One week after the marriage
I still remember the day I first saw his face. Gleaming, golden and
shining, like the full moon on a clear night . He was tall and handsome
and funny and just a perfect man. At least that’s what I thought. For 1
month we were together, like love birds fluttering through the sky,
without a single care in the world. We slept together, ate together,
cooked together. Everytime he left Nubia to return to Egypt to see his
family, my heart ached with longing. I was truly, ever so truly, in love
with him. What an idiot I was.
He popped the question soon enough. My mom agreed instantaneously.
She also had been obsessed by his great intelligence and excellent job
as the scribe for the Pharaoh Tutankhamun himself. The day of the
marriage was simple. I wore a flowing silk dress, and adorned myself
with all the rubies and sapphires I had. Packing up all my things, I
departed for Egypt, my family in tow.
Once I had settled down there, a small family celebration was held.
Elegant dancers were called, and an extravagant meal was shared
followed by many festivities. I was still lovestruck, but that changed soon
enough. My family departed for Nubia, and it was just my groom and I,
all alone in an expansive mansion, just like I had always dreamed.
But soon, his dark side began emerging. I learned of suspicious activities
and hidden whispers in the dark. Shady merchants came to our house
every week, exchanging money for silk bags full of something that my
husband gave them and that I didn’t know of. Was his fortune built on
illicit trading? Was his job at the pharaoh’s palace really true? I decided I
was going to find out.
Everytime my husband went to retrieve the silk bags, I followed closely
without trying to get caught. Everytime, I got close, but it was too
dangerous to proceed further. Yesterday, however, I got close enough to
find out where he gets the silk bags. A small room tucked in the edges of
the mansion. It's locked, however, with a huge padlock. I could try
picking it, but I have no skill in that matter.
Recently, the fights have been getting worse. He gets angry at even the
slightest displeasure, and he expects me to do everything in the house
while he goes on to what I presume to be his fake job. I used to trust my
husband, but now I can’t tell him the tiniest secret. I expect what he
trades to be drugs or information about the pharaoh, but I could just be
getting ahead of myself. Maybe what he sells are apples or other fruits,
and he does have a job at the Palace. Seems too good to be true, right?
Why wouldn’t he tell me what he was selling if it was something
normal?
Until I figure out his mysteries, I just have to be cautious and not get
caught in his expanding spider web of lies.