431 days since the command

Kauib wiped the sweat from his brow as he overlooked his now freshly tilled fields. Despite the poor flooding last year, they’d just been able to harvest enough barley to make the tithe to the taxman and feed himself and his family well. This year, however, this one might be a little better. So far, the river had been following well and his prayers to the gods were not going without reward.

He signalled to his three sons to get the sticks and seed bags for planting. They’d maybe be able to do the planting for the fields up to the tree a little way down the river today, and then finish the rest tomorrow.

The sun beat down on them like a whip as they worked, spreading the seeds and making sure they were nicely planted in the black soil. It was almost peaceful despite the heat, a simple activity that made Kauib closer to the earth and calmed his mind. It just let him think to himself and let his thoughts consume him as he seeded life in an almost holy act in the endless cycle of death and rebirth. He seeded the crops now, he nurtured them, and then when they were at their prime, he’d cut them down. Then the grain from it would feed him and his family until they too would die, and their bodies would feed the plants in turn.

Such was the nature of life and its endless cycle that went on and on. It was said that even in the underworld there was an endless dark field filled with cenotaphs marked with the names of dead gods that sprouted from the ground like trees in a forest. They stretched out and outwards in that endless dark forest and as you went in further the cenotaphs got stranger and stranger, engraved with names that not even the gods knew. That was the story he was told by the priests when they buried his mother. It was cold, it was dark, but if even the gods could not remember all their dead, it didn’t feel as bad for humanity to not know all who’d came before them, to not know all their history.

The sun edged closer and closer to the horizon as they worked, the four growing closer and closer to the tree as the sky started to turn a burning amber. At least with all the work they were doing, they wouldn’t get reported…

He didn’t know much about it, something about a big project in the big city started by the holy pharaoh. Something that needed to be made with all due haste and forced him to start raiding the nomads for slaves and taking those who did not work hard enough to work on the project.

So far, they’d been fine but others… Others had not been so lucky…

Kauib sighed as he finally finished his planting, looking around to see his sons finishing up as well, even young Nunu. All in all, they had plenty of time to collect their tools and get back to the house while there was still light.

Opening the door, he found Samira weaving a new set of baskets while Kesi, their youngest tried to tie some of the reeds into a little figure. In front of her were her previous weaving attempts, starting out with small baskets as she tried to emulate her mother, moving to the dolls as she got bored and let her creative mind wander. Though looking at them, she still had a fair way to go with getting the proportions right.

He set his stuff down and got down to Samira’s side, giving her a warm hug. “Has Kesi not been too troublesome?”

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She let out a dry chuckle as she leaned into his arms, “Not too much. She did want to go outside and “help” you, but I think her idea of that would’ve been playing around in the mud.”

“I could try to teach her, Nunu has gotten the hang of it so he can do his part by himself.”

“Wouldn’t that… Slow you down?”

She eyed him with concern, her brows furrowed.

“It won’t do too much, I’d have and extra pair of hands if she doesn’t get bored of it and that’d make up for the time teaching her.”

“If you say so…”

She looked away, focusing on her baskets as she pulled away from his embrace.

“Are you thinking about Kaa and Mert?”

She nodded slowly, “We still don’t know who reported them but if I had my guess it’d be Ata the crone. She’s always been willing to throw others to the dogs for her own family.”

Her grip on the reeds tightened as she said their name, almost making her slip up as she finished another layer.

Kauib’s eyes shifted down for a moment, “I know she hasn’t been the nicest, but I don’t think we should rush to conclusions about people. The village has to stay together in these times. The weather is looking good but who knows when we’ll need to come together to make sure we meet our taxes and have enough to eat.”

“And she’s threaten—”

“Dad! Look!”

The two were cut off as Nunu shouted, pointing out of open shutters where the sound of rumbling carts could now be heard. Kauib scrambled up to it and saw two carts approaching their house, one small one loaded with guards and lit by oil lamps in the darkening day, and the other- The other had a cage sat on its back.

He felt his body tremble as Samira’s yells didn’t even register in his ears, all he could hear were those rumbling wheels and the beating hooves of oxen.

Finally, a sharp tug on his shoulder brought him to his senses as Samira forced him to look at her, but it was too late. The soldiers outside his house were knocking on the door and walking over to their open window.

He steadied himself and swallowed as he grabbed one of the planting sticks before walking to the door and opening it.

“What’s the matter, watchmen?”

A burly soldier glared down at him, hand at the khopesh on his belt. “We’ve gotten reports that you and your family have not been tilling the fields properly and that you’ve been several days late to attending to them.”

Kauib tried to maintain his composure as he tried to smile. “That’s not true, you can inspect our fields right now if you want! They’ve been fully tilled and we’ve made good progress with sowing them! Just like last yea—”

“You’re coming with us.”

The soldier’s expression was like bronze as he stared at them, completely unflinching.

Kauib’s heart raced. He wanted to run, he wanted to fight, he didn’t want this to happen, he didn’t want to abandon them, but he had to keep his family safe…

“I’ll come with you then if they stay—”

“All of you are coming with us, now.”

Samira’s hand clenched onto him as he heard Kesi ask, “What does he mean Daddy?”

He couldn’t answer, he was simply frozen still as he stared at the stoic soldier, but out of his corner, at the door of a nearby house, he saw someone.

“You fucking crone bitch!” Samira howled as she lept past him, charging straight at the wizened old Ata standing at her door. But she didn’t get far as another soldier intercepted her and slammed a club into her gut. She screamed as she crumpled to the ground, the children screaming too as they saw it.

Instinct took over as Kauib ran to her, waving his planting stick in the air as he tried to slam it down onto the monster that beat his love down, but he wasn't strong enough. The soldier by the door simply grabbed him by his arm and ploughed his elbow into Kauib’s skull as he ran past. A sudden rush of pain screamed across his body as his vision went black and his limbs went slack, his body simply falling to the ground like a dropped doll.

His vision and hearing started to return as he tried to fight the pain and bring his body up, his entire body coursing with energy, but the soldier’s sandal slammed onto his back before he could.

“I’m sorry,” He said, “We have to meet our quotas too.”