Princess Hatsheput II (American Utopia)

Hatsheput II was born in Egypt, circa 1340 BC, as the granddaughter of the first Queen Hatsheput and daughter to Neferure. At age 8, she would won day ascend to the throne as her grandmother did, but alongside her husband, King Tutankhamen (King Tut), whom she married in 1332 BC. As they reigned over Egypt, Hatsheput and Tut worked together to build what they called "a golden age for children". She eventually found out that her and Tut's adviser, Ay, was planning to kill them. With some decoys, they both survived and lived into adulthood. She and Tut had two twin children; Tutankhamen II and Ramesia. She died alongside her husband in 1301 BC and were mummified and buried in the Valley of the Kings. Their throne was succeeded that same time by Ramesia.

Early Childhood
Hatsheput II was born in 1340 BC to Neferure. No one but Neferure knew about Hatsheput II's birth. Neferure chose to raise her daughter in secret. She knew that if anybody else knew, they'd ascend her to the throne, as they did with the first Hatsheput. Despite their now small life in the villages of Egypt, Hatsheput II and her mother had many animals and wealth left from Neferure's royalty life.They also kept many servants. Little is known about Hatsheput II's father, but he was a widely respected Egyptian warrior and adventurer, who faced many bandits in the deserts and hunted to get food. But during a solo crusade to against bandits, she was never seen or heard from again. In Hatsheput II's earlier years, Neferure always told her stories about her grandmother's life as queen of Egypt. Because of those stories, despite her mother's reluctance and caution, Hatsheput II wished to follow in her grandmother place as ruler of Egypt.

Hatsheput II and King Tut
After reaching the age of 8, Hatsheput II chose to leave her mother and go to the palace to show the whole kingdom of her true heritage. From the news spread by the people of Egypt, she learned that Akhenaten's son, Tutankhamen, had ascended to the throne at a mere age 8. Dressed in an elegant dress and jewelry, Hatsheput II rode atop an elephant through the bazaar of Egypt with her animals and servants. Tut and his grand vizier, Ay, watched her from a high balcony in the palace, they were both very fascinated and impressed. Tut started to take a liking to Hatsheput II, as she did to him as she saw him from her elephant.

Face-to-Face With the Pharaoh
As Hatsheput II entered the palace, she felt rather nervous; she was actually going into a palace and meeting the pharaoh of Egypt. But then again, she shouldn't be surprised; she's a princess. She approached King Tut in his throne room and proposed marriage to him. Tut was rather surprised, but he did try to search for a bride as Ay urged him. Other than that, when Tut and Hatsheput II looked at each other better now, they started to fall in love, even for their age. King Tut soon gave his future bride a tour of the palace and showed her his many golden treasures.

Only a week after they met, the two married. Together, they would lead and rule Egypt as King and Queen.

A "Golden Age" for Children
During the start of her reign over Egypt, Hatsheput II looked around herself. She realized that Tut didn't know what a real childhood can be like, as she did. So, she decided to show him what it would be like to be a child. At first, Tut didn't understand, because he was raised as a prince and king his entire life. But soon, he and Hatsheput II started to learn how to enjoy themselves. Once they learned out to enjoy themselves as children, they both decided to share the experience with the rest of Egypt.

So, Hatsheput II and Tut decreed that children were free to run about, play, and have fun as much as they wished. The children of Egypt loved this new decree, and play is just what they did. Soon afterwards, Tut proclaimed that children would be given freedom and equal rights among them and their parents. Soon, children were able to work or not work as they pleased, sometimes leaving things to their parents to handle. But they also got to sell things and help enforce the kingdom's laws as they wished, despite their ages and sizes.

Ay's plans
Not everyone was really happy about these 'child's freedom' decrees and Hatsheput II and Tut put upon the kingdom. Not only did the parents think their parents were becoming more unruly and uncontrollable, but many other villagers believed that this much freedom wouldn't set a good example for Egypt's future generation. Among many of these people was Tut's grand vizier, Ay. He'd been planning to kill both Tut and Hatsheput II. Not just because of the kingdom's welfare, but mostly because he wanted to take control of the kingdom and no longer play 2nd fiddle to two children.

Tut and Hatsheput II grew older as time went by and they started to understand better how to rule a kingdom. They did, however, still feel their proclamation of equal rights to children was still for the better. One day, circa 1323 BC, however, as everything started to fall into place for Ay's plans to assassinate the young pharaohs, Hatsheput II noticed something left on the ground. It looked like a dagger, the one used for her to pay tribute to the sun god, Ra. Then, she found a crack of light from underneath a nearby door, she slowly went towards the door and listened in. There was a voice, it was Ay, speaking out his plan to himself, along with some villagers apposed to her and Tut's ideals. Hatsheput II was shocked to hear that Ay and those others were planning to murder her and her husband.

She went to the guards and told them about an assassination attempt, so they agreed to put her and Tut under extra protection. However, without evidence, she couldn't really prove it was Ay. She also figured that since Ay was the grand vizier, he would easily be allowed to see them alone without the guards interfering. But, if he tried to kill them without witnesses, she decided she'd have to improvise.

That night, Hatsheput II and Tut went to bed. Ay figured this was the best time to kill them while they were off guard. Ay approached the guards with the false claim that he planned to ensure Tut and Hatsheput II's safety. Ay looked around and saw no guards inside the room, perfect. He allowed his helpers from the villages to enter through the window. Ay planned to make it looked like the assassination was a large scuffle, while he did it quietly. So while the villagers got ready to wreck things, Ay stabbed the two teenage rulers both in the backs of their heads. But then, Ay turned the corpses face-up, but they weren't Tut and Hatsheput II, they were decoys and they'd been tricked. The real Tut and Hatsheput II came out from behind the curtains with guards right behind them. Ay and his followers had been caught red-handed.

The next morning, Ay and his followers were found guilty of treason. They were all sentenced to death by beheading. They were executed in front of the Great Sphinx of Giza.