Ennead: Ancient Bits: Part 13

Ba-Khu-Ra glowered at the pile of bodies that she had left behind. The guards that had attacked her hadn't stood a chance of actually killing her after she had called forth Diabound and now there was just one guard still breathing.

"Who ordered you to attack me?" Ba-Khu-Ra demanded with a scowl, Diabound squeezing the man in his grip, causing a pained cry to escape the royal guard.

He didn't answer, instead he focused on trying to struggle free of the naga like, stone skinned creature's grip. Ba-Khu-Ra let out a frustrated growl and gestured to Diabound who tightened his crushing grip enough for Ba-Khu-Ra to hear a crack and the guard to screech.

"Now, as I was saying, who's orders were you acting on?"

"The Pharaoh's!" The guard yelped, "It was Pharaoh's orders."

"What?" That Ba-Khu-Ra hadn't expected. Akhenaden's probably, Shada's maybe, hell even Mahad was a possibility, but the Pharaoh herself? Why would the Pharaoh, who had been her friend for years, order her death now? It didn't make any sense, especially after the Pharaoh had supported her in court and promised to ensure that she got her revenge on the man who had murdered her people.

"The Pharaoh ordered us to kill you." The guard gasped, his breath short and pained before he paused to cough up blood, causing Ba-Khu-Ra to grimace as she realized she had punctured one of his lungs and he probably wouldn't be able to talk too much longer. "And bury the evidence Kul Elna ever existed."

Ba-Khu-Ra froze. She wouldn't. The Pharaoh couldn't. She had promised! Promised! That the people of Kul Elna would get justice and the afterlife they deserved. There was no way...

‘Except the Pharaoh had lived a lie her entire life. What was this in comparison to pulling the wool over the eyes of all of Egypt?’

No, the Pharaoh wasn't like that. They were friends. The Pharaoh had tried to help her get justice for years. There was no way that she would suddenly turn on her like this. There had to be a good reason for it.

"When did he give you those orders?" Ba-Khu-Ra demanded, glowering at the man, even now keeping her friend's secret from the dying Guard, hoping to get something out of the man that would give lie to his belief.

"Our commander met with the Pharaoh and he ordered your death." The Guard replied, "Along with the destruction of what was left of the village. He didn't want the truth of the Millennium Items getting out."

‘Of course the Pharaoh wouldn't. She lived her entire life under the creed 'what's best for the people.' She was pretending to be her brother in order to prevent chaos and rioting amongst the rabble. Imagine the nightmare that admitting how the Millennium Items were created would cause amongst the commoners.’

Except the Pharaoh had shown no signs of wanting to kill her when they had left the palace to come here.

‘Had she not? She sent you out into the desert with a man who hated her and a group of guards who had been sent to aid him. If it hadn't been for us,’ The voices reminded her, ‘You would have been killed.’

"You lie." The Pharaoh had supported her, upheld her side, argued with her High Priests about what should be done about the problem Akhenaden had caused and now needed to fix.

"No, I don't." The guard replied, "After all, why would a low life piece of scum ever think the Pharaoh would truly turn against his family and High Priests? He was never on your side. He just played you."

Ba-Khu-Ra's anger flared at that and she made a gesture to Diabound that had the creature crush the guard, killing him slowly and painfully as she stalked away, looking for any other targets she could annihilate.

‘The Pharaoh supported you.’ The voices agreed, ‘But that support was in a closed court where the only people who had heard what had happened to Kul Elna were the High Priests, you and Pharaoh herself. She had practically ordered you to keep what had happened to yourself and hasn’t told Seth or Mana, despite the fact that both were High Priests in training.

There was no way someone who lived a lie in order to prevent the country descending into chaos would want this secret free amongst the rabble. It made sense that she would try to get rid of the evidence and the only person who knew the truth outside of her court.’

Ba-Khu-Ra didn’t want to agree, but she could see the truth behind the voices.

’The Pharaoh is just as bad as her uncle. She would take away our only chance of moving on. Would keep the truth a secret and allow us to wander Duat for eternity in order to keep her power.’ The voices continued, weaving around Ba-Khu-Ra as they did so, ‘She betrayed you. Wants you dead. Broke her promise. She will send more men to finish the job when she hears you survived. We could destroy her. We SHOULD destroy her. Alongside everyone else who dares to use the items that we paid with our blood and souls to create. We can give you that power. All you have to do in exchange is gather the Millennium Items so we can be free. Free from our slavery and imprisonment. Free to move on.’

She knew she shouldn’t listen. Mahad had tried to teach her to block them out so she didn’t have to, but they made too much sense and they wanted to help her. Wanted to give her the power to take down the entire rotten court.

And she would do it. She had only stayed her hand this long because she thought that by working within the palace she could help the Pharaoh make things better and get her revenge on the men who had ruined her home and her life.

But the Pharaoh was a liar and a backstabber. She was as bad as the rest of her family and she should pay, just like the others. In fact Ba-Khu-Ra would make her suffer first…

‘Well?’ The voices asked, ‘Will you accept our power?’

“Yes.” Ba-Khu-Ra nodded, “Yes, I will.”

  

Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 11

“You will be careful, won’t you?” Mana asked, worried as she watched Ba-Khu-Ra gather her things, ready for the journey to her old home. “I mean you’re going out into the middle of nowhere, with only Akhenaden for company and...”

“I know.” Ba-Khu-Ra nodded, tying her pack tightly, “But you’re forgetting something.”

“Oh?” Mana asked, an odd expression on her features as she wracked her brain to try work out what she had forgotten.

“He’s an old man who hasn’t left the palace since the Great War. He’s gotten rusty.” Ba-Khu-Ra smirked, “Whereas I’ve kept my old skills just as sharp as my new ones. I could take him in my sleep, no matter how many morons he’s bringing with us to help him ‘fix’ things. Besides he wouldn’t dare try anything, not with the Pharaoh on my side.” She looked over at Mana, “What about you? You have been keeping an eye on those losers?”

Mana frowned and nodded, fully aware of who Ba-Khu-Ra meant. Neither Mahad or the Pharaoh were aware that the pair of them had been keeping on top of any assassination plots with the help of a few of the guards and servants. In fact there was such a plot in the works right now, one that Mana and Ba-Khu-Ra had been watching carefully to see if it was just talk or whether they meant action.

“I assume you want to be kept up to date on what happens?” Mana asked.

“By now you should be able to handle it.” Ba-Khu-Ra shrugged. She had been teaching Mana quite a few things that she knew neither the Pharaoh or Mahad would have approved of. If anyone could deal with anything like this, she was sure that the thief trained Mage student could. “And you could always bring it to Seth’s attention. You do remember what he did to the last person who tried to kill the Pharaoh?”

Mana did. They had caught three of the plotters, but the fourth had would have succeeded if it hadn’t been for Seth. His version of ‘justice’ hadn’t been pretty. She did have one question though.

“Why not Mahad?”

“Because Mahad still thinks like a posh, palace raised snob.” The ex-thief chuckled, even as she double checked her stuff, “Seth is much more creative, and he’s more tolerable.”

It helped that Seth hadn’t received a Millennium Item yet. He was due to any day, but for now Ba-Khu-Ra didn’t have to deal with the voices whispering in her ears whenever she was around him. Nowadays she even had that trouble around the Pharaoh. She was looking forward to getting away from the palace just to get away from the constant buzzing in her brain.

Not that Mana or Seth were aware of the Truth. The Pharaoh hadn’t seen fit to tell them, not yet and had asked Ba-Khu-Ra to keep quiet about it until she could work out the best way to reveal it. As such everyone knew Akhenaden was in disgrace and was being sent away to atone for something he had done, but no one outside of the closed court was aware of why and Ba-Khu-Ra supposed she could see the logic behind it, even if it grated on her nerves.

“I suppose.” Mana sighed, “He is trying though, Mahad I mean.”

“Mahad is always trying.” Ba-Khu-Ra snorted, “Right.” She picked up her packs and looked around her room. There was surprisingly little to pack. Everything else in the room, which the Pharaoh had promised would still be hers when she came back, no matter how long it took, belonged to the palace or wasn’t important enough to her to take along on the trip. “I think that’s everything.”

“Any idea when you’ll be back?” Mana asked, following her teacher in the less arcane arts out of the room.

“I’ll be back before you know it.” The fully trained Mage chuckled at her, “Things would be too quiet round here if I wasn’t.”

“Good.” Mana looked reassured. “By the way, the Pharaoh wanted to talk to you before you go.”

“She probably just wants to make me promise not to kill her uncle or something ridiculous like that.” Ba-Khu-Ra let out a huff, “Still the sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can leave, so let’s go.”

Ennead: Ancient Bit: Part 10

If there was one good thing to have come out of the former Pharaoh’s demise, it was that Akhenaden had been the last person to see him alive before he had suddenly sickened and died. This meant that the Pharaoh could openly have him investigated and finally confront him about the truth of the items directly.

“My Pharaoh,” Akhenaden sounded panicked more than anything as he was confronted in a closed court that involved just the High Priests, Ba-Khu-Ra, representing the wronged parties, and the Pharaoh herself, “I have only ever done what is best for Egypt!”

“Then explain yourself.” The Pharaoh demanded coldly from her throne, “Explain what it was you did without holding anything back. The Scales will tell us if you’re lying.”

He didn’t. Not one word he uttered was a falsehood. He didn’t keep back how he had picked Kul Elna, the village of thieves, to be the tribute needed to save the country. Nor did he lie about how he had to brainwash some, but not all, of the men he had taken with him to make them follow his directions.

Ba-Khu-Ra listened, trembling with rage, as he spoke about slaughtering her people, using their blood to power the ritual to create the Millennium Items that had saved Egypt during the last great war. She even just about managed to keep herself in check as he described sending his men to wipe out every last man, woman and child.

It wasn’t until he admitted to burning down the entire village to destroy every last piece of evidence, including the bodies of her entire village, dooming them to an eternity in Duat, that she snapped, Diabound appearing and only not killing the man because the Pharaoh’s own summoned monster got between Diabound and its target.

“Ba-Khu-Ra!” The Pharaoh’s tone was sharp, echoing the pain the former thief’s Ka beast had inflicted on her summoned creature, “Stay your hand.”

“You heard him. He deserves death!” The girl snarled, her naga like creature snarling at the Pharaoh’s warrior on horseback.

“Death may well still be the sentence.” The Pharaoh informed her, glowering at her uncle who trembled under her gaze, “But I have a task for him first.”

“But I have waited years for retribution!” Ba-Khu-Ra protested, causing the Priests to murmur angrily about her disrespect.

“And you will have it.” The Pharaoh swore, causing her uncle to pale, “But not until he’s ensured that your people will get their chance at journeying through the afterlife.”

“My Pharaoh?” Ba-Khu-Ra asked, startled. Was she seriously promising to ensure that the people of Kul Elna weren’t left as wandering spirits for the rest of eternity? Was that even possible when the bodies were no longer available for burial?

“I swear, Ba-Khu-Ra, that the people of your village will get justice.” The Pharaoh promised, “And their eternal rest, as is their due. However,” Ba-Khu-Ra grimaced as the Pharaoh turned to her uncle, the God King’s tone softening slightly, “He was doing what he thought was best for Egypt and it is true the country would have fallen without the Millennium Items. It is because of this that I must allow him this chance to atone for his crimes, by making him set the wrongs right with his own hands.” She looked at the former thief, something in her gaze asking the other girl to understand, “Under your supervision, of course.”

The thief turned mage smirked at that announcement. The Pharaoh was trusting her to judge when Akhenaden had atoned? Then he would be working for the rest of his natural life for there was nothing he could possibly do that would make up for his crimes. It wasn’t as satisfying as killing him but she would enjoy watching him try even if the voices that had haunted her since the destruction of her village screamed for his blood.

“Th...Thank you, my Pharaoh.” Akhenaden stammered, bowing low to Egypt’s ruler. “Thank you for this chance.”

“Just don’t make me regret it.”