“For what reason have you crossed our holy threshold?”, intoned a voice, with an authority and dignity that instinctively made her jump to her feet.  She looked around, but didn’t see anyone.  For that matter, she wasn’t sure where she heard the voice… but it was there.  She tentatively walked towards the front of the temple and looked outside… it was still dark outside.  As she peered out the doorway, her eyes focusing on her surroundings more clearly, she was startled to realize that nothing looked familiar to her.  The small shops and outdoor market that were across the street were gone… she saw nothing but sand, palm trees, a few tents scattered about… in the distance were some primitive stone structures, but she couldn’t make out what they were.

            “You have entered our inner sanctuary, and this is forbidden.  Only those blessed by our great mother Isis may step on the sacred grounds of her holy children”, the voice said again.  Linda realized that she was not actually hearing the voice at all, but was feeling it, surrounding her and drawing her away from the entrance.

             Turning around to face the other side of the sanctuary, she saw a tall figure carrying a staff walking towards her.  His face and body were completely hidden by a long hooded blue robe, and his footsteps were light and purposeful.  The lights from the oil lamps glinted at the golden threads woven at the robe’s hem as he crossed the shadows to approach her, and for a moment she considered bolting out of the temple.  But where would she go?  She didn’t know where she was and had no idea how to get back to the hotel. 

            He lifted the hood from his robe, revealing his face to her.  Her heartbeat quickened… he was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen.  The indigo hues of his cloak reflected in his eyes, their long lashes casting shadows over his high cheekbones.  With his full, lush lips and dark wavy hair – which was obviously his own as it was slightly receding - he was exotic but she couldn’t place him as a typical Egyptian.  In fact, he looked nothing at all like any sculptures or hieroglyphics she had ever seen.  No eye makeup, no wig or headdress… he must have sensed her puzzlement.

            “Let me look at you.”, she heard him say, his lips unmoving.  He gently touched the side of her face.  “You are the one spoken of in the sacred scrolls of Min… now you are here.”.  He smiled serenely, gazing at her with admiration.

            “What do you mean?  Who are you?”, Linda asked, bewildered beyond words.

            “I am one of His humble servants.  My name is Tenhaten.”

            “Are you a priest?”, she asked.

            “Yes, one of many.  I was chosen to appeal to Him for the benefit of our city.”, he said before turning away from her.  Pulling the hood of his cloak over his head, he walked towards the huge painting she had noticed earlier.  Uncertain as to what she should do, she followed him tentatively.  He stopped at the painting, kneeling before it and touching his forehead, then the floor.  Linda heard him chant something under his breath, but was afraid to ask him what it meant… it was haunting, rapturous in divine symbolism.  When he finished he stepped behind the naos and pushed aside one of the purple tapestries hung on either side of the painting.  She hadn’t noticed those until now… were they always there?  It was hard to say.  Her senses were held in limbo ever since she woke up… now the air was thicker, cooler.  If she closed her eyes, she could smell hints of musk and incense and spicy oils that filled the lamps.  The tapestry concealed a small passage, and Tenhaten beckoned her to follow him inside.

            They emerged in a small courtyard, surrounded by limestone walls covered in hieroglyphics from top to bottom.  She was in awe of how much information had been painstakingly recorded, and as she looked up high she realized there was no roof above them.  With no bright urban lights to crowd them out, the stars were clustered all over the midnight skies, congregating around the full moon like children with their mother.  The only other light came from a few lamps hanging on columns positioned in the far corners.   In the center of the courtyard was a large, shallow square bath with turquoise and coral tiles laid in patterns to resemble wheat stalks.   Linda felt an odd, tingling sense of expectation and devotion that seemed to emanate from everything around them… this whole temple was built for Min, and every stone and tile was divine.  The realization of this caused her breath to catch in her throat for a moment.  As if sensing this himself as well, Tenhaten turned to her as he removed his robe.

            “You are the only one outside of our blessed family who has witnessed this… and now that you are here, you will be given to Him and taken in His arms, so that he may be appeased and nurture us with his divinity.”.

            Linda’s heart began to race.  “What do you mean… given to Him?”

            Tenhaten smiled again as he turned away from her.  Under his robe he wore nothing but a cotton loincloth pulled tautly over his buttocks, cinched with a sash woven from golden thread.  The moonshine on his back and arms, muscular and smooth, was a taunting goddess… she had been led here, and now she was to be sacrificed?

            “You have nothing to fear.”, he reassured her.  “You know of His legacy, His gift, and know that in His arms you cannot feel pain?”. 

            “I know who Min is, but…”

            “Then you know that He is a nurturer, not a sadist.  But we have little time to waste.  Here…”, he said as he stepped into the bath.  He turned to her and gestured for her to join him.  Tentatively, she stepped closer to the pool as he reached for his sash.  She watched him, transfixed, as he began to loosen the knot, unashamed to be seen by her.  Is he gonna take it off?, she found herself wondering, her heart now racing for a completely different reason.  Just as he began to remove the sash, he looked up at her.  “We cannot face His glory without being purified.  Before you are to be sacrificed, you must be cleansed.”, he explained as he reached his hand out to her.  Timidly, she removed her sandals and started to step into the bath, but he stopped her.

            “You are still robed.”, he said, nodding to her clothed body. 

            “Um… you want me to get undressed?  Right now?”, she asked, breathless with a mix of fear and excitement.  He can’t be serious!

            He said nothing, but smiled openly.  She thought she caught a twinkle of mischievous lust in his eyes, but it soon dissipated.  Looking down at her feet, she took off her shirt and shorts, then her underclothes.  After undressing, she tried to avoid eye contact with him but he reached out to her again, lovingly. 

            “There is no shame here… you are on sacred ground.  Mortal pride has no place in His home.”, he said solemnly.  Tenhaten took her hand and she joined him in the bath.  The water was warm and luscious, and seemed to take on a life of its own as it swirled around their legs.  Linda immediately kneeled down in the water to cover herself, but found it was too shallow – it barely covered her hips.  The priest looked down and gently brushed the hair out of her eyes.  “Stand before me.”.  He lifted her to her feet, a cool breeze blowing through the courtyard and over their bare skin.  She was mere inches from his face, his kind heavy-lidded blue eyes an echo of secrets begging to be revealed.

            “Why do you have blue eyes?  You don’t look Egyptian.”, Linda blurted out, then realizing she probably sounded rude.  Tenhaten seemed unfazed. 

“You are curious about my eyes?”

            “Well, um… yeah…”, she stuttered shyly.

            “I am not a child of Isis by birth.  Rather, I was adopted as a child of another.  Now I live here as a citizen of Gebtu and am treated as such… and you look upon my bare face with curiosity as well?”.  Without waiting for a reply, he smiled and continued.  “As a priest, nothing of animal nature may touch my body, so I remain pure.  So I stand before Him as I was born.  You have no question about me that is left unanswered?”.

            Taken aback by his abruptness, she simply shook her head.

            “Now there will be nothing more asked of me.”, he replied, taking her hands and pulling them gently into the water, then lifting them to his shoulders.  The drops of water beaded on his skin, running down his sinewy arms and tempting her to lick them off, but she refrained.  His skin was so smooth and pliant, and when she ran her wet hands over his chest he trembled a little… she couldn’t help but play with his chest hair a little, rubbing her fingertips over his nipples as she worked her way down to his stomach.  Unfortunately he was still wearing his loincloth, so she couldn’t take it any further, but she bathed him everywhere she could, for as long as she could.  At first she couldn’t bring herself to look at his face, but eventually she did and saw that he was enjoying her touch despite himself.  His eyes were closed, his face turned towards the heavens, but his smile betrayed more than a hint of the earthy pleasure she was giving him.

            After awhile, he slowly turned to face her.  She let her hands drop at her sides, no longer tempted to cover her chest.  Without saying a word,  he dipped his hands in the water and touched her face, letting the droplets run down her forehead and cheeks… she shivered slightly in the cool air.  His hands moved lower, scooping and washing her neck, and she closed her eyes to revel in the silken purity of the holy water.  It was soft fire, working its way down her back and returning to where it came from, then was brought forth again… over her chest, her shoulders.  His fingers glided over the soft curve of her breasts, cupping and lifting them gently, and she could feel herself moisten in anticipation of what she wanted him to do to her, but instead she  vaguely heard him mutter something, a prayer.  Its rhythms were in time with her heart.  He had found her beat, and was joining it with his words.  When he was finished bathing her, he kissed her lightly on the left temple, then the right.  His lips took her breath away.

            The crash of thunder overhead startled Linda, nearly making her jump out of her skin.  “Holy ****!”, she squealed reflexively, but Tenhaten was elated as he looked upwards.  “We’re not gonna stand here in the water during a storm, are we?”.

            “Still, you fear Him.  Min brings no harm to you, his consort.  He is pleased with you, and wants to accept you fully.”, he said, looking deeply into her soul, then at the skies again.  A bolt of lightning, jagged violet streaks racing across the sky, was enough to make her leap out of the bath and dash through the corridor, with Tenhaten not far behind.  What the **** am I doing here?, she thought to herself as she looked around frantically for the front entrance, then realizing that she was still naked. 

            The priest crept up behind her silently, his bare feet muffled against the mosaic stone floor.  Grabbing her by the upper arm, he pulled her close to him.  Her face nearly smacked him in the chest, and she looked up to see those piercing blue eyes, now aflame with frustration and indignation.

            “You cannot leave.”, he said firmly, trying to control himself, “To turn your back to Him is a grievous insult.  I will lose my patience if you fail to accept Him.  You have been chosen, and now you must obey me.”.  Picking her up easily and lying her on the naos, he pinned her wrists down until she realized there was no means of escaping. 

            “Please… please don’t hurt me.  I’ll do whatever you want, but I don’t want to be hurt, please!”, she whispered.

            Tenhaten’s face was serene and almost remorseful.  His eyes, kind and soft but determined as well, took in her whole body as she lay stretched out before him.