Maharet

Maharet and Mekare are two characters from Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles.

Maharet and Mekare were twin sisters and powerful witches living in a beautiful valley not far from Egypt six thousand years ago. They had curly red hair and green eyes. They were hereditary witches who could communicate with spirits. This attracted the attention of Akasha, the young queen of Kemet (now known as Egypt), who sent them an invitation to visit her when they were sixteen years old. They refused, sensing something ominous about the request.

Akasha's next request came in the form of violence, when the twins were performing cannibalistic funeral rites for their mother. The queen, who had made a policy of stamping out ritual cannibalism, sent soldiers to their village, killing everyone in their path and dragging the sisters away.

When the twins arrived in Kemet, they were looked on in awe and fear by all who saw them. These people had never seen red hair, and twins were taboo in the country. They answered with truth all the questions about spirits and gods put to them by the Queen. However, as their answers did not fit with Akasha's beliefs, they were labelled as blasphemers and were thrown into jail. The next morning, the Queen sent and put the same questions to them. Mekare called on a mischievous spirit named Amel, against the wishes of her sister, to display her power. This terrified the queen and her husband, King Enkil, and the twins were thrown into jail again for three nights and days before they received their punishment.

Their punishment was to be raped by the King's steward, Khayman, in front of the whole court. Khayman was not one to accept violence and hated to do the task, but nonetheless had to obey his sovereigns' orders. The sisters were allowed to go home after the rape.

After a difficult time, Maharet and Mekare eventually returned to their homeland, and there Maharet bore a child, Miriam, from Khayman's rape. The sisters put their trials behind them, and settled in to rebuild their life in the valley. But their peace was shattered a year later when Khayman arrived with an army. He took them back to Kemet, and on the journey there told them what had happened since their departure.

The spirit Amel, furious at the humiliation of the twins, had run amok. He pestered the king and queen day and night, throwing and knocking things over, driving the pair mad. It had also been tormenting Khayman for his part in the rape, ripping his house apart and unearthing his father's body from its tomb. The nobles were displeased with their monarchs for bringing this trouble on them, and had plotted to kill them. The nobles had followed the royal couple to Khayman's house, where they were pleading with the spirit to let them be, and attacked them. But somehow Akasha and Enkil had survived, and all the nobles had been killed. Since then, the King and Queen had only been seen at night, and would not leave their palace. People were disappearing, and Khayman had resolved to bring the twins back in hopes that they could put an end to all these troubles.

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