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Yet…
Duty could wait another few days, she determined.
No one knew her here. She’d donned a feminine frock, but left off the wig. She emphasized her eyes with kohl and lightly rouged her cheeks and lips, but the makeup was not elaborate, simply a bit of color to mark her features more dramatically.
In all, she was not dressed like royalty, not by far. She could have passed for one of the dancers already writhing in the streets and on elevated platforms, swaying their bodies to the pulsing beat of goblet drums and cymbals.
Of course, Heba wasn’t nearly as voluptuous as many of the dancers. And when she moved, she certainly wouldn’t be as graceful. They were very beautiful with their flowing dresses, flowers in their long, beaded hair and kohl-lined eyebrows and eyes.
She squeezed Shai’s hand and threaded their fingers together, clutching him tight. Anchoring him to her as if he might wander away.
At last, he squeezed her back, making her look up at him.
A mysterious smile danced in his eyes. As if he understood why she grabbed him so desperately, but at the same time found her actions humorous.
Hmph.
Heba turned away from his silent laughter, pretending to be absorbed in the boisterous celebratory activities all around her.
She could be possessive if she wanted to. There was nothing wrong with this public sort of claiming. He was hers and she was his. She had a right to declare it to the world. Hand in hand, they strode through the streets.
This Hathor festival was similar to the Beautiful Feast of the Valley that she held at Thebes each summer, except these people celebrated life rather than honoring the dead. And there were no priests involved as far as she could tell. No processions of them carrying a boat with the shrine of Amun upon it for the people to pray to.
There was only laughter, pleasure and freedom. It seemed that everyone had a goblet of beer or wine in their hand. Liquor poured forth like the River Nile in flood. Many of these people wore only the simplest, lightest clothing, their limbs and men’s chests mostly bare.
Not surprisingly, alongside the merry drunkenness, there was uninhibited displays of ardor. Body parts usually covered were now bared. Groping and kissing, moans and groans filled Heba’s eyes with tantalizing images and her ears with titillating sounds.
Shai gave the signal for his men to spread out. They would stay close to the pair in case of need, but they were released now to enjoy themselves.
And to give Heba and her Shadow some much anticipated privacy.
She tugged him along from market to market, stall to stall, delighting in this bubble of freedom, a small piece of heaven on earth.
It was good for business to sell wares during festivals like these, for drunken happiness made for loosened purse strings. Enamored, lusty couples might just splurge on expensive items sober practicality would keep them away from. Thus, each and every merchant stall was bursting with exotic lures. Even more so that this was a trading town. Exquisite wares from far and wide were on display here.
As they wound through the main streets and the markets that were sectioned off in squares, Heba was struck by the contrast of how they were now to how they had been.
As her protector, her Shadow, he’d always accompanied her on shopping expeditions. If she ever left the Palace to explore nearby towns, he naturally went with her.
But back then, he was always a few steps behind, trailing her unobtrusively like a true shadow. He was there to carry her purchases and to make sure no threats ever got near her.
Unlike now, when she walked with him hand in hand, when he strode in that loose, confident, masculine way of his right beside her.
She couldn’t explain why this simple thing made her so very happy. Made her want to burst with joy.
She looked up at him and beamed, unable to contain it.
He caught her gaze and crinkled his eyes in return, making those deep dimpling grooves appear around his mouth.
Ah, a real smile.
And a big one too. She treasured it like the rare gift it was.
“Such a beautiful couple,” an old woman beckoned from her stall.
“I have never seen the like in all my years. Only true love can make you both glow with inner light. And that is the most beautiful of all.”
Heba blushed with happiness and stopped by the seller’s stand to peruse her wares.
