Taking Vic by the hand, Cleo gently leads him towards another of her paintings.
This one is much darker in tone; depicting a lioness with a sundisc headdress drinking what appears to be blood, with a great mass of bodies in the background.
"The inspiration for this one came from the story of Hathor and Sekhmet" she says softly, looking into Vic's eyes to try to guage his reaction.
"Do you know the story or would you like me to tell you?"
Putting his left hand beneath his chin as he scrunches up his face in contemplation, Vic finally says, "No, I'm sorry. I know I have heard it before, but I don't seem to remember."
"Please, tell me," he continues in genuine interest.
Cleo can't help but smile.
"Ok" she says breezily, then starts to explain.
"Hathor had a number of roles in Ancient Egypt. She was the daughter of Ra, and the Goddess of joy and love, dance and song. She looked after mothers and children, and also refreshed the dead during their journey to the Underworld.
According to legend, when Ra grew old, mankind began to plot against him. Upon hearing of this, Hathor took the form of Sekhmet and descended upon the Earth, slaughtering the wicked who were plotting against Ra. Her wrath went far beyond what Ra deemed necessary so in order to stop her, he drenched the battlefield in a mixture of beer and pomegranate juice. To Sekhmet, it looked like blood, so she drank and drank until she became too drunk to keep on killing, and then changed back into Hathor. In later years, people would commemorate the event by drinking the same mixture on Hathor's feast day"
Once she has finished explaining, she looks at Vic for signs of how he feels about her works, but also about her...
"A good lesson on revenge and fear. Consumed by her fear of losing her father, Hathor hardened her heart and embraced the madness. A slippery slope, to be sure, fair Cleo," says Vic with a little smile.
"Though I remember another version of the tale, now that you have jogged my memory. Would you like to hear it?"
Last edited by calamity916 on Sat Jun 28, 2008 12:37 am; edited 2 times in total
Cleo smiles up at Vic and nods her head.
"I'd love to hear another version of the tale" she says sweetly and sincerely.
"When it comes to the ancient myths and legends, the more versions you hear, the easier you can sort fact from fiction or at least find the common ground. And I'm sure you will tell it beautifully"
"Well here it goes then. Many millennia ago, during the time of the Old Kingdom, there was a great and kind pharaoh, renowned throughout the known world for being so," says Vic, pausing in his story to say, "Of course, the world at the time consisted of the area around the Nile, but why quibble, right?"
"Anyway, the Pharaoh had an equally kind and great daughter, Hatshepsut, whose beauty and skill with art were second to none. It was said that so beautiful was she that birds would fall from the sky, fish would drown in the river, and the flowers would hide their faces and blush at the sight of her.*"
"Now, as tends to happen to most people, the Pharaoh started getting on in years and there were rumors that his political enemies were plotting against him. Hatshepsut heard these rumors and warned her father. He merely said, "Do not worry, fair daughter. All is in hand."
"But each day the rumors grew worse and worse until Hatshepsut again went to her father and again he said, "Do not worry, fair daughter. All is in hand."
"But Hatshepsut was desperate and quarreled with her father, convinced that he was not taking his own safety seriously. She was scared, and fear colored her words, making them more severe than they otherwise would have been. Angry at his daughter's outburst, the Pharaoh sent her to her room, where she fled, crying. While on her bed venting her frustrations into her pillow, a snaky voice hissed to her, "Kind princess. Worried for her fatherrrr, yes? Perhaps old Seth could help, hmm?"
"It was Sethshopsot, the high priest of Thoth and one of her father's most trusted advisers."
Vic pauses and folds his arms akimbo as he says with more than a hint of amusement, "And yes, he is a big creep but as usual in such stories the heroes never realize it till it is too late. I'll skip the trite dialogue and skip ahead."
"He ends up convincing her that he has a way for her to help her father. All she needs to do is go with him, in the middle of the night, and he will call upon his god to bestow upon her the power to smite her father's enemies."
"She believes him and they arrange for her to sneak out of the palace. Once to the appointed site, Hatshepsut starts to get wise to the evil nature of the ceremony, what with the sacrilegious and evil imagery strewn about what is obviously not the temple of Thoth. The source gets a bit fuzzy on this part, saying that she was killed and drained of blood and made to drink in turn no less than 879 times. Not really sure why anyone would do this or what it was supposed to do, but suffice it to say, poor little Hatshepsut wasn't the same person anymore."
Pausing in his telling, Vic says, "You know, its pretty warm in here. How about we go outside for a bit and I'll finish the story there. Any questions so far?"
*This is a paraphrase from the book, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The original quote is "So beautiful are they that birds alight and fishes drown, the moon hides her face and the flowers blush for shame at sight of them." This is found in Chapter 44, paragraph 49.
Last edited by calamity916 on Sat Jun 28, 2008 12:40 am; edited 2 times in total
Cleo listens intently to Vic's story, nodding thoughtfully at regular intervals and grinning at his additional comments.
The story is obviously fascinating to her, and her eyes shine with thirsty intelligence and curiosity.
"I'll save my questions for at the end" she murmers, "I'd rather see which ones are answered in the story than ruin it too early"
A smile plays across her lips, one that could almost be described as hungry.
"I'd love to slip outside with you" she added, her tone ever so slightly suggestive.
"This way then," says Vic, offering his arm to Cleo. He leads her through the crowd and towards two glass double doors. Grabbing both handles, Vic pushes down and out, leading the way outside.
Some time during the party a cool breeze picked up, blowing out the smell of the city and replacing it with the smell of the sea; it is a welcome change from the sweltering heat of the day.
Inhaling a big whiff, Vic smiles and says, "Much better. I love the smell of this city. My city. Nothing quite like it."
Leaning over the wrought iron railing Vic watches the sights and sounds of a never sleeping city letting some time pass before launching into the story again.
"When the servants of the princess went to wake her the next morning it was discovered that Hatshepsut had not slept in her bed the night before. A thorough search was done throughout the palace, but no sign could be found of the Pharaoh's precious daughter. The Pharaoh himself took to grief and worry, ignoring the affairs of state to focus on the search but all to no avail."
"Months passed, and the palace was struck by a wave of missing persons, each one found later, mangled and completely without blood. The only clue was one phrase written on each victim: "Death to the enemies of the Pharaoh!"
"But the attacker was mistaken. For only the truly loyal were targets of the attacks and the Pharaoh's ability to govern was diminished with each grisly murder. With the fate of the kingdom hanging in the balance, the Pharaoh abandoned his grief and called to him his loyal captain, Amon, head of his personal guard."
"The Pharaoh charged Amon with the task of finding his daughter and bringing the murderer to justice. To this end, he called together his most trusted men and set a trap for the murderer. Gathering up the last of the Pharaoh's most loyal ministers, Amon had them throw a gathering and let it be known that a secret meeting was taking place."
"As expected, the murderer did show up on the appointed night, killing a few of the ministers and then a good half of Amon's men before finally being restrained. Even tied up, it snarled and fought, a small humanoid clothed from head to toe in black. Pulling the mask from the feral creature, all were shocked to find that it was none other than the Princess Hatshepsut!"
Pausing in the telling, Vic says with more than a bit of mischief, "I bet you didn't see that coming, eh?"
Cleo smiles as she lets Vic escort her outside.
"I love this city too" she murmurs.
"So, where were we?"
As he continues the tale, Cleo listens with growing fascination, finding herself almost mesmerised by Vic and the story that he weaves.
"Wow" she gasps when he pauses.
"A vampire. I didn't know they had vampire stories in Ancient Egypt. So what happens to her?"
"Oh yes. Its not too terribly difficult to dig up the odd tale or two about the supernatural, especially if one knows where to look," laughs Vic, "Though that is another story for another time. Best to finish this one first."
"Now, as you can imagine, this was a most unexpected turn of events, at least at the time. Poor Captain Amon was most taken aback you see. This bloodsucking fiend was a far cry from the kind and beautiful girl that he had grown up with."
"Walking up to her and kneeling, Amon looked her in the eyes and said, "Princess Hatshepsut, its me, Amon. Do you recognize me?"
"Continuing to struggle against her binding, Hatshepsut said, "All enemies of the Pharaoh must die. Let me free and embrace eternity!"
"Hatshepsut, am I an enemy of the Pharaoh then? Me? Amon? Captain of the Pharaoh's personal guard, just as my father, and his father before him? The Amon that used to play at war with you in the garden when we were young?"
"Losing some of her fight, Hatshepsut replied, "Amon, no. You are my father's trusted guard. Look Amon, I have the power to protect my father now. To protect you all! Let me free so that I may finish my work!"
"Shaking his head, Amon said, "No, Princess. You have not killed your father's enemies or protected anyone. Only murdered those most loyal to him. Who made you this way? Who made you into a weapon against your father?"
"Looking into Amon's eyes and seeing her own image reflected back, Hatshepsut screamed in denial of the evil she had done and fainted dead away."
"Waking some time later in her own bed, she found that she had been stripped of her black clothing and was more than a little surprised that she was no longer bound."
"No need to worry, your free."
"Surprised, Hatshepsut jumped to her feet and took up a defensive position. Until she realized it was her father that had spoken. He was seated in a chair in the corner, with Amon standing next to him, ready to shield his lord should she decide to attack."
"Father! I'm so glad to see you!" she yelled in joy and ran to him to give him a hug. Moving quickly, Amon tackled her, bringing her to the ground.
"Amon, what are you doing? Let her up," ordered the Pharaoh, full of rage.
With this rebuke, Amon quickly removed himself from atop the princess and after a moment, helped the princess up as well.
"I am sorry, Great Pharaoh," said a chastised Amon, "I thought she meant to attack you and only acted with your best interests at heart."
"Acting in my best interest is what got us to this point in the first place. Now both of you take a seat and listen to what I have to say!"
Taken aback by the fury of the normally kind and patient man, the two pulled up chairs and sat. They were careful to not look at each other for fear of more wrathful yelling.
"Now first, I am happy to have you back Hatshepsut. I have done nothing but worry about you since you went missing, to the point that the governing of the world holds no interest for me. But this is a fine mess that you have created. If you had trusted me to know my kingdom, you would still be human and we wouldn't be in this vulnerable position."
"Turning to Amon, the Pharaoh continued, "And secondly, you have done an excellent job of keeping me safe and following my orders. Your work in apprehending my daughter was nothing short of superb. But I will not tolerate this mistrust of my daughter."
"For your foolishness, daughter, you have forever lost the right to walk in the light of Ra. Therefore you will never sit upon this throne or rule over Egypt. Instead, you will protect this land from the shadows for all time. And Amon with you."
"Now I won't say there wasn't some argument about who was in charge and if they would even do it, but it came down to one simple thing: they both loved the Pharaoh and would never really refuse an order from him. So in the end, they both agreed and a new force for good was born in Ancient Egypt. Not that things instantly got better of course, but now at least they were being actively opposed. However, that is a story for another time."
His story finished, Vic looks back into the party and turns back to Cleo saying, "Looks like I talked your ear off. The party looks like it is over."
Cleo smiles up at Vic, not even remotely bothered that the party has finished of moved on.
"You won't get any complaints from me" she says coquettishly,
"I'd much rather have been out here trading stories with you than in there trying to impress the snobs who think they can decide my future. Now then, my dear Vic. Where should we go next?"
"Well, I was thinking that the night is still young and that it would be a shame of the worst sort for two new friends to part ways after hitting it off so splendidly. The only remedy, of course, is for you to accompany me home where I will subject you to the best fun and delights that I can afford," says Vic in a playful, but serious tone, "Just imagine: Dim lights, some music, a bit of wine, dancing in the moonlight." He playfully dances forward a bit in an attempt to make Cleo laugh.
Cleo flashes a very excited smile at Vic.
She is very much imagining all that he describes and more besides. By now it should be blindingly obvious that she wants him very badly.
"I thought you'd never ask" she says softly, grinning at his antics.
She then offers him her arm.
"I'd be delighted to accompany you, Vic"
All times are GMT - 4 Hours Goto page Previous1, 2
Page 2 of 2
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
