Imhotep (34 page)

He
allowed himself to be stopped.

Out in
the hallway, Djefi paused at the soft sound that came from the doorway behind
him.  He turned his head to look there, decided that his curiosity wasn’t
worth the effort and continued his plodding passage away from Hetephernebti’s
chambers.

The
words from Hetephernebti were fresh in his mind.  He wanted to turn them
over and study them, contrast them with what Kanakht had told him
earlier.  And he needed to find a bathroom and settle himself on the cold
limestone seat.  His bowels had been in disarray since he had gotten word
that Nimaasted had failed to dispose of the outlander Brian.

Despite
the excellent meal and honey-flavored beer - he must get the recipe for
his brewers - his visit with Kanakht yesterday had been unsettling. 
The old vizier was worried about this and that: a gift of land to the temple of
Khnum would make the royal guard more alert … the outlander Tim had gained
favor with King Djoser, so much favor that he’d been given a new name and had
been asked to accompany King Djoser on his trip to Abu …  Prince Teti was not
seriously injured and one of his guards was suspected of trying to kill him,
but now another guard was also suspected …  Ma’at had disappeared at the same
time Brian had escaped.

Well,
she’d reappeared.  She had been sitting beside Hetephernebti just
now.  Never uttering a word, just smiling and watching him.  He
should have asked her about Brian, but he couldn’t think of a way to raise the
topic.  If she was here, did that mean the outlander was here too?

Now
Hetephernebti was hinting that there were rumors of a plot against King Djoser
and asking him if he knew anything.  In his head he heard her voice, so
smooth and taunting.  He stopped at the intersection of two
hallways.  Which way would lead to a toilet?  From the rumbling in
his gut he didn’t have much time.

T
ama stood in front of Brian, her hands
flat against his heaving chest, watching him closely.  There was anger in
his face she had not seen before, his eyes staring off in the distance. 
She knew that his mind was elsewhere, stalking Djefi, no doubt.

“You
are a wanted man here, Brian.”

His
eyes finally moved from the doorway and she felt the chest muscles under her
hands swell up as he took a deep breath.

“Kanakht
received word from Nimaasted that you killed a man in Khmunu.  It is
Kanakht’s duty to capture you if he sees you.  Then you would be returned
to Khmunu where Nimaasted would have the power to decide your guilt and
punishment.”

“I
didn’t kill him,” Brian answered.  “You know that.”

She
nodded in agreement as he backed away.  “I believe you, Brian.  But
that doesn’t matter.  Kanakht is vizier to King Djoser.  If he
decides that you are to be sent to Khmunu and given to Nimaasted for justice,
then that is what will happen.”

Brian
looked down at the stone floor.  The peace and contentment he had felt a
few minutes ago while looking into the garden was gone.  He realized that
whatever new understanding he thought he had about himself was shallow. 
He had gone from tranquility to rage in the time it took him to take three
steps.

He
breathed deeply and tried to re-center his emotions, to see the reality of
where he was, not his hopes.  Djefi, Kanakht and Nimaasted were his
enemies now.  Whether they were right, whatever their motives, they would
try to stop him and punish him.

Tama
was his friend and although she said it didn’t matter if she believed he was
innocent, it mattered to him.  Not just because he cared for her, but also
because she was a woman of importance; she had friends.  There must be a
network of people who would believe her and help him.  And Tim is out
there somewhere, he thought.

She
watched as he calmed himself, bringing himself back to this room, this now,
this reality and away from his anger and thoughts of violence.

“Hetephernebti
wants to meet with you, Brian.  She was with Tim and she has news about
Diane.”

She
reached for his hand and, taking it, led him down the hallway to
Hetephernebti’s chambers.

H
etephernebti sat at the head of a table
full of food.

She
was sipping wine when they entered, pausing by the doorway until she nodded and
waved them forward.  “Sit here,” she said to Brian, touching the wooden
back of the chair on her left.

Brian
hesitated by the chair, his eyes moving from the table to the open doorway.

“Now,
we will have a pleasant meal,” Hetephernebti said, “and exchange news as
civilized people do.  I would have invited Djefi to join us, but he made
it clear that he had already eaten and needed to attend to other matters. 
Which,” she turned to Brian, “I understand is convenient since he wants to kill
you.”

She
wiped her mouth with a linen cloth and smiled.

“Brian,
please be seated.  I have posted a guard by the door.  No one will be
allowed to enter, except Kanakht, of course.  One does not bar the
vizier.  But, we will have plenty of notice if he approaches.  There
is a doorway just behind you.  If Kanakht approaches, you can wait in the
room beyond that doorway.  It is my private chamber.

“Now,
enjoy the meal. The goose is delicious, the bread is still warm from the ovens
and the wine is tart.  Sit, sit!”

Seeing
Tama nod, Brian sat and began to eat.  His mouth was full of wine when
Hetephernebti spoke again.

“So
tell me about this man Kanakht says you killed.”

Brian
choked and covered his mouth with his hand as he coughed.

“Hetephernebti
is as direct as Re’s golden rays, Brian,” Tama said, watching Brian as he
recovered his poise.  “The light of Re uncovers truth.  You can trust
her.  Tell her your story.”

S
he let him talk without interruption.

“Do
you know Tim?” she asked after he had brought her up to date.

“Not
really.  I talked to him at To-She and then I expected to meet him at
Khmunu, but he wasn’t there.  I hoped to meet him here.”

“Why
do you seek him?”

“Because
he said he can help us get back home.  Diane and me.”

“You cannot
get home without him?”

Brian
shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I’m not sure how we got here,” he said
with a sad smile.

Hetephernebti
rested the palms of her hands on the table and stared off in the
distance.  Then she turned to Brian.  “I believe you, Brian.  I
think that you, and Diane and Imhotep, which is what we call Tim now, were sent
here by the gods.  It is not an accident that you are here at the very
time so much is happening.”

She
motioned to the food and the wine.  “Eat and enjoy.  I will tell you
my story now, or rather the story of the Two Lands.”

“T
he Two Lands are as old as time, but they
were not always united.  King Narmer was the first to rule over the Two
Lands, or so we are told.  That was in a time beyond reckoning.  My
earliest memory is of my father, King Kha-sekhemwy.  I did not know his
father, King Sekhemib, only the stories about him.

“When
my brother became king, he took Netjerikhet as his Horus name.  His name
means ‘Divine of Body.’ He announced that he had been welcomed by Re and Horus
and all the hundred gods as one of them.”

She
paused for a moment, her eyes moving from Brian to her hands, which were
resting on her lap.

“The
Two Lands,” she continued, her voice even and calm, “is a rich, large
land.  There is room for Apis, Hathor, beautiful Isis, Tefnut, the eye of
Re, Osiris, Sobek, Thoth, Ma’at and Set.  So, there is room for another
god - my brother.”

She
looked up at Brian.  “How many gods are in your land?” she asked.

“One,”
he said.

“One?”

“Yes,
there are different ways to worship him, different religions, but just one
god.”

“What
is his name?”

Brian
had never heard another name for God, except in movies where Muslims called him
“Allah.”  He thought there was another special name that Jews used, but he
couldn’t remember it.  “Mostly we just call him God,” he answered.

She
looked at him in disbelief.

“No,
wait,” Brian said.  “He has a son.  At least some people think
so.  His name is Jesus.”

“So
you have two gods.”

That
made him pause.  “No, just one.  I’m pretty sure.”

Hetephernebti
arched her eyebrows.  “You have a god and he has a son, but the son is not
a god?”

“Yeah,
that doesn’t sound right,” Brian admitted.  “Wait, I remember something
from church.  We used to say ‘God, the father, God, the son, and God, the
Holy Spirit.’ ”

“So,
three gods,” Hetephernebti said.

Brian
was puzzled.  He had said the words when he was young and his mother had
taken him to church, but he had never made an effort to understand them. 
“No, I’m sorry.  They’re all one god.  I don’t understand it
either.  But I’m sure that’s the way it is.”

Hetephernebti
nodded.  “I’m sorry, Brian, I wandered from my story.

“Because
my brother has declared himself a god, it has made some people think that the
house of the gods can be rearranged.  Djefi believes that if my brother
can declare himself a god, then it might be possible for Djefi to declare Sobek
as the chief of all gods.  A few others, the followers of Amun and those
of Aten to name just two, are beginning to have the same thoughts. 
However, Djefi is a special case.

“Kanakht
… ” she turned to Tama, “Has he met Kanakht?”

Tama
shook her head.

“Kanakht
was at To-She for the festival.  You did not meet him then?” Hetephernebti
asked.

“No,”
Brian said.  “Djefi kept me secluded.  I only met Tim because he
found me.”

“Yes,”
Hetephernebti said.  “I had forgotten.  That seems so long ago
already.  Well, Kanakht was vizier to my father and he remains vizier now
for my brother.  He is disturbed by the changes King Djoser has
made.  And he is growing old.  He believes that he has served the Two
Lands well and now it is time for the Two Lands to serve him.  So he plots
to take the throne.”

She
turned and rested a hand on Tama’s arm.  “I have not told you this, little
sister.  Things have happened while you were on your journey.  I have
no evidence, but I am sure of what I say.

“Kanakht
has incited Djefi with ideas that if King Djoser is overthrown then Sobek, if
he plays a part in this, will be regarded as the chief god of the Two Lands.”

Tama
interrupted.  “And King Djoser knows of all this?”

Hetephernebti
nodded. 

“He
knows of it, but he does not know how widespread Kanakht’s plot is, who else is
involved.  And so he waits and watches.”

She
paused and reached for her wine cup.

“What
about Diane?” Brian asked.

Hetephernebti
set down her cup and leaned forward on her elbows.  “She is here in Waset,
traveling with Djefi and Yunet.  I have not seen her, only heard that she
is here.”

“Is
she in danger?”

Hetephernebti
met his eyes.  “I do not know, Brian.  I think Yunet protects
her.  And I believe that Djefi wants to keep her secure so he can use her
to bargain with my brother if something goes wrong with the plot.  He also
may think that she has powers.

“Do
not shake your head, Brian.  Imhotep has healed Meryt of the wasting
disease.  I saw it myself.  He has saved Prince Teti’s arm.  You
have carried a man from a certain death in the desert and saved a little girl
from the crocodile’s jaws.  Yes, I know the stories.  I was at To-She
when you returned from the desert.  I heard what the people said.  So
if you and Imhotep have powers, why shouldn’t Diane?

“I
know that you say you are not gods.  You might believe that.  But I
do not.  I have seen the miracles that Imhotep has worked.  You have
twice saved people and once escaped death yourself.”

“Where
is Diane?” Brian asked, shutting out her arguments that he was more than a man.

Hetephernebti
glanced at Tama and then answered Brian.  “She travels with Djefi, but he
has several boats.  He stopped here to get food to continue his trip to
Kom Ombo.  One of the boats left shortly after he arrived.  I do not
know if Diane was on that one.  I only know that she has not come into
Waset.”

Brian
looked at the window and saw that it had grown dark outside.

“Tama,”
he said, “help me find Diane.”

D
jefi didn’t feel as well as he hoped he
would after emptying himself at the palace.

There
was more than heavy food weighing on him.  If Tama was here in Waset, then
Brian was probably here as well.  They had disappeared from Khmunu at the
same time, so it was likely they had left together.