Escape from Paradise

Clapping for a servant, Isis ordered the girl to pack her belongings and gather enough help to carry her litter to the quay. She would leave Avaris at once, and would even leave Dracus behind if he dallied at those funerals. The girl paused. “Did you want me to notify Sarena and Ahmose, or send a message to Pharaoh?” Isis shook her head, flinging her hand in dismissal. “I came unannounced, and I’ll leave unannounced. No sense prolonging the event.” She grimaced. “Besides, Ahmose doesn’t go anywhere without that stupid cat. And I --” She started to sneeze at the very thought, reaching for a linen cloth and soundly blowing her nose. Isis put a hand to her forehead as if feeling faint. “This whole experience has been so dreadful I don’t know how I even survived.” She sniffed, dabbing her red nose and straightening her posture. “But I have survived, the gods be praised for that scant blessing.” She called for another maid who reapplied her makeup while the servant continued to pack. By noon Isis was dressed and prepared for her journey south to Thebes. Without so much as a backward glance, she stepped into her litter and closed the curtain, carried aloft by four strong servants up the avenue through the crowds of mourners and toward the quay. She would leave by ship at once and make a speedy exit from this place of death. If Dracus missed his opportunity, so be it. She straightened her collar and smoothed the pleats of her robe, ignoring the piteous cries of those who had thrown ashes on their heads and torn their clothes in lament. She could hardly wait to be away from the din and dirge of this city, the suffocating smell of death and sounds of mourning. She would see far better days in Thebes than she could ever know here. The sun shone above her in a clear sky as if defying her opinion of the place. Though broken tree limbs still clung to mangled trees after the hail, flowers had since burst into bloom along the roadside, and in the fields the wheat and rye were nearly ready for harvest. The world seemed almost at peace again, and Isis might have experienced a twinge of regret at leaving had not the memories of these past weeks left their imprints of horror. Even the heat and barrenness of Thebes would be welcomed after what she had endured in the Delta. She sighed, opening the curtain and scanning the highway south of the city which was still filled with an unusual amount of traffic. No celebration awaited these pilgrims, however, but funerary processions to the tombs of their dead, marked by wailing and solemn choruses as they made their way to the halls of Montu, Amon, Apis, and any number of Egypt’s gods and goddesses. If only her messengers had completed their task she might have vindicated Egypt and repaid these so called prophets. Instead, she must leave Pharaoh Amenhotep and his people to the consequences of their own stupidity, without the benefit of profiting from her advice. She smoothed her wig and adjusted her jewelled collar. Enough of such thoughts! She had far too few days left of her life to waste with unpleasant recollections, or suffer further at the whim of those fool prophets. The litter at last stopped, and Isis curtly nodded to an officer overseeing the quay. Beyond the pier the sun shimmered on the water and danced about the bobbing boats without a hint of all Egypt had suffered. The servants set her litter down and helped Isis to her feet, whereupon she emerged like the Queen herself. Nodding acknowledgment, she was lead to the ship that would carry her back to Thebes, its gangplank already resting on the dock. She had just set her foot to the plank when she heard a noise that startled her, and caught her breath. Thinking it was the wind, she turned to scan the horizon, seeing something blot out the sun and hearing a distant hum. She lifted a bony hand to shade her eyes, staring at the eclipsed globe as a shadow engulfed the port and a roaring whirlwind swept about her. Gasping, she removed her foot, about to enquire of it when a large object hit her head. She screamed and batted it away, fearing another storm of hail. Instead, the whirring became deafening as objects flew at her from all directions with dizzying speed. She shrieked, swatting this way and that, hopping about in her fright, but they continued to bombard her, entangling themselves in her hair and garments. They fairly lifted her from the ground as if she were caught in a cyclone, twisting her skirt and attacking her legs. Frantically she stomped her feet, cursing and screaming, but her servants had already fled. Falling to her knees, she opened her eyes, staring into the goggling eyes of a creature that hung from her hair just above her brow, while a swarm of others buzzed about with thunderous insistence. Cross-eyed, Isis stared at the beast as the world spun around her. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came. Instead, fearing they would enter whatever opening they found, she snapped her mouth shut and fainted face forward, oblivious to the commotion that continued about her as her world grew dark and distant like a dream of horrors. Within moments every blade of grass and tender shoot of grain quivered under the weight of a winged tormentor, their noise drowning Egypt’s cries as the populace fled Avaris, the locusts devouring the Delta’s last hope of survival. <>> Sarena ran from her room, covering her ears and screaming. In the hall several servants carried a woman on a stretcher. Sarena stared, her mind awhirl. Isis! The creatures covered her like purposeful ornamentation, hopping about her motionless form, while one, perched atop her brow, assumed the position of the sacred uraeus.