Chapter 9: War Thebes, Egypt 1324 BC

Alexandria

A month later I was laying in my bed watching the sunrise, I hadn't been able to sleep all night because the previous day, Tutankhamun had informed Ankhesenamun and me that he was going to war with the Hittites. I heard my bedchamber doors whisper open, and then shut again, and I felt someone sit next to me "Alexandria, are you up yet?" I heard Ankhesenamun whisper

"Yeah" I whispered back as I turned to her

"I have an idea"

"What is it?"

"I think that we should shave our heads and disguise ourselves as men so that we can join our husband in war"

"What, are you crazy?" I whispered loudly as I turned to her "We can't go to war"

"I know, but I feel that if we don't go, Tutankhamun will get horribly wounded or die, or worse" she gulped.

"I'll think about it, give me until tonight"

"Thank you" she said and left. When I joined her and Tutankhamun for breakfast later that morning I saw my husband talking with a war general, which made my stomach turn inside out

"Alexandria, come sit with us" Tutankhamun called to me and I went to him. When I sat down he took my hand and asked "Is all well my love?"

"Yes, all is well" I replied, avoiding his dark gaze

"Good, now I would like to introduce you to general Nakhtim, he will be helping me lead the army" I nodded my gratitude, but my stomach was still churning.

That night when Ankhesenamun came to ask if I would join her in her little scheme, so I told her "I feel too worried about our dearest love, since he could die in battle, and it's our duty to save our Pharaoh from the clutches of Anubis and Osiris"

"Good, now come we must prepare quickly for Tutankhamun leaves at dawn" so the two of us scurried off to her chambers to get ready for battle. "First we must shave our heads" Ankhesenamun said once we'd gotten comfortable

"Are you sure?" I whispered as I clutched my long hair

"Yes because it would be clear that we're women if we have long hair" So I obliged in shaving off my pretty hair, but if was for a good reason. Soon Ankhesenamun and I were ready, except for our names and excuses for being so late to joining Tutankhamun's armies

"Now we must think of good names for ourselves. I think mine will be Adeben" she offered

"That's a strong name, and I believe mine will be Jabari"

"That's a strong name for you as well. Now we must think of a reason for arriving on such short notice"

"We can be two friends from a small Egyptian town, wanting to help the Royal Army in killing those nasty Hittites scum"

"Hmm, I think that just might work" she smiled "We must rest night. One of my hand maidens will wake us before Tutankhamun leaves" so we slept soundly through what we had left of the night.

Tutankhamun

Dawn, I'm sitting in front of my boat watching as the Royal Army assemble before me when Nakhtim came over and whispered into my ear "My lord there are two Egyptian warriors riding towards us"

"When will they arrive?" I asked

"In a few moments my lord" When the two riders were finally in front of me I asked them

"Tell me your names and reasons as to why you're late?" the young men if front of me were around my age. One was older and slightly taller than the other. They both wore Egyptian armor with hoods covering their heads and a cloth covering their mouths and noses.

"Adeben my lord and this is my loyal companion Jabari" the older replied as they bowed

"And the reason as to why you two came unannounced and so late?" I repeated my last question

"We were hoping to join the Royal Army in helping destroy the Hittite scum that destroyed our village" Jabari replied, I saw how squirmy he was

"And what village did you live in?"

"It was a very, very small delta village, barely anyone has heard of it my lord" his companion replied

"I see, well you two are welcome aboard the ships, there is plenty of food, shelter and weaponry for the both of you" I nodded and the bowed again. Once everyone was boarded on the boats and we'd set off I summoned Jabari and Adeben. I knew their little secret.

"My lord" Adeben said once they'd entered

"Close the door" Jabari did so

"What in the name of Amun are you two doing here?" I asked

"My lord" he asked

"I know who you are. Alexandria and Ankhesenamun" I saw the guilt fill their eyes as they removed their masks

"How long have you known?" Ankhesenamun asked

"I had my suspicions when I saw two of my finest horses riding towards me"

"But anyone could've stolen them" she smiled sweetly

"But I wasn't positive; until you two were closer and I saw your eyes" Alexandria started trembling "Now please explain yourselves" Alexandria shook some more till, after a minute of silence she confessed

"Please my lord, we just wanted to save you from the clutches of Anubis and Osiris" she whimpered as she collapsed to her knees and held onto my knees, with tears in her eyes

"Is this true Ankhesenamun?"

"Yes" she whimpered as she did the same as her companion. It was then that I noticed that they were still wearing their hoods

"Remove you hoods" I ordered and they did, revealing their shaved heads "By the Gods, what have you two done?" I asked

"We fell in love with you" Ankhesenamun replied as I knelt down and held them closely, and found that Alexandria was still shivering.

"I guess that it's too late to turn back to Thebes, so I'll drop you two off at the next town that I think is a good distance from the fight so that you two won't get hurt" I whispered

"But" Alexandria gasped as she grabbed my hand like a new born baby would grab mother's finger

"No buts Alexandria, I appreciate your concern for me, but the twins and I just can't have either of you killed" I said as I kissed their bald heads tenderly.

Ankhesenamun

"Great, now we're stranded here till our husband returns dead or worse" Alexandria pouted as we watched Tutankhamun's barge float away

"Don't worry my friend, this was all part of the major plan" I reassured her

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've been getting soldiers from Nubia and Egypt that hadn't gone with Tutankhamun and his barge"

"How many troops did you get?"

"Let's see, so 20,000 from Nubia and another 20,000 from Egypt, so over all 40,000 reinforcements"

"When do we leave?"

"Right after dinner" I smiled. When we finished dinner and had set off, the wind pushed our army towards our goal, almost as if the Gods themselves wanted us to save our young Pharaoh. When we arrived at the battle field near the city of Megiddo, we hid ourselves in the hills near the impending battle. The plan was we were going to wait and surprise attack the enemy and hopefully help win the battle.

A few days later, after impatiently waiting we heard a distant war horn cutting through the still air "It's time" I whispered to Alexandria

"When will we attack?" she whispered back

"When they least expect our reinforcements" I replied.

"You act as if you've done this before"

"I wish, this is as new to me as it is to you" I chuckled. So we patiently waited and watched as the Hittite army descended on Tutankhamun's and attacked.

"Look, there's Nakhtim's part of the army" Alexandria pointed over to were another part of the army descended from the hills, but my eyes were only watching as Tutankhamun's blue war crown weaved its way through the mass of bodies.

"I think that we should attack now" Alexandria urged after about an hour of watching the two armies attacking each other

"Yes, I think we're needed right about now" I replied and gave the signal for the 40,000 soldiers to attack "For Egypt!" I called and they repeated and descended from the hills with a loud war cry.

Tutankhamun

We were on the brink of losing the war with the Hittites. My army had to fight just to keep its self alive instead of trying to win. Suddenly there was a loud war cry coming from the hills behind us, and I prayed to the Gods that it wasn't more Hittite warriors. "My lord Adeben and Jabari are leading an army of reinforcements!" Nakhtim yelled and just like that, the tables were turned and we found it easier to fight. After about half an hour of fighting I heard a thud behind me, and turned to see a Hittite solider fall with two arrows in his back. When I looked up I saw Alexandria and Ankhesenamun who nodded and turned back to fighting. I saw that they fought like 3 times her own strength, and I smiled as I too turned back to the fighting.

Later that night, after the town of Megiddo had been raided, everyone sat around various campfires. Ankhesenamun and Alexandria were standing with some of the troops that they'd brought in, and Alexandria was telling a story. I then decided to browse the other campfires; some had women and girls of all ages sitting with the men. They all seemed to be happy to be free of Hittite rule. I saw a young woman staring at me with large brown eyes. I knew that she was from Megiddo because Alexandria and Ankhesenamun were the only women that had come with me on the war campaign. I looked around the fire that she was sitting near and saw that she was going by unnoticed while she stared at me. I looked back at the two women that I owed my life's blood to. They were now dancing around arm in arm, in endless circles, and they were singing in high pitch voices making me laugh. Several of the soldiers were walking over to watch them dance like merry children and clapping them on while music played. When they were finished everyone clapped and whistled as the two women in disguise bowed low. Once the clapping was over they sat back down to listen to the other men tell war stories, and my eyes eventually drifted back to the woman who'd moved closer. She saw me looking at her and smiled as she stood. Ankhesenamun saw this and whispered to her companion, who in turn looked over at the woman, and I saw the anger in their eyes. So they politely excused themselves from their group and walked over to the woman. Ankhesenamun taped on the woman's shoulder who turned around, only to be slapped in the face and yelled at, "How dare you go to our Pharaoh" Ankhesenamun yelled in her male voice since, that of course, no one knew that her and Alexandria were women.

"I can do as I wish" the woman called back so that all could hear

"No you foolish woman, because we are Pharaoh's wives, and you are but a common low live who doesn't deserve to be in our presence" Ankhesenamun yelled as they pulled off their disguises. Gasps and whispers could be heard throughout the camp, and the woman angrily stalked off. I stood, and all attention turned to me

"My ladies, please come here" I motioned them over and they came over and bowed

"You summoned us my lord?" they said in unison

"Yes, I would like to speak with you in my tent please" I said as I silently walked to my tent, and I felt them silently follow. Once inside I turned around and said "Listen, just because you two saved my life doesn't mean that you can keep me to yourselves" I was about to continue when Alexandria stopped me

"I would have to stop you there my love"

"Alexandria, why do you interrupt me while I speak?" I asked

"Because Ankhesenamun and I were about to reward you for such bravery today, and besides, we do have the honor of having you to ourselves because you are our husband, and we are your wives" she giggled.

"Is that right? Well then" I was interrupted again when Alexandria hungrily kissed me as she and Ankhesenamun pushed me onto the bed.

The next morning I was lightly shaken awake by Nakhtim "What is it?" I asked, still a little dazed about the previous night

"The army is ready to depart for Thebes my lord"

"What time is it?"

"It's almost mid day sir"

"What! Why didn't anyone wake me earlier?" I yelled as I got ready and rushed outside.

"Well, Ankhesenamun and Alexandria told us to let you sleep, and they handled just fine." I saw that he was right, everyone was ready to depart, and my tent had been torn down and a makeshift tent had been erected

"Were are the ladies?" I asked

"Somewhere over there my lord" Nakhtim pointed over to the hills that the reinforcements had descended from the previous day. So I walked over and saw them laying down one a grassy hill talking. Curious, I walked over a little ways to see what they were talking about.

"I know, but I feel that he's not spending enough time with you" Alexandria sighed

"Alexandria listen, Tutankhamun has spent the last 18 years of his life with me, so I'm totally fine that he's spending some much time with you" Ankhesenamun replied

"Really"

"Yes really" she laughed.

"What are you two talking about?" I asked as I walked from my hiding spot

"Its girl talk" Alexandria replied as she and Ankhesenamun stood

"Well everyone's ready to leave" I said as I took their hands in mine and led them back to camp. A few hours later we were heading back to Thebes "So my ladies, what would you like to talk about?" I asked trying to put an end to the silence that had been following us since we left Megiddo

"I'm pregnant" Ankhesenamun replied

"You are, that's wonderful" Alexandria said happily as she hugged her best friend

"Yes it is, I think we should celebrate when we return home" I smiled.