Solar calendar year 775, the fifteenth day after the death of King Haddad.
The wind of questions buzzed inside me, as if looking for a way out of a rugged tunnel that does not end When I decided to secretly leave the capital towards the temple of Awam, I felt my steps trembling despite my confidence in my journey The palace was covered in majestic silence and my father had missed the mourning, and I left behind me the advisor Khazabala ready to manage the intrigues that continue to reared its head in the corridors of government I needed him in the capital so that Sheba would not fall into a new vacuum, so I could not take him It may be my loyal shadow, but I know that Behind his astute smile he harbors the corridors of complex political calculations that are indispensable to me now.
I went out with only five of my elite bodyguards, those who swore allegiance at my coronation a few days ago, when my father suddenly left, the first sun guard Shamis with a beam was steadily ahead of us, a majestic man known by people for his composure and ability to protect the throne in the harshest conditions by his side Zuhair Al-Nourani walks with his good face and sharp look, and Lian the golden guard who is famous for his agility and ability to fight with both swords, and the majestic heavenly shield on which everyone relies in Ward off danger with his strong body and horsemanship, then Nouran, the glare-bearer, the youngest and most enthusiastic among his peers, but in his eyes sharpness indicates a willingness to break the impossible if necessary I did not want to arouse anyone's attention, but I wanted to disappear as a piece of night that is only noticed by those who master observing the darkness The neighing of our horses muffled seemed to say goodbye to the walls of the capital, the "shield of the sun", and would these walls have predicted that their queen is leaving on an almost legendary mission? May be... But I certainly didn't look behind me.
We expected the road to start with a harsh desert path, but what we faced exceeded our imagination We had nothing but water and food to keep us alive for a brief period of time. I believe that the light of the sun will guide us to the temple of Awam, a temple that is said to be accessible only to the "chosen one", otherwise our steps will turn into a mirage in endless sand.
We traveled a distance of days and nights that seemed like eternity, the sun of the day burned the body like raging embers, as if it reminded us that we are its children, we will burn if we do not deserve to be near it, and when the night comes, the world turns into bitter cold that freezes the breath, and the light of the torches diminishes as if it staggers among the graves of darkness whenever sand storms apply to us, reminiscent of the tales of the nomads about those who ventured towards Awam and lost without a trace.
In many moments, I had concerns of regret, I left Khazabala and the capital and came looking for a secret that I do not know where to find, but I invoked the commandments of mourning in the last breath of "My daughter, in you is a secret that we have not yet discovered.
We no longer know how many days have passed, we got lost, we failed to track the stars, the sky seemed to deny us or tamper with us, the sand devoured us and we almost perished. The eyes of my five guards were staring at me, asking me without words, "For how long? Is there really a temple or is it fiction?
One night, after we had lost so much water and felt like we were breathing our last, I whispered in secret, "If the sun of my father is still in my blood, take away this silent death from me, the daughter of the sun... At that moment, a strange breath blew up as if it had a smell that was not from our world, I felt a shiver, and I saw a distant glimpse of a shadow simulating a giant gate rising towards the sky.
We approached in reverence, and doubt exhausts our minds Is it another illusion? The gate resembled a giant wall carved on its surface mysterious symbols that do not understand the meaning of human forms in battle positions and circles that shine like the exploding sun The scene seemed so enormous that my guards lost consciousness as they stared at it as if the prestige of the place had pushed their bodies to surrender.
The gate of heaven, this is how I called it when I saw it, it was actually a towering gate that simulated the vigor of the stars, I felt an inscription in the middle of which was the emblem of the Great Sun, the same sacred symbol with which the walls of the capital are adorned. For a moment, my breath was held, as I had a sweeping feeling that I was in front of a divine home. In the midst of the flood of my obsessions, the guards all succumbed to a compelling fainting that left only me standing in the face of a mysterious wind that was in my ears: "Enter ... O daughter of the sun."
I pushed the gate with my fingertips, it was not as heavy as I thought, it opened with strange silence, spreading a darkness more severe than the darkness of the desert, but a point of light revolved around me, as if a small sun accompanied me lightly that kept spinning and shimmering like a vague lamp that encouraged and stepped inside the terrible place, leaving my unconscious guards behind me so that they might be safe behind that gate or perhaps I am the one who will now be lost in another world.
When I walked my first steps inside, I felt a hurtful sense of disconnect from reality, as if I had been separated from time and space, to find myself in a giant square that is more vast than any royal hall I have known before, no sound of wind, no sense of desert, but a space of silence that frightens the heart and the walls around me were occupied with epic inscriptions that embody wars that do not resemble those we know in our modern history, armies in different costumes, kings and queens with helmets with strange symbols, and strange monsters raging.
I approached one of those enormous murals, it was a massacre of human beings scattered limbs, spilled blood forming rivers I felt a trembling in my body, and I stared at the details that repelled the soul as if this inscription speaks of a history steeped in antiquity, before the solar calendar, when nations fought without fearing the curses of the gods. I don't know why I couldn't look at me, if it weren't for a voice behind me calling me.
I turned and found a young woman, whose hair was white as snow but glowing like burning embers at the same time, the whiteness extended to her eyelashes and eyebrows, and in her dazzling white clothes a sacred prestige that did not resemble an ordinary human being, I glimpsed in her eyes a sparkle like sunlight penetrating the spirits, she stood up in front of me and said with a solemn calmness.
"Welcome to the daughter of Haddad... And welcome to those who bear other blood known only to time, I am Avatar, the priestess of this temple and its first guardian since before the birth of the sun, in the calculation of your calendar."
I felt a chill gripping me, unable to say anything at first I raised my head with artificial courage and said in a choked voice:
"I am Bilqis, Queen of Sheba... The daughter of the blacksmith who... He died... days ago."
She looked at me with empty eyes of astonishment, and said as if speaking to herself:
"I know that, death is an old friend for us here, there are threads that bind souls on time, even if times vary, but you, Bilqis, are nothing but an extension of that royal blood... And something else forgotten."
My turmoil increased, and I replied:
"I have come to seek strength to restore the prestige of my throne and break the thorn of those who question my judgment because I am a woman who is fed up, and the bearer of traditions in my capital – the High Priest – does not rumoured that women's rule is not stable."
Avatar slowly nodded, and the dignified features of her terrified face stood out:
"You all carry a sleeping legacy, but you are truly a daughter of the sun... Here, we reveal the hidden."
I followed my breath as if I was wading in a sea of fire, I felt that my ribs were almost breaking from the intensity of my heart palpitations, and my veins were shaking as if there was lightning dancing inside me, in front of me stands the white priestess avatar with overwhelming prestige and eyes like burning embers piercing my soul like arrows of light and darkness at the same time Her voice was like the whisper of an ancient goddess who rules the destinies of kings, when she said in a cold and firm tone:
"You are here because the blood of the sons of the sun runs in your veins, ancient blood that carries both power and curse, but tell me, Bilqis, are you really ready for the greatest experience of the sun? It is a test that may dissolve the mind and destroy the soul before the body."
I felt her words like daggers of ice and fire piercing my chest, I had no choice but to persevere, the fate of the Kingdom of Sheba depended on me overcoming this exam, and I found myself answering her with a voice trembling with defiance and determination, as if gathering my strength from depths I did not know I had before:
"I didn't come here to retreat, my soul and body belong to this moment, and I am ready for everything."
Avatar nodded her head slowly and heavily, and at that moment the ground around me began to shake fiercely, as if responding to a signal from her hand A hot stormy wind rose as if it were the breath of hell that enveloped me, and then suddenly I was overwhelmed by a storm of burning fire I felt my skin almost being skinned, and my limbs were almost torn from the intensity of the pain, but I stood tall rooted in my place, as if this fire of the sun does not burn me but cleanses my soul of every weakness or doubt I screamed inside me challenging my pain, I remember the voice of my father Al-Haddad telling me Since childhood:
"You are not an ordinary woman, you are a descendant of a great sun, always remember that fire does not burn those who carry the glow of the sun in their blood"
I screamed louder than the flame snarl.
When the flames subsided after a long torment, I suddenly found myself in a strange old battlefield, as if carved from the memory of time itself. I looked at my body and found me wearing shining gold armor, carrying a great sword as if it had been made from the same sunbeam in front of me. Countless armies of ghost warriors, tall statures and eyes flashing like tongues of fire, stood tall and their commander stepped towards me, roaring with a hoarse voice shaking the horizon:
"False Queen, if you are truly the chosen sun, show us your power now or prepare for annihilation."
They all attacked in one moment like a rumbling flood At that moment, mysterious memories of my ancient ancestors exploded inside me and I still evoke the lessons of Abu al-Haddad on the day the sword was months on me as a child, asking to test my courage I felt as if my hand was carrying the power of kings and warriors of the old time I fought mercilessly and relentlessly, as if my sword was a piece of my heart, every blow accompanied by cries of victory and defeat I found in me a force and terrifying force that I had never experienced in myself They fell successively, but I soon realized That the real test was not just the power of the sword.
In the moment the battlefield disappeared, I found myself in a dark place in front of a very complex mental puzzle, rock walls bearing ancient symbols, intertwined with inscriptions that light up and fade as if breathing every symbol that carried part of my buried memories, distant images of puzzling events that I do not remember the details, mysterious voices, the laughter of an only child, and faces without any clear features that chills flowed through my body, I felt as if madness surrounded me with its black threads I gathered all that was left of my mental strength, I focused on the symbols while screaming:
"The sun never sets, because its light is always within us, the truth is not one, and time is just an illusion made by the mind to protect itself from chaos."
The codes exploded with tremendous fanfare, announcing that I had passed the mental test, but then I understood that the last test was the most difficult and complex.
I found myself in front of a deep black abyss without a decision, over which a bridge of very fragile glass crosses, almost cracking from just one glance, the voice of a stern and cruel avatar came like an executioner issuing his final judgment:
"This is a test of your faith in yourself and in your people, here either you are queen or you fall into oblivion, do you dare to cross, daughter of the sun?".
I hesitated for a moment, I felt fear penetrate my depths again, memories of loneliness and pain envelop me, but I heard the voices of my people, I felt the weight of the responsibility of the people of Sheba, and the words of my late father echoed in my ears: "You are the hope and sun of this earth, do not retreat."
I advanced with trembling feet, I felt the glass under my feet almost collapse, every step as if it were eternal, terrifying memories, the voices of whisperers that I did not deserve to drive wrestling in my head but the sound of an avatar pierced the fog again:
"You are the inheritance, you are the eternal light, you are the true queen."
I held my feet with all my strength, I followed the pace with all my determination until I reached the other end I breathed deeply as I realized that I had passed the greatest test She returned to a vatra of shadows, smiling a mysterious smile as she extended her hand to me with the document of the sun that shimmered dazzlingly but before she gave it to me, she approached me quietly as she recited a sacred hymn, then I felt her fingers engraved on my back and the sacred sun tattoo The pain was great, but I felt a superstitious power pierce my soul with this tattoo.
Then Avatar whispered in my ear in a voice dripping with prestige and defiance:
"You have shown a terrifying determination worthy of the daughter of the sun, and now you carry her blessing, but know that the road ahead is darker than you can imagine."
I held the document with all solemnity, and I felt a mighty power running through my body that I was no longer who I was, now I really realized that I was Bilqis, the chosen daughter of the sun, the eternal Queen of Sheba and this experience was only the beginning of a new era of strength and challenge.
Avatar pointed and turned towards me:
"This is the absolute document of the sun, which was only unsealed by a few kings of the sun's blood, in which there is a forgotten principle that says the heritage of the sun is one that does not distinguish between male and female, because the light is above the bodies."
My heart fluttered, does this sacred text really carry salvation for what I suffer in the capital? My struggle with those who reject me because I am a woman? I received it from her, and began to read the religious symbols that reveal the wonder of the sons of the sun who have no gender before the throne It is written in the document that the rule is not a male or female right, but the right of the one who bears this royal blood attached to the great sun I felt at that moment an outburst of inner victory, mixed with horror of such a force that might overturn judgments.
"With this document of yours, O Bilqis, no one will be able to challenge your legitimacy, not the high priest in the temple of the capital, nor any tribal elder who invokes the superstitions of the ancestors, this is an era older than your time, and whoever argues about a sun that rises only for its children is an infidel in it," Avatar uttered in a firm tone, but I felt something else hide in her voice, a faint sadness and a reminder that superpower is not necessarily free from curses.
I bowed a little as if before a sacrament, and then I asked her with a joy in my mind:
"What other blood did you say I carry? And how did you know about Haddad's death before I told you?".
She shook her head, and replied with mumbles closer to the prophecy in you a trace of unknown blood, so wait until the veil is revealed to you as for the death of the mourner, the doors of the temple shook him, for whoever carried the blood of the sun has his breath reverberating in his sides through the generations His departure is inscribed in the tablets here before the news of his death reaches humans."
I understood that obtaining this document does not mean the end of the ordeal, but the beginning of a new path to an era that is not easy to convince everyone of There is no doubt that my opponents in the capital will fear my strength more than before, and they may escalate their conspiracies, but I will not back down , because with my new knowledge I am able to defeat every argument about women's weakness.
I scorned my saliva, and I felt a strange pulse buzzing deep inside me, as if my soul was now radiating with additional light. I bowed to a gesture of respect and asked her:
"How do I get back? My guard is outside the gate... I rebelled against the desert until I arrived here in the absence of time, not knowing if I would find the way again," Avatar smiled a mysterious smile, and said,
"Whoever arrives at Awam will not return as he was... Your inner sun will guide you, go ahead, daughter of the sun, for time is reshaped with your determination and if the path goes astray again, look into your chest... Then, the universe will respond."
I closed my eyes for a moment, and a sudden light flooded me as if folding the hall with a white storm when I opened them again, I found myself at the gate of heaven outside, on the barren ground of my five guards lying there as if they were in deep slumber with their souls still in them, so they woke up one after the other and seemed immensely lost, they asked me what happened inside, they only remember their sudden fall.
I wrapped the document carefully inside my cloak, and I felt that a gentle heat was radiating from it, which I felt as one feels his new soul, and I raised my gaze towards the clear sky, and I remembered my future wars of tribal sheikhs, the high priest, Hamdan bin Rayan, and the conspiracies weaved by enemies who see in me only a woman whom they must tie or remove, and now ... The document is in my hands.
"Let's go back to Sheba... The sun expects a new era from me."
So, I told them in a voice that had crept in firmness and for the first time since we left the capital, I felt that the road ahead was clear to us. Yes, you may be waiting for us to return, but I carry a weapon that is not really touched by the arrows of evil from a time when a man and a woman cannot be distinguished.
We walked back in the desert, and the little light that accompanied me in the temple had made it impossible to feel from deep down every sand that fell under my feet reminding me that I had ventured beyond the capacity of ordinary human beings and perhaps now I should face my destiny as a truly daughter of the sun.
As soon as the first features of the passage leading to the capital are clear on the horizon, I am prepared for all that is to come, I will face the high priest in the temple of the sun, I will raise the document in the Senate, and silence every tongue worthy of a woman, a ruthless struggle will follow, and darker chapters may begin in the history of Sheba... But I will illuminate my path with this absolute sun, the light of which will either burn conspiracies, or ignite the flames of war throughout the Kingdom.