Labyrinth Through The Mirror of Time Chapter 27

  

Chapter 27: The Queen is Dead

On the evening of Sunday, the eleventh of October, Shehrazad’s house felt smaller than usual, packed with people and an anxious, heavy silence. Everyone was there for one reason: to fix the Mirror of Time and drag Demir back to life. The seven cats had returned, moving like shadows through the corners to clear away any negative energy. Dr Hazem El-Amin kept a watchful eye on the health of the twins and Remi, while Omar—their newest ally—stood quietly next to Anemo. No one spoke. They all just watched the familiar, solemn ritual of the cedar-resin twine wrapping around their wrists.

"We are their anchor now," Anemo whispered into Omar's ear. "For Remi and the twins."

Shehrazad set the sea-turtle clock with a steady hand. She turned to Samir and Remi, her voice soft but firm.

"You have seventy minutes. Try to bring my boy back. Dr Hazem says if we fail tonight, it will be another two weeks before we can hold another session."

Inside her white cat body, a cold shiver ran straight down Remi’s spine. *Time is running out too fast,* she thought, panic clawing at her. *What if I don't make it to the Cat Cave, Oweynagat, before the solstice?*

Shehrazad's calm voice began the countdown, from ten to one. In a flash, reality blurred, and Remi was pulled back into the Wall of Ether, holding the twins tightly by their hands.

"I’ve been waiting ages for you all!" Demir greeted them, looking relieved but exhausted. "Without the two of you, I’m completely helpless here."

"You can't measure time in ages, mate," Samir answered instantly. He grabbed his brother’s free hand and squeezed it hard. "You’d better get back to the living, brother. Remi can't stay Al-Beyda for much longer. She needs to be a woman again!"

Remi and the children stood close together, forming a tight circle, as if performing a ritual of their own within one of the grand halls of Akhenaten’s palace.

"Where are we now, Demir?"

"If I’m not mistaken, we’re in the hypostyle hall of our father’s palace," the boy replied, his face darkening. "Our grandmother was assassinated by the High Priest, and I just stood here, completely helpless. The Queen trusted that snake," Demir added, jutting his chin toward the royal thrones.

In front of them stood the High Priest, while Pharaoh Akhenaten sat beside Nefertiti—stately, beautiful, and stone-faced.

"But where is our mum? Why isn't she here? I don't get any of this."

"Shh! You ghosts are late this time!"

Lazing right at their feet was none other than the black tomcat, Mehyt.

"Mehyt!" Remi gasped. "Is it true? Was Queen Tiye murdered? Where are Meritmut and Meritbastet? Are they in danger?"

"You ask too many questions at once, White One," the black cat purred. "They have to protect the children, don't they? What do you think?"

The hypostyle hall of Akhenaten’s palace looked like a nightmare dressed in gold and stone. The massive columns, carved to look like bundles of papyrus, soared toward a deep blue ceiling painted with thousands of golden stars. But tonight, everything felt crushed under an invisible weight.

The air in the immense hall was nearly unbreathable, thick with the heavy, stifling smoke of myrrh and incense rising from great bronze braziers. Hundreds of people packed the grand space—nobles dressed in fine, pleated white linen, generals with faces as hard as granite, courtiers, and servants alike. A sea of heads shifted restlessly, and a low hum, like a swarm of frightened bees, filled the gaps between the vibrant ocher and turquoise murals. Everyone stared with mystical dread at the royal alabaster throne. Tonight, it stood terrifyingly empty.

The noise cut off instantly, as if on cue. High Priest Ay stepped out in front of the throne. His shaven head and immaculate white robe, draped with a ritual leopard skin, gave off a sinister authority. His eyes, heavily lined with black kohl, flashed with a cold satisfaction hidden behind a mask of solemnity.

Raising his scepter, he let a deathly silence swallow the entire hall. Then, in a thundering voice that echoed off the stone pillars, he addressed the crowd:

"People of the Nile, weep! The Great Goddess of Egypt, Queen Tiye, has left this world! Her soul has flown to the gods, taken by a violent, merciless fever that the palace doctors could not soothe!"

A perfect lie, calculated with diabolical precision. The recent epidemic that had swept through the palace just weeks ago provided the perfect cover. No one would suspect a thing behind such a plausible diagnosis, especially since everyone knew how devotedly the Great Queen had cared for her grandchildren and their mother, Meritmut.

But there, inside the Wall of Ether, Demir had seen everything. He had witnessed the entire scene with a helpless fury. He had seen the High Priest sneak into the Queen's quarters and, with a swift, precise movement, drive a long, thin needle right behind her ear, at the base of the lobe. A silent death, leaving no marks, now masked under the guise of a fake fever. The truth pulsed like an open wound in the boy's mind as the crowd in the hall erupted into ritual wailing.

"I don't think we can do anything to change this," Remi whispered. "What we know for sure is that you all survived. You are safe. The fact that neither you nor your mother are mentioned in the written records of this era is because of this priest. Please, Demir, come back with us!"

The long buzzing of the sea-turtle clock pulled only Remi and Samir straight back into the present. Demir stubbornly remained inside the Wall of Ether, even as the hands of the clock raced toward the winter solstice, and Remi risked spending the rest of her days trapped in the fur of a white Angora cat.