The Forgotten: Aten's Last Queen (62 page)

“I see you are expecting as well.” Pa-ramessu said, “This brings my heart great joy. Let us feast in honor of our children.”

Tutankhamun slapped Pa-ramessu on the shoulder again. “Overseer Pay will ensure you get the finest apartment for your visit. Are you here for the Festival of Ra-Horakhty?”

“You can’t possibly think it would be just to visit you?” Pa-ramessu slyly responded.

The men laughed together and began to walk out from the room. Tia-Sitre and I stood unmoving in their aftermath. The silence was as pregnant as my body for many moments.

I took a deep breath. “Is Tushari with you as well? I’m sure that would make Tawaret very happy. She talks very highly of your son.”

“I’m afraid he is busy helping his father now. He seems to have a talent for metalwork. He creates his own pieces of jewelry, and you can see the pride in his eyes when he shows them off.”

I smiled. “I am glad he has found something he enjoys.”

“And Tawaret, how…” Tia-Sitre’s voice got stuck in her throat for a breath, “…how is she?”

“She is wonderful. She loves it here. She has been a great help to me during this pregnancy.”

“Her correspondence has said as much.” Tia-Sitre’s response was sapped of its joy as if natron had been sprinkled on her tongue.

Sympathy crept up my throat as I replied, “She speaks of you often, and she misses you. She always says how you’d love to see this or you’d enjoy a certain story she has learned.”

A smile began to tickle Tia-Sitre’s cheeks.

“I was wrong to take her from you, but I can’t say I have not enjoyed it. She is smart and resourceful. You have guided her well. For that, I am eternally in your debt. I’m sorry, my sister, for how I treated you.”

Tia-Sitre began to respond, but just then the baby in her arms seemed to wake up. A gurgling broke up our conversation. I stepped closer to see the bright-eyed child. He was healthy and fat with large round eyes and long fingers that reached for anything he saw. His legs began to excitedly kick off the linen wrapped around him. We both smiled.

His breathing became loud, and it sounded happy. Tia-Sitre giggled and tickled his belly. His mouth opened wide as if he was about to sing loudly. I felt so peaceful at that moment as I delighted in the reactions of a baby. Even the air that passed through a baby’s lips returned back out to the world delighted and innocent, blessing those close by.

“What a beautiful boy,” I said.

“Yes, he is,” Tia-Sitre agreed softly.

“Come to my room. I’m sure Tawaret will be there studying her prayers.”

Tia-Sitre looked up at me with wet eyes. “Thank you.”

*****

The night had been long and full of reverie. With drooping eyelids, we were returning from our morning prayers in our litters. The motion of its sway was putting me to sleep. Tawaret had stayed at the palace with Tia-Sitre this time. In her stead was Pa-ramessu, a well-spoken priest who guided our worship that morning. His voice was rich and steady. I had felt at ease when he spoke. His presence was calming. Tutankhamun had made a wise choice promoting him to High Priest.

We were nearing the palace when Usermontu came running up to my husband’s litter. His movements were uncontrolled and jittery. After a few words, my husband’s litter was set down quickly, and both men began running toward my own transport.

When Tutankhamun’s face appeared through the linens, I could see kohl running down his cheeks. His forehead was beaded with sweat. His crown was beginning to skew awkwardly. My breathing stopped at his sight. I could feel my chest begin to burn as he spoke.

“We must hurry to Saqqara. They’ve been disturbed.” As he spoke, spit flew from his mouth. He was more upset than I had seen him in years. His words made no sense to me. My heart could not figure out the puzzle here, or perhaps it just did not want to know what it meant and delayed my reaction to the news.

“It is across the city. How will we get there?” I asked.

“Usermontu has ordered chariots to meet us here. The horses should be hitched by now. Dismount, and we will await their arrival. I must tell the others.” And he scrambled away.

My litter touched the ground, and a slave held out his hand for me, helping me to a stand. The light from the sun caught in my eyes as I emerged, and for a few breaths, I could not see anything in front of me. As I blinked rapidly to water my eyes and soothe the scald, I began to hear the rustle of hoofbeats approaching.

I remembered the bumpy roads across Akhenaten, and I knew I would feel sick to my stomach from the ride, but there was something urgent going on. Something was wrong at the burial site. It must be Maia, Tutankhamun’s former nurse and Usermontu’s mother. It would cause him great distress if her tomb had been disturbed.

Tutankhamun came back to my side. He grasped hold of my right hand to let me know he had returned. When I looked at his face, I could see that he had calmed somewhat.

“Is it Maia?” I quietly asked.

“If only it was just her.” His eyes swam in anguish, and he shook his head.

It was then that my heart began to understand. I felt the stirred-up sand on my face preceding the chariots, its harsh grittiness, as my heart thudded against my bones. I clenched my jaw as its drumming spread into my teeth.

Mother! Why? There was nothing in the tomb which spoke of the forgotten city. Why would someone disturb her tomb? It could not be as bad as Meketaten’s had been… that was what I kept telling myself.

The chariot ride was difficult and painful. We whipped through the streets as fast as cheetahs but not nearly as smooth and graceful. I felt every bounce and rattle in my belly. I thought the baby would drop out of my body, and I held onto my belly with both hands as Tutankhamun held onto me. Bile rose in my throat, and when we had left the residential areas, I threw up off the side of the carriage.

My head was dizzy when we finally came to a stop. Soldiers were at the tombs and had cleared any others out from the entire resting place. It was just us and Aten’s arms reaching down towards us.

Aten, why did you not protect Your followers?

The smells and sights of the Akhenaten tomb rushed back to me as I walked on unsteady feet toward my mother’s and sister’s place of rest. I could see vases upturned, flowers ripped out of the ground, and a piece of green stone, part of a pendant, broken in half outside of the entry.

I crouched down and let out a loud cry. It was the pendant I had made of Merytaten Tasherit’s name. It was the remembrance of her, and it had been broken in two. My niece’s spirit would now be lost.

But worse than this, I realized that this pendant had come from inside Merytaten’s sarcophagus! Someone had disturbed her body. The house of her ka, her wrapped flesh, someone had purposely tried to destroy her afterlife! And what would an afterlife be without my sister or my mother? Where were they now? How could someone be so evil…

Tutankhamun squatted next to me and put his arms around me. After a brief hug, he whispered in my ear, “This is not the worst of it, my meret.”

He stood me up. I could no longer feel my legs; they had turned into feathers and were unable to support me anymore. I wanted to lie down and close my eyes. I could not bear to see more.

We walked into the cold, dark tomb, and there before me were two opened sarcophaguses. One of the lids was broken, the other lay bottom side up on the dusty floor. I cried heavily and dropped my head onto Tutankhamun’s shoulder. My weeping resonated loudly off the stone walls. It bounced back into my ears and deafened the rest of the world from me.

I could hear Tutankhamun’s gentle shushing. Soldiers were standing around ready to report what happened. But I did not want to be quiet. I wanted my lament to break the heart of every person in this city. I wanted everyone else to feel this pain coursing through every part of my body. I felt as if my heart had burst and everything inside of me was evaporating away under Aten’s unwavering glare. I could feel myself drifting to the heavens, but everything above me was black and tainted. My nostrils took in the smell of ashes.

Aten had quietly watched it all!

“The guard was asleep, my king,” the lead soldier said as he dropped to his knees before us.

“How could he sleep through the breaking of stone!” I snapped. “You lie!”

“No, Queen, I do not. He was strangled to death from behind. He must have been off his guard, asleep or even drugged, for someone to have done this. His body is around the corner. We did not move him.”

“He knew these evil men and let them approach! He let them do this,” I screamed back. I pointed at the man cowering below our faces. I pointed with the hand that clutched a broken memory.

The man’s face buried itself in the dirt as he continued, his voice muffled, “When we came, we saw two men flee from the tomb. Another fled from Lady Maia’s, but all he had done was destroy some of her wall paintings. As we entered here, we saw this. Thankfully, we stopped them from destroying the body of Nefertiti, but the other…”

“You’re lazy and stupid,” Tutankhamun answered. His voice was cold. “For this, all of you tonight will die.”

“No! Please, mercy!” the man begged. I found the sight pathetic, nauseating.

“Make a pyre for each one! Let them all burn in front of everyone in the city!” I yelled. “Let everyone fear our wrath! I spared life before, but now --” I took in a gulp of air before my tears could drown me, “No longer. Evil men will suffer. Let the evil ones fear our revenge. May you all be damned! I DAMN YOU!”

Horemheb, Nahkt-min, Usermontu, and Pa-ramessu dragged the doomed guards to their feet and led them out. We could hear their pleas echo off the night’s ceiling. But I did not care. They disturbed me none. Not anymore.

I shuffled over to Merytaten’s opened casket. Her arms were separated from her torso. Her skull had been crushed. I could see where her wrapping had been cut off from her chest. My eyes were spilling everything out from inside of me, everything that was left. My limbs quaked in anger. My cheeks were blazing hotter than Aten, Himself. My chest tightened. My vision blurred red.

I felt like a lioness. A roar rumbled in my gut, and I let it erupt out of me. I let fury flow out past my dry tongue. Let everyone fear this lioness’ rage. More men would pay for this.

It sounded as if my cry would shatter the tomb itself. Good. Let it crumble down on my head so my ka would be released. Then I could find Merytaten’s and Merytaten Tasherit’s. Then I could bring them home to rest.

I would make sure tonight that many other men did not make it to Osiris. No one deserved the Afterlife if my sister’s ka had been stolen away from it. I could not imagine never seeing her again. Now I had to face that reality. I had once found solace in the thought that we would be reunited once more in the heavens. But now? She was forever gone from me, her body desecrated, her name lost.

“Strike them down, strike them down, Aten! Why do you ignore my cries!” I screamed up at the ceiling.

“Meret.”

Tutankhamun’s voice touched my ears, but it was soft and gentle. I swung my arm back at him, pushing him away, striking out with a need to hurt something. There was no love within me any longer. There was only hate. Powerful, hungry hate. How could forgiveness reside where there was such total destruction? Lives had been erased. Two of the most selfless lives I knew had been torn from their peace. And Merytaten’s ka also suffered, wherever it may be now that her body was destroyed, as her own daughter was stolen from her with the destruction of her name. And Meketaten! How she too would mourn the loss of her birth daughter!

This was a feeling I knew, losing your child due to the heartless actions of others. This feeling I harnessed and let bleed out into the world.

I took a deep breath, filled my chest with stale air, but I did not feel better. No, I had to keep screaming, I had to let out the only word my heart could remember, my fury was not finished. “No, nooooo, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Everything was a blur around me. Hands tried to touch me, but I slapped them away as I walked over to my mother’s opened coffin. The wrappings had begun to be torn from her chest. A few jewels had been ripped out and pocketed. Could these protective scarabs already be at the marketplace? Surely we could find these men if we could find the scarabs. I picked up a scarab that had slipped out from the freshly sliced linen layers.

I spun around and leaned my back against my mother’s cold sarcophagus. How I longed for her arms to hold me and her lips to whisper away the madness with her soothing words. How I missed her guidance and wisdom.

But I did not want comfort, no. I gripped the scarab as hard as I could. I could feel its golden shell cut into my skin. I could feel skin being ripped by the beetle’s molded features. Thick drops of red fell to the stone floor.

Pain, it almost felt soothing. Pain… But it was not just my hand. It was also tearing through my stomach. I could feel a moistness drip down my legs.

“An!” Tutankhamun yelled. He was looking down at my feet. As I looked down, I could see blood pooling at my sandals.

I began to laugh. The laugh was harsh, and it tore at my throat. As the laugh smacked at my ears, I did not recognize the sound I heard. A demon must be in possession of me, but I no longer cared.

The world began to blur as blackness descended upon me. My legs slipped out from under me. I felt the back of my head strike against stone, and the world silenced itself.

Sweet silence…

*****

Death was creeping into my arms. I could not stop it. It was almost completely upon the innocent life I held.

My baby girl had arrived.

As I awoke, my head felt as if it had been split in two. There was a bandage wrapped around the back of my skull and up around my forehead. I had fallen backward onto unforgiving stone.

Nightmares crept into my thoughts. I shivered as I heard a sinister laugh echoing about my cracked bones.

Then my daughter had come. I was barely conscious when the doctor said to start pushing. They had revived me with smelling herbs. Barely able to grasp where I was, I had been told to deliver my baby.