The Assassins of Isis (31 page)

Authors: P. C. Doherty

BOOK: The Assassins of Isis

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âOf course I am!' Hatusu scratched her arm, a nervous gesture she made whenever she was angry. âLord Impuki was most gracious. He heard the dying woman's confession as if he was a chapel priest, yet he still told me. He and his household were sworn to secrecy. I owe them a great debt. Rahimere's widow, however, did not tell him where the tomb was. We searched for it but it was too late. We thought,' she grimaced, âshe would be buried with her husband, but she was too cunning for that, and her corpse rests with her own kin.'

âSo the tomb robbers discovered it?'

âOf course they did! When Rahimere was Grand Vizier, a lord of Egypt, he knew the Valley of the Kings. He'd already chosen a lonely spot, a place where the crags of the valleys create a shadow, an illusion.'

âThose robbers found it,' Senenmut came away from the
door, âlike all such discoveries, by accident. They must have done.'

âNo they didn't.' Amerotke smiled. âOne thing I did discover, but dismissed at the time, was that Mafdet had been captain of Rahimere's guard. When the Vizier fell from power Mafdet retired. General Omendap recommended him for the post at the Temple of Isis. Menna too may have had a hand in his appointment, but secretly, through General Suten. Mafdet also became a member of the Sebaus. He would have known about the secret of Rahimere's tomb and, like the mercenary he was, gave the information to the Khetra, hoping to share in the plunder. Indeed,' Amerotke shrugged, âMafdet would have known about the Book of Secrets. A treacherous villain, he would have deserted Rahimere just in time, played the role of the loyal veteran for his superiors and, when approached by the Khetra, divulged what he knew. Like the blackmailer he was, he nursed the whereabouts of Rahimere's tomb and its contents as a miser would some secret treasure.'

âOnce Rahimere's tomb was violated,' Senenmut continued, âit was no longer a secret. Officials who investigated the robbery found items which led them to the entrance. The tomb had been ransacked, its coffin casket opened, and beside it was a leather case. This was brought to the palace. It was the sort of leather case in which you keep a book or manuscript. You can imagine our concern. If the treasures of other tombs were sold abroadâ'

âWhy not the Book of Secrets?' Hatusu drank greedily from the goblet clenched in her hands. âCan you imagine, Amerotke, the damage such a book could cause in the possession of my enemies, either here or across the Horus road? I would have been depicted as an adulterer, perhaps even my late husband's murderer.' She stretched out her hand and brushed Amerotke's face. âI listened to you in court, a brilliant attack. I could tell from Menna's eyes that he hoped to negotiate, but this is a fight to the death.
As you talked I wondered how much General Suten had known. Did Menna even approach him to join the Sebaus? Ah well,' she sighed, âwe will never know. You must find that book, Amerotke, you are my saluki hound, and both the prisoners must die. Do not approach Menna.' Hatusu's smile faded. âYou must not be infected, polluted by what he has read in the Book of Secrets. Offer the woman a merciful death. She must know something. Mercy now and honourable treatment for her corpse.'

âAnd Menna?'

âNothing,' Hatusu snapped back, âbut horror after horror.'

The Pharaoh Queen held Amerotke's gaze, and the judge wondered about the Book of Secrets and the truths behind the mysteries it contained.

A short while later Amerotke went down to the House of Chains. The temple guards, apart from Asural, had been withdrawn, their places taken by the Silent Ones who prowled the narrow, ill-lit passageways like wolves, hardened men in their imperial headdress, leather belts and kilts. They even insisted on searching the judge. When Amerotke gestured with his hands that he needed to question the prisoners, their officer smiled serenely, pointed to a cell door and shook his head. Again, through signs, Amerotke asked if he could at least see Chief Scribe Menna. The officer agreed. They approached the door and he pulled back the high wooden flap. Amerotke peered through. Chief Scribe Menna, stripped of everything except his loincloth, a mask over his face, squatted against the far wall, his arms and legs laden with manacles secured to the stone behind him. Looking down, to his right and left, Amerotke glimpsed the guards sitting either side of the door. Even though Menna's face was veiled, Amerotke could sense the malicious strength of this most cunning of men. He moved to the next cell, where Lupherna, her robe all soiled, her wig removed, slumped sullenly, her face dirty and stained
with dried kohl. Amerotke made signs for the door to be unlocked, and this time his escort agreed. In the next cell Menna must have heard the noise.

âNo use going in there,' his powerful voice bawled. âThe stupid bitch knows nothing! She'll only mislead you. Is that our noble judge? I can smell your body sweat. I prefer jasmine, the most fragrant of perfumes.'

Lupherna stirred as Amerotke came into the foul-smelling cell with its slop buckets and dirty basins. She was beyond tears now, and just stared at him, lips moving soundlessly. Amerotke crouched down before her.

âI speak with true voice,' he declared. âI cannot mislead you. You are to die.' Lupherna blinked, tongue going out to wet dry, cracked lips. âWhat you must decide,' Amerotke continued, âis how you die and how you prepare your soul for the journey into the Far West. Pharaoh is inclined to mercy, at least for you.'

âWhat form of death?' Lupherna whispered, as if fearful that Menna might overhear.

âA goblet of wine with the juice of a marsh plant added, a feeling of tiredness, of falling asleep. Your body will go to the wabet and the House of Beauty. The priests will chant their prayers, your heart will be covered with the sacred scarab. Sacrifices and prayers will be offered for you, and before you drink the wine a chapel priest will purge your sins.'

Lupherna stared down at the ground.

âWickedness is like a flower,' she replied slowly. âFirst the root, then the stem and the branches shoot out before you even know. I come of good family. My marriage to General Suten was most honourable, but my eye wandered and my heart followed. I became involved with Heby, and Menna discovered us. He had the proof which could have destroyed us; he offered us another reality. We became part of the Khetra. It's all there, you know,' she continued, as if speaking to herself, âin the family archives, all the information about the Valley of the Kings and
the tombs. General Suten didn't know what Menna was doing! He could go into the House of Books and read what he wanted. He used to ride out to the valley. He would tell us what he had seen and found. We became aware of how busy he truly was. Veterans would come to the mansion begging for favours. Often Menna would drive them away or refer them to some other scribe in the army, but secretly he would note their names, the places where they lived. He covered his tracks so well, nothing could be traced directly back to him, not even the assassins he sent against you.'

âAnd he met the Sebaus at the Temple of Khnum?'

âThere and other places. He would cloak himself in black and douse himself in jasmine perfume. He liked that, did Menna.'

âAnd General Suten suspected nothing?'

âYes, he did. He suspected something was very wrong but couldn't believe it. Menna grew rich. Search the house, judge, you'll find treasures hidden in wells, beneath the soil, in the rafters of the roof. Go down to the goldsmiths of Thebes; Menna would use different names to hide his wealth there. He had Heby and me in the palm of his hand. At first we were reluctant, but then Heby too began to enjoy the wealth. My husband was no fool, he was watching us, so he had to die. Menna conceived the plot. He declared suspicion would fall on Heby, but that wouldn't last.' She sighed. âThen that snake man appeared. Did you really find Heby's corpse?'

Amerotke shook his head. âIt was only a trick; I had to do it.'

âMenna kept Heby's corpse hidden in an empty chamber. When the guards were withdrawn we took it out by night and threw it into a crocodile pool. I knew then we were truly cursed. I could feel Heby's ghost and my husband's hunting me through the dark.' She paused. âIf you've come to ask for names, I haven't any. Menna was insistent on that; only he
kept the master roll, here.' She tapped the side of her head. âBut surely you know all this?'

âDid Menna ever refer to the Book of Secrets?'

âNever.'

Amerotke closed his eyes in disappointment.

âI swear by all that's holy,' Lupherna added hastily. âOnly once, at the end of last month, he was full of himself. He declared that he had found a treasure more priceless than the rest. We used to meet him in the garden, late in the evening. Heby asked to see it, Menna shook his head. He said that the treasure was protected by the potter's wheel and only the frogs knew where it was. That's all I know,' she muttered. âI need some water.'

Amerotke moved across to the jar, but one of the Silent Ones intervened. He grasped the ladle himself, tasted the water and only then handed it to Amerotke. Lupherna drank greedily.

âThat's all I can tell you,' she declared. âIs it enough to buy me mercy?'

Amerotke left the cell and returned to his own chamber in the Hall of Two Truths. The court was now empty of spectators, the cushions, tables and chairs all tidily replaced; no trace remained of the violence which had occurred earlier. Hatusu's guards were everywhere, even outside Amerotke's own chamber, where Shufoy crouched enjoying a jug of beer. Amerotke joined him, taking off his robes. Sitting with his back to the wall, he described what Lupherna had said. Shufoy could not help him. Intrigued, Amerotke returned to the House of Chains, to be greeted by Menna's raucous shouting and Lupherna's tearful insistence that she didn't know what the potter's wheel meant, though she confessed Heby had suspected it was some place in the house.

âCould it be the Temple of Khnum?' Shufoy asked, when his master returned.

âBut there's no potter's wheel there,' Amerotke replied
absent-mindedly. âNor any sign of frogs, be they alive, statues or a painting. It must be in General Suten's house.'

Later that day Amerotke and his guards ransacked Suten's mansion. Every room was searched, the gardens dug up, undergrowth cleared from orchards, wells probed, the floors of pavilions turned up. The servants clustered in the garden, frightened and withdrawn. Amerotke, as he searched, had to admire Menna's cunning. Of course they found hidden stores, debens of gold, silver and precious stones, but nothing to connect the Chief Scribe with the robberies at the Valley of the Kings. Apparently Menna had converted the proceeds of such robberies into wealth which could be quickly gathered in case of flight,

The Chief Scribe had been particularly astute in his use of General Suten's House of Books. At first the chamber looked to be what it was, the dusty archives and library of a family, with caskets, coffers, baskets and shelves full of old records and manuscripts. A closer study of these, however, revealed a true treasure house of knowledge they stored: letters, memoranda, chronicles, journals and diaries describing the burials of Pharaohs, nobles, queens and other high-ranking officials. Amerotke reckoned the records spanned at least sixty years and the reigns of five Pharaohs. The House of Books also contained, carefully hidden away, the imperial cartouche, the royal seal with its divine signs, which, if used to mark any letter or bundle, would ensure safe passage anywhere in Egypt as well as across its borders.

Darkness fell, and Amerotke continued his searches. He and Shufoy had food and wine brought in for them, yet although they discovered numerous items, there was nothing, apart from the seal and some manuscripts, which convincingly proved Menna's guilt. Dawn found them still at work. Amerotke went up to the roof terrace, a lonely, deserted place, to feel the morning breeze, the cool breath of Amun, and make his morning prayer as the sun rose
in a fiery glow. The household was roused as the soldiers continued their search. Royal messengers arrived demanding news, but Amerotke had to send them away empty-handed.

âNothing!' the judge exclaimed as he and Shufoy rested in the shade of a palm grove. âNothing at all about a potter's wheel. The mansion doesn't even own one.'

âIt's got frogs!' Shufoy exclaimed. âPlenty of the noisy little vermin. They sang their hymn all night.' The dwarf sifted through the manuscripts on the grass beside him, then stared across the grove, lost in thought. âFrogs and potter's wheels,' he whispered. âDo you know, Master, sometimes there is an advantage in being a scorpion man.' He jumped to his feet and said he must visit the House of Books again.

Amerotke was dozing when Shufoy returned and shook him gently by the arm.

âMaster, frogs, what are they?'

âFrogs!'

âAnd the potter's wheel?'

Amerotke glimpsed the excitement in Shufoy's bright little eyes.

âThe Temple of Khnum,' Shufoy whispered.

âIt has no potter's wheel, and frogs do not croak so close to a crocodile pool.'

âThe potter's wheel,' Shufoy repeated. âDon't you remember the legends about the god Khnum? He is one of Egypt's oldest gods. According to the story he first fashioned human life on a potter's wheel before he tired of it and handed that power to the womb of a woman. Khnum had a wife, Neit.'

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