When I awoke I was entwined in Teia's arms. The last things I remembered from the night before was Teia's gentle, sibilant voice and her large, luminous eyes. We had kissed again and again for what seemed like hours. She didn't speak much of our language but she did know the word for beautiful - “Nefer, nefer, nefer Anatha !” I was touched and honoured.
She was still fast asleep so I gently drew my arm from beneath her neck, kissed a lock of her hair then looked around for some item of clothing. I found a light robe and slipped it on. The majority of the guests had departed, including the ambassador of the Kheftiu and his retinue. There were only two of the palace ladies to be seen; Mutemwia and of course Neith, whose pale bottom was the first thing I saw as I entered the main room. I smiled, recalling her revels and threw a sheet over her. She stirred but did not wake. “Let her sleep,” I thought. “She's earned it.”
I climbed the stair quietly, hoping that Leah would be awake. Fortunately her door was open and I could see her on the balcony gazing out towards Ipet Isut; the Great Temple of Amun. Even though I was barefoot, she heard me but didn't turn around. I stood next to her and took in the marvelous vista. When she did speak, her voice was quiet, almost subdued.
“Look how the golden caps atop the obelisks of Maatkare catch the sun at this time of morning. It is indeed a beautiful sight.”
“Yes, Maatkare Hatshepsut was a remarkable woman was she not.”
“I don't know your Highness, you tell me.”
I struggled to hide my initial surprise at hearing this. As coolly as I could I asked,
“How did you guess?”
“With all due respect Highness, you would make a very poor spy.”
“Granted.”
“The instant that you told me that you were the daughter of Kenhirkopeshef and the granddaughter of Sepetenre, I could see that this was the truth masquerading as a lie. If the late Prince Kenhirkopeshef was your father and your grandfather is Usermaatre-Sepetenre Ramsses II, our illustrious Pharaoh, then you must be none other than Her Royal Highness, Princess Bint Anath Meren Meretseger.”
She turned to face me with a smile. Discovering my secret had obviously pleased her. So I added to her triumph, good naturedly, by saying,
“The very same!”
“Well your Royal Highness...”
“Call me Anath.”
“Very well Anath, am I also to believe your story about your lover the snake catcher?”
“That is the truth, improbable though it may sound.”
She invited me to sit while a servant brought us a tray of fruit, bread and milk. While we ate, I recounted the whole story to her.
“You are very brave and very foolhardy, if you don't mind me saying.”
“I know it. But I want to find where these brigands are hiding him….and then...”
“What will you do? If as you say, your uncle will not assist you. You will need a detachment of troops to bring these criminals to justice.”
I nodded gravely.
“Even so, can you give me some idea of where I might locate them?”
She rose and stepped inside. A while later she returned carrying a large scroll. We cleared the table and unrolled what turned out to be a very detailed map of the Scepter Nome.
“On the west bank, south west of the city there is a chain of wadis. Bandit gangs guard their territory jealously. I believe the one that you speak of lurks somewhere there. They prey upon the city so they will not be far from it. Keep the Mountain of Meretseger on your left and the river valley directly behind you. Apart from that Anath, my prayers go with you.”
I took in all that she said and showed me, committing it to memory. Then she added,
“It seems to me that they observed your lover visiting the palace regularly and unescorted. Therefore he made an easy victim.”
“I did not ever think that this could happen.”
“No. The flame of love can blind us to danger.”
I followed her inside where I found my clothes, sandals, my bag of dried fruit, my turquoise and my water skin. Atop the skin was a sizable dagger in a leather sheath. I picked it up. It was heavy for its size so I removed the sheath.
“Is this iron?”
“A gift from me.”
“It must be very valuable.”
“It is but it reminds me too much of the brutish Hittite who gave it to me. So I will hardly miss it. It will cleave any bronze blade.”
I thanked her and got dressed. Leah tied my belt; expertly folding it several times and slipping the dagger between the folds where it was easily accessible but could not be seen. She then removed it and showed me how to use it. I thanked her again and promised to reward her upon my return. Surprisingly she said,
“Your friendship is enough Princess, for as the saying goes; to defeat powerful enemies you need powerful friends...”
Leah charged Maheri with conducting me safely out of the city. The powerful Nubian met his mistress and I in a quiet alley off the main street where the Perfumed Garden was situated. I imagined that most people in the neighbourhood were in some way connected to Leah's establishment. There were stables at the alley's far end and is was from these that Maheri now emerged driving a cart pulled by two mules.
“Not the most dignified form of conveyance, I'll grant you Highness, but it will serve.”
“I must be humble and above all discreet in this endeavor.”
“To say nothing of brave, dear Anath.”
She embraced me and kissed my cheek without the slightest hesitation and I reciprocated in kind. Her obvious care and concern for me was touching and I mounted the cart with greater confidence and resolve that I would have otherwise felt.
Silently Maheri drove us out of Thebes, past the cultivation and onto one of the many roads that lead into the western desert, the domain of Meretseger, she who loves silence. He stopped the cart at the entrance to one of the many wadis. He was a man of very few words so I was greatly surprised he spoke to me once I had dismounted.
“Listen to old Maheri princess…..”
“Does everyone know who I am?” I laughed.
“No princess,….. but what you do is a dangerous thing. Turn back now. Leave this to others..I beg of you.”
“Such wise words Maheri. I thank you for your concern but I have come this far. I cannot turn back now.”
I made him bend down so I could kiss his lightly beaded brow.
“May all the gods protect you sweet princess.”
With that he turned the cart about and headed slowly back down the dusty road, looking back a few times in the hope that I would change my mind and run after him. But of course I did not.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The desert is beautiful but admittedly, it fills me with dread. Only the sound of my water skin, splashing gently against my hip, served to reassure me as I trod through ravine after ravine that fateful afternoon. The deep silence is a palpable entity here and one can feel the overwhelming sense of emptiness so strongly. Although I was not far from the cultivation, there was not the faintest bird call, nor the drone of a flapping beetle or even the quiet whir of a damselfly's wing.
After a few hours I realized that nightfall was rapidly approaching and I don't mind telling you gentle reader, that the prospect of spending the night alone in the desert was filling me with apprehension. I found some solace in the fact that Leah had given me an extra bundle of food and filled the water skin. I was beginning to contemplate sleeping against the base of the cliff when I found a considerable pile of rubble in my path. I skirted around it only to be met by a rectangular hole cut into the cliff wall and reaching to about a cubit above my head. I was so astonished that it took me several moments to realize that this was the entrance to a tomb, or, judging by the rubble, to the remnant of one.
I stood at the threshold and gazed into the gloomy interior. Although the late afternoon light was fleeing rapidly and despite the many strings of dusty, gray cobwebs that hung from the ceiling, I noticed something inscribed on one of the walls. Ordinarily, gentle reader, I would never have entered the tomb of a stranger but that day, whether because of the lure of shade or because of the promptings of some echo from the netherworld, I stepped inside.
Wiping the massed cobwebs aside with Leah's dagger, I stood before the faded inscriptions and struggled to make sense of the words.
I read, “The Lady... Renenutet, much beloved….daughter of…..in her twentieth year...”
I stepped back. “She was the same age as I now am.”
I looked down. The floor was thick with dust but here and there, I could see fragments of painted wood and even a few dark beads. I touched the wall just under where her name was written and whispered.
“What happened to you dear Renenutet?”
The sun was now so low that I was finding it increasingly difficult to make out the rest of the inscription. So I walked back to the entrance of the tomb and settled down behind one of the door jambs. Despite the heat of day, night in the desert is cool, coming as a welcome respite to limbs as weary as mine then were. I made a pillow of my water skin and lay down. There was barely any light left but I just managed to make out that the tomb's ceiling was carefully painted with stars.
“Ah Renenutet, someone loved you enough to bury you here.”
The rest of the tomb was lost in total darkness, and just as well; I dared not think what sad desecration I might find in the chambers beyond.
I slept unexpectedly well; my dreams full of cool, shady lotus pools and goblets of rich pomegranate wine. I awoke at dawn just as the first rays of the sun had begun to creep into the tomb. I lay on my side, gazing across the floor. Re's light traveled imperceptibly across the dust until it came to a tiny green object. I reached out and pulled it out of the dust. It was a finely cut greenstone scarab that might have come from a ring. The back was elegantly inscribed with Renenutet's name and the epithet 'the beloved.' Suddenly I felt a wave of sadness.
“Fate has been most unkind to you sister.”
I tucked the scarab into my robe, next to my heart, and rose. I ate a frugal meal and drank as much water as I could, then gathered my few posessions. Later I found a flat pot shard and set it into the floor beneath Renenutet's name. On top I placed the scarab along with a couple of dried figs.
“Thanks be to you,” I whispered.
I left the lonely, shattered tomb, vowing to remember the Lady Renenutet always, in my prayers.
As I walked away, I was reminded of an ancient song that my uncle had taught me. My uncle values old things very highly and this was perhaps composed in some lonely wadi such as this, by some pious traveler of long ago. I sang it quietly so that I would at least have my own voice for a companion.
Silent paths and secret places
Where the light forever chases
Shadows across forgotten ways
Lost in the blinding heat of days;
Where never a word is spoken,
Where human eyes have seldom gazed,
There deep silence reigns unbroken
And the red dust is never raised,
Save when cool breezes happen by
As twilight tide draws nigh.
There, once the blazing heat has fled
Jackals bay with mournful voices
Among the mansions of the dead
Where the lord Anpu rejoices.
Alas, as the morning wore on, there was no hint of a cool breeze. Twilight tide was far away and mighty Re sailed on in his boat of light. I walked on for what seemed like hours; my mind closed to the possibility of failure. Endurance and resolve must be my guiding spirits, I told myself, over and over again. At length, near the end of yet another ravine my eye fell upon some pot shards and just beyond them, a bundle of rags and fresh animal bones, Suddenly I heard voices and I pressed my body up against the cliff to listen. I caught a roll of rough laughter and a few fragments of uncouth conversation.
“This must surely be the bandit's camp, I thought, and I'm standing only a few paces away.”
Slowly, I doubled back along the cliff until I found a narrow pass. It was nothing more than a fissure in the rock but I could just see the floor of another wadi beyond.
With considerable effort, I squeezed myself through it, emerging at the other end; bruised, scratched, filthy, but with my resolution undimmed. My hand found its way to the pommel of Leah's dagger as I peeked around the corner into the wadi. I saw the bandit's camp before me. I counted at least six tents of various sizes and a number of bandits but, as far as I could tell, there was no sign of Rahotep. By now the sun had sailed past his zenith and I was grateful to him for the pass was veiled in shade. At length I smelt a cooking fire and the aroma of flat bread. My stomach growled so I reached for the bag of dried figs and dom fruit that the fine daughters of Bati had provided me with. I vowed then that if I survived this ordeal, by Meretseger and by all the gods, I shall reward them!
Nervously I ate a few figs then peeked again around the corner of the rock. The bandits, about ten of them in number, had gathered around their fire to eat. I still could not see Rahotep but I guessed that if they were holding him hostage, they must be keeping him in one of the tents. While the bandits were distracted by their meal, I slipped out of the fissure, walking low with dagger at the ready, to the nearest tent. I pulled back the flap but it is empty save for some dusty bedding. The next tent produced the same results. The bandits seem to have posted no sentries and I pondered this for a while until I heard footsteps approaching. It was too late to run back to the fissure so I crouched behind the tent. From my vantage point I could see one of the bandits carrying a water skin and a few large pieces of flat bread. I hoped, against all the odds, that these might be for their prisoner.
The bandit headed for the largest tent and once inside I heard his voice loudly shouting orders. My assumption proved correct. After a long while I saw the man emerge from the tent and secure the flap with several cords. I felt ill with tension but once he was far enough away, I stealthily crept from one tent to the next until I reached my goal. The entrance was well sealed so I chose a place by the ground and cut the coarse fabric. This would have been a far more difficult task had Leah's dagger been blunt, but thankfully it sliced through the cloth with ease. I made a substantial tear and peeked through. What I saw surprised and appalled me.
There were seven people inside the tent; four women and three men.
In the stifling air I could see that they were all bound and my eyes met those of a beautiful woman. She could not have been a year younger than myself. Dejected and disheveled, she lay on the ground with ankles and elbows tied. Her eyes were red with weeping and rolling tears had stained her cheeks. I smiled at her as reassuringly as I could, then stepped over her to the back of the tent. There, facing the wall, I found Rahotep. He was similarly bound but he was also tied to a stake driven into the ground. I immediately guessed that this was some form of additional punishment that the bandits had inflicted upon him. He was gagged and without thinking I tore the gag from his mouth and kissed him. At first he didn't recognize me but when I took the cloth from my head his eyes told me of the joy that was in his heart.
“Highness?!”
“Shhh! Are these all the people these vile criminals are holding?”
“I believe so Highness.”
I cut him free.
“How did you...” he asked, but I was not about to explain.
“I'll tell you later. Now we can't take all these people with us but we must get away from here, get help and come back for them.”
I half expected him to argue but instead he simply nodded and bowed. In turn, we whispered comforting words to each of the prisoners, promising to bring aid and telling them to be brave and wait patiently for our return.
“We must hurry my love.”
Rahotep was indeed surprised to hear me address him in this way and I smiled to underline my affection for him.
“The bandits keep their horses in the next wadi where they have feed and where there is some shade. We must take at least one if we are to get away alive.”
“A good idea!”
We snuck out of the tent and Rahotep indicated which way we must go. It was very risky because, for much of the way, we would be in full view of the bandits. But we had no alternative. I suggested that we walk and if we were spotted, so be it ! Luckily, we reached the corner of the wadi unseen and we proceeded with all speed towards where the horses were tethered. There were ten or twelve horses and I immediately set my eye on a tall black stallion who was still saddled. I pointed him out to Rahotep who nodded his assent. We crept along the cliff face until our horse was almost within reach. But then alas, gentle reader, our luck ran out.
From behind us we heard shouts. It seemed that the man charged with guarding the horses was returning to duty. He had another man with him who seemed to be armed with a bow. We mounted the horse as best we could but the saddle was built for only one occupant. As I was a much better rider than Rahotep, I indicated that he ride behind me and I got into the saddle. Suddenly I heard an arrow hiss past above us and instinctively I ducked my head. Another arrow hit the ground with a sickening thud at my horse's feet. It was then that Rahotep said,
“Get away Princess, go fetch aid. I will distract them while you fly.”
I was about to protest when a third arrow hissed past Rahotep's head and he dropped to the ground. I saw that he was uninjured then I struggled to turn the horse; hopefully towards a viable escape route.
“Go Anath!
“I will return for you my beloved, you have my word!”
I caught a glimpse of his concerned face before I turned and urged the horse on with as much strength as I could muster. Several more arrows then hissed past me. I guessed that more of the bandits had been alerted and I feared that they would hit the horse; sending me tumbling to my doom.
I do not fear death but, on that day, at that instant, I dreaded the prospect of meeting it unprepared. So while I urged the horse forward, I prayed and prayed with all my might.
“I am pure of utterance, I am pure of deed, my limbs are anointed with myrrh, my face is purified with frankincense and I am incorruptible. Resplendent with amulets am I, protected by the sacred scrolls that, from of old, contain the incantations of power.
Thus armed, I shall vanquish the darkness, I shall repel the gloom of unknowing. The dread portals of the netherworld shall open to me. The demons of The Duat shall not frighten me, they shall not impede my soul, for all their arcane names are known to me. I shall charm them with righteous speech. They shall not imperil my heart.
I shall evade them all and I shall stand proudly at last in the Hall of the Two Truths; in the very heart of the mansion of Osiris.”
Over and over I repeated these prayers while spurring the horse on and steering him ever closer to the cultivation. I thanked the gods that no further volleys of arrows were directed by the bandits towards me and I hoped that they had taken me for a lone bandit; seeking perhaps to rob them. But these thought faded as I felt the ground begin to slope downward, the ravines and yellow cliffs too, slowly disappeared behind me and I finally caught sight of Thebes. No sight was ever more welcome to these eyes of mine. The twin obelisks of Maatkare glittered their welcome in the afternoon light and at last, I gave the horse some respite from his labours. He had been my saviour, as had Rahotep, whose face now filled my mind's eye as I sought the road that would take me to the river.
Soon I saw the work-a-day people of the riverside going about their business and I felt a great wave of calm. It was only a snort from the horse that turned my thoughts to my immediate situation and my immediate future.
Firstly, there was no way that I could enter the palace dressed as I was, armed and riding a stolen horse. The guards at the gate would have arrested me without hesitation and worse, informed my uncle; to his immense mortification. I pulled on the reigns. Bringing the horse to a canter as I struggled to formulate a plan. He was a stout and well trained fellow; no doubt, the bandits would miss him. It had crossed my mind to set him free but then I felt that I would have need of him before too long. For now I had to stable him somewhere out of sight.
I would return to Leah and from there I would see if she could send word to Miu.
As the the city quarters through which I passed became more and more familiar I found myself riding higher and higher in the saddle, probably in an attempt, dear reader, to boost my flagging confidence. But then I heard the sage advice of Merenefer chiming in my head; “Be humble and discreet...”
So, with downcast eyes I wrapped the head cloth about me once again and slowed the horse still further as we neared the foreign quarter and the street wherein lay The Perfumed Garden.
I rode down the street where Leah's stables lay and luckily caught sight of Maheri amongst a group of Leah's servants. I greeted him politely and instructed him to fetch his mistress. Needless to say, he was overjoyed to see me and thanked all the gods of his homeland for my miraculous return. Leah soon arrived and was also very pleased to see that I was alive and well. She took the horse once I had explained the situation. She then ordered a donkey and cart to be brought out filled with dry palm fronds.
“Fuel for the palace stoves?”
“Exactly, dear Anath. This way you can gain entry to the palace under the authority of the venerable Bati.”
I thanked them both and took the reigns. The donkey was a young, sprightly and obedient animal and soon I was driving swiftly down the crowded streets of Thebes back towards Malkata. From there on everything went smoothly. The guards were as unconcerned about kitchen fuel as they were convinced by my rustic accent. I took the cart to the kitchens where I enjoyed another happy reunion with Bati's lovely daughters. They took the fuel and promised to return the cart to Leah. So I snuck to my quarters where I bathed and then slipped into the most profound sleep that I have ever known. On the morrow my trials would begin anew.
**********************
I awoke at sunrise and prayed fervently for as long as I dared to. Time was of the essence today of all days. I dressed quickly in my desert clothes and headed discreetly towards the palace stables where I knew I would find arms and armour.
The stables were relatively quiet that morning. I had some notion that the horses were fed and groomed at dawn. I found confirmation of this soon after I arrived. The stable boys were brushing several fine looking horses in the courtyard as I entered.
Before anyone saw me, I stepped into one of the long storerooms. Here are kept all manner of military and hunting paraphernalia, some dating back to the reign of my great grandfather Seti.
The storeroom was dark but, as it turned out, the particular items that I was looking for were quite easy to locate. In a series of low chests I found several sets of leather scale armour. Strong, flexible and of excellent workmanship; most of these armours had been the property of one or other of my many uncles and some had belonged to my grandfather in his youth. I found one small-sized set and tried on the breastplate. It fitted me perfectly. I also slipped on the leg guards and wrist cuffs. I bundled all the pieces into the sack along with a light, leather studded helmet. I then picked a bow and a full quiver of arrows and finally, a matching sword and dagger. These items I packed as well as I could into the sack, which, while awkward to carry, was not nearly as heavy as I had expected. With some difficulty, I slung it over my shoulder and contemplated the return to my chambers, hopefully without drawing too much attention.
I was about to depart when a side door opened and a tall woman quietly entered. I slid the sack from my shoulder and knelt behind a stack of saddles. The woman turned, quickly surveyed the room then slid the bolt on the door, effectively trapping me. Next she opened a chest and drew out a large blanket. She spread this double over a stack of hay bales. There was nothing for me to do but wait and watch. I recognized the woman, she the lady Meryt, one of the Queen's handmaidens. A moment later there came a quiet tap on the door, causing Meryt to jump up and peer through the door's spy hole. With a faint giggle she opened the door and a young man entered. He was also known to me; Montuhotep, a captain of the archers and one of His Majesty's hunting companions. These were two persons of rank, though not of course of a high order. I could have ended their covert liaison right then and there, issuing them a sharp rebuke for unseemly behavior in what was, after all, a public place. But, gentle reader, you should know me better by now than to think that I would ever do such a thing.
It was obvious that the captain was off duty that day, for he wore a light tunic over his kilt and a pair of leather sandals. The lady Meryt was arrayed in similar mode; looking every bit like one of the upper echelons of the palace staff in a simple, sheer but elegant dress. She also wore a voluminous shawl which she used to shield her face from the sun and, no doubt, from onlookers. As she threw this aside, I noticed that she was wearing a necklace of gold, jasper and sardonyx with the tyet amulet as its focal bead. I smiled as I recognized my own work; this had been a gift from me on the occasion of her marriage several years ago. Alas, she was now a widow.
As is the custom of our country, clothing is made to shed and shed swiftly. These two were nude in less than the time it takes to blink, if you will pardon the expression. Montuhotep's manly body had been toned and sculpted by years of life in the field and on the hunt. He wore several well-healed scars too on his shoulders and chest – badges of bravery branded on flesh!
They kissed deeply and while not a word passed between them, the fire in their eyes spoke volumes. Meryt stood with her back to me where I was in a good position to admire her sinuous back, long slender legs, her perfectly formed shoulders and her shapely ass. Moments later she slowly broke their kiss and slid down on to her knees. Montuhotep looked down. His sweet smile told me that he was about to receive a treat. His cock was sinuous and thick and already amply aroused by Meryt's kisses. She grasped it at its base and squeezed, slowly pumping it for several minutes while looking up into her lover's face. She has beautiful, dark eyes and I could only imagine the glistening, dusky magic in them as Montuhotep saw his cock finally disappear into Meryt's sweet mouth. Slow and deep strokes gradually brought quiet groans from the venerable soldier as our palace lady applied her lips, cheeks and tongue to the service of love. Montuhotep swayed his hips now as Meryt increased her efforts. She held onto his slim hips and bobbed her head faster and faster; only slowing now and again to take as much of her lover's cock as deep into her throat as nature would allow. A glistening sprinkle of sweat now graced Montuhotep's chest as the dusty light from the clerestory windows momentarily illuminated the pair.
Meryt then giggled as she stood up abruptly, stepped back and surveyed her lover's moist and muscular nether regions. She nudged him aside and settled herself on the hay bales. Propped up on her elbows, Meryt now displayed her slim waist and the perfect curves of her hips, mound and belly. But only momentarily, for then she parted her legs and with one deft hand, spread the petals of her delicate marsh flower. Montuhotep lost no time in savoring Meryt's fleshy treasures. He licked her inner thighs first, slowly moving closer to her pussy. As his mouth replaced her hand, she gripped the back of his head and pressed it closer and closer. A long moan escaped her lips but the sound was only heard by me. How good it was to partake of this scene; the very essence of love and desire.
Desire indeed burned in these two unwitting players in the drama that was now unfolding before me dear reader. Meryt's gentle sobs and sighs now made it evident that she had reached the point of no return. She rose, still holding his head, shuddered and bucked against her lover's mouth. Her breathless voice uttered several incomprehensible syllables and her fine small breasts heaved as pleasure raced through her body like the evening breeze across the Nile's blue waters. What delicious sounds; chaotic yet profound.
Dutiful adept that she was, as soon as the waves of pleasure in Meryt had subsided, she jumped up and settled back onto her knees. I marveled at the beauty of her long legs, and glistening, lean thighs and the lovely way that she had shaped the hair upon her mound; like a tiny papyrus bud. Now why, I ask you dear Isis, had that not occurred to me? In an instant, Montuhotep's cock found itself back in the cosy confines of Meryt's mouth. With her free hand she cupped and squeezed his fleshy balls that hung low and languid like the sweet fruit of the sacred persea tree. That she had performed this ritual often became apparent to me by how rapidly Montu's cock hardened into a curved sword; a blade ready for battle. Meryt's mouth worked upon it until, with evident glee, she gasped and let it from her lips; wet and hard, it brushed against her erect nipples, leaving a trail of saliva on them. Now she jumped back on the bales and turned onto her side. I was surprised when in a loud whisper she said,
“Fuck me how you fucked me last, only fuck me hard.”
I don't know why, but I was greatly aroused by this simple statement. It may have been the expectation of witnessing something new. Whatever it was, my hand found its way down under the armoured breastplate and soon three fingers were rubbing my long neglected nub – the precious gem that I was guarding for my only beloved. Meryt lifted one of her long legs and rested it on Montu's shoulder. His cock brushed against her thigh as he slid it into her deliciously dripping slit. Despite the awkwardness of their pose, Montu soon brought the full force of his hips to bear on Meryt's pussy. Long slow strokes gave way to rapid, deep thrusts; each harder and rougher than the last.
“Gooood, goood, now mooore!”
Hissed Meryt, between clenched teeth as she returned each of her lover's thrusts with equal force. Her leg curled around his shoulder like a vine clinging to a staff. I was enjoying their play so much that I almost forgot myself and a tiny gasp escaped my lips. But my unwitting companions heard nothing. Meryt made Montu slow down and she lifted her leg from his shoulder. Now she pulled her legs back as far as she could, holding then back with her hands while Montu slid his cock back into her steaming pussy. Again they bucked and thrust with ever increasing abandon; Montu's muscles rippled and flowed like those of a coursing steed while Meryt, with adamantine eyes, smiled and licked her fulsome lips. She reveled in the knowledge that every iota of her lover's cock was at that instant, dedicated to her pleasure.
She came again and again; curling and biting her middle finger lest her sweet sounds bring unwanted attention. They need not have feared, for a protective and approving goddess was watching over them. Montu responded to Meryt's ecstasy by stopping his thrusts while the ripples of honey in her subsided. Happily he withdrew from her; his manhood as taught as ever; a staff of iron dedicated to her service.
They both lay back upon the bales now; breathing heavily. Snatches of quiet conversation escaped their lips along with muted chuckles and giggles until Meryt said,
“I've brought the oil.”
She reached down to a small tasseled bag that I hadn't noticed earlier and from this she drew a lovely alabaster flask.
“Kitano oil, nothing but the best from the fabled isle of Khefti.”
Hardly fabled, dear heart, I thought.
She handed the flask to Montu who opened it carefully and slowly dripped some of the contents onto his cock.
“That's enough. Remember it is more valuable than gold.”
“Or lapis, I'll wager.”
“Aye.”
She said this in jest although it was quite true. She then rubbed the oil onto the entire length of his cock. Now she lay back and spread her ass cheeks. Montu smiled and responded with a low growl of appreciation. Meryt's fingers alternately massaged and stretched her beautiful pink hole while Montu made sure that his entire shaft had been anointed with the precious oil.
She nodded to him and he slowly slid his slick and glistening shaft into her. Soon he was moving with the grace of a desert buck antelope while Meryt stretched her ass for him and arched her back in order to admit him deeper and deeper into her hidden vault of treasures. He fucked her ass with relish, bending low so as to better reach her inner depths. On my own, I have enjoyed this choice delicacy many times, gentle reader, but the way that Montu fucked Meryt on this occasion left me literally breathless. Only once before, you will recall, had I beheld a finer spectacle. Reluctantly, I took my hand away from my pussy, ravenous though it was by now, and settled back to enjoy Montu and Meryt's rite of love, lust and longing.
Meryt now turned to her side and brought her long legs together. Montu's cock missed hardly a beat as he felt the pressure increase on his already granite shaft. From where I sat I could see him thrust his entire length into her glorious tunnel right up to his balls that stood clenched and poised, and ready.
Meryt came again in a deluge of sighs. She whispered profanities to him through clenched teeth; filthy words which only served to make him smile and thrust harder into her golden ass. She licked her lips and let her saliva drool from the corners of her mouth. And all the while the pair of them were drenched in sweat but hardly noticed it.
On and on they fucked that morning upon those bales of hay until finally, Montu slowed and I could see his buttocks clench. This was the final couplet in an epic poem of desire. He shut his eyes and pumped his seed into Meryt's divinely beautiful ass. Near exhaustion showed on both their faces but there was one final line to that couplet, as I was soon to see.
Montu pulled his cock out of Meryt's ass whereupon, with practiced skill, she pumped his seed out of her depths. Montu's juices spilled out of her and soaked the rug upon which she lay. The sight of it seemed to please them both and wary of the time that their lovemaking had taken, they rose and kissed for the final time before dressing rapidly. Before departing, Meryt grasped his chin and kissed his mouth boldly and he responded by cradling her slim waist. A moment later, she was gone.
How fitting, I thought to myself, that a woman should give herself so unstintingly to a man who deserves her.
But now, dear reader I found myself in a precarious position. Rather than leave, Montu had decided to stay and perform some task in the weapons store. I decided to take the initiative.
“Greetings Captain.”
To say that he was startled would be a colossal understatement.
“Who is that!?”
“Lo, 't is I, the Princess Anath.”
“Your Royal Highness….forgive me. What brings you to such a place?”
He struggled with acute embarassment and also to maintain a certain level of protocol that long years of royal service had made second nature to him.
“My reasons for being here are no concern of yours Captain. However what I just witnessed has given me some cause for concern.”
I now emerged from behind the stacks of saddles and faced him. Adding to the shock, he seemed much surprized at my outlandish attite though he made no comment.
“Forgive us Highness but the Lady Meryt and I are very much in love.”
I was silent for a long time until he remembered his training and stood to attention before me, well drilled soldier that he is.
“That was clearly evident, however I too have need of your services.”
He looked at me questioningly without moving.
“...as a soldier.”
“I am at your service Highness.”
“Good. Now be at ease Captain and sit down for I have quite a tale to tell you.”
(Next : The sixth and final chapter of The Snake Catcher's Daughter.)
