«And you don’t even want to have it?»
«So far I have managed».
«Why not?»
«I believe that abstinence strengthens the will. Physical passions make people weak. The worst of all warriors are those who seek the attention of whores at night».
«But now it’s not a war, you could relax».
«I prefer to keep in shape».
«You’re the only one here,» said Merira pointedly. «All other people I know behave differently. Many people like both girls and boys. You’re pretty handsome. The royal daughters were staring at you. Do you want to know in what words they praised you?»
«No», Taor wanted to ask more about the golden creature, which he saw first in the throne room, and then at the eerie night festival, but is it reasonable to start this topic again if he has not already been answered. «And Akhenaten does not have another adult daughter, whom I have not yet been introduced?»
«Well, if we talk about children lost in a harem, then there are dozens, even hundreds… without the grace of Pharaoh, they are nothing».
«So maybe he decided suddenly to elevate one of them? Or did he have another royal wife, no older than his daughters?»
«What made you think like that?»
«I…» Taor for some reason did not want to confess directly. «Suddenly the choice of a new god must be strengthened by the choice of a new wife, even more radiant than everyone that came before her. Match the sun god».
«This is a clever thought,» Merira paid tribute. «But I’m afraid that the Pharaoh is not interested in women at all: neither the queen, nor the girls from the harem, nor mere mortals».
«So what is he interested in me because someone called my face attractive?»
«Believe me, if Akhenaten were suddenly interested in young men, it would certainly be you,» something in the priest’s honey-flowing voice suggested that it was not empty praise. «You see, you are a little like a certain guest who once visited here a long time ago and disappeared forever. But our ruler cannot forget him to this day. Although the resemblance is very distant, you probably remind him of that friend».
«So, therefore, my request was immediately executed, and I myself remained a guest here. In memory of someone I don’t know».
«Not really,» Merira carefully took him by the elbow and pointed in the direction of the exit. «We shouldn’t stay here long. Besides, you have become too pale, you need fresh air».
Taor felt it himself, his throat squeezed like a stranglehold, as if someone’s thin fingers were choking him. This is all from the stale air, he thought to himself, but the feeling of someone’s presence near him was truly oppressive. As he left, the young man carefully looked around. The symbols of the old gods were all not scraped off the walls and columns, their clay figures were not removed, and the sculpture with wings in the distance did not depict any of the gods known to him at all. So who was it then? Taor rushed there to look, but the priest’s hand held him with unexpected strength. At the first moment, the young man was taken aback, he did not even suspect that the old man still had so much strength.
«Who is it?» He breathed into the void.
«Never mind!»
«I don’t know the name of this god».
«This is just a fantasy of an insane sculptor who died long ago. And not God, and not Pharaoh, and not anyone from the royal house. Just an idol».
«I would like to take a closer look».
«Not worth it! He’s not here for long. And my advice to you, if you see him elsewhere in the palace, at any new place, just walk by, do not look closely at him, do not linger around».
«I liked him».
«Not for you alone».
Merira, as promised, took him out into the fresh air, using some other entrance than the one through which they had come. From this, the royal palace suddenly began to resemble a labyrinth to Taor. There were so many entrances and exits, connected by a complex of passages and galleries that invariably led to new gardens or huge halls. The pond was the center of every garden, in which the blue lotuses, formerly a sacred plant, bloomed. Is it still sacred now that the gods have disappeared? Freshness emanated from the flowers and water, but the weight of the invisible stranglehold around his neck did not wane.
«A drowned woman was recently found in this pond. They say that the freshness of death comes from water».
Why did the priest tell him this? Taor did not understand, but the pond really gave the impression of a very cold place, in a garden where unbearable heat reigned. The walls of the arches nearby were hot, and the pond looked like liquid ice.
Apple and peach trees grew all around. Taor suddenly noticed a ripe red fruit being plucked from a branch by a golden claw. Drowsiness and fatigue immediately disappeared. He looked at the lush treetops here and there, but no longer noticed any movement.
The garden seemed to be teeming with snakes, although they were not visible. Although a slithering body glowed in the grass, it was bright gold. Are snakes gold? Real snakes, not those that were dreamed of. Taor watched the bright golden beam.
«Do you have friends here at court?» suddenly asked him Merira.
«Just one,» he meant Prince Smenkhkara.
«And those people from the wild tribe, whom you decided to save life, you most likely do not even know by name».
It was more of a statement than a question, but Taor nodded anyway. He did not even know their language and, naturally, could not ask them about their name. There were no translators on the road either. The strange, hissing adverb turned out to be very rare, and it was somewhat frightening. From what he said later, his ears ached.
«You have spared unusual people. They are not like the Egyptians».
«Many tribes and peoples are not like us, take at least the people of Nubia with their dark skin. Nevertheless, the Nubians are now guarding us, standing with halberds at many of the doors of the palace».
«But those recent prisoners with their earthy skin tones… I think they need protection from themselves,» the priest expressed fears.
Taor also saw at the feast how greedily they grabbed food with their claws and pounced on the raw meat of fallow deer and antelope in the kitchen. He attributed this temporary madness to the horrors of war. What peaceful person does not lose his mind from them?
«They will recover over time and will behave like all people,» he tried to justify their behavior.
«And those who didn’t behave like people from the very beginning,» Merira reminded carefully. «I mean the man who attacked you on the day you returned. The senior vizier expresses fears, he believes that by encroaching on you, this man insulted the Pharaoh himself, because on that day, as a winner, you represented his greatness and the greatness of his people. The perpetrator can no longer be forgiven. But if you know that asking for his pardon will cost you your own life, you will say it anyway».
«Yes», Taor carefully looked at the priest, he seemed to be testing him.
«But why? What are the others to you? Why are you willing to forget about yourself for the mercy of people you don’t even know?»
Taor thought for a second. He didn’t know it himself.
«It’s just so right,» he said, and immediately someone pressed against his face and looked straight into his eyes, for so long and deeply that it became scary. For just a second, something inhuman and invisible pressed against him, but this second seemed like an eternity. And that’s all. No one else is around. Except for the old priest.
Taor