The Prince of the two Kingdoms

By Jennifer Reed

18 year old Theos is a mighty prince hoping to become the King of his Kingdom when a goddess and other events interrupt his entire life and he is required to make sacrifices he never expected.

Chapter 1

Theos Philipator pulled a large pink tablet from a small pink case that and swallowed it with difficulty. The wise woman had told him in a very stern voice that he had to consume these things and that his life depended on them. He didn't like it, but he followed his instructions.

Theos slowly walked toward the mirror in the corner of his room to examine the results of taking these things for the past four months. He examined his reflection in the mirror very closely for the first time in many months. It was undeniably clear that his body was changing. He suspected this was the case from the looks he received from people, including his own sisters, but he did his best to ignore it. Well, the two sisters that were left alive.

The woman told him that these tablets would change him and make him appear female. He doubted her when she told him that. What kind of power or magic could do such a thing? But the ways of this land had many mysteries, and his family was very ancient.

He no longer doubted it as he gazed at his feminine reflection in the mirror. His hips had obviously swelled large and round, like a woman's. His face and hair had become much softer with more petite angles and lines and his hair was more delicate. He had lost much of his strength he had worked hard to develop in his arms. He even felt two small mounds growing on his chest right under his nipples. He felt disgust as he saw his feminine reflection. Even through he was not the most masculine man, he felt proud as he was developing as a man. His body was rather thin for a mans, he didn’t have bulging muscular body as his father had developed from years of warfare. He hoped it would happen, but that was not to be.

There was no longer any doubt that he was becoming a woman. The woman that gave him these things to take had told him that it was necessary. And he had little doubt of that also. That woman had told him to meet her again this morning at one of the royal temples and that she would explain what was going on entirely. And that woman demanded that he appear female to meet her this morning. He did his best in his daily life to appear naturally female at all times, so this was nothing new. It was difficult and he felt very wrong, but he tried.

His new life demanded that he had to get a whole new wardrobe in the past few months. But the clothing styles he was inspired to wear had not existed for almost a thousand years. Theos was inspired to learn to make his own clothing and dresses. He was going to try to bring back traditional styles and apparel that were mostly lost.

One of the styles he had adapted was a very tight-fitting sort of netted dress that many noble women had worn during the time of the old kingdom. Theos took the beautiful, very thin, almost see through linen-type netted dress and worked it up his body. The dress was commonly called a kalasiris dress. He slid the tight dress up his body, and he worked his arms into the thin shoulder straps. The netting had two small cups for his breasts. It fit as tightly as possible and left little to the imagination. It was just the way noble women dressed at that time and to finish off the look, he wrapped a thin band of very colorful beads around his neck for the collar they wore.

Theos did his best as he made up his face as best as possible. He carefully applied black kohl around his eyes the way he saw his elder sister do when she wanted to be very pretty and he mixed it with a bright greenish color to his eyelids. He wondered why he had to appear this feminine, but he practiced these skills for weeks in preparing for these meetings. He knew this woman would be very critical of his appearance as a girl. Then he fit the beautiful wig he made for himself with colorful beads sown into the thin strands of hair.

Theos studied himself in the mirror for a few moments and decided that
there was nothing left to do, but head toward the large temple and find out what was expected of him. He had an idea of what that might be. At eighteen now, he was old enough that he should be preparing to take his role as the head of his kingdom alongside his father. But his father was gone, and he had to contend with his very ambitious and vicious eldest sister. The kingdom was little more than a vassal state to a massive empire in the north. But there was little other reason to insist he appear and learn how to conduct himself as a female except to try to use seduction to gain more political freedom for his people. The woman's power showed him what would happen if he failed or refused. He would end up being killed and his family would follow him, and the Kingdom would lose its freedom for ever. He had an idea about who exactly whis woman was. She had the power to show him a very dark and possible future.

As he walked through Alexandria, the kingdom's capital city, he was very aware of his new female lifestyle and the manner of dress he had adopted. Most people seemed to not notice anything was wrong. He questioned why but he was glad no one asked him about it. He was also keenly aware of his secret hiding in the very tight dress. He did his best to make sure that secret stayed hidden and had found ways to make sure of that. It was a challenge and often tricky because of his tight dress. He was also aware that most other women, except in the older parts of his kingdom around the ancient capital of Memphis and the lower kingdom, never dressed this way. People in Alexandria dressed in more modern styles adapting the Greek way or the incoming Roman culture. Especially the members of the royal Ptolemy family he belonged to. He was the only one who wanted to adapt the clothing style and culture of the old kingdoms. But people seemed to either accept it or not notice. He couldn’t decide which.

He was Theos Philipator, Ptolemy's eldest son of King Ptolemy XI. None of the people noticed him as a girl as he snuck out of the palace and headed toward the Temple. The priests were not there as he crept through the large doors and entered. He waited there feeling silly for around five minutes until he saw a woman approaching from the shadows.

This was a very different, younger looking woman. There something about her spoke of immense strength and power. He felt this was the same woman, but she appeared very different. He sensed a power he had never experienced before that frightened him. The woman wore a loose-fitting robe around her body tied just below her breasts. She held a snake that wrapped around one of her arms, and on her head was a large glowing crown of the upper and lower kingdom. This woman was the very image of the Statues of Isis that stand in her temples. He knew somehow that this woman was the goddess Isis herself.

He fell to his knees in respect and worship of his goddess when she commanded him to remain standing. Theos asked, “Goddess, what do you require of me? And why have you demanded I become a woman?”

The Goddess smiled kindly and said in a voice full compassion and love, “I will get to that later, but for now, you need to deal with your sister. She is smart, ambitious, and powerful and she has a way with people. Your sister will seduce the general of the Roman legions during a roman civil war that will come and when his legions march here to follow his rival. She will try to obtain his loyalty and help in her struggle against you."

Her expression tightened in anger and that anger was reflected in her voice. "But your ambitious sister will fail. She will die. Your sister has no idea about the powers she will be dealing with in the great empire in the north. And when she fails, it will spell the end of this kingdom and it will never again rise as an independent kingdom and power in the world. For the rest of time, this land will be nothing more than an occupied land of larger empires that rise and fall."

Theos found that he could not look away from the goddess' gaze as she said, "Theos Philipator, I require you to protect your sister and ensure she remains alive. I will give you all you need to meet this general, win him as an equal with your own armies behind you, able to meet him as an equal, and not as a vassal or kneeling servant to his empire and you must protect him from those who want to, and would kill him. I will provide you will receive the help you need.

The Goddess smirked mischievously. He wondered what was happening, but it put him on the defensive. Then, he heard a familiar gigging that he knew very well, approaching him from behind the Goddess. His elder sister Arsinoe walked toward him, giggling.

“Brother, Is it you, Theos? This can't be. Isis told me about her plan and what you were doing, but I couldn’t believe you would make yourself into a girl like this. But here you are.”

He felt so ashamed that he wished he could vanish. Theos wanted to hide as his eyes darted around for somewhere to flee when Isis approached and held his hand firmly. “Don't be ashamed, Theos,” Isis said soothingly. “I am with you.”

Arsinoe took his other hand in a sisterly assuring way and looked in his eyes. “I will help you through this. After all, this is the goddess's command, and apparently, you are on a mission and acting as her disciple or something. We have no choice, and we must rescue this nation, ensure our ambitious sister remains alive, and save this idiot general from getting killed.”

Theos asked again, “Okay, so you want me for this to help the country and become Rome's equal? But again, why do you demand that I must do this as a woman instead of a man?”

“Theos, you are the only one that can do this. I had hoped that this would be a country where women were free and powerful to determine their own lives in this country's past. That was not to be, as the age of men had come and the great pharaohs of the past ruled over women. Only one pharaoh was female, and it upset the leaders so much that they killed her and had her name and memory erased from records and from the land and history forever. And now, an even crueler male-dominated empire rises in the north. Neither of your sisters can do this. Neither of them wants to do this for women. Your elder sister wants to rule for herself and her man. As a woman, the Romans will underestimate you, making it easier for you. You want to help the people of this land and you want to help the women. I saw how what your father did to your eldest sister bothered you. You and your sister will change the world.”

This surprised Theos as he said, frightened, “Me, help the women, but, Goddess, you have to know about the things I have done, and my father. How can the women trust me to want to help them after what I have done?” Theo’s protested.

Isis said firmly, “Yes I know about the things you have done as a boy and I have met some of those women you mistreated. But I also know there is hope for you. I know you felt some regret as you matured. I know you know it was wrong, and what your father did was wrong. I know you have a desire to help the people, unlike your sisters who were only interested in their personal power in any way they could achieve it. You are the only one.”

Theos and Arsinoe smiled as they held each other's hands. They now understood what they had to do.

Isis finally told the two, “I will be guiding you all in the coming struggle. To face the armies of Rome, you will need strength. It's all they respect and you can have it. Your kingdom had that respect and strength before and can have it again. Your kingdom has the resources and the people. New ways to fight, new weapons, and armor must be developed. You have people in your kingdom who have the knowledge and will help us. I have arranged for them to makes weapons and armor for the kingdom and build new armies, forts, and ways of fighting that Rome will learn to fear.

She looked between them and said, "Listen and learn from the people I send. This won't be easy and will take years of effort and rebuilding as your kingdom is reorganized into a modern nation. And you don’t have much time.”

The two siblings turned and walked out together, thinking about what the Goddess told them, Isis whispered to the sister, and she stepped back, “Arsinoe, you must also help your brother through this As your brother's body turns increasingly female, he will need more support to understand what is happening. He will start to experience what every woman experiences very soon, and he will need your guidance and love to handle it. So please help him. He is just a boy, after all.”

Arsinoe snickered at the thought of it all and nodded. “I will help him through it.”

She left the temple in deep thought at how suddenly everything in their world changed. Before, they all had to be on guard for plots. They were all more likely to kill each other for power than love each other as brother and sister. Their father had killed their eldest sister Bernice when she tried to seize power for herself after she had her mother strangled to death. It was just how it was as a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty. No sibling was safe. Now, they were safe and expected to help, protect, and try to love each other. Or they would all be killed. Her brother, Theos was preparing for a struggle against their eldest sister and it was one that she thought their eldest sister would win. She was craftier and more popular among the people, and their father trained her for it all. But her failure and death were foretold by the Goddess and they had to prevent that disaster from happening.

That lead her and Theos to the biggest question of all. How would they ever be able to be powerful enough to confidently face the legions of Rome?

<>

Cleopatra, Ptolemy XI's eldest living daughter, stood alone at the doorway of one of the largest mausoleum ever constructed, next to the pharaoh's pyramids.

She had just returned to this great city of Alexandria about a week ago to seek guidance from what administrators she still had on her side. Luckily for her, her younger brother had become involved in something on his own and was not around to contest her growing power for the moment. Cleopatra feared that he could change at any time and had a way with people.

Alexandria was one of her favorite cities. She needed guidance from the founder of her family dynasty. Cleopatra stood in front of Alexander's Mausoleum's gold, elaborately decorated doorways. While it was not as massive as the gleaming limestone pyramids of the greatest pharaohs of the old kingdom, this was an enormous tomb for the great leader. It was impressive on its own and she felt this was an excellent time to see if she could figure this out. What was going on with her brother?

Before entering, she briefly looked into the blinding blue sky at the huge pillars on a massive marble platform holding the structure up. Her eyes looked at the pillars jutting dozens of feet into the sky, holding up the gleaming gold roof of the mausoleum. She backed away to see the statue of Alexander himself on top. She examined the images of Alexander with his hoplite warriors etched on the wall with the Greek script around the pillars and the wall proclaiming his victories. The hoplite formations didn’t do very well against the legions of Rome that marched in. She felt helpless against the forces against her now. Cleopatra needed help and didn’t know where to get it.

She went through the doorway into the mausoleum and turned to the secret passageway that only a few people were allowed to enter. She went down into the secret catacombs of the tomb itself, hundreds of feet underground. Following the narrow dark hallway, twisting and turning until another enormous gold door met her. She read the script on the door saying the prayer for him and a story of his life and his final days before entering the enormous dark vault containing more stories of his life and his massive gold and silver sarcophagus laying on a platform in the center of the room.

Cleopatra knelt at the coffin of the founder of her family dynasty, praying and begging for guidance in this time. She had no clue what to do about it all, and she felt if she didn’t figure it out, her brother would have her killed so he could rule alone.

She had her own plans, and she struggled to gain the love of the people of the Kingdom. They seemed to adore her, which was strengthened when she began adopting the ways of peoples ancient customs and their religion. She adopted the people's customs and distanced herself from the Greek traditions and beliefs of the conquerors. And it helped her endear herself to the people stronger. She spent more time in the ancient capital of Memphis and learned the religion from the priests there. She visited the ancient temples and the palaces in Memphis, Thinis, and Thebes, Karank. Her plan had succeeded so far, and the people loved her, and she had come to love her people's ancient culture and their religion. The Greeks that came here had largely integrated and adopted the culture here too.

Theos and the rest of her family largely remained loyal to the Greek customs and its religion, and the people saw that too.

Her father had named her and her brother Theos to be co-rulers of the land of two kingdoms when he died. He had also said that the two should marry each other, but she refused. She had her own ideas of who she would marry when the time came. Her brother, sister, and ministers tried to force her, they put so much pressure on her, but she refused to marry her brother. It was the family way, but she would make new ways. They got along well enough and ruled the kingdom.

And now, her brother Theos seemed to withdraw and allowed her to take more of a role in leading the kingdom. Theos seemed more feminine during the few times she had seen him lately. He was more female not only in how he dressed, but his body seemed to have more female curves forming. Cleopatra had no idea how this was possible.

Cleopatra had figured out nothing during her few hours contemplating and meditating on this problem. No answers revealed themselves; she was as lost as when she came in looking for answers.

<>

Arsinoe walked alongside her younger brother as they made their way back up the streets of Alexandria and back to the safety of the Royal Palace. She noticed that most of the people saw her younger brother, but seemed to accept him as if nothing was out of place. They accepted her brother as the girl he appeared to be. They would approach the royal siblings and greet them respectfully. But they referred to Theos as Princess, or her, assuming he was female and as if it was natural. It seemed very odd, and she was so confused.

Theos was also very afraid, but did his best to act naturally and accept it. To Arsinoe, it was funny as he didn’t seem natural at all. Having been female all her life, she knew Theos’s act wasn't natural, and many things he did stood out to her. His female act was not natural at all and she assumed most other females would notice as she noticed, if they could. If Theos had to do this, he had to do it better. But she could guess why most people around acted as if this was normal and didn’t notice that Theos’s was a boy, and his female act was not natural at all. She smiled to herself as she thanked Isis for this. She also felt her brother's fear and sadness as he was being pushed in a direction he didn’t want to take at all. But he had little choice and was willing to do it for his people and kingdom.

They had made it safely back to the palace and found Theos’s bedroom. Arsinoe was shocked at how very feminine everything appeared now, from the last time she was there when he was living as a boy raised by their father to succeed him as king. There were soft colors everywhere, from the walls, to his bed, to the curtains on the windows. He even had a makeup vanity in the corner like most other royal girls have. It looked like a room fit for a royal princess, and it was more feminine than her own.

One of the family servants entered and bowed respectfully to Theos, addressing him as princess Nefesu. She saw Theos grimace, but accept the help and sat down. Arsinoe briefly remembered some of the princesses were named something like that in the old kingdom over a thousand years ago. She had to take charge if she wanted to figure out how to help her brother through this and had to know what she was working with. She evicted the servant and locked the door.

Arsinoe faced Theos and said, “I need to help you, but first, I need you to take off your clothes and show me what you look like. Then we can figure out how best to help you in your female life.

Young Theos was reluctant to take his clothes off in front of his elder sister and visibly hesitated. He cringed and backed away, when he heard a firm, loving voice in his head tell him it was okay, and his sister was genuine in wanting to help him, and everything would be okay if he would let her. Theos regained his confidence in her and began to do as she requested.

Theos slid the arm straps down his arms and worked the tight-fitting dress below the small swell of his breasts, that had just started growing recently.

Arsinoe let out an audible gasp when she saw his dress slide below the swell of what she was convinced was some sort of stuffing he put in his chest. Arsinoe knew some girls with small breasts put stuffing in their chest cups to appear fuller. But that was not the case here. Arsinoe saw her brother's two small breasts protruding just under the nipples, they were real female breasts growing. She let a very audible shocked gasp from her mouth as she saw the two soft mounds on her brother's chest.

He looked ashamed, momentarily, and covered up as many girls do when they are embarrased. She saw tears start forming under his eyes as he looked down. Arsinoe told him it was okay, and he seemed to listen. Then Theos worked his dress lower, and she saw the feminine loincloths he had tied around his hips the way women tended to do. Men wore something much thicker and more robust under the garment and usually went topless. At least in the style of the old kingdom that her brother has adopted. Women in the old kingdom wore something much thinner and skimpier under their dress. Things had changed over the years and styles had changed, and their goddess wanted them to be an inspiration to the people to bring back the old ways, old styles, and old power of their kingdom. Many of the old styles that her brother had adopted were still alive in the older places of the kingdom.

Arsinoe saw that her brothers hips had expanded and looked much fuller than most men. Standing there looking at her very feminine brother, she had trouble accepting it and wondered how this could have gone on, and she and her eldest sister hadn't noticed at all. Of course, they were consumed with their own lives and plots as members of the polemic family. She asked the obvious question, “How has this happened, Theos?”

He looked down, unable to answer. It was apparent he hated this. But something happened, and he seemed to glow from within and gained the strength to answer somewhere. “Months ago, well around six months ago, this lady from out of nowhere came to talk to me and told me not to trust my older sister Cleopatra and that she wanted power for herself. And that my life depended on me listening to her. She said that I had to listen to her, My sister was plotting against me, and some of my ministers were also on her side. That woman said I had to trust her and there was something that told me I had to. Everything made sense. Cleopatra is cruel and power hungry and plotting against me, so I trusted this woman and she came up with this plan. And she gave me these tablets to take. I have been taking them for half a year, and this happened to my body. I try to comply with the plan and live my life as a girl. Everyone seems to accept it, but I don’t know how. How can no one see and they knew me.”

He kept glowing, and a very familiar voice was heard as someone spoke very sternly from behind them as a woman walked into the room. It was Isis.

“I think you both know how everyone can accept you now. I saw Arsinoe’s thoughts as she strongly suspected the reason. You know by now it's me. I enchanted everyone in Alexandra. I had to, do you think the people, the ministers, would accept King Ptolemy XI's only son, you Theos, was going to turn into a girl and become a princess? Hell no. They would have you killed. So, they think your father has three daughters living now. They never knew you as a son. That’s all my doing, Theos. To them now, you were never a boy.”

He looked devastated to hear this. To Arsinoe, it was heartbreaking to see that he had lost his life as a boy and that there was no choice. It was apparent to her that he didn’t want this life and would need her help to get through it.

She pulled her grieving brother's chin up to look into her loving eyes and said, “I know this is difficult for you. But this is a mission from a powerful goddess and she has deemed you worthy of this. Over me, over our cruel eldest sister. You have the strength to free us all from Roman oppression. No one else can do this except you. So please don’t lose faith. You can do this, and we will be behind you. Stay strong and learn to accept yourself as a woman now. You must stop thinking of yourself as Theos or as a male. Can you do that?”

He seemed to gain strength from somewhere and said firmly, “Yes. I have to.”

Isis said, “Good, you two must leave Alexandria. Your sister will rule from here. But you must go to the old kingdom religious capital of Thebes, where you will grow your base of power from there. The people will follow you, Queen Nefesu. And they have plans for a new civilization, new armies, and forts to build. And you will help guide them. You must go there, and they have plans.”

Theos, now Nefesu, saw it in her mind. She said excitedly, “I see it, Goddess. It's grand. I see massive towers of solid stone rising into the sky, massive stone forts surrounded by water accessibly only by a large bridge on a gate. I see huge new horses and men riding them. Men and women were wearing new heavy plate-like armor that's never been seen before. They are wearing heavy armor, heavy plates on their chest, arms, legs, feet, and even on their head, carrying long swords and pikes. I see armies of armored men carrying long metal pikes. And horses bred large enough to carry these men and women. A whole new army that will crush the legions. The legions will stand no chance.

Arsinoe was lost in all of this. But her new sisters' excitement excited her the same.

Isis said, “Then you must go to the ancient upper kingdom now. Time is short. You don’t have a lot of time. Rome's power doesn’t extend to the upper kingdom at this time so that is where you must go to be safe and build up a new power base. My people are waiting for you. You will have time to grow and build this new army. They have found the metal, gold, and ways to create all of this. You have some time, but not a lot. Rome will go into a civil war very soon and that civil war will drag this kingdom into it. Your kingdom will depend on you to survive.

Nefesu looked at her sister and said, Isis is right. This place has nothing for us. Leave it to Cleopatra, we will go to Thebes. Let's pack and go.