how did the “child” (bride for the afterlife?) die?
natural causes I doubt
From the last sentence:
In the end, a child followed him into the grave as a bloody sacrifice. The child was only about 10.
your probably right.
but, it could be his child,
and perhaps they both died of pneumonia one winter or something.
some ancient cultures loved and cared for their children.
(but again, it probably was a slave or something.)