Daughter of Isis, Lilian Nirupa [books to get back into reading .txt] 📗

own, but in loyalty to Pharaoh they had to produce tribute to the crown, to pay for Pharaoh’s wars and the government costs.
That was the right thing to do and ma’at had supported this view for centuries. But in the last 40 years, agitators from Nubia and Babylon, jealous of Egypt’s riches and their unified kingdom, had infiltrated the southern temples at Thebes and provoked rebellion. Their long term goal was to secure the throne of Egypt for a future Nubian king.
Ra-Ta was lost in his thoughts when he saw the slender figure of Lizla walking up to his apartment, to keep their morning appointment. Ra-Ta returned to his place promptly and arrived almost at the same time as his disciple at the door of his room. He asked her in and offered her a seat and refreshments. Lizla accepted politely but did not eat much, as she had already had breakfast.
Ra-Ta looked at her and smiled: “Well, my dear child, what were your questions yesterday? I have much to tell you, but most of it is confidential, so the palace gardens in today’s times can be non-reliable grounds to discuss such matters.”
Lizla nodded in understanding. “What was all the commotion this morning? I saw a great luxurious boat, with a Nubian flag, at the prince’s dock.” Are we being invaded?” she joked, as she knew well it was a royal yacht and not a military boat.
But Ra-Ta’s face was grave in answering. “Not yet, my dear princess.”
Lizla looked at him alarmed. “What do you mean?”
Ra-Ta took a deep breath and continued. “You will soon receive an invitation to a wedding.”
Lizla’s eyes were wide open in wonder. “Through a Nubian emissary. Who?”
“An old friend of the family, actually a young one I may say, whom you may remember: Altamira... She is being married to Nubian prince Arshaka.”
“The king of Babylon’s nephew?” Lizla was astounded. “I thought he was here for the Babylonian’s ambassador’s son’s wedding.”
“Indeed my dear, princess, that was the official reason for his trip. But he is also looking for his own connections with the Egyptian ruling classes.”
Lizla thought for a moment. “Altamira’s father was my youngest uncle. He never married her mother... That hardly makes her a royal princess in Pharaoh’s house.” Lizla added with a mixture of pride and disgust.
“Oh my dear princess, royalty should not be stained with arrogance, but adorned with noble thoughts,” Ra-Ta answered reproachfully.
Lizla lowered her eyes as she answered her teacher. “What I meant...”
But Ra-Ta interrupted, “I know, but that is close enough considering her adoptive parents’ wealth.”
Lizla nodded again. “Yes, they are rich enough; she grew up with us as a child and was rather spoiled. I am sorry if I sound proud again, but she was cruel, impetuous and frivolous. I never cared to be her friend.” Lizla was guarded but firm.
“Yes I know, and I agree. Incidentally, she does not like you either. She came to me a couple of weeks ago; she wanted news from Thebes, but she was also inquiring about you and Psusennes.”
Lizla was suddenly enraged. “She did not! It was surely all Psusennes’s fault. He made a fool of himself in the last Hall of Stars class.” Lizla was agitated and also confused.
Ra-Ta put his hand on his disciple’s shoulder. “You must learn not to judge too harshly my dear. Oh, you are very young, but unusually mature for your age. You may want to add patience and compassion to your many virtues. It will serve you well as a queen, and as a woman.”
Lizla felt chastised again. But she realized her cousin provoked intense emotions in her which she could hardly understand sometimes.
“Psusennes is in love with you, seriously. He wants to marry you; that is why he left. He can’t stand your rejection. So he went up into battle. I hope he does not pay too dearly for his pain.” The priest looked at Lizla for an answer, but her confusion was too great. She could hardly raise her eyes from the floor.
The priest continued. “Well, Altamira’s news could help your cousin on his goals.” He ventured a look at Lizla who slowly raised her wonderful eyes to meet her teacher’s. There was a trace of tears on them that Ra-Ta found hopeful. But he continued with the political situation.
“The situation is still undecided at Thebes. The Nubian princes and specifically the merchants of both countries all look to our country’s riches and our advanced civilization with envy and no less greed. What they think is that the Pharaoh’s absolute power over the land can be easily obtained by usurping the throne of Egypt with one of their princes.”
“But the Pharaoh rules over the land and the people as their Master and God.” Lizla interrupted. “The people will not accept a foreign ruler. It is precisely our family-like country set up and our respect for honor and tradition that the Pharaoh’s crown of the two kingdoms sustains and represents!”
Ra-Ta smiled to himself and added soberly, “Exactly. You have the perfect picture, but they don’t know that. They are used to power conquered by the sword and to acquire wealth by trading and slavery. In truth, they perhaps could conquer the Egyptian throne and for a while support the situation since our structures are solid, but it will all eventually deteriorate. That is why unity in the land is important. For us and for mankind. You see, Egypt is more than a great granary to the world. It is also an advanced civilization which the scholars of the world and the brightest students grace due to its stability, refinement and respect for the law.” Ra-Ta was thinking aloud now, but he was well aware that his words resonated with his favorite disciple.
Lizla was deep in thought, too. She remembered the Goddess’s early prophecy about becoming a healer to the country’s divisions. Maybe the hour had come or it was certainly approaching. “Is there anything we can do to help?”
Ra-Ta took a deep breath and looked at her silently for a few minutes. “My dear princess, the situation is still confusing as apparently everything is all right. The Pharaoh is secure in Tanis, the schools are safe, the rebellion in Thebes contained and no enemy has threatened our borders. But underneath they are moving. You see, Altamira’s wedding will give the Nubian prince Arshaka, who is a close relative of the king of Babylon, serious proximity to the Egyptian royal family. They have infiltrated like this through marriage or business alliances, all over the south, particularly in Thebes. What Egypt needs now is a secure royal line that ensures legitimate succession, from truly divine Egyptian Pharaohs. Only that can promise the priesthood and the people the stability, military power, respect for tradition and religion, for a state based on true ma’at.”
Lizla was thinking aloud now. “My father had no male heirs and I am the eldest. My uncle has no children from his queen. So that makes me...”
“Heir to the throne,” Ra-Ta finished her thought. “But you are also very psychic, young and female. Arshaka is marrying your sworn enemy, so you can expect opposition unless...”
He was interrupted by his eager disciple. “Unless I marry a man strong enough to share my throne and who has the respect of both naturals and foreigners alike” Lizla kept on thinking aloud. “Anyone you know?” she said without her eyes leaving the floor, a sly smile flowering her pretty full lips.
But Ra-Ta was serious. “If you’re thinking about your cousin, yes! I think that would be ideal. But he is in love and resists the idea of a simple political alliance. Anyhow, you are too young to marry. Yes, not by Egyptian standards of simple age. But as a future queen, it would be best that you continue your education. But we were discussing the political situation as you asked me yesterday. Does that answer your questions?” Ra-Ta knew better than to press a sensitive issue that needed considerable contemplation from his resolute disciple.
But Lizla had a need to share her late experiences. She said without taking her eyes off the floor, “He left a beautiful letter and an exquisite present for me.” She felt almost guilty about judging him so harshly and she showed the beautiful pendant to Ra-Ta.
The priest was both moved and surprised by Psusennes’s gesture. “But that is the pendant his mother gave me on her deathbed. She made me promise he would never take it off his neck.”
“She made you promise that, not him.” Lizla felt incredibly surprised at her defense of her annoying cousin.
Ra-Ta’s eyes looked at her with tenderness and respect. “My dear princess, you will be late for class and I am due for a lecture I have to give in the palace’s library.”
“Oh, what about? I would love to attend.” Lizla was always eager for learning.
“It is about the legends of the ancient mysteries. This is something someday you will discover further and teach us all, remember the Goddess’s prophecy?” And bowing farewell to the princess he guided her to the entrance to the corridor that led to the classroom wing of the palace.
Lizla bowed back to her teacher and proceeded to Ishtar-la’s classes. She still had an hour before noon. Lunch would be served at the class break, so she had some time to be by herself. So she decided to take a look at the zoological garden. She went down the familiar path to the tiger’s cave. But she felt desolate when she discovered that the old tiger had died and no replacement had yet arrived.
She thanked the slave in charge and gave him a silver coin. Then she decided to take a stroll by the Nile. She had a lot to think about.


Chapter 21
Lizla sat down by the river and took her sandals off. She loved the feeling of the water on her feet. The currents were stronger here at the South, she noticed. The river was younger, closer to its birth place. The waters were purer and she once again had the memory of visits to the river for the blessings ceremonies that her father, the late Ramses the IX, used to conduct when she was a child. After the ceremony, she always managed to stay behind and dip her feet by the river. In the recently blessed waters, their shapely form seemed to melt into the Nile. She never felt closer to her father than at those times. And his reverent invocations would reverberate in her young mind, “Oh holy father of Egypt, you unite the South and the North with your life-giving grace. Grant us peace, prosperity and union, that we can honor the sun god RA with his gift of light and the mother moon with her gift of peace and the rhythm of your tides. You are our life blood that keeps the desert alive to feed our hearts, our souls and our bodies. Amon-Ra-Auml.” She memorized that prayer in her heart and she felt the river current melt her own ka into the eternal mystery of the Egyptian soul.
But something was different today. Her own heart felt empty and a bit frightened. Her father was no longer alive and the cave of the dead tiger had made his absence more poignant to Lizla today. Lizla remembered Ra-ta’s teaching about the moon, how it represented the power of the mind but also ruled the cave of the heart. The tiger had always been a symbol for both courage and fear to Lizla. She had dreamt the tiger was alive and had a family of his own. Maybe that