"Ankhesenamun, your highness." The guard said with a respectful bow, a train of ladies behind him. "I apologise for the disturbance, Pharaoh has requested your presence. These women will bathe and dress you and attend to all of your needs and questions. I will wait outside your door."
Ankhesenamun was on the balcony overlooking the Nile, reclining on silk cushions on a gilded seat depicting cranes and storks among papyrus rushes. She looked at the ladies approaching her and took note of their stiffness and nervous energy.
"What is it my great Father wants?"
All three women kneeled on the floor at her feet, heads bowed.
"My lady." spoke the oldest woman, who could not have been older than thirty. "The great Pharaoh wishes to see you for an intimate meeting, to celebrate your coming of age, he asks that you are bathed, shaved, perfumed and dressed in a manner fit for the eyes of Pharaoh. In his own words, he wishes you to look more beautiful than he has ever seen. We have brought kohl, wigs, jewels and cloth to dress you."
"Very well. You may proceed."
The ladies set about undressing the young woman, unclasping the scarabs that held her linen dress together. The eldest woman unwrapped the sandals from her delicate legs as the younger girls poured warm water into a basin.
Ankhesenamun stepped into the water and lay back allowing the women to scrub her nails, comb her hair, lather her with soap and shave the soft downy hairs on her mound. She pondered to herself how cumbersome her royal attendants had become since she had turned eighteen, she was always expected to act a certain way and dress a certain way, as a woman of the royal family she had lost the freedom she enjoyed in her youth.
After her ablutions the women gently dried her with linen cloth and sat her naked onto a cushioned stool so they could begin to plait her hair.
"I desire that you dress me in my blue beaded headdress and my golden Nekhbet necklace." said Ankhesenamun to the women as they drew kohl around her eyes. "And why does Father want to see me at such short notice? Is this a special affair? Will all the nobles and priests be present? Is my Mother attending?" she bombarded them with questions, nervous to please Pharaoh.
"No, my lady. Your Mother will not be present, your Father wishes to see you alone."
Ankhesenamun sat in silence as the women worked on her hair and makeup, her mind racing, thinking what he could possibly want. She was sure she had not done anything mischievous and it did not sound as though she were being punished, but she could not figure out why she was being summoned on her own without her brother Smenkhare or any of her sisters.
"My lady we are finished. Please stand so we may dress you. Pharaoh has provided the clothes for you to wear today." said the woman as she lifted a gown of a fine white silk gauze.
Ankhesenamun nodded quietly and allowed the women to drape the fine silk over her body. The silk gown was attached at the shoulders with clasps of lapis lazuli set in gold, the fine gauze fell down her breasts and covered her front but was left open with a long split at the sides, baring her bronze legs as she moved.
As the ladies brought over a looking glass she gasped. "This gown hides nothing. My breasts are clearly visible!"
"Yes, my lady. You look beautiful. It frames your body and accentuates your breasts. Pharaoh wills it. Come now, we do not wish to make him wait."
The women went towards the door and called for the guards who promptly opened the doors and stood to attention.
Pharaoh's vizier Ramose was outside of the door, dressed in white robes, he smiled as he saw her.
"Princess you look beautiful! Perfect, perfect! He will be most pleased this day. Come my girl. He awaits in his wing of the palace. I have been tasked with escorting you."
Ramose gestured at the guards to follow behind as he strode off down the halls, the echo of his sandalled footsteps bouncing off floors of polished marble as they walked past painted walls of blue, red and gold.
It did not take long to arrive at the huge golden doors of the Pharaoh's chambers with several guards posted outside. As soon as they approached the guards knocked twice at the door THUMP THUMP
and the doors were immediately opened from the inside.
"Go ahead, my child." said Ramose with a sickly sweet smile, looking for a little too long at her breasts rather than her eyes.
Ankhesenamun looked around at the women, the guards and then Ramose, their feet firmly planted at the entrance with no sign of coming in. "Are you not coming too?"
"Just you princess." replied Ramose. The women stood at his side bowed at the princess.
Confused and nervous she turned around and stepped into the room, knowing better than to keep Pharaoh waiting. The doors quickly closed behind her with a loud thud. The princess walked forward, feeling self conscious. She looked around the room, eyes searching for Pharaoh. He was sat in the centre of an enormous room on a bed of silks and cushions, surrounded by statues of himself and paintings of himself in battle decorating the walls. Pharaoh Amenhotep looked as noble as ever, even when reclining he had presence, the way he carried himself made all around him tremble, he knew that he was a living god and made no efforts to hide it. He watched her crossing the room towards him. There were a few guards stood in the corners of the room, trying to be as still as possible, blending in with the statues.
"Welcome, welcome, my beautiful daughter, Ankhesenamun." boomed Pharaoh as he stood, his hands raised up to embrace her.
Ankhesenamun blushed and bowed her head as he took her into his arms. "Hello Father. I hope you are well. I hope my visage pleases my King, my Lord, my God, my Sun in the sky."
Pharaoh released her from his arms and cupped her face gently. "I suppose, sweet daughter, you are wondering why you have come here." He looked at her warmly. "You must know, as I have told you many stories in your girlhood, about our duty, about our royal blood, about our place among the Gods."
"Yes, Father."
He stood in front of her as he continued, "To be Pharaoh is a great burden, to be the morning and the evening star, to build heaven on earth, to rule with both force and mercy. In my blood is the blood of the Gods. No others can claim this. We rule the greatest empire the world has ever seen and my greatest burden is to keep balance, keep our empire strong for thousands of years and to carry on our royal line.
No mortal can undertake this task, daughter. No common man could sit upon this throne. We are better and wiser than all others in this world. You and I are the same, we have noble blood, and to dilute this blood is a grave injustice, and a threat to the future of our great nation. As you know I take many wives and concubines from other countries, some for pleasure, some for politics, and some as a mere distraction from my duty, but this is not love. True love can only be between equals. Do you understand?"
"I think so Father." she replied.
"A person can never love that which is beneath them. Whether that is by education, by understanding, by beauty, or by birth. True love must be between those that are equals, mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally. Which brings me to you..."
He looked at her more intently than before, she could feel his gaze burning into her and it felt different, this was not the gaze of the Father she had known since birth, the Father who had raised her and told her stories before bed, but at the same time it was. Pharaoh looked at her with the deep love of a Father, but now his gaze was also that of desire. The same look men had given her before, men at court, guards who had stolen glances, even similar to the gaze of same age cousins and childhood playmates. It made her feel warm and confused.
"Your Mother tells me how accomplished you are, you are excelling in your teachings, you are a model student, you are dutiful to the Gods, you are kind to all around you, and you are a perfect daughter to me. You make me proud every day Ankhesenamun. You are blossoming into a beautiful intelligent young woman. It has not gone unnoticed." He eyed her carefully, trying to discern her feelings.
"Thank you for your praise Father, great Pharaoh. I try so hard to please you, to uphold your name, to do my duty and to improve myself. To follow the example you set for me." she smiled up at him. "I love you, Father."
"Sit down beside me, my love, my beautiful Ankhesenamun." He lowered himself onto the white silks, pulling her down with him and cradling her to his bare chest. She leaned into him, feeling the warmth radiating from him and basking in the attention of the Pharaoh. It was such an honour to please him, the walking God.
"As your Lord, your Father, your God, your Sun in the sky, it is my duty to initiate you into womanhood. Amun Ra lives through me, and through me you must worship him, the Great Father. Think of Isis and Osiris, brother and sister, and how they birthed Horus, noble, mighty, strong Horus. Blood unions birth the mightiest most noble children, and with me this is what you must do." He whispered in her ear as he held her close, feeling her heat, hearing her soft breath, he desired her and his manhood began to stir at the thought of his beautiful virgin daughter.
"What do you mean Father?" asked Ankhesenamun, hotly aware of his hands on her shoulders, his voice in her ear, his strong arms around her making her feel safe, but also warm and tingly.
"In our society it is normal for women to take a man to bed, it is expected of them even to take a stranger to bed at least once in their life, in the name of Isis. For a princess this is not so. You are far too precious to allow a stranger to know you, your blood too pure. You are unspoiled and we cannot risk you falling into the hands of someone undeserving.
I may take you to wife to continue our noble family line, or you may marry later a man from foreign lands or from a noble Egyptian house, but to make sure you know love, to make sure you are opened by one that is deserving, it must be me, your loving Father. As your Pharaoh, your God, your Father, as Amun Ra I will show you what to do, I will show you love and pleasure." he breathed in her ear as he held her closer still, holding her tightly with one arm and using the other to snake over her breasts, rolling her nipples around in his fingers as a gasp escaped her lips.
"Father, it feels strange, I feel warm. What are you doing to me?" she moaned as she felt her Father touching her in unfamiliar ways.
