ismenin | The End.

Right, my loves. Here is the very end of Son Of Set. I hope you have enjoyed the journey with me. Huge and grateful thanks to

ladysunrope for her beta, and her input into the story, which has made it more readable - and for making me re-write the Epilogue. I am so glad I did. It is far better. HUGE hugs, as I said, to her.

Friends, Romans, er...well, folks - I give you

SON OF SET. 12 Rebirth

I sat, holding my love in my arms, shivering with fever, watching his face for his last breath. When it came I would snatch the knife from his body and plunge it into my heart.

It was strange. I had no thought for the children I would leave behind, bereft, in a stroke, of two fathers. All I could feel was the call of death, and it was loud in my ears.

I felt a movement behind me and a small hand rested on my shoulder. A voice I knew well spoke quietly in my ear. "Dom, my dear boy, look up."

Menep, Lij's beloved grandmother. "Look up!" she said again. I tore my eyes from his face and I did look up, and there, dressed in a white tunic to his knees and a dark cloak stood...

"A hashkeh? Sean-Adomnan, a stor muh chree?..."

That voice! It was, to me, the most glorious thing. My heart leapt at the sound of it. My life was handed back to me in eight simple words.

I looked down, at Nyn's face, then up again at my love. How?

Lij knelt opposite me, and took Nyn into his arms. Nyn shuddered once, and opened his eyes, looking at his brother. The look was not full of hatred, but one of puzzlement.

"Go in peace, Nyn; your struggle with life is over," Lij said, so softly that only myself, Menep and Nyn could have heard it.

Nyn reached out his hand - the hand with the broken fingers, until now hidden in the depths of the embroidered cloak.

His eyes were fixed upon a point in the distance as if he were watching someone approach. He tried to speak and failed, then with a supreme effort he found his voice.

"Anubis," he whispered, raggedly, and Lij's gaze followed that of his brother. His face, if it were possible, was even paler. He clutched Nyn closer to him, protecting him, even after all the wickedness that he had done. I felt humbled by such selfless love.

I saw nothing, but Lij spoke softly, not in fear, but in pleading tones. "Dread Lord. I beg you, treat him mercifully. His mind has not been...he is...please, do not judge him too harshly."

On the edges of my fevered senses I thought I heard Anubis' gravel-filled voice. The hairs on the back of my neck rose.

"That is in the gift of Ma'at, and the Great Osiris, little brother. I merely record. Weighed on the scales of justice, his heart might yet prove pure without the contagion of his damaged mind to sully it. Man, after all, is his own judge and keeper. Fear not - we will take good care of him. Come, Nyn, come, now, with me. Your time here is ended, and Osiris has been paid, as he said he must be, for sparing your brother’s life. Come!"

Nyn's hand came up again, and the backs of his fingers gently brushed against Lij's cheek. He was smiling as he died.

*****

I remember nothing after that. The next thing my senses knew I was in Lij's bed, with him lying beside me, my head on his chest, his arms around me.

As I woke he kissed me, and when I saw his beloved face, I wept. I wept for joy that he lived, and for sorrow that I was glad of another man's death.

"Hush, now, muh chree," he said, so softly. "He is at peace, and so are we. Sleep now."

******

Next morning Soraya came and told me that if I did not stay in bed to rest, the infected wound would never heal. She can be very firm when the need arises. So can Lygia, who came with her. Lij just grinned at the two women. "I will keep him in his bed if I have to tie him down," he promised as they left.

I held my two hands up to him, pressed close at the wrist, begging him to do so and saw the pupils of his eyes expand like whirlpools, dragging me in. But all he did was smooth my leg, and tell me to rest.

The next day Menep came to us, and together with the others - Nat and Menkh, Garmen, Imhotep and Zeser, Soraya and Lygia - told her story. It was simple enough.

"Even with half an eye I could see that the lad was not quite as others were. Even at a young age, he was not... right. No-one should gain such pleasure in the mutilation and death of living things."

She sat in a chair at the foot of the bed, her gnarled old hands clutching a glass of watered honey-wine. Every now and then she would glance at Lij as if feasting upon the sight of him. I knew how she felt. I was doing much the same thing.

"I went to my son, Thothmes, and told him of my fears. It came as no surprise to me that he also felt it." Here she lowered her eyes to the floor.

"He suggested that Nyn be...removed. He wanted him dead. He had seen Nat's son, you see, after they had found him. Nyn was happy to point his body out to the guards searching the river bank. He was sitting by the riverside eating fruit when they came searching, throwing stones at..."

She touched Nat's arm gently. "I am sorry, Nat, my dear one. But it must now be told."

Nat nodded, too distressed to speak, and Menep continued.

"I was not in favour of my son's solution. There were other things we could do. He was a child after all. Who knew that he might not grow out of it? Such was my hope. But after Nat's son's death, I feared for Lij. I knew, as his father did, what Nyn could become."

“I found a small island in the Middle Sea and arranged for him to be confined there, with physicians and servants to care for him. I should have known that when he came to manhood he would use his body to coerce his way out."

Here she looked at Lij, and wearily shrugged her shoulders. "It was left to me. Thothmes did not want your mother to know. He said she would pine more if she thought that the child was living somewhere, but out of her reach. So we told everyone he had died. It was as simple as that.”

She sighed. It was hard for her to unburden this secret she had carried all these years.

“Your father found a boy of his size, dying of the sweet sickness, and told the grieving mother he would be buried like a prince. So he was.”

“Of course, when Nyn escaped, a few years ago, I was told. I was now the only person living in Egypt who knew he was alive. As long as he did not come near us, I felt that you would be safe, my chick."

Lij got up and went to his grandmother, taking her hands in his. Everyone rose when he did. "Please, my friends - sit," he said, not taking his eyes from her face.

"Mamma, when did you realise it was him and not me?"

She sighed. "On the boat I began to think it might be him, but I was not sure. Dom, you see, had accepted him. Surely he would notice any differences, if anyone would? And, as far as I could discover, Dom had given no hint that it was not you, Lij. But then I thought "why would Dom think it was not Lij? He does not know there is another man in the world exactly like his love." I was foolish, but Dom cannot be blamed. For him, there was one Lij."

"I can understand why Dom was confused. You are so alike, Lij, my chick, in many ways, not in just looks, for you have - had - a temper, too, until Dom gentled it out of you. Even now, I can see why people were duped into thinking it was you. I was willing to believe it was you. I was too shocked, earlier, to think otherwise . I truly thought a blow to the head had turned your brain, Lij."

"But when I had Menkh's message, at Basara, that there were two of you, I knew it was him. It could not be anyone else, if he had fooled you, Dom - I knew that. So I left the family at Basara, and with only the faithful Aamose for company, I came back, as you see."

"If only I had returned sooner! If only my old body were not so weak! Lij!"

She stopped then, as he took her in his arms and held her close. He comforted her until she had calmed down, then he took up the story.

"I had told Dom I would see Nyn before he went with Garmen. No king can walk the corridors of his own home without an escort, but I insisted two guards would be enough."

He came back to me, and sat on the bed, holding my hand. He knew I would be distressed by what he had to tell us.

"There were four guards inside the room with Nyn. I insisted that two left and the others stood well back so that they could not hear what was said. Nyn just smiled at me.

I pulled a chair up in front of him and asked him why he had done what he did, but I had no opportunity to hear an answer, if there was to be one..."

"The two remaining guards had come up behind me and pinned me to the chair. I turned my head to look in amazement. Dom, it was Porphyry..."

A terrible rage rose within me. The Phoenician who had tortured Lij! I tried to get out of the bed, but he was stronger than I was at that moment. I struggled in his arms but his grip on me was iron. "Where is he, Lij? Tell me he is not dead! I want to kill him myself! Let me...up!"

"Dom," he fixed me with a stern glance. "You will see him, but not now. I have him closely confined. I want to sift this matter completely. And I will wait until you have recovered so we can do so, together."

He lowered his mouth to my ear. "Lie still, my love. I will not let you up, you know that...and you promised, after all..."

I subsided. He was right. I had promised.

He sat on the bed, holding my hand, as he continued. "It was Porphyry and his brother. They stripped me, and because they had marked me somewhat in the process, dressed me in a tunic, not a kilt, and a cloak to cover the damage."

"Then Nyn smiled and told me he was going to write out a declaration, so that he would not have to speak, and have the herald read it out. Then I would be banished although not to Garmen's island. H thought my suggestion was better - the copper mines of Gebir. There I would be sure to die."

"And he would have got away with it, too, even if only for a time, had it not been for my Menep. She saw me in the corridor between the two guards, and she looked into my eyes."

"I knew it was him even before I removed the gag," the old woman said, quietly. "Those eyes could not have belonged to Nyn. There was so much love for me in them."

"Luckily the guard in the corridor was well trained. When Porphyry and his brother tried to run, the Nubians overpowered them. They are excellent guards."

I struggled with the thought. "But why Porphyry? How...why...?"

Lij smiled at me. "We will question him soon, my love. And we will be answered." Looking at his face, I knew this was true. He was not a vengeful man, but I knew that whatever was needful to be done, would be done. We would be enlightened.

*****

Later that day Lij's mother returned. Menkh rushed in to tell us she was seen on the Road, and Lij went out to meet his mother. I wanted to go, but Lij just said "you promised," so I kept to my bed.

She had to be told. Her son was lying in the House of the Dead. Lij took her there. He said he looked beautiful, and at peace. Nefer was, naturally, extremely distraught, so I told Lij to stay with her. I after all, had plenty who loved me to care for me. Lij needed to be with her.

*****

It was with a glad heart that on the next day I welcomed my children home. Even Nefer was reported to be lighter of heart because of their presence; she loved them dearly, as did all who knew them.

Orla stood by my bed, and frowned at me. "Well, Da, next time, listen to Raya, and stay in bed. You are a stubborn brute, you are, so!"

I laughed at her. "I hope, muh chree, no more arrows come winging my way. One was enough."

Titi bounced onto the bed to lie next to me, and Jed told her off for hurting my arm, but I shook my head at him.

"It does not hurt now, my son, truly it does not. Except that I promised Lij, I would be up and about by now."

"Tomorrow!" Lij said from the doorway. He was carrying Evgren. Behind him came Soraya and Lygia.

Liv and Orem, with Menep were already talking about food suitable for an invalid at the far end of the room.

I shouted to them that I wanted roast quail, Menep retorted I might get two duck eggs if I was very fortunate. I kept my own counsel. I was sure Lij would bring the quail. He remembered what it was like to be ill and deprived of decent sustenance. I looked around me and rejoiced at the blessings of my family.

*******

Lij made me wait another day after I had got up from bed before we visited Porphyry. He said we would take the unusual step of going down to him as he did not want Porphyry or his brother in any of his - or my - rooms. I could not blame him.

We went down to the holding place. The Phoenician was being kept in a white plastered cell with a bed, table and chair and all he needed for comfort. I could not help but compare it with the cold stone dungeon that Lij had been confined it at Erin, chained to the wall and deprived of food and water. Anger rose within me. I would break this bastard!

But this was a very different man from the one I had seen in Erin. Although he was clean, and relatively free from injury, I could see he had foreseen his own death. He was pale and subdued and knelt quickly, head bowed as we approached.

Kerasonb, who was watching him most carefully, had had him brought, chained, into a large ante-room, where chairs suitable for us had been placed.

He knelt on the floor in front of us. I looked at him closely. He was tall and dark haired, with straight features and a full lipped mouth. Soon he would be dead. For his crimes against Lij, I wanted him dead.

"If you were given the choice, how would you choose to die?" Lij interrupted my thoughts with these carefully spoken words.

The man glanced up at Lij. He looked grateful. "Something quick and painless, Great One. I am at your mercy. Do with me as you must."

Lij shifted slightly in his chair. "Oh, never fear it, Porphyry, I will. You will die, that is certain. Now you have nothing left to think on, we would know your story. Why have you treated us ...me...so harshly? Why did you enjoy hurting me so much? I am curious."

Now I knew why Lij had kept silent whilst Nyn taunted him with me. Rage was boiling in my gut. I still do not know all that the Phoenician did to Lij in that dungeon, but I do know there was not a piece of skin bigger than the tip of my thumb that remained unbruised when he was done with my spouse.

I wanted to kill him. The taste of it was sharp in my mouth. I kept silent.

Porphyry looked up at Lij with sad eyes. "You killed my father. On the day you met Sean-Adomnan - Sen-Adom - you ordered a man's death for laughing at you. That was my father."

Lij did not move, neither did he speak. The man continued. "I stayed at the palace, working out of the public eye. I was determined to find a way to pay you back for that. I worked hard.”

“Five years ago I was sent to the island where Nyn was imprisoned. It was an appointment for life. No-one ever came back to report on the prisoner. I had earned a place in the lower guard - not a palace guard - and I was known to be fair and not open to bribes. I had tried hard in the niche I had carved out for myself; I was looking, you see, for ways to kill you. My brother joined me later and knew nothing of this! Be merciful to him, Lord. He only did what I asked..."

Lij put up his hand. "Continue with your story. Do not petition me for mercy. Speak!"

The man sat back on his heels and continued his tale. "It was not long before Nyn and I became lovers. Bithar, too. We were, we three, inextricably bound together. I loved him...them. I would have done anything for him and Nyn. Now they are gone, I am not sorry to join them, wherever they are."

I felt a jolt in my belly as I realised I had something in common with this lout. He had loved Nyn as I had loved Lij.

"After we had helped him escape the island, we made our home together wherever we could. When we had ...er...outlived our welcome in a place, we moved on."

"One day we heard from a trader that The Great One had followed his lover to Erin, where the man was king. We knew many Phoenician traders. Abibal took me there, because I spoke a little of the language, whilst the other two remained behind. Oh, do not be surprised, Lords! We Phoenicians are a well-travelled nation."

"I did what Ede demanded of me. And I did some of it for my own satisfaction, I admit it. I enjoyed hurting you...but you know that."

"I do." Lij's voice was low, but as hard as steel.

"When I escaped after Ede's death, I took back to Nyn details which would make his plan possible. The plan to take your place and rule the world as he was born to do,"

"I had drawn a copy of the brand you have on your hip, Great One, whilst you slept. We contrived to have a brand made. It was, indeed a very good copy. I could not tell the difference. The tattoo of course, he had already, being the firstborn son. All we had to do now was wait."

"We knew all traders stopped at the port of Mablos for fresh food and water, and to trade. We found a physician, Melia, who would do anything for money. Nyn paid a local to kill Melia after he had served his purpose. It was not us, Lord, I swear. We had already left for Egypt. We travelled on the boat you were on, Great Lord"...here he looked at me, under lowered lashes. "We worked in the galley together."

"Then we came here. We were welcomed in the lower orders, because we were both known. Nyn, of course, sent for Bithar amongst a group of servants as soon as he arrived. He made a pretence of choosing him. That is all, Great One. Tell me my death will be quick, I beg you."

"Your death will be quick; and that of your brother. Someone had mentioned torture, but I am no Persian, and have no love for needless cruelty. Take him away, Kerasonb." Lij nodded to the Chief Captain and he took the man away.

Lij looked thoughtful as he stood. "Come, Dom, we will follow him. Say nothing, do nothing. It is all arranged. This is my burden."

We followed them out into the courtyard where half the court seemed to be assembled. Porphyry stopped and turned round as much as his chains would allow him. "Lord?" he said to Lij. But he said no more for Lij had taken out his ritual temple knife and with a swift, unexpected blow, thrust it up through the man's neck and into his skull.

He was dead before he fell to the ground.

"And thus perish all traitors to the throne of Egypt and to its anointed kings!" cried Kerasonb. Everyone knelt immediately. "Death to the traitors!" they cried.

I was amazed. I knew that Lij had a violent streak in him, but he had suppressed it so well over the years - since Kishlan - that I did not know he was capable of such an action. Then I saw his hand trembling, and knew why he had done this himself.

Nyn had called him weak in front of the whole court. No-one would now think so. He had killed an enemy with his own hand. Only I would know how much that had distressed him.

I could see another body lying at Nat's feet. It was Porphyry's brother. We had been avenged. Those who had plotted our deaths were dead. If there were any others, these summary executions would weed them out. Evil men would give up their mothers to death rather than face such things themselves.

We went inside and bathed, the stench of blood strong in our nostrils; the perfumed oils washing away the taint and smoothing away the tension. As I poured the oil on Lij's body and rubbed it in he said urgently, "Dom...kneel!"

I knelt in front of him, head bent. His voice was low and sweet, as he poured oil onto my head. "I consecrate you with this oil, unto the service of Egypt as king and god and dedicate you to the service of her and to the gods who made you until your life's end. I name you Sen-Adom, Pharaoh, Living Forever. So be it."

"So be it." I responded. Lij was high priest of all Egypt. There was no-one greater than he. I was now truly king.

"Rise, Egypt!" he said in a low voice, smiling at me with such a look that indeed, when his eyes fell, and when he saw my state, he sent the servants away immediately.

"Leave the oil," he said to the boy who was about to remove it. The lad bowed low and scurried away, but Lij's eyes were fixed upon mine.

"Take me," he murmured.

I was now an equal with him. No-one would think it amiss. I took him, there, in the water, and I loved him all the more for this sign of my kingship. The servants, who, no doubt were listening and watching, would know beyond doubt that we were now one in everything. Before, it would have been unthinkable. Now, it was permitted.

It was true that a public anointing would be performed for the whole court to see; but this was for us, and for those intimate with our bodies, the servants who looked after us. For Pen-Nekeb, looking down upon us. Lij never forgot what it was like to have been a slave. He wanted - we wanted - them to be part of it all.

*****

The next day I was anointed and crowned king. Lij placed his own double crown upon my head, and announced my Golden Horus Name to be Payankhi-Ankh-Aton-Ankh-Knefer-Lijedefer. To the court I was to be known by my Throne Name, Sen-Adom, and to Lij, and to my intimates I was still to be called "Dom." It was perfect.

Thus the story of the Son of Set ended. He is gone, but in night terrors sometimes he comes back to me - to us. Then we hold each other, and remember the look on Nyn's face when he died, and are comforted. His spectre still lingers, for one cannot look upon Lij without seeing Nyn, but Lij's spirit burns far brighter and clearer than his brother's ever had.

Lij - Knefer-Lijedefer, Living Forever - and I are still as one in mind, body and spirit. He is mine as I am his. Together we rule and dispense wisdom and justice dealt out firmly, but with great love for those who call us gods.

I have written this history as a lesson to those who take things at face value, and for those who think a beautiful face indicates an inner loveliness. This is not so. Nyn was as depraved as a man could be, whereas Lij, the other side of the same apple, is as sweet and clean as ever he was.

Together we shall walk into the eternities, he and I. And there we will Live Forever, as we have been promised.

And if the bright hounds of Ulla join with us, there, racing along the green of the Curragh, and Maeve weaves her magic tresses around us, whilst Osiris and Anubis and Ra smile gently down upon our antics, we will be most blessed.

EPILOGUE

Dom wipes his pen and puts it into the tray. It is finished. Tomorrow he will give it to the scribes, who will make fair copies of it for the archives. This draft will be placed in canopic jars and interred with the two Pharaohs.

But the feeling of sorrow that has accompanied him throughout the writing of this history, remains with him. Dom had hoped that the telling of this story would exorcise the demons within him: demons of self doubt, of anguish and distress. Yet it is not so.

Something Menep had said at the time, all those years go, still troubles him. Surely , she had said of him, he - Dom - would notice any differences, if anyone would?

He had noticed the differences, of course he had, but he had excused them. He had found reasons for them. Not once had he challenged what was there before him - and men had died because of it. It was no consolation to him that Menkh, nor Nat, nor even Liv, Lij's sister/wife had not known, either. He and Lij had been inseparable companions for ten years. He should have known.

Lij, standing unseen in the doorway, looks on his spouse with love and concern. When Lij and the family had travelled to the temple celebrations at Memphis, they had left Dom behind nursing an injured knee.

Dom had said that he would write this history to help him come to terms with his feelings about the incident, still keenly felt after a decade, and also lessen the distress of missing the ceremonies with Lij for the first time in nearly twenty years.

Lij had sent Jed and his wife, Orla, to bed as soon as they had arrived, as the baby had worn them out the night before. Titi took the baby with her, saying the nurses could tend him in her apartments, which would give the weary parents some much needed sleep. Lij, of course, had gone straight to Dom's rooms, and what he finds there concerns him.

Dom is still at the table with the finished scrolls in front of him, his head resting on his arms. Lij enters the room quietly, and puts his hands gently on Dom's weary shoulders.

"Did you finish it, a stor?" Lij asks as he bends to kiss Dom's head. Dom jumps in his seat but rises quickly to embrace Lij, the joy at seeing his love overcoming his weariness.

Lij holds him close. He has missed Dom more that he can say. It is true there had been plenty to occupy him in the six weeks he had been away, but still, Dom was not there with Lij, and he felt it, keenly.

Dom kisses Lij once more and pulls up a seat for Lij to sit beside him.

"I have finished it, Lij, but it has been a hard task. I am not sure I would have started it if I had known at the beginning what demons it would conjure up."

Lij takes Dom's hand in his. "Demons, my love? What demons?"

Dom looks into Lij's eyes. There is nothing, now, that they do not share with one another. "The kingdom nearly fell, Lij. All you had worked for was gone in an instant. Men died, Lij. Nyn died. Liv was...assaulted. I was, too. It is all my fault. Menep said...Menep said I should have known, if anyone did, that it was not you."

Tears begin to track down his face, and Lij takes him in his arms again. "Hush, a hashkeh! How could you have known? To you, there was only one of me. Menep was distressed, otherwise she would not have said such a thing, Dom. She loves you dearly. Only she knew there were two of us - you did not. And you loved me, and hoped I would heal, is this not true?"

Dom nods, too moved to speak. He finds his voice with an effort. "Until he started the killings, yes. I..."

Lij holds him. "It was not your fault, Dom. Not then - and not now. You cannot be blamed for what you did not know. If you had had an inkling that it was not me, would you have waited so long before acting?"

Dom stares at Lij. "Of course not, muh chree. It was because I thought it was you that I hesitated. I was hoping, praying that you would recover your senses. I love you, Lij. I always have - you know that. Although my feelings for Nyn were not the same as those feelings I had for you, I could never harm you...him... if you were in your right mind. But I heard you - so I thought - promise to kill me - those we love - the children...I...Something had to be done to save them. You know I love..." Dom cannot continue, his voice wholly choked by tears.

Lij stays silent as the feelings, buried for so long, resurface. He lets his beloved work through emotions that have been too long neglected. After a while, Lij kisses him again, tasting the tears on his lips. "I do know it, as I know I love you...only you. Always you. Quiet, now, Dom. Do not distress yourself further. What is gone should be past grief. I am here, and in the present, and you are my life." Lij gazes at his partner with love plain upon his face, and Dom is comforted. Whatever else occurs in the future, he must lay aside the burden of blame. He has Lij's love to sustain him and no man could have need of more.

Lij smiles gently back at him. "May I read it? I know it is late but we are both too distressed for sleep."

Dom calls for more lamps, and Lij, accepting some juice from Dom, and a few honey cakes, sits and reads…

*****

Several hours later, Lij puts down the last scroll with a sigh. "I can see why it was difficult for you. It was as if it happened yesterday, re-living those moments - and you had the worst of it, my love."

He touches Dom's hand just as the scribe arrives to take the scrolls to the writing rooms. The scribe is surprised to see Dom still out of bed, and even more surprised to see Lij there, for it is the middle of the night. He bows low and makes stuttering excuses, preparing to leave, but Lij stops him.

"Just one moment, if you please, and you may take it." Lij smiles at the man. Both the scribe and Dom know that whether he pleases or not, kings will do as they want, but he is a junior scribe and more than happy at the courtesy shown to him by a great king.

"I would add something to it, Dom, if you will allow me - in my own hand, as I see you have written all this yourself."

Dom nods, puzzled, and getting the ink, places it in front of Lij.

When he has finished, Dom reads it, and thinks, as he does so often, how much he loves this man. Written at the end of the last roll is this:

"I, Knefer-Lijedefer, King of Egypt, spouse of the most beloved King, Sen-Adom, co-ruler of Egypt, and dearest love of my heart, wish to record on this scroll that I have read the contents herein written, and that it is a true and accurate record of what occurred during the time of Knefer-Nynetijer, known to us as the Son of Set.

However, I wish it to be clearly understood that it is not Sen-Adom's fault that he did not know that Nyn was not me. Some say that love is blind, but I think that love has an extra, inner eye, that shows one the better parts of the beloved. Those parts most worthy of remembrance.

That inner eye was missing because Dom did not love Nyn. He did not even know him. He only realised this later. He cannot be blamed for what he did not know, and I have come to understand that because he loves me - which makes the difference - his inner eye has seen virtues in me during times when I know there have been none.

If Nyn had better parts, we did not discover them in his life, and it was only at the moment of his death that he showed any tenderness towards me - and I for him. It is a great sorrow to me, as I lost a brother without ever having known him. And I could have loved him, if I had had the opportunity, for Dom - Sen-Adom - taught me, above all other things, how to love others as I love him. It is the most precious gift he has ever bestowed upon me.

My Dom is everything to me, my sun by day, and my bright star by night. To him do I owe all that I am, or will ever be.

And, as he hopes - as we both hope - in the Otherworld, we shall meet on the green of the Curragh and in the fertile Oasis of Basara all whom we love who have gone there before us. There may the hounds of Ulla be led in on silver leashes by Nyn, cleansed from all taint and wickedness by the forgiving gods who saw that he was not formed from the womb as are other men; and there may I learn to know and love my brother, as it should have been from the beginning.

And if the gods find any virtue in us, may we find Pen-Nekeb, our friend of friends, crowned as a king, as he so richly deserves, standing at his side.

So let it be written. So let it be done.

Signed this day, by me,

Knefer-Lijedefer, spouse of the Great Pharaoh, Sen-Adom"

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From: (Anonymous)

I feel like I'm saying good-bye to two dear friends right now. I am writing this with tears in my eyes! I've followed this story avidly from the beginning--it was outstanding--- exciting, heart-warming, and very powerful. Thank you so much for writing such a wonderful love story that's so much more. I am sad that it is over----so, what's next? You should feel so proud of this work. Thanks again.

From:

luthien-08.livejournal.com

This has been a great joyful read and it's so sad to see it go... :(
You've recreated Egypt's glory in this story so vividly! I've enoyed reading every single chapter of this part along with all your other parts (son of the son and Mac tire. Thanxs for sharing this beautifully written story ! ^_^'

From:

janejanejane.livejournal.com

I can only agree with the above comments, my dear Issi :)

A perfect ending to an excellent series...

*sighs contentedly*

Loved the little echoes from LOTR - "The end of all things"... "This is my burden"...

Thanks for your hard work and for sharing more of your Lij and Dom with us!

*love and hugs from us both*
XXXX

From:

ourdramaqueen.livejournal.com

OK - so I still haven't caught up, but I had to take a quick look at the previous chapter when you posted, and then of course I had to I read this one... ;)

A wonderful end to a wonderful series Issi! I loved following our two kings' adventures. In a way I'm sad that it's over, but then again I can't wait for your next story! *bounce*

From:

igraine1419.livejournal.com

Thank you for this wonderful series - as you know I've been reading it fast and furiously and have loved every minute of it.

Feeling rather sad about letting these dear characters go - but I am so glad it all ended so beautifully. I'm looking forward to more of your work - you're a wonderful writer and I'm very glad I found you. :-)

From:

elisamaria.livejournal.com

I am so sorry to see this end. I enjoyed all parts of this epic. I can't wait for your next story. Love!!!!!

From:

primula-baggins.livejournal.com

"So let it be written. So let it be done."

I am selfish and do not want it to end. But it has occurred to me that I have been blessed that you were given the gift of the ability to tell this story, and you have done it well. I do not wish to be too selfish.

Thank you for sharing with us, dear Issi. I have loved each word and this is one of those stories that will stay with me always. When I say 'one' of the stories, that includes Son of the Sun, Son of the Earth, and Son of Set.

Now I wish I would have printed all of these out!

From:

primula-baggins.livejournal.com

I forgot to say, in my next life, I want to be one of Lij and Dom's body servants! *nods*

From:

willsomeonecare.livejournal.com

I don't know how to phrase this poetically or even very prettily but I can already tell you that without anymore of this story my life is going to have a big empty hole that was reserved for the updates of your story. I do hope that you have more ideas to write out as you are one of the reasons I check the internet everyday. loves you more than is healthy.
Great ending as well...thank-you for bringing him back to life for me.:-)

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