Neith

The Funeral and a Secret

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.

- Margaret Mead

Neith's Pov

"How are you holding up," Ammon asked, taking a seat beside me. We had just finished the burial ceremony. Many people had gathered here today but I hardly knew any of them. They gave their condolences, saying what a wonderful man my dad was and his death was very unfortunate.

It didn't make me feel any better hearing those words, in fact it made it worse. It just made the fact that my father was gone even more real.

I looked at Ammon. He looked like he would break and fall apart any minute. Everyone thinks it's the little kids who need the most attention and care but in reality the older one's that suffer more. They bottle up the emotions they feel and act as if they are alright. Ammon was doing exactly that and it pained me to see him in such a state.

"I'm fine. What about you?" I asked, taking his hands in mine. Even though it was a fairly pleasant day, his palms were very cold. Looking up at him I could see his cheeks were sucked in. The dark circles under his eyes indicated he hardly slept the last couple of weeks. I was worried. We had no one other than each other now and I was afraid that I might lose Ammon too.

''I'm fine," was all he said. We sat silently for what seemed like a long time. The silence was comforting. I preferred this to having any sort of conversation.

After a while Ammon got up to leave. He was summoned by the Pharaoh or so he said. I personally felt like he was over working to keep himself busy. To keep the pain from getting to him.

But some thing bothered me. I felt like Ammon was hiding something. He didn't talk very much recently and whenever I asked him about any detail of father's death he would briefly tell me before changing the topic.

It was probably because he didn't want to talk about it but deep down I felt like something wasn't right. I didn't get to see father's body before the embalming ritual. Perhaps something else happened to father. Somehow I couldn't bring myself to believe father had a heart problem.

I got up after a while of contemplating what to do, I decided to ask Ammon one more time about father's death. If I still feel like he is hiding something, then I have no other choice but to try and figure what really happened.

Anka was sitting alone, looking worried. Its probably cause she didn't quite know what to say or do. I smiled a little. She was a good friend, a little annoying at times but I knew she would always be there for me when it mattered the most. I slowly made my way towards her.

*****************

I was sitting by the fire, warming myself and completely lost in the dancing flames that I didn't hear the door open.

"Is the fire telling you a good story?" I heard Ammon say before ripping my eyes from the flames to meet his face.

"Oh... um... no, I mean it was just so mesmerizing watching how the flames danced around. Why are you back so late?" I asked, getting up so I could serve him dinner.

"Sorry, I was a bit busy with work. What's for dinner?" he asked making his way towards the fire. He bent down and held out his palms. He closed his eyes and looked like he was enjoying the warmth the fire emitted. It had been a while since I saw him look that peaceful.

"Honey combs, goat meat, bread and some milk." I said, moving towards the kitchen.

"Sounds good," Ammon said, sitting down by the fire.

We ate in silence again. After father died we didn't talk much. I don't know why but I guess we couldn't really talk like we used to. Memories of us three sitting by the fire and eating while father made lame jokes came to mind. Those memories seemed ancient, like they were years old.

I shook my head to get rid of them. Those happy moments were now too sad to remember. I would just end up crying all over again which is not what I needed right now. I guess we both still needed some time before we could start having normal conversations again.

After I finished eating and tidied up, I headed towards Ammon's room. Slightly nervous, I opened the wooden door.

The slight creak it made didn't seem to distract Ammon from a manuscript he was reading.

"Um... Are you busy brother?" I asked moving towards the desk he was sitting on.

"Neith? What are you doing here? When did you come in?" Ammon asked looking at me with a deep frown before it softened a little.

"Just now. I wanted to ask you something so..." I trailed off.

"Sure, what is it?" he asked, keeping down the manuscript.

"It's about father, I feel like you're not telling me something," I said softly, fiddling with my fingers.

Ammon sighed. ''I'm not hiding anything from you. It's like I told you before, he passed away because of his heart problem," he said picking up the manuscript again indicating the end of the conversation.

"But..." I started before being cut off.

"No more but's. You're just imagining things. Don't trouble me now I have a lot of work that I need to get done," Ammon said coldly.

"Fine! If that's how you are going to be than I'll leave," I semi yelled and stormed out of the room, slamming the door in the process. Why was he so cold towards me? I know he is busy but he didn't have to cut me off like that. Is it wrong to be curious or to ask the same question over and over again?

One thing was for sure. I was going to find out what happened to father exactly. I felt something about his death was strange. Besides father always told me to trust my gut because it was always right.

Little did I know just how bad this would turn out for me.