Silver Eyes

PROLOGUE

It was a day of joy and sorrow.

A day of laughter and pain.

It was the day the daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt was brought forth to the world. As her cries filled the palace, everyone gasped with joy.

Then gasped in horror.

The first and only heir to the Egyptian throne was a dark skinned child!

This caused consternation amongst the people of the palace. Both the Pharaoh and his wife were olive-skinned and brown eyed. Their offspring however was cocoa skinned with the most piercing of silver eyes.

'What is the meaning of this?' The Pharaoh roared harshly at the midwives and his exhausted wife. Had his wife been cheating on him? But with whom? There were no dark skinned people in his land. No Moors. But what could explain this inconsistency with nature?

'Answer me woman or I shall rip your tongue from your mouth'.

'My...my Lord, I know not what....I am...'His wife trailed off and moaned. Whether in pain or in horror, she could not differentiate. How had she birthed a child of the Moor? She had never lain with any man other than her husband. But who would believe her? She moaned again.

The Pharaoh clenched his fist and looked round in despair. What was he to do? He knew in his hearts of heart that his wife had not cheated on him but he was feared by all as a ruthless ruler. If he did nothing his people would think him weak. He stared again at his wife who looked down, fear plain on her face. Oh how he loved her. He truly could not cause any harm to fall on a single strand of her hair. Not by him or by anyone else. What he would do was deal with the child instead. They could always have another child. The thought that any other children of theirs might come out looking the same flitted through his mind but he pushed it away. That was a problem he would deal with later.

'Guards! Seize this abomination from the midwives and drown it in the River Nile. It is clearly something of the devil and should be killed instantly.' He shouted this harshly looking at the guards.

The three guards by the door hesitated. They knew the baby was...wrong, yet they could not harm her in cold blood. Their people had been known for drowning children in the River Nile as had happened in the olden days in the time of deadly plagues, but these were modern times.

'Have you gone deaf or pox-ridden? I said drown that thing or I shall have you whipped soundly for your impudence.' Pharaoh half bawled in crazed anger.

Immediately they rushed towards the midwives, stumbling in their haste to snatch the baby. The midwife carrying the baby could not suppress the half-sob that burst from her lips when the baby was cruelly snatched away. She was only a baby and had no idea about the circumstances of her birth, yet she was to be drowned. She turned her face away as the guards walked out stiffly with the oddly quiet child.

Two hours later, that same midwife rushed to the river to see if the baby was indeed drowned. She saw that one of the guards was still sat there, staring into the river with absent eyes. She cleared her throat and he turned startled from whatever thoughts he had been harbouring.

'Did you do it then? Did you drown the poor child?' She asked breathlessly. She had been looking for a way to leave the palace unnoticed in order to try to save the baby. She knew it was pointless now as she had been delayed for such a long time but she could not help but wish a miracle had occurred.

'Yes. We did. We dropped her in this very spot. The other two are back in the palace but I cannot stop thinking about what we have just done.' The guard stared back into space, a bleak look on his face. He could not have any children as he was a guard for the palace and had been made a eunuch. However, his sister had just birthed a child a month ago, a little girl with soft curls and an infectious laugh. He felt his heart shrivel as he thought of what he would do if his own niece had faced such a cruel fate.

The midwife wailed and broke off quickly. She did not want anyone hearing her cry over the baby. That would result in her own drowning, she was sure. She was not so scared of the guard next to her noticing her pain. He looked damaged by it as well.

The guard stood up from his seat of grass and rubbed his eyes wearily. 'I shall go in now or they will notice my absence. Thanks to the...' he spat out the word in disgust, 'festivities going on I got away with it for so long. You should do the same, midwife'. He turned to go and as he did, he murmured so faintly that she had to strain her ears to hear him, 'May the gods never forgive the Pharaoh for what he has done for surely this is murder of a child of the gods. Those eyes...murder, and yet they celebrate'. He shuddered and quickly walked towards the palace.

The midwife shuddered as well at his words. The eyes of the child had truly been of another world. Maybe the gods, maybe the devil, but of another world she was certain. She looked down at the spot the guard had pointed to regarding the death of the child and tears blurred her eyes. She sat there for a minute crying softly.

Then she heard it. The cries of a baby. She jumped so suddenly she nearly toppled into the banks of the river. What? Where? How? She looked around and saw nothing then she heard the sound again. It seemed to be coming from the river. She looked down and saw the baby floating upwards, her eyes shining with a glaring silver light at her. She could not make a sound. She looked into the baby's eyes mesmerized. It could not be. The baby was actually floating. She whispered the names of the gods in shock, and then added for good measure, 'the God of Moses, what is this I see?'

The baby finally floated to the top and blinked once at her. Her eyes had turned back to normal, or as normal as silver eyes could look. The midwife stood there not knowing whether she should pick up the child or run as any sensible person would do. Then the baby smiled beatifically at the midwife and that seemed to determine her fate.

'Angel, demon or magician, you are still a baby. And you deserve to be loved'. With this, the midwife picked the baby up and cuddled her to her skin. She looked round furtively to make sure no one had seen all that had happened then scuttled off in the opposite direction of the palace.