Read Online Queen of the Heavens by Kingsley Guy - Free Book Online Page B

looked at Father. “Is this true?” he asked.
    “Yes,” Father answered. “Tuya entered a trance for three days and we feared for her life. When she awoke, she told us of her journey. Some time later, she began performing healings.”
    “Would Isis approve of your marrying my son?” Ramesses asked me.
    “Undoubtedly she would.”
    “Why are you so certain?”
    “Isis is Queen of the Heavens. She would want me to know as well what it is like to be a Queen.”
    “Tuya is an intelligent young woman,” Ramesses said to Father.
    “She’s educated, too,” Father replied. “Tuya knows how to read and write, and she’s quite accomplished at playing the harp and sistrum .”
    “She’s also stunning in appearance, which my son would most appreciate. Bring in Sety,” Ramesses said to a guard, who opened the door to an anteroom.
    My breath left me as a young man, bare-chested and wearing a kilt, short wig and golden bracelets, entered the great hall. The muscles of his arms and legs looked as if they had been carved by an artisan from stone. He was taller than Ramesses, handsome and in command, the very essence of a warrior. His eyes, surrounded by black paint made from kohl, were deep-set and brown like his father’s, but from them flowed not kindness, but determination and desire. Energy emanating from him entered through the vortex of my heart center and excited my whole body.
    “Is this to be my wife, Father?” he asked Ramesses.
    “Perhaps,” Ramesses said. “Tuya, meet my son Sety.”
    I bowed at the waist. “I am honored.”
    “As am I,” Sety said. “They tell me you are a healer who talks with Isis.”
    “This is so.”
    “Perhaps you will introduce me to her.”
    “She is closer to you than you think.”
    “Why then do I not I see her?”
    “Perhaps you do but cannot recognize her for who she is.”
    “How could I not recognize the Queen of the Heavens?” he asked, smiling, apparently amused by our banter.
    “Isis can take on different forms,” I answered. “Once she chose to be a kite, and in this form conceived Horus.”
    “Would you conceive a child for me?”
    Sety’s brashness startled me. Though I was being assessed for my suitability for such a task, I didn’t expect to be asked about it so abruptly.
    “It would be my honor,” I answered, with a bit of a stammer.
    “And if I were to become ill, would you heal me?”
    “It is Isis who does the healing. I merely carry out her commands.”
    “Then would Isis heal me?”
    “That would be up to Isis, and to you.”
    Sety looked at his father. “She’s charming.”
    “We will investigate further to see if she is suitable,” Ramesses said. “The astrologers and numerologists must have their say, and there are many fine women who would be a good match for you.”
    “I know, but I like this one,” Sety continued. “She has a certain fire in her, and she’s quite beautiful.”
    Ramesses looked at Father. “Your daughter appears to be a fine young woman. I commend you and your wife for bringing her up so well. My aides will be in contact with you.”
    “I am at your service,” Father said as he bowed deeply to the Vizier.
    Mother and I also bowed. As the three of us were leaving, Sety spoke: “Tuya. If you become my wife what would you like as a marriage gift?”
    “I turned toward Sety and without hesitation answered: “A temple for healing in which Isis can do her work.”
    “You ask for a great deal. I’d have to be Pharaoh to afford such a gift.”
    “I will wait, and so will Isis.”
    Sety laughed. “All right, Tuya, but if I build a temple in which Isis can work her miracles it will be dedicated to her beloved Osiris, for Isis worshipped him as you will worship me.”
    I bristled at Sety’s words. I, who had Isis within her, was the one to be worshipped.
    “As you wish,” I said, straining to maintain my composure as I left the hall.
    In the days following the audience at the palace, I found it difficult to