Before the Throne

29

HORUS CALLED OUT, “Pharaoh Sethnakht!”

A short, strongly built man entered, covered in his shroud, then strode with dignity to his place before the throne.

Then Thoth read from his holy tome, “He restored the law to its sovereignty!”

Osiris invited him to speak, so he began, “I lived in an age of chaos. I was nearly murdered one day as I sailed on the Nile — and survived by a miracle. I was then but a distant relative of the King Merneptah, but rose to the throne with the aid of the priests. The corrupt provincial governors refused to acknowledge me. While not powerful enough to subjugate them all, I was not lacking in courage. So I crushed the nome of Khnum, where I annihilated the rebels, cutting off the ears and noses of those I captured. From there I marched on Thebes, where the cowards quickly rushed to greet me in submission.

“I put right the army and the forces of order, and labored tirelessly until I returned the law to its place of supremacy. I made the farmer safe on his land, and once again he tilled the soil. But I departed the world before I could make the peoples of our empire feel the might of Egypt once more.”

“Your work, that but a few words could describe, was greater than the building of the Great Pyramid,” marveled Khufu.

“My heart has begun to beat again,” chimed Menes.

“A magnificent son, who has hewn his indomitable will in souls, not in stone,” lauded Isis.

Osiris bid him, “Proceed to your seat among the Immortals.”