Daughter of Isis - Lilian Nirupa (best ereader for pdf and epub .TXT) 📗

to kiss you, and he caught you by surprise like this, and then left, what would have been your reaction?”
Lizla thought it over. “Well, I guess, the same, but that was not my intention...”
Ishtar-la smiled again and, releasing Lizla’s hand, she shook her head. “Ah, my friend, we all tend to interpret other people’s intentions from our own point of view. It seems that Psusennes has indeed fallen in love with you and he may even hope for it to be mutual. Is that so impossible?” Now, it was Ishtar-la who had a question in her eyes as she looked at her puzzled disciple.
Lizla shook her head in defiance and announced proudly, “Like there are not enough Altamiras in the world.”
Ishtar-la now laughed freely. “My dear princess, your cousin is a great warrior, but also he is well acquainted with the opposite sex.”
“I’ll say,” retorted Lizla with unsuspected fury.
“What I mean,” Ishtar-la laughed softly, “is that he knows very well you are not Altamira. He does not lose sleep over her, but the other way around. I think that was the last rumor I heard.”
“Exactly!” Lizla cried. “That is why I was so embarrassed at the Hall of Stars lesson.”
Ishtar-la was serious now; she held both Lizla’s hands in her own and said with determination, “My dear princess: that is a very good lesson for you. In your position you will always be in the public eye. How you react to it, is crucial in your job. Also for that reason, it is important to be aware of your feelings so they don’t betray you, either in private or in public.”
“I was trained in that since childhood,” Lizla responded pensively.
“Yes and now it is time to apply it. I truly suggest you meditate on this. This man is a member of the royal family; he cherishes you and respects you. He is very powerful, devout and committed to his ideals. Not to mention his handsome looks. Someday you will need a husband to share your throne, both in the land and inside your own heart. If you feel it is too early for you to make such a decision that is fine, you are very young still.” Ishtar-la concluded by waving to two of her other disciples who were just arriving.
Lakshmi and Annouk-Aimee were approaching as they made a walk tour around the boat. Ishtar-la rose from the bench she was sharing with Lizla and invited her three disciples to join her. “Let us go up to the captain and ask him to give you a navigation lesson. Would you be up to it?” The girls were interested. They were in school after all and enjoyed the magnificent views of the Nile shore that was flanked with statues of ancient Pharaohs. The Gaza pyramids were becoming smaller by the hour as the boat proceeded steadily south, propelled by many agile row men who insured a steady speed up the river.
Lizla rose up and took a deep breath against the mighty wind. The seagulls surrounded the ship and the fishermen stood still watching the royal boat pass by. They bowed reverently at the passing of the flag with the Pharaoh’s crown of the two kingdoms. Lizla dreamily waved to her future subjects as she kept on chewing on Ishtar-la’s last words.
Yes, indeed, being a queen would be her first duty, so she would ask Isis’s guidance about her future. She smiled remembering that in Psusennes’s premises she would also meet her beloved master: Ra-Ta. As usual she felt secure and protected again. Then following Ishtar-la, she joined the group as they headed for the captain’s cabin.
The trip lasted a few hours and by the time Ra was returning home in the western horizon, the boat had arrived at the man-made seaport that Psusennes’s father had built beside the river’s natural bend flanking the north border of his state. The group was received by a group of servants from Psusennes’s palace, headed by the head housekeeper. She had made sure adequate accommodations and classroom settings had been duly set up and furnished for Ishtar-la and her pupils.
After a sumptuous dinner, which marveled the group as they had been used to the excellent but frugal meals of the Temple of Isis, Ishtar-la took the group by a path down the garden that led to the zoo. The garden path was streamed with flowerbeds of many colors, while a canopy of gardenia vines covered a large part of it. The canopy finished in front of a large fountain that was built around a life-size statue of Isis and Osiris holding hands. Neferti had gotten permission from the temple to add electric wiring to the base of the fountain.
Although electricity was a secret guarded zealously by the priests, sometimes it was allowed to be applied to a divine statue. At dusk, high streams of water colored in pink, blue, purple and yellow chirped happily around the statue, creating an otherworldly effect that contrasted with the austere silence of the many stars in the deep blue firmament.
Lizla could not help thinking about Psusennes and how this wonderful site would have been a daily visit for him. She imagined him as a child chasing light bugs by the fountain, or later in early youth, stealing kisses from adventurous princesses, as the rumors went. That thought made her feel quite irritated and she did not notice a quiet figure that was looking at her intently.
Suddenly she heard her name, in the voice of a beloved figure. “Ra-Ta,” exclaimed Lizla and extended her hands to meet her guru. As he approached, she bowed to receive his blessings. Then, at his invitation, she sat by the small wall at the fountain border. He sat next to her and looked at her in silence.
“How are you my beloved teacher, do you have any news from Thebes? Are you safe here? How long will you stay?”
Ra-Ta smiled to see her youthful enthusiasm had forgotten all care. The gardens were dark and there was no way he could assure privacy. Anyone could be listening. So ignoring her questions he asked, “How was your trip my dear? Are you learning much in Ishtar-la’s classes? I heard you had an interesting astrology class. I wish I could have been there. I admire Suryananda very much, both as an astrologer and a teacher.” Ra-Ta could not help a smile anticipating Lizla’s response.
“Pardon me sir, but if you were not there, who told you?” “Someone who was highly impacted by the event. In fact, I think it may have changed his life forever.”
Lizla was really puzzled. “One of your disciples? Does this have anything to do with my Ketu experience? Suryananda asked for sharing and that is what I did.”
“I had no idea...”
Ra-Ta interrupted her by putting a finger to his lips to signify silence. “My dear princess, you had a long journey and tomorrow the classes will being at noon. Please come by my cell at 10:00 AM and we can discuss it.”
So they walked in silence back to Psusennes’s palace and Lizla went up to her room. The lamps were low by her bed, but she could see an exquisite tapestry covering the floor. It looked Persian, Lizla thought. High over her bed hung a canopy of transparent linen that acted as a mosquito net. Several vases with flowers were displayed around the room. A table with refreshments, fruit and sweet wine was covered by a big dome of translucent blue glass.
On it she found a letter and a small box. She opened the letter. It was from Psusennes. He begged her to forgive him for his imprudence at the Hall of Stars. He then declared in passionate tones, the depth of his love for her, his determination to plead for her love. “For eternity” and he humbly begged her to accept “this humble gift from a disconsolate cousin.”
Lizla frowned both at the letter and the avalanche of mixed feelings that it caused in her. Then, with tremulous hands, she opened the box.
Tears came to her eyes when she saw the contents. It was a beautiful ivory pendant with a golden chain for a necklace. The pendant opened and inside it there were two paintings that she had seen often – much larger – on the Tanis palace halls. The one on the right was her own father, Ramses IX. The one on the left was Neferti.
Lizla felt her head spinning at this sight. But she was, as Ra-Ta said, very tired. She went to bed and had a strange dream: She was again by the zoo and still trying to see the tiger. As she approached the tiger’s cage she was expecting a ferocious growl, but instead she saw the tiger was older and quite tame. He had a junior female tiger by his side and two wonderful small kittens.
Lizla got in and tried to pet a kitten. She advanced with trepidation, but the parent tigers did not move. So she picked up the smaller kitten and started caressing it. When the kitten turned around to look at her, it had a sweet disposition that melted her heart with tenderness.


Chapter 20 – Altamira’s wedding
As it was his custom, whenever possible, Ra-Ta had risen early to take a stroll around the magnificent gardens that surrounded Psusennes’s palace. Normally he would go to the zoo and watch the servants feed the horses, tigers, cobras and gazelles. They even had a large lake where crocodiles and rare lotus flower ponds were commingling in peaceful coexistence.
Springtime is a time for renewal and to reflect on life, Ra-Ta mused as he strolled down the garden path... Ra-Ta felt there was nothing like nature to celebrate the rhythms of life. That rhythm had accelerated in not so harmonious tones lately.
Psusennes had left the palace with a heavy heart but embracing with fierce determination his decision to be the ruler of the heart of his beautiful cousin. Together with Ra-Ta and his connections at Thebes, they had also provided Altamira with a silver bridge to avoid her future interference with his plans.
The plot brought fruit as this morning a magnificent vessel, owned by one of the Nubian princes, arrived at the dock of the private seaport of Psusennes’s estate. The emissaries had sent special invitations for Psusennes, Lizla and Ra-Ta to the celebration of Altamira’s wedding to Arshaka, the prince of Nubia who had family connections to the king of Babylon, after whom he was named.
This powerful prince was reputed to conspire against the throne of Egypt and his powerful Babylonian connections made him a notable but feared visitor in the Pharaoh’s court and especially among the rebellious priests at Thebes. But Altamira’s hurt from Psusennes’s rejection and her natural ambition made her overlook the political implications. She wanted a rich and powerful husband to show her old lover that she could do better without him.
Unbeknown to her, when her parents received Arshaka’s emissary asking for an audience, they never knew it had been orchestrated by Sabola, a wise and faithful servant of Ra-Ta in his previous temple at Thebes. Sabola was never a priest, but he had an excellent education, spoke Babylonian, Greek, Egyptian and Nubian. Ra-Ta trusted him completely as an emissary and as a frequent tutor of princes both in languages and religion. He had been offered by Ra-Ta as a welcome gift to Arshaka when he arrived in Egypt five years before.
Through Sabola’s careful service, Ra-Ta managed to keep an ear on the politics of Thebes and the priests’ partial rebellion. Some of the Theban priests opposed the rulership of Pharaoh over the two kingdoms as they owned much of the land around the huge monasteries. They wanted to keep the money produced there for their