Crown Of Grief

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I step through the door that leads into my father's receiving room, nodding to the guards as I pass. This is the only place in the palace where I'll go without my own bodyguard, though I have to admit that I miss Nahresi's steady presence and Cleo's soft rumbles from where the lioness normally sits beside me.

But I don't need protection from my father.

"Iset," he says, his eyes lighting up as he sees me.

I hurry over to him and give him a hug, appraising him carefully and trying to see if I notice the same tiredness in him that I have the last few times I've seen him. I think he might be overdoing it at the moment, but I can never tell him that without him thinking that I'm interfering.

And as he keeps reminding me, I'm not his co-regent yet, which means that I don't get to tell him what to do, even if he knows that I'm right about it.

"Are you well?" I ask, taking a seat opposite him at the hounds and jackals game he's set up for us to play as we talk. It's not my favourite game, but I know he loves it.

"As well as I can be when there's an empire to rule," he jokes. "You'd think that modern technology would make it easier for us to deal with things than the ancient Pharaohs."

"The empire is bigger now," I point out. "And we hear about things quicker, which means we have to deal with them." It isn't a bad thing. I like the idea that we can fix problems quickly and that we don't have to wait weeks for messengers to go back and forth.

"Hmm."

"You don't agree?" I ask.

He shrugs. "I think you see things differently because you're younger."

"Isn't that the point of the co-regent system?" I ask, picking up the throwing sticks and dropping them so I can start the game. "That way you get the wisdom teaching the younger regent, and the youth making sure the older Pharaoh stays in touch with the world around them."

He chuckles and takes his turn at the game. "I think it was probably designed to stop sons from usurping their fathers."

"Don't you worry about Ramesses protesting your choice of heir?" I don't know what makes me ask it, it's not normally something we talk about, even if it's pertinent to the situation. My half-brother may be younger, but there are plenty of people in the empire who would prefer him simply because he's male.

"Ramesses knows that the decision is mine. He's had his chance to prove that he would be a good ruler, and I haven't seen much evidence that would be the case," Father says. "You are the much better choice."

I beam with pride despite having heard him say something along those lines many times before.

"And in a few months, you'll be crowned as my co-regent," Father continues. "Just like we always planned."

I twist the ring he gifted me on my eighteenth birthday around my finger, the one that he gave me along with his promise that he would make me his heir. A part of me didn't expect him to go along with it at first, but as time passed and we spent more of it together, I think I realised that wasn't the case. He always meant every word.

And as more the years have passed, I've realised just how much I want to follow in my father's footsteps. The burden of ruling the empire is a hard one to shoulder, but that only makes me determined to do the job right. The only real issue is Ramesses and the resentment that's grown between the two of us now that he sees it as his birthright being stolen and given to me.

"You still haven't told me anything about the ceremony," I say. "What's going to happen at it?"

"There'll be a run-through the month before," Father assures me. "You have nothing to worry about."

I let out a small laugh. "You really think that'll stop me?"

"It should, you've been preparing for this your entire life, Iset. I still remember the time I walked in on you trying on my crown."

"I wanted to know if it was heavy."

Father gives me a sad smile. "Heavier than you currently know, but you'll understand soon."

"I know that being the Pharaoh isn't easy," I assure him. "I don't think I'm ready yet, but I'm going to be. I'll make sure of it."

"I know you will," he says, moving one of his jackal counters around the board. "And I know that you've been moving people into the right positions around you. How are things with your bodyguard?"

My mind flits to the man I spend most of my time with and I try my best not to blush or make it seem like there's anything going on between us, even though there isn't.

"He was a good choice," I say. "I feel very safe with him around."

"As you should," Father responds. "Sekhmet Blessed bodyguards are the best."

"I have to ask, why Sekhmet Blessed and not Maahes Blessed? Or one of the other war gods. Surely the goddess of vengeance isn't the right choice for royal bodyguards?" I move my hound piece around the board, but it's mostly automatic, I have no idea which of us is currently winning.

"It's the way things have always been done," Father responds. "I suspect the idea is that they are ruthless when their charge is threatened."

I frown. "I guess I don't feel like Nahresi is like that." It feels strange to be talking about him so casually with my father given the turn my thoughts often take when it comes to my bodyguard. But I know it would be stranger if I didn't.

"Probably because you haven't had need of his protection yet," Father responds. "Trust me, you'll see it one day, and then you'll be glad he's someone you can trust."

"I think I understand." Perhaps it's one of those things that I'll come to grow more appreciative of over time. I haven't had much to do with most of the Blessed other than the Thoth and Seshat Blessed who tutored me and my brother growing up, but I do know that the priests and priestesses the gods choose to favour are instrumental to the running of the empire, and that it's important to mind them. Perhaps even more so than the High Priests.

"You should keep a better eye on your game board," Father says, moving his last jackal into position and proclaiming his victory.

"You've had years more to practice playing than I have."

He chuckles. "That excuse won't work when someone is trying to outmanoeuvre you on the political field."

"Are you using hounds and jackals to teach me a politics lesson?"

"Everything is a politics lesson when you're the future Pharaoh, Iset." He smiles at me in a way that takes the sting out of the words.

Because I also know he's right. It's fine that I took my eye off the ball when I'm playing a board game with my father. It's not the same when I'm playing for higher stakes against competitors who want me to lose. And I need to be more careful, or I'll lose far more than I'm willing to bet.