Alex sat up at the foot of the bed, rubbing his face with his hands. His mind raced, his brain was pounding against his skull, and the whole world seemed to be moving except for him. He squeezed his cheeks and forehead with his fingers before heading to the kitchen in the New York apartment. The husky pulled out a bottled water from the fridge and plopped it on the counter, before going to the medicine cabinet to get some headache medicine. He popped the top and pulled out two little red pills. Opening his mouth, he tossed them in, grabbed the water and took a long swig. Hopping from mission to mission is one thing, but now these wacky dreams, he said to himself, Mrs. K. really needs to give us more than a few hours off some time soon. I haven't had a good home cooked breakfast in a month, he reminded himself, I bet that's what's giving me these un-natural dreams. Alex's mind began to wander, wander off towards a great breakfast of blueberry pancakes, bacon, and eggs. He licked his lips thinking about the great meal, dreaming about the rich maple syrup, the crispy bacon, the warm pancakes, the fresh hot eggs. His eyes closed.
When he opened them again he was staring at a wooden table set with fruits. The husky was looking directly at Denise, and yet at the same time, it wasn't Denise. She was dressed extravagantly, a golden crown on her head with a ruby set in the center of it at the base of a snake that seemed to arise from the crown. There was a necklace with gold, topaz, and sapphires interwoven into it, making her extravagantly beautiful. Coming out of the necklace was a white silken top that covered her breasts. It was several layers thick, but it still did not leave much to the imagination, since it was made out of the finest of materials. The table blocked Alex from viewing the rest of Denise's body, but he could image what was left of the dress she was wearing. He felt someone coming around behind him, something that he'd acquired while in the SEAL's. He turned to see a strangely colored female hyena set a plate of food in front of him before she left. The plate contained some berries, along with some unleavened bread coated in sugar that looked quite similar to pancakes, a large slice of cooked beef, and several cooked eggs. Suddenly, he felt someone touch his shoulders, ending the dream immediately.
Denise had awoken to see her lover in the kitchen, standing over a bottled water. It was a little unusual for him to be out of bed at this hour, and when he was, he was normally in the gym, or packing for another mission. The cat walked over to him, put her hands on his shoulders, and began massaging the knots out of them. She watched as he shook his head, as if coming out of a dream. "What's wrong," She asked getting close to him, kissing his ear. Alex looked at her. "I had one of those dreams again," He said, lips pressed together at first, but opened slightly after she began to kiss him.
"The one where you lose me," the cat questioned; curious to know why Alex was in such a strange mood, one that she hadn't seen in a long time.
"No," Alex replied, "that's a nightmare, not a dream."
"The Egyptian one?"
"Yes," he nodded, "I had that one, twice tonight."
She looked at her lover, "How bad was it?"
He looked away, "It wasn't as bad as the other night."
Denise nodded, the nightmare he'd had the other night had not been pleasant. Alex had awoken up, shaken. He wouldn't talk about it, but it was something that had been able to upset a former Navy SEAL, something that was extremely difficult to do.
"The first dream had been of me and you, being intimate," he said, starting to smile. "The second one was of us eating breakfast." He turned around, pulling her close to his muscular chest, "I must say, you did look beautiful."
Denise smiled at Alex as she rubbed her nose against his. "I probably should tell you that I had one of those dreams as well," She grinned, enjoying being this close to him.
"What was yours about," the husky asked, curious to know what she'd have to say.
"I was getting dressed, but being helped by several female servants. They were a mix of species, but there were some that stood out."
"Oh really?"
"Yes. There was a solid black jackaless with long raven colored hair, a black-backed jackaless, and two hyenas that had unusually patterned fur and white hair," she told her lover.
“Hmmm,” Alex murmured as he took in what he heard. “There was a strangely patterned female hyena in my dream.”
“Really,” she said, “That’s interesting. Was she wearing anything distinctive?”
“No, just a normal dress like you’d see in the movies. Why?”
“Because in my dream, the women weren’t wearing much in the way of clothing.”
“Well, in mine you didn’t leave much to my imagination, tigress,” Alex replied smiling, “Besides, mine was about eating a good meal.”
Denise nodded, “Well, since we’re both up, why don’t we grab a good meal before the boss sends us on another mission.”
“Such wonderful words of wisdom,” Alex smiled as he followed the feline with his eyes as she began to get out the milk, eggs, pancake mix, bacon, and most important of all, the blueberries and maple syrup.
Alex didn’t take long to make breakfast, just enough time for Denise to run and grab the newspaper. She’d just sat down at the table when Alex put a stack of pancakes smothered in bacon and eggs in front of her along with a cup of hot coffee before he sat down with her own stack. He smiled at her before taking the first bite, erupting his mouth into extacy. “Oh my god! This is great,” he told her, “I haven’t had this good of a meal in so long.”
She smiled back at him as she looked up from the paper, “Remember, you can thank Mrs. K. for that.”
“I will definitely thank her for giving us some rest and relaxation time,” he added, “but like what we’ve seen, it’s only a matter of time before she calls us back into action.”
“Well,” she said with a sly smile, “we should do something fun today, something that we haven’t done in a long time.”
Alex gave her a smile, “Other than what we did a few hours ago?”
“It doesn’t have to be,” she retorted with a slight smile.
“Well, I don’t think we should buy tickets for a musical, since those all happen in the evening, and Mrs. K. is certainly going to call us back in the middle of one if we go to it.”
Denise put the paper down and handed it to Alex, who opened it up. He searched through the paper, looking for something enjoyable to do. Then an advertisement leaped off the page.
See the amazing riches of the Pharaohs of Egypt
See what their lives were like
Hundreds of recently discovered artifacts
On display.
New York Museum of Natural History
Starts Today at 10:00am ends Friday at Closing
Alex couldn’t stop staring at it. Finally, he said something.
“Denise, would you like to go to this,” he handed her the paper.
“Yes, I would, but for some reason, I don’t really know why.”
“Neither do I,” the husky added.
Denise looked at her lover, “It doesn’t start until ten o’clock, which means we’ve still got four more hours.”
Alex smiled back, “Four more hours in which to entertain ourselves.”
About three and a half hours later they both were getting dressed to the tune of a re-run of Photon Jump, a very old show about a man that leaps into the lives of various individuals in order to make their lives better, after sharing a long hot shower together. Alex threw on a pair of slacks and a collared shirt with a belt, a pair of tennis shoes and a leather jacket, whilst Denise threw on a Kashmir sweater and jeans. The two agents walked out of their apartment and out onto the sidewalk. It was always faster to walk in New York than it was to drive, plus Denise’s apartment was only five minutes away from the museum. The pair strolled over, just in time to get to the building early enough to miss the rush of public, private, and parochial school children that started to pour into the area. The husky and the cat walked up to the ticket counter and bought two tickets for the Egyptian exhibit, getting in just before a group of elementary school children.
The museum had created an entirely new world within itself, transforming a series of rooms into what appeared to be a journey through the daily lives of the Pharaohs. Much of the journey was blocked off to the young school children, since it contained the darker side of Egyptian culture; the night life of the Pharaohs. Alex and Denise kept moving, looking at the exhibits, which portrayed the Jackals, Lions, and Leopards that ruled the country over several millennia being served, dressed, and pleasured by a plethora of slave animals; fennecs, spotted hyenas, bat-eared foxes, jackals, tigers, lions, leopards, cheetahs, and whatever else they could buy from other places. They moved down the line and into the artifact room, where a collection of trinkets, beads, and knick-knacks were placed under glass. The cat and the husky looked at various objects in the display cases, and finally cam to a single case that contained two crowns, a Pharaoh’s shepherd’s crook and flail, four necklaces and two khopeshes. They stared at the caption;
The crown of Pharaoh Aazehre
The crown of Queen Dendera
Necklace of Pharaoh Aazehre
Necklaces of Queen Dndera
Pharaoh’s crook and flail
Pharaoh Aazehre’s Khopeshes (Canaanite Sword)
Alex and Denise exchanged glances, just before they looked up to see a small sign.
Little is known or survives of the tale of Pharaoh Aazehre and his wife Queen Dendera. What is known to scholars is that they were considered to be great monarchs of Egypt during the Early New Kingdom period, until their images were destroyed by vengeful monarchs of later periods.
Alex shuddered the though of being completely erased from all history. He checked his watch. 11:00 am. The husky placed one hand on the glass as he started to study the artifacts, as did Denise, and almost all at once the world they were in faded in a flash of white light.
Alex and Denise were dazed when the flash was over, but they soon noticed that they were standing, looking down from a balcony in what appeared to be Ancient Egypt. They exchanged glances, and noticed that they were not in normal clothes. They both had crowns, necklaces, gold bicep bracelets, arm bands, and anklets. Alex had something that definitely looked like a pharaoh’s head-dress and was wearing an Egyptian style kilt or rich fabric. Denise was wearing the exact same thing he’d seen her wear in his dream. He started to say something, but Denise beat him to it. “Alex, what is going on here?”
“I wish I knew,” the husky replied, looking at her, “The only thing I do know is that we’re dressed like Egyptians and looking out at a village from a balcony at night.”
A series of quiet giggles came from the behind them, close to the door. The cat and the husky turned around to see a black-backed jackaless and a strangely patterned female hyena walk in carrying a platter of fruits. After they left, a midnight black female jackaless walked in with a spit of cooked beef. She placed the spit over hot coals and left, her tail swishing back and forth. As soon as she left, the giggling continued.
Alex and Denise continued to stare in the direction from which the slaves had entered and left. It wasn’t the idea of having them, it was what they were wearing, or to be more rightly, what they weren’t wearing. The women that had just served them were dressed only in a necklace that just happened to be around their hips, leaving every other part of their body exposed. Alex and Denise exchanged glances, not really sure what to make of what they’d just witnessed, especially since one of them was the hyena from both of their dreams. Alex finally spoke, “Well, since we’ve just been served food, we might as well partake of it. After that, we can find out what’s going on.”
“When in Rome,” Denise replied with her jokester smile, “But in this case, when in Egypt.”
“You’re silly sometimes, tigress,” he said smiling, “and that’s just the way I like it.”
It was the second time they’d had fruit and meat in a meal, but they savored the food. The beef was cooked just the way they liked it, and the fruit was sweet and succulent. As they continued to eat they looked around the room. It was elaborately decorated with war trophies, paintings, and various personal items the two had collected over the years. They had just started to settle into their surroundings when someone entered their chambers, escorted by a slave, a strangely coated hyena.
“Master,” the man said, kneeling, “Khababash the slaver is here to see you.”
“Thank you, Khalfani,” Alex said without thinking, “You may go.”
The cat and the husky exchanged glances. Neither of them had ever met the hyena before, and yet they’d called him by name. Alex then looked at the gnarled figure that stood in front of him. Khababash the slaver was nothing pretty to look at. It was apparent from the scars that covered the lion’s body that he’d lived a hard existence. Denise gave a look of distaste at his outwardly appearance and his title. Slavery had died out in the 1860’s, but that was a long, long time from now. Finally, Alex decided to say something.
“Please sit, Khababash.” Alex motioned to a chair near him, “Tell me why you have come.”
The lion did as he was asked, flitting what was left of his tail around as he sat down. “I came to answer your father’s call before he passed into the next life, Pharaoh Aazehre,” he said, picking up a cup of wine. “I traveled from Nubia to get here. You see, your father had some slaves he wanted to sell, and I was willing to give him the best deal; I would take only a ten percent cut of all earnings versus the twenty percent cuts from the other dealers.”
Alex nodded. He’d just been called Pharaoh Aazehre and was being told that his father was giving away peoples lives to be sold at auction. He was obviously going to have to play along with it. “And did my father tell you whom he wanted to be sold?”
“He did, your majesty,” the lion replied, pulling out a scroll. He set it down in front of Alex and Denise. It was in hieroglyphs, but Alex and Denise understood what it said. It was a list of names. Almost all of them were males, with the exception of two female names; Anuket and Samira.
Denise looked at her lover, “Husband, Anuket and Samira are my hand maids. Why are they being sold.” The cat shook her head, why had she just called her lover her husband.
Alex looked at her, “That was before we were married. Apparently my father wanted to get rid of them before he died.”
The lion smiled, “If you pardon me, my liege, I will go and fetch the items I am to sell.”
“You may collect the slaves my father instructed to sell,” Alex nodded. The slaver arose, bowed graciously, and walked out. Alex looked at Denise. “What did I just do?”
“You just gave away two slaves that were my hand maidens, and not to mention the lover and mother of Khalfani, respectively.” The feline blinked, “How do I know this information?”
“Apparently we’ve taken on the lives of Pharaoh Aazehre and Queend Dendera.”
“Yes,” Dendera sighed, “and in a few seconds we’ve managed to destroy the life of a slave by selling his mother and lover.”
Neither Dendera nor Aazehre could bring themselves to bear on what they’d just done. Aazehre was having the most difficult time dealing with it. His conscience told him that what he’d done was wrong, but something else was telling him he’d done the right thing by following his father’s wishes. The husky struggled with his mind, the old Egyptian ideas of honor and family loyalty conflicting with his modern ideas of what was right and wrong. His head began to pound again, but as he stood up, the door opened, and a Khalfani scrambled in. The oddly colored hyena dropped knees and buried his face in his master’s feet, and grabbed a hold of the base of Aazehre’s kilt.
“My Lord, please,” he sobbed, tears running down his muzzle and onto his master’s feet, “please do not do this! You are giving away my mother and the woman I love to a whore chaser! Please stop this! Please!” The hyena cried harder, “My family has always been faithful to you. My grandmother took care of you when you were a child. My grandfather taught you how to use a khopesh. You have been friends with my mother since childhood and have treated her like you would a beloved sister, and me, the bastard child of a rapist, like you would your own son.”
Khalfani paused between tears, “And I saved your life.”
Aazehre had started to anger over this pup, but he didn’t really know why. Everything he was saying was the truth, and he’d never be overly angry at someone for saying it, that was until Khalfani mentioned saving his life. That nightmare he’d seen unfolding before him. He was being held back while a man was being cut and stabbed to death. Blood was flying everywhere, but someone was keeping him from doing what was right. It was this boy. The anger started to build inside of him.
“I saved you from your father’s assassins. They would have certainly killed you if you’d tried to do anything. And this is how you thank my family for years of hard work, by selling one of its members? Is this how you repay my friendship and loyalty to you, by selling my mother and the jackal I love?” Khalfani was crying even harder.
Aazehre could no longer take it. With a mighty hand he swatted the slave clean across the face, knocking him over onto his belly. Aazehre shook with pure, un-haltered rage as tears began to form, “I could have saved my father, but you wouldn’t let me. You deserve this punishment. You deserve to be beaten for questioning your master and for meddling in his affairs.”
Dendera saw what had unfolded and ran to her husband, grabbing his arm, all the while whispering in his ear, “Alex, I’ve never seen you act this way. What’s going on?”
Alex, or was it Aazehre, look at her with a painful expression, “I don’t know. I can’t control what’s happening to me.”
“You’ve got to fight it, Alex, this isn’t you,” she whispered back at him, “He needs your help Alex.”
The battle of idea that was happening inside the body of Pharaoh Aazehre waged for several seconds more, but it seemed an eternity, when finally something happened. Aazehre collapsed to his knees and hugged Khalfani, crying. The smaller male was a little surprised at Aazehre, who’d just hit him and sold his mother and lover into slavery, was hugging him, but the hyena just decided to go with it and hugged him back. The man and the slave sat there for several minutes, crying. Finally, one of them spoke, “Khalfani, I am so very sorry I did this to you. I have hurt your family and our friendship. The only think I can do is make it right, but I must know this; Will you forgive two old fools?”
Khalfani looked at his master, “I am a slave, my Lord. I do not have the power to forgive.”
Aazehre looked away.
“But if I were a free man with a title, I would forgive you without question.”
Aazehre turned back and smiled, releasing the man from the hug, then helping him to his feet.
“Khalfani, I want you to go to the treasury and get as much gold as you believe you’d need to buy Samira and Anuket back from the slaver, then meet me in the throne room. I will summon Khababash the slaver to meet me.”
The slave nodded, bowing graciously before he turned and ran off.
Dendera looked at Aazehre, “So, am I talking to Alex or Aazehre?”
He grinned at her, “Alex. I fought through Aazehre to get control over my emotions. Apparently Aazehre was very emotional, something he learned from his father. He also had a little-man problem, which is why he wanted to beat Khalfani, even though he was his friend.”
Dendera began rubbing his shoulders, “Don’t you think we should be heading for the throne room?”
Aazehre smiled back at her, “What would I do without you?”
Alex and Denise snapped back from the memory. The cat and the dog exchanged a strange mix of emotions, then looked down at their watches. The faces still read eleven o’clock. “It felt like we were out for hours,” Denise said, just before she felt a tug at her jeans. The feline turned around to see a very unusual looking child that was about 6 or 7. The girl had long snow white hair, a hyenid face with long, Anubis like ears. She was a beautiful tan color with a silver-and black back, but had chocolate stripes running the length of her arms and legs, with glove like markings on her hands and a chocolate muzzle. Her tail was small, but in a cute way and was a mix of gray, silver, black, and tan. “Excuse me, lady,” the strange looking pup asked, staring right at her, “May we see what’s behind the glass?” Denise looked up to see a group of school children behind her. She gave Alex a gentle nudge before answering, “Oh, we’re sorry children.” The two moved away from the case and the children immediately cavalry charged the glass as soon as they noticed the contents. The pups, kits, and cubs began to separate into two groups; the boys and the girls, each looking at completely different items. The boys stared at the swords while the girls gazed lustfully at the jewelry. Then one of them made a comment. “My momma has a necklace like that, and my pappa has a khopesh, exactly like that one.” The strange little girl had made a comment about two items in the case, both of which were not elaborately decorated enough to warrant ownership by a king or queen. The school girl immediately got burning stares from the rest of the kids, before someone said what was on their minds, “Yeah right, SAUNA.” A giggle shot through the crowd, as the little mixed breed growled. “My name is Sanura. And my family is from Egypt, and lived there for generations.” The pup who’d teased her and Sanura began a staring match, with eyes narrowed.
Alex and Denise watched the pups with a little apprehention. Khalfani and Anuket had both been wearing those things in the dream, though both artifacts had seen much wear and tear. The question became, how in the world did they get back to Egypt and mistaken for belongings of a Pharaoh. They moved along to another exhibit, trying to run this through their minds, but they couldn’t seem to remember anything that happened after they were supposed to meet Khalfani at the throne room. This un-ending dream tugged at the back of their minds as they continued to walk through the exhibit, finally ending up in a section full of clothing, or at least depictions of what the commoners would have worn, or their lack of clothing. They kept walking until they stopped again at a display marked as the Gowns of the Royal family. They put their hands down on the glass case as they stared at another pair of fairly revealing gowns. Denise noticed something was familiar about them. They were Aazehre and Dendera’s robes. They took one blink before the dream started again.
The throne room was full over servants of every species of desert creature imaginable, but the center of attention was on Khalfani the servant, and Khababash the slaver. Off to the side, Aazehre and Dendera could see some poor creatures sitting very much naked, their hands bound to a single strand of rope, their heads bowed. The lion and the hyena were glaring at each other, but the vizier was also joining in the staring competition. The golden lion was burning holes in the slave’s body using his eyes. Aazehre finally raised his hands.
“What seems to be the problem?” The Pharaoh looked at the group, scanning from Khalfani to Khababash to Giza.
“My Pharaoh,” Khababash began, “this insolent slave came to me….”
“Hold your tongue,” Aazehre spoke out in a harsh tone, “I consider that insolent slave of which you speak to be almost a son.”
Giza, the vizier, started sucking in air at what he’d just heard, as did many of the royal court. He turned to Khababash, “The sire is only being considerate due to him being so close to the slaves mother.”
Aazehre interrupted the vizier, “Of which my father wanted to sell before he passed into the next life.” The husky looked at his court, the slaver, and the slave, “You may continue Khababash.”
“Yes, my lord Pharaoh,” the lion spoke humbly, “As I was saying, the slave came to me and asked to buy back two slaves, the only two females in the lot. I told him that I had already found buyers willing to pay a king’s ransom for them, but he insisted that he have them. Then he showed me gold, more gold than he should have, enough to buy his own freedom.”
“I gave him the gold, with explicit instructions to buy those two back,” the Pharaoh mused.
“But I could not, since I have buyers willing to pay more for their lovely bodies than he had. I was willing to sell him all the males for the price he was giving me.”
“Then I will take all the males back,” Aazehre knodded at Khalfani, who handed Khababash the sack of gold coins. Giza, the lion, began to go into shock as he saw what was happening.
“Now, we will talk about a price for the two lovely females,” Aazehre directed. “I will pay you the highest asking price for them, plus two horses.”
Khababash staggered back, “My lord, with all respect, your offer is grand, but I do not know if…”
“The finest two horses in all of Egypt, from my personal stable, and you can choose which two you will take.”
The lion was amazed, he was about to make a great deal, one that he could not turn down. The vizier on the other hand, was about to collapse from amazement, amazement at how much his Pharaoh had fallen. He was the weakest one in history, which meant that Egypt was doomed if the vizier did not take over soon.
“Take them,” the lion screamed, handing the two female slaves to Khalfani.
Aazehre looked at Runihura, Khalfani’s grandfather, “Take Khababash to the treasury, measure out precisely the amount he was offered for the two women, then take him to the stables, and allow him to select only two horses.”
Runihura bowed deeply, without a word, then rose and escourted Khababash out of the room.
Aazehre looked at Khalfani, who was holding the rope which bound his mother and lover. “Khalfani, you have been the closest being I’ve had to a son as of yet. I wish to make it up to you for your loyalty and your friendship.” The Pharaoh signaled Khalfani to bow. He did as he was directed, his head staring at the ground before him. “Khalfani, my friend, son of my favorite slave and lover of another, you and your family have served mine for generations. You have given us friendship, love, and compassion. I hereby grant you and your family eternal freedom.” He looked at the free man, “You are my favorite amongst all of Egypt. If you were to ask, I would make you my son, my heir. You may ask anything of me and I will give it to you.”
Khalfani looked at Anuket, “My lord Pharaoh, I ask only one thing. I ask for Anuket and her hand in marriage.”
“I grant you your lover, may you live together in happiness, with my blessing and the blessings of all the gods.”
Dendera squeezed his hand as he did this, but Aazehre was not yet finished, “The royal court is dismissed. Return to your homes and your duties. Khalfani and Anuket, I wish to see you in private.”
Everyone dispersed and headed back to their normal routines, all except Khalfani and Anuket, both of whom were occupied with each other. Dendera looked at her husband, “They are very beautiful together, Alex.”
“They do look as lovely as we do, Denise.” The husky and the cat hugged.
The dream ended as abruptly as it had begun, and the two were still staring at the kilt and the gown which were kept behind glass. Alex looked at Denise for a moment, “Well, it seems that everything has resolved itself out.” The feline sighed as she looked away from her lover, “I have this feeling that it’s not over. There are many questions I’d like to have answered.” Her husky moved over to her and took her in his arms, “I know, but for now I think we’d best keep moving, else those school children will run us over.” The two kept moving, nuzzling a little as they came into a room full of scrolls. Most of the papyrus rolls were intact, but there were several that were definitely destroyed. One only had fragments left of it, but it still managed to attract some eyes, namely those of a young couple with two small children. The room was not too well lit, mostly to keep the scrolls from being further destroyed by long exposure to light, so it was hard to make out, until one of the children stepped away and headed over to something else. The woman turned to her daughter and said something Alex and Denise had ever expected to hear in their lives, “Sanura, stay close to us.” It wasn’t that they didn’t expect a mother to say that, but it was that she’d said it in Ancient Egyptian and both Alex and Denise had understood her.
Sanura replied back, “I’m just catching up with the rest of the group mom, there’s nothing to worry about.”
The woman smiled at her daughter, giving away that she had a young son in her arms. But as she looked at her husband, she saw the husky and the cat looking directly at her. She froze, as if she’d seen a ghost. The female whispered something into her white-haired husbands ear and he turned around. Alex and Denise stared at the copies of Anuket and Khalfani, or was it that Anuket and Khalfani were staring at copies of Aazehre and Dendera. They seemed to just look at each other for an eternity, before Alex finally spoke, “Khalfani?”
“Yes,” the younger man replied, hesitantly.
“I’m Alex. I believe we’ve met,” He put out a paw.
“Yes,” the hyena stammered, “a long time ago.”
“Would you mind getting a cup of coffee with us,” Denise proposed.
“As long as you don’t mind if we drink tea,” Anuket added, smiling.
“It’s fine. I do need to have some things cleared up if you don’t mind.” Alex smiled at the young hyena.
“I will certainly try to help you.” Khalfani replied with a warm grin. He turned to his daughter, “Sanura, come back over here. We’re leaving the museum.”
The hyena-jackal whined back at her parents, “But I haven’t gotten to see everything.”
“We can come back tomorrow kitten,” Her mother reminded the little girl, “besides, the teachers want to go home soon to start their weekend anyway.”
The hybrid child walked over to her mother and father, then took their hands. She stared up at the husky and cat, her eyes focusing on Denise. “You’re a very pretty lady,” she said shyly. Denise smiled at the hybrid, “Thank you. You’re very beautiful too. What’s your name?”
The hybrid wiggled back and forth, “Sanura.”
“That’s a very beautiful name.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Anuket looked at the feline, “It means Kitten in Egyptian.” Denise smiled, “You have wonderful taste in names.”
Anuket smiled at Denise, “I’ve got another one, but he’s at the sitters. His name’s Hasani, it means handsome.” The cat looked at the jackal, “I bet he’s just as adorable as your daughter.”
“Adorable, but they’re a hand full,” Anuket said, smiling.
Khalfani and Alex looked at the two females. “Well, they seem to be getting along well,” Khal said smiling as he began to focus on his mate, “Anuket, my love, I believe it is time we tell the heirs the rest of the tale.”
Anuket looked at her husband, “Agreed. To the nearest coffee house then.”
The troop of five marched to the nearest Starbucks, and sat at a table after ordering coffee and tea. Alex and Denise sat across from Khalfani and Anuket, they drank coffee, while the jackal and the hyena drank tea, their daughter sat near them, drinking a soda. Khalfani let out a long sigh as he looked at the husky and cat. “Before I tell you what happened, I must tell you that my family nor anyone ever thought we’d see anyone from the line of Pharaoh Aazehre and Dendera. Seeing you today was a bit of a shock, to the both of us.”
“I’d like to know what happened,” Ace said calmly, “to Aazehre and Dendera, and to your ancestor. This might explain why we’ve had these strange dreams for the past few days.”
Khalfani let out a pained sigh, “I must tell you this; there have only been three Khalfani’s in my family, of which I am the third. The one Aazehre loved as a son was the first Khalfani, named so because his mother was angry at the Pharaoh for not trying to save her from a raider. It is always difficult to talk about the first Khalfani, since it is very painful.” He paused, “After Khalfani was freed and allowed to marry Anuket, the married couple was given two horses, for which to use on their journey into freedom. Samira, who was like a sister to Aazehre, stayed in the palace since she did not have any lover of her own. She was going to be Dendera’s nurse maid…”
Dendera stopped the hyena, “Was?”
Khalfani swallowed hard, “Giza thought that Aazehre was corrupt, and with that, was able to rally several nobles against him, and one night, he and the noblemen swarmed into the Aazehre and Dendera’s bedroom, with daggers drawn, catching the two lovers in mid bliss.” Khalfani started to tear up and shake, “They stabbed the Pharaoh and his Queen to death. When they had finished, Giza had the bodies cut up and thrown into the Nile, and the lion declared himself Pharaoh. His first proclamation was for Khalfani and his family’s immediate re-enslavement. When he had them back at the palace, Giza had Khalfani put to death.” A slight gasp was heard from Alex and Denise, not really expecting something like that to happen.
“His excuse was that he’d polluted the mind of the Pharaoh with impure thoughts, making Aazehre weak, and thereby making Egypt weak. He made Anuket and Samira watch as he was beaten, then disemboweled, and finally beheaded.”
Alex’s fist started to shake in anger and frustration at what had happened to Khalfani’s ancestor so long ago, but Denise kept her head, “But Khalfani, why are you here?”
“Samira was bread, keeping the family line going. It was another 2000 years until the second Khalfani was born, and he was the first of my family to be free since our enslavement so long ago.” He then looked up at her, “But I must know, how did your family survive? Or I should ask, how is it that a relative of Aazehre and Dendera survived the assassination?”
“Honestly, I could not tell you,” Alex replied, “since my family isn’t originally from America, but rather from Europe, and from what I know, we never had any ties to Egypt.”
“The same goes for my family,” Denise added, not knowing how this all fits.
Khalfani looked at her, “It would be interesting to do some research. I should warn you, sometimes, the truth is stranger than fiction.”
Alex chuckled lightly, You have no idea, Khal. No idea.
Anuket stood up, “Khal, we need to pick up Hasani from the sitters.”
The oddly colored hyena stood up, “If you will excuse me, I must pick up my son. I bid you a good day, my lord and lady.” The male and his family walked out, not uttering a further sound as they left.
Alex leaned back in his chair, letting out a sigh as he watched them leave. They were an interesting pair, beautiful together, but very interesting, and they had a long history, a very long and interesting one. He let out a sigh of happiness as he sipped his coffee. Suddenly, Denise had an envelope out. “Alex, Khal left this on the table.” She opened it up, and inside was a letter.
To the children of Pharaoh Aazehre and Queen Dendera,
You do not know me, but I am the one that saved your family from total destruction. I am Samira, your parent’s favorite slave. You have probably never head of me, since they never knew who put them on the boat to the north countries. When your parents were stabbed repeatedly and presumed dead, Giza ordered their bodies thrown into the Nile after being cut into pieces. I took their bodies, which still contained life, and transported them to the Temple of Anubis, the Lord of Death. The priests there helped me nurse them back to health, at least to the point where they could be safely taken to another country. I only wish I could be there to see you and your parents, but I am a slave and have no rights. I only hope that you are as loving and as kind as your parents. I wish that one day you would return to free us from Giza, and assume the throne that is rightfully yours. I await your return with great anticipation, for it will mean the avenging of the one your parents loved so much, my son Khalfani, who was butchered by Giza for being freed.
With the love of an Aunt,
Samira
Translated from Ancient Egyptian to Greek by Liberius Aulus, then into English by Dr. Daniel Jackson, PHD
Both Ace and Queenie stared at the letter. The Pharaoh and Queen of Egypt, who’d been betrayed by the vizier, were saved by their most beloved slave, the one that was like a little sister to the both of them. The woman had written the letter out of hope and love that someone in the family would return to avenge her son and become Pharaoh. She probably waited for years for a response, even to her death, waiting for someone to avenge Khalfani. Alex clenched his fist and Denise’s hands, the rage about what happened, but then remembered that his family did have some Roman roots from the Roman invasion of England and Germania. Perhaps, one of his ancestors, a descendent of Aazehre had been one of the invaders of Egypt that had freed Khalfani’s second namesake. He looked at his lovely mate, wondering if there was anymore to the story than what had already been told.
