Chapter Eight
I nosed my way into the chamber and saw the physicians had returned and were tending to the king’s leg. The queen was not in the room. As I got next to the bed I saw the king halfway sitting with one leg off the side of the bed. He appeared to be trying to get off the bed when he spotted me. “Amun!” he said, “Leave me alone, you quacks!” Brushing the physicians away. “Come Amun!” he said, patting the side of the bed. I jumped up to his side and he relaxed a bit as the room emptied. The king stroked my fur and said, “I was so foolish to think you had run away, but you were gone for so long!” I saw the genuine concern in his eyes as he spoke. The medicine must be working because his face didn’t look as pained. I stayed by his side throughout the evening and never left it all night. The queen eventually came back and gave me the evil eye, but said nothing even as she retired to the bed.
The king awoke during the night on several occasions moaning, but would take a drink out of this cup on the nightstand, give me a rub then return to sleep. As Ra shown into the chamber the next morning the king awoke and asked for food. “Praise the Gods!” I thought, “Maybe we can get back to business as usual around here and I can avenge my king!” The queen even seemed to perk up a bit towards me as well. The physicians returned and examined the leg, where I had my first glimpse of the wound. “Ewww,” I thought, “that’s nasty looking!” The physicians had set the badly broken leg, but the wound where the bone had broken through the skin was very red and swollen. They applied some ointments and rewrapped the leg and left. I could tell the king was restless here in his chamber as he fidgeted about on the bed. The advisor came and paid his respects to the king, as they talked affairs of the kingdom. I could tell he was watching me like a hawk, as I him throughout his visit. “One day!” I thought.
Things just about returned to normal with the king being carried to the various parts of the palace by servants toting the king in a chair/bed. Two good-sized servants were all it took to carry the thing and the king had the roam of the palace again, much to the chagrin of the advisor, who would have been just as happy with the king confined to his bed and out of his hair. I noticed the advisor talking to the head physician and assumed it was to check on the king’s progress and dismissed it, until the king took a turn for the worse. Only then did I recall that the head physician was the only one tending to the king now. He had released the others to go about their other duties and he alone changed the bandages and prepared the ointments and medicines. I was present at one changing and saw the wound was starting to fester and smelled funny… like really bad cheese.
The king was confined to the bed again and I saw that even the potion from the cup was not helping with the pain. I noticed the queen crying more often and was becoming more distant. I knew the king was doomed. He would still put on a brave front, but talked more and more of how he was glad to have me protecting his tomb. In this time since the “accident” I had forgotten about my planned escape to the Valley of the Kings and as things were looking worse for my friend I had begun to change my mind as well. I stayed with my friend throughout Ra’s journey as well as Seti’s at night. The queen and the advisor made last minute burial plans and the tomb was being prepared to receive its’ new occupants. I had resigned myself to be the protector in death that I had failed to be in life.
One morning, as I was laying by the king’s side the advisor came in alone, and looking around, closed the chamber door. The king had fallen into a deep sleep and was very near the end. The advisor stood close by, but out of claw length. “You stupid boy!” he sneered, “You thought you could stay pharaoh forever? I’ve waited a long time for this and now I will take your queen and rule. Yes, your pretty bride will be mine, but don’t worry, she will be joining you shortly.” He turned a glance towards me for a second then back to the king. “You two will be very happy together, all snug in your tomb. As for your great plan to keep away the tomb raiders,” he laughed, “your “Great” Protector will have a hard time doing anything as a mummy!” I turned just in time to see a swift flash of a club before it struck the side of my head and all went black.