The doubled rope cracked acrossEilum's back. There was no counting how many times he had been hit, or how long this beating had lasted. This was a game between him and Kel, the oldest of Si-Hotep's sons.
The rope would continue to burn Eilum's back until he either cried out in agony or passed out from the pain. That was when Kel declared victory. It was a game Kel usually won.
In his youth, Eilum ran from Kel's rope, but that only made the beatings more challenging for Kel, who enjoyed the challenge. Eilum detested giving Kel the pleasure. Besides, if he made it too hard for Kel, he would just have another servant hold him, or tie him to a tree for the beating.
Eilum once answered Kel's rope with a blow to the nose that left him bloodied. That was a mistake he never made again. That was when the old man got involved. Si would not have his oldest boy struck by this Hittite ball of dung, no matter the reason.
As Eilum grew older, Kel grew stronger. Eilum did not fear the beatings. The pain left by the rope or was nothing compared to what happened when he gained the attention of the old man.
The dark places Si took Eilum to would leave him screaming in the night. They were screams no one cared to hear.
The only satisfaction Eilum ever gain in his life was when he could outlast the beatings of that arrogant, witless thug. When Kel's arm tired before Eilum cracked a sound. That was the only victory he ever experienced in his life.
That was not the case this time. Beaten bruised, battered and burning, the sound of Kel's pompous laugh was the last thing Eilum heard as he passed out.
Before his wife died, Si-Hotep "adopted" the then five-year-old Hittite child. He saw his parents killed by raiders while traveling through the desert in a caravan. Lady Hotep insisted on taking the boy into their house. "It was a charitable thing to do," she said. "We have so much we can share with this child..."
For a time, Si-Hotep did enjoy the praise he received from the community for taking this orphan child into his home, a Hittite child no less. For two years, they raised him along with their two sons, Kel, who was two years older than Eilum, and Una, who was roughly the same age.
One evening, Lady Hotep walked into one of Si's dark rooms, where she saw her husband with the Hittite child. The shock killed her on the spot.
Si's contempt for the boy was rooted that day, and every day since then the roots of that hatred grew deeper and stronger. Kel, who had a vicious streak, to begin with, quickly learned that there were no limits to the brutality he could rain down on to Eilum. And Eilum learned that as long as he avoided the attention of Si... Well, there were things much worse than a simple beating.
The Hotep family raised the Hittite child in the ways of Egypt. They gave him an Egyptian name and taught him the ways of the Egyptian Gods. Twice a month, he accompanied the servants to the temple for prayer. Occasionally, someone would give him a hand full of grain to give as an offering.
It was plain to all who saw the child the life he endured. Secretly, many felt pity for him. However, the kind of wealth and influence the house of Hotep controlled kept them far above reprise.
As early as Eilum could remember, he prayed to the gods. He also held silent prayers in the morning and in the evening. He prayed to Anubis, the guardian, and guide of the dead, and the one who oversaw the judgment of the souls before Osiris.
His was a secret prayer, one he never revealed to a living soul, and could barely mummer in his own thoughts. He knew, however, that the god could hear his heart, just as sure as he knew that Anubis alone could answer his prayer.
And so it was, for twelve years after the passing of Lady Hotep, until today.
A beaten, young man of 19 chanted his secret prayer in the temple, then suddenly, the answer came to him.
Two priests were talking. Their words floated to Eilum's ears on the wisps of burning incense from the altar.
One of the priests looked up to see the young man kneeling there, and for the first time, his eyes were filled with tears of hope and joy. They did not realize it, but the Jackal-headed god had spoken through them.
The way was finally revealed to Eilum, all that was left was for him to have the courage to follow it.