Chapter 3: Heir of the Two Lands

First, we walked barefoot along the sun-warmed stone path to the temple, each step grounding me in the sacredness of the day. The air was thick with the scent of burning incense, curling upward in slow spirals as the priests awaited us in quiet reverence.

Before the grand statue of Hathor, we knelt and laid down delicate lotus blossoms, their soft petals cool against my palms. The goddess’s serene gaze seemed to watch over us as we bowed our heads in silence. I prayed with all my heart for my people, for strength, for the future that awaited me.

Isis leaned close, whispering with a hint of mischief that she prayed to avoid marriage before she turned sixteen. Nefertiti, ever secretive, refused to share her prayer, which only made me suspect it involved a boy. The tension between duty and desire filled the sacred air, as heavy and fragrant as the incense itself.

Back in my chamber, we giggled like young girls.

“What if all three of us become queens?” Isis said, stretching.

I didn’t respond, I just gazed out over the courtyard, where the sun shone upon the palace’s pillars. We were three sisters with similar fates, but in Egypt, the future was never certain.

For now, in my chamber, we were only daughters of the sun. Sisters, princesses, and soon, something more.

Then they came for me, a small army of servants and priestesses, all with calm, unreadable faces.

I could barely stand still as they began their work, stripping me of my plain linen shift and bathing me in perfumed water warmed with lotus petals. They massaged scented oils into my skin until I felt soft and glowing, no longer a girl, but something like a goddess carved in flesh.

They dressed me in a linen gown so fine it floated like mist around my body, dyed white to show my purity and embroidered with gold thread at the hem. Heavy jewelry was layered on my neck and arms, broad collars of turquoise and carnelian, shining bangles that clinked with every breath I took, anointed with sacred oil to bless my union.