Chapter Text
It’s hot, horribly, awfully hot. It’s not supposed to be this horrible, but it is. The bed I’m on seems to be moving, a bit like a ship in the water, this isn’t normal. Not normal at all. I yawn, stretching myself before opening my eyes. I appear to be in a room, brightly coloured and with beautifully painted walls. Briefly, I rub my eyes, is it just me, or are they a little larger than they should be? I don’t know, but the image becomes clearer. I’m not alone. I see several women, dressed in flowing white dresses. One of them bows towards me, holding a golden goblet. I immediately take it into my hands, grasping for it. I’m so terribly thirsty and hot. It is heavy, heavier than I would have expected, but still I manage to bring it to my mouth, drinking the comforting cool water even if some flows right past my mouth. It doesn’t matter; I’m wet with sweat anyways.
Finally I can think a little more, taking in my surroundings, which still seem to be moving. I don’t recognise this place, not at all. Slowly, I raise myself a little, onto my elbows. Strangely enough, I don’t seem to be wearing my glasses, but can still see clearly. And these strangers, I don’t know any of them, in their long dresses. My eyes wander down, towards myself. There is something wrong. I appear to be wearing what looks like gold. I never wear that; it is gaudy. I’m not a rapper or something. But then I notice, my feet. They are different. My toes aren’t like that. Not at all, I never had such a pedicure, and the arrangement is different too.
Another of the strangers leans towards me, whispering: “Your Holy Majesty, your father wants you to know that we have entered the palace.”
“Thank you”, I mutter, feeling tired and weak. Why is it so awfully hot here? I don’t want to know what it is like outside, in the sun. I notice surprise in the woman, shouldn’t I have thanked her? I don’t know, but my mind starts to race. Where on Earth am I? And what has happened? The last thing I remember was a nice night out, which might have involved a little bit too much in the way of drinks, and I recall going home with someone. She was nice and pretty. The perfect combination. But she wasn’t any of these women, and she also isn’t here. My mind goes to a silly little story I was writing, about a... Oh my God! I know it. I must have been taken to some other time and place. Please, don’t let it be Westeros or anything to do with that awful world.
I will have to find out, I have to know. But how can I do it? I will have to ask carefully, the right questions. But not to these strangers, they seem too much like servants, too surprised even by gratitude. I can’t talk with them. Instead, I slowly sit up, looking at my bare arms. Although, bare is a bit of the wrong word, with all the jewelry around them. The skin is pale, but otherwise looks good, much better than mine. If only because there are no freckles everywhere.
I look down at my dress, it is not gold, there simply are many golden decorations on the purple, the pure purple. I recall it being a very expensive colour in the ancient world, which must almost certainly be where I am. I can’t think of anything more recent where anyone would be called holy majesty. I am obviously travelling with my father, which means that I am either a princess of some sorts, or that I am married to a king. The fact that I am travelling means that I am either on a boat, or on a cart of some kind. Unless I am being carried of course, but that seems a little over the top really. The pilasters or columns in the walls point to something classical, but I can’t quite place it. Of course, being a holy majesty means some sort of claim to divinity, which points to the east.
My thoughts are disturbed however when the motion suddenly stops, and worse still, it feels like the whole world is lowered. Luckily, I wasn’t standing. One of the women heads to what looks like the door, right in front of me, and slightly opens it. I can hear voices, but don’t understand what they are saying. The door is closed again, and she returns to me, bowing: “Your Holy Majesty, we have arrived and your father requests your presence.”
I sit up, and another of them puts sandals on my feet. I really don’t have to do anything at all. A third places something on my head, but I can’t see it very well. What I do see are feathers, along with what looks like golden horns around a golden sphere. I can feel fabric by the sides of my head, but don’t dare to bring my hands up. There has to be a reason to my appearance.
When everything seems ready, I stand up, swaying a little. It remains very warm, and I get the feeling that I might faint. Luckily, I don’t. I walk towards the door, which suddenly opens. It is light, very light and bright, temporarily blinding me. But despite that, I keep walking, even though I am blinking against the sunlight.
After some time I can see again, making out the shapes of people around me. I descend from several steps, from my travelling home. The first thing I see is the colour. The whole place is brightly coloured, depicting human forms, men and women both. The style is familiar, very familiar even. Egyptian. I swallow, I know only a little bit about Egypt, I haven’t even been there. But then, as my vision clears some more, I notice people. All sorts of people. But the most common seem to be men with tall, oval red shields and all too familiar helmets. I swallow, Romans. Other than them there are many others, most of them men.
And right in front of me, a slightly older man, dressed in what seems to be some form of armour, and wearing a crown. A red crown with something white in the middle. And gold of course. He looks more than a little overweight, but I know the crown. I have seen it a depicted a dozen times at least, and strangely enough, I even recall the name. The Pschent. The crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. The crown belonging to the Pharaoh. He turns slightly towards me, extending an arm. I guess that he must be either my father or husband. Whatever happens, it’s better to not offend him too badly, so I take the arm. It feels warm and moist.
I notice a smile, and he speaks: “Finally, after all these years, home again. It feels good doesn’t it?”
“It certainly does.”, I reply, feeling shy in front of all these people.
The man leads me into the palace, accompanied by armed men. Most of them Romans. I try to remember what this could be, which Egyptian king worked with the Romans? It has to be one of the Ptolemies, but I can’t remember any in specific. Just that they all had that name. The inside of the palace is beautiful, and I find myself looking at the hieroglyphs, painted onto the walls. Somehow, I notice that I can read them. It makes little sense, but still, more sense than waking up as someone else.
In places, I notice slight damage, but much remains hidden. We reach a grand room, with a pair of golden thrones placed onto a series of steps. The taller of them also happens to be placed one step higher, presumably to show who is the really important one. The fat pharaoh waggles up the steps, surprisingly, he manages to make it to the top. I follow of course. He turns around, and one of the first things to strike me about him are his bulging eyes, closely followed by the fact that he seems to be trembling. He whispers: “Kneel”
I of course obey, kneeling before the standing king. I don’t know what is supposed to happen now, but luckily he continues talking, now with a more powerful voice: “In the presence of all the gods, of our divine ancestor Osiris or Dionysos, we present our daughter: The great Lady of perfection, who is excellent in counsel. The great one, sacred image of her father, She of the Sedge and the Bee, the goddess Cleopatra who is beloved of her father. She is the Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt, to reign by our side.”