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I will find you again.
And then—
He was gone.
~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~
Modern Day. Luxor, Egypt.
“The big green dragon fought off the six shadow dragons,” Ere narrated as they advanced slowly down the underground tunnel between Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple and the Valley of the Kings.
Of course, they were no longer headed in the direction of the Valley. They’d made a sharp right turn. Where it led, no one knew. But Ben would bet on just one guess:
They were headed to Pharoah Hatshepsut’s real tomb.
“The storm cleared, and the ship looks no worse for wear.”
Ben looked overhead at the tunnel ceiling.
“The night sky and stars are back as well.”
“No shadow,” Sorin put in.
“Yes, my love,” Ere concurred. “The shadow dragons have apparently been defeated.”
“No more shadow for Heba,” Sorin clarified.
Ben and Ere peered more closely at the images that continued along the tunnel wall.
Indeed, the next murals showed Hatshepsut returning triumphantly to Thebes, her five ships laden with goods from the Land of Punt. The pictures were very similar to what was depicted in her Mortuary Temple.
The next series of drawings showed various other exploits for which she was famous. A short but successful military campaign in Nubia, Thutmose at her side, now a ten-year-old and already appointed a general in her army, not unlike other boy-princes of previous generations.
The construction of monuments, temples, bridges and roads. Formally taking on the cloak of Pharoah and dressing herself as such. With thenemesorkhatcrown and traditional pointed false beard. She often wore female clothing underneath a short male kilt, but public monuments depicted her bare chested instead.
As the timeline went on, the position of Hatshepsut and Thutmose changed. As Pharoah, she was always in front of him, leading the way. He was always following behind, though he was clearly in a position of great respect and power. Gradually, they began to stand closer, side by side. Until finally, Thutmose led in front, as a lauded military commander, and Hatshepsut supported from behind.
In all of these scenes, the Queen’s shadow from the time she’d been a child was nowhere to be found. In fact, the moment the shadow disappeared was the moment the green dragon appeared.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Ben murmured out loud to the group.
“That Heba had a secret pet dragon?” Ere whispered back.
They shared a look.
Despite Ere’s flippant words, they agreed silently that the shadow was Hatshepsut’s dragon mate. Now the question was:
What happened to them?
Farther down the tunnel, the scenes changed markedly yet again.
Nowhere was it shown that Hatshepsut had transitioned the crown to her son, but suddenly, she was simply dressed as any noble Egyptian woman, without the royal regalia that had been evident since the very first image on the wall.
Ben inferred that she was no longer Pharoah, that Thutmose III had begun his reign.
What this showed, unlike what all historians concluded, was that Thutmose didn’t inherit the throne upon Hatshepsut’s death. In these images, she was still clearly alive. It seemed that she’d left the palace and royal circle somehow, leaving her friends and even her nursemaid Sitre-In behind.
The next series of images showed Hatshepsut entirely alone. Progressing through the steps to journey to the afterlife as outlined in the Book of the Dead.
