the chamber beneath by darius klein

The Chamber BeneathDarius Klein

Inside the palanquin was delightfully cool and dark; the emperor, with his hand oftapering bony fingers, pushed aside the red linen from the window and peeredoutside at the gray-ochre city which, made of the mud of the land, seemed toexcresce from the very desert itself; awash in the shimmerings of the intense earlysummer heat, it presented an undesirable alternative to his present surroundings,so that he huffed with satisfaction and returned to lolling on the divan as hebasked in the wafts of air generated by the bilqas [the slave who wields the fan -ed.]. The slave, in turn, noticed that the emperor was admiring his oil-burnishedebony skin and artful arrangement of ostrich feathers in his tiara; he therefore didnot exert himself in fanning, knowing that he had found favor, and that he wouldperforce exert himself in other ways at another, not-too-distant time.

A small girl, whose prominent, full-lipped mouth and graceful form betrayed her asthe offspring of the emperor, also peered out the window, and cried "Isn't the citybeautiful, father?" Her father unindulgently waved the question away. The girllooked perplexed, but then a shadow of cognizance crossed her young eyes.

The palanquin and its train bypassed the market area (to the emperor's intenserelief) and entered the palace via the Women's Road, as was the custom. Therewas, he noted, little traffic awaiting admittance at the mouth of the Men's Road,by which officials and dignitaries entered the palace for audience. More and moreit was so; to it, as to his daughter, he waved his saturnine hand, an action whichthe servants perceived with amusement.

Once again the daughter made solicitation: "Papa, will I see Mama tonight?"

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The emperor gathered himself up, as he did with all weighty questions, and saidwith an irritated sigh, "Not tonight, Nefrakiron. She is more ill than she has been;only I will visit her."

"Will she live, Papa?"

"Of course," he chuckled, "do you not believe in me?" But the girl balked when shesaw that he wasn't speaking rhetorically. "Do you not believe in your own Papa?" herepeated emphatically. But he did not compel her to answer, seeing that shewould not defy him at that time.

After they had arrived, and Nefrakiron was escorted by the maidservants to herquarters, the emperor Ikhnaten received the three dignitaries in the main hall. Histhrone stood higher than all structures in the room, and was carved from a singlepiece of marble; this gleaming, austere masterpiece was surmounted by an imageof the sun, of a piece with the rest, which extended upward directly behind theemperor's head. To ensure that it's brilliance was not diminished in any way, thedivans on which courtiers were required to sit (now mostly empty these days) weredraped over with red and black linens and brocades; the walls were smeared withash; and the few braziers present were relegated to the far corners and keptburning at a subdued rate. All in all, the effect was one of crude imbalance; theartistry of the throne stood incongruous in the deliberately dreary surroundings.

The dignitaries were from Nubia, Forawa, and Sao. They gave the requiredgreeting: "Hail O Ikhnaten, vice-regent on Earth of Ra, the One and Only True God,all-seeing, all-pervading." Their business was prosaic, as far as Ikhnaten wasconcerned, although they themselves were somewhat agitated. Apparently, atrade caravan in which their nations were represented had visited the imperial cityrecently after securing an agreement guaranteeing trade in the market; however,the caravan was not received officially (it had entered the gates of the cityunaccosted by any vigil), and, having arrived in the market, found no servants ofthe palace's office of commerce awaiting to complete the transaction; what wasworse, they pointed out, was that a number of the slaves, perceiving what had

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occurred, successfully revolted and escaped with some of the ostrich feathers andivory in their possession. There had been no imperial gendarme to impede them.Having heard their complaint, Ikhnaten considered briefly and replied, "The officeof the minister of commerce is indefinitely closed; we will have to review yourcomplaint at a later time." The three ambassadors cried out immediately, sayingthat they wished to terminate all agreements with the emperors courts, but thatthey also demanded restitution, as his minister had been unable to complete thetransaction, and had not, moreover, alerted the caravan prior to it's entrance inthe city. Ikhnaten nodded almost imperceptibly, and the three ambassadorssuddenly found spear-points hovering at their throats. "We are not violent here;but we will do what is necessary to defend ourselves," the emperor intoned in anemotionless voice. "Please remove yourselves from the city in a peaceable fashion,that you will not come to harm. By your wishes all contracts between you andourselves are void." The ambassadors left grumbling and vowing a furtherance ofthe issue.

Ikhnaten tidily brushed his linen garments in a gesture of satisfaction andannounced: "It appears that official business has thankfully concluded early on.The daily audience likewise." Thus, the courtiers (only seven today) weredismissed, and it remained to his praesidium to escort him to his privatechambers, located beneath the palace, where he now spent all of his hours. Thepraesidium now numbered only three, and these because of either their moralturpitude or their extreme bravery; for it was the custom at that time among thecommoners to bury their dead, and the subterrene was regarded as the rightfulterritory of the dead alone; hence, to enter underground chambers was to riskcontact with supernatural entities. The bilqas accompanied them with the greatesttrepidation, this being his first visit; he knew the emperor well enough that noovert invitation (which would have caused embarrassment) was necessary.

They descended a staircase whose antiquity obviously stretched far beyond thedate of the building of the recently constructed palace. Like all of the ancientstairwells, it had been made when primordial lineage of humankind was more


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apparent in his physical makeup, and his gigantic stature still echoed his descentfrom the Nephilim; hence, the steps required two strides to cross beforedescending to the next. The bilqas was using all of his might to suppress theinstinct to panic; moreover, he did not even wish to consider the circumstances ofthe construction of such a passage, wherein someone had purposed to penetratethe realms of the dead. Ikhnaten had never been of such a mindset, and when hehad first chosen the site of the construction of his new palace and his laborersexcavated the entrance of the stairwell, he busied himself in discovering itsorigins. The priests of Amen, whose explanations, in the absence of generalliteracy, were generally regarded as authoritative, were initially reticent; butfinally, under his pressure, relented enough to inform him that they knew it todate from one of the first dynasties, before the revelations of religion. Disgustedby this mundane explanation, Ikhnaten descended to the stairwell in exploration;after some hours, he returned, and shortly thereafter began to espouse the newreligion of the single God Ra, with himself as the god's incarnation on earth.

At last they entered the chamber at the bottom, whereat the bilqas swoonedaway; laughingly one of the praesidium revived him by spitting on him. All of themremembered their first sensations of awe when they beheld the chamber. Unlikethe manmade buildings of the upper world, which were always made of mud-brick,the interior of the chamber (none had ever seen its exterior, and they assumed itto be contained by earth) was made of a shimmering metal, similar to gold, butmuch harder; it was harshly illuminated by lights which, like a series of tiny suns,hung without source or support near the ceiling; while along the floor of the roomwere several rows of oblong compartments, roughly six feet in length and three inwidth, standing four feet tall; they were made of the same metal as the walls. Asthey walked amongst them, the bilqas saw that the upper facets, hinged in themiddle so that one could lift one half at a time, were constructed of a clear hardsubstance which he had never seen before, and which permitted him to see thatthe structures were tanks of fluid - some of them otherwise empty, and a fewcontaining indistinct, quivering forms that he dared not behold too long. Ikhnaten,noting his perusal of the objects, ran his delicate hand along the top of one and


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said, "This is called glass, friend. When Ra sends the lightning into the desert, it isthereby created."

Then, seemingly from nowhere (as there were no obscured areas within thechamber), they were approached by a kind of dwarf, or so the bilqas assumed; hethought also, because of its hairiness and darkness of complexion that it may havebeen one of the tribes-people said to inhabit the regions at the source of the Nile,who had been described to him as black and animal-like. The more he consideredher (since the personage in question was topless, he was able to determine hergender by her ancient sagging dugs), the more horror and disgust he felt; not onlydid she wear only a tattered loincloth, but her entire form was covered with thickhair; moreover, he mouth parted like a dog's or baboon's. She addressed Ikhnatenin a voice never intended for human speech: "Hail Ikhnaten, incarnation of the oneand only true God Ra; preserver of our holy sanctuaries; disseminator of moralsamong the people." Ikhnaten replied, "Greetings to you Zima; as you can see, wehave a new friend here today." To which she in turn replied: "All are friends, allare brothers in the sight of Ra who is the source of all which is holy." And theyboth in unison muttered "Praise his name."

Without further ado, she led them to a specific tank, and the bilqas was permittedto look inside. Quite distinctly he could see the empress Nefertiti lolling in thefluid, her eyes closed, and her mouth creased in sorrow. Ikhnaten said the bilqas,"Come friend, and see; and you will know, if you are not already convinced, of thesuperlative glory of Ra." Zima lifted the half of the glass pane over Nefertiri'slower quarters, and gingerly examined the empress's groin; all were able to seethe twofold set of genitalia, both male and female, which it contained. However,Zima shook her head. "The penis is not quite completed; another fortnight."

"Will she be able to ejaculate?" Ikhnaten hopefully asked. "I see no testicles."

"Do not worry," Zima chuckled. "Is not Ra all providing?" And again, all of them,from the habit of fear, recited an affirmative formula.


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Zima closed that half of the pane and lifted the other, so that Ikhnaten couldaddress Nefertiti. "My beloved," he said, bending close to her, "how are youtonight?"

Nefertiti's eyelids fluttered and she responded in a pained whisper. "My brother,my sickness is such that I feel that I'm dying; my pain is unending."

"Do not say it, for you know it to be untrue; even now Ra effects a cure." AndNefertiti, in spite of the incongruity, also lapsed into panegyric.

Zima closed the panel and intoned: "Soon she will be complete, as Ra has ordainedthat his incarnation shall be provided with a suitable mate. O Ikhnaten, when thishappens, no more shall you worry about the fortunes of the empire, for at thatunion the universe shall be perfected." She suddenly curled her thin lips over herformidable teeth and with a piercing hiss leapt past them and thrashed with suchswiftness that it was several moments before the bilqas realized that she hadkilled a small animal. She remained on her hands and knees on the floor, with theanimal's neck in her mouth; blood streamed in all directions. Then, satisfied that itwas dead, she conveyed it to...the bilqas never saw, nor did any of them know:her exit, as always, was as her entrance.

"It was she," Ikhnaten said the bilqas, "who first demonstrated to me the existenceof Ra and my status as his incarnation. You cannot see her coming and going; but Ican see it in my mind, for she alternates between here and the celestial abodedirectly; of which, being its transmuted substance, I experience directly, even as Iexperience these present surroundings."

"And what is happening now in the celestial abode?" the bilqas asked.

"Only peace, as always," Ikhnaten softly replied, perhaps not perceiving thesarcasm.

The two of them went, as the praesidium loitered, to a door which the bilqas hadnot noticed before. Ikhnaten opened it and they entered a cubicle which was


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perfunctorily furnished with a divan and a few pillows. They seated themselvesand Ikhnaten wrapped his arm around his servant's waist. "Tell me," he said, "thetruth: do you truly believe in Ra and his incarnation?"

"Oh yes, yes!"

"That is very good, because it is simply the truth. I don't know how you could notbelieve after what you have seen today."

"Have no doubt that I believe."

Ikhnaten laughed happily, and began stroking his servant about the arms and ears."Do you have a girlfriend here in the city?"

"Not here in the city, sire, but in my village I have several girlfriends."

"Are you the kind of man who pleases women?"

"These women have always found me pleasing."

Ikhnaten sighed. "When I was young I wished to be such a man; for I was sickly, andthis circumstance in turn inclined me to scholarship and religious devotion."

"I'm sure many women found you handsome, but you didn't realize it!"

"What kindness! I'm so glad we have this opportunity to speak in private. But I'mafraid that I know that truth about myself; I am not pleasing to women.Fortunately, as I am in fact a god, the thought doesn't harass me; but still, Idelight in meeting men who, like you, were more fortunate than myself in thatregard." He leaned forward and kissed the bilqas delicately on the mouth - twice,three times, and the servant could feel him, with each kiss, inserting his tongue toa greater extent, but ever so slightly; the bilqas responded in kind.

"But the room is getting very hot," Ikhnaten said. He deftly doffed his linen robesand then tenderly removed those of his companion. Again, he sat down and began


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coddling him. "To be pleasing to women is one of the greatest gifts of Ra, becausethe union of man and women is the ultimate grace. Have you not heard this in mymatitudinal liturgies of Khepsra [the equivalent of Saturday. - ed.]?"

"Of course, each week."

"And do you know what is more abhorrent to Ra, beyond any other sin? Beyondmurder? Beyond calumny?"

"Y-yes, sire, it is unnatural acts." The bilqas was, as the reader might expect, veryuneasy by now; if he and the emperor were to couple, as seemed likely, he wishedit to happen soon and be rid of this perverse dialogue.

"Yes, it is unnatural acts; it is when a man forgets his natural state and behaves asa woman, inviting other men to enter him carnally."

The bilqas said nothing; his cool exterior belied the frenzy of terror and disgustwithin.

Ikhnaten resumed his intimacies; when he discovered that the bilqas, who hadbeen rendered flaccid by fear, did not respond as he had hoped, his face reddenedwith such a rage as the poor servant had never seen. "So it often is with youdandies and ladies' men," he hissed, "that you consider yourself my superior - I whoam God! I had a suspicion that your flattering words were only that; perhaps youshould keep in mind, since you are so proud, that not all of the studs who havevisited this chamber have shielded their minds from the truth as have you. Mypraesidium!"

And upon his outcry the praesidium entered and promptly held the bilqas to thefloor. "Please sire!" he bawled. "You are mistaken! A few more moments and Iwould have been ready to perform."

"'Ready to perform?'" roared Ikhnaten. "So you want to play the woman; very well,have a foretaste of the gehinnom [equivalent of Hell in the cult of Ra - ed.] which


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awaits you at Ra's behest!" Wherewith the emperor, inflamed with hate and lust,sodomized the screaming servant, thrusting as brutally as possible until he haddeposited his discharge. After he had withdrawn and cleaned himself with thebilqas' linen garments, he ordered the praesidium to take him away and allow thepalace leech to attend to his wounds; for he was bleeding from the anus. Beforethis happened, he spoke a few words to the wretch: "My son, please consider whatyou have done, its consequences, and the mercy of Ra. Do not forget to come tothe midweek ceremony, even though I have made it optional for the servants,where your sin can be absolved. For even though the sin which you havecommitted is that which is most abhorrent in the sight of Ra, all sins can beforgiven by God." And the praesidium, sniggering at this all-too-familiar diatribe,led the bilqas away.

Ikhnaten remained in the underground chamber in the company of Zima andNefertiti; the praesidium did not venture to guess as to what occupied them untilthey came and escorted him to his bedchambers in the palace above.

* * *

Nefrakiron, Ikhnaten's daughter, breathed more easily whenshe, having ascended to the rooftop of the palace, she found

no vigils waiting to impede her. They, like the others, hadall gone away. It was no use, she thought, in pretending that

they would not very shortly be abandoned altogether, atwhich point their murders were certain; moreover, shebelieved her mother to have died. She herself had beencured of an illness in the chamber beneath when still a

toddler, and she retained memories of its horrors.

She climbed into one of the turrets which stood at intervals


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in the crenellations, and surveyed the city beneath her fromone of the tiny lookout holes. Most of the houses, either

deserted years ago or inhabited only by the most indigent,were eroded; but she could still see asses tied in the yards

of a few, and brazier smoke rising from their hawaash [innercourtyards - ed.], and, moreover, they had recently visitedthe dismal public market, where these few hardy souls stillattempted to ply a few shekels a day; hence, she knew thecity was not a ghost town yet. The beautiful burnished-gold

domes of the Ra temples still towered above the houses, andthe clamor and incense fumes which poured continuously

from the edifices indicated that their pontificates stillenjoyed their power and luxury; but she knew also, andall-too-well, that should their guards abandon them, thatthe mob, feeble as it was, would descend upon them in an

instant and all would be lost.

It was time, she decided, to visit the city without an escort;perhaps it had been weeks already since she could have

exited the palace unnoticed, and only now had she finallyrealized it. And it was even easier than she had imagined:

she merely walked out through the servants' exit, and alongthe entire route she saw no-one, and almost as certainly

no-one saw her.

She took the opportunity to explore the alleyways that shehad always seen from the palanquin but, as nobility (nay,


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divinity), never been permitted to enter. Quickly shebecame overwhelmed by the stench of ordure and animal

sweat; small bands of frantically bleating goats wouldemerge from the crepuscular shadows and surround her -almost, she noted with the utmost horror, as if she were

one of them, and not half-celestial - then caper off; severaltimes she stumbled badly in the ruts which yawned in themiddle of each passageway until she gained an instinct foravoiding them; occasionally she could hear human voicesinside the tightly clustered houses, but she felt she could

not dare approach anyone in these circumstances. Naturally,she soon was lost; she resolved to suppress her

apprehension. She attempted to bypass two youths leaningin the doorway of their house without any exchange, butthey, having spotted her, instantly caterwauled for her tocome to them. She stood in alleyway, undecided how to

respond.

"You look like the daughter of one of the priests," said oneof them.

"No," she said, "I am a girl from a village; I did business inthe market today."

"What kind of business?"

"I wanted to sell some vegetables."


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"Even the villages have priests; are you the daughter of onein your village?"

"No, no!"

"'No, no!'" the other youth mocked. "Not only are youwearing the linen of a priest's daughter, but you're speaking

the Kullu dialect [the dialect of the high castes - ed.]."

Nefrakiron began to half-run, half-walk, fearing that theywould pursue her. They did not, but their lewd invitationsdid; "Kilaab!" she muttered to herself [loosely translates as

"scumbags" - ed.].

Presently, after much wearingly aimless wandering, shestumbled unexpectedly on the central market area, whichshe recognized in the gloom by the Great Ra temple whosemassive bulk she had somehow failed to see at any pointfrom the vantage point of the depths of the labyrinthine

residential districts. Most of its traders were still present,although they had wrapped their wares in tanned hides andplaced them under their carts, atop which they would sleep

once they had concluded their evening meal. Nefrakironfound herself unexpectedly tantalized by the smell of onionsand bread being broiled directly in braziers, or even cruderfires; she disingenuously approached two old women thusly

preparing their meal and asked for some.


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"What's this?" one of them cried incredulously. "The priest'sbrat comes to ask us for food. Haven't you taken enough

from us, dearie?"

But her companion silenced her by slapping her on the leg,and said, "Perhaps she is sincere; I have heard that the

priests are no kinder to their unlucky offspring than theyare to us. Perhaps she is a god in disguise."

"Perhaps, perhaps," said the first, rolling her eyes in dismay."But, Partria, since you think so, let it be your onion halfand your slab of bread that you share; and we shall see if

the priest's daughter ever learned a sense of gratitude fromthe disseminators of morals."

Nefrakiron was bade to seat herself and Partria proffered upa portion of her meal. Nefrakiron thanked her and greedily

devoured it. "Please, if you have any more -" she began.

The first woman screamed in vindication. "'If you have anymore!'" Nefrakiron felt an irritation that the city folk were

prone to mimic her derisively. "If you had any manners,girlie, you would have balked when first offered the food,saying that it is too much; then you would have eaten at aleisurely pace, as befits a girl; and finally, after you hadpolitely eaten, you would have profusely thanked Partriaand insisted that her generosity far exceeded what you

deserved. Which, as we can see, it obviously did."


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"Stop it, that's enough," Partria said. "She can't help herupbringing. Why are you out here, anyway? No, I know:

many Kullu children do this if they get a chance - they wantto see how the other half lives. In fact, you're not the first

whose eaten of our onions."

Nefrakiron, for the first time since leaving the palace, felt asense of security; she hoped to remain with Partria and not

return, if possible.

"And don't mind Arwa - she is very poor, and naturally she isresentful; but I will not permit her to abuse you further, and

tonight you will even be able to see that she also has herhumanities, for I am going to invite you to our apartment."

Nefrakiron looked to Arwa in anticipation of protest, but shecontinued to eat placidly, apparently hearing nothing.

With the meal concluded, Partria and Arwa gathered theirremaining saleables and the three were on their way. Afteran extended walk through the residential quarters whichagain left Nefrakiron utterly disoriented, they entered a

building where lights could be seen flickering. They entereda small chamber where, in the dim light of barely burningbrazier, slumbering forms could be discerned on the floor.Once Nefrakiron's eyes had become accustomed the gloom,she saw that a shrine to Amen, the Bird-headed One, wasaffixed to the wall; moreover, the remains of candles and


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flowers on the shelf beneath it indicated that its activeworship was still perpetuated here, the realization of which

was accompanied by a startled gasp.

Both Arwa and Partria smirked, and Nefrakiron said, "I hadno idea - I thought..."

"Of course you believe the lies of your parents," Arwaexclaimed. "But our gods have not deserted us; still they

sustain us, especially when the yoke of the oppressor is soheavy."

"Did you know that it was not so long ago that our familieswere pontificates in the House of Amen; even still it is wethat tend his innermost mysteries. Of course, many werekilled in Ikhnaten's lust for power; but many escaped as

well, and the truth, although hidden, still is there for thesincere seeker; moreover, its next manifestation is

imminent - for the bloody and futile rule of the Freak ofAmarna [i.e., Ikhnaten - ed.] is almost at an end. His armyhas deserted him; I predict that within a week some of thesouthern tribes will prevail upon the city, and that they will

take it almost without a fight; in fact, I myself saw theambassadors from the South this morning leaving the palace

in anger - it did not take any sixth sense to see that onceagain, the imbecile, unnatural emperor had broken treaties

without a thought."


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Nefrakiron shivered with rage when she heard this, butwisely kept silent. By now some of the other tenants (ormore probably, squatters) had been disturbed and were

sitting up and listening. One of them, a young man, said, "Soyou've brought another one? Always the young Kullu girls

are attracted to you." He threw off his blanket and scootedover to where the three of them sat. "Peace be upon you

Khamen"; to which Khamen responded in turn, thencontinued, addressing Nefrakiron directly. "You're a very

lucky girl to have come here - you won't come to any harm -or, I should say, your virtue, if you've managed to keep it sofar, won't be lost; for this is the home of the sihaaqaat andthe ma'bunun [lit. manly women and womanly men - ed.],and it is not the custom of our people to despoil virgins.Rather, it is only ourselves who are despoiled, daily, by

those who hate us without reason. But, as lady Partria said,we are able to endure, even abide, because we have

received a special divine dispensation."

Nefrakiron began to lose the sense of security she had sotenuously gained. She had heard of such people; she knewthem to be evil. Evidently her only hope was to escape, but

she sensed that, if she did not do so under a guise, shewould be forcibly withheld.

"What of you?" Khamen inquired. "Are you sihaaq? Do youdesire the love of women?"


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"No, I don't know about such things," Nefrakiron said,intensely afraid that her lie was perceived, "I am still too

young."

"Still too young? But already I see breasts beneath yourtunic. Do you think it is by chance that you chose to

approach Partria and Arwa among all the folk of the city?"

"I thought Partria's manner was kind - please, I shouldleave," she blurted, and regretted it immediately.

"Stay with us!" they all demanded, and her fear gave way topanic and she bolted from the apartment. To her intenserelief, she ran immediately into one of the official patrols

whom the temples of Ra employed to keep the night watch;a fortuitous coincidence, since there were undoubtedly very

few of them left. "Help me!" she shrieked in undisguisedhysteria. When questioned, she pointed to the apartment

and described her near abduction at the hands of thesihaaqaat and ma'bunun; after a few grunts, the guards

entered the building, and with surprising efficiency,arrested the entire group of tenants. The whole entouragethen proceeded to one of the lesser temples, where in the

prayer hall a pontificate listened to the account ofNefrakiron and the guards before passing a judgment. He

was terse: "They are an abomination before Ra; theyworship idols and they commit unnatural acts. In the past I


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have pardoned such people, but now I believe my mercy wasmisguided; let them now be killed to at least spare

ourselves, and may Ra have mercy on them later." Thus,Partria, Arwa, Khanem, and their cohorts were led away to

their doom.

"As for the girl," the pontificate continued, "doubtless shehas been terrified by what she has seen; perhaps to the

point that the remainder of her life would be colored by it. Ihave for her a mercy greater than charity; a release fromthis life, which has treated her so; for how can she know

happiness, who has been forced to intimacy withperversion? Examine her genitals."

The guards dutifully obeyed, despite the fact thatNefrakiron screamed protests that she was the emperor's

daughter. "They are intact," they said.

"That will be a consolation for her in the afterlife," thepontificate said, "when she faces the judgment of Ra. So letit be for the unwary who comes to know of these sihaaqaatand ma'bunun; for it is upon us to extirpate them, lest they

in the end become in like manner corrupted. However,since it is not her fault, we shall not execute her outright,but rather she can die with dignity in the pit. Take her and

leave her there with a small supply of bread and water;after several days she will have expired, and never have to


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face her parents shamefaced." The pontificate withdrew,and the guard took Nefrakiron, still howling in protest, away

to the pit which lay beneath the temple, and which, as itturned out, was a grotto. Clearly the fate meted out toNefrakiron was a standard one, as there was a basket,already supplied with the requisite meager provisions,

attached to a pulley, waiting to lower her. Her strugglingwas of no avail against the great burly guard, and, after

being lowered, the guard yanked the rope with such forcethat the basket tipped and she was thrown onto the dank

rocks while her provisions scattered about her, lost foreverin the darkness. She pondered in misery for several

minutes, then concluded that it was just as well that theywere lost; the sooner her death, and resultant period to her

sorrows.

But she was unable to sit in the end, for either insects orspiders continually crawled over her, so that she could not

abide it, and she began to feel her way through the grotto inorder to avoid, as a moving thing, being in their path. After

some time - she did not know how long - she heardbreathing; was there someone here, a survivor against allodds of the justice of the pontificate? "Hello, hello," she

wailed desperately. There was no answer, only a querulousgrunting, by which she knew she had been heard. "Hello,answer me sir!" she called again. Then he was upon her -

she felt his enormous hands clutching hers, and she


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swooned.

She awoke to the sounds of gurgling water, a softlystrummed cythera, and equally soft and melodious girlish

laughter. As her vision cleared, she saw that she was still ina grotto of some sort, but one with a wide berth which wasdully illuminated by patches of glowing fungus on its walls.

She was being tended to by a young woman whose hair was,amazingly, yellow as corn, and whose skin was the color of

the belly of a crocodile, with strange ruddy blemishes.Instinctively, Nefrakiron, whose world was overwhelminglypopulated by the swarthy folk of southern climes, reached

out to touch these stipples; the young woman uttered acontrived little laugh and indulged her charge, saying,

"They're only freckles, young lady."

"Where am I?" Nefrakiron said, disconcertedly noticing that acrowd of the girls who congregated aimlessly here and thereabout the grotto were studying her intently. Only a few hadthe Nilotic features of her folk in the world above; the rest

shocked her by their unfamiliar features. Some had theappalling lack of color as her caregiver; others jet hair andsallow skin; while others still were as black as night with

heads plumed by shocks of wool. All of them were roughlythe same age as Nefrakiron, and likewise possessed of

incipient nubility.


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"You are in the oasis of Amen," extolled the caregiver.

"Am I...dead?"

"Not dead at all, no; in fact, you have been saved fromdeath by the hand of the god himself, as were we all."

Nefrakiron related the story of her run in with the sihaaqaatand the ma'bunun. "Tsk, tsk!" the caregiver said in response."Such awful people - and very dangerous from the sound of

it."

"They have been killed; but not before delivering me to sucha fate as this."

"As this!? Child, this is paradise itself; consider what yousee, and would you truly wish to return to the life you knew

above?"

Nefrakiron frankly felt that she would., due to the aliennessof her surroundings; not only that, she could not remembera time when the visage of the sun, the eye of God, had not

gladdened her. Nevertheless, she prudently dissembled: "Noindeed madam. But what of us, when we are grown? Do we,

like you, tend to the new arrivals?"

The caregiver sighed. "Your question is based onassumptions that you need not make. But, since you thirstfor knowledge - be patient, all will be answered in good


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time. In the meantime, thirst for wine, for we have thefinest with us now."

And she placed the bottle's lip at Nefrakiron's, whoswallowed thirstily of spirits for the first time. When she

finally finished, she gave a great involuntary shudder as herbody responded to the liquor. All of the girls squealed

delightedly. "I do believe," the caregiver called aloud, "thatany more and our new friend would have fallen into

drunken unconsciousness! Is this the first you've known ofwine?"

"Yes, my father is very opposed to spirits."

"You needn't worry about his strictures anymore in the Oasisof Amen. You are as free as you like, with us forever." Still,Nefrakiron refused more wine when offered; the caregiversaid, "Perhaps she will enjoy soma. Buruka!" And the girl

Buruka, a small brown-skinned beauty with a single jet blackbraid, came forward with a sandalwood box, which, whenopened, released a not-unpleasant sweet aroma, whose

source were the clumps of cured flowers contained therein.The same girl also produced a long wooden tube; she placed

a piece of the cured flowers in one of its ends and with aflame burning on a small stick of wood, began to burn it and

inhale the smoke from the other end. When she hadfinished, she exhaled the smoke in a cloud larger than


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Nefrakiron could have thought possible, coughed slightly,then offered the device to Nefrakiron. "Don't fear," laughed

the caregiver. "You will cough more than Buruka orourselves, but when the coughing ceases, you will know only

pleasure." Nefrakiron followed Buruka's example ofoperation, and found herself coughing with the utmost pain

and burning, while her eyes clouded with tears. Butgradually, as the caregiver had promised, the hacking

subsided, and she found herself awash in a sea of newfounddelight in the trivial. The patches of illumining fungus on thewalls - were they not like the collateral spirits of Ra, shiningbeneficently?; was not the prating and giggling of the girls as

charming a discourse as she had ever known?

The caregiver then tore a piece of the fungus from the wallsand, laughing, ate it; her example was followed. Nefrakiron

did not find it especially palatable, but she wasexceptionally hungry after all that she had undergone, andshe devoured it without reserve. As she continued to cavort

and laugh with her new companions, forgetful of all, shebegan to notice that she had the odd sensation that she hadknown them and been with them for an unfathomably long

time; as they laughed she saw their faces distort intocomically grotesque masks; she considered what had passed

a few moments ago as if it had been eons. The sad andfearful life with her indifferent father and moribund motherin the palace seemed to have lost all substance, and she felt


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that it would trouble her no more.

Then, as if their laughter and frivolous hysteria were able toincarnate directly, the vision of the divine Amen began to

walk among them. Standing fully twelve feet high, itsgrotesque bird visage was familiar to Nefrakiron from the

morality lessons against idolatry which had been sopervasive in her childhood; its giant hands she recognized as

those which had transported her to this place. The god ordemon surveyed the revelry of the young women, shook itsmisshapen head, then emitted a horrible shriek; whether itwas dismay, hunger, or merely lust, Nefrakiron couldn't say;all she knew was that this was abomination, even more foulthan the den of the sihaaqaat and ma'bunun, and that in her

condition of addled senses, she was left helpless by it.

The young women of the oasis began to sob and throwthemselves at him, but Amen simply swept aside the

supplicants, often with such force that they were dashed,injured and bleeding, against the walls of the grotto. Thenhe stood before Nefrakiron and roared: "What is this that I

have brought into my sanctuary? I see now that you areseedling of the accursed one, the heretic, who has drivenme and my kind into the depths!" And with his skullcrestfeathers standing upright he lunged toward the tiny girl,

prepared to destroy her; her mouth suddenly opened verywide and her tongue darted out a full ten feet in length,


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affixing itself to his brow. He was halted in his attack, butcontinued his hideous shrieking until, just as it reached afull crescendo, his inhuman head exploded in sickening

spatter of blood, bone, and brains. Nefrakiron withdrew herequally inhuman tongue; this, then, was the boon of Ra

which she had received when she was "cured" in thechamber below the palace.

She was still reeling from the effects of the drugs she hadtaken, but she knew enough to leave while the other girlswere still gathering themselves up after the catastrophe.She followed the little waterway out of the oasis and into

the unlighted depths of the grotto. She told herself, "I am ofthe God Ra and I have destroyed the false god; I am not likethese base humans, and I should never have left the palace."

She continued, as she groped helplessly along, to consoleherself with the knowledge of her superior aspects until sheslipped, and struck her head; unconscious, she fell face-first

into the water and drowned.

* * *

Ikhnaten stood before his throne, reciting the variousorisons and benedictions of the Milaad ceremony [day

equivalent to Wednesday - ed.]. Only two members of hispraesidium were present; there were no courtiers left -

Ikhnaten did not know it, but their spies had made it known


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to them that their lives depended upon a sudden change ofresidence to another city.

"Where is the bilqas?" Ikhnaten asked. "He was to requestforgiveness today."

One of the praesidium brought forth from a wrapping ofbrocade the now-severed head of the unlucky bilqas. "He

was caught trying to escape."

It was then that they heard screaming and smelt smoke.They ascended to the ramparts where they saw that the

imperial city was burning; wishing to see no more they fledwithin.

With no one left to defend the city against them, the smallbarbarian army of the Forawa (with Sao and Nubian

contingents) had been able to enter and conquer withcomplete ease. Those squadrons guarding the temples who

were powerful enough to resist were bribed intoacquiescence by the Forawans, who had been well-funded

by governments eager to see the end of the rule ofIkhnaten. The usual gratuitous slaughter ensued, and thearrogance and supremacy of the pontificates of Ra came

abruptly to an end.

The Forawan soldiers who invaded the palace searched theentire premises without finding a single person, and were on


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the verge of giving up their search and putting the place tothe flame when someone found the entrance to the

chamber beneath. When they arrived in that place ofsuffering, they were taken aback by its palpable atmosphere

of malignancy, and only slowly did they begin to search.Many examined the contents of the oblong vats with looks of

dismay.

At last they found Ikhnaten hiding beneath the divan in thesmall chamber where he tryst with his lovers. He was

summarily killed. Several of the more brutal members of thesquad had lifted Nefertiti from her vat; the poor woman only

moaned in semiconscious while the soldiers cut away hertwofold genitals with malicious glee then gang raped her.

After this had continued for some time, the squadron leadercalled a halt to the proceedings and cut her throat.

Night fell and the soldiers' camps were raucous withdrunkenness and the enjoyment that the conquerors hadwith the vanquished. In fact, many of the captives looked

forward to their new lives, in spite of this inauspiciousbeginning; perhaps luck would favor them more on the

auctioneer's block of slave markets in barbarian countriesthan it ever had in the imperial city.

Morning came and the encampments departed with theirbooty; and finally the sands of the desert could begin to


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cover this house of woe without further hindrance.

Last Modified: 27 September 2006Date Added: 30 June 2000

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the chamber beneath by darius klein

Documents

emperor ikhnaten

pmthe emperor

smithof clark

saturnine hand

lipped mouth

booksthe chamber

red linen

braziers present