“Ever the businesswoman,” Khnum responded, shaking his head, and I could not tell if he teased me or was serious. “Yes, yes, I know how little time we have.”
The captain shouted an order to the boat nearest ours and in a flurry of activity all three ships came about, the reed bundles groaning against the sudden shift in load.
“In fact, we do well, my niece, very well, indeed. Many of the businessmen who had become cozy with the Royal Court in Inabu-hedj, are now seeing the light. Profits are down, contracts from the King or Queen or whatever she is today, are scarce. Every day we receive donations for our cause.”
“They willingly part with their money? I find that hard to believe.”
“Oh, I wish it were as noble as that. They do give willingly, not so much for the cause as… well, is anything simple nowadays? Ever since Unification, the rules have changed. No longer is governing a simple matter. Not that it ever was simple, but now there are layers upon layers, cloaks within cloaks, spies everywhere we turn.
“But, back to your question. The businessmen do give us money, but it arrives in waves, like the tides. One prominent businessman meets, shall I say… an untimely death due to his lack of cooperation with us and suddenly his associates see the light and come knocking on our doors, pleading their loyalty, their former allegiances to Inabu-hedj a misunderstanding on our parts, bless their light hearts.” I had to smile at Khnum’s manner of expression.
“How great is their support?” I asked.
“That’s relative, my dear. After Narmer cleansed the Delta of our loyalists, we’ve slowly and painfully built our network of supporters. With the drought, disaffection grows and it’s easier to recruit, but we are still not to where we need to be. Kem is a vast country. Our treasury has increased sufficiently so that we’re able to undertake certain… hmmm, ventures, strategic ones that will bear much fruit in the years to come.”
“Don’t be so vague, Uncle. I’ve shared with you what’s happening in the Royal Court. I need you to be as revealing to me.”
“Of course!” Khnum replied as if I had insulted him. “I’ve saved this information for our face-to-face meetings, for I don’t trust them to even my most reliable messengers.” He sipped from his cup before continuing.
“I’ve sent a secret delegation to Kush to enlist one of the Ta-Sety kings to our service.” I was so shocked at Khnum’s words, I nearly choked on my wine and had to put down my cup to face Khnum directly.
“What? Has the drought made you mad? That was never in our plans.”
Again Khnum smiled. “Even the best plans must take advantage of providence, Nubiti. And once the opportunity presented itself, we’d have been fools to pass it up.”
“What’s to be gained from creating alliances on our southern border? There’s so much to do here. We can’t afford the time or treasure to be distracted.”
“An alliance with the Ta-Setys is no distraction,” Khnum stated. “It may prove critical. Think of it, Nubiti. As pressures against the rulers in Inabu-hedj increase from here they will undoubtedly respond with force. They have a mighty, well-trained army. We keep only lightly armed men in each nome to keep the rekhi in line or to kick an abusive husband out of the house.”
“And so we must train an army in secret. That’s what I thought we were focusing on, and at the right moment send them in open rebellion.”
“Nubiti, that’ll never work. This has never been about armed conflict, not at this stage. Now it’s about bribery and cabals. Open rebellion will happen only at the last moments of our victory, when the middle class and the rekhi have already convinced themselves that we’ll win anyway. No, the gods have given us a new opportunity to aid our cause.”
“Then explain it to me,” I said, picking up on Khnum’s enthusiasm.
“If Meryt-Neith sends the army here to sit on us we can still function. But if at some point, the powers in Inabu-hedj convince Meryt-Neith that we are to be crushed, there’s nothing we can do to defend ourselves. Unless… unless we have a way to relieve that pressure.” It was then that I began to see the wisdom in Khnum’s strategy.
“Were Meryt-Neith about to bring down the Army upon us, we’d call upon our alliance with the Ta-Setys to invade from the south,” Khnum finished, using his hands for emphasis.
“An invasion? But… but no one has ever dared to invade the Two Lands. Skirmishes, yes. Raids, yes. The Ta-Tjehenus are hated for that, but the Upper Kemians tolerate it. But inviting an invasion from a foreign power would bring down the wrath of the gods.”
At this Khnum let out a hearty laugh. “And who do you think encourages the Ta-Tjehenus to raid? We’ve done so for generations as a tool against the power of the Land of the Lotus. Have the gods punished us any more than the Upper Kemians who dominate and humiliate us?
“No, the Ta-Setys have a passion for gold rivaled only by our own. Those black muts worship the metal. For the rights to a few of our mines in the eastern desert, they would happily sacrifice every one of their firstborn sons. And my sources report they are fierce warriors.”
I hung down my head, feeling like I sat naked before Isis as she peered into my heart, which now pounded in my chest. And yet…
“It’s not as if we would call for such a distasteful action unless we were threatened, and even then only if we’re truly desperate. But to have the sources of the Royal family’s gold threatened by the Ta-Setys in the south would mean that any army troops sent against us in the north would have to be either diluted to deal with that other menace or moved there in its entirety if the Ta-Setys are the warriors we think they are.”
“And if we do that? If we bring in the Ta-Setys, what then? Haven’t we then surrendered some of our sacred land? Haven’t we violated our most precious gift?” I was too shocked by the thought to sit still. I stood up and the boat rocked slightly.
“Sit back down, Nubiti. Your silhouette might tip off any of the King’s spies who are feeling particularly vigilant tonight. We’re sailing close to shore.” I quickly obeyed my uncle.
“In any event, I want you to attend an event tomorrow evening, so that you may see how eager our businessmen, even some of Amka’s priests are to aid our cause.”
I thought for a moment. “Tomorrow’s impossible. There’s an installation ceremony at the temple that’ll take the entire night.”
“For the life of me I can’t understand what goes on in your temples that takes the entire night. From what I’ve heard, though, there is singing and dancing and… much more enjoyable pursuits.” At that, I thought I saw my uncle wink at me.
“I could meet with you the next night,” I offered, avoiding his baseless remark. “The priestesses will be retiring early due to the festivities.”
“The next night it is, then,” he said, finishing the wine in his cup. With that he waved his hand and the captain came about and headed back to shore.
Despite the long night spent initiating three new priestesses, I was eager to see what Khnum had planned for me. I had never had the opportunity to see his people in action and I thought it best to see how he operated, for if I learned one thing well from Shepsit it was to judge people by their actions, not their words.
Three hours after Ra had set in the sky, I heard the familiar knock under my window and scurried out. But instead of heading toward the shore, my escorts gave me a rekhi robe to dress in, the actual garment that smelled like it had never been washed. Its course linen irritated my skin as I slipped it over my own priestess robe. I used a kerchief to subdue the stench and put a scarf over my hair and face.
We walked the city’s alleys, once passing a group of Army soldiers. When we got close my escorts feigned drunkenness and treated me as if I were a rekhi whore and the soldiers merely laughed and we passed without incident. But as soon as we turned a corner I quickly removed the men’s hands and they immediately understood my intent. We hurried along in silence.
In a few more minutes we were at the edge of Dep, at a huge house owned by o
ne of Khnum’s cousins, Neben, a fisherman who it turned out owned the boats in which we held our surreptitious meetings. The house sat atop a small rise not far from the edge of Wadj-Wer. Although it was dark, I heard the waves gently breaking against the shore. A watch had been posted for our arrival, for as soon as we approached the door it opened and we were ushered in.
For some reason I had expected the interior to be dark and was surprised to find it well lit. Many men circulated throughout the room, giving the appearance of a celebration of some sort. I noted a few men clustered in one corner of the room, their sackcloth robes a dead giveaway. They were in whispered discussion with one of my other uncles, and I could only imagine how much gold was about to be passed from my uncle to these Horus priests. The rest of the guests stood around drinking beer and wine and eating figs and fruits and cheeses and stuffed fish. I started to take off my cloak, but the man to my right stayed my hand. Instead, he and his fellow escort each took me by an arm and pushed me through the crowd to a rear door. In a moment we were outside again and heading for the shore.
Ahead I could make out the silhouettes of a line of fishing boats bobbing up and down in the water. However, just before we reached the shore, we turned sharply left. In the dark I was confused, for we headed directly into the hill upon which Khnum’s cousin’s house stood. Only once we actually entered, did I see a dim candle and realize that this was the storage shed for Neben’s fishing nets and equipment. There, before me, was Khnum.
“Greetings, dear niece,” he said, for the first time not flashing me a smile upon our greeting. I peeled off my hood and nodded toward him. With that he dismissed my two escorts, who bowed at the waist to Khnum and me. They took up positions as watchmen outside.
“Tonight you’ll witness something that not many Kemians have.” At this he gave a hoarse laugh. “Prepare yourself for a powerful ceremony, daughter of Isis, led by none other than Bakht himself.”
Once I heard that name, a chill ran through my body. I thought to ask questions of my uncle, but the rising sound of chanting voices stilled my tongue. Khnum took two steps to the side and revealed a thick wooden door. He motioned for me to follow him, opened the door and we both stepped through.
The room, dug into the side of the hill, was surprisingly large, lit by candles on stands mounted high upon the walls. The shape of the room was unusual. It was round. A group of perhaps twenty men dressed in dark robes stood in a circle around the room, chanting in a tone so low I knew that I would never be able to join in. The very air pulsed heavily with their sound, as it ebbed and flowed with some unseen energy force. The very candles seemed to flicker with life.
As soon as we entered, the circle opened to allow in Khnum, who gestured for me to stand behind him. It was then that I laid eyes on Bakht, standing opposite us. He was dressed in a black robe, the hood pulled up, his eyes closed as he chanted. He leaned on his staff and swayed slightly. In the center of the circle a fire burned in a deep pit and I noted that the room was already warm. Sweat began to appear above my lip.
The air in the room was thick with the smell of men, a pungent, musky odor that assaulted my senses and made it difficult to breathe, temporarily disorienting me. But I was quickly snapped back to reality when a drum began to beat slowly. Every few beats the tones of the chanting shifted slightly. I closed my eyes and I experienced something I had never before. The sounds and rhythms felt like I was being carried by a wave, propelled through the water by a powerful force, up and down, yet ever forward.
Now the chanting changed again and I heard a series of guttural sounds coming from Bakht. The sounds shifted yet again and he spoke words that were obviously some sort of prayer, but in a mysterious language unknown to me. The men around the circle chanted as he spoke, then stepped toward the fire. Now I recognized that Bakht prayed to Apep. In a flash, he threw off his robe, standing in the circle with nothing but a loincloth. He pointed his long, muscled arms toward the ground, summoning the serpent demon from the Underworld. Soon a black, curling smoke rose from the fire pit, creating such fervor in Bakht as I had never before seen in a man. His body was covered in a sheen of sweat.
I was so absorbed in the chanting and Bakht’s prayer at first I didn’t notice his tattoo, for his body was nothing but a tattoo, one enormous, frightening scene that sent chills racing through my body despite the heat in the room, such that I shook with fear. Bakht’s body was Apep’s, nothing less. Claws were tattooed on his toes and Apep’s horrible scaly skin covered Bakht’s entire body. Now Bakht writhed in a way that gave life to the snake god. But it was his face. Oh, mother Isis, protect me from visions of that face! For as he slithered back and forth, up and down, his face contorted into the most grotesque features imaginable and he belched forth words and spittle and guttural utterances that could only have originated in the foulest places of the Underworld.
Now the fire spewed dirty black smoke that quickly enveloped the room. The foul air circulated around and through us, and every place it touched my wet skin I felt invaded by the most evil presence I had ever known. I wanted to scrape that filth from my skin and run from the room and never stop until I drowned in Wadj-wer’s currents. My breath came in short gasps, my eyes opened wide and in that moment I swear that I saw Apep enter the circle through the fire pit and his most vile ka slithered into Bakht’s body through his opened, upturned mouth. Bakht’s face was bathed in an eerie glow from the fire itself, illuminated from below, casting long, fearsome shadows on his features. I dare to say that not a man in that room believed that Bakht was anything other than the serpent god Apep.
Bakht slithered around the fire, contorting himself in a manner I’d have believed impossible for a mortal to achieve. This evil spirit before us hissed so hideously I wasn’t the only one in that room to step back and shake with fear. Now Apep, for surely the serpent had possessed Bakht, stopped before one man. Apep opened his mouth wide and his tongue slipped out unnaturally long and flickered before the terrified man. I looked down and saw the poor man’s robe become wet with his urine. The man shook uncontrollably and the men on either side of him had to support him under his arms. Back and forth Apep swayed, all the while his evil eyes fixated on the poor priest.
When Apep stood up the drumming stopped. The fire just as suddenly died down, yet a thick, dark haze still permeated the room. Every pair of eyes shifted between Apep and the unfortunate priest who stood shaking before him. Slowly, ever so slowly, Apep began to breathe more regularly and in the space of a hundred heartbeats all of us could see the priest Bakht’s ka slowly take control of his body. His eyes were open now, but they were focused elsewhere, not on a place that existed in this world, but in another realm, the realm of muts and demons. Slowly Bakht returned and when he did, his eyes turned to the unlucky soul before him.
“Pakhneter,” he began in a coarse whisper, addressing the man who was still held erect by his peers. “You have been a trusted Apep priest for more years than I can remember. You have served as a worthy captain and we have entrusted every secret of our sect to you. And yet…”
“I.. I did not intentionally do it,” Pakhneter blurted out. “I… I mean it was intentional, but… but I was forced into doing so by my circumstances, my… my family’s misfortunes.” The man, who looked to be perhaps thirty years old, trembled uncontrollably.
“Fellow priests, what Pakh refers to is this; he has elected to become a highly paid spy, an informer, to the priests of that abomination, Meryt-Neith, that pretender king with a dildo between her legs for her manhood.”
“And yes, we know, Pakh. We know all about your betrayals and what meager treasures you received for your deeds, tempting as they were to your weak ba.” Now Bakht turned around the circle as he spoke and for the first time his eyes glimpsed mine. He stopped for just an instant and yet that moment was enough for me to feel his dark powers wash over me. To my own surprise I didn’t recoil, but felt a new respect for this priest who possessed magic I hadn’t even dreamed existed except
in legend.
Continuing his movement, Bakht spoke clearly and forcefully. “Bring the traitor his just rewards,” Bakht said to one of the men. The man returned quickly with a large clay bowl decorated with a serpent all along its edge and placed it before the fire pit which now glowed with charcoals. Pakhneter now shook so hard the men on either side had to struggle to hold him up.
“Pakhneter, you know the penalty we exact for traitors. You, yourself, have assisted me in this despicable chore in times past.” Pakh doubled over and vomited at Bakht’s feet.
“Yes, it’s a bitter bile that you must now swallow,” he said, his voice neither rising nor falling. “You will be executed and your parts scattered throughout the Delta so that you may never enter the realm of the Afterlife. We will feed your liver to Apep so that the memory of your betrayal will live into eternity. We will wipe out your sons so that no male heirs will survive you to whisper your name. And we will curse you and your heirs forever more.” Throughout Bakht’s litany Pakhneter whined and softly begged for his life.
“For your past service to our cause, we shall spare you the pain,” Bakht said to Pakhneter. He reached into the bowl and took out a small pestle of some medicine, which he smeared onto a small section of Pakhneter’s chest. Then Bakht’s assistant brought him a lit pipe filled with a noxious smelling herb. Bakht offered it to Pakhneter, who shook his head. “It will make it easier,” Bakht said softly. The two men on either side of the condemned man urged him to smoke it. He leaned forward and Bakht held the pipe as he inhaled. Within seconds Pakhneter’s eyes glazed over, and he stood more firmly on his own.
Bakht turned and reached his hand out to his assistant. The priest withdrew an ornate ivory dagger from his belt and handed it to Bakht. “Goodbye, Pakhneter,” Bakht said without emotion, “and may Apep devour your heart.” With that he made a cut into Pakhneter’s chest, reached his hand in and in one quick motion cut out the poor man’s liver. Still, Pakhneter stood, staring vacantly ahead of him at Bakht, who held his liver high, blood dripping down his arms. I felt sickened. I knew if I did not look away I would fall to the floor, retching.
The Dagger of Isis (The First Dynasty Book 2) Page 16
