Ahkmenrah: The Fourth King of the Fourth Kings

Chapter 48: Return of the White Lioness

They buried Kain the same day he died. They would have buried him with the sword and shield he carried, but the only weapons he had with him were his daggers. The guards allowed him to be dressed in the full former regalia of an Awan General.

There was still a ghost of a smile on his lips. He would have looked as if he was asleep, had it not been for the blood matted in his thick hair at the nape of his neck.

Ahkmenrah himself felt duty bound to to dig the hole in the sand in which Kain was to be buried. Using a shovel like tool he and Kahmunrah dug a decent sized hole. Sabaf then placed a white sheet over the whole of Kain's body before the three of them placed his body in the hole.

Ahkmenrah was just about to suggest that they not put sand on top of Kain, so he won't have to suffer from suffocation. But he then realised Kain was unable to breath now.

A tear slipped down his cheek as he saw the golden sands slowly covering the white sheet. His chest constricted, trying to contain choking sobs ready to rack his whole being.

Slowly the sadness turned to wrath. Looking around he realised that he wasn't the only one who was angry.

All the workers seemed to be present at Kain's humble funeral. They all seemed saddened. But there was something else.

Before Kain's death everyone was plodding through day to day like domesticated ox slaving under the Sumerians. But Kain's death had changed everything. There was anger and wrath in every single one of them. Kain's unjust death was a spark. The spark that would start a firestorm.

Ahkmenrah swore to do everything he could to fan the flames.

----------------------------------

She swept through the night. Despite her white clothing, she managed blend in with the darkness. When she first joined the White Lions she had wondered how one was able to blend in with white clothing. But she soon came to realise it was more for taunting rather than convenience. For the White Lions had enough training that they were able to go anywhere undetected if they pleased. It was as if they were saying "Even though we do everything we can to be noticed, you will never catch us!"

She had all of their weapons tucked in between her clothes. Her heart beat fast. She thought of Ahkmenrah. She remembered how she kissed his cheek. She cringed slightly at the memory but neither of them seemed to mind.

She breathed in the cool night air. But in her heart of hearts she felt something was amiss. Something was wrong. Something had happened.

She couldn't place it. She didn't know why her heart felt that way. But it did.

Finally her steps, as fast as lightning, took her to where the four men stayed. She peeped through the small window. Not bothering to count how many people there were she jumped in.

Seeing a white figure burst into their room it was quite easy to say Ahkmenrah, Kahmunrah and Sabaf were startled. But the cool blue of her eyes gave them a sense of relief. But only for a moment.

Sabra undid the cloth around her face and scanned the room. She seemed to have grown confused.

"Where is Kain?" she asked. Not guessing at what really happened. Maybe he had been transferred to some other hut or workplace.

There was silence.

The hole in heart which she had tried to ignore earlier grew bigger. Indeed there was a sort of gloom in the air. Sabra had only half guessed at what had happened when Ahkmenrah choked out:

"He's dead!"

She couldn't register it at first.

Kain? Dead?