Chapter 9: Mehyt
In the house of the two boys and their grandmother, the air was always fresh, scented with citrus or delicate flowers. Shehrazad took great care to keep the smell of illness at bay. To her, Demir was simply trapped in a deep sleep, from the dream of which he no longer wanted to return to life. And this was where she, the grandmother, stepped in with all her heart, all her strength, and all her knowledge as an Epigraphist and Paleographer in Egyptology.
Her profession, among other things, involved deciphering the ancient writings of the early dynasties and studying the rituals of the ancient Egyptians. Fate had led her to discover something incredible: a network of portals through fountains or water wells all around the world. These portals could only be activated by certain people, and they led into a true labyrinth of time and space.
At first, this was hard to believe, especially for a brilliant scientific mind like Shehrazad’s. Paradoxically, however, she herself was one of the keys that could unlock these portals. She had gone and seen it with her own eyes; she had stood as a silent witness to numerous historical moments until one day, fate brought her face-to-face with her own likeness from more than three thousand years ago. The woman from the past was no ordinary woman, but a queen: Queen Tiye. Because times were troubled and conspiracies lurked around every corner, she, Shehrazad, saved the one-year-old twins—Queen Tiye's grandsons and the sons of Akhenaten and Queen Meritmut—from certain death. At that moment, something in the Mirror of Time cracked, and she, Shehrazad, could no longer travel through that portal.
Now, in Demir's bedroom, the white cat was once again resting on the boy's chest. Except this time, two other people were part of the circle bound by the rope soaked in cedar resin: Anemo and his father, Professor Simoon. Apart from Remi and Demir, everyone else sat on chairs at a considerable distance from the child's bed, so as not to make his breathing any harder.
"Now I will set the clock to ring!" Shehrazad said. "This time we have seventy minutes, ten minutes more than last time. Courage, we are a strong anchor for Remi. She will try to bring my grandson back home to us. Are you ready?"
Remi felt the collar around her neck pulsing and activating once more, and she stepped back into the Ether Wall, holding Demir by the hand. This time, they found themselves in a completely different place.
"Where are we now?" Remi asked the boy, who stubbornly remained a ghost.
"I think we are at the palace... I'm nervous. I don't know if I told you, but the Pharaoh is my father. This must be his study."
The Pharaoh's study was a high-ceilinged room, flooded with blinding light that poured through narrow slits just beneath the ceiling. The white limestone walls were decorated with delicate bas-reliefs showing the god Aten, stretching his hands out at the end of his rays to protect the royal family. In the center, a massive table made of cedarwood, inlaid with gold and lapis lazuli, was piled high with papyrus scrolls and clay tablets.
Akhenaten, still young, with his long facial features and eyes deep in thought, sat on a high-backed throne. In front of him, Grand Priest Ay moved with soft, almost silent steps. He had a lanky build, pure white linen robes, and a wicked gaze hidden beneath a mask of absolute servility.
"Light of the Two Lands," the priest said, bowing his head with a sweet, slippery smile. "The gossip from the market square has begun to echo in the temples. People are whispering... They say the unborn child that your second wife, Meritmut, carries in her womb is not of your blood, but the fruit of a betrayal with... your radiance knows who. For the peace of the throne, it would be wise to get rid of her... or to ensure that the child never sees the light of day."
Akhenaten clenched his fingers around the edge of his throne, but before he could answer, the heavy bronze door creaked open.
A little boy of about six years old walked into the room. He was remarkably beautiful, with large, intelligent eyes, but his face was pale, and his deformed left foot made him walk with a heavy, painful limp. Little Tutankhaton approached the table, completely ignoring the heavy presence of the Grand Priest.
"Father," the child said in a thin but firm voice, "I have come for you to teach me about wisdom and rulership. When my baby brother from mother Meritmut is born, I want to be a just king to him. Will he be as powerful as the god Aten?"
Ay exchanged a fleeting, venom-filled glance with the Pharaoh, letting the child's innocent words float in the air like a threat to his own plans.
From the other side of the Ether Wall, Remi and Demir watched frozen, realizing they were witnessing the exact moment the conspiracy against the twins was set in motion. Demir began to breathe in rapid, ragged gasps, as if having an asthma attack. Remi squeezed his hand tightly, then dropped one knee to the floor and looked straight into the boy's brown eyes, which shimmered with sunlight.
"I am right here with you, Demir! Breathe calmly, count backward from ten to one. The moment we are watching right now has already passed; you were born. You will be fine."
The two ghosts slipped out of the Pharaoh's study. They passed through corridors and halls, past guards and servants, until they reached an inner courtyard once again. It was a small one, with a fountain in the center shaped like the sun disc and its rays, its surface completely covered with yellow lotuses. Right at the base of the fountain, looking like a ball of black fur, was the very same tomcat they had seen the last time.
"Look at the cheeky thing! Even three thousand years ago, he was taking his afternoon nap!" Remi said.
The bundle of black fur moved lazily, stretching his long paws out on the sun-baked stone, right next to the yellow lotuses. The cat opened a single eye of bright amber-gold and looked at the two of them with a deeply bored expression, without ruining his comfortable position.
"You two again, flying shadows?" he meowed in a low, echoing voice that seemed to come from the depths of the temples. "By the rays of Aten, you are ruining the peace of this courtyard with your bodyless presence. My name is Mehyt, the cool north wind, and I do not allow anyone to disturb my prayers."
"Does that mean your darkness was praying?" the boy chimed in immediately, slipping into his role as a respectful subject. "Who were you praying to?"
"Shh, foolish child! The walls have ears here. Lean down and pay close attention."
Demir and Remi moved closer to the bundle of black fur and knelt down to hear what he had to say. The cat whispered very softly:
"I am praying to the Great Bastet. The winds bring bad news... You, my dear, have a very interesting collar. I see we share the same religion"
Remi swallowed her ironic smile and, with complete seriousness, turned back to the black cat:
"Mehyt... north breeze, do you think you could help us?"
But just as the cat was getting readyto answer, a long, annoying ringing ripped them away from the mists of history, snapping Remi right back into her body as a white cat.
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