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Chapter 1
Slowly her gaze scanned the horizon, her bright violet eyes studying the crooks and crevices of the ragged grey rocks that jutted from the hillsides in the distance. They emanated a sublime glow now as the rays of the waning sun bathed them with its last warmth of the day. They almost shone like citrines and rubies as she fixated her gaze, reflections of yellow and deep red hues shimmering as the sun descended to slumber. Oh, how she relished in the sun's rays, feeling a pang of sadness with the ending of each day. But, too, the moon held its mysteries and fascinations deep within her heart, and she appreciated that it symbolized rest and escape, escape from the turmoils and vexations created by her life at court. She would do anything to spend her days wandering through the immense gardens of wildflowers and rugged spruce trees within the palace courtyards or playing her harp or lute by the shimmering expanse of a private lake. But, alas, her days were preoccupied with her duties. She was a princess of the royal household of her cousin Mursili, exalted and grand king of all Hattusa. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEoyHiPwhIq
The smoothness of her milky olive skin wrinkled into a frown as she thought of her displeasure towards her cousin. Twitching her petite, rounded nose, she pushed the ebony ringlets of her hair back behind her round shoulders as the chilling breath of Autumn swept through her private balcony. Her slim frame shivered slightly from its cool kiss, and she pulled her shroud evermore so over her shoulders. Flicking her long lashes upwards, she caught the cry of a hawk as it circled far above. She, too, longed for such freedom. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡysaUZpKVVQ
"Your highness, Malawashina?" A small voice called from the heavy mahogany doors leading to her terrace. Yet her ears could hear naught but the cries of the hawk, for it beckoned her to join it in its flight. "Your highness…?" It was that voice again, but now more desperate. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybGCw9jh2Q
Blinking hard, Malawashina turned to face the petite servant girl in her doorway. "Oh, my little Utati, apologies I did not hear you enter." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0TwR6AedR
Utati, a small girl mature far beyond her years, did well to hide her displeased frown. She was often in trouble for apparently allowing her mistress to daydream and wander off too often. "Her royal lady Puduhepa, your exalted mother, seeks your presence currently." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFPoPiak37c
Malawashina smiled to mask her inner displeasure. She wanted nothing more than to be left alone. "I wonder what it is now?" she mused. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwiylRXMpGt
"Who knows?" The young servant shrugged, her dark ash curls bouncing on her shoulders as she did so. "It most likely has something to do with your irritable cousin." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKn3p57S4a
Malawashina glanced sideways at the girl, her expression becoming blank. "That is treason to speak such words, Utati." She warned. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpNTsB8Pok
Utati huffed and pouted her round lips. "You know it to be true," she protested. "Now, please, your highness. Your esteemed mother awaits. If you continue to dally, surely I will be the one in trouble again." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAX7E4Xn7H
Malawashina looked into the girl's obsidian gaze with remorse. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHdLq6Imbs
"And so we best not tarry here, little one." And without another word, she whisked herself almost teasingly past her servant. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEh0uaPJXf
"Do not call me 'little!'" Utati called out as she gathered her skirts to run after her mistress.
Puduhepa had passed down her beauty to her eldest daughter. Malawashina now stood patiently and in all her regal finery to be announced before her mother. Puduhepa, her chestnut locks flecked with strands of silver, stood tall and poised like a lily stalk fresh in bloom. Her bejewelled hands were folded calmly before her as she spoke to one of the many royal scribes, their faces aglow from the brazier fires nearby. Malawashina pertained that it was something important, for the expressions on their faces were rather severe.217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXDfYVcV12
When Utati announced her mistress's arrival, Puduhepa tilted her head upwards with a brilliant smile. Then, nodding to the scribe, he quickly collected his things and made his leave. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTRx6QumSc
"Ah, my darling daughter!" Puduhepa's grey eyes shone brightly in the firelight as she outstretched her arms to embrace her. "You took no time to arrive, so surely you must have caught wind that I have splendid news to impart to you?" Her smile brightened evermore. Yet, her cheerful demeanour only sought to shroud the pain within her heart that the news she was to tell would mean she would never see her beloved child again. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbiz1aMl64
"Do you?" Malawashina answered, her face dropping unenthusiastically.217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuq6cyayoM
"Oh, my dear girl," her mother chimed, "Why such sourness?" 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Obdeqq79h
"I think you and I both know why."217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuztf74LdCb
"Oh, my darling," her mother embraced her warmly in reassurance. She understood well her daughter's apprehension. "This time, it is someone perhaps deemed worthy of your hand." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFl8bOV3akq
"Who in this land is worthy enough?" Malawashina mumbled under her breath. "You know Mursili has wanted me in his bed for years."217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyplRfVJwm
"And yet he cannot have you." Her mother replied dryly. "He knows that. No, you will finally wed someone far more refined than that slimy, spiteful snake." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWX0VqiFMwM
Malawashina quirked an eyebrow at her mother. Of course, the grand Royal Lady Puduhepa rarely resulted in insults of any type. But Malawashina knew how much her mother despised Mursili for what he had tried to do. Malawashina had been but a girl, and he was an oversexed, arrogant adolescent. He had caused a slight not easily forgotten nor forgiven. He had not changed much since that time, regardless. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu304L9UgiB
Utati and Puduhepa's maid did well to muffle their snickers. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7OaaamTTz
"Then, tell me, mother, who is this person grand enough to marry me? No one within our territories exists!" She scoffed a laugh. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHecxNoHFw
"I never said it was anyone from here. However, that would indeed be preferable. But, no, you are to go to Egypt."
Malawashina's bright eyes faded like a star that had finally lost all its light and had dulled away into the abyss. "E...Egypt?" She repeated automatically. Short gasps came from Utati and her servant girls, who stood only a few feet behind. Puduhepa shot them a quick, warningful glare and the young girls retreated a few steps. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu04OsPIlt8
"You should be pleased, Malawashina. You are to be married to the Pharaoh! A grand honour. With your marriage, our great nations shall finally be at peace."217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbq50TyEhjF
"But they are the enemy!" Malawashina almost shouted, her usual milky brown face now pallid with indignation. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkO8qMAwfu
"Hush your voice!" Her mother reprimanded as she took her daughter by her wrist and pulled her deeper into her chambers, away from prying eyes and ears. By the time they reached their desired destination in Puduhepa's private gardens, Malawashina was already in tears. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQFMvJrmP4
"How can you accept this, mother?" She sobbed, finally. "That...that man, if he can even be called such; that beast they so call Pharaoh ordered his armies against us. Because of him many of our brave warriors were slaughtered, and much of our territory lost." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0zkRG0OmP
"Such is the cost of war." Her mother answered calmly, sighing then as she glanced up at the brilliant glow of the moon rising above them. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudqQBl31WH
"Kadesh has been disputed territory well before our time and thus has always been fought over, my dear. Not only between Hatti and Egypt, you know this. But our greatest and most powerful contenders have always been the Egyptians. Yet did they manage to take Kadesh this time? No, my dear, they did not." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT5tL7zkkBa
"A great victory for our people…." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxB0XnhKKj
"No, my dear, it was not." Her mother corrected gently. "We suffered the most losses. That was made abundantly clear. But they, too, lost many. You must understand that these men, both our own and their own were fathers, brothers, uncles, and husbands. Now they will never return to the people that loved them, and may be devoured by the great goddess Taknaš, or, as the Egyptians believe, be not allowed to cross into the Duat."217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGaWr4U7FQZ
Malawashina's usual graceful demeanour was now afflicted as she hung her head in sorrow. "They all died for nothing. Only for the greed of power." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdq571Jc4mb
Puduhepa's grey gaze also dulled from sorrow, and she took her daughter's soft face into her hands, stroking the tears from her cheeks. "You are right," she said finally. "There is never a justification for war; For all the senseless killing. But men will never believe nor understand that. Men only want to puff out their feathers like a bunch of pompous peacocks." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9o3nq4N2Nc
Malawashina chuckled as she sniffed, flicking her lashes upwards to look into her mother's loving gaze. "Roosters more like it," she added. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡghETrFZIJ9
Her mother too chuckled then and embraced her once more. "You needn't worry, my darling Mala. These roosters have finally decided to reign in their cockiness and come to peace. It is far more beneficial in every sense of the word. Egypt is prosperous, and her Pharaoh holds great influence and respect throughout the world. Hatti would greatly benefit from this through political marriage, and trade agreements if your cousin can keep his senses intact for long enough." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUUcwKwH0fo
"Well we have reached the political marriage agreement already," Malawashina grumbled, still not impressed with the idea. "Who came up with this idea anyway?" 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXFZuDvhmP
Her mother pushed out the creases that had now formed on her daughter's brow due to her frowning. "Your father did," she answered. "But it was, in fact, the Pharaoh who requested you."
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Malawashina stared at her mother, stunned to the core. "And Mursili agreed to this?"217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡenJvm5AXWH
"He had no choice. As part of this arrangement, the Pharaoh requested a bride no less than a princess. Your sister is far too young to marry, and you are the only unwed princess remaining in our lineage. Also, he had heard of your beauty and wit." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLKkBq4LWL
Malawashina rolled her eyes at her mother's attempt at flattery. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThka7I84s0
"Oh mother, it is well known he has many women in his harem. I will be just another broodmare to be discarded once he's had his use of me. If he even chooses to have one." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWE9UJwwNIR
"Ah, but you are wrong!" her mother laughed, some sparkle again returning to her eyes. "As part of the agreement, you were to be given a high rank within the harem! The highest!"217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSMw0u3vWK
Malawashina's eyes shot open and her dainty mouth almost hit the marble floor beneath them. "Surely the Pharaoh would never give up the Great Queen Nefertari's position! The whole world knows that she is his moon and his stars! His most beloved! I've heard of the grandeur of the temples he has built in her honour!" 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5UDiwPBJD
"And you are right, my darling," her mother nodded. "He would never give up the position of my sister, the Lady of Grace, Nefertari. So instead, you have been placed as Grand Princess, secondary wife."217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsbq2PGNKy
Malawashina gasped. "I would displace the Princess Isetnofret, would I not?" her voice shook in disbelief. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMQwSfu8fQ
"You, my darling, are of royal blood. She is not," her mother stated factually. "A sacrifice he was willing to make, and one much to your advantage." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnnC0jn8Tz
"I am not ambitious enough to hold such an advantage." Malawashina lowered her gaze. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTYEo8RZ3D
Puduhepa brought her daughter's face up to look at her directly. 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7bGpemV3OI
"Oh, but you are, my child. You are my daughter." 217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4dLPGrsz8
"The dowry…?" Malawashina then hesitated.217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡam52apgznz
"Worth a thousand times more than your weight in gold."217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZlJ5lDwab
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