Chapter 51 Queen for Three Days

The day I came to Hattusha, the breeze was light and slightly warm, and the sky was blue and high.For the first time, I witnessed the tall castle built by my father with great painstaking efforts. It stood firmly on the corner of the Anatolian plateau, supporting the orderly operation of the huge Hittite empire.From the clay tablets mailed to me by my sister in the city, from the officials who came to visit me from time to time, and from the many documents I read, I can roughly hear the situation of my father and the empire.A few years ago, an earth-shattering grand war with Egypt caused serious setbacks to the father's army and greatly damaged the national strength.Since then, the small wars between the two sides over the years have gradually decreased, and they have faced each other across the Mediterranean Sea, achieving a delicate balance.

And I'm still more worried about my father's health.From the clay version brought to me by the officials, I speculate that my father is not tall, and some middle-aged men are slightly fatter. He has a beard and thick eyebrows that are more popular in Wangdu. It seems that a face is covered with hair, but a pair of brown eyes are very bright - at least according to the portrait.The faint brown eye in my left eye probably came from him.Within a few years after the Battle of Kadesh, the father seemed to have suffered from a very serious illness, and he could only manage affairs behind the scenes and was unable to preside over the government publicly.After so many years, when my body is so weak, my father is finally willing to summon me, I am very happy and happy.I have a lot of things I want to say to my father, if I see him, where should I start...

While I was thinking, my car shook slightly and then stopped slowly.The curtain beside my hand was lifted, and someone said to me: "Your Highness, the person sent by Wangcheng to meet you is right ahead." There was a trace of unsurprising tension in my heart, I took a deep breath, then gently opened the curtain beside me, let the attendants support me, and slowly stepped off the car Far North drove me all the way to Hattusha's car.At that moment, I never thought about what kind of fate would be in front of me, but before I had time to worry about the future, I was slowly occupied by a dense and orderly army.

They were not ordinary Hittite troops. Their bodies were tightly surrounded by icy black armor, which reflected a faint and reserved light under the sunlight of early summer.Their ranks were unusually neat, with flags erected at regular intervals that I had never seen before—— Crimson purple, deep black. Whose flag is this?It seems that I have heard such a combination somewhere, but no one has explained it clearly to me. "Your Highness, welcome back." I looked away following the voice, and a black-haired man in front of me was bowing to me respectfully.I nodded slightly, signaling that he doesn't need to be too polite.

He raised his head, and I could see his face clearly.Now, I can't remember exactly which clothes he was wearing that day, only those shallow eyes under the bangs are as cold and clear as the polar sea, which I still can't forget.I have never seen a man with such beautiful eyes in this world, so I stared at him as if I couldn't move my eyes. After a few seconds, he smiled slightly, and his elegant lips curved slightly, "Your Highness, please follow me back to the palace." At that moment, I realized my gaffe, I just felt my cheeks became hot, and my heart was beating nonstop as if it was about to be boiled.I lowered my head and stretched out my right hand according to the etiquette.

He took my hand, his slender fingers were slightly cold.Like the tide, the black army separated neatly to both sides of the road.He carefully supported me, and walked step by step to Hattusha's city gate in line with my pace.I looked back, and the attendants who had brought me here for several days and the mother-like nuns who had accompanied me for sixteen years were left on the far side, seemingly never to follow.I raised my head a little uneasy, "What about Mammy and the others?" Hearing my voice, he lowered his head slightly, his tall and straight body blocked the falling sunlight, and there was a smile that I couldn't read on his handsome face, "Your Highness, in the days of Hattusha, what you want, I can give it to you, those attendants are no longer needed."

It was a long time later when the news that they were all buried alive.At least at that time, what he said to me made me feel inexplicably at ease.You can give me whatever you want, really?At least, I can finally see my father.The moment I stepped into the tall city gate, my fingers twitched slightly in his palm. "His Royal Highness?" He lowered his head slightly and looked at me puzzled. "What's your name?" I looked at the straight avenue leading to the palace, and my heart was full of strange emotions. Uneasiness, expectation, and confusion rushed towards me from thousands of angles, which caught me off guard.

"My name is Yali." There was still a slight smile in his voice, "Yari Agonol, Your Highness." "Yali, my father... His Majesty, do you really want to see me?" I was still a child, I opened my mouth childishly, hoping to get an affirmative answer from this mysterious man. He paused for a moment, with a faint light shining in his icy blue eyes, "Your Highness, you are the most important princess of Hittite. To your father, you are the meaning of Hittite's existence." I raised my head and looked at him seriously, "Even if I have such eyes? And such a face?"

He also looked at me, and his tone was very affirmative, "Because you have such beautiful eyes and such a moving appearance." He raised his hand slightly, and the black army lined up on both sides of us, and the two straight black lines led the long road from the thick city gate to the solid palace on the high ground.He was still holding my hand slowly, and kept pulling me towards the crimson palace. "Can't you see, the color of my eyes?" I asked stubbornly, not believing the compliment he was phrasing me.If it weren't for this strange eye, how could I have been expelled from the palace shortly after birth and never returned.

"I can see it." He said, without looking at me, and without stopping, "I can see, except for the dim sandy color, that blue as transparent as the sky." When he said the word "blue", the corners of his lips curled into an imperceptible arc.This gentle smile faded away his original coldness, is it because he has a color similar to his?I can't explain why my heart is filled with a touch of joy. In this world, it turns out that I am not alone. I am the last daughter of the Hittite king Muwatalis, and my name is Sicilia.My name is not included in the Hittite royal family tree—which is normal, because my mother is an unknown foreigner, not the concubine of my father, not even a lover.When the father was sick, the mother was sent to take care of the father.Perhaps it was at that time that they fell in love with each other.However, for some reason, my father sent us out of the city before I was born.Mammy always told me that my father is here to protect us, but we have not received any assistance from the royal family, and Mammy firmly forbade me to reveal my identity.

My mother died of famine when I was very young.I barely survived, and was entrusted by my mother to take care of her personal maid.To me, Mammy is my only family.The father and king who were far away in the sky became illusory. But I don't hate my father, is it strange?Was it because those tragic stories came so early that I didn't know anything about my mother?What kind of person is she?what does she look likeI don't know all about it. Natural feelings are weak.However, I am familiar with the matter of my father.Since I was sensible, I would listen to my mother telling stories about what happened in the Hittite country. My father was able to fight well and run the huge Hittite empire in an orderly manner. Especially in the past ten years, wars have rarely failed, and the management of the country is extremely orderly. , the country is rich and the people are safe.My father is a great monarch. Only the strong can survive in this world. I admire a great man very much. I very much hope to meet him and live with him. But because of my pair of strange eyes, one inherited the sandy color of my father, while the other was a strange blue.Like the blue sky, but also like a high-quality sapphire.In fact, this color is not ugly, but I find it annoying. It seems to announce my humble blood and exclude me from the noble city wall.From the day I opened my eyes, the fortuneteller said that my eyes would bring bad luck to the country, so I was brought up in a small city on the northern border, except to take care of my attendants and officials who came to visit regularly from my father. Never had contact with the outside world. In my world, there has never been anyone with eyes like mine.My life is thus simple, yet lonely. Thinking of this, I lowered my head slightly, and several maids next to me knelt down in unison, "The princess forgives the sin, and the servant has offended." I looked at their nervous faces inexplicably, and then I remembered that they were dressing me up before meeting my father.I quickly waved my hand, and they hesitated for a moment before standing up timidly, slowly approaching me, and continuing their previous work. My appearance is really strange.If it weren't for the attendants who have been with me since childhood, they would either fear or despise me. They helped me tie my long brown hair high on my head, put on a beautiful jeweled forehead, put on a white corset dress, and delicate sandals with gold silk edges.I don't care what I wear, I just want to see my father, maybe... see Yali with ice blue eyes again... When I stepped into the vast and huge chamber, I was very happy to see him again.Standing at the head of the gray courtiers, he was wearing a dark black long gown, the cuffs were faintly covered with crimson gilt patterns, and on his fair and slender hand was a blue gem that looked like a flowing ocean.Seeing me coming in, he nodded slightly to greet me.I looked at him with a smile, and then turned my attention behind the layers of veils deep in the hall. My father, is there? "Your Highness, due to his poor health in recent years, His Majesty can only supervise the government behind the veil." Someone's voice slowly explained to me, "After the Battle of Kadesh, Lord Yali will take care of all matters in the hall temporarily. reason." I looked up, and Yali had already walked to the center of the hall, where a magnificent king sofa was placed.Gold, thick and fine, engraved with the gorgeous coat of arms unique to the Hittite royal family.It was the royal chair—the king's chair. I have read countless times in the clay version that the royal chair belongs to the only ruler of the Hittites, and only the king can sit on it. Why, at this time, I can’t see the father and king in my impression, but I can only see Jali , sit on it? He raised his hand slowly, and the light reflected from the blue gem hit my face, making me unable to open my eyes.What is going on, who will tell me, and what will happen next? The aged Prime Minister walked to the front and spoke slowly, "The war between Hittite and Egypt has lasted for several years. The treasury has been empty due to years of fighting. I hope that the marriage will be an opportunity for the two countries to reach a reconciliation." marriage?I froze for a moment, and then there was a bang in my head.Could it be that you want me to get married?Besides me, my father and king have other children. I have two older sisters and three younger sisters, all of whom are ready to marry.Among my father's younger sisters, apart from Aunt Matthorujni, who was captured a few years ago and then married an Egyptian priest, there is also Aunt Genisa who can marry.They all have pure Hittite blood, have been living in the royal city, and received a very good princess education. Ramses is already old, more than twice my age. In Hittite, people’s life expectancy is only forty or fifty years old. I don’t want to marry Ramses, and I don’t want to lose mine in my twenties. Husband, living alone in a foreign country, besides... "Is this really safe? I heard that Ramses was so dissolute that he not only married princesses and daughters of nobles from dozens of countries, but even married his own sister! I heard that he used to love his sister very much. For her , he personally sent troops to Nubia, deposed the former queen, established Abu Simbel at the mouth of the river, set aside their statues, and even raised the flag to attack the Hittites..." "Quiet." Yali patted the armrest of the throne, and instantly blocked the words I wanted to continue saying.His smile disappeared, Junxiu's eyebrows were tightly knit together, and a trace of sadness flashed across his ice blue eyes.I was not mistaken, it was a kind of indescribable nostalgia and sorrow, such feelings pulled my heart to ache slightly.The huge chamber was suddenly so quiet that it seemed as if he had lost his breath.Yali sat alone on the gorgeous king chair, with shallow eyes straight, beyond me, looking into the distance. After a long time, he waved his hand slowly, and the old minister at the side continued tremblingly, "Ramses stated in the letter that he asked the princess with blue eyes to marry to Egypt, so that the two parties can sign a permanent marriage contract." peace agreement, to return our scarred homeland to tranquility..." I can't help but subconsciously cover my eyes with my hands.Blue eyes, cause I have blue eyes!I raised my head in disbelief, and just looked at Yali who was aloof.He looked at me indifferently, and there was no tenderness or sadness in his ice blue eyes. "Your Highness, peace is also the hope of your father. I have prepared all the paperwork and preparations for the wedding. Please prepare in January and go to Egypt." His voice was strange and cold, and I almost couldn't help it. I can't believe that he is Yali who respectfully and kindly took me into the city at first. "I don't want to—" I screamed angrily. I managed to return to Hattusa, and returned to my father's side, but this was actually a transit point that sent me to the enemy country.Uncontrollable hatred flashed through my mind one after another, all because of this blue eye, I can't live in the palace like a princess, I have been despised and isolated endlessly, and now, I have to be sent to a place where I have never been before. A country I have been to, marrying a man I have never met! I looked down at my ornately armored hands, my heart beating violently against my chest. "If you want me to marry Ramses, I would rather not have this eye!" I quickly raised my hand, and without hesitation, I stabbed at my blue eye hard. I was looking forward to the pain that pierced through my heart, however, although I felt something stuck in my fingers, I didn't feel any pain at all.I calmed down, opened my eyes, and the strong and sharp armor pierced deeply into the hands of others.Fair skin, slender fingers, a slightly icy touch... and blood so bright red that it hurts the eye. "Lord Yali!" The hall was in a mess for a moment, the ministers looked at us in a panic, and the guards at the door stared intently, as if they would rush into the room with an order, take me down and tear me to pieces.I looked up at the layers of curtains in the depths of the hall. In such a chaotic scene, my father was still as quiet as if he didn't exist. At that moment, I suddenly understood something.From more than ten years ago... maybe earlier, the man who ran this country was no longer my father, but this mysterious black-haired man in front of me—the monarch I have always worshiped and admired, none other than It is this cold, handsome Yali who wants to marry me to Egypt! He lowered his head, held my hand, hot blood flowed down my arm, and gently took off my sharp armor. "Anyway, blue eyes are very beautiful." He looked into my eyes carefully, and once again I read a strange emotion in his eyes.Before he had time to ask, he had already said lightly, "Take Sicilia to her room, before the wedding, pay attention to her safety." As soon as he finished speaking, two guards in black armor appeared beside him. They supported me coldly and forcefully, and they couldn't help but drag me out of the hall without saying a word.I knew that things were going nowhere, I just watched Yali and the thick veil behind him that seemed to never be able to be opened. I only have one more month left in Hattusha. I just don't want to leave this crimson palace, I don't want to leave... Yali who has the same eyes as mine. "In the days of Hattusha, I can give you whatever you want." As if to confirm what he said to me at the beginning, he gave me everything, fancy clothes, jewelry, and a white cat. I was like the most luxurious princess in the world.I met my brothers and sisters and my name was added to the family tree of the Hittite royal family.They named me after the Hittite capital, and called me "Hartusa."But for now, call me Sicily, I like it a lot.Yali would visit me every morning and evening.He would sit next to me, look at me, and quietly listen to what I said to him, complained, even abused... Time is still advancing relentlessly. Two nights before my departure, under an extremely coincidental situation, I got a piece of news that almost broke me. The real reason I was asked to go to Egypt was not to marry Ramesses, not to be a concubine of the great king, I wasn't even a human being. Pharaoh's current queen, Isis Neft, is suffering from a serious disease that cannot be cured.The life experience of this young queen is extremely legendary. She is not an Egyptian, but a foreign woman with a strange appearance.Ten years after her appearance at the Battle of Kadesh, she was brought to the palace in a coma.When Pharaoh first saw her, he fell in love with her.The temple of Thebes held a grand sacrifice for her at all costs, and married her as a great wife before she woke up. Her heirs were named the king's son, and every child she gave birth was given the highest honor.But she herself is extremely low-key, and people don't even know her origin and background.But just for such a mysterious woman, Ramses inexplicably put all the glory on her.Some say it's all because of her resemblance to Princess Ivy who died at the Battle of Kadesh.However, the light she radiated later far surpassed the first queen Nefertari and the famous Princess Ivy. Isis Neft played an extremely important role in the Ramses dynasty, and was confirmed to be suffering from an incurable disease half a year ago.The medical officials all over the country were helpless, so they had to transfer it to the sacrificial courtyard for divination.As a result, the sacrificial house actually asked to find a woman with the same eyes as the queen as a sacrifice to replace the queen and save her life. I heard that Pharaoh searched for it at all costs for several months before he found out that his father had an illegitimate daughter like me.Even if he takes political means, he still wants to get me, who has this peculiar blue eye... For a moment, I am very envious of the queen I have never met, someone will do so much for her, but no one has ever Stop and care about my existence.She also has blue eyes, why is she so lucky.A heartfelt loathing gripped me hard, and sooner, the seized emotion turned into deep pain. Yali...he probably knows the real purpose of my being married.However, he was just like other people, noncommittal to me, even if I died in that strange country because of that woman I had never met, he just understated it and didn't care.What does the peace between Hittite and Egypt mean, and what does it mean to me who is about to die!I raised my head vigorously to prevent the tears that had reached the corners of my eyes from falling wantonly. In the bedroom of a gorgeous and wealthy princess, the surrounding walls are softly cushioned with straw and covered with comfortable gauze curtains.There was no hard object to be found, not even a clay vase.Yali was careful, just to make it impossible for me to commit suicide or self-harm.I clenched my fist lightly, letting the white and slender nails pierce my palm fiercely. I don't want to leave Hattusha, I don't want to die so quietly for the so-called "peace". At this moment, the door creaked and was slowly pushed open, and he walked in slowly.Seeing my face, he paused for a moment, and then a slight smile appeared in his icy blue eyes. "I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. Are you resting well?" He found the rattan chair in my room with familiarity, and sat on it casually.Whether I like it or not, he always comes to my room regularly, looks at me quietly, and talks to me.What is he like?Is it an expression of pity for a dying me? I bit my lip and turned my head away, deciding to ignore his question. He looked at me quietly for a while, then stood up and came to me, stroking my face with his cold hands, forcing me to raise my head slightly to look at his handsome face. "Are you crying?" He looked at me carefully, his white fingers slightly scratched the bottom of my right eye, and gently wiped away the traces of my tears, "Why are you crying?" Why cry, don't you know?I suppressed the feeling of being about to curse, opened his hand forcefully, took a few steps back, stood behind the table and looked at him coldly. He paused, then sighed helplessly, "So, you know." He bowed his head and glanced at me sharply.My first reaction was to avoid his eyes, but after a change of mind, I forced myself to raise my head firmly and look at him without fear. Only a second later, he smiled, showing his white teeth, and his face was full of irresistible tenderness. "You really look a bit like her." she?who?The queen who wants me to die instead? Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel a burst of nameless anger.I didn't know where the courage came from at that time, I quickly reached out to him, and pulled out a black dagger from his waist.Before he could grab me, I had already stepped back and pointed the iron sharp weapon at him. "You want to threaten me, rely on this toy." There was a bit of contempt in his voice, he didn't mind the iron sword in my hand at all, and walked towards me step by step with a sense of oppression. I was so angry that I wanted to laugh instead, turned my wrist around, and pressed the iron sword to my throat impartially. "Then, how about this, don't you mind?" I said coldly, watching him stop with heartache, a bit of uncontrollable panic and anxiety flickered in his always calm eyes, and I blurted out from the question that existed just now, "What you want is not two countries. peace. You want to exchange my life for the safety of Isis Neft... don't you?!" He paused, then froze there.It took a long time before he spoke reluctantly, with a hint of fatigue in his cold voice, "What nonsense are you talking about. She is the queen of Egypt, and I haven't even said a word to her." I shook my head slightly, and the strength in my hand increased a bit. "From the day I came to Hattusa, you have looked into my blue eyes. You miss her through me, even if the priesthood is talking nonsense, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, you are willing to sacrifice me for her Even if she loves others, even if she throws herself into someone else's arms, you..." "Enough!" he growled and waved to me.With a sound of swiping, a short iron dagger brushed the side of my face and stabbed hard into the wall next to me. At that time, I only felt that my cheeks were hot, and a hot liquid flowed down slowly , fell on the white stone floor, fainting with bright red traces.I have never seen him so panicked, so embarrassed.If I hadn't been sent to Egypt, perhaps, he had already thrown that dagger into my forehead. At this time, the supreme ruler of the Hittite Empire, a man I have always admired, stood in front of me with his head slightly lowered, his whole body exuded a desperate loneliness, as if he was about to be turned into ashes in the air. "Please..." he said weakly, not looking at me. "Please, put down the sword—" he said humbly—pleadingly.I can't breathe in pain, don't go on, the person I admire is not like this, not like this.I shook my head vigorously, tears streaming down my cheeks. "Ivy... Isis Neft, she is going to die." He said slowly, with great pain suppressed in his voice, "Her existence is so special, I can't, let her disappear like this, lightly disappeared into thin air." No, no.The translation of these words means that she is reluctant to part with her passing away.My tears blurred my vision.what about me?Then what am I?Why should she live and I should die?Just because of this blue eye? "You love her, don't you?" He froze for a moment, his ice blue eyes looked at me in disbelief, but after a while, a smile appeared on his lips.That smile lost its usual chicness, leaving only deep bitterness and loneliness. "She saved me." Perfunctory general explanation.I sneered and tightened the sword in my hand. "I can go to Egypt." He looked up at me, waiting with bated breath for my next words.I laughed at myself for a while, since I was born sixteen years ago, no one has ever cared so much about what I have to say.But what he cares about now is not for me. "But I have one condition." I looked into his icy blue eyes.So beautiful, as phantom as ice, but as cruel as a sharp blade. He let out a long breath, and took two steps back, "In Hattusha, I can give you whatever you want." Just like the original promise, that promise already contained guilt towards me. . I closed my eyes deeply, and then opened them, but I didn't have the courage to look at the ruler I had always admired. I just lowered my head deeply and looked at my feet, as if I wanted to embed my eyes into the white ground in front of me, "I want to be your wife." Hearing this sentence, he paused, and looked at me with icy blue eyes.I felt his gaze carefully sizing me up, trying to figure out what I really thought.I felt even more embarrassed, and bursts of heat surged up and down my body as if it was about to burn.I really couldn't be brave, so I closed my eyes deeply, and I couldn't help but use a little force with my hands.I thought, if he rejects me just now, I twist my wrist and blood splatters on the spot. I just want to leave a little trace in his life before I die, even if there is only a little bit. I want to use him to prove my existence. "Even if I marry you, you will not be recorded in history...and you can only be my wife for three days, because after three days, you should set off for Egypt." "It doesn't matter." "Even if you can't get everyone's worship and approval." "Can." "Then why did you marry me?" Jarry's logic is simple.He believes that everyone in this world has a motive behind everything they do.It's like you take out money to pay the merchant, and the merchant hands you the goods; you put in the effort, then you want to get something in return.He felt that I wanted to marry him to get honor, or power, or money. People like him can't understand my desire to leave a little trace in the world. A person like him cannot understand my desire to leave a little trace in his heart. "No reason. I want to marry the most powerful person in Hittite at the last moment." I said to him in a more understandable way, and I heard him laugh lightly as expected.I felt ashamed, and my face turned red, but I gritted my teeth and continued, "So, that's it. You marry me, and I will go to Egypt obediently." He came over and put his cold fingers on my hand. I raised my head and he was looking down at me.The icy blue eyes made me feel more and more suffocated and painful.He slowly pulled the sword away from my hand, threw it aside, and then hugged me into his arms.He didn't wear the armor he wore during the war, and his clothes gave off a faint scent of incense. Unlike the skin he touched every day, his embrace was warm and tolerant.I seemed to melt in his embrace, losing all reason and calculation. "Okay, then for the three days before you go to Egypt, you will be my queen." He murmured in my ear, his breath passed over my ear, leaving a warm touch.My eyes went dark, and that sentence became the last memory he left in my mind. 13th century BC, exact date unknown.A few years after the Battle of Kadesh, the Hittite king Muwa Talis married his princess "Hatusha" to Egypt as an envoy of peace, and the two countries concluded a long-term peace treaty.The picture of the Egyptian pharaoh marrying the Hittite princess was recorded by historians on the inner wall of the Karnak Temple and has been passed down through the ages.However, after Hattusha arrived in Egypt, there was no news at all, and the records about the princess in the history books disappeared. At the end of the 13th century BC, the "Sea Peoples" invaded the Hittites from the Bosrus Strait, and the vassal states in Asia Minor and Syria also revolted, and the Hittites collapsed under internal and external coercion.After that, the Phoenicians under the banner of crimson swept across the eastern Mediterranean region, and the Hittite Kingdom was dismembered by them. In the 8th century BC, the remaining Hittites were destroyed by the Assyrian Empire. Finish