A Long Time from Home Pt. 02 Ch. 02

"You better explain that." He suggested. "Otherwise, I will have to kill you for abducting a princess."

"That is fair, I guess. Have some water. You'll need it before I'm finished with the explanation."

I told him the truth... or at least most of it, as I left out how exactly the sword had been cursed. Everything else, from Amenmesse taking the sword, over the attack from the mummies and why Amenmesse needed Neferure, was completely true.

When I was done, Captain Huy looked thoughtful, which I quite understand since in essence I was predicting a civil war in Kemet in the near future and as a captain in the royal guards, that was something that would affect him greatly.

"I don't know what to say about all this." He admitted after a while. "As you said, it's hard to believe."

"It always is." I said with a sigh. "Look, Captain Huy, despite my looks, I was born in Pi-Ramesses and I really like this country. If Amenmesse gets his hands on Neferure, he'll be in a position to contest Crownprince Seti when he takes the throne and with the cursed sword in hand, it's a certainty that he will do exactly that. I don't know what titles Amenmesse is going to get in the near future, but since Seti is Overseer of the Army, my guess is Viceroy of Kush, which will allow him to build a powerbase in upper Kemet. Bad as that is, it's still better than having him as Overseer of the Army, because that would be a written invitation for overthrowing the throne as soon as His Highness dies. This way, at least you have time to prepare."

Captain Huy sighed. "You make a compelling case."

"I hope so because the future of Kemet depends on it. Or rather, it depends on Amenmesse not being able to marry a daughter of Ramesses, since such a union will be seen as a sign from the gods, that he is chosen to lead Kemet into a new golden age."

He nodded slowly. "That might be true, but it leaves me with a problem, since His Highness ordered me to bring Neferure back."

Looking him in the eyes, I saw only steel-like determination to follow his orders.

I smiled as I used the Ars Mentalis trick that made me stronger and faster. "Not really. Nobody can blame you for being overpowered by a foe."

That made him smile, while the rest of the men laughed merrily, while I casually placed my hands on the handles of my long knives, entering the state of Mutatur Tempus Mente (Baylon: "Time shall be changed in the mind."). My brain accelerated and everything else slowed to a crawl.

Adrenaline hit my system and drawing the long knives, I hit the Captain straight in the jaw with the pommel, knocking him out. Then I dashed in between the soldiers, hitting the first one on the side of the neck making him pass out, and the next one in the chest with a kick that sent him flying into yet another soldier, before any of them even had time to react.

Whirling to avoid a badly aimed arrow, I hit the arm of the next one with the flat of the blade, breaking the bone before I sent him to the ground with a sweep that also enabled to dodge a slash from another soldier. Throwing myself into the air, I hit both him and the next one with a split kick, landing right in front of the last two. They did have time to swing their axes, but I parried their blows, forcing their weapons away from me before I counter-attacked. An elbow to the jaw threw the first one to the ground, while a snap kick took out the other one.

Looking around, I sheathed one of the knives as I looked at the downed soldiers. They were down, but at least they were still alive. With a sigh, I dropped the Nekhekh on Captain Huy and walked towards the ship. There was no doubt in my mind that a civil war would break the moment Mernepath died. It wasn't something I could prevent, but I could and would prevent Amenmesse from having a daughter of Ramesses as his royal wife he could use to get more political allies. However, taking things from the royal palace would just make the court send assassins after us to reclaim the magical amulet and I really didn't need that in my life.

I suddenly noticed the crew of the ship, along with Merit, Tutu, Kiya and Neferure, was watching me with expressions of disbelief on their faces. However, I also noticed that the other ship had already set sails and was on its way towards Punt, meaning that evening tide had arrived.

As soon as I had boarded the ship, the captain shouted orders and the crew got to work. Then he looked over at me with a little smile. "Welcome on board. It's been a while since I've sailed with one of your kind, but I'm honoured to do that again."

I bowed slightly. "And I'm happy to be on a ship from Dilmun again."

He returned the bow and turned to focus on getting the ship out, while I walked to the bow of the ship to watch the tide take us out. Another chapter of my life had ended, and I was about to begin a new one.

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