Egypt Five - The End
Oct. 24th, 2006 02:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ismeninHello there! Here is the last part of my Egypt Saga. I hope you like it. It has been a great pleasure for me - re-visiting Ancient Egypt.
Here we go then!
Thanks, as always, to lady Sunrope for her beta skills!
Part5 - The End from the Beginning
It did not take a man of great intelligence to observe that the former chief of police was extremely angry. He entered the room flanked by three officers, and glared at Dom and Lij, sitting behind the desk.
Dom signalled for the guards to leave, telling them to wait outside the door. Then he stared thoughtfully at the man standing in front of him.
"Please sit down," Dom remarked in a quiet voice.
The man glared at him even more fiercely. " I prefer to stand, I thank you. What is it you require of me, and why have I been arrested and hauled here like a common criminal? I demand an explanation."
Lij was sitting quietly beside Dom, having said nothing; but now he turned his head towards the furious man.
"You will sit because my colleague has asked you to sit - and you are here because you have been complicit with murder, rapine and kidnap. You will be sent to the Palace for sentencing by the Great Ones. We wish, at this stage, to discover what you have to say in your own defence - if anything. Sit down."
The man sat. Dom turned his head and looked with approval at his spouse, whose voice, when he chose, could be colder than ice.
Dom cleared his throat. He was not sure how to proceed, but he knew that this man had been allowed to rape the prisoners held in the cellar. He decided to take a chance.
"You were seen in the company of Djadao in Tolan. The innkeeper recognised you - he said you had been there several times together."
Lij hid his satisfaction well. The man had gone as pale as milk, but he still tried to bluster his way out of the business.
"I have often been with Djadao on his visits to Tolan. There is nothing to that. He went there to trade, and he came back."
Dom took a sip of his watered wine. "He went there to trade, you say?"
The man nodded eagerly. "Yes, Lord. In cloth and spices..."
"... and the souls of men." Lij cut in, sharp as a razor. "The last time he went there he came back with Ninus the Phoenician. Unfortunately for him - and for you - Ninus is well-known by the Great Ones, as you saw when we took Djadao. Now we have come for you, for Ninus has told us the way you treated him in his prison. The indignities to which you subjected him - the assaults you inflicted upon his person."
The man began to shake. There could be no excuse for his behaviour. And he knew very well that there was no need for Ninus to lie about his involvement with the doings in the cellar.
Dom rested his chin on his hands, and looked over the top of them, at the trembling man.
"It may be that the Great Ones will be lenient with you, if you tell us what happened to the Sheban lord. For you see, we know all about that as well. You pick your victims badly, man - you should have chosen men who were less well-known. Then you would not have been found out."
The man wiped his face over with his hand. "What can I tell you, Lord?" he said.
Lij thought of the time he had spent in the cellars at Tara, and hardened his heart.
"Tell us what you know of Djadao and his habits. It may be that you will be sent to the copper mines rather than suffer death, if you help us. We will petition the Great Ones on your behalf, if what you tell us satisfies us. Say on."
The man shifted his feet on the floor, and pressed his lips together tightly." If I tell you what I know, will you make sure that I am not imprisoned with Djadao, and that I am sent to the Palace separately? I have no wish to meet him again after what I will tell you."
Dom smiled thinly. "You are hardly in any position to plead for terms with us - but we will grant them, nevertheless. You will not be placed in Djadao's company again - you will not meet him until you stand before the Two Thrones. This we promise you."
The man heaved a sigh of relief. "Djadao was always after new meat. He treated his prisoners harshly - some lasted a year, some less. They were kept short of food and drink so that they would be more willing to acquiesce to his demands."
"I do not understand how you know about the Sheban. It is true that there were rewards posted for information on his whereabouts, but Djadao had no need of money, and he paid me very well for my silence."
Lij stood up and paced around the room a little. "Why were you taking him down the river? Was it to collect the reward somewhere where you would not be known?"
The man let out a hollow laugh. "There was no thought of reward in Djadao's head. If you had seen the dead man naked you would have known that he was admirably equipped for the sport of love - indeed I have never seen a pizzle as big as his on any man. "
"Djadao is poorly endowed in this department, but he knew of a man who could make a lotion out of the private parts of such men as the Sheban which would make his own organ grow to twice its size if it was anointed regularly with the unguent."
The man's mouth was dry. Dom thoughtfully poured him a cup of the wine, and the prisoner drank it thankfully.
"Djadao could see the man would not last much longer. He had not treated him well. So therefore he was determined to make some use of him before he died. He asked me if I would accompany him to this physician, help him with the Sheban, as he was a big man, even though he was now weak in body. He needed the man to be alive, you see, for the parts had to be cut from a living body. The man was no good to him dead."
"But he died climbing up the bank from the river. I was waiting for them to appear, waiting with some camels on the other side of a house by the riverbank. Djadao had tried carrying the man when he collapsed - but he died, and slipped off Djadao's back into the garden of the house."
"There was nothing we could do. We left him there for the owners to find. Which is how, no doubt, you came to hear of it."
Dom did not enlighten the man, but he did nod.
"And the Phoenician?"
The man sighed. There was no point in concealing anything now. "Djadao saw him at Tolan, and liked what he saw. It was easy enough for him to slip a potion into the man's drink when he engaged him in conversation. He was a fine specimen. I..."
He stopped when he saw the look on Lij's face. "That is all there is to tell, Lords. I plead for mercy... for my life. I have a wife and six children."
Lij erupted. "Then more shame to you that you treat them so ill! I shall speak with your wife before I decide what action we will take. If she think she will be better off without you, so be it. Otherwise, five years in the copper mines might teach you restraint. Leave us!"
Dom called for the guard, and told them to hold the man in a secure place well away from the cloth merchant.
When they were alone they talked over what they had heard, and decided to confront Djadao straight away. Nothing would be gained by waiting. Djadao knew that his friend had been interrogated. Perhaps he was willing to confess now.
They gave him a few minutes to think about what the former police chief might have said, then ordered Djadao to be brought to them.
When Lij, in a voice as cold as marble, began to relate to the man all the things his friend had confessed, the man crumpled.
There was nothing new to tell - the former police chief had said it all. He agreed that the story was essentially true, and threw himself on their mercy.
"One cannot be merciful when the laws are set. You must know this. The punishment for murder is affixed. You must die. You will be sent to the Palace to receive your sentence from the Great Ones. That is all - take him away!" Dom said in an authoritative tone to the two guards standing either side of the man.
When they had all left, Dom breathed out a sigh of relief. "I am glad it is over, muh chree - what shall we do, now?"
"Let us go and see Ninus, and young Rasui, and then go for a walk. I am sadly in need of fresh air, Dom, after today's revelations. The inhumanity of some men passes my understanding. I would think of something more... pleasant for the rest of the day."
***
Ninus appeared to be much rested, and his hurts relieved by a competent physician. He was glad to hear the former police chief had confessed to his involvement in the crimes.
"For I must tell you, my friends, he hurt me, sorely... The physician says I will heal in time, which is good news."
Dom and Lij searched their friend's face for signs of his former carefree demeanour, and found none. They stayed with him for a little time, and Dom had the satisfaction of making his friend laugh - then went to see Rasui.
They found the young lad lying on his pallet but looking far more cheerful than he had the last time they had seen him.
"The physician says I may get up tomorrow," he smiled at the two men. "And she has been told not to hurt me. Do you think that she will continue to obey your orders, when you have gone?"
The boy suddenly looked anxious, as if he were not quite sure to what he was entitled. Dom and Lij looked at each other and made a tacit decision to take Rasui with them when they left.
***
"If it were not for him we would never have solved this puzzle, Dom," Lij said as they wandered slowly through the town. "The Palace is large, and there is room in it for one more young boy - or if he prefer, we will put him to some trade of his own choosing. There is time for this when he is recovered."
They decided to return to the tavern and remove their goods, Lij having declared that he would not spend another night on that lumpy mattress. The bed they had been given at the merchant's house was immeasurably superior to anything found in a common inn.
The two men decided that they would send the prisoners on to the Palace the next day, there being no point in keeping them from their doom. Besides, Dom had said, he wanted them safely incarcerated and well out sight of their Gods' return to the Palace.
Accordingly, as soon as they returned to the merchants dwelling, he composed a note to Menkh informing him of all that had happened, and instructing him to make sure that the prisoners were kept safe and apart from each other, as they had promised.
Menkh, whom Dom had taught the Ogham script, would have no difficulty in reading Dom's letter - whilst it would just be a series of small black lines to anyone else trying to read it.
Marking it "Menkh, High Vizier, and Prince of Egypt" in the common script, he gave it to the new police chief to deliver, and retired to their allotted room to rest before dinner.
Before they had time to rest however, the merchants wife requested an interview with them.
They went to her apartments, and swiftly found out why she wished to see them.
"My husband has two sons by his concubines. I would have them all gone from here - I cannot stand to see anything belonging to him remaining in this house."
Dom and Lij sat opposite the woman on a low bench, and regarded her carefully.
"I see your disgust does not extend as far as removing his furniture and treasures, Lady," Dom remarked, trying hard to keep the distaste he felt out of his voice. "How old are these children?"
She had the grace to look abashed. "Three and four years old, Lord. But I would have them gone."
Lij stood up. "Do you remain here, Dom. I will see the two mothers and find out their wishes in the matter."
He returned within minutes. "The women are as anxious to leave with their children, as you are to get rid of them, which is fortunate for you, lady. I have granted to them each a generous portion of your husband's wealth. Oh, do not be dismayed, madam - I am sure you will prove an excellent business manager, for I cannot see that you would leave so profitable an enterprise as this slip through your hands. You will quickly make up the deficit, and you will continue to pay the amount that I have set until the children reach an age where they can shift for themselves. I shall arrange it in the morning. Now, if you will excuse us, we will retire to rest."
***
"Do you wish to rest, a stor?" Dom said with a smile in his voice, as he closed the shutters on the window against the afternoon sun.
Lij held his hands out. "I wish to take my ease in you, Dom, for that is always rest to me. Your body is ever my quiet place," he said, walking into his spouse's arms.
Dom gently divested Lij of his clothing, and then removed his own. "Do you remember, my love, the first time you took me?" he said, nestling into Lij's neck.
Lij shook his head. "Do not remind me of that day, my love, for I behaved shamefully. I hurt you, and had no more regard for you than to have my lust for you satisfied. I hope you have forgiven me."
Dom kissed the man he held tightly in his arms. "There was never anything to forgive, as you well know, mo onum cora - for I desired you as much, if not more, than you desired me. I remember well the feelings that grew in me that day. I loved you before you even touched me...and after you had taken me, I loved you more. Let there be no talk of forgiving between us - for I have loved you with such pleasure and longing for so many years now, I will grow old thinking of it."
Lij laughed, and taking his lover's hand, walked towards the bed. "Indeed, our love has triumphed over many obstacles, my Dom. Sickness, and cruelty and murder not the least of them. It was not so long ago that Anubis came to me in a dream, and told me that Osiris was giving us peace for a season, so that we may enjoy our love together."
Dom pulled Lij down on top of him, feeling the heat of his erection pressed down by the weight of his lover's body. He smiled as he felt the answering hardness. Whenever the came together there was the same glad union of two like minds in two like bodies - each desiring the other - each willing to share.
"I desire you - only you - and well you know it, Sen-Adom. For you are my love, and in you I find completion."
Lij pressed his lips to Dom's mouth, feeling the answering quiver that ran up through Dom's body to mingle with his own. There was no need for words as they tasted each others' desire, their bodies becoming more urgent, and then desperate to join with each other.
There was no haste, however, no need for a swift fumble in the darkened room. They knew how to play each other's body - how to make each other thrill with delight.
Dom's breath shortened as he found Lij's fingers breach his body - those fingers that gave him so much pleasure.
"Lij!" he whispered, as he felt the man tremble above him. But Lij did not stop, for he knew what that whisper meant. Dom was ready.
As he pressed his aching body into Dom's, feeling the answering tension in the muscles and sinews of the man arching beneath him, he gave himself up to the age-old act of love.
Dom's body, as always, was like fire beneath his. Dom's legs trembled with the coming climax. Lij smiled - although it had started so, there was to be no leisurely love-making today. Dom was hot for completion, his body straining against Lij, his face flushed with exertion, the sweat running from his hair into his eyes.
The love Lij felt for his spouse filled his heart. Truly there was no-one like him on the face of the earth. He thrust hard, feeling his own need mount.
Dom reached one hand up, and clasping it around Lij's neck, drew him down for a kiss. Lij's lips were soft, his breath sweet with the taste of spices. Dom opened his mouth as Lij's tongue tasted all his secret places, and cried his joy into the dark
Giving one last thrust, Lij came, and instead of falling onto Dom's chest, he rested on his elbows and slowly and gently kissed his love with all the tenderness he could bring to the act.
There was no need for the "I love you, a stor!" that Lij whispered into Dom's ear, for he knew it - above and before all things else - Dom knew it.
***
It was the day of judgment. Dom and Lij, after making arrangements for Ninus to be brought to the Palace when he felt stronger, had left for their river house on the appointed day, sending Rasui on to the Palace with Heleb, whom they had met on the borders of the town outside the Palace. They shared their retreat with no-one. Not even their children had been there. They desired to keep it for themselves. After a few days leisure by the river, they returned to their duties.
Dom looked at Lij with a smile. It could hardly be said they had rested during their time away from the Palace and their duties, but the purple smudges had gone from under Lij's eyes, and he looked well. Dom marvelled at the fact that a change could, indeed, be as good as a rest.
They were dressed in their most formal robes. Neither of them had seen the prisoners since they had interviewed them at the merchant's house - and this was as it should be. Today, they were not interviewing officers, but Gods and Kings. It was their duty to pass judgement - sentence already having been given, albeit by them, but no-one would know that.
They had sent a messenger to Sheba informing her of the full details of the tragedy, and that they had found the killer, and were about to pass sentence upon him. Lij also insisted that they put something about where he was buried. He knew the Queen would be glad of this information - the man had, after all, been her lover. Dom left this to him. Lij wrote...
"We have had him interred in a place that is very dear to us. It is beautiful there, and it is a place - should we be able to choose for ourselves - that we would wish to be laid after our deaths."
Dom cast a secret glance at his partner. There was a surprise awaiting Lij when this difficult day was over.
Neither man enjoyed pronouncing death sentences, but both knew that certain duties concerning their Kingships were inevitable. They put their crowns upon their heads, and walked slowly towards the audience chamber.
***
It had been over for a month. The merchant had been sentenced to death, and the former police officer had been sent to the copper mines of Gebir, from which place, if he was fortunate enough to survive, he would be free in five years.
Their lives returned to normal, and, although they had enjoyed the adventure, they both admitted that it would not do if something like that were to happen every week.
One afternoon, after a light meal, they lay together on the bed Sheba had given them, and talked about the mystery and the successful completion of it.
Then Lij turned towards Dom, and kissed him. "It was good of you to come with me when I insisted on trying to solve this puzzle, my love. I did not ask you - I merely assumed that you would care to accompany me. I love you, my Dom, because you think of me before anyone else, whilst I - on this occasion at least - gave no thought to you. Do you forgive me?"
Dom drew his spouse into his arms. "You are talking nonsense, muh chree. It is my delight to go with you wherever you go, you know this. Now there is something I wish you to come and see. Will you?"
Lij rose from the bed and held his hand out, pulling Dom to his feet. "You needn't ask. I am willing, now, and every day, to follow where you go."
They took a chariot, and Dom drove in the same direction that they had gone when they had first left on their adventure. Soon they came to the construction site, where Imhotep stood, watching labourers clear away some small pieces of rubble that had been left after the building had been completed.
They came as Kings, so he waited while they descended from the chariot, and bowed low before them.
"Your message said it is finished, Imhotep. I am pleased beyond telling," Dom said, grinning at his chief architect, and clasping him on the shoulder.
"Do you remain here, my friend - I would take Lij alone to see his gift," and Imhotep bowed, his face alight with the pleasurable anticipation of the mens' delight in his work.
Lij's eyes fastened swiftly on his spouse's face. "My gift?"
Dom took his hand. "Come and see," he said.
"What is it, Dom? It is a creature with the body of a lion - that I can see. But..."
Dom put a finger on his lips, and together they walked to the front of the stone figure lying on its belly in the sand.
Lij looked up, expecting to see a lion's face - but he was amazed to see that the recumbent creature bore his own head. It was beautifully wrought, and delicately painted and covered with gold. Lij had never seen anything like it, and his grasp on Dom's hand tightened.
"It is far more beautiful than I am, Dom. It is a wondrous thing. I am pleased with my gift, and I thank you for it. Here it will stand for thousands of years, and be a joy and a wonder to all who look upon it."
He raised the hand he was holding, and kissed it. Dom turned Lij's hand in his and returned the embrace. This was not the place for intimate demonstrations of affection.
"There is more, my love. Come with me." Dom pulled Lij to an opening between the two front paws, and led him inside the creature.
Two workmen leaving the building crouched on the floor at their feet as they passed, but the Kings did not even notice them. Dom, with unerring accuracy, led Lij down corridors and long passages unnumbered and unrecorded - except in his mind, where he designed it - and on Imhotep's secret charts, which would now be kept by the priests in the Temple of Isis.
They walked for several minutes, down steps and along passages decorated with beautiful murals, and lit by torches that had been placed in the sconces on the walls that morning by Dom's express command.
At the end of one passage there were double doors covered in gold, one with Dom's name on it and one with Lij's. Dom pushed the doors open, and went in.
The room was decorated with the views from their little house by the river, executed in paint and jewels. There was the Nile, its blue water as deep as lapis, from which, indeed, it was formed. The little house stood white and clean on a distant wall. The trees beside it, studded with emeralds, waved in a light breeze along the riverbank, and there was Lij's little garden, with the flowers and the onions growing still.
Hoopoe flew overhead, and the ibis waded in the river, their wings edged with gold, and the fish they were catching were clasped between their beaks. The golden sun was bright in the azure sky.
And there were Dom and Lij, in a boat in the water, spears in their hands, catching fish for their evening meal.
In the middle of the room stood a double size black marble sarcophagus, clearly meant to house two. Inside lay two beautifully decorated caskets.
Lij just stared at them, unable to speak.
"Lij?" said Dom in a quiet voice, not sure whether this place was pleasing to his spouse.
Lij turned, and there were tears on his face. "Oh, Dom!" he whispered, his voice husky with emotion. "It is so beautiful! That we should lie here, together, until our spirits soar to the heavens!"
Both men looked up to the conduit in the ceiling where, after the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, their spirits would leave their bodies and fly into the cosmos together to join with the other Gods.
"Will you wait for me, should I go first, my Dom?"
Dom took his lover in his arms. "I will wait for you for ever, mo onam cora, as I know you will wait for me." They kissed each other tenderly, standing there oblivious to everything except their love.
"I could not bear to be parted with you even in death, my Lij. And after your brother Nyn was buried in your tomb, and you started building for us in the Valley, I knew it would not do. We should have been parted, and that I could not bear. I lie with you every night, my love - why should death make a difference to that?"
Lij rested his head on Dom's shoulder. "We will let the children have the other places, Dom. They will not be wasted. Here I will lie, safe with you, until the end of time, for I perceived as I entered this place that no-one would ever find this chamber, unless they knew it was here. Our bodies will rest undisturbed through the ages, and that is as it should be."
Lij took another satisfied look around the chamber, and taking Dom's hand again, he went up into the light.
For larger image please click on pic! :D
Here we go then!
Thanks, as always, to lady Sunrope for her beta skills!
Part5 - The End from the Beginning
It did not take a man of great intelligence to observe that the former chief of police was extremely angry. He entered the room flanked by three officers, and glared at Dom and Lij, sitting behind the desk.
Dom signalled for the guards to leave, telling them to wait outside the door. Then he stared thoughtfully at the man standing in front of him.
"Please sit down," Dom remarked in a quiet voice.
The man glared at him even more fiercely. " I prefer to stand, I thank you. What is it you require of me, and why have I been arrested and hauled here like a common criminal? I demand an explanation."
Lij was sitting quietly beside Dom, having said nothing; but now he turned his head towards the furious man.
"You will sit because my colleague has asked you to sit - and you are here because you have been complicit with murder, rapine and kidnap. You will be sent to the Palace for sentencing by the Great Ones. We wish, at this stage, to discover what you have to say in your own defence - if anything. Sit down."
The man sat. Dom turned his head and looked with approval at his spouse, whose voice, when he chose, could be colder than ice.
Dom cleared his throat. He was not sure how to proceed, but he knew that this man had been allowed to rape the prisoners held in the cellar. He decided to take a chance.
"You were seen in the company of Djadao in Tolan. The innkeeper recognised you - he said you had been there several times together."
Lij hid his satisfaction well. The man had gone as pale as milk, but he still tried to bluster his way out of the business.
"I have often been with Djadao on his visits to Tolan. There is nothing to that. He went there to trade, and he came back."
Dom took a sip of his watered wine. "He went there to trade, you say?"
The man nodded eagerly. "Yes, Lord. In cloth and spices..."
"... and the souls of men." Lij cut in, sharp as a razor. "The last time he went there he came back with Ninus the Phoenician. Unfortunately for him - and for you - Ninus is well-known by the Great Ones, as you saw when we took Djadao. Now we have come for you, for Ninus has told us the way you treated him in his prison. The indignities to which you subjected him - the assaults you inflicted upon his person."
The man began to shake. There could be no excuse for his behaviour. And he knew very well that there was no need for Ninus to lie about his involvement with the doings in the cellar.
Dom rested his chin on his hands, and looked over the top of them, at the trembling man.
"It may be that the Great Ones will be lenient with you, if you tell us what happened to the Sheban lord. For you see, we know all about that as well. You pick your victims badly, man - you should have chosen men who were less well-known. Then you would not have been found out."
The man wiped his face over with his hand. "What can I tell you, Lord?" he said.
Lij thought of the time he had spent in the cellars at Tara, and hardened his heart.
"Tell us what you know of Djadao and his habits. It may be that you will be sent to the copper mines rather than suffer death, if you help us. We will petition the Great Ones on your behalf, if what you tell us satisfies us. Say on."
The man shifted his feet on the floor, and pressed his lips together tightly." If I tell you what I know, will you make sure that I am not imprisoned with Djadao, and that I am sent to the Palace separately? I have no wish to meet him again after what I will tell you."
Dom smiled thinly. "You are hardly in any position to plead for terms with us - but we will grant them, nevertheless. You will not be placed in Djadao's company again - you will not meet him until you stand before the Two Thrones. This we promise you."
The man heaved a sigh of relief. "Djadao was always after new meat. He treated his prisoners harshly - some lasted a year, some less. They were kept short of food and drink so that they would be more willing to acquiesce to his demands."
"I do not understand how you know about the Sheban. It is true that there were rewards posted for information on his whereabouts, but Djadao had no need of money, and he paid me very well for my silence."
Lij stood up and paced around the room a little. "Why were you taking him down the river? Was it to collect the reward somewhere where you would not be known?"
The man let out a hollow laugh. "There was no thought of reward in Djadao's head. If you had seen the dead man naked you would have known that he was admirably equipped for the sport of love - indeed I have never seen a pizzle as big as his on any man. "
"Djadao is poorly endowed in this department, but he knew of a man who could make a lotion out of the private parts of such men as the Sheban which would make his own organ grow to twice its size if it was anointed regularly with the unguent."
The man's mouth was dry. Dom thoughtfully poured him a cup of the wine, and the prisoner drank it thankfully.
"Djadao could see the man would not last much longer. He had not treated him well. So therefore he was determined to make some use of him before he died. He asked me if I would accompany him to this physician, help him with the Sheban, as he was a big man, even though he was now weak in body. He needed the man to be alive, you see, for the parts had to be cut from a living body. The man was no good to him dead."
"But he died climbing up the bank from the river. I was waiting for them to appear, waiting with some camels on the other side of a house by the riverbank. Djadao had tried carrying the man when he collapsed - but he died, and slipped off Djadao's back into the garden of the house."
"There was nothing we could do. We left him there for the owners to find. Which is how, no doubt, you came to hear of it."
Dom did not enlighten the man, but he did nod.
"And the Phoenician?"
The man sighed. There was no point in concealing anything now. "Djadao saw him at Tolan, and liked what he saw. It was easy enough for him to slip a potion into the man's drink when he engaged him in conversation. He was a fine specimen. I..."
He stopped when he saw the look on Lij's face. "That is all there is to tell, Lords. I plead for mercy... for my life. I have a wife and six children."
Lij erupted. "Then more shame to you that you treat them so ill! I shall speak with your wife before I decide what action we will take. If she think she will be better off without you, so be it. Otherwise, five years in the copper mines might teach you restraint. Leave us!"
Dom called for the guard, and told them to hold the man in a secure place well away from the cloth merchant.
When they were alone they talked over what they had heard, and decided to confront Djadao straight away. Nothing would be gained by waiting. Djadao knew that his friend had been interrogated. Perhaps he was willing to confess now.
They gave him a few minutes to think about what the former police chief might have said, then ordered Djadao to be brought to them.
When Lij, in a voice as cold as marble, began to relate to the man all the things his friend had confessed, the man crumpled.
There was nothing new to tell - the former police chief had said it all. He agreed that the story was essentially true, and threw himself on their mercy.
"One cannot be merciful when the laws are set. You must know this. The punishment for murder is affixed. You must die. You will be sent to the Palace to receive your sentence from the Great Ones. That is all - take him away!" Dom said in an authoritative tone to the two guards standing either side of the man.
When they had all left, Dom breathed out a sigh of relief. "I am glad it is over, muh chree - what shall we do, now?"
"Let us go and see Ninus, and young Rasui, and then go for a walk. I am sadly in need of fresh air, Dom, after today's revelations. The inhumanity of some men passes my understanding. I would think of something more... pleasant for the rest of the day."
***
Ninus appeared to be much rested, and his hurts relieved by a competent physician. He was glad to hear the former police chief had confessed to his involvement in the crimes.
"For I must tell you, my friends, he hurt me, sorely... The physician says I will heal in time, which is good news."
Dom and Lij searched their friend's face for signs of his former carefree demeanour, and found none. They stayed with him for a little time, and Dom had the satisfaction of making his friend laugh - then went to see Rasui.
They found the young lad lying on his pallet but looking far more cheerful than he had the last time they had seen him.
"The physician says I may get up tomorrow," he smiled at the two men. "And she has been told not to hurt me. Do you think that she will continue to obey your orders, when you have gone?"
The boy suddenly looked anxious, as if he were not quite sure to what he was entitled. Dom and Lij looked at each other and made a tacit decision to take Rasui with them when they left.
***
"If it were not for him we would never have solved this puzzle, Dom," Lij said as they wandered slowly through the town. "The Palace is large, and there is room in it for one more young boy - or if he prefer, we will put him to some trade of his own choosing. There is time for this when he is recovered."
They decided to return to the tavern and remove their goods, Lij having declared that he would not spend another night on that lumpy mattress. The bed they had been given at the merchant's house was immeasurably superior to anything found in a common inn.
The two men decided that they would send the prisoners on to the Palace the next day, there being no point in keeping them from their doom. Besides, Dom had said, he wanted them safely incarcerated and well out sight of their Gods' return to the Palace.
Accordingly, as soon as they returned to the merchants dwelling, he composed a note to Menkh informing him of all that had happened, and instructing him to make sure that the prisoners were kept safe and apart from each other, as they had promised.
Menkh, whom Dom had taught the Ogham script, would have no difficulty in reading Dom's letter - whilst it would just be a series of small black lines to anyone else trying to read it.
Marking it "Menkh, High Vizier, and Prince of Egypt" in the common script, he gave it to the new police chief to deliver, and retired to their allotted room to rest before dinner.
Before they had time to rest however, the merchants wife requested an interview with them.
They went to her apartments, and swiftly found out why she wished to see them.
"My husband has two sons by his concubines. I would have them all gone from here - I cannot stand to see anything belonging to him remaining in this house."
Dom and Lij sat opposite the woman on a low bench, and regarded her carefully.
"I see your disgust does not extend as far as removing his furniture and treasures, Lady," Dom remarked, trying hard to keep the distaste he felt out of his voice. "How old are these children?"
She had the grace to look abashed. "Three and four years old, Lord. But I would have them gone."
Lij stood up. "Do you remain here, Dom. I will see the two mothers and find out their wishes in the matter."
He returned within minutes. "The women are as anxious to leave with their children, as you are to get rid of them, which is fortunate for you, lady. I have granted to them each a generous portion of your husband's wealth. Oh, do not be dismayed, madam - I am sure you will prove an excellent business manager, for I cannot see that you would leave so profitable an enterprise as this slip through your hands. You will quickly make up the deficit, and you will continue to pay the amount that I have set until the children reach an age where they can shift for themselves. I shall arrange it in the morning. Now, if you will excuse us, we will retire to rest."
***
"Do you wish to rest, a stor?" Dom said with a smile in his voice, as he closed the shutters on the window against the afternoon sun.
Lij held his hands out. "I wish to take my ease in you, Dom, for that is always rest to me. Your body is ever my quiet place," he said, walking into his spouse's arms.
Dom gently divested Lij of his clothing, and then removed his own. "Do you remember, my love, the first time you took me?" he said, nestling into Lij's neck.
Lij shook his head. "Do not remind me of that day, my love, for I behaved shamefully. I hurt you, and had no more regard for you than to have my lust for you satisfied. I hope you have forgiven me."
Dom kissed the man he held tightly in his arms. "There was never anything to forgive, as you well know, mo onum cora - for I desired you as much, if not more, than you desired me. I remember well the feelings that grew in me that day. I loved you before you even touched me...and after you had taken me, I loved you more. Let there be no talk of forgiving between us - for I have loved you with such pleasure and longing for so many years now, I will grow old thinking of it."
Lij laughed, and taking his lover's hand, walked towards the bed. "Indeed, our love has triumphed over many obstacles, my Dom. Sickness, and cruelty and murder not the least of them. It was not so long ago that Anubis came to me in a dream, and told me that Osiris was giving us peace for a season, so that we may enjoy our love together."
Dom pulled Lij down on top of him, feeling the heat of his erection pressed down by the weight of his lover's body. He smiled as he felt the answering hardness. Whenever the came together there was the same glad union of two like minds in two like bodies - each desiring the other - each willing to share.
"I desire you - only you - and well you know it, Sen-Adom. For you are my love, and in you I find completion."
Lij pressed his lips to Dom's mouth, feeling the answering quiver that ran up through Dom's body to mingle with his own. There was no need for words as they tasted each others' desire, their bodies becoming more urgent, and then desperate to join with each other.
There was no haste, however, no need for a swift fumble in the darkened room. They knew how to play each other's body - how to make each other thrill with delight.
Dom's breath shortened as he found Lij's fingers breach his body - those fingers that gave him so much pleasure.
"Lij!" he whispered, as he felt the man tremble above him. But Lij did not stop, for he knew what that whisper meant. Dom was ready.
As he pressed his aching body into Dom's, feeling the answering tension in the muscles and sinews of the man arching beneath him, he gave himself up to the age-old act of love.
Dom's body, as always, was like fire beneath his. Dom's legs trembled with the coming climax. Lij smiled - although it had started so, there was to be no leisurely love-making today. Dom was hot for completion, his body straining against Lij, his face flushed with exertion, the sweat running from his hair into his eyes.
The love Lij felt for his spouse filled his heart. Truly there was no-one like him on the face of the earth. He thrust hard, feeling his own need mount.
Dom reached one hand up, and clasping it around Lij's neck, drew him down for a kiss. Lij's lips were soft, his breath sweet with the taste of spices. Dom opened his mouth as Lij's tongue tasted all his secret places, and cried his joy into the dark
Giving one last thrust, Lij came, and instead of falling onto Dom's chest, he rested on his elbows and slowly and gently kissed his love with all the tenderness he could bring to the act.
There was no need for the "I love you, a stor!" that Lij whispered into Dom's ear, for he knew it - above and before all things else - Dom knew it.
***
It was the day of judgment. Dom and Lij, after making arrangements for Ninus to be brought to the Palace when he felt stronger, had left for their river house on the appointed day, sending Rasui on to the Palace with Heleb, whom they had met on the borders of the town outside the Palace. They shared their retreat with no-one. Not even their children had been there. They desired to keep it for themselves. After a few days leisure by the river, they returned to their duties.
Dom looked at Lij with a smile. It could hardly be said they had rested during their time away from the Palace and their duties, but the purple smudges had gone from under Lij's eyes, and he looked well. Dom marvelled at the fact that a change could, indeed, be as good as a rest.
They were dressed in their most formal robes. Neither of them had seen the prisoners since they had interviewed them at the merchant's house - and this was as it should be. Today, they were not interviewing officers, but Gods and Kings. It was their duty to pass judgement - sentence already having been given, albeit by them, but no-one would know that.
They had sent a messenger to Sheba informing her of the full details of the tragedy, and that they had found the killer, and were about to pass sentence upon him. Lij also insisted that they put something about where he was buried. He knew the Queen would be glad of this information - the man had, after all, been her lover. Dom left this to him. Lij wrote...
"We have had him interred in a place that is very dear to us. It is beautiful there, and it is a place - should we be able to choose for ourselves - that we would wish to be laid after our deaths."
Dom cast a secret glance at his partner. There was a surprise awaiting Lij when this difficult day was over.
Neither man enjoyed pronouncing death sentences, but both knew that certain duties concerning their Kingships were inevitable. They put their crowns upon their heads, and walked slowly towards the audience chamber.
***
It had been over for a month. The merchant had been sentenced to death, and the former police officer had been sent to the copper mines of Gebir, from which place, if he was fortunate enough to survive, he would be free in five years.
Their lives returned to normal, and, although they had enjoyed the adventure, they both admitted that it would not do if something like that were to happen every week.
One afternoon, after a light meal, they lay together on the bed Sheba had given them, and talked about the mystery and the successful completion of it.
Then Lij turned towards Dom, and kissed him. "It was good of you to come with me when I insisted on trying to solve this puzzle, my love. I did not ask you - I merely assumed that you would care to accompany me. I love you, my Dom, because you think of me before anyone else, whilst I - on this occasion at least - gave no thought to you. Do you forgive me?"
Dom drew his spouse into his arms. "You are talking nonsense, muh chree. It is my delight to go with you wherever you go, you know this. Now there is something I wish you to come and see. Will you?"
Lij rose from the bed and held his hand out, pulling Dom to his feet. "You needn't ask. I am willing, now, and every day, to follow where you go."
They took a chariot, and Dom drove in the same direction that they had gone when they had first left on their adventure. Soon they came to the construction site, where Imhotep stood, watching labourers clear away some small pieces of rubble that had been left after the building had been completed.
They came as Kings, so he waited while they descended from the chariot, and bowed low before them.
"Your message said it is finished, Imhotep. I am pleased beyond telling," Dom said, grinning at his chief architect, and clasping him on the shoulder.
"Do you remain here, my friend - I would take Lij alone to see his gift," and Imhotep bowed, his face alight with the pleasurable anticipation of the mens' delight in his work.
Lij's eyes fastened swiftly on his spouse's face. "My gift?"
Dom took his hand. "Come and see," he said.
"What is it, Dom? It is a creature with the body of a lion - that I can see. But..."
Dom put a finger on his lips, and together they walked to the front of the stone figure lying on its belly in the sand.
Lij looked up, expecting to see a lion's face - but he was amazed to see that the recumbent creature bore his own head. It was beautifully wrought, and delicately painted and covered with gold. Lij had never seen anything like it, and his grasp on Dom's hand tightened.
"It is far more beautiful than I am, Dom. It is a wondrous thing. I am pleased with my gift, and I thank you for it. Here it will stand for thousands of years, and be a joy and a wonder to all who look upon it."
He raised the hand he was holding, and kissed it. Dom turned Lij's hand in his and returned the embrace. This was not the place for intimate demonstrations of affection.
"There is more, my love. Come with me." Dom pulled Lij to an opening between the two front paws, and led him inside the creature.
Two workmen leaving the building crouched on the floor at their feet as they passed, but the Kings did not even notice them. Dom, with unerring accuracy, led Lij down corridors and long passages unnumbered and unrecorded - except in his mind, where he designed it - and on Imhotep's secret charts, which would now be kept by the priests in the Temple of Isis.
They walked for several minutes, down steps and along passages decorated with beautiful murals, and lit by torches that had been placed in the sconces on the walls that morning by Dom's express command.
At the end of one passage there were double doors covered in gold, one with Dom's name on it and one with Lij's. Dom pushed the doors open, and went in.
The room was decorated with the views from their little house by the river, executed in paint and jewels. There was the Nile, its blue water as deep as lapis, from which, indeed, it was formed. The little house stood white and clean on a distant wall. The trees beside it, studded with emeralds, waved in a light breeze along the riverbank, and there was Lij's little garden, with the flowers and the onions growing still.
Hoopoe flew overhead, and the ibis waded in the river, their wings edged with gold, and the fish they were catching were clasped between their beaks. The golden sun was bright in the azure sky.
And there were Dom and Lij, in a boat in the water, spears in their hands, catching fish for their evening meal.
In the middle of the room stood a double size black marble sarcophagus, clearly meant to house two. Inside lay two beautifully decorated caskets.
Lij just stared at them, unable to speak.
"Lij?" said Dom in a quiet voice, not sure whether this place was pleasing to his spouse.
Lij turned, and there were tears on his face. "Oh, Dom!" he whispered, his voice husky with emotion. "It is so beautiful! That we should lie here, together, until our spirits soar to the heavens!"
Both men looked up to the conduit in the ceiling where, after the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, their spirits would leave their bodies and fly into the cosmos together to join with the other Gods.
"Will you wait for me, should I go first, my Dom?"
Dom took his lover in his arms. "I will wait for you for ever, mo onam cora, as I know you will wait for me." They kissed each other tenderly, standing there oblivious to everything except their love.
"I could not bear to be parted with you even in death, my Lij. And after your brother Nyn was buried in your tomb, and you started building for us in the Valley, I knew it would not do. We should have been parted, and that I could not bear. I lie with you every night, my love - why should death make a difference to that?"
Lij rested his head on Dom's shoulder. "We will let the children have the other places, Dom. They will not be wasted. Here I will lie, safe with you, until the end of time, for I perceived as I entered this place that no-one would ever find this chamber, unless they knew it was here. Our bodies will rest undisturbed through the ages, and that is as it should be."
Lij took another satisfied look around the chamber, and taking Dom's hand again, he went up into the light.
For larger image please click on pic! :D
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2006-10-24 02:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 11:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 02:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 11:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 02:45 pm (UTC)Thanks, Issi. I truly enjoyed our men in Egypt once again.
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Date: 2006-10-25 11:19 am (UTC)It's a pity we can't see the Sphinx in its original glory. I believe it has other purposes than we know. Tunnels and chambers have now been found inside and underneath it. I bet someone exciting is buried there! Meep! I'm glad you liked it, my dear! xxx
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Date: 2006-10-24 03:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 11:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 06:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 11:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 08:04 pm (UTC)I loved Dom's introduction of the Sphinx. I've been there not so long ago, and remember perfectly the majesty and beauty of it. Just perfect for Lij!
Thank you so much for letting me revisit your lovely Egypt! Mwah!
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Date: 2006-10-25 11:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 10:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 11:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 12:33 pm (UTC)This was a beautiful final chapter ..."Osiris was giving us peace for a season"...I thought...how long is a season to them?? hopefully longer than ours. :)
The tomb was so beautifully and thoughtfully made. This whole ending brought me to tears. The images you conveyed were perfect for them and so peaceful. I didn't want to see this end because I have so enjoyed revisiting them. But you did it justice and it was perfect.
kisses and hugs issi...what a journey it has been. v
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Date: 2006-10-25 02:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 02:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 02:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 06:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 07:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-26 07:56 am (UTC)And it's really curious that I felt so happy at reading the description of their grave, you know? It's difficult for our occidental moderm minds to be able to put ourselves into the brains of people who thought that dead was so important they expended half their lives planning it!
I so enjoy your writing, Ru! I love it! I love you! ♥
*takes pen*
Dear Santa: I wanna more of Son of the Sun for Christimas. Ta much :)
ps: I've been thinking about you the whole morning. Remembering your voice *hugs*
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Date: 2006-10-26 08:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-26 06:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-27 02:20 pm (UTC)An intriguing mystery solved, a fascinating tale told and our lovers united for all eternity - perfect! I could *see* that wondrous tomb with its beautiful and special decorations... What a gift to give to his Beloved, one truly worthy of the great Lijedefer the Beauteous One!
Love the pic of the Sphinx - very cleverly executed!
Many thanks for your hard work and to LSR for beta, it is much appreciated for all the pleasure you give through your writing.
Looking forward to your Regency DomLijah and a future return visit to Ancient Egypt one day...
*hugs*
XXXX
PS If you read this before I phone it'll be a bit later this evening as we're eating at our favourite pub at 6-ish. Talk later, I hope!
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Date: 2009-08-15 11:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-16 09:10 am (UTC)I do believe there are chambers under the sphinx that haven't been discovered, yet. It'll be interesting if they are found, soon. :D