Suzanne Robinson (16 page)

“I’m overdue at the palace,” he said. “Pharaoh wishes to bid me farewell and tells me he has a parting gift. Last time it was a Sardinian slave. Quite beautiful.” Seth turned and put his hand on the door of the cabin.

Anqet couldn’t resist a taunt. “Poor slave, to be the property of a lecherous wanton. She must be unhappy.”

Seth laughed and tossed a reply over his shoulder as he stepped out the door “Dear innocent, I didn’t say the slave was female, and he is content—you might even say pleased—to be my property.”

The door shut. Anqet loosed a cry of outrage, grabbed the nearest cushion, and hurled it at the entry. She took another cushion and began to twist it like a wet rag until her anger subsided. Once she’d calmed down, Anqet realized that Seth had again enticed her despite her anger. It was her own fault for giving in to this weakness in her heart. She seemed to be permanently enthralled by the man.

She’d been a fool to speak of his mother Her sense was deserting her. She should have known the subject was forbidden. Seth had reacted with his special brand of lurid self-defense, and she had responded in the intended manner.

Anqet threw the cushion to the floor and kicked it. “He’s as difficult and obscure as a mortuary text. He reminds me of a bad pomegranate: lush and beautiful on the surface, rotten within.”

Seth watched Tutankhamun’s body servant divest the king of the heavy double crown of the Two Lands, the white symbolizing southern Egypt, the red the Delta. Tutankhamun sighed as the weight left his brow. He rumpled his curly hair and buried his face in a wet cloth.
The heavy cosmetics on his eyes smeared. He was about to say something to the count when another servant wiped his face with an oily cleanser Seth snickered at the boy.

“Patience, my king.”

Tutankhamun’s voice floated out from behind a cloth. “You don’t have to wear these things. The crown presses down on my ears. Someday it will chop them off.”

Further teasing on Seth’s part was forestalled by the entrance of Divine Father Ay and General Horemheb, deep in argument as usual. Ay cut off his last statement, clapped his hands to scatter the servants, and assumed the role of body servant. Beneath a thick court wig, his face was set in lines of disapproval. He lifted a coronation pectoral from the king’s shoulders. Gathering the gold chain in one hand, he glared at the turquoise, lapis, and malachite symbols of the pendant and frowned at Tutankhamun.

The king looked to Seth for support. “He hasn’t forgiven me for not coming to him when I found out my brother’s tomb had been entered.”

“You frightened me, beloved Pharaoh,” Ay said. “I pray to Thoth, god of wisdom, to help me understand.”

Tutankhamun looked at his gold sandals, his face bleak and weary. Horemheb distracted Ay by removing the lid of a jewel box and holding it out to receive the pectoral. Seth maneuvered the king far away from the Divine Father under the pretense of helping with the clasp of an electrum armband mounted with winged scarabs. Seth snapped open the hinge of one band.

The king stared at the silver signet ring on the count’s hand; it was inscribed with Seth’s name and titles. Tutankhamun lowered his voice. “Why have you not told me of your association with Lord Merab?”

Seth’s hands froze on the king’s arm. He looked past the youth at a gold drinking vessel on a table.

“Majesty, has General Horemheb mentioned the task he set me?”

“The Eyes and Ears of Pharaoh are numerous,” the
king said. “My majesty doesn’t depend only on Horemheb and Ay for knowledge.”

Seth’s eyes took on the luster of ceramic glaze. “Bareka! Golden One, does someone else know too?”

“You mean besides me?”

“Majesty!”

Tutankhamun pulled his arm free of the second electrum band and took it from Seth. A fighter’s gleam came into his eyes. “You three saw fit to keep me in ignorance. I’m no longer a child. You will not decide what I should know. You’ve caught the ringleader of the tomb robbers, and I wasn’t told.”

“Divine Ph—”

“I’m angry with you, Seth. I asked you to find the man responsible for the atrocity on my brother, and you had already found him.” Tutankhamun’s hands flexed as he glared at Seth.

At the sound of the king’s irate voice, General Horemheb left Ay and crossed to the younger men. “I beg Your Majesty’s pardon. It was I who bade Count Seth to keep silent. Knowing how the robberies cast a pall upon the well-being of Pharaoh, I didn’t want to burden Thy Majesty with petty intrigues. The Divine Father and I wished to present the criminals bound and prostrate before thee—not just the henchmen, but the real leaders.”

The king growled and spread his arms out to Seth.

“Forgive me. I should have known you would keep nothing from me.”

Seth smiled at Tutankhamun. “It isn’t for me to forgive the living god, Divine One.”

Tutankhamun turned on the two older men. Before he could open his mouth, Ay held up his hand.

“We were wrong, Majesty. It won’t happen again.”

“That is all?” the boy asked. “You aren’t going to argue?”

Ay shook his head.

“Why not?” Tutankhamun asked.

“Because you are right, Pharaoh,” Ay said. “We try to
protect you from all harm and forget that you are almost a man. A man must protect himself.”

Tutankhamun smiled at Ay. The vizier’s stern countenance crumpled at the sight. The king laughed, went to his mentor, and gave him a rough hug.

“Seth,” the youth said, “explain these clandestine meetings with that dog Merab. And while you’re about it, explain why you’re holding my singer-physician prisoner on your galley.”

A royal armband clattered to the floor Seth cursed and picked it up while Tutankhamun chuckled. Seth scowled. He wondered how much the boy knew about his dealings with Anqet. Feeling like a magician whose apprentice has suddenly begun casting spells without aid, Seth told the story of Merab.

“When will you have the leader?” Tutankhamun asked.

“I can’t be sure, Divine One. Merab says his master will find me on his own. I can’t close the snare on Merab or his cohorts until we have the leader” Seth smiled a grim smile. “I’m sure this leader is the one responsible for the attack on your brother’s tomb. I expect the man to contact me after the delivery of the booty to my estate. Once we have the master thief, the royal troops can board my ships and take the whole pack at once.”

Tutankhamun paced back and forth between his two advisors and Seth. “I don’t like it. You invite the jackal into your home and leave yourself open to his attack.”

“Dega will be nearby,” Seth said.

“Near, but not by your side as he has always been.”

“I’ll be careful, Majesty.”

Tutankhamun threw up his hands. “Very well. I can’t be there myself, so I’ll have to trust in the gods to see that you don’t take foolish chances.” The king turned to Horemheb. “I will expect a company of archers and one of spearmen to assist the chariot corps. They must be ready to leave for Annu-Rest at any moment.”

Dismissed, Horemheb bowed, and both he and Ay walked out. The sound of the bickering made the two young men grin at each other.

“What about the singer?” the king asked.

Seth fiddled with one of the electrum armbands. “She accidentally witnessed a conversation with Merab. She has to be kept hidden, or the man will kill her I dare not let her out of my sight for long. She tries to escape me constantly.” Seth cleared his throat. “She doesn’t approve of me. She thinks I’m Merab’s ally.”

“I suppose you have done nothing to encourage this false impression,” Tutankhamun snapped. “Put the armband away before you break it.”

With elaborate care Seth put the band on top of a pile of jewelry in one of the caskets on a side table. When he turned around, Tutankhamun had arranged his long body in an ebony-and-gold chair and was watching him. Seth approached the king. He dropped to the floor beside the boy, facing away from him. Tutankhamun’s amused expression made him cautious. He hooked one arm around a bent knee.

“The Living Horus should not concern himself with such trivial matters.”

“After all these years you’ve cared for me?” Tutankhamun replied sweetly. “Anyway, you help me deal with the queen.”

“You aren’t going to leave me alone, are you, Majesty?”

“No.”

“She’s a lady. I treated her like a woman of the taverns.”

Tutankhamun rested his hand on Seth’s shoulder “Do you know how your voice changes when you speak of her? There is a gentleness you never allow. I think few know it exists in you. I have known the gift of that gentleness. You give it to Khet. You never give it to your women, at least not until now.”

“The gods have made Pharaoh too wise. I could wish you were still a little boy, too young to perceive my shortcomings.”

“Pharaohs have few friends. They must guard them well.” Tutankhamun gave Seth’s arm a shake. “So you suspect the singer of complicity with the robbers?”

“No, Majesty. She is innocent.” Seth told Anqet’s story. “I’ve sent someone to this house called Nefer, but I believe her. She’s not a good liar, and she has no powerful connections. In time, I’ll deal with her uncle; perhaps Thy Majesty will allow me the use of two or three of his leopards for the purpose. Am I so different when I speak of her?”

The king grinned at him. “If a lion could transform into a kitten, you would see a like change.”

Seth’s eyes became two slits of jade. “Hardly a flattering modification.”

“I like it. You have my permission to marry the lady.”

“Marry!” Seth nearly fell over so quickly did he twist around to stare at his monarch.

“Only if you want to. It’s not a command.”

“I thank thee, Pharaoh, but marriage won’t be necessary,” Seth said. He ignored the laughter in Tutankhamun’s voice.

“Perhaps it is. You can’t keep preying on my noblewomen forever This singer is an enchantment of a woman. Had I not known you wanted the girl, I would have taken her for myself Don’t look so shocked. You told me to look elsewhere for love after the queen tried to kill me. Be comforted. I’m not yet recovered from my last so-called lovemaking.”

Seth eyed the king. “You’re serious.”

“She nearly made me forget my injuries the night Ankhsenamun cut me.”

Seth gawked at the youth sitting above him. He fought with the disconcerting urge to strike the living god. The king wanted Anqet. It had never occurred to Seth that anyone would be a threat to his possession of the girl. Pharaoh had but to lift his hand, and Anqet would be his, not Seth’s. That thought sent wrath bubbling like liquid metal through his veins. He got to his feet, bowed to the king, and asked leave to retire. Tutankhamun nodded, a pleased smile on his lips. At the door, Seth turned back to the boy who watched him so closely.

“My vow of secrecy, Pharaoh. I would be released
from it so that Lady Anqet may be told that she need not make these annoying breaks for freedom.”

“You have my permission However, I don’t think she runs from you only because she thinks you’re a criminal. After all, she knows about Gasantra. And someone’s bound to have told her about all the others.”

“Majesty, don’t people have anything to do but spy on my private affairs?”

“But Seth,” the king said, “you give them such a splendid spectacle. Ay wanted me to banish you after you seduced that priestess. I told him half the ladies would follow you into exile and the other half would expire from boredom with no one to tantalize their rigid little sensitivities. Have a pleasant trip home, my friend.”

Count Seth’s galley was an elegant craft, as sleek and sinister as its owner Larger than most pleasure ships, its sides were painted black, with gold trim at the railing and at the floriform tips of the prow and stern. The sleeping cabin amidships had a pavilion attached to its front hung with transparent curtains. The galley carried twenty-two oarsmen and two helmsmen to handle the great steering oars at the stern. On such a large ship, Anqet reasoned, it should be possible for one small woman to slip overboard and swim away.

After Seth left for the royal palace, Anqet stayed in the main cabin until well after moonset. The count had posted a sailor outside the cabin, and it was some time before she saw him walk forward a few paces to stretch his legs. In that brief time, she scuttled outside and around the corner of the cabin with one of Seth’s whips grasped in her hand as a makeshift cudgel. Keeping to the shadows beside the cabin wall, she tiptoed past the bodies of the sleeping crew. Ahead lay the stern with its railed platform. It was deserted.

Anqet paused at the end of the wall that concealed her She could see nothing beyond a stack of crates set before the stern. Anqet checked to port and starboard, then ran for the crates. She swept around the boxes and skidded to a stop before a man leaning over the side of the galley. He straightened and weaved around to face Anqet.

Count Seth breathed his words at her “Ah, it is the
small needle that pricks at my heart, come to practice further savagery on my ka.”

The words were only slightly blurred. He kept one hand on the rail to steady himself and caught Anqet’s hand with the other Drawing her to him, he kept her hand as he took a perch on the railing, with his feet hanging over the side. Seth turned slightly and invited Anqet to join him. She thrust the hand with the whip further behind her back and shook her head. Letting go of her Seth turned to face the water. Anqet took in the smell of liquor and the odor of women’s perfume.

Seth stared out at the night sky. In profile his jawline was clean and angular, his cheek hollow, and his mouth full and upturned. Anqet resisted the urge to trace the angles of his face with her finger She must keep her thoughts on escape. If she started thinking of his body, she was doomed.

The hard grip of the whip in her hand made her brave. She would hit him. Just a little. She didn’t want to hurt him, but after all, he was a thief and a defiler of the dead. Trembling with apprehension, Anqet lifted the butt of the whip high. Seth sighed and began to turn his head in her direction.

“Sweet one, is there no physician who can cure me of this illness? You are a delicious poison—”