The governor was therefore very surprised when Jannas arrived at his house.
‘Is everything quiet here?’ asked Jannas. ‘Has there been any trouble with rebels?’
‘No, of course not. There’s been no unrest in Fayum for a long time.’
‘All good things come to an end. The Theban army is heading this way.’
The Thebans? How can that be?’
’You do not ask questions, you obey the emperor’s orders. I am leaving you two hundred soldiers, under the command of Captain Antreb.’
That’s a very small force to defend the whole of Fayum.’
Jannas looked out at the garden. Who said anything about defending it? Their mission is to burn all the villages and crops.’
Joseph thought he must be having a nightmare. That’s impossible! Surely you aren’t serious?’
Those are the orders, and I demand your full cooperation.’
‘But … what about the people?’
They will be killed.’
‘What have they done wrong?’ asked Joseph rebelliously.
The emperor’s will must not be questioned.’
‘Surely you aren’t going to kill the children?’
The emperor said everyone. When it’s done, Captain Antreb will take you to Avaris, where Apophis will reward you.’
Captain Antreb was a short, stocky, round-faced man who looked rather like Khamudi. He was a particularly brutal man and loved killing, which was why Jannas had appointed him. He and his murderous troops would thoroughly enjoy their work, especially when the victims begged for their lives. As Antreb had a little time to spare, he was planning to extend the period of torture. In a region as pleasant as Fayum, his men would enjoy the extra entertainment.
Antreb was staying at Joseph’s villa, and was revelling in the delicious food, fine wines and other benefits. Never had he been so assiduously massaged and shaved.
‘Are you satisfied with my hospitality?’ Joseph asked him.
‘More than satisfied, overwhelmed. But there’s work to be done.’
‘This province did not grow rich in a day. Why ruin so many years of work? You can see for yourself that the villagers of Fayum are peaceful people, whose only interest is their gardens and fields. The emperor has nothing to fear from them.’
‘That’s irrelevant. The only thing that matters to me is my orders.’
‘Think again, I beg of you! What good will massacring all these innocent people do you?’
‘With the villages and crops destroyed, the Thebans will find no support along their way, only corpses.’
‘May I go to Avaris and plead Fayum’s cause to the emperor?’
‘That’s out of the question. My work will begin tomorrow morning and will be finished by the evening. Not a single village will be spared. Do you hear me? Not one. And if you drag your feet, you might just have an … accident. Do I make myself clear?’
‘Very clear.’
‘We shall begin with the largest village. You will tell all the people, including the children, to assemble in the main square because you have some good news to announce to them. Then I shall take over.’
Moon had insisted on commanding the fleet on its voyage to Fayum. Aboard were the regiments led by Moustache and the Afghan, and the archers commanded by Ahmes, son of Abana. Emheb had remained in Sako with the pharaoh, as had Neshi.
Everyone was very tense. Ahhotep stood at the prow of the flagship, scanning the riverbanks.
‘The Hyksos have destroyed everything in their path,’ grieved Moon. ‘There’s probably not a single villager left alive.’
As they neared Fayum, the air grew fragrant. The province was like one huge oasis, where the very idea of war seemed out of place. Trees as far as the eye could see, gardens in the shade of palm-groves, herds of cattle browsing on juicy grass, and even the sound of a flute playing, as if there was still such a thing as a happy peasant.
‘It is a trap!’ exclaimed Moon. ‘To your combat stations!’
While it was in the middle of the river, the fleet had nothing to fear. And, surprisingly, the lookout at the top of the highest mast did not give the signal that meant enemy vessels were near.
‘The Hyksos must be hidden among the trees,’ said the Afghan. ‘As soon as we disembark, they will attack.’
’There’s one,’ said Moustache, pointing to the riverbank where a man had just appeared.
Arms raised above his head, the man ran towards the Egyptian ships.
Do not fire,’ ordered the queen. ‘He is unarmed.’
The man waded thigh-deep into the river. ‘I am Joseph, governor of Fayum,’ he shouted, ‘and I need your help.’
52
‘I’ll deal with him,’ declared Moustache, diving into the Nile.
The Egyptian archers aimed their bows. If this man Joseph was in fact a decoy, he would not live long.
‘You must help me,’ he repeated. ‘The Hyksos want to slaughter all the people of Fayum! Their leader is at my house, and he’s about to begin the killing.’
‘How many Hyksos are there?’ asked Moustache.
‘Two hundred - two hundred torturers determined to destroy Fayum! You’re the only ones who can stop them.’
Moustache scanned the area suspiciously. There were no Hyksos in sight, so Joseph might not be lying. He beckoned to the war-fleet.
As soon as the ships were moored, Ahhotep was first to descend the gangplank.
At the sight of her, Joseph was overcome. He knew instantly that she was the famous Queen of Freedom, whose legend grew greater every day. This sublimely beautiful woman radiated a light whose intensity made the heart swell. At that moment, he knew he had been right to hope she would come.
‘We must act quickly, Majesty,’ he said, prostrating himself. ‘Please do not abandon my people.’
It was a pitiful Joseph who presented himself before Captain Antreb.
The Hyksos adjusted his black breastplate. ‘Here you are at last. If I’d had to wait much longer, I’d have cut your servants’ throats to relieve the boredom.’
‘Your orders have been carried out, Captain. The villagers have gathered and are waiting for the good news I promised them.’
Antreb put on his black helmet. ‘Excellent. Carry on like this, Joseph, and you’ll save your skin.’
‘Will you at least spare those closest to me?’
‘That depends how tired we are when we’ve finished with the others.’
Antreb had some difficulty gathering his men together, as most of them were drunk. When they entered the main square of the village, which was fringed with palm-trees, they found all the men, women and children huddled together in terror. The soldiers knew they were going to enjoy some fine sport.
‘I have two pieces of news, one good and one bad,’ announced Antreb jauntily. ‘The bad news is that you are all, including your governor, dangerous rebels.’ He grabbed Joseph by the shoulder and hurled him into the huddle of villagers. ‘ I hate Hebrews, so I shan’t spare you, after all.
‘Now, here’s the good news: the emperor has ordered me to prevent you from doing harm. We’re going to torture you to make you confess what you are plotting against our sovereign. Those of you who tell us absolutely everything will be allowed to die quickly. For those who are stubborn, death will be very slow and very painful.’
The torturers held up thick clubs studded with metal. There was nothing more effective for interrogating victims.
A man emerged from the mass of villagers. ‘You, Hyksos, are you aware that you are a murderer?’
Antreb was so astounded that for a moment he was speechless. Then he said, ‘Who the devil are you? Some sort of priest?’
‘No, just someone who will no longer tolerate the rule of tyranny and blind violence.’
Antreb turned to his men. ‘You see? They really are rebels. As for you, little man, with your fine words, I have a special fate in store for you: you will be roasted alive over a slow fire.’
Antreb was amazed again at this peasant’s fearlessness. ‘You’re making a big mistake if you think I won’t do it, my lad!’
The unbelievable thing is that that’s exactly what I intend to do to you.’
Antreb’s third attack of astonishment proved fatal, for Moustache dived at his legs and, using one of the holds he had learnt from the wrestling scenes at Beni Hasan, hoisted him high before dropping him heavily on the back of his neck.
The Hyksos soldiers were cut down by the Egyptian archers’ arrows. Ahhotep had ordered that they were to be shot in the back, so that they would die like the cowards they were. In just a few minutes, all the torturers were dead.
Antreb lay still, his eyes glassy.
‘Good grief,’ grumbled Moustache, ‘even that vermin’s neck was weak!’
‘You took an unnecessary risk again,’ scolded the Afghan.
‘No I didn’t - you were covering me. Besides, I really wanted to try out that hold.’
The villagers embraced their rescuers.
‘Last week,’ Joseph told Moustache, ‘we received supplies from the North. With those and what we grow here, I can promise you and your men an unforgettable meal.’
The joints of meat cooked in milk were as delicious as anyone could wish. Fayum had been transformed into a gigantic open-air banqueting-hall, where its return to freedom would be joyously celebrated. Kamose was welcomed with shouts of joy, as if he had been sent from another world, where Ma’at still reigned.
Before the celebrations began, the Wife of God had celebrated a ritual in honour of the ancestors and of Amon, lord of Thebes. As she did so, she sensed a presence close by, a gentle warmth, a loving caress, a south wind enveloping her whole body in tenderness. It was he, it was Seqen, intensely present at that moment when a new part of Egypt had been torn from the emperor’s clutches. Never before had the late pharaoh manifested himself in such tangible form, as if the queen needed a new kind of energy, sent from the otherworld, before facing terrible ordeals.
‘Aren’t you hungry, Mother?’ asked Kamose.
‘We ought to be thinking about the future.’
‘I cannot really share the people’s happiness, either,’ he admitted.
The queen and the pharaoh withdrew into the royal tent, to study Qaris’s model of Egypt.
How far they had come since young Ahhotep’s rebellion, since the time when only the Theban enclave knew any freedom at all. Many provinces and towns had been reconquered, but there had also been many atrocities and much suffering, and there were still innumerable obstacles between them and true victory.
Ahhotep leant over the model. ‘That’s where Jannas is waiting for us. That’s where he plans to crush us.’ She pointed to Memphis.
Memphis, “the Balance of the Two Lands’, had been Egypt’s capital at the time of the pyramids, the heart of the country’s system of trade, and it was made sacred by the Temple of Ptah. Memphis, gateway to the Delta for the South, and to the Nile valley for the North. Through his policy of destroying villages and crops, the emperor planned to lure in all the Theban forces, which would have no chance of defeating the main Hyksos army.
‘Then the battle at Memphis will be decisive,’ said Kamose. ‘But Apophis must not find out that we know it and that we shan’t throw ourselves head-first into his trap. He ought to have launched a surprise attack by now, before we can reach Memphis. He probably has absolute confidence in his own military power, so whatever tactics we adopt will seem ridiculous to him.’
Ahhotep said pensively, ‘Do you remember the three questions I posed? We have the answer to the first, but there are still the other two. Memphis is so obvious that it may conceal another trap which is still hidden from us.’
‘How can we detect it?’
‘Let us pray to Amon, and ask him not to abandon us but to offer us a sign.’
53
The Afghan and Moustache were always among the first to rise in the morning. They had acquired this habit in their early days as rebels, at a time when they had feared they might be caught at any moment. It gave them a chance to inspect the camp and see if anything was amiss.
This morning, despite a dreadful headache resulting from the previous night’s excesses, the Afghan noticed something unusual.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Moustache.
‘Have we set up enough guard-posts?’
‘I saw to it myself. If there’d been even the slightest problem, we’d have been warned immediately.’
The Afghan sniffed the air like a lion on the prowl. Then he delivered his verdict: There’s someone coming, from the south.’
A moment later, the ground shuddered under the weight of heavy, powerful feet. A colossal ram with spiralling horns emerged from a dense thicket of tamarisks. The majestic animal halted and stared at the humans. A supernatural light shone in its eyes.
‘Go and fetch the queen and the pharaoh,’ Moustache told the Afghan.
The sovereigns meditated before the incarnation of Amon. Then their eyes began to speak, and the ram moved off, heading due west.
‘Judging by the shape of its horns, that was a Nubian ram,’ observed the queen.
‘Does that mean the Nubians are still a danger?’ asked the pharaoh. ‘Surely that’s impossible - they’re much too far from here.’ ’ba must follow the direction the beast of Amon showed us,’ said Ahhotep.
‘But, Mother, all you’ll find will be the desert and then an oasis.’
‘As soon as I have found another sign, I’ll send Rascal to you.’
‘You know how much the army will need you during the battle for Memphis.’
‘We must not attack blindly. Gather together as many fighters as you can and, together with your council, draw up a battle-plan which does not involve any fighting on land. Our best weapon is our fleet. And we have one other ally: the Nile flood.’
Way-Finder guided Ahhotep and her troop of soldiers. For him, following the trail left by Amon’s ram was easy, but he set such a fast pace that some of the soldiers had difficulty keeping up. The queen knew he had a good reason for hurrying, so stops were kept to a minimum and everyone remained on the alert at all times.
Suddenly, they saw a white antelope standing on top of a rocky outcrop. Way-Finder halted, and nuzzled the queen’s shoulder.
Ahhotep went slowly towards the antelope. It was the incarnation of Satis, wife of the ram-headed potter-god Khnum, and the new sign sent by Amon. And this sign, too, pointed to the Great South and Nubia. The animal licked the queen’s hands, and its infinitely gentle eyes told her that it would guide her to her goal.
*
In the Bahariya oasis, which was ordinarily calm and far removed from the sounds of war that disturbed the Nile valley, the atmosphere had abruptly grown tense. Usually, the governor was content to collaborate limply with the Hyksos, who showed only a cursory interest in this obscure place, a mere staging-post for army messengers.
It was, in fact, by way of the oases of the Western Desert that messages passed between Avaris and Kerma, the capital of Nubia. True, it was a long and difficult route, but the Thebans did not know of it.
This time, the head messenger was accompanied by a hundred particularly savage Hyksos soldiers, and they had joined up with as many Nubians, who were just as menacing. The Bahariyans had to give them all free beer, wine and date alcohol.
‘Do not cause any trouble here,’ the governor told the messenger.
Backed by so many soldiers, the messenger was openly scornful of the stocky, bearded man who dared admonish him. This oasis belongs to the emperor, like the rest of Egypt. Or have you forgotten that?’
‘We pay him enormous taxes, and he takes almost everything we have. So let him at least allow us to live in peace. This place is of no strategic importance.’
‘That’s where you’re wrong, my fine friend.’
The governor frowned. ‘What does that mean?’
The messen
ger relished his moment of glory. ‘You see, these Nubians are only a forward detachment, whose job it is to collect a very important letter to King Nedjeh. Before long, hundreds of Nubian warriors will be arriving here, and you are to serve them zealously.’ ’ba won’t do it! I—‘
‘You cannot refuse to help the emperor and his allies - unless, of course, you’re a rebel, a supporter of Queen Ahhotep.’
‘No, I swear I’m not!’ said the governor.
‘Now I see what your game is. Still, it doesn’t work out too badly for me. I’ve had enough of being a messenger. I shall enjoy being the new governor of Bahariya.’
The governor panicked and tried to escape. He ran towards the edge of the desert, pursued by two Nubians.
He was almost at his last gasp when all at once, there before him, he saw a magnificent white antelope, which bounded off into the desert. In its place stood a majestic woman, wearing a red band round her hair and a tunic of the same colour. She was so beautiful that he forgot his fear.
The two Nubians thought they could kill their quarry with one blow from their clubs, but they suddenly froze: they were facing a whole army. They heard arrows whistle through the air, and scarcely had time to register the fact that they were about to die.
The governor was shaking from head to foot. ‘Majesty, you … ? Are you … ?’
‘How many Nubians are there in the oasis?’ asked Ahhotep.
‘About a hundred, and the same number of Hyksos, but they’re all trying to drink themselves into a stupor. Majesty, they want to turn Bahariya into a military base.’
The matter was quickly resolved. Dead drunk and caught by surprise, the enemy offered only feeble resistance.
The sole survivor was the head messenger, who had taken a little girl hostage.
‘Don’t touch me,’ he yelped, ‘or I’ll break her neck. If you spare my life, I’ll give you an important letter.’
War of the Crowns Page 23
