The Sacred Beast Pond that the nobles always mentioned with a look of fear was actually not that terrifying.
It was essentially an enclosed lake behind the palace complex’s rear mountains, with a small island at its very center. A wooden plank path, swaying faintly on the water’s surface, served as the road leading to the island.
The island housed the exotic animals brought back by merchant caravans from various countries, as well as the rare birds and strange beasts presented to the Red King by Lower Egypt and the other nineteen nomes during the grand ceremonies held each year in the capital city.
Egrets and flamingos stood elegantly at the lake’s edge, sometimes lifting their slender legs to walk, sometimes bending their necks to probe the water. When the master of this Sacred Beast Pond arrived with his Ankh Ir, the commotion brought by the large crowd following them startled these resting birds into flight. They flew lightly into the distance, seeking tranquility on the other side of the lake.
From afar, Xin Hexue could see the nose of a giraffe protruding from the lush, overgrown island. It chewed leaves from the high branches, its spotted and grid-patterned fur very conspicuous. People around called it the “camel with leopard print,” and the other two animals referenced in this name could also be found on this island.
Leopards, camels, antelopes, zebras, hippos, lions…
And the “puppies” in the marshland.
Xin Hexue glanced at the pair of small, slightly bulging eyes peeping above the water. As it climbed out, its armor-like scales were also exposed to the sunlight.
No wonder those nobles kept a respectful distance from the Sacred Beast Pond and wore expressions of fear and anxiety when mentioning it.
Suddenly, he raised his hand and pointed towards the far shore of the lake behind the island. “What is that over there?”
The land on the far shore of the lake was black. This wasn’t strange; even in Upper Egypt, the land silted up on both banks of the Nile was fertile black soil.
The strange thing was the large expanse of deep purple plants on the opposite shore, resembling both flowers and grass, swaying in whole patches in the north wind.
Xin Hexue had never seen such plants before. On the distant far shore, small paths were patrolled by several soldiers, the cold glint of their spears shining brightly.
“It’s just a medicinal herb field,” Shamule said flatly.
If it was a medicinal herb field, why station so many soldiers to guard it?
Xin Hexue turned his head and met Shamule’s eyes. The purple within his eyes was deep and somber, matching the vast expanse of purple across the lake.
Although Shamule and Rahotep were twin brothers, the depth of their eye color was different.
Xin Hexue paused for a moment as this thought flashed through his mind, and this also caused him to miss the opportunity to ask further questions.
“Uraeus!”
Shamule whistled towards the island.
“Hiss, hiss…”
Uraeus slithered swiftly along the plank path from the island. For some reason, it now had a large banana leaf balanced on its head. When the banana leaf slipped from its cobra hood, it stopped, hissed, and stubbornly slithered down under the leaf before rising again with the leaf on top of its head. The shadow of the leaf seemed enough to obscure its vision. “Hiss…”
Before it could get close to Xin Hexue, Shamule stood between them and explained to Xin Hexue, “Uraeus’s venom has been cleaned out by people.”
The servants who attended these sacred beasts regularly had Uraeus inject its venom into half-dead mice before feeding time.
Shamule: “There’s no need to worry it will harm anyone, otherwise I will have all its fangs pulled out.”
Uraeus retracted its cobra hood back, burying it under the leaf, not even daring to flick its tongue out anymore.
Making ferocious animals kneel submissively when people approach is probably the ambition of every mortal king. It’s proof of their own power, showing they are capable of making even uncivilized beasts submit.
But at this moment, Shamule felt that all the rare and exotic animals he had acquired through hunting or received as tribute from others had lost their appeal. The surface of the Sacred Beast Pond’s lake also seemed calm and uninteresting, bland and tasteless. All because the young man by his side had not given him any special response.
What would it take to receive Ankh Ir’s willing smile?
Shamule’s brows furrowed. “You don’t like any of this?”
Looking across the world, even in the palace of the Hittite Empire, there wouldn’t be a sacred beast garden of this scale.
Xin Hexue shot him a glance, his response indifferent. “Whatever Your Majesty likes is good.”
Exotic animals were just something to look at. After half a day, all he had seen was still a “peacock displaying its tail”.
Xin Hexue deliberately left the other party hanging with this cold shoulder.
It was as if the intense kiss on the throne a few days ago, and the intimate name spilled from the lips, was just another of Shamule’s delusions.
Shamule’s gaze fixed on Xin Hexue was so intense it seemed sparks would fly out.
Just what did he have to do?
Everything he possessed, everything he offered up, even his very self, seemed unworthy of the Divine Envoy’s notice.
After a long moment, he took Xin Hexue’s wrist and forcefully led him away in another direction.
He walked ahead with large steps. Xin Hexue followed behind him, but stumbled slightly because his white robe was inconvenient for moving quickly. “Your Majesty, where are we going?”
The next moment, Shamule simply scooped him up horizontally into his arms, his powerful arms passing under his knees. He weighed him slightly and scoffed, “So light.”
He asked Xin Hexue, “Would you like to see something lively?”
“What?”
Xin Hexue had already grown accustomed to the temperamental Red King’s occasional bouts of madness. He instinctively pulled on the hood of his robe, letting the edge of the fabric shield his light-sensitive skin.
The attending servants around them also routinely lowered their gazes.
Shamule: “To watch Houwen hunt a lion pride.”
He paused mid-step, determined to make a move to please the Divine Envoy. He turned his head and said to a servant, “Fetch Tisis. He’s about to start learning how to hunt. Let him first see how his good uncle does it.”
The incidents of lions attacking commoners the Vizier described mostly occurred near the southeastern border of Buto. The river network of the Nile Delta was dense; just crossing one more river would bring one to Sais.
This was Xin Hexue’s first time leaving the palace since being abducted to Buto.
The golden sun scorched the earth. Wetlands and grasslands were intersected with rivers. Palm fronds rustled. Large groves of papyrus and reeds growing along the riverbank were swept by the wind from one side to the other, emitting a fine, rustling sound.
Normally, this would be a peaceful afternoon, but now it was anything but.
A lion, shot by ambushing soldiers, let out a heavy roar that shook the stones on the distant gravel plain loose. This signal instantly transformed the area into a hunting ground rich with water and grass!
The shot lion scrambled out of the ambush zone, its blood dripping onto the sparse, barren grass. It finally rejoined its pride, and the other lions covered its rear. Their breaths were heavy, the muscles taut under golden fur, and they faced the soldiers clad in leather armor.
The leading male lion slowly lowered its body, its tail sweeping the ground. Its alert gaze and posture signaled it was ready to counterattack at any moment.
And the leader of the enemy force it faced was none other than Huowen.
The tall, brave, and mighty general, with his well-developed muscles and sturdy limbs, raised his iron sword high. “Horus protects!”
Dust rose into the air.
The river rippled gently beneath the Pharaoh’s solar boat.
Shamule seemed to be enjoying this scene of chaos mixed with blood and dust as if it were song and dance. The battle fervor in his chest was also ignited, and the sword at his waist seemed to hum and vibrate.
Xin Hexue felt his hot breath and lifted his eyelashes. “Are you planning to set an example for Tisis?”
Tisis was on the other end of the boat. His tutor was teaching him how to nock an arrow properly and draw the bow.
Shamule snorted. “He’s still wet behind the ears, what can he even learn?” He was extremely dissatisfied with Tisis’s behavior of constantly running to the Meret Palace.
Shamule locked eyes with Xin Hexue. “That lion king’s fur would make a fine carpet for your palace. If I behead it, what reward will you give me?”
Xin Hexue was draped in his white robe; only his jawline and lips were clearly visible.
Shamule stared at the pink lips, and his mouth felt thirsty. Not hearing Xin Hexue’s answer, he continued on his own, “Then just call out my name once.”
The Red King’s gaze was intense.
Just like that day, if he called him Shamule again, would it then be reasonable to plunder those lips?
Shamule said, “Wait here. Don’t run off.”
Bursting with fighting spirit, in just the blink of an eye, his agile figure leaped down from the solar boat. Like a white streak in the waves, he reached the hunting grounds on the opposite shore after a few surges.
………
The man had an endless supply of energy, day after day.
Xin Hexue gathered his white robe and looked across the shore, as if watching a large dog unleashed and running wild.
Large clouds drifted over from the distant horizon, blocking the sun’s golden rays. The green of the sparse, barren grassland deepened.
Suddenly, relying on a feline’s keen intuition, Xin Hexue glanced out of the corner of his eye towards a date palm grove on the other side.
The water’s surface reflected a glint of cold light from within the date palm grove.
Instinct had already determined the optimal solution. Xin Hexue plunged directly into the river water.
The arrow only grazed the hem of his robe high in the air.
Water splashed wildly in all directions!
Then water rushed at him from all sides.
The exclamations from the boat, the lion roars from the shore, the shouts from the plain….
After being separated by the heavy river water, they all became muffled and hazy, and only the gurgle of the water was clear.
Xin Hexue knew how to swim, but as he fell into the water, he hit something, and his limbs went numb.
A golden light shot out again from behind the thick clouds.
Splash!
Xin Hexue could barely open his eyes. Through the slits, he saw Shamule swimming hard towards him through the waves and sunlight, his face distorted with anger.
‘He doesn’t think I fell in because I was trying to escape, does he?!’
Xin Hexue gurgled out air bubbles.
……
Wet, heavy, sticky.
This was the state of the white robe after being soaked through by the river water.
Striding swiftly, each step heavy with fury, Shamule carried him through the palace, water droplets falling onto the carpet.
Xin Hexue’s long robe was pulled from his waist, rolled up, and discarded casually onto the floor like a soggy, crumpled piece of papyrus.
White, glistening skin with droplets of water was exposed to the air.
“Shamule!”
“Calm down!”
“I told you,I wasn’t trying to escape!”
Shamule remained silent, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Xin Hexue was tossed into the innermost part of the bed, landing heavily on the down-filled cushions.
He was then dragged closer by his ankle. The Red King grabbed his slender, narrow back and flipped him over.
He took the opportunity to kick Shamule. “Let go!”
The fury finally brought color to the pale Divine Envoy’s face, no longer a perfect, unblemished alabaster statue, as if he had stepped firmly into the mortal world.
A faint pink covered his jade-like face, and drops of water still pooled in the hollow of his collarbone.
Shamule’s gaze only paused for a moment on the two points on his chest before he fiercely climbed onto the bed.
The last thin piece of cloth covering the Divine Envoy’s body was tossed out from behind the bed curtains, landing lightly on the floor.
Shamule’s gaze seemed to become tangible, and it went straight between the legs with a burning temperature.
Xin Hexue searched for something to attack the other party with. “Shamule!”
“Open your legs,” Shamule said in a deep voice.
Xin Hexue’s hand covering his eyes curled tightly.
A hand suddenly reached out, and the trembling knees that were pressed together were forced apart.
A jar smashed heavily into Shamule!
It struck his forehead heavily, and blood flowed down.
Shamule’s eyes flashed with anger. He leaned down, applying cold, clammy ointment to the inner thigh, and said viciously, “What are you making a fuss about?! Don’t you know you’re injured?”
It was true. After falling into the water, he seemed to hit something. A trail of blood, diluted by water, meandered down between his legs, and the source of the wound was on his thigh.
Xin Hexue paused. “I thought you…”
He thought the endpoint of forced seizing and plundering was finally one step away…
The blood from his forehead had already dripped onto his jawline, and Shamule came to his senses. “What did you hit me with?”
Not far away on the ground lay the ointment the maid had previously given to Xin Hexue.
The jar of ointment meant to prevent injury in bed.
Shamule’s Adam’s apple rolled.
He looked back at Xin Hexue, his eyes burning.
The Divine Envoy lay amidst the gold, jade, and red silk sheets, his fair body displayed, like a forcibly peeled, gorgeous flower.
