The Price of a Cat's Life

Meritaten stumbled out of town, cradling the shell of her closest companion to her chest.

She didn't understand. Did not the priests teach that cats were an embodiment of the joy in life? Did they not teach that, in order to be welcomed into the hereafter, one's heart must drop all cares and worries, so one could be judged with a heart as light as a feather? Did they not also say, that animals that choose you as companion must be cherished, adored, even revered and worshipped?

Then why did her father scream and rage when Miw sauntered in? Why did he throw rocks when Meritaten gave the little thing a bit of bread and water? Why did he laugh when Meritaten found little Miw's broken body, still alive but crying softly, alongside the body of a deadly cobra that slithered into their courtyard?

And why did he froth, and scream, and throw her out of the house, when all she wanted was a proper mummified burial for such a brave warrior?

The crumpled body of the cobra she wrapped in a scrap of cloth and gave to the temple of Seth. Even though it was evident the snake meant ill to their home, snakes were still sacred. They protected the Pharoah, they were sacred to Nehebu-Kau. Their town was too small to have more than a handful of temples, so only the most important gods and goddesses were represented. That was fine, the priests insisted, the gods shared. She hoped it was true – she could not afford to disturb her violent father any further than he already was.

But little Miw? She could also not afford the natron, or the embalming services of Anubis' temple. So she took her second-best tunic, made neat strips, and gently wrapped her only friend. She didn't know how to write, but she copied some symbols with a bit of charcoal. Aten's temple looked bright and cheerful, and the symbols carved and painted on the walls looked friendly and inviting. The last marks were the eyes, ears, nose, and whiskers that she'd need in the afterlife.

And then her father found her. He roared about her using their supplies, threw his beer jar at her, and slammed her out the door. She managed to keep Miw's body with her, and only the clothing on her own body. Her father had tried to take both away, but she had fled.

Where to go?

Her father would catch her on any road leading out of town. And he would kill her, she knew.

That left only one solution, and she shuddered through her tears.

She turned towards the trackless desert.

This was Kemet, the Black Land. Black was the color of life, of abundance, the limit of arable land bordered by the chaotic desert. Things were ordered, safe, within the bounds of the lands of Osiris and Ra. The desert? Home of Seth, the master of disorder. The exact opposite of what every good citizen wished to become.

She was leaving her only known land, and entering his.

She prayed that no scorpion would find her as she stepped into the slippery shifting sands. For feet used to hard-packed mud, this was an experience she would have rather done without.

She didn't want to think about what she was leaving behind as she stepped into another world. Tears and footprints were swallowed by the vast shimmering ocean, whispering softly to itself in the wind.

Horus' last rays went out. Light faded from the world.

It was cold in the dark. The only light was behind her, in town. The darkness seemed to engulf it like a sandstorm, blotting out its existence. She gulped and forced herself forward. Light may have meant life, before, but now it only spoke death.

Strangely, the small linen body she held tightly seemed warm. It gave her enough courage to step forward.

She walked into the blackness.

Of course this would happen when Khonsu's horns were especially sharp, the beginning of the lunar month. There would be no moon for two more days. She stumbled in the rapidly cooling sands.

The warmth she held close to her chest shifted to the left, the heart side, the side of strength. All the Pharoah's statues showed him striding forward, left foot first. The hands gripped seals with Pharoah's names on them, encircled by a magic loop to keep them safe forever. Meritaten took it as an omen, the first positive one she'd felt since running, and turned in the direction of the heat.

It was so dark, she didn't notice that she was being followed by many shadows. They radiated from her body like rays from a sun now traveling in the underworld. When she did see, she stopped dead still – and they also stopped. Her breath caught.

When she moved, they moved. It took many fear-filled moments to realize the shadows were her own. As the relief swept over her, she looked up – and gasped.

Above her was a sea of sparkling lights.

Nut, the goddess of the sky, was beauty beyond words.

She stood in the faint light, drinking the glory of an infinity she had no words to describe.

She wan't cold, or terrified, or sad. She just... was. She existed in a glory beyond her comprehension.

The only thing that brought her back was a faint howl on the wind.

Jackals!

Anubis' kin were hunting!

She broke into a shuffling run, and there was a flare of heat from the wrapped bundle that she would hold on to, no matter what.

The heat led her on, even when she wanted to stop, even when the howls got steadily nearer.

There was a dark shape ahead. It grew bigger and she ran-stumbled, gasping with catching breath. The heat seemed to urge her on, to not give up, to keep trying-

The howling was very close. She could hear panting from behind, snarling, yips, growls-

The dark was right in front of her, and she didn't stop running, trusted the heat, ran straight for it.

The dark loomed above her head, and she had a moment of regret. Then a soundless, lightless flash.

There must have been a tunnel in the desert rock, because the starlight vanished, and suddenly came back brighter than ever.

She was through.

Through what?

She heard howls of disappointment from far, far away. But, couldn't they just follow her? If she could fit in the tunnel, couldn't they?

Child, creatures of the night cannot come through the barrier.

Who?

Meritaten, named for a great Queen, you are welcome here.

She looked around. Where was “here?”

It looked like an oasis. She had heard of them, pockets of life cradled in the desert sand. Where there was water, there was life, and a little patch of green would collect at an upwelling of the Mother Nile. Date palms and samwa bushes made their own soil. Black, of course. The color of life.

A Lady stood there.

Meritaten was on her knees before the whiff of sacred perfume surrounded her. She knew this was a goddess, just not which one. Perhaps it didn't matter, were they all not part of the One?

You are very close to the truth, beloved. Indeed, it does not matter which name I am called, they are all the same. Words of Power, Words of Magic, Words of Truth. Words of Life.

Meritaten felt small, and lost, clutching death to herself, but clinging to faint hope.

The goddess knelt down in front of Meritaten, and held out her arms, and let the lostling collapse and cry in the circle of her wings. Arms. Both.

When the tears stopped, they were seated on comfortable rocks in the middle of the oasis. The goddess leaned back, but held out her arms for the bundle Meritaten still held through it all. She reluctantly surrendered her burden, and the goddess accepted it with solemnity.

Little Miw, it is good you have returned. You were brave to defend your chosen person from evil, when you realized your person would not be allowed to fulfill her destiny. Come, join us again, be manifest and whole. You have performed your task excellently and well, and you have been rewarded for your faithfulness.

Meritaten watched the linen she'd so carefully wrapped around her friend crumble to dust and drop to the ground, mixing with the soil beneath their feet. The body also, following the mummy strips. What was left was a ball of silvery-blue light, which leaped from the goddess' hands, stretching and elongating as it arced. It grew legs, paws, head, ears, even whiskers, before it landed, and sauntered over to Mertaten's legs to twine and purr. She could feel the vibrations travel up to her chest, warming her inside.

“But, but, you were dead!”

And now Miw is not. Here, very little of death seeps past the veil.

The words made her think. “Am... am I dead?”

Do you feel that way?

Meritaten looked around. In the silver light, everything glowed. The trees, the grasses, even a few papyrus and lotus blooms in the pool at the oasis' heart. The flowers and samwa leaves blended their fragrances into the sacred perfume that she smelled, breathing it in like a breath of life. “I do not. I feel more alive than I have ever been. But I'm dead all the same, because I glow like the plants, Miw, and yourself. Therefore...”

The tunnel you found through solid rock does not lead to an oasis that can be found with neither camel nor driver.

Meritaten sighed. “At least it didn't hurt.”

Meritaten, a true name you have earned, you were meant to be here. You were meant to come to me forever, but not now. You were meant to have a happy childhood, with parents that loved you and cared for you. You were meant to have more companions than just little Miw, though Miw I think would disagree.

Miw looked inscrutable.

Just so. But you were meant to have more protectors, be chosen for the priesthood, be filled with knowledge, have children to pass on your wisdom, come to me here in due time. You have come far too soon, so therefore I myself will teach you what you should have learned. The knowledge of blending these plants, already sacred to our people, turning these herbs into soothing balms and ointments – it is unknown to our people. Amounts, methods, preparations. You must learn, so when others some seeking this place and its secrets, you can teach them. With tiny seedlings you will give them, they will return, and knowledge will keep illness at bay. And thus the darkness will be pushed back, farther and farther, and Kemet be stronger for it.

Meritaten perked up. She'd always wanted to learn about healing with herbs.

Things of the dark tried to take you before your time, and they almost succeeded. But you honored your friend, and your friend led you to me despite Chaos's attempts to destroy you.

Miw meowed, imperiously, and the goddess nodded.

Yes, you are correct. They should not be rewarded – and so they will not. The goddess shimmered, and seemed to split. The being that pulled away had a familiar form that Meritaten knew well from the temple carvings – Sekhmet, the terrible lioness-headed goddess of war, but also of healing.

Yes, sister-myself, those jackals and that so-called “father” of this youngling have done injustice. If not for my cub's intervention, this one would not have survived her judgement. I do not like this, and I will right the balance. Ammit will have its share of unworthy souls. Sekhmet roared, and far away, there were howls of fear. A blink, and a ball of soul light was speeding towards the tunnel to do battle in the world beyond.

Meritaten learned that one can feel overwhelmed, even in the afterlife.

We have time, little one, to learn later. I will go and attend to other things, and return to you at the proper time. There is food here, to refresh your soul. Eat, and drink, and lay back with Miw, and watch the stars. Rest your soul. Drink in eternity, bathe in it, arise refreshed, and we will take up the work in due time. Another shimmer, another soul ball winging its way to a destination.

She wondered if she'd ever learn to travel like that.

Meritaten lay back, the soft rock chair becoming a soft rock bed. The stars glimmered right above her head. She took in the enormity, her mind filling with concepts she'd never considered before. Cooking, keeping home, cleaning, brewing, dodging her father's blows, cuddling with little Miw. Far away, so far away.

And Miw was suddenly on her chest, purring. She learned that souls can be petted, and liked being scratched behind the ears.

The stars were so close, she thought she might be able to touch them. She would try later.

She was everything, and nothing.

Words came to her mind:

Engulfed in the desert's parched silence, I was nothing but another grain of sand in the wind.