Ankhira was sworn to protect the royal child Teti.

Beside her stood the Two Ladies: the serpent’s fire and the vulture’s wings, emblems of divine protection.

In ancient tradition, those “Two Ladies” were Wadjet, the cobra of Lower Egypt, and Nekhbet, the vulture of Upper Egypt, whose union guarded the throne itself.

But Seth, god of chaos and cunning, worked to unravel that protection.

Through staged omens and whispered deceit, the Cobra’s presence was dimmed until it seemed to vanish into the shadows.

To the court it seemed that the gods had withdrawn half their guardianship, leaving the boy under only a single wing.

The unraveling came layer by layer.

Queen Ankhesmerira’s pleas carried no weight, the nursemaid Tiaa’s warnings were silenced, and the priest Iryhor’s omens went unanswered.

Each voice that once shielded the heir fell away, leaving Ankhira ever more alone.

Even the captain Intef, who had stood with her in arms, shifted his loyalty to the ambitious Userkaf.

For every layer stripped, Seth’s acolytes pressed harder, forcing Ankhira to meet them in combat.

She fought with all her strength against blades and steel, but that was Seth’s trick.

While her eyes were fixed on the clash of weapons, the true strike moved unseen in the shadows.

At the banquet, the end came not by sword but by a poisoned cup.

The venom was an ironic echo of the Cobra that should have defended Teti, turned instead into Seth’s cruelest taunt.

The fight raged, yet the battle was already lost.

When the boy fell, the family ended, and Ankhira stood as the Last Guardian of a promise unwound by cunning rather than conquered by force.