“That’s good news,” I responded flatly, as the moment dissipated.
“Indeed it is. Marrying the daughter of the recently departed king will seal my claim, and if I play it just right, I will have the full support of not only the military, but the courts and the priests, as well. This kingdom is in need of some changes and rebuilding. I hope I am up to the job.”
“Of course you are.” I smiled at him.
He rested his hands on his hips and looked me over. “The pair of you better get home to your families. There will be many changes for them soon, so you’d better be prepared.”
“Will you abolish slavery?” Rena asked hopefully.
He grinned. “I will see what I can do.”
She shrieked with delight and rushed at him, kissing his cheek. “Naomi is right; you aren’t horrible at all!”
He scowled at me. “Naomi…”
I laughed.
he next day, Horemheb returned from the palace and called the household in to announce that the Pharaoh had died. Then, he followed up by telling them he was to be crowned after Ay had been sealed in his tomb. The whole house went into a frenzy of excitement.
After he dismissed us, he entered the laundry room, shutting the door behind him.
“Where’s Rachel?”
“She’s baking some bread.”
“Good.” He rushed at me and kissed me. My heart lifted excitedly. He pushed me up against the wall as he clasped my face, our kiss deepening into a warm, open-mouthed moment of passion.
I broke away to catch my breath and his lips wandered over my cheek and neck before returning to my lips. I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, making him moan with excitement.
When he finally pulled away, he gazed into my eyes and smiled. My heart fluttered as I smiled back, knowing it wouldn’t be long before we would be able to marry.
However, over the next few weeks, he barely acknowledged me. I knew he was busy preparing for the coronation, and he planned to make a grand show out of it to prove his power and authority, so I wasn’t disheartened.
Until Mutnodjmet arrived.
Everyone had told me she was pleasant looking, but not a beauty like Nefertiti, but I found her to be quite lovely. I had been shopping at the bazaar when she arrived in a grand procession, and hadn’t been able to see her because they had kept her behind a canopy. But when I returned to the estate, I found Horemheb waiting for me in the kitchen.
“Naomi, I need your roast lamb. Mutnodjmet has arrived and I need to impress her.”
“All right,” I responded, heading straight for the storage room. “Is there anything else?”
“No, just send out some dates. Oh! And she’s quite fond of apples. Slice some up and send them out.”
He hurried away.
I went to call out to him, but I stopped myself. Instead, I prepared the food while starting to regret pushing him to marry someone else.
When the lamb was ready, I took it out myself and found a large gathering of Horemheb’s most trusted people waiting. Ramses eyed me and whispered to me as I handed him his drink.
“How are you taking all of this, dear Kiya?”
I fought myself from drawing back in shock, but managed to utter, “He’s doing the right thing.”
He chuckled. “How very noble of you.”
I stepped away from him and glanced across at Horemheb and Mutnodjmet. They seemed to be getting along very well; she even made him laugh. I hurried to finish, feeling my jealousy rising within me.
I walked home with the boys and Rachel that night in near silence, all the while questioning whether I made the right choice. I glanced at my children and remembered Malachi, and felt, for the first time since he died, happy at his memory. I realized I was no longer grieving for him, but grateful for the love we shared and the family we made. Even if I wasn’t meant to be with Horemheb after all that had happened, it didn’t matter because Malachi had been enough.
Ay was buried, and not long after, the coronation was held. The household was expected to attend, so Rachel and the younger boys were there with me. We filed into the back of the temple of Amun-Ra and a silence fell. Slowly the room filled with steam and chanting. Outside, we heard cheering in the streets as the royal procession passed, then suddenly, the grand entryway doors burst open. Horemheb was carried in on a throne with the oracle of Horus walking in front of him.
The servants set the throne down in the doorway and he stood. He looked more impressive than ever. He wore a simple white skirt, but had plenty of gold on his arms and torso. For the first time ever, he had shaved his head and had the traditional bound beard on his chin. He looked strong, powerful, majestic, and no one could take their eyes from him.
He walked toward the altar of Amun-Ra where the oracle of Horus presented him before the high priest. The priest bowed and handed the crown to the oracle.
Then Mutnodjmet came forward and bowed before Horemheb. “My lord! You truly are a king chosen by the gods! Allow me to be your royal wife.”
He nodded. A contract was brought out and they quickly signed it before all the priests and nobleman. What a grand ploy to force them to accept him as king! With the one person left with the royal bloodline begging him to be his wife, no one could dispute his claim.
Rachel tugged my sleeve. “Mama, I thought he loved you.”
I looked down at her and answered softly, “This is best for him, my dear. This is best for all of us.”
The oracle crowned him, and the crowd fell to their knees.
Several weeks passed, and Horemheb never came back to the estate. My work seemed to dwindle without him there, so I found myself visiting my family to take them water while they labored. Each time I went, it broke my heart more and more, and I became angry again.
The taskmasters were still heavy-handed and more than happy to lash anyone for the slightest slip-up. I had to give Zakkai, and all the men in my family water while they worked because they weren’t allowed to stop.
The work was intense under the direct sunlight, and had even increased, because orders had been issued to wipe out anything to do with Ay or Akhenaten, and Horemheb’s name was to be written alongside Tut’s. I felt betrayed by Horemheb. I had done so much to help him and he had promised to ease my people’s burdens, but the opposite had happened.
I wrote letters to him and left them all over the house, in hopes that he would come back at some point to see at least one. Then, one morning, I noticed several were gone. I spent the next few days waiting anxiously for a reply, and when a note was left on my table, I was sorely disappointed.
Give me some time, Naomi. There is much to be done and I must establish my relationship with my wife. Your Pharaoh Horemheb.
I scrunched it up and threw it in the fire.
A few days later, Zakkai was beaten badly right in front of me. I managed to drag him away before he passed out, and hid him among the reeds while I tended to his wounds. The following day, as he returned to work, a royal procession came down to the worksite. I watched Horemheb with Mutnodjmet while they walked around examining the progress. My heart broke as she touched his arm and made him laugh. He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear. She smiled and wrapped her arm through his.
“Naomi,” Tobiah said, lifting the bucket from my hands and carrying it toward the mud pit. “Don’t watch, you know it’s just for show.”
“He’s not like that,” I said, trying to focus on Tobiah instead. “He never liked it when I made him look less than stone cold, but look at him with her. I was never able to do that. He must really love her.”
We both looked toward him and saw him watching us. I grabbed the bucket back from Tobiah and hurried away, feeling ridiculous for believing he would marry me once he finally had a wife.
A week later, soldiers raided the worksite. Everyone scattered in fear, but the captain called out, “Give me Naomi, daughter of Jorem, and I won’t harm anyone.”
Samuel grabbed my arm to prot
ect me, but when the soldiers drew their swords, I pulled away and rushed forward.
“I am she. Please, don’t hurt anyone.”
The captain seized me and bound me. “Silence, slave!”
But as he led me away, I saw that they all replaced their swords and left the site.
The captain dragged me through the city, the soldiers shoving me and laughing as I stumbled. I resigned myself to what was to come. Whatever it was couldn’t take away from the hollow feeling inside me.
They dragged me into the palace and straight to the throne room. Ramses halted us outside the doors. “Give me the slave.”
The soldiers pushed me forward and Ramses grabbed at the ropes. “I have missed your cooking, Naomi.” He tapped my cheek and dismissed the soldiers.
“What am I doing here?” I hissed.
He chuckled. “You don’t know?”
“No. I have done nothing to warrant this kind of abuse. Does the king want to punish me for all the evils I have done? Does he intend to do me in now that he no longer needs me?”
Ramses raised his eyebrows. “My word, you are a fiery one.”
He held tightly to the rope binding me and pulled me forward.
The door burst open, startling the full court. They stared at me with disgust, but I held my head up in a final attempt to keep my dignity.
Ramses marched halfway up the room and bowed.
“My lord, as you wished I have brought you the slave.”
Horemheb stood as we approached and waved for the court to empty. Once all the people had gone, including Ramses, he glanced around to check the doors were closed. Then he marched up to me and unbound my hands.
“I’m sorry you were brought to me like this.”
“I don’t care,” I answered. “Just as long as my family is safe.”
He stroked my cheek softly. “Your family will always be safe, you have always ensured that.”
“Except Tut.”
His hand fell and he turned away from me. “That was unfortunate. You know neither of us could have prevented that.”
I sighed sadly but didn’t answer.
He walked back toward his throne and sat on it. He drummed his fingers slowly on the armrest as he stared at me. Suddenly he said, “Naomi, I am Pharaoh now, so I can do just about anything I please.”
“Then stop the slavery,” I replied with a snarl.
“That is something I cannot do. To revoke slavery would cause civil unrest and my courts would become filled with violent men seeking my blood. But I can ease your people’s burdens.”
“Then do it!” I yelled. “My son suffers daily and my brother and brothers-in-law come home beaten to their wives. We do not deserve this!”
“Naomi, please, I can easily help you with that, but I didn’t have you brought here for that reason.”
My emotions swelled within me. I felt so raw and so betrayed, so lied to.
“What do you want me for then?”
“Come closer, Naomi.” His sounded strong, commanding.
I approached the step by his feet and knelt down.
“Please don’t kneel before me.”
“But you are the king now,” I said in a hushed voice. “Even Akhenaten had me kneel before him―”
“Don’t say his name in my presence!” His voice echoed around the room. “That heretic almost destroyed everything, and for what? To gain control over the priests of Amun-Ra? We could have both died at any moment for our faith in our own gods.”
“He was my husband. He is the father of Hepsati, Itani, and my Tut. He will be a part of me forever.”
He reached down and grabbed my arm, pulling me to my feet. “You are ever faithful, Naomi. You are always the good wife.”
He shoved me back and stepped down onto the courtroom floor where he turned and yelled at me with a fierce intensity, “But never my good wife. I watched and patiently waited for you while you were with the king, knowing he wouldn’t live much longer. How I yearned for you, for your companionship, for your voice, your smile. When I tutored you, I watched you out of the corner of my eye and fought myself from jumping on you and making love to you. You were so beautiful as you stared at those scrolls trying to decipher the words and their meanings.
“You were, and still are, the only person who has ever challenged me, and being a Hebrew woman made it seem even more remarkable. But I held my emotions in check. You belonged to the king, you were his beloved as I had told you to be, and you gave him his heir.”
He turned away from me. He pulled his crown off and tossed it across the floor. “But then you left and you made me stay behind. I knew you had feelings for that guard. I should have fought harder for you, I should have insisted on going with you, no matter what you said. But I was a fool and I stayed because of honor. I had to honor my part of our deal.”
He grabbed at his forehead. “Then he came back and told us you were dead. Do you have any idea how that felt? I hid and wept, Naomi. I thought I’d lost you and I hated myself for not going with you to protect you. When he entered my office and said he had a message for the king from your brother, I almost killed him with my bare hands for not protecting you. But I had a glimmer of hope that maybe the message said you were still alive, so I took him and argued with the king to convince him to allow him enter and deliver the message. But all I heard was that the boy had survived, that’s all anyone led me to believe. So, despite my grief at the loss of you, I felt my hopes rise at knowing your son was safe. I could do everything in my power to protect him instead, since I failed at protecting you.”
“Horemheb,” I said softly. “Why are you telling me all this?”
He glared at me. “Because I have carried it around for far too long, and I must let you know. I must confess it all to you because I can no longer bear the weight of it on my own.” He surged toward me and pulled off my shawl. “So you will listen. You will hear it all.”
I stared up into his eyes, feeling his intensity and gave a quick nod.
He stepped back and dropped his gaze. “I came to find the boy when the king sent the patrol down here, so as to fulfill the promise he gave to that guard; that his brothers could be wed according to your people’s customs. I approached the party and found I was too late, but your brother came to the door and allowed me to see Tut. I secretly scanned for you also. I wanted so badly for your death to prove to be a deception, but I did not see you―”
“But you did,” I said. “I had been cast out by the brides’ father. I was sitting outside and you raised a sword to me.”
His eyes lifted in alarm and he grabbed my face. “That was you? Why did you not say anything? Surely you recognized me.”
“I did.” A tear rolled down my cheek at the memory. “But I was so ashamed. I didn’t want you to know I was being called a harlot, and I didn’t want you to go back to the king and tell him how I was being treated. He would have sent his army down to kill my people.”
Horemheb’s eyes darkened. “I would have killed them if I’d known. You didn’t deserve that.”
I shook my head. “It was their way, they didn’t understand.”
His head fell and he let go of me, turning his back on me again as he paced. “I should have paid more attention. If I had, then maybe, maybe you wouldn’t have married him.”
“Use his name, Horemheb. Malachi was a wonderful husband and I loved him dearly.”
He scoffed. “I was never able to speak his name, for the resentment I felt toward him prevented it. He deceived me over and over. He led me to believe you were dead, and when I came for Tut, he tried to lead me away so I couldn’t see you and know he had lied to me.”
“He was trying to protect me!” I stepped toward him
“He was trying to protect himself!” Horemheb swung around and pointed at me. “He knew I was a threat to him and he wanted to keep me away from you! I can never forgive him for those lies, for how long he made me suffer believing you were dead! And for taking you away from me, fo
r stealing you after how long I had waited for you, after all the work I had done to ensure you would not be passed on to the next king!
“I’ve never told anyone this except Tut, but in the end, the king told me I could have you. He said he didn’t want you to be given to Smenkhkare so I should take you and guide the boy. He told me he’d always known how I felt about you and for the longest time he hated me for it and kept you away from me because he was jealous.”
His hand fell to his side as spoke softly, “I had thought it was just his delusions, but now, oh now I know he was confessing that he had kept the truth from me and that you still lived. My Kiya was Naomi again, the magnificent girl I plucked from off the streets of Thebes, the girl who would put others before herself at all times, the girl who was brave, and defiant, and oh so clever. The girl who transformed from a street rat into a goddess, the girl who grew into the most beautiful woman I have ever known.”
I clasped at my heart, and without realizing it, I sank down onto the throne.
“Horemheb, I can’t believe you still love me after all this time, after everything that has happened.”
He came forward and knelt on one knee in front of me, grasping my hands. “Naomi, it’s always been you. Mutnodjmet may be my royal wife, but you would be the wife of my heart.”
I gasped. “But I am a Hebrew, and what if someone recognized me as Kiya?”
“No one would. You look so different as a Hebrew, and it has been so long and so many people from those times have moved on. But if you would like, just to be safe, we would keep it secret so I can be with you without anyone trying to harm you. I am Pharaoh now. I will have what I want, as long as you agree. No one but you can stop me now, no one except you stands in the way of me having you. I love you so much, Naomi, more than words can express. With you by my side I will rule fairly―”
I chuckled. “No, you won’t, you will always be harsh.”
He smiled. “Yes, but you can curb my wrath, you can stop me from going too far. You can inspire me to be a better king and I will always rely on your guidance to make the wisest decision.” He leaned over and kissed my hands. “Please, Naomi. Please agree to be my wife.”
KIYA: Rise of a New Dynasty (Kiya Trilogy Book 3) Page 24
