sit on the earthly throne.
«The sun god Aton now rules everything here,» Smenkhkara pointed to the sun disc etched on the wall. Taor vaguely remembered that there had been another symbol on this place earlier. Now everything has changed. The sun! Disc of the sun! Dawn! Why does the beautiful light of the sun seem to him so much like the glow of a bloody battle? The light of the sun, the color of blood, the screams of the amazed and the dead – all this is one The sun and god are also one. Deity of the sun! A golden figure behind the throne of Pharaoh! It seems to be woven from the sun.
Maybe she just dreamed about it? What if that fatal blow to his temple in the midst of the battle damaged his mind?
«God cannot be the only one. What about the other gods?» Taor felt a feverish delirium.
«Hush», Smenkhkara pulled him a little to the side. «If you want to pray to them, then pray silently. If you mention them out loud, you risk getting yourself into trouble. Things have changed a lot since you were gone. Perhaps it’s for the best».
«How can you say that?»
«Just! I accept everything new, just as you were accepted here. You are not from the nobility, but you can rise above the most noble people, because now the time has come for new traditions».
«I have no high aspirations».
«Then you are very different from all the people that I know. And I know many».
Smenkhkara raised a hand to touch the pendant on his neck, but the hand remained in the air. He was thinking about something or suddenly felt something. The pendant on his neck gleamed slightly. Taor only just noticed how strange it was, just like a pomegranate seed. Of course, this is not a grain that was pulled out of the fruit, but a hard ruby, which the craftsmen have given an intricate shape. Some currents emanated from the stone.
«Like?» Smenkhkara caught his gaze.
Taor nodded reluctantly.
«Very inventive. What kind of jeweler made it?»
The friend smiled mysteriously.
«Jeweler?» his black eyebrows parted so mockingly, as if he heard a terrible stupidity. «How little you know yet».
«I see that the stone is rare. Does he symbolize something? After all, this is not a solar disk, which, probably, is now supposed to be worn by everyone. Another deity’s mark?»
Smenkhkara did not find it necessary to answer.
«This stone is even more reliable than a magnet. It will always return to its owner, even if you lose it, or drink it, or give it, it will still remain yours, because it will burn other people’s hands and again be attracted to you. He can have only one owner, but it is almost impossible to get such a stone. It can neither be ripped off nor stolen. Only if she gives it to you herself».
«Who?»
Smenkhkara was silent, as if he had not heard the question at all. His perfectly shaped black eyebrows came together thoughtfully on the bridge of his nose, muscular arms in bracelets somehow seemed constrained.
«I would also like such a stone».
«It is too early. Come to me later, when the celebrations are over. Then it will probably be about time».
Why isn’t the time now? Taor watched Smenkhkara leave. He had no more friends here. So he had no one to expect kind words from, but there was no one to expect an open attack either.
He ignored the man hurrying towards him through the crowd. Only when the sharp blade cut the air a millimeter from his face did Taor recoil. The weapon drove into the column. The young man felt blood running down his cheek from the cut. Everything, as then on the battlefield, when he could have been killed, but only wounded in the temple. As if someone invisible pushed him away now. Again! All repeats. Everything is closed, as in a circle.
Taor watched, dazed, as the Nubian guards tied his assailant. Another dagger fell from his hand and clinked on the floor. Apparently, he was going to strike from close range. This was the first time Taor had seen this man. He could not look at him for long. The guards quickly led him away. What a madman could have dared to attack him right in the palace. After all, it was immediately clear what the outcome of events would be.
Taor absentmindedly rubbed the blood off his cheek with his hand. Could it be that this person is really insane. Yes, he has many enemies here: influential, rich, high-ranking. Naturally, none of them would kill him with their own hands.
It was enough to hire someone. The assassins would have waited for him in a dark alley. The body would be thrown into the Nile. He had heard of such cases. So they removed people who were objectionable to influential persons. Several killers were always sent so that the victim had no chance to escape. Nobody attacked in public. No man in his mind would do that.
«He’s going to be executed right now,» ordered the chief vizier.
It will not be difficult to predict what will happen next: the culprit will be brought to his knees, his head will be tilted, and a sharp blade will cut his neck. Taor could not allow this.
«No!» He raised his hand resolutely. «Today is the day of celebration. Let this person be pardoned».
«But…»
«I myself am ready to ask Pharaoh about it».
Well, he again chose the path of direct conflict, as once upon a time. The vizier looked at him with mild condemnation, but tried not to betray his indignation. He quickly gave the order to put the captured man in prison. There he will stay until he is sentenced. Vizier Panahesi was firmly convinced that the pharaoh would listen to his advice more than to the petitions of his general. Let him think so. Taor was not about to get into an argument. So far, he has achieved a postponement of the execution, then, perhaps, he will be able to do more.
Although why should he try for a completely stranger to him, who, moreover, was going to kill him? He didn’t know himself. It was just as natural for him to sacrifice his own interests for someone else as to breathe.
The blood flowed down his cheek more and more. Taor had the feeling that someone was looking at him from the crowd, someone whom he himself could not see.
At the exit, the chief vizier caught up with him. Panahesi was angry. Now, when there were almost no witnesses around, he no longer tried to control himself.
«You cannot ask for mercy on the one who was going to kill you».
«But my petition will soon be in your hands. You will have to hand it over to Pharaoh, whether you like it or not.
– You have already crossed all permissible boundaries today.
Borders?! Who installed them? Taor looked away. He knew that he was asking too much, he expected that his request would be refused, but his right to at least try to intercede for all these people».
«They will not be grateful to you, all these people…»
«I don’t need it».
«Just do not say that you never dreamed of your own power, let it be power even over a small province
