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"What you said about the queen though, Mika, that is unforgivable and not pardonable. The woman you see sitting here will be your queen. She has given me a son and in a few moons will gift me with another. They will bear my name and with that will come our throne, and yes, I would give all of this up for her," said Ramses pointing toward Sarah. She turned to face the seated woman on the last statement.

There was another angry outburst about to come out of Mika's mouth when he saw her move her hand. His mind barley registered the fluid motion before he felt the incredible pain of the dagger sticking out of his gut. When he looked up at her, Mika saw in Ramses's hand the twin to the one she had already thrown.

"Mika, there is your queen," Ramses said pointing again toward Sarah, "I think you owe her an apology for the harsh words you have said against her today. I insist." She looked at him tapping the blade in her palm as a sign that the apology was not negotiable.

"My queen, forgive an old man his tongue. I was merely giving the pharaoh my advice on the matter." He was able to get the statement out but his pain was making him pale and sweaty. It would be only a few moments more that he could remain standing he was sure.

"There, Mika, that wasn't too difficult I trust? Now you are ready to meet your ancestors having paid all you wrongs." Mika listened not fully comprehending the words. His last thought before the dagger split his heart in two was that the pharaoh had said she had forgiven him.

"Is there any other discussion on my joining this morning and how it will affect my ability to rule?" asked Ramses of the other men in the room.

"No, sire." All of the remaining advisors said simultaneously looking at the still body on the floor.

"Good, you are dismissed. Corby, are we ready to go?"

"Yes, sire."

Ramses waited a few heartbeats before turning and facing Sarah. Her fear came from what had just occurred. There were times when people had to see that there were consequences to challenging the throne. The right to rule belonged to only one, and at that moment it was hers.

When Ramses did turn around and face her future wife, she found Sarah crying. Silent large teardrops were falling down the beautiful face as Sarah looked at the body stretched out at the bottom of the stairs.

"No one has ever bothered to defend my honor before. Of course, I have no honor so why would they do so? Why do you do so now?" she asked Ramses, her eyes never leaving Mika's body.

"Sarah, had you chosen your lot in life then you would have to live with people whispering about your choices forever. But you did not choose your life, my love. You are a virtuous woman who was robbed of her dignity and virtue by circumstance, and no other reason. I mean to treat you as such, and so will everyone else," said Ramses moving closer to Sarah.

"Thank you, Ramses. You make it easy to believe that, and you make it easy for me to love you, sire."

"For the first time since my father, Sarah, I love someone more than that chair upon which you sit." Ramses told her as she came and kneeled before Sarah's throne. Reaching up and running her fingers along Ramses's jaw and then into her hair, Sarah pulled the kneeling woman in for a kiss.

"I love you, my queen," said Ramses when they pulled apart.

"And I love you. I came to get you for lunch. My parents and little Hawk are waiting in the column room. It is that all right?" asked Sarah.

"I would love nothing better, then after I would like your parents to join Hawk and I on an errand in the city."

"I'm sure they would love nothing better especially if our son gets to ride with you."

The lunch was another opportunity for Habish and Isa to relax around Ramses and get to know the person their daughter had fallen in love with. Ramses treated Sarah and Samuel with respect and love and it was easing their fears the more they saw. Sarah looked at Ramses with her son on her lap giving him advice on how to improve his aim with his slingshot, and it warmed her more than all that Ramses had given her up to that moment. Samuel was happy here, happy with this woman. Children couldn't fake such affection, and Ramses was proving to be a wonderful parent.

After their meal Ramses led them to the front of the palace where Corby and Dennu again stood waiting with the teams of horses. Ramses had talked Sarah into coming with them after promising the future queen that they would go at a snail's pace. Corby and Dennu each took one of Sarah's parents so that no one had to walk.

When they stopped in front of Larlis's house Ramses could feel the shivers travel down not only Sarah's body but also Hawk's as well. There were no pleasant memories here for either of them, and were not anxious to step foot on the grounds again.

"Trust me, you two, this house will hold nothing but happy memories for you in the future. I mean to make Larlis pay for his crimes against you, and the many others like you that came before. My father let this man get away with too much and that will end today." Ramses told them as she stepped off the back of the rig. The soldiers she had ordered were already surrounding the house and Larlis was arguing with the captain that there had been some mistake. When he saw Ramses relief flooded his face and he hurried in her direction.

"Sire, there has been an error on someone's part for I haven't committed any crime to be treated in such a manner. These soldiers have been here since this morning causing talk among my neighbors that I am a thief to the throne. Now that you are here I'm sure that this will be settled and you can dismiss these men. Tell me sire, how is the pleasure slave that I gifted you with?" asked Larlis.

Ramses slapped him hard across the face sending the weak man flailing to the ground. "Larlis, do not speak of your future queen in such a manner, it angers me. There is no mistake here little man, you are a criminal and deserve to pay for your crimes. From this day forth you will be sent to live and work in the quarries to pay your debt to Egypt. You will lose your house and all your possessions to become a sculptor. Just think, Larlis, you will learn to shape rock so that it will glorify me and my sons."

"That little bastard of mine is who you will call son, sire? You will become the joke of Egypt for putting a slave on the throne. Sarah is good, but not that good, sire, surely you could do better," said Larlis rubbing his cheek at her feet.

"Corby, have him taken to the quarries and put in the work force directed by Habish. I'm sure that Sarah's father will enjoy having the man that repeatedly raped his daughter work for him on a daily basis. And while her father teaches Larlis the art of carving, Habish can tell Larlis how comfortable he and Isa find their new home. It will be my gift to them for giving me the greatest gift I've ever received, the love of Sarah. Oh and, Corby, have his tongue cut out for his disrespect of the future queen and our children. Have the Hebrews do it, I'm sure that their methods are so much better than our own."

As Ramses gave the order Habish was standing right behind her listening to who this man was and why he was being treated the way he was. At first he had thought that the pharaoh got pleasure off the misery of others, but as he heard that this was the man that had treated his Sarah like a common slut, his anger started to grow. Larlis wasn't long for this world once he got into the quarry he would see to that himself for the sins he had committed against his daughter.

"Sire, it would be my pleasure to watch over this man for you and have his tongue taken care of. Thank you sire for the gift of the house, but Isa and myself don't need all of this we are simple people." Habish told her from a bowed position. It was all he could do to keep calm and not rip Larlis apart with his bare hands.

"Habish, do me a kindness and call me by my name, we will be family before to long so it would seem rude to have you call me sire. I give you and your wife the house so Sarah and Hawk will have an easier time of coming to see you as well as your friends. This is your home and anyone you wish is free to come and visit with you. I'll leave with you an escort of soldiers so that at any time you wish to come and see us they can take you, but don't think of this as a prison. Think of them as your neighborhood watch to keep you safe. You are after all the parents of the queen of Egypt, it would reflect poorly on me if something were to happen to you."

"Thank you, sire, I mean, Ramses. Now child if you don't mind I would like to take Larlis here to meet some of my friends down at the smith's. A pair of hot tongs should do the trick."

"Habish, don't feel that you have to stop at the tongue, and don't feel like I need another sculptor. Larlis is my gift to you."

"Ramses, you are truly a good person. Come on, scum, I'm going to repay all the misery you visited upon my daughter." Habish picked Larlis up by the hair and started roughly pushing him down the street.

As she watched her father and Dennu escort Larlis down to the slave compound, Sarah thought that revenge tasted like fine wine and was acquiring a taste for it. Thank goodness this was the last of her nightmares less she become some bloodthirsty shrew.

Isa and her daughter walked through the house with Mendos seeing what had to be done and what changes the ladies wished to make. Ramses promised them a stipend so that they could pay workers and not have to keep house slaves and was financing the changes to the house.

A few candle marks later Sarah found Ramses sitting under an olive tree with Hawk in the yard after walking through the house and exorcising her demons. Ramses was right, with her parents here living their last years in comfort instead of at labor gave Sarah's a sense of peace when she looked at the house that had been the setting for her worst dreams for over eight years. She had been so young when she had given birth to Samuel that she felt robbed of her childhood, but because of him Ramses had come into their lives. And with Ramses had come love and healing.

"Have I told you today, Ramses IV, Pharaoh of Egypt how much I love you and how wonderful you are?" she asked the woman reclining against the old tree.

"No and I believe I can have you whipped for that."

"Who would administer that punishment, sire?" asked Sarah. She pushed windblown black hair into place before sitting down next to Ramses.

"No one who would live to see another sunrise in my kingdom."

Samuel listened to their conversation and asked, "Hawk, are you going to join with my mother?"

"Yes, son, I am if that's all right with you. As the man responsible for her up to now it is my duty to ask for her hand in marriage. So what do you say, little one, do I have your approval?" asked Ramses holding her hand out to the boy.

"Yes, sire, but if she is to become your queen do I have to go away?"

Surprised at the question and why he would ask it Ramses told him, "No, son, that would make you Prince Hawk, future pharaoh of Egypt."

"Do I get my own chariot and horses?"
"Yes but I think your mother will make me wait a few years before I can give you that as a gift."
"What should I call you, sire, now that I can't call you Hawk?"
"What would you like to call me besides sire?"
"You said at grandmother's that you are my father. I always wanted one cause all the other kids I played with had one so could I call you papa?"
"Yes, son, if that's what you like I would love it," answered Ramses. She pulled the boy in for a hug before sending him back out to the yard in search of ammunition for his sling.
"You may have to kill a few more advisors over that one, my love, the first time he says that in the throne room. Just look at him, he loves you so much, almost as much as his mother." Sarah told her as they watched Hawk running around the yard ripping olives off the tree when he couldn't any more on the ground.
"The two of you have captured my heart, and for that I will be forever grateful," said Ramses bending over to steal a kiss. "I love you, my queen."
They sat together and watched their son run with the abandon and freedom of children wondering what the future would hold. The one thing they could count on was that their love would grow and bare fruit like the trees they sat beneath.
For many years to come Ramses and Sarah would return to the spot and watch their grandchildren pull the olives off the tree and aim at the many targets the yard provided. And the love they shared was the greatest legacy left by this pharaoh to her people and to her children.

 

A story set in Egypt that tells the tale of Ramses IV, a female pharaoh. She falls in love with a Hebrew slave named Sarah and her son, Samuel. It is the beginning of a new era in ancient Egypt and the first story about the love shared by these two women.

 

Ramses III had been buried for two months in the glory that was afforded all of Egypt's great kings. The statues and monuments he left behind would preserve Ramses's legacy for generations to come, but the greatest treasure that he left was his heir.

Ramses IV was born to the pharaoh and his queen in the second year of their joining, and from birth was the image of the king. Complications from the birth resulted in the queen's death two months later leaving Ramses devastated from the loss.

The child inherited her father's name since after her mother's death; the king would father no other children after losing his great love. A daughter would become the king of all of Egypt, so for the remainder of his life the pharaoh devoted his time into molding the child into a great warrior, leader and king.

The child grew and thrived under Ramses's tutelage leading his legions into war expanding the empire he controlled, and she would eventually rule. The soldiers had adopted the nickname her father had called her since childhood, so she was known throughout the empire as Hawk. The older Ramses had compared her spirit to the great bird, noble and in his opinion driven once the prey was in its sights.

Ramses III had taken great pride in having his daughter stand by his throne in his last days showing such strength, she would carry on his line and his name, of that the old man had no doubt. The tall frame that showed visible lines of muscle resembled her father's and measured almost six feet with black midnight hair. To honor her mother's memory the gods had given her striking blue eyes and a strong sense of compassion. The strength of her father and the caring of her mother would mark her rule.

This is her story.

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Now in her twenty-second year, Hawk found herself alone without the champion and teacher that had guided her from birth. The battle lust had quieted some after her father's death so she turned her energies to improving the lot of the less fortunate within the city walls. Hawk along with some of her best architects started the process of rebuilding the housing units where the Hebrew slaves where kept. While the great temples and homes in the city were built to honor its leaders, they were constructed with the sweat and blood of its slaves.

"Sire, why waste so many resources on mere slaves, you must now start thinking of your own legacy to mark the city," Mendos the head architect addressed her. Hawk looked toward the slave encampment ignoring the older man. These constant little disagreements to her plans were starting to wear on her patience.

"Who will build my temples, Mendos, if all the slaves die of disease living in this filth? You?" asked Hawk pinning the man with a glare. "Your fragile build does not look like it could carry and pull the big stones it will take to build my legacy. How about we start here as my mark on the city my forefather's built? But if you prefer, I can send you to another project if you find this one so," Hawk paused for a moment and put her finger to her lips as if looking for the right word. "Distasteful. Perhaps the rebuilding of the wash house would be more to your taste?"

"Forgive me, sire, I meant no disrespect," hastened Mendos over the laughter of the royal guard.

"Of course not," replied Hawk turning to smile at the guards behind her.

The discussion on how best to approach the undertaking Hawk had in mind without displacing the families for too much time went on late into the afternoon and was witnessed by the gathering crowd. The workers where on their way home for the night from their back breaking jobs and were surprised to find the king there giving directions as to what had to be done. No royal had ever walked where they lived, just the soldiers and work captains that pushed them to work harder. From their knees they strained to listen trying to figure out what was going on. With the king here maybe they were to be put to death.

Above all the chatter flying around her, Hawk heard the whizzing stone and turned just in time for it to embed itself in her shoulder instead of her chest. The action caused a quick squirt of blood to rush down the fine white linen tunic that she was wearing sending the royal guard into action. The soldiers were in a frenzy trying to find the assassin in the crowd of slaves gathered around their party. Hawk pulled the sharp rock out and looked at it before motioning for silence.

"Whomever among you did this step forward now!" her commanding voice bellowed. Everyone but Hawk seemed to be frozen in place as she scanned the crowd of bowed heads looking for her assailant. The crowd murmured but no one stepped forward knowing that to do so would mean instant death from the pharaoh's guards who had now drawn their swords.

"Step forward now, coward, or I will have the lot of you killed!" screamed Philbus, part of the royal guard and Hawk's cousin. From between the prostrate figures stepped a small blonde headed boy with a slingshot trying not to look scared. "Have him whipped twenty lashes," ordered Philbus.

"Philbus, step away from him, and the first one to lift a whip to this child will earn a much crueler fate by my hand," said Hawk.

But, sire, he tried to kill you," complained the soldier.

"Really, Philbu,s do I look that feeble in your eyes? Come here boy," Hawk ordered as she dropped to a chair under the small field tent that had been set up for her comfort. The child dropped at her feet and started crying before anything else could be said. "Rise, boy, and let me look at you, I promise no harm will come to you. Now stop crying and tell me what you have against me that you were trying to kill me."

Feeling the strong hands help him up, Samuel looked into the face of his king with watery green eyes. All the warnings his mother had issued on the use of the slingshot were screaming in his head now that his practicing had injured the one person everyone knew could kill you without question. "I wasn't trying to hurt you, King Ramses, I was just practicing I swear."

"What are you practicing for, boy?" asked the amused Hawk. She looked at the slingshot in his hand then to the boy that showed more courage than anyone in her royal court would have given the situation. His bright green eyes never wavered looking directly into hers through his tears.

"To be in your legions and serve you," Samuel told her.

"You will address your king as sire, slave," Philbus yelled. Before Hawk could react, Philbus struck the boy across the back with the cane in his hand. Hawk flew out of the chair and into her cousin's face. Pulling the ornamented cane out of the surprised man's hand she pulled back and hit him across the cheek with it. The blow knocked Philbus down and left a long cut from below his eye down to his jaw line.

"I do not like being disobeyed, Philbus, especially by one of my soldiers." Taking the cane and breaking it in two over her knee she threw it down at his chest. Recovering from the hit Philbus jumped to his feet in a defensive posture as if he were getting ready to attack.

"Even you can not be that stupid, cousin, but if you are then come on I'm waiting for you. I'll kill you and feed you to that crowd there." Hawk jerked her head toward the now intent looking slaves. They were still on their knees but many of them had raised their heads enough to see what was happening under the pharaoh's tent.

Remembering his position Philbus quickly backed down and bowed. "Forgive me, sire, I only acted with your safety in mind."

"Next time let me decide the punishment for any disrespect, now get out of my sight." Turning her attention toward the boy that was now howling in pain, Hawk knelt before him and lifted his shirt to check for damage. An angry welt was bleeding across his back and the bruising had already begun. Hawk sat the boy in the chair she had just occupied and tried to calm the child down so that the wound could be cleaned. "Corby, bring me a little wine and have one of those women bring a basin with water to clean the boy's back." Corby, the captain of the royal guard and Hawk's friend from childhood ran to get a cup of wine and the attention of one of the waiting slaves for water.

"Tell me your name so that I can stop calling you boy?" asked Hawk as she held the still crying child.

"Samuel, sire, my name's Samuel," the boy answered as he wiped his tears with the back of his hand.

"Well, Samuel, this has been an exciting day so far don't you think?" Samuel could see his friends looking at him from the edge of the crowd in awe that he was sitting in the tent of the Egyptian pharaoh.

"If you say so, sire."

"Samuel, who are your parents and where can I find them and explain what happened?" asked Hawk rising from the ground. Samuel followed the tall body until it towered over him, and he was sure Hawk was going to kill him.

"I wanna do that myself, sire."

"Why?" asked the amused pharaoh. She arched her brow at him and waited to hear his explanation. After the handful she had been as a child, Hawk was fairly certain where the boy's reluctance was coming from, but she wanted to see if he would admit it.

"Might get in less trouble that way, sire." With each admission the boy's head got closer to his chest.

"By what, leaving out the part where you tried to kill me with a stone?" asked Hawk, the brow going higher on her forehead.

"Yes, sire," admitted Samuel. The answer came out in a whisper, and the boy now looked like Hawk had sentenced him to death.

A sigh of relief swept through the crowd for Samuel when they heard the tall ruler let out a loud deep laugh. "I like you, boy, so stop calling me that, call me Hawk." Taking the cup that Corby had handed her, Hawk let Samuel take a sip to calm him and to numb the pain a bit. "Where's your father, Samuel?"

"Don't have a father, he's dead, sire, and my mother and me are slaves in the house of Larlis. I come here to practice my shooting with my friends once I'm finished with my chores." Samuel explained as one of the soldiers put salve and a bandage on his back.

"I think once I'm finish you won't be in too much trouble, Samuel, so come on before your mother starts to worry." Hawk picked the boy up and carefully arranged him in the circle of her arms to not bring any further pain to his back.

Stepping out of the tent with her charge she walked to the head of her guard who was still bleeding from the wound she had inflicted and told him, "Get yourself cleaned up and meet me back at the palace. You are to be relieved of duty and reassigned once I figure out where to put you. And before you think of harming this boy or his family for your troubles, Philbus, think of your face as only the beginning."

Philbus glared at her before bowing and heading in the direction of the palace healers. The crowd was in shock that the pharaoh herself had punished Philbus for what he had done to Samuel. For once they bowed with respect for their leader as she walked past them with the small boy. Maybe the future didn't look so bleak under this pharaoh's rule.

************************************************************************

As they walked through the streets headed toward the nobleman's house that owned Samuel and his mother, the boy pointed out the homes of his friends and their parents. Hawk heard the sadness in the boy's voice for the conditions that surrounded them, and wondered where such a young boy had learned such wisdom for the world around him in so little time.

"Can you keep a secret for me, Samuel?" she asked.

"Yes, sire, I mean, Hawk." The boy leaned back in her arms to look once again at the eyes that reminded him of the sky.

"I am going to build new homes for your friends so that when you come to visit, they won't look so sad. That means I'll be here more often to make sure it's done properly, and they're happy. How does that sound?"

"Thank you, sire." His arms went around her neck again in more of a hug than in an attempt to keep himself in place.

Their walk took them out of the slums and into the more affluent section of the city. The great homes belonged to the traders and noblemen of the city, and behind the grand walls lived those that had grown rich with the assistance of the throne.

Larlis, the man whose home they were headed toward, was a slave trader by profession and the wares he traded could be found in almost every home that lined the street they were on. Hawk was familiar with the man and found him to be a parasite that was cruel to those in his possession. She was having a hard time picturing Samuel in his care.

One of the guards that marched in front of them broke from the formation as they came up to the house to announce the pharaoh's arrival. Larlis came running down the front walkway once he realized that the pharaoh was indeed in the group that had stopped in front of his home.

"Sire, my apologies for not coming sooner." He bowed toward the king and noticed that she held one of his slaves. "This slave will be punished at once for causing you to have to come out of your way. Sarah, come and take this boy away, I'll deal with him later."

Hawk ignored the man groveling in front of her and looked to the young woman coming to collect the small boy. Her blonde hair shone in the sunlight, as did her eyes in the brief glimpse Hawk got of them before the woman ducked her head. She was naked under the thin tunic she wore and the outline cast by the sun displayed a beautiful figure.

"How old is your son, Sarah?" asked Hawk stopping the young woman's steps.

Sarah couldn't believe that the pharaoh had addressed her. When she saw the tall figure of the king holding Samuel she was afraid that her precocious child had gotten himself in trouble. "Five, sire, but how did you know he was my son?"

"His eyes, lady, are like your own. Tell me, are you as mischievous as my little friend here?" asked Ramses. The smile on Hawk's face was mirrored by the one on Samuel's when she had referred to him as a friend.

"Please, sire, I'm just a slave and don't deserve for you to address me as lady. I hope my son hasn't caused you any problems today. He was supposed to be playing with his friends, and not be anywhere near the palace. If he is to be punished then I ask you to let me bare it for him." Sarah had not looked up from the time Hawk had handed back her son, so she missed the teasing look in the pharaoh's eyes when she asked the question.

"He didn't cause me any trouble, Sarah, your son Samuel just agreed to take a walk with me to show me his home. He also was considerate enough to show me the homes of all of his friends as well along the way. Young Samuel here is a very wise and gracious guide, so I'm honored that he's my friend and keeper of my secrets isn't that right, my boy?" asked Hawk looking at the boy in the young slave's arms. Hawk had kept her voice light in an attempt to get Sarah to look at her again.

"Yes, Hawk, it is. Mama, meet Hawk, she's the king you know." The boy introduced his mother to Hawk like he had known her his entire life.

"Insolent, boy," hissed Larlis as he raised his hand to strike Samuel. Before the slap could be delivered, Larlis found his hand caught in an iron grasp and two blue eyes glaring at him. Sarah's head came up just a little in time to see Hawk stop her master's hand. A part of her cheered the pained look on Larlis's face, but another greater part knew who the man would take his humiliation out on later.