My Love Will Laugh With Me (Before Morning Comes)

I Sing of Ahmanet

I sing a tale that begins in the eons past in a time of kings, queens, and gods.

In ancient Egypt, Pharaoh sat watching his people with a straight back and a furrowed brow. He watched them bring in the waters of the Nile and the children of the workers' play. They laughed and sung; some ran and kicked the ball. Each child was happy with round bellies and clean skin. He wondered then of his own child, the one still inside his wife.

She sat in the courtyard with the children watching them with gentle eyes. Her belly swelled with life and her hand cradled it rubbing lazy circles. 'There lies my son,' he thought. 'Safe in his mother and in moons, out to fulfill my legacy.' Pharoah watched his wife with a keen eye, but his thoughts were miles away.

When his son was born, he'd inherit Upper and Lower Egypt. He would have to endure the long hours planning their survival, communing with the Gods for guidance and fighting to protect his home from enemies. What of the enemies in Egypt? The Church of Amun grew strong and favored by the people: a risk to their dynasty. 

So it was decided then, his son would marry a girl from the Church of Amun born to be his bride and daughter of the Highest Priest.

Pharaoh looked away then from his wife calling for his advisors.

It took much out of him. Some argued his son must decide his own bride for he would rule with her by his side. Another argued sending the message was a sign of weakness. "A plea," the man said with a head high and perhaps too big. There were more who saw reason. To unite the two further would lessen the danger. Both high born offspring would marry once they were mature. If he did not like his wife, he could take another or a concubine.

The message was sent, a reply sent back quicker, and his plan seemed to come to fruition.

It was not meant to be.

On the birthing table, his wife laid dead and gone. The child alive and strong but not a son. The son, Ahmen, that he pictured for months did not exist. A daughter who he named Ahmanet, the feminine after the wife of the God, was what he had. Pharaoh notified the church without a care: grieving for his wife and the future he'd seen with his son.

The deal survived because of a clause. The High Priest's wife was pregnant with the one day Pharaoh's bride. The deal was for their daughter to marry a child of Pharaoh, and there were years to have a son. They gave Pharaoh their daughter who was aptly named Meritamen: beloved of Amun.

The two girls were to be companions until a birth of a son would divide them. Meritamen was raised to be a queen with the people, palace, and Pharaoh-to-be on her side. Ahmanet trained to be Pharaoh as her father failed time and time again to provide a son. It was hard for both with many hours spent with tutors and Ahmanet learning to defend her country. In the spaces between, the girls looked to one another playing together when allowed and sneaking to each other's bed to talk when they could not play.

The years were kind to them both. Meritamen grew wise and beautiful with eyes the color of copper that haunted Ahmanet when she closed hers. Ahmanet grew strong: a talented fighter, a head for math and beautiful. Meritamen smiled at the mention of her name and found comfort in the nights they shared each other's bed.

It was a badly kept secret. One night with the Pharaoh, he proclaimed to Ahmanet as Pharaoh could choose a consort male or female. Immediately, she thought of her Merita with copper eyes and curls that bounced with her every step. Ahmanet looked straight into her father's eyes proclaiming she would marry Meritamen when she became Pharaoh clearing him of his deal.

He would never understand.

The birth of Pharaoh's son spelled the end for everything Ahmanet held dear. Her future as Pharaoh was as good as dead. Her father had the son he wished and grew cold. Her love, her Meritamen, betrothed to the infant boy who'd she marry once he came to age. 

It was too much.

Meritamen thought for hours on how to get out of it. She did not want to marry a child. She wanted Ahmanet who warmed her bed and took care of her heart. No long-term solution could be found without a death. She couldn't kill an innocent child and could not fathom how to get the Pharaoh without being caught. She was doomed. She would be Queen with the wrong child of Pharaoh.

Ahmanet had no such misgivings. In the dead of night, while Meritamen slept, she made a deal that changed it all. She prayed naked and vulnerable in the cold of her table. She was still strong and proud until he heard her call. Then she shook cringing as the contract tore her skin and Set hoarsely breathed down her neck. Set answered her plea for her rightful birthright with power beyond her imagination. She killed that night: the Pharaoh for his cold heart, the concubine and the crying son in the next room. No one knew of her teary eyes.

There was still a price: a human body for Set.

 A loyal servant offered. He laid flat as the Princess moved for the Dagger of Set. He imagined immortality and perhaps Ahmanet by his side. If not, he saw the titles and the potential to rule both the Princess and her consort. He saw the gold and the power but not the arrow that would end his life. Ahmanet was found before the dagger could touch his heart. Paralyzing darts ended her fight. She could only watch as they wrapped her in linen and covered her coffin heedless of her muffled screams.

They buried her where she'd never be found. Entombed deep in the earth alive, she wasted away for killing the royal family. Meritamen was never seen again.

From there was a curse. Whoever freed her, would bring Set into this world. Ahmanet would return: her heart black and ready to fight for her throne denied. She would return angry and broken haunted by copper eyes that cried in the darkness. Ahmanet was trapped there for a millennia.

Then she was not.

A/N: Prologue Written As In Ancient times. Please let me know if you like it.