So this is how she would die, rotting in a cell. Sabra had always imagined it would be either in a fight or in a sick bed at a ripe old age. She never thought she would be imprisoned, she would have killed herself before she was captured. Yet here she was; the darkness, the scratchy shift they had forced her into, the dank smell of rot became her life. She didn't know how much time had passed, they hadn't given her food. She must have been here for many days, she was just skin and bone now. What did they use to call her? The White Lioness, the Guardian of Egypt, the Queen of a new era yet now she was nothing but the remnant of a lost Kingdom.

The silence was her only friend. Occasionally a priest would come with guards, they beat her and the priest tried to force her to confess. She had nothing to confess, she was innocent. If they were hell-bent on starving her to death as punishment for staying true to herself, so be it.

The door creaked open. Sabra didn't look up, she focused on the shadows that the torchlight created. No doubt it was the priest again and his guards.

"I know you didn't kill her." The voice was Montu's.

Sabra looked up at the face of the old warrior. She said nothing.

"I saw you the day they killed Ahkmenrah," he continued. "You were ready to murder all around you but only her arms ceased the bloodlust. You could not have killed her."

"Why did you come?" She was surprised at the scratchiness of her own voice.

"I don't like to see you like this, you were so much more and you were made for so much more."

"So you pity me."

"No," his eyes lowered. "I need your help."

"I don't know if you've noticed," retorted Sabra bitingly. "But I'm a prisoner."

"It's about Ramses. We need to get him out of this palace Khufu will kill him. He is already destroying images of the royal family, he strikes their tombs tonight. We need to get the bodies out then we need to train him and bring him up so he could be the King his father and uncle would have been."

"You don't need me for that. Besides if we take him, who's to say the people will ever recognise him."

"And what let you die?" Montu glowered. "Then let Ramses die. The people will always recognise a true king. You made a promise to Ahk as he died, to look after Ramses. I need you to keep that promise, now more than ever, I need you to do it for not only Ramses but the future of this country."

Sabra fixed him with a steely gaze.

"What are you doing standing around? Get me out of here."

—————

"I should have killed him the moment I became King." Said Merenkahre as he held his wife in an embrace, he looked to his sons and to Ismara. "We would all be alive."

The family sat together in the field of reeds, Shepsehret had just arrived from her own weighing of the heart.

"What's in the past in the past," answered Kahmunrah. "The will of the gods..."

"Don't give me that!" Huffed the old Pharaoh. "They are nothing but bastards!"

"Father!" Cried out Kahmunrah.

"Don't think I don't know what Khonsu had forced you to do." Snarled Merenkahre.

"I did what I had to, to save Ahk and our Kingdom!"

"What did he do to you?" asked Ahkmenrah.

Kahmunrah didn't answer him, he only looked at the ground with gritted teeth, Ismara held on to his arm. He couldn't even bring himself to look at her, he could still feel Khonsu's fingers all over his body and the god's mouth pressed in unimaginable places. He guessed Kings should never talk about the absurdities that Khonsu had forced him to perform, but the brothel keepers knew them well enough. That had been the sacrifice to keep his brother alive, to keep a watch over him. His own dignity.

"All is in the past, I do not wish to speak of it."

Kahmunrah sipped on the wine, the everlasting wine, the sweet ambrosia of the gods. It tasted like ashes in his mouth.

—————

She wore Ahkmenrah's ceremonial coronation cloak, she held Ramses underneath it. Sabra had never been one for sentiment, but Khufu had sent out a message to all the nomes of Egypt.

One day the true king will take the throne, coronated before he enters.

The cloak was Ramses key to Kingship. Sometimes sentimentality had its benefits. She used the shadows of the night lead Montu, who held the lion cub Kovu in his arms, through the gardens out of the palace. A ship awaited them. A ship bearing Sabaf, Nitrocris, the treasures of the dead, paints and three bodies. The bodies of Merenkahre, Shepsehret and Ahkmenrah. They were to be given a new tomb in Heq-At before Khufu could ravage the ones under the pyramids.

The Nile gleamed obsidian under the crescent moon. A small ship bobbed about the harbour. Sabra and Montu rushed forward to meet the two figures that stood on the shore. Nitocris and Sabaf quickly helped them board the ship before leading them below deck.

Only when the boat had started moving did Montu speak.

"You have our gratitude." He told Nitocris and Sabaf. "You're risking everything for this."

"And we will risk more yet." Answered Sabaf he looked at the three bodies. "They were our friends and family, it is the least we can do."

"Where will they be buried?" Asked Nitocris. "Shall I get the tomb-makers to help."

"No." Answered Sabra. "It will draw too much attention. I will do it myself."

"If it is secrecy we aim for," said Nitocris as the lion cub Kovu nuzzled against her hand. "I know a rough escarpment riddled with hidden caverns, perhaps they will suffice."

Sabra nodded and held little Ramses close to her and kissed his forehead.

You will be a wise, kind and brave king. She promised him. I will make sure of it. You will become legend. We all will.

—————

Hey, guys, I'm on a bit of a roll. The next three chapters will be comprised of the epilogue (it's split into three parts), so yeah three more updates till I finish. Love u all (the small number that is left) for sticking with me thus far.

- Sargun