In Hot Water Pt. 03

"Did you know King Tut married his sister?" I ask.

"King Tut? Like, Pharaoh of Egypt?"

"Well, she was his half-sister, but yeah. His parents were brother and sister too."

"No, I didn't know that. Was that some kind of 'keeping the bloodline pure' thing?"

"Kind of." I scrunch up on my pillow a bit. "Ancient Egyptian royals couldn't marry just anybody, it had to be another royal. They thought they were gods above everybody else. It was done to maintain control, and sometimes there weren't that many of them around."

"Well, if they're really serious about not marrying outside the group, I guess they'd have to at some point."

"Yeah. A guy is going to grow up to be Pharaoh, so he needs a wife. But there aren't any girls his age, so they grab his sister for the job. Sister has been upgraded to sister-wife."

"What if you don't like your sister?" asks Jessica. "What if she's stupid, ugly, and mean?"

"Then I guess you'd get a stupid, ugly, mean sister-wife. It'd go the other way too. Say you're the king's prized oldest daughter. You're smart and gorgeous, and know exactly what you want to do in life. Plus, you've got a whole plan for how to control Upper Egypt. Then you find out you have to marry the half-witted ghoulish brother you've been avoiding your whole life and start pumping out his children."

"Okay, But what if you're both like that princess?" Jessica scratches the top of my head with her nails. "She's on top of her game, like you say. And her brother is considerate, and amazing, and devastatingly handsome. Then one day your parents come into the room and say 'kids, we've seen how you've been looking at each other, and we need some heirs. So, Son, get to work fucking your sister.'"

"And then their mom pulls the girl aside and says, 'young lady, make sure your brother cums inside you. Not on your face like in those papyrus pictures we know he looks at.'"

My sister sucks in a breath, and slowly lets it out. She pushes herself off me, and climbs down to my knees.

"What's up?"

"I need to swallow some royalty before Mom gets home." She rips the blanket off the bed, and throws her gaze at me through the darkness. "And you're the only one around."