Interlude

Amenhotep had felt his very life force slipping from him, ebbing away more and more these last few hours. But he no longer fought it. He was certain that when his heart was weighed upon Anubis's sacred scales, it would balance against the weight of life, and he would be free to enjoy a peaceful afterlife.

The old man gazed out the window, and beheld the beauty of the setting sun for what he knew would be the last time. He was sorry to leave Kiya, Akhenaten and Ksunamun, sorry that he'd not see his grandchildren - but with any luck Kiya would, and when she joined him in the afterlife, she could tell him all about them.

When he closed his eyes now, he could see the winged goddesses who guarded the pathway between realms. They had beckoned to him for hours, and at last he surrendered, closing his eyes for the final time on the mortal plane. He walked to them - and they greeted him warmly.

The beautiful gates of gold were inscribed with hieroglyphs, but he did not bother to try to read them. The gates were at last being opened to him, the ones he'd been told tales about since he was just a child. As they swung open slowly, they were far lovelier than words could ever attempt to portray. Amenhotep was greeted now by Nut, the sky goddess who welcomed pharaohs and priests to the afterlife.

"Amenhotep," she said in an ethereal voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once, "If you pass the final test, then your life has only just begun."