was; doing a handstand for all to see, his skirt hiked up all the way to his chest, providing everyone of a glorious view of his underwear and but-cheeks. Yet, he did a great job of making the twins scream out in amazement.

"How come Amon hasn't skinned him alive yet?" Baketmut asked. Neferet had to think about her question for a second. She had to admit, Amon did get jealous easily. Why hadn't he skinned Sapar alive yet?

"Because Sapar isn't a threat, obviously," Nebet said dryly.

"Are you telling me you think Amon is more attractive than that guy?" Baketmut laughed.

"I know I don't mind a strong man," Tuya shrugged. "That, plus the fact that Neferet only has eyes for her precious pharaoh."

She blushed.

"Well, who'd want to be with that idiot anyway?" Neferet retorted as she nodded towards Sapar, but smiled as she saw him interact with Intef and Amenemhat. That's when her eyes met Sapar's.

"Hey, Neferet!" he yelled. "These kids don't know any tricks! Haven't you learned them anything?"

"Idiot!" she called back. "These kids aren't supposed to become entertainers when they grow up! They'll have a country to rule."

Sapar walked over, Intef and Amenemhat following close behind him. "You disappoint me, sister," he complained.

"Calm down," Neferet laughed. "I've secretly been learning them some lute."

"Oooh!" Sapar voiced in amazement. "That I have to see. Servant?! Bring me my lute!"

"And mine, please," Neferet said with an apologetic expression, very well aware of the fact that her brother had just been very rude.

The angry looking servant looked like he was about ready to tell Sapar where he could put his lute, but his expression softened when he saw Neferet's apologetic expression.

"Right away, mistress," he said and left.

Sapar's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Mistress?!" he asked as the words were still sinking in and then he scrunched up his nose and said: "Blah!"

Neferet laughed.

"What are you doing?" Amon asked as he came over.

"Introducing Baketmut to my family," she said, a smile involuntarily appearing on her face, even though she'd promised herself to play hard to get for a little while. He embraced her and bended over to press a little kiss to her lips.

"Blah!" Sapar complained loudly, surprising her. Her sisters laughed. The servant returned with two lutes; one battered and one brand new.

Sapar whistled. "That is one beautiful lute. Can I play it?"

"Let the boys play first, you idiot," Neferet laughed and handed both lutes to Intef and Amenemhat. They both readied themselves.

First up was Intef. He played a perfect little chord, hitting all the notes just right. Everyone laughed and clapped once they realised what was happening.

Then it was Amenemhat's turn. He played a little child-hymn, missing a few notes, but everyone cheered and clapped as well.

"I didn't know you were teaching them?" Amon asked audibly surprised. Of course he didn't. It was a secret between her and the boys.

"My turn," Sapar said as he took the brand new lute from Intef, but didn't forget to rub the boy's head for a job well done. He instantly whipped up a storm of harmonious notes, gaining the awe of all the non-khener members. Neferet rolled her eyes at him.

"You've gotten rusty, brother!" Neferet laughed as she held out a hand for the old and battered lute Amenemhat was holding. He instantly handed her the instrument, his eyes dancing with excitement because his mom was going to play.

Neferet thought for a second. She wanted a happy song. Something to let everyone know that she had survived. That she was alive and that she was happy to be so.

That's when Sapar strummed the new lute into a familiar chord. One that fitted her mood perfectly.

She shot a grateful look at Sapar and he nodded, letting her know he was ready to accompany her. He had always been able to read her mind. She loved making music with him. He made it look so easy.

She followed his example, their lutes harmonising and then she opened her mouth to sing.

"Come, Golden Goddess, o come to the festival. Come, Golden Goddess and come drink with us!" Neferet's clear voice rang over the crowd and everyone stilled around her. If she hadn't had years of experience, she might have stopped to go hide in a corner, but she was used to this kind of attention. "The singers are chanting, the wine has been poured and your children brought all of the things that you love! Come, Golden Goddess, o come to the festival. Come, Golden Goddess and come drink with us!"

The song was originally a hymn to Hathor, but Neferet had adjusted it long ago to fit in with festive atmospheres. It usually was received pretty well.

When the song neared its end, her father was standing there with to take over the lute from her. He must have heard that her throat had gone dry.

She handed the instrument to him gratefully, and he played on to give her the opportunity to escape from the spotlight.

She escaped straight to Amon's side, who wasn't far. He welcomed her presence as if he hadn't seen her in months, but didn't say anything. He took her hand and kissed the knuckles as he had before, his eyes staring into hers, asking a million silent questions.

"That was really beautiful," an absolutely breathtaking woman said, interrupting their moment. She wore a long, heavy looking wig, the ends tied together with golden rings, her eyes were made up with blue eye-shadow and she was wearing a long white gown, tied to her waist with a colourful band.

What was with everybody at this party today?! They all looked so ridiculously beautiful that she was starting to feel ugly herself.

"Thank you," Neferet said bashfully. "It's been a while, I hope my voice didn't sound strange?"

The breathtakingly beautiful woman shook her head, making her lush hair dance from side to side. "I have never heard anything more beautiful. You truly have a gift."

"Thank you," Neferet mumbled quietly as she blushed bright red. The compliment touching her more than she'd remembered any complement ever had. She couldn't understand why. Maybe she appreciated everything better now, since she had nearly died?

"Neferet?" Amon said. "May I introduce you to Isis."

"Isis, like the goddess?" Neferet asked surprised.

Amon chuckled. "Not like the goddess; THE goddess."

Neferet's eyes widened in surprise. She looked at the beautiful woman, then back at Amon and repeated the motion twice. Then she let her head hang and shook it.

"I should have known there was more than one god at this party, I'd seen Haruw earlier," she said. She sounded disappointed with herself even to her own ears.

"You introduced her to Haruw?" Isis asked, a strained and awkward note to her voice.

"Yes, she caught us talking whe- AAH!" Amon suddenly cried out in pain. And not the type of mental pain you get from humiliating yourself. It looked like real physical pain. Then he coughed once, blood spilling from his mouth as he sunk to his knees, leaned on one hand and held his chest with the other.

Neferet watched in horror as Setka appeared behind Amon's back, his hand had only recently let go of an object that was now sticking out of Amon's back like a sore thumb.

"That's what you deserve, you dirty wife stealer!" he said, his eyes blazing with pure madness. Neferet froze, the scene before her petrifying her to the core.

Why was he here? How had he gotten so close? Why hadn't anyone seen him? Or stopped him? But right as her world was about to spin out of control, Amon stood back up, his eyes shining bright like the sun.

"You!" he snarled angrily as he turned towards a baffled Setka. "You foolish man! I spared your life when you begged me to do so and this is how you repay me?"

Neferet's heart nearly jumped out of her chest. It must have been because of the weird words Amon spoke. He was speaking in a language she'd never heard before, yet she understood every word and her body was tingling with a nostalgic feeling.

Setka, who finally understood that he'd made a mistake, had dropped to the ground and was begging for mercy.

"Did you think that I would make the same mistake twice? Too late. I have seen that you are rotten to the core," Amon continued. When Neferet looked around, she saw that all the other guests, including the gods, had dropped to their knees, bowing deeply.

Everyone, except her.

"The death penalty is too kind for you," Amon said. "But I don't want to see you ever again. Be gone!"

Then the wind started whirling around him and a ray of light came crashing down from the sky, hitting Setka straight on the head. The ray was as bright as the sun. Even Neferet had to avert her eyes this time.

Setka's scream could be heard the first second, but already quickly fell silent. And when the light finally dimmed, all that was left of him was a scourge mark on the ground.

Everything stilled. Amon too. And when it looked like everything had gone back to normal, he crumbled to the ground in a final sort of way, the knife still protruding from his back and blood still seeping from the wound.