by Overton, Max
Hednakht took some beer, but Paramessu waved away any drink, taking a hard wooden chair near the king's couch. He sat down and stared intently at his monarch. "Plans, great king? For the war?"
Tutankhamen laughed. "The war is over. This victory of mine will cow the Hittites for a generation. Maybe my son will have to emulate his father's exploits but yours will be merely a...what was it you said, General Nakhtmin?"
"A peace keeping role, glorious king. Patrolling the borders, helping merchants, that sort of thing." Nakhtmin met Paramessu's eyes and smiled, his gaze hard and mocking.
"That's right," the king said, nodding. "I'm afraid your title of General of All the Armies of Kemet will be a...a..."
"Sinecure, Majesty," Nakhtmin purred.
"A sinecure, yes. So I have decided to make you Governor of the Forts of the Way of Heru, all of them. That should keep you busy."
"You honour me, great king, but I would surely serve you better..."
"Are you refusing the king's gift of honours and titles, General?" Nakhtmin asked coolly. "Perhaps the king's confidence in you is misplaced."
"There is no-one more loyal to the king than General Paramessu," Hednakht said angrily. "Let no-one impugn his honour and loyalty."
"See how the pup yelps," Nakhtmin murmured and Tutankhamen smiled. "No-one asked you, commander."
Paramessu held his hand out in warning to his friend. "Great King, I will gladly accept honours and duties from your hand, but may I ask whose counsel it was that I should have this honour? I would thank him."
"Then thank the king, General, for it was his idea alone," Nakhtmin said quickly. "The king shows wisdom beyond his tender years. I but agreed with his masterful decision."
"Er, yes...that is...er, how it was. It was my idea." Tutankhamen looked quickly at Nakhtmin for reassurance. "I...I do not want to keep you from your duties, General Paramessu, so you have my permission to withdraw."
Paramessu knew a dismissal when he heard it, so he rose swiftly to his feet, bowed, and left the tent, with Hednakht on his heels.
"What was that all about?" Hednakht queried as they got outside.
"Wait," Paramessu replied tersely. He strode out into the darkness, through the raucous revels of the soldiers to the perimeter of the camp where the noise fell away, to be replaced by the quiet of the desert night. "We have a child ruling us," he said bitterly. "The king listens to the last person to have his ear and is incapable of reasoned decision."
"What, because he thinks the war is over?" Hednakht shrugged, his gesture lost in the darkness. "In six months he will change his mind when the Amorites find another general."
"Not that. You heard that...that toad Nakhtmin. The king was repeating whatever he said. And as for giving me the forts...well, yes, that was masterful...but it was not the king's idea. That poison is pure Nakhtmin."
"But the Forts of Heru? All fourteen of them. How can that be bad? It is a position not even Lord Horemheb held."
"No, for he had more sense than to be fettered by that task. Do you know what is involved in the governorship? No, I thought not. First, as you say, there are fourteen forts spread out on the Way of Heru, from Zarw along the coast road, deep into the land of Kenaan. As Governor, I am responsible for everything that takes place in every one of those forts, from maintenance of the fortifications to the training of the men, from the sharpening of the spear points to the amount of barley each man receives. Everything, Hednakht, and it is not just a matter of leaving matters in the hands of the fort commanders. I have to know every detail, every fact, every bellyache of every soldier and be ready to give an accounting at the whim of the king. And with Nakhtmin at the king's side, you can be sure the accounting will be often." Paramessu kicked moodily at a scrubby plant at his feet. "I am ham-strung, Hednakht. I will barely have time to keep an eye on the Northern Army, let alone the rest of them."
"But why would the king do this? Or even Nakhtmin for that matter? It surely helps no-one if the borders of Kemet are weakened."
"You would not think so," Paramessu said slowly. "But if Nakhtmin can show, within say six months, that I cannot handle my duties, I will be relieved of my commands completely and disgraced."
"What will you do, sir?"
Paramessu stared out across the darkened plains, then up at the star-studded body of the goddess Nut. "I don't know, Hednakht. I honestly don't know."
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Chapter Twenty
Horemheb struggled up the last few steps to the summit of the low, unnamed mountain on the southern bank of the westward curving Great River and stared into a rugged, forested range of hills. "That's it?" he asked.
The scout beside him, a tall, muscular Nubian by the name of Qenna, nodded. "Yes, Lord Horemheb. That is 'Between the Rivers'."
Horemheb scanned the crumpled landscape and the high plateau that lay at the heart of 'Between'. Forests clothed the lower slopes with their deep ravines but the high ground was more open, with dry scrub. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he examined the land into which he must advance, shielding his eyes against the dazzle. A pattern of cloud-shadow swept across the hills and he looked up, then to the south where a dark bank of cloud stood on the horizon. "I had not thought it so large. How will we find them?"
Qenna grinned, his teeth gleaming white in his dark face. "I know where their camp is, Lord Horemheb. I have a cousin who is of the Q'ema people. They have entered into an alliance with the rebels."
Horemheb gave his scout a sharp look. "Tell me of this tribe. Are they warlike?"
"They are farmers, Lord Horemheb. Our men will eat them up."
"Then let us finish this."
Horemheb and Qenna returned to the river, where Penno was supervising the last of the men across on the barges. The General had moved at lightning speed since capturing the Lady Beketaten and meant to close with Smenkhkare and his army as quickly as possible. They had pushed on, day and night, as far as the third cataract where they had disembarked at the Tumnus quarries before following the east bank road to the temple at Kawa and the Meheila Road that cut the corner off the river trip to the town and temple of Barkal below the fourth cataract. Two barges lay at Barkal and had been commandeered to ferry Horemheb's army of fifteen hundred men across Iteru to the western boundaries of 'Between the Rivers'. Less than ten days had passed and with the help of the gods less than ten more would see a resolution to this campaign. One way or another, this threat to Kemet would be removed.
Scarab, with her constant companions, Khu and Nebhotep, and a guard assigned to watch over them, found Horemheb as he watched the assembling of the men into their companies for the march. "Greetings, Lord Horemheb," she said.
"Lady Beketaten." Horemheb nodded at her companions before turning back to continue his scrutiny of the assembling troops.
"Lord Horemheb, have you considered my proposal?"
The general did not look round. "I have," he said. "But I have not made up my mind."
"I urge you to accept."
Horemheb turned and regarded the young woman with a skeptical eye. "Do your companions know of what you speak?"
"We have no secrets."
Horemheb waved the guard away, out of earshot. "Then I will say that you have no authority to make such an offer, neither from your brother Smenkhkare, nor from your brother Tutankhamen. As for Ay...well, he would have you put to death."
"And you, Lord Horemheb? What will you do?"
"I will give Smenkhkare a chance to talk and a chance to surrender. If he will throw himself on my mercy, I will consider the proposal."
"You expect a king to bow down to a general?" Nebhotep asked quietly. "How little you know him. He will fight you alone rather than meekly surrender."
"What would you have me do, physician?"
"Offer him the hand of friendship. Form an alliance with him to restore him to his throne, not at the expense of his brother, but together."
"For the peace of Kemet," S
carab added.
"And break my oath to the new king?" Horemheb asked.
"Your oath said only that you would fight for the king against all the enemies of Kemet," Nebhotep continued.
"Smenkhkare is not an enemy of Kemet," Scarab said.
"But Ay is," Khu added.
"If any of my men said such things, I would have them strangled," Horemheb growled.
"But we are not your men."
"That would not stop me."
Scarab sighed. "We know we are in your power, Lord Horemheb. I only ask that you try talking to Smenkhkare again before you fall on him. Take me along, let me talk to him. Maybe there is a solution that does not involve more death."
Horemheb stood silently for a long time, staring down at his army. At last all was ready and Penno started up the hill to report. Horemheb turned back to face Scarab. "Lady Beketaten, I will make no promises, but I will give your brother the opportunity to talk. Now please report back to your guards. The army is ready to depart."
Scarab greeted Penno pleasantly as he arrived on the crest of the hill and the Lieutenant smiled with pleasure. He watched the woman descend the hill until his general had to call him to attention.
"Sorry, sir."
"Do not entertain the notion, Penno. She is far above you."
Penno grinned self-consciously. "A man can dream, sir."
Horemheb nodded. "She is certainly beautiful enough but she is headstrong. You would have your hands full with her."
Penno looked down at his hands. "Ah, yes," he murmured.
"Is the army ready to march, Lieutenant?"
Penno ripped his attention away from his fantasies. "Yes sir. In what direction do we march?"
"We take the road into the hills toward Kurgus and the boundary stelae. Once we have gained the plateau we march southeast on the rebel camp." Horemheb read Penno's face. "What?"
"Won't he see us coming, sir? If we take the main road we will not be able to surprise him."
"I would imagine, if his spy system is half as good as mine, he knows of our presence already. He must stay and fight, or else run. If he runs, he can only flee east to the river or south into the wilderness. He is running out of options, Penno."
The army departed, heading northeast along the Kurgus road as it wound through ravines and along the crests of ridges onto the plateau of 'Between'. Horemheb and his officers were vigilant, knowing they marched through enemy territory. Scouts were dispatched along the road and into the rugged land on either side, watchful for any sign of human life. Small villages were surrounded and quickly subdued before any could escape, and the people questioned. The information gained this way was sparse--all anyone was willing to say was that 'yes, Kemetu men were seen', but 'no, they did not know how many or how far'. Despite these necessary delays, within five days, Horemheb's army had gained the heights and turned south toward the reported position of the rebel camp.
Scouts raced back to report to Horemheb on the second day of the southward march. Qenna, chief of the scouts, accompanied the man who had found the rebel camp.
"Half a day's travel, sir," the scout reported. "A temporary camp, like what Kemetu men make when on campaign. Not like a tribal village at all, sir."
"How many men are there? How are they armed?"
"Why, none sir. They is all gone. I went right into the camp and found this," the scout handed over a fragment of pottery. "This is what told me this were men of Kemet and not ruddy natives, begging your pardon sir."
Horemheb turned the fragment of pottery over in his hand, reading the rough inscription on it. "'Year five of Djeserkheperu...'" Horemheb nodded. "It looks like the seal from a wine jar and only a rebel would have the audacity to put 'year five' on it. What else did you find?"
"A little ways away was a cleared circle with evidence of fires and feasting and tracks of many men, sir. More than at the old camp. The tracks to the circle came from different directions but all led south."
"How long ago?"
The scout shrugged. "Three, four days maybe."
Horemheb called Penno to him. "Take a company and go south half a day, double time. This scout will show you the way. Secure the camp area, put up a perimeter. I will bring the others up as soon as I can."
"The rebels, sir?" Penno asked eagerly.
"About four days away it seems, but you are not to engage them unless you are attacked. Is that understood, Lieutenant?"
Penno saluted and hurried away with the scout, presently leading two hundred men away at a fast run to the south. Horemheb looked beyond the dust trail of the men toward the southern horizon where dark clouds gathered, lit by the occasional flash of lightning. "Qenna," he said. "You know these parts. What's the weather going to do? Will it rain?"
"Yes sir, very soon. It's raining in the south already and soon the river will rise. We could get cut off here."
"But you can still track them?"
"Not if it rains hard, sir. This whole area will become mud."
Horemheb grunted. "Then let's find the rebels quickly. Send out more scouts ahead of us and send some further south. I want to know where Smenkhkare is and what he's doing."
The army continued its march. Rumours flew concerning the sudden departure of Penno and a company of men, but as Qenna had left already and Horemheb was tight-lipped, nothing could be said with any certainty.
Scarab drew slightly apart, accompanied by Khu and Nebhotep. Their guard came with them but Hapu and Sepi slipped away from their units and engaged the guard in conversation so that he was unable to hear more than snippets of the conversation.
"There is an air of urgency," Scarab said. "I think the scouts have found my brother's camp."
"What can we do?" Khu asked. "Should we try and escape?"
"You would not get far," Nebhotep commented. "Even if you made it past the guards and into the scrub, more than likely the scouts would find you."
"Besides, I must be there when Horemheb finds my brother. If I can persuade them both..."
"If you can persuade them both, then our troubles are just beginning," Nebhotep finished. "I fear a war with Ay will really tear the Kingdoms apart."
"That is not so. Without Horemheb, Ay will..."
"Lady--Nebhotep, please," Khu interrupted. "What good does it do to fight about these things? Horemheb will meet King Smenkhkare. Either they will agree, in which case they will decide on what happens next; or they will not agree, and they will fight. What we have to do is work out how we can help your brother if they fight."
"The lad talks sense."
Scarab nodded grudgingly. "I suppose you have worked out a plan too."
Khu grimaced. "No, not really, but I've thought about it."
"So let's hear it, lad."
"Well, if they decide to fight it out, we immediately lose any privileged status."
"Do we have any now?" Nebhotep asked, jerking his head to where Hapu and Sepi were in earnest conversation with their guard.
"Of course we do. We are allowed to wander around more or less as we choose, often with only a single guard. If Smenkhkare becomes the enemy again, Scarab here becomes a valuable hostage who will be guarded well. You, Nebhotep, are a respected physician and an army at war will always want physicians. But me? I'm nothing. I might be pressed into service or I might be eliminated." Khu started pacing. "So if we stay we become captives or we die. What other option is there? Do we try and kill Horemheb, or do we escape to the king's army?"
"I will not kill if I can help it," Nebhotep said. "Not even Horemheb."
"I would have," Scarab said. "But I have eaten his bread, even though I had no choice, and it would not feel right. If I met him in battle--that would be another matter though."
"So we escape?" Khu asked.
Scarab looked from one to the other. "When there is no other choice, then yes."
"If we leave it too late, Horemheb may close off the opportunity. You can broker this deal between them from either side. I say we escape before we f
ind the king."
"The lad has a point," Nebhotep murmured.
"Then there is the choice of just us three, or do we take Huni, Hapu and Sepi with us?"
"I'm not leaving them behind," Scarab declared. "They are my people."
"We are all your people, Scarab," Khu admonished, with a grin.
Scarab regarded Khu and Nebhotep solemnly. "Then I will have to lead my little tribe out of captivity."
The army picked up its pace a little later and they reached camp in the afternoon. Penno's company had worked hard, setting up a perimeter of thornbush and a low-walled earth fort. They broke off from their labours as Horemheb trotted into the camp with the vanguard of the army.
Horemheb glanced around the camp, keeping a tight rein on his pleasure and surprise at how much the men had accomplished in a few hours. "Not too bad, in a rough sort of way. We will not be using it however. The latest word from Qenna's scouts is that Smenkhkare is moving south in company with an undetermined number of tribesmen. They are three days ahead of us, so we are going to do it in two. Take your men south again, Penno, at the double. At sunset, do all this again. The army will be a few hours behind you."
Penno saluted and turned, barking orders at his junior officers before plunging through the southern gate into the scrub, followed by his weary men. An hour later, the main army followed, traveling as fast as the baggage carriers could manage. They caught up with Penno's company again, many miles to the south, where they were putting the finishing touches to the thornbush stockade an hour after sunset.
"We rest until moonrise," Horemheb said. "Make sure the men get some food and a bit of sleep. Penno, you will take a fresh company of men and lead again. Stop only at moonset and wait for us."
"Yes sir."
Horemheb looked closely at the shadowed face of his Lieutenant. "You think I am pushing you too hard?"
Penno hesitated for a heartbeat. "No sir."
"These are good men, Penno. They will follow a good leader anywhere; into death if need be. Are you a good leader?"
"I...I don't know, sir. I think so."
"What makes a good leader?" Horemheb waited for a glib reply but found himself pleased that the young man took the time to think about it before speaking.
