Khu: A Tale of Ancient Egypt by Jocelyn Murray

sure that the man who was truly guilty got what he deserved. It was how the gods had ordained things, and Mentuhotep was one who believed in living in accordance with divine will. It was the only way to ensure harmony in the world.
    “Have them come here,” the king whispered to the guard, referring to Tem and Khu.
    Both walked over to the dais, and bowed respectfully before the king.
    “Come closer, child,” Mentuhotep waved Khu closer, and the boy stepped up on the dais by the throne. The king draped an arm about Khu’s waist, drawing him closer so that they could speak out of earshot from the men standing trial. “Now tell me why you think this man is guilty,” he said in a low voice. “I cannot just condemn him. What if you are wrong? It is shameful to wrongly accuse the innocent,” he explained. “We will all be judged upon our deaths, and our hearts weighed against the feather of maat .”
    Khu listened patiently to the king’s advice , his expression unreadable. He knew that Mentuhotep sought to do the right thing, and he loved and respected his father for this. He was well aware of the arduous journey that the spirit went through as it traveled through the Underworld on its way to the Afterlife. It was a path rife with danger and monsters ready to consume wicked souls. After crossing a wide river and passing through narrow beast-guarded gates, the spirit would stand trial before Osiris in the Hall of Two Truths. Once there, Anubis would weigh the heart of the spirit against a feather of maat on the scales of justice, the verdict of which would be recorded by the ibis-headed god Thoth. If they weighed the same, the spirit would pass on to the glorious Field of Reeds. But if the heart out-weighed the feather, it would be devoured by the crocodile-headed, soul-eating demon Ammit, after which it would be forever condemned to a second and eternal death and damnation.
    The two village men glanced at Khu and Tem. They wondered why they were here, and what the king was telling the boy with the strange eyes. They were both very nervous, knowing that the outcome of this trial would forever change their lives.
    “Khu?” Mentuhotep prompted. He was waiting for the boy’s response.
    Khu looked into the king’s eyes and simply said, “If you go into the first man’s house, you will find something of value hidden there that does not belong to him; something he had stolen from the other man’s family, and then hidden in his own home. It will be the evidence you seek.”
    And that is exactly what had happened.
    A stolen carnelian charm carved into a kheper scarab beetle was discovered after Mentuhotep had the guilty man’s home searched. The king questioned the innocent man and found that the charm did indeed belong to his family. It had been stolen the previous year, and hidden within a jewelry box belonging to the first man’s wife.
    The first man was found guilty and publically beaten by the guards. He and his entire family were immediately exiled from the village, and made to leave without taking their things. Their home and belongings were given to the innocent man in recompense for all the damages he had suffered.
    After that, Mentuhotep learned to trust Khu’s instincts, and began to rely more and more on Khu’s gift to help him as he presided over important matters.
     
     
    Shouting distracted the king from his reverie as he turned to see his younger sons wrestling on the sandy ground. They had been pole sparring when one of them hit another a bit too hard. A fight ensued, drawing the rest of the boys into a tangle of striking limbs and insults mingling with the dust.
    “Coward!” shouted one of the boys as he punched another in the chest.
    “ You are the coward!” another yelled back. “And you smell like a donkey!”
    “ Sniveling swine!” a third was kicking a boy on the ground.
    “Diseased goat!” another shouted.
    “You hit like a girl!” the first lashed out.
    Then the sound s of their