Renisemp stood and looked down at the Nile. From afar, the voices of her brothers, Yakhmuz and Sobek, reached her ears faintly, as they argued about whether the embankments needed reinforcement in some spots or not. Sobek’s voice was strong and full of confidence, as always. He used to impose his opinions with calm certainty. Yakhmuz’s voice was low with a grumbling tone, revealing doubt and anxiety. Yakhmuz was constantly anxious for one reason or another. He was the eldest son and, while their father was away in the North, managing the fields was more or less his responsibility. Yakhmuz was slow, careful, and prone to looking for difficulties where none existed. He was a big-built man, slow-moving, and lacked the confidence and liveliness of Sobek.
Since she was very young, Renisemp remembered hearing these two older brothers argue in exactly the same tones. Suddenly, this made her feel a sense of security… Yet, as she looked once again toward the yellowish, sparkling river, she felt her frustration and pain flare up inside her again. Kai, her young husband, was dead… Kai with the smiling face and strong shoulders. Kai was with Osiris in the kingdom of the dead, and she, his beloved wife, had been left inconsolable. They lived together for eight years… She had come to him almost a girl… and now she was returning a widow, with his child, Teti, to her father’s house.