Ahkmenrah: The Fourth King of the Fourth Kings

Chapter 34: This War

Thank you so much for 12k. I had never thought I'd reach this far! XD

This chapter is kind of short but the feel if I write any more it would just ruin the chapter.

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The little band if soldiers that had been sent by the Pharaoh bravely flitted in between the shadows that the sparse vegetation the landscape could provide them with. Finally they reached the campsite of the enemy. It took them seven days to reach them.

There was something strange about the location. They couldn't pin point how though. Finally they realised and made their way back to Ineb-Hedg, to tell the Pharaoh. It would take them seven days to return.

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He often wondered what he feared most about what would come out of this war. Was it the shame of losing and being paraded like a dog on the streets? Or was it the pain of losing everybody he loved? Or maybe it was the thought of his country falling in turmoil that scared him...he didn't know. He wished he did so he could kill it at the source.

Two weeks after he learnt of the note his mother sent them he sat across from her who looked at Ahkmenrah and his brother with concern. The worry of war had eaten away at them.

Finally Kahmunrah broke the tense silence.

"Mother I do not wish to discuss marriage at this point. It's highly unjustified. Ahk and I have a war to..."

But Shepseheret cut in. "This war is what justifies my decision. There is a chance that neither of you will survive this war. What will happen then? The country can not fall into the wrong hands."

And by 'the wrongs hands' she meant Khufu.

Ahkmenrah looked at her puzzled. What did she mean by that?

"You want Ahk to marry and have a heir. Mother the chances of the happening in the next few weeks is slim. No impossible but slim."

Finally Ahkmenrah understood and turned red. He ran his fingers through his hair that was drenched in sweat after spending far to long in that burdensome crown.

"But mother..." The young Pharaoh started to protest.

"Ahkmenrah I don't want this country to fall into the wrong..."

And argument broke between mother and son before a level headed Kahmunrah intervened "Mother if we die, then the next Pharaoh shall be you, then Aunt Hetephres and Uncle Kawab will rule. In no circumstances will it ever come into the hands of Khufu. At least not for a while."

Both Ahkmenrah and Shepseheret looked at him in a way one looks at someone when the have changed the course of history.

Because for the first time in the history of Egypt a woman had been call forward as the heir to the throne. After all women are just as capable or even a lot more capable than men could be.

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"Why aren't you talking to me Sabra?" he asked once they were alone. It was evening now and she had been silent the whole day when usually they would talk for hours on end.

"I am talking to you now." She spat back in an unintentionally irritated tone.

Ahkmenrah sighed and looked that mauve clouds illuminated by the merest sliver of a rosy light. It seemed the whole city was bathed in this light, giving his surroundings a blushing underdone.

"If this is about that night Sabra then I forgive you wholly"

Sabra turned her head away from him so he could only see her tangled dark waves. But what if I can't forgive myself. She turned back t look at him. The four jagged lines were still there on his cheek.

She gave a small fake smile but it was enough to convince Ahkmenrah she was fine. He smiled back goofily before he brought her into a rib-crushing hug.

An unfamiliar feeling swept over both of them, both sensual and otherworldly. Something that made their hearts skip a beat. Then as if to make up for it, it beat faster. The experience left them breathless though neither admitted it out loud.

Sabra stiffened at first contact. She had never been this close to anyone of the opposite gender other than her family or Kain. But soon she relaxed and melted into the embrace feeling, for the first time in a long time, safe.

This time she smiled for real.

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On that same day the day later recorded as the day Shepseheret was appointed heir after Kahmunrah, the soldiers had reached Ineb-Hedg.

The Pharaoh and his brother were not present but the council where there. The commanding officer rushed in pale faced and dry eyed. Clearly he had been running for quite a while. They offered him a glass of wine, he took it. The wine improved his complexion a little.

Finally he managed to choke out "Sargon is advancing! He'll be here in a few days! Our soldiers they need to be ready"

That was when they heard a body fall in the doorway.

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Kahmunrah walked by the alabaster door. Behind it laid the Tablet. The Tablet was whispering. Calling out to him. Beckoning him to come closer. To claim what was rightfully his, throne and the tablet. He closed his eyes. But that was his mistake. He saw defeat. He saw mangled bodies lying on the ground. He smelt the sharp smell of fire, metal and blood.

It overwhelmed him. He tried to walk but instead he collapsed to the ground. The last thing he saw was a flurry of robes coming his way.

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Ahkmenrah had only just pulled away when a sharp searing pain shot through his skull. He too saw the defeat. He too saw the bodies. He too smelt the sharp smell of fire, metal and blood.

He staggered this was and that, his foot caught onto something and he fell forward. The darkness didn't come slowly as it usually did, instead it was almost like a flash of lightning. But instead of the light that illuminated one's surrounding there was only the blackness.

But one thing became clear. Egypt will lose this war.

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So how was it? Do you like my little plot screw-up?I mean it didn't just twist the plot it screwed the whole thing over.

Please don't kill me I know I have done horrible things to these characters, but I'm trying to be a bit realistic with this. They can't live dandy lives.