AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He was certain now that following it to its end would lead him directly to the tomb of Hatshepsut in the Valley of the Kings. By memory, it was a particularly unique shape amongst the New Kingdom royal tombs, twisting and turning over six hundred and fifty feet from the entrance, as if it never wanted to be found.
“Why’d you stop?” Ere huffed, catching up to him with Sorin in tow.
“I think I know where this tunnel leads,” Ben said. “To the supposed tomb of the Great Queen.”
“Supposed?” Ere immediately caught on.
“Mmm,” Ben hummed, expounding, “When British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered Hatshepsut's tomb while excavating at the Valley of the Kings in the nineteen hundreds, he found two sarcophagi, one for Hatshepsut and the second for her father, Thutmose I, but both were empty.”
“Well, where are the mummies then?” Ere asked.
“I’m getting to that.”
“Get there faster,” Ere impatiently urged. “It’s dank and suffocating down here. I feel my asthma coming on.”
Ben rolled his eyes.
Immortals didn’t get sick. They couldn’t catch viruses or bacteria. They were immune to all mortal ills like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. They weren’t susceptible to chemical poisons either.
But they could be influenced by, and succumb to, vampire venom. It was one of the reasons Dark Ones were the most powerful of all Immortals. Not because they were the strongest, but because they were the deadliest, well organized and most ruthless.
“In 1903, Carter discovered Sitre In’s tomb,” Ben related.
“She was Hatshepsut’s nursemaid and well loved by the female Pharoah. There was also an anonymous tomb beside hers. Which many hypothesized to be Hatshepsut’s.”
“That’s just silly,” Ere interjected.
“Why would a Royal Princess, then Queen, then Pharoah be buried next to her nursemaid? Makes no sense. And I’m by no means an Egyptology expert.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” Ben quipped. “You have just as many PhDs in ancient civilizations as I do. Didn’t you teach a class on Persian history once? And to Sophia of all people?”
“Pfft,” Ere waved aside. “That’s just child’s play.”
Most of the time, Ere was extravagant, bombastic and exaggerated. While displaying world-weary ennui at the same time. It was a particular skill.
That was what Ben called “fake Ere.” The one he showed to the world, that his family and friends knew to be a mask he wore and simply indulged or ignored.
It was in moments like these, where Ere was genuinely self-deprecating, brushing aside some achievement or good quality of his that Ben dubbed him the “real Ere.”
He still hadn’t gotten out of the habit of belittling his own accomplishments and strengths while putting those he admired, like Tal-Telal, Gabriel, Ben and most of all Sorin, on a pedestal.
In truth, Ere was far more expert in ancient civilizations than Ben was. After all, he’d lived through it. Then studied it in depth while masquerading around as a human teaching assistant.
The only advantage Ben had was his photographic memory.
“To go back to your point,” Ben said, addressing Ere, “You’re right. It isn’t logical that the tomb next to Sitre In’s should be her mistress. But that didn’t stop archeologists from doing all kinds of tests to try to explain otherwise.”
“They did a CT scan which revealed that the second mummy was an obese woman between the ages of 45 and 60 who had bad teeth. She also suffered from cancer, evidence of which can be seen in the pelvic region and the spine. She was missing a tooth, and they found a wooden box that bore the cartouche of Hatshepsut, which contained a liver and a tooth.”
“Let me guess,” Ere said, “the idiot scientists decided that just because the box had Hatshepsut’s royal seal, it was hers. And then they matched the tooth to the mummy and decided the fat old lady was Hatshepsut too.”
“Precisely,” Ben declared.
“But it wasn’t,” Sorin deduced succinctly, leaning against the tunnel wall with arms folded across his massive chest.
“No, it wasn’t,” Ben confirmed.
“At least, not according to some counter theories, which make more sense to me.”
