Kyan rose from his seat after the ritual and beckoned to
Briut who stood by, trying not to look
like he was hovering to catch him should he again fall. The high priest waved away the bevy of
healers who had a tendency to cluster around newly risen patients. But he took Briut’s arm and was helped into
his rooms in the temple, where they could have a modicum of privacy.
“Holy One,
I am so happy that you are on your feet again!” Briut bowed very low. “I trust you found everything in order?”
“Ah, Briut
you did an excellent job, except for one, tiny, problem. The Candace’s health tonics. We must be diligent in caring for our
Beloved!” Kyan’s eyelids drooped, just slightly, a little dangerously. Briut had no idea that the tonics made
Amani-shakhete healthy. Too healthy to
ever maintain a pregnancy, since a woman’s defenses had to be lowered for
that. And now those tonics would be
replaced by the midwives’. He would not
be able to encourage her body to abort this child.
“Holy One,
I have a letter from the Most Holy in Thebes!” Briut obviously expected the
reprimand and pulled out his letter. “He
explained that the temple healers here would be certain to have all the requisite
ingredients.” Translation, Kyan thought. I’m not sending you any more ferrweed.
“Of course,
Younger Brother. The evidence of the
Most Holy’s wisdom is our Beloved’s Blessing.”
“There is a
letter that just arrived for you, Holy One.”
And you tried to read it,
magically, and are chagrined that you aren’t strong enough to. He could see the hieroglyphs on the seal
that glowed to his sight that showed they’d been tampered with.
“And you’re
having some trouble with your eyes, still, Briut?” Kyan accepted the scroll, holding it unopened
on his lap. The man had the grace to be
a bit chagrined.
“A little,
Holy One.”
“Euphrasia
eye wash will help.” Eyebright would
ease the soreness he knew his second in command would be suffering after the
warning flash of intense bright light when he tried to read the scroll without
permission.
“Thank you,
Holy One.” He bowed again, and this time Kyan could see that his eyes were
red-rimmed. “With your permission?” He
waved behind himself.
“Of
course. If I need help or anything at
all, I will call. Please close the doors
behind you and make sure I am not disturbed.” Translation: I’ll rip your
ears off if I catch you invading my privacy again.
“Blessings, Holy One.”
“And to you
Younger Brother.”
The scroll opened with a crackle
of light and the scent of honeysuckle, a sign that it had not been successfully
tampered with.
My Brother in Amun, it began. It is
with tremendous sorrow that I heard of your sudden illness and so unfortunate
that our Brother’s actions might well have precipitated his unfortunate
downfall. Translation: You acted on your own and got hit with some kind of
backlash.
Ritual and the rigorous service of our God
is, indeed, a delicate thing and the actions of many often depend on one
another, like the footfall of a butterfly that ultimately brings the obelisk
crashing into ruins. Translation:
You disregarded our timetable and now we’re playing catch-up so that we don’t
get crushed under the falling rock.
I am grieved that my little Brother of Kush
is suddenly so frail in the grand scheme of the Universe, that he might not be
able to fully participate in the fullness of life and the euphonius and
magnificent pageantry that is the life of service to Amun. Translation:
Mess up again and we won’t be so kind and forgiving, we’ll kick you out.
Please do take care of yourself and your
flock, Kyan. I will speak plainly and
personally here only. If we fail because
you pushed up the timetable for our ascension to power on your own recognizance
then you will find yourself so deep in the Nile that you will be unable to
reach a crocodile’s nether parts with your tongue. Kyan stared in shock at
the hieroglyphs that openly threatened him.
That… just wasn’t DONE.
Once again Our best prayers to our Mighty
God for your swift recovery and your return to the diligent and stalwart priest
that We know you to be.
Yours in the Everlasting Service of
the Almighty Amun,
Neirth-Amun High Priest of Amun in
AEgypt, service to the Pharoah Cleopatra IX (Translation: The old Pharoah
Cleopatra VIII has died and the baby Princess is now under Neirth-Amun’s
thumb). hem netjer en tepy
The One Who Adores Amun First after the Divine Wife
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