Nefertiti (20 page)

Kiya laughed. “Hittites? You would rather be fighting Hittites than eating with Pharaoh?”

The general looked at her without saying a word.

“Are the Hittites really stealing Egypt’s land?” I asked him.

“Every day that we let them,” Horemheb replied.

“Do you think there will be war?” I asked quietly.

“If Pharaoh lives up to his word. What does the Sister of the King’s Chief Wife believe?”

Kiya made a dismissive noise in her throat. “What do
little girls
know about war?”

Horemheb fixed Kiya with his eyes. “Apparently, more than the wives of Pharaohs.” He pushed himself from the table and walked away. Then I stood up without waiting for Ipu to bring my dinner and announced that I had an urge to see the gardens.

Outside, a full moon had risen above the Garden of Horus. The lights from the palace illuminated the night and a fountain tinkled musically in the distance. I could hear laughter and the sound of happy feasting inside.

“I thought you might be here.”

I froze. A man emerged from the shadows and I thought of running. It had been foolish to come out to the gardens alone. But when he stepped into the light, I saw who it was. I remembered our last conversation and smiled coolly. “Good evening, General Nakhtmin.”

“Not even surprised to see me?” he asked.

He was wearing a long kilt and a short cloak of heavy linen. I studied him in the pale moonlight. “No. Should I be?”

“I just arrived in Memphis. Not even Pharaoh knows that I am here.”

“But Nefertiti said…”

He shrugged. “They were warned of my coming.”

“Then you should be inside.” I indicated the palace. “They will want to speak with you at once.”

The general laughed. “Do you think that Pharaoh cares what his mother has to say on his politics?”

I thought a moment. “No.”

“Then what does it matter if I’m in there pretending to be enjoying myself, or out here with a beautiful
miw-sher
, enjoying myself for real?”

I flushed deeply.
Miw-sher
was what my father called me. It was something you would call a kitten, not a woman. “Nefertiti is inside. You could still enjoy the company of a beautiful woman.”

“So
this
is why you are angry with me. I wondered—”

“I’m not angry with you at all,” I said defensively.

“Good. Then you won’t object to a stroll around the gardens.”

He offered his arm and I took it hesitantly. “You will get me into a great deal of trouble if my sister finds us out here,” I warned, but I enjoyed the feel of his arm against mine and didn’t pull away.

“She won’t come out here.”

I glanced up at him. “And how do you know?”

“Because right now she’s more concerned with building a temple to Aten.”

It was true. I doubted if anyone at feast was missing me at all. “So how is it in Thebes?” I asked glumly.

“Like Memphis. Full of politics,” he said. “Someday I will leave it all behind and retire in a peaceful village somewhere.” He looked at me in the moonlight. “And you? What are the plans for the Sister of the King’s Chief Wife?”

I was fourteen, old enough to marry and run a household of my own. I pressed my lips together. “Whatever my father decides for me.”

The general said nothing. I think he might have been disappointed with my answer. “They say you are a healer,” he observed, changing the subject.

I shook my head earnestly. “I simply learned the use of a few herbs in Akhmim.”

He smiled. “What’s this, then?” he asked, bending down and picking a leaf from a small green plant. I didn’t want to answer, but he held it higher, waiting.

“Thyme. With honey it can cure coughs.” I couldn’t help myself, and Nakhtmin laughed. We were at the edge of the garden. In a few steps, we would be at the palace.

“You don’t belong here,” he said, looking at the open doors to the Great Hall. “You belong with nicer people.”

My voice rose with indignation. “Are you saying—”

“I’m saying none of that,
miw-sher
. But these games are not for you.” We stopped at the verge of the courtyard. “I leave tomorrow morning,” he said. He paused, and then added quietly, “Be careful here, my lady. Let history forget your name. For if your deeds are to live in eternity, you will have to become exactly what your family wants you to be.”

“And what is that?” I demanded.

“A slave to the throne.”

I sat in Nefertiti’s chamber because she had called me there, and I watched her undress, flinging her expensive sheath to the floor. She held out her arms for me to slip on her robe, and I wondered if I was a slave to the throne. I was certainly a slave to Nefertiti.

“Mutny? Mutny, are you listening to me?”

“Of course.”

“Then why haven’t you said anything? I just said that tomorrow we are going to see the temple and you…” She sucked in her breath. “You were thinking of the general,” she accused. “I saw you come into the Great Hall with him last night!”

I turned away so she wouldn’t see my blush.

“Well, put him out of your mind,” she snapped. “He’s not a favorite with Amunhotep and you won’t be seen with him.”

“I won’t?” I stood up, suddenly angry. “I’m thirteen years old. What gives you the right to tell me who to see?”

We stared at each other and the lines grew tight around her mouth. “I am Queen of Egypt. This is not like in Akhmim when we were just girls. I am the ruler of the wealthiest kingdom in the world and you will not be responsible for bringing me down!”

I gathered my courage and shook my head fiercely. “Then leave me out of it.” I moved toward the door, but she barred my exit.

“Where are you going?”

“Back to my courtyard.”

“You can’t!” she exclaimed.

I laughed. “So, what? You’re going to stand here all night?”

“Yes.”

We stared at each other, then the tears welled in her eyes. I reached out my hand, but she waved it away. She walked over to the bed and threw herself down on it. “You want me to be by myself? Is that it?”

I went and sat down next to her. “Nefertiti, you have Amunhotep. You have Father—”

“Father
. Father loves me because I am the daughter with ambition and cunning. It’s you he respects. It’s you he talks to.”

“He talks to me because I listen.”

“And so do I!”

“No. You
don’t
listen. You wait until someone says what you want to hear and then you pay attention. And you don’t take Father’s advice. You don’t take anyone’s advice.”

“Why should I? Why should I be a sheep?”

I sat silently. “You have Amunhotep,” I pointed out again.

“Amunhotep,” she repeated. “Amunhotep is an ambitious dreamer. And tonight he’ll be with Kiya, whose vision doesn’t extend beyond the end of her crooked nose!”

I laughed because it was true, and she reached out her hand to touch my knee.

“Stay with me, Mutny.”

“I’ll stay for tonight.”

“Don’t do me any favors!”

“I’m not. I don’t want you to be alone,” I said earnestly.

She smiled smugly and poured two cups of wine. I ignored her self-satisfied expression and sat next to her at the brazier, drawing a blanket over both of our knees.

“Why doesn’t Amunhotep like the general?” I asked her.

Nefertiti knew immediately which general I meant. “He chose to stay in Thebes rather than come to Memphis.” The fire from the brazier cast golden shadows on her face. She was beautiful even without her jewels and crown.

I protested. “But not every general could come to Memphis with us.”

“Well, Amunhotep distrusts him.” She swirled the wine in her cup. “And for that reason you can’t be seen with him. Those who were loyal came with him to Memphis.”

“But what happens if the Elder dies? Won’t the army join together again in Thebes?”

She shook her head. “I doubt we’ll be going back to Thebes.”

I nearly dropped my cup. “What do you mean? Someday the Elder will die,” I exclaimed. “Perhaps not soon, but someday—”

“And when he does, Amunhotep will not return.”

“Has he said this? Have you told Father?”

“No, he hasn’t said this. But I’ve come to know him.” She looked into the flames. “He will want his own city. One outside of Memphis that will stand as a testament to our reign.” She couldn’t stop herself from smiling.

“But don’t you want to return to Thebes?” I asked her. “It’s the center of Egypt. It’s the center of everything.”

Nefertiti’s smile widened. “No, Mutny.
We’re
the center of everything. Once the Elder dies, wherever we are the court will follow.”

“But Thebes—”

“Is just a city. Imagine if Amunhotep could build an even bigger capital.” Her eyes widened. “He would be the greatest builder in the history of Egypt. We could inscribe our names on every doorpost. Every temple, every shrine, every library, even the art would be testaments to our lives. Yours, too.” Her black hair shone in the firelight. “You could have your own building, immortalize your name, and the gods would never forget you.”

I heard Nakhtmin’s voice in my mind, that to be forgotten was the greatest gift that history could give. But that couldn’t be true. How would the gods know what you had done? We both sat in silence, thinking. The fire in the depths of Nefertiti’s eyes faded and her expression became haunted.

“We’re so different, you and I. It must be because I am more like my mother, and you are more like yours.”

I shifted uncomfortably. I didn’t like it when she spoke about our different pasts.

“I wonder what my mother was like. Imagine, Mutny, I have nothing left of her. No image, no cloth, not even a scroll. Just a handful of rings.”

“She was a Mitanni princess. In her homeland, she must be painted on her father’s tomb.”

“Even so, I have no image of her in Egypt.” Her gaze grew determined. “I will never let that happen to me. I will carve my image in every corner of this land. I want my children to remember me until the sands disappear from Egypt and the pyramids crumble to the earth.”

I stared at my sister in the firelight and felt a deep sorrow. I had never known this about her before.

The bulk of Amun’s treasures had been secured in heavily bound chests, then stacked carelessly against the walls of the Audience Chamber. There were still golden sandals, leopard pelts, and crowns with gems the size of my fist piled in corners and strewn across tables. Where would it all go? It couldn’t be kept safely in this public chamber, not even with three dozen guards watching over it.

“We should fetch Maya,” Nefertiti suggested, “to design a treasury.”

Amunhotep warmed to the idea at once. “The queen is right. I want a treasury built to withstand the sieges of time. Panahesi, find Maya.”

Panahesi rose quickly. “Of course, Your Highness. And if Pharaoh desires, I would be happy to oversee the construction.”

My father shot Nefertiti a swift glance and my sister said lightly, “There will be plenty of time for that, Vizier.” She looked at Amunhotep. “First, we will find a sculptor to place your image at every corner. Amunhotep the Builder, guarding the wealth and treasures of Egypt.”

Panahesi glowered. “Your Highness—”

But Amunhotep was carried away with the vision. “He can sculpt you as well. We’ll be Egypt’s mightiest rulers overlooking its greatest treasury.”

Panahesi turned white at the thought of Nefertiti’s image in the treasury of Egypt.

“Shall we see that a sculptor is summoned?” my father asked.

“Yes,” Amunhotep commanded. “Do so at once.”

Chapter Eleven