Chapter Fifty One: Blackmail
At Urshu’s interruption, Kiya and Dennu looked up, startled. Kiya glared at the man - had he been listening in the shadows? She ran her mind back over the conversation and hoped that she and Dennu had been discreet.
“Clear the table,” ordered Dennu and servants rushed in to remove the remains of the meal.
Urshu pulled back the curtain to reveal a strange procession coming towards them. It was headed by flower girls, scattering petals on the rubble that surrounded the tent. After them walked King Ikhnaton in his finery. Behind him three men with sistrum, lute and flute, played a few wrong notes in their music as they stumbled over the uneven ground. When they reached the tent the music stopped and the flower girls stood with their heads bowed while Ikhnaton entered the tent.
“Ah, Dennu. I am glad you are here.”
“Your Majesty,” Dennu sank to his knees. Kiya and Urshu followed suit.
“Tomorrow I want you to bring your plans to the sacristy.” Ikhnaton said. “I would like Nefertiti to see them and decide where in the gardens to put the royal pavilion.”
“Yes, your Majesty,” said Dennu.
“In the meantime I have written another verse of my poem to the Aten. Would you like to hear it?” He pulled a manuscript out of his waist purse.
“Yes please,” said Dennu.
“It would be an honour, your Majesty,” said Urshu, wringing his hands unctuously.
The King cleared his throat and began to read:
“How manifold are your works,
They are hidden from before us.
O Sole God, whose powers no other possesses.
You created the earth according to your heart
While you were alone. Man, all cattle, large and small.
All that are upon the earth, that go about on their feet.
All that are on high, that fly with their wings.” He paused and looked around. “What do you think?”
“That was beautiful, your Majesty. A truly inspired piece of work,” gushed Urshu.
“Excellent,” said Dennu, not to be outdone in his praise. “A wonderful poem.”
“What do you think, girl?” said Ikhnaton, looking at Kiya.
“What about snakes?” said Kiya. “They have neither feet nor wings. You should include them in your poem if you want to describe all that are upon the earth.” She heard Dennu give a groan beside her but Ikhnaton wasn’t annoyed.
“You are right,” he said. “I must include crawl upon their bellies somewhere. Would you like to hear it from the beginning?”
“I would love to,” said Kiya. “But I must be getting home.”
“Oh,” Ikhnaton looked disappointed then he shrugged. “Perhaps it’s just as well. I have to go over the plans with Dennu to ensure they are ready for the Queen’s inspection.”
“I am sorry, I will not be able to see you home,” said Dennu. “Urshu will escort you.”
“There’s no need,” protested Kiya.
“Nonsense. I must make sure you get back safely.” He summoned Urshu. “Please take Kiya home to the barracks, she will show you which house.”
“Yes, my Lord,” said Urshu.
Kiya had no option but to follow the erstwhile head of her household out of the tent. Urshu paused to wait for Kiya, then seized her by the elbow, his bony fingers pressing into her flesh.
“Do not bother, Urshu. I can walk home by myself,” said Kiya, trying to pull away from him.
He tightened his grip. “I would not dream of deserting you, Highness,” he said. “I have my orders.”
Highness? thought Kiya. Gone was all pretence of him not recognising her. “I assumed you must know who I am,” she said. “Why did you not acknowledge me when we were in Dennu’s tent?”
“For the same reason you pretended not to know me,” he said as they skirted around a pile of bricks. “You and I share a murky past.”
“Does Dennu know you worked at the Ipet-Isut Temple?” asked Kiya. They were following the path the King had taken and petals were scattered on the ground. They no longer looked beautiful but like brightly coloured litter among the rubble.
“I have told him as much as was necessary. My master is very curious.” He gave her a sharp look. “He mentions the girl Eopei. It troubles him that she has disappeared.” Kiya tried to remain expressionless but felt her cheeks grow warm and knew she was betrayed by a blush. “Do you remember the girl, Highness? She was the one you selected for sacrifice and drugged her wine so she was forced to meet Anubis.”
“Have you told Dennu?”
“Not yet.”
“I tried to save her but she would not listen to me.”
She heard him take a sharp breath. “I suspected as much. You are a traitor as well as a murderess. I was in two minds whether to execute you when you spoke with the girl privately in your rooms.”
Kiya was aghast that he so casually admitted his murderous intentions. “By whose authority would you have done such a thing?” she demanded.
“By the authority of the temple elders. You are a fool if you thought the High Priestess had power. She was just a figurehead. A jumped-up dancing girl whose function was to keep Anubis happy.” He sneered his contempt. “Little better than a prostitute.”
“How dare you!” Kiya wrenched her arm away from him.
“Does my Lord Dennu know that you slept with Anubis?”
“That is none of your business.” Kiya hitched up her shift to jump across a shallow trench and a nearby workman gave a low whistle.
Urshu leapt the trench. “I have a knife in my belt,” he said as he caught up with her. “If you try to escape I will run it through you.”
“And risk arrest? You heard what happened to the last people who tried to kill me? They had their throats cut.”
“I heard,” he said. “You are fortunate in your contacts. I believe your uncle was the executioner.”
“Yes, and he will come after you if anything happens to me.”
“I think not.” He reached under his belt and pulled out the hilt of a knife. The blade attached to it was as thin as a needle. “This can pierce your heart without leaving a noticeable mark.”
Kiya felt more afraid than ever. “Are you going to kill me?” she asked. They were passing the newly-built sacristy and there were few people around.
He slid the knife back into its hiding place. “Not yet. It depends how useful you are to me.”
“What do you want? Money?”
He looked at her sharply. “Why are you offering me money? Have you got some? I assumed you were poor.”
Kiya thought quickly and removed the armlet from her arm. “I was going to offer you this.”
Urshu frowned. “Put it back on, you stupid girl. I wish you would take more care of it. It means a lot to my master that you wear it. The foolish man is in love with you. How little he must know about your past.”
“And you are threatening to tell him?”
“If you fail to co-operate.”
“Blackmailer!”
“Traitorous whore!”
They glared at each other. Kiya remembered the knife and tried to smile. “Enough of insults,” she said. “Now we understand each other, tell me what you want.”
“I want you to use your influence with Dennu to offer me preferment. I wish to become a priest of the Aten.”
“Do you believe that Neter should be worshipped as the one true god?”
Urshu stared at her. “What has that got to do with it? I believe in power and privilege - is that not enough?”
“For you, perhaps,” Kiya said. “I will try, but what happens if I fail to succeed?”
“What do you think?” he said and stoked his hidden knife with a gesture that was almost sensuous.
“I will do my best,” she said. “Promise me not to hurt Dennu.”
“Why should I hurt Dennu?” He raised his eyebrows. “That young man is going far. He is already a favourite of the King. He will go to
the top and I intend to grab hold and go up with him – as do you.”
“Me?” Kiya was outraged at the accusation. “I have no such plans.”
Urshu gave a snort of derision. “Then why have dinner with him? Why flirt with him? Your seductive ways won you the position of High Priestess. Why stop now?”
Kiya was angry but she refused to argue with the man. They continued in silence until they reached the barracks. “I can find my own way home now. There is no need to escort me.”
He bowed. “As you wish, Highness.”
She hurried to the fourth square of the barracks and reached Laylos’s house. At least he does not know where I am staying she thought but, as she opened the door, she turned and saw Urshu watching her from the shadows. Although the afternoon sun was hot she felt a chill. The man was like a poisonous spider and she was trapped in his web.
Kiya and the God of Chaos Page 51
