HIGHLANDER ROUND ROBIN

Part 1

By Catherine

chagemann@home.com

The sun of early autumn set over the city of Paris, turning every backstreet and cobble into shades of grey and twilight. A turning time of year....

October. What was it?

Methos squinted at the colors the sun of late fall traced in the window of his soul.

It was the thirty-first.

All Hallows Eve.....

Samhain.

A time to remember....

The past....

And the people who had shared that past.

Methos turned from that thought. Glad that he wasn’t in America tonight. All those kids. Ringing the doorbell. Yelling..."Trick or Treat".

They had gotten it all wrong.

He flopped down on the couch and opened a beer he had gotten out of his refrigerator before this morbid train of thought had taken hold of him. Taking a long, satisfying sip, Methos caught the golden glint of the

sun setting in the west.

The City of the Dead.

Her mortuary temple.

Methos closed his eyes in painful recollection.

Hatche.....

My love...

My heart..

My King.

Thebes...the twentififth year of the reign of Pharaoh Thothmosis I. The temple of Kharnak. The Hall of Scribes.

Methos sat cross-legged on the dusty floor. The tools of his trade spread out on his knees, across his starched linen kilt. Iphny, the instructor, came towards him and peered at his writing. Grunting, he strolled away.

Methos smiled. The old man was pleased. And that made Methos glad. He would do well here. Of that, he was certain. The hieroglyphic writing he was learning had stood him in good stead. He had gained a place in the hall of scribes and that, if one were lucky(and Methos was nothing, if not lucky)would lead to greater things. At least he hoped so.

Methos was working his way through a very difficult section of his many tasks of the day, when a great commotion caused him to look up from the papyrus on his lap board.

A royal herald strode into the hall. He paused and looked around him imperiously. Sniffing the air, like something rancid lurked in the general vicinity, the man looked over the assembled group of students like they were so much dung.

Methos lowered his eyes. Eyes that blazed hatred for the pompous fool. Who did the bastard think that he was?. Before he could come up with an answer to his question, the herald boomed forth the following

announcement.

"On your bellies! The Daughter, of the Lord of the Two Lands, Pharaoh Thothmosis, the living Horus, approaches!"

Everyone threw themselves onto the floor, even Methos, but he turned his head in curiosity. He had to see.

Her.

The princess Hatshepsut....

Daughter of Pharoah.

She walked into the hall and stopped. Looking around the hall, she missed nothing and no one.

And she was beautiful beyond anything in the imagination, Methos thought. And he had known countless women in his time.

But never one to compare with the daughter of the living Horus.

With her fan bearers and women following her about, Hatshepsut wandered between the rows of students. She looked at the work that was being done. Almost as if she was searching for something.

What was she doing? Methos wondered. He followed her every movement. He could not keep his eyes from her slender form.

She was of average height. There the resemblance to the general Egyptian populace diverged ...

Hatshepsut had green eyes and red-brown hair.

She was striking. And in those green eyes, lurked an intelligence that transcended everyone of those around her. Except one.

The princess continued her scrutiny of the students in the hall.

Methos curly, thick wig slipped down over his eyes. He went to raise it so he could keep this vision within his view. He knocked his ink jar over. With a loud thunk, it began to spread its contents over the floor of

the temple.

Hatshepsut paused and looked in his direction.

And then, almost as a giggle of fate, their eyes met. Methos raised his head from the dry, dust covered floor of the temple hall for just a moment.

The daughter of the Lord of the Two Lands smiled at him.

Methos returned that smile.

Instantly, he felt the slash of a whip across his back.

"How dare you, son of a misbegotten swine. May your name be forgotten. The herald screamed, pulling the whip back for another swing. No one gazes on the daughter of Pharaoh!"

Hatshepsut looked at the herald coldly.

"Hold!"

"Mistress?...."

"You heard me"

Hatshepsut walked over to where Methos sat, blood quickly drying on the wounds of his back. He hoped that no one noticed. No one did.

"Your name?, she asked Methos, softly. What is it?"

Iphny stepped forward, wringing his hands.

"My Lady, the old man sputtered. May I tell you this, most unworthy one's name?"

Hatshepsut looked down at Methos and smiled once more. Then, she glanced at Iphny.

"No. I asked this one what he was called. I think that he has wit enough to answer for himself"

Methos looked up into those eyes. Green as the Nile, herself.

And lost himself. For eternity.

Iphny grew impatient and cleared his throat.

"The Princess awaits your answer, student of Thoth"

Methos smiled as he answered.

"My name, most revered daughter of Pharaoh, he answered, green eyes sparkling. May He be remembered for ever.. is Sen'mut"

PART TWO
by PEJA

"A good name," Hatshepsut said, inclining her head slightly and turned away. "Bring him."

Methos found himself dragged up by the arms and hustled along in a whirlwind of confusion, only coming
to a rest when they arrived back in the princess' quarters.

Another imperial command and he was instantly alone with the vision that breathed life into his world
weary soul.

Hatshepsut curled down on a chaise and began to comb through her long hair, ignoring him. After several
long and confusing moments, she finally turned to study him where he stood...waiting.

"You are not of this land." she said at long last.

Methos stood silently watching her.

A slow smile curved her full lips. "You may speak, Sen 'mut."

Methos dared a quick glance her way, then lowered his eyes respectfully. "Yes, highness."

She uncoiled from the chaise, swaying up to him. A finger traced his lean jawline and she breathed sweet
breath into his face, so close were they. "I would know."

Methos couldn't resist. He met her eyes, and fell into them, rejoicing in the drowning feeling that washed
over him.

"Know?"

A slow smile. "I would know what you taste like, man of honey skin." she whispered as her lips came up to
met his.

***********

Part 3

By Catherine

Methos leaned in for the expected kiss, but it never came.

Hatshepsut was looking at him closely. Then she turned away with a sigh. "If you thought that I brought you to the palace to be my lover.....however much that thought may intrigue me. You are sadly mistaken"

Methos blinked. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard her say. He had not been refused.....not in two thousand years. He gathered the shreds of his wounded dignity around him and looked at the daughter of Pharaoh. By all the Gods.....she was beautiful. Enchanting.....

"What did you bring me here for, then?. If I may make so bold as to ask"

Hatshepsut smiled. She liked this. Methos could tell.

"A question....Good. You are not afraid of me. Are you?'

"No, Methos told her bluntly. I am not"

"Excellent!, Hatshepsut cried in triumph. Then we can work together"

Crossing the painted floor, her golden sandals making light tinkling sounds that drove Methos wild, Hatshepsut went to a chest and opened it.

Inside were several rolls of papyrus. She removed one of them and spread it out on a table used for jackals and hounds.

Methos moved closer for a better look.

It was a set of architectural plans. Very ambitious plans, at that. Hatshepsut ran her slender hand over the drawings lovingly. She looked up at Methos, with those sea, green eyes, from under dark lashes. Her kohl red lips parted.
"I will build this one day, Senmut. That and more. I need someone to advise me. You can be that man.....if you so choose"

She stood up and faced him.

The Daughter of The Lord of the Two Lands had just issued an unheard of invitation. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. Methos smiled at the irony of it.

"Well, scribe, she said, playfully. I await your answer"

Methos went down on his knees before her. He had become totally lost in those eyes. But in the loosing, he had somehow found himself. He bowed his head in answer to her question.

"Senmut"

His Egyptian name danced across the surface of his skin like so many airborne flower seeds afloat on the back of the wind in the springtime. The fingers of one slender hand traced a path across his bare shoulders.

Methos shivered deliciously. He had lived long enough to know when something momentous was about to invade his life and turn his peaceful existence into the full force of the whirlwind.

It was happening once again. And this time, he would welcome what was in store for him. For Hatshepsut...with her. Anything at all was possible.

He, Methos, would serve this women for eternity. And beyond.

END PART 3
Who would like to go next

History of Hatshepsut:

Cadfael writes: Since I wanted to play, and I had little or no background information about the "Queen who would be King", I went on the web to get it. Now, having seen the quality of Cat's work, I don't think I write well enough to participate, but I wanted to share with those who want to. <g> OF SPECIAL NOTE: Senmut (Methos) was her lover, and they supposedly had a daughter, Nefrure! Hmmmm.....<g> So who's next, guys? Go for it! cadfael

*

Hatshepsut, daughter of Tuthmose I and Aahmes, both of royal lineage, was the favorite of their three children. When her two brothers died, she was in the unique position to gain the throne upon the death of her father.
To have a female pharaoh was unprecedented, and probably most definitely unheard of as well. When Tuthmose I passed away, his son by the commoner Moutnofrit, Tuthmose II, technically ascended the throne. For the few
years of his reign, however, Hatshepsut seems to have held the reins. From markings on his mummy, archaeologists believe Tuthmose II had a skin disease, and he died after ruling only three or four years. Hatshepsut, his half sister and wife, had produced no offspring with him (HER DAUGHTER NEFRURE WAS MOST LIKELY THE DAUGHTER OF HER LOVER SENMUT), although he had sired a son through the commoner Isis. This son, Tuthmose III, was in line for the throne, but due to his age Hatshepsut was allowed to reign as queen dowager.


Hatshepsut was not one to sit back and wait for her nephew to age enough to take her place. As a favorite daughter of a popular pharaoh, and as a charismatic and beautiful lady in her own right, she was able to command
enough of a following to actually take control as pharaoh. She ruled for almost 20 years and left behind more monuments and works of art than any Egyptian queen to come.

Hatshepsut, as a female, had many obstacles to overcome. There was always a threat of revolt, especially as her bitter nephew came of age. Using propaganda and keen political skills, she deftly jumped each hurdle she faced. To quell the fears of her people, she became a "king" in all statuary and relief during her reign. She even dressed in the traditional garb of male rulers: the shendyt kilt, the nemes headdress with its uraeus and khat headcloth, and the false beard.

Although there were no wars during her reign, she proved her sovereignty by ordering expeditions to the land of Punt, in present-day Somalia, in search of the ivory, animals, spices, gold and aromatic trees that Egyptians coveted. These expeditions are well documented in the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the walls of her temple. With these inscriptions are included incised representations of the journey, including humorous images of the Puntites and their queen, at whom the Egyptians no doubt looked while restraining a giggle; the queen has folds of fat hanging over her knees and elbows, her back is crooked and she has an aquiline nose. To the short, thin Egyptian she was probably quite a sight. Hatshepsut, in a final bid to be recognized as a legitimate queen, constructed a fabulous temple in the Valley of the Kings, of all places, by a tall plateau at Deir-el-Bahri, across the Nile from Thebes.

Hatshepsut was a master politician, and an elegant stateswoman with enough charisma to keep control of an entire country for twenty years. Her charisma and experience could carry her only so far, however. She used two devices to ensure the legitimacy of her position. The first was to emphasize not only her relationship to Tuthmose I, but her favor from that popular ruler. She claimed to have been handpicked by her father, above her two brothers and her half-brother. In her temple are written the words of Khnum, the divine potter who sculpted the forms of the gods:

I will make you to be the first of all living creatures, you will rise as king of Upper and of Lower Egypt, as your father Amon, who loves you, did ordain.

This assertion has validity, as other texts indicate. Her second conceit was more doubtful, however: she claims a direct divine lineage. As in the previous passage, she claims Amon is her father. On the walls of her tomb
is inscribed a story detailing the night the Theban god Amon-Re approached Aahmes in the form of Tuthmose I.

Amon took the form of the noble King Tuthmose and found the queen sleeping in her room. When the pleasant odours that proceeded from him announced his presence she woke. he gave her his heart and showed himself
in his godlike splendor. When he approached the queen she wept for joy at his strength and beauty and he gave her his love...

These propaganda worked well to cement Hatshepsut's position. But as Tuthmose III grew, her sovereignty grew tenuous. He not only resented his lack of authority, but no doubt harbored only ill will towards his step-mother's consort Senmut. Senmut originally intended to be buried in the tomb he designed for Hatshepsut, but was actually buried nearby in his own tomb. Not long after his death, however, his sarcophagus was completely destroyed. The hard stone that had been carved for his funerary coffin was found in over 1,200 pieces. His mummy was never
found. Hatshepsut's mummy was likewise stolen and her tomb destroyed. Only one of the canopic jars was found, the one containing her liver. After her death, it is presumed that Tuthmose III ordered the systematic erasure of her name from any monument she had built, including her temple at Deir-el-Bahri. Since most of the images of her were actually males, it was convenient to simply change the name "Hatshepsut" to "Tuthmose" I, II or III wherever there was a caption. Senmut's name was also removed. Whether Tuthmose killed Hatshepsut, Senmut and Nofrure is questionable but likely. Since he paid little respect to her in death, it is quite possible he paid even less in life.

While this account is the most accepted of theories, the Hatshepsut Problem was a source of endless debate near the turn of the twentieth century. The archaeologists Edouard Naville and Kurt Sethe went head-to-head on the order of rule between the three Tuthmoses and Hatshepsut. Since it is generally assumed that if one ruler's name is
replaced with another, the second ruler is in power at the time, a confusing problem exists. Theoretical timelines indicate that the succession followed this sequence:


1. Tuthmose I
2. Tuthmose III
3. Tuthmose III and Hatshepsut, together
4. Tuthmose III alone
5. Tuthmose I and Tuthmose II
6. Tuthmose II alone
7. Hatshepsut and Tuthmose III
8. Tuthmose III alone


This sequence seems as illogical as it is complicated, and only after the discovery of the tomb of Ineni, the architect of the tomb of Tuthmose I. His description follows a more intuitive sequence, and disproves the previously-held belief that only Tuthmose III would put his name in Hatshepsut's place.

Not only was Hatshepsut's name erased, but some of her monuments were destroyed. She built two obelisks of red granite, the largest built to that point. This was a continuation of the works of her father, who was not able to complete all his construction plans. Her name appeared on the obelisks, but instead of toppling them, Tuthmose III ordered them sheathed in masonry. Their gilded pyramidions were probably the only original elements to be exposed. Later, one of the obelisks was destroyed after all.

In all, Hatshepsut accomplished what no woman had before her. She ruled the most powerful, advanced civilization in the world, successfully, for twenty years. Even if there were some who resented her success, her success stands for all eternity.