The Sting of Sand

Had hours passed? Or days? It was hard to say. Mikhael struggled to stay sane. Something about this place and its bare, ubiquitous walls had a certain effect on a person. The only song was that of the chain of his shackles scraping against the floor. He now understood why the prisoners would commit suicide after a year.

Mikhael looked out the tiny window at the top of his cell, at the feet of the peasants passing by. They would not help him, nor could they. To be shown something just out of reach was torture in itself. He touched the wall, leaning upon it, letting it soak up his frustration and sorrow. His flesh was alight with insanity.

Fat beams of light leaked into the cell, heating up the floor and walls. Mikhael avoided the hot floor and sat in a darker part of the room. Dreams seemed to be the only escape from the nothingness that threatened to unravel his sanity. He began to drift in and out of sleep, but it never fully came to him.

A loud noise roused him from his slipping consciousness. He opened his eyes tiredly to see one of the nurses outside of his cell. She entered quickly, her face quite flushed.

"Quickly, Your Highness, we must leave." Her deft hands roved over his shackles freeing him swiftly. "Princess Sudhaker is waiting with the doctor and Aduhl. Follow me closely."

Upon hearing his wife's name, he rose quickly and followed her out of the prison. Fellow prisoners clutched at their garments and begged to be released as well, but Mikhael ignored them. Unlike him, most of these people belonged here. As he thought of his wife, his whole world was suddenly very clear, together again as if the prison had never tried to wrench his sanity away. Outside of the prison, the guards were standing still as if no one was there. Mikhael wondered what the nurse had done to them. It was the Pharaoh's direct order not to let anyone in or out. There was no time to contemplate such things now.

The nurse hurried along the deserted hallways with Mikhael following.

***

"This is the last main chamber before we reach Cairo," Aduhl announced. She produced a jug of water from one of the bags at her waist. She first handed it to Sudhaker, whom sipped from it before passing it off to the doctor. "There is not much left to go. We will wait for Mikhael and the nurse to arrive before we step out to Cairo. Please, Your Grace, get some rest."

Sudhaker tried to get comfortable on the floor, but it was difficult. Between the absence of her husband's warm, reassuring hands and her children's annoyed jostling, she could hardly bring herself to lie down, much less sleep. The rhythmic breathing of the others began to lull her to a point of drowsiness bordering sleep.

A noise caused her mind to fling back to her. There were noises in the tunnel. She listened harder and wondered whether or not she should wake the others. Struggling to a sitting position, she stared at the entryway to the chamber, waiting to see who it was.

The most glorious sight was to behold her then.

Mikhael, her Mikhael, came from the hall, sweating and ruddy-faced. She felt tears well up in her eyes as he gasped, overcome, and ran to her. He kneeled and wrapped his strong arms around his wife, their closeness the only thing that mattered in that moment. She kissed his face all over. She could not stop; she could not kiss him enough. He held her tightly to him, his own fat tears falling onto her bare shoulders. Rajesh kicked excitedly in Sudhaker's stomach.

The others were awake by then, gazing upon the couple, and sharing their intimate moment.

"Where is the nurse?" the doctor asked at last, when the pair could be separate at last.

Mikhael's face contorted into an expression of pain and guilt. "She was caught on my way here. She sacrificed herself for me. I tried to save her..."

"It was her choice, and she will be at peace," the nurse said. "Do not feel guilty for her."

A moment of silence fell over everyone until Sudhaker doubled over in pain. Her breath came in large assertions. The doctor and nurse rushed to be at her side.

"Everyone lay her down. The contractions are beginning- she is giving birth! Be gentle. Princess, you need to be strong now. Push!"

A knifelike pain struck her right below the ribs. She gasped as her body tried to force the children from inside of her. She felt as though she would be torn apart.

The nurse held her hands out between Sudhaker's thin legs, preparing to catch the baby in her arms. Mikhael kneeled by his wife and squeezed her bony hand softly. She squeezed back rougher as the contractions continued.

"You're doing well, Your Grace," the nurse said. "Keep it up."

After what seemed like hours of pain, Rajesh was born. Aduhl held the baby, showing Sudhaker what a beautiful boy she had given birth to. The pain didn't stop and she was already fatigued. She wasn't sure she could handle birthing the next child. Her husband wiped her brow with a cloth.

Both the nurse and the doctor watched as Sudhaker strained to birth the next child, feeling a strain on themselves. They both knew that she could die at any moment with how frail her body had become. Her skinny legs twitched as the contractions struck her again. Rajesh's twin was crowning.

A strange look passed over her face then. Mikhael somehow sensed that his wife was slipping away. Sudhaker wasn't sure how it began or if there was even a real beginning point. Perhaps she had begun to die since their conception. She prayed to her gods that the children would survive. Her grip on her husband's hand slackened, even as the last wave of contractions passed over her. Mikhael cradled his wife while the doctor severed the umbilical cord. Her contractions would not be finished for some time; she only hoped that her body could hold on a bit longer. She tried to keep her mind on her husband.

The doctor and nurse quietly cleaned the children as best they could. Mikhael watched them critically, but was most concerned about his wife. He held her close to him with his strong arms, tears beginning to form and cling to his long eyelashes.

"I love you," she said, her own tears sparkling along her cheeks. "Go to Cairo with Rajesh and Phoebe. Aduhl will help you." Her hand went up to his face, touching it softly.

"Don't say those things," he said weakly. "You can survive this."

"We both know I won't. I'm too weak already. There is no need to be afraid, Mikhael. I do not fear the afterlife. We will meet again there, I promise."

"No," he protested, his fingers tangling in the folds of her dress. "No, don't go. Not yet!"

She closed her eyes, tiredness beginning to wash over her. The contractions finally finished and she was at peace. Her body felt like it was floating above the ground. There were faint noises in the background, but she could not place them.

What felt like mere moments later, she felt a warm breeze blow over her and the gentle sting of sand against her arms. She opened her heavy eyelids and focused on Mikhael. The sun was bright and warm against their skin. Sudhaker turned her head weakly to look out at the glory that was Cairo. It was a beautiful and lively city, quite unlike where she was raised.

"Mikhael, I want to hold them."

Within moments, her two beautiful twins were in her arms.

Rajesh was the larger and more energetic of the two. He squirmed excitedly in her arm, his plump little lips making buzzing noises. Phoebe was much calmer and more attentive than her brother. She looked at her mother with large, beautiful brown eyes. Her gaze was both piercing and intelligent. She understood what was happening.

Sudhaker clung to life barely, her shallow breath bringing no relief to her softly aching lungs. She gestured for Aduhl to take the children from her. Mikhael touched her cheek softly, solemn complacency in the gesture itself. His liquid eyes gazed upon his wife in her last moments.

"I love you."

Sudhaker used the last of her fading strength to reach up and kiss her husband before sinking faintly back into his arms. Her heavy eyelids closed finally, but the sound of wind echoed in her ears. There were other sounds, the children crying, animals bleating, and casual conversation from the city. The loudest of these sounds was the silence that blanketed the others as they watched their princess die.

Mikhael's voice echoed in her head, too, saying that he loved her. The beautiful symphony of these sounds resonated in her soul loudly before burying itself deeply in her stilled heart.