Once again, I didn’t get to the fountain quick enough. There were already 6 men in front of me, drinking their morning water.
We got four bowls each.
It was enough at the time but given what we knew was in store for the day, it was never enough.
By first break, we’d all be painfully parched.
I looked at the sky and Ra was going to be ever present today.
The sun God was usually there but at this time of the cycle it was especially hot and dry.
There was constant talk before sleep of the water source and how for all we knew, it was much more plentiful than anyone in power made it out to be.
Ptomeses claimed that it was a mountain of water on an endless flow. Limitless.
But, he hated Ptuto for whatever reason. In his stories, Ptuto was the one hiding the limitless source of water.
I think it was because of his assistant, Shiah. A beautiful woman from the kingdom of Kush.
Ptomeses was obsessed with her. Her dark skin, her wit, her power over Ptuto was irresistible to Him.
He always wanted things he couldn’t get. His father was the same. He had two camels. Milk to sell from the female and a strong procreation possibility from the male mating with her.
It wasn’t enough though. He took his earnings and invested in things like, the sale of imported goods from other shores. More importantly, sailors who talked about imported goods from other shores. Things he’d only heard about in taverns.
My parents were different. They were happy with food on the table at least once a day, two if we were lucky.
I finally made my way to the fountain. The water was sweet as I drank it.
I headed over to the breakfast area. It was a handful of figs, a piece of wheat bread and a cup of camels milk.
What a treat!
To be fair, I had just only started working on the site when Ptuto was in charge.
I’d heard that conditions weren’t so good in the recent past.
Shiah clapped her hands.
We all stopped what we were doing and paid close attention.