He held out the cup to the king. But before Akhnaton had had time to take it, Dio snatched it out of Merira's hand and threw it on the floor.
"What are you doing?" the king cried.
"I've poured out the poison," Dio answered and she called:
"Mahu! Mahu!"
The door was flung open, and the Hittite women, led by Mahu, ran into the room. Some surrounded the king, others occupied the porch and mounted guard by the doors, but most of them ran to the next room where a battle with a detachment of Midian mercenaries had started.
"Rebellion! Save the king!" the dignitaries cried, rushing about the room in search of an exit.
Suddenly there was a loud hammering at the door from which the Hittite women had come. Both halves of the door were creaking and shaking under the blows of the axe from the other side. No one had expected an attack from the rear. The Amazons had barely had time to run to the door. A new battle began there.
Arrows and spears whistled in the air. A spear struck the stand with wines, and it fell with a clatter of broken crockery. A candelabrum was overthrown and the mats on the floor caught fire.
"Fire! Fire!" the dignitaries shouted, but they did nothing to put it out.
A Nubian girl seized a carpet and flung it over the flame, extinguishing it at once.