Word reached Amka in Nekhen and he met us at the temple at Abu Island. From there until we were welcomed back to Nekhen we discussed strategy for how to deal with Khnum and his fellow Delta conspirators. By the time our ships arrived in Nekhen, Herihor, Nekau, Amka and I had outlined our plans. My insides ached with the thought of what I must do next.
But those plans would wait, for Amka had arranged a celebration for me and our army such as had not been seen since the time of King Narmer. For we had won a major battle against foreign invaders and the now much enhanced rumors had circulated that I had saved the life of the Chief of the Army and had engaged in hand-to-hand combat with dozens of Ta-Setys. I was hailed as a hero and no one but those closest to me would ever again address me as anything but Meryt-Neith.
On my final day in Nekhen, Amka and Tepemkau arranged a special ceremony to celebrate the victory and to reward the soldiers who fought so bravely for the Two Lands. There was a parade down the main streets, leading to the Temple of Horus and the King’s treasury made beer available for free for everyone who attended. Amka had commissioned a special tablet that commemorated the victory, showing me in my male form vanquishing the Ta-Setys. I made sure that Herihor was suitably publicly rewarded.
Herihor and I had planned to make a presentation to the widows of our fallen warriors who were from the area in and around Nekhen. We had just given them a gold pendant and the promise of a lifelong pension of bread and cheese from the King’s estates, when I noticed a commotion going on to the right of me. A black priest was animatedly whispering in Amka’s ear. He, in turn, whispered into Tepemkau’s ear.
As soon as our presentation was over, Amka had one of his priests blow the ram’s horn in three long blasts. Everyone in the crowd shushed each other and when the crowd was quiet, Amka stepped to the front of the stage.
“King Meryt-Neith, people of Kem, we have just received a very important piece of news. Horus is justly pleased by our King’s victory. He has persuaded the gods to act on our behalf. The star of Sopdet has appeared in the sky in the south. The priests of Abu Island report that Mother Nile is sending us a huge flood!”
SCROLL FIFTEEN
Nubiti
“And what’s your point?” I asked Odji, one of the so-called generals in Khnum’s rag-tag army. The man stank of cheap barley beer. Bakht sat to my left, Khnum to my right. Around the table were another of Khnum’s generals and two of Bakht’s most senior priests.
“My point is that recruiting men is still a challenge, especially in the years since Khnum has gone underground,” he answered, obviously annoyed with me for questioning him.
“You’re flinging dung again, Odji!” I responded. “It’s been eight years since Khnum went into hiding and you’ve still not figured out a way to add to our numbers?” I felt frustrated with these incompetents.
“In his defense, Nubiti, we’re having greater success with the poorest of the rekhi, for whom the benefits of Meryt-Neith’s public works projects hasn’t reached,” Khnum objected. “It’s slow going. We’re as frustrated as you.”
“No. No you’re not!” I shot back. “Passion for our cause is diminishing among our own people. Our farmers are being bought off by her damned granary storage projects. Our engineers and skilled laborers are corrupted by her plague of temple and road building. And our businessmen are won over by her import and export contracts. Our politicians would rather go to one of her damned Council of Nomes meetings than make love to their mistresses! Damn Mother Nile! Just when we were having our greatest successes, she rewards the usurper with more than ample floods and abundance everywhere!”
They sat in silence, staring at their feet. The room we met in was the same secret one that I witnessed the sacrifice of the Apep priest so many years before. How naïve I realized I was then, thinking that in a few years we would achieve our aims. Men plan and the gods laugh. How true.
“Is there one damned good thing to report?” I asked.
“The assassinations of royal loyalists goes well enough,” Khnum answered. “None of the old Delta families would consider accepting a royal appointment. Meryt-Neith has been forced to appoint Upper Kemians and that does help us in the long run.”
“And the Ta-Tjehenus?” I asked of Bakht.
“They’re ready at our command,” he answered without pause. “We have begun training with them in the far western desert, away from the eyes and ears of Amka’s spies.”
“Training for what?” I asked.
“Up to now we’ve relied on them for raids to keep the army off guard. But we do not fully understand their methods of fighting. We felt… I felt that we needed better coordination in preparation for the time we might need to coordinate attacks.”
I smiled at Bakht’s foresight. “Well done,” I ventured. “As for the attacks, is it time? What do you each say?”
For the rest of the morning we debated the issue of whether to accelerate our plans to separate from Upper Kem. I was surprised at the unanimity of our group.
“So, we agree we can’t wait any longer. Bakht, how long before our men can coordinate with the Ta-Tjehenus and advance on Inabu-hedj?”
“On Inabu-hedj?” Odji asked. His eyes opened wide. “I… I never thought that was in our plans… I…”
“Inabu-hedj was built on our land. Let us not forget that,” Bakht reminded the group. “Narmer intentionally did this to rub his victory in our faces. We will reclaim it as our own and remake it. Let the Upper Kemians go back to Nekhen.” Bakht spit on the ground before him.
“We’ll be ready in a month or two, perhaps a bit more. But we’ll need you to work your magic from the inside, so to speak,” Bakht said, smiling at me.
“I plan to meet with one of my most valuable spies just as soon as I get back to Inabu-hedj,” I said, thinking about my next move. “I promise each of you here today that I’ll do my part. When you march on Inabu-hedj you’ll find a weakened Royal family and a city unable to resist your forces.” I looked into each of their faces. “But this I promise you. There will be consequences if each of you does not do your part. The time is now!”
After clarifying a few more details, I adjourned the meeting. Once everyone else left, I turned to Bakht.
“We must get rid of Odji. He is…”
“I’ve already arranged for a rather unfortunate accident to happen to the old man. Pity.” I shook my head in amazement and Bakht smiled.
“How’s Khnum holding up?
“Being in hiding does not agree with him. He likes the trappings of power.”
“That’s the way it should be. It’ll keep him motivated.” At this Bakht laughed.
“Did you bring what I requested?” I asked.
“Of course.” He withdrew from his robe two packets of burlap, tied tightly with hemp string. “You remember what I told you about how to use this?” he asked before handing them to me.
“Yes. Slowly and consistently.” Bakht nodded his head. I immediately put the packets in my robe.
“And the boy?” I asked, looking directly into his dark eyes. He smiled broadly.
“Doing well. The priests train him daily. He already displays certain… shall we say… aptitudes.”
“And you’re sure he’ll be ready?”
“He’ll be ready.” And with that Bakht reached out and took me in his arms.
In eight days I was back in Inabu-hedj and had already spent two days meeting with the head Isis priestesses from each of our nomes. The abundance Mother Nile brought us was not all bad, for it brought to the Isis cult gold and goods from both the Royal Treasury and the people themselves. Woman give to the temples far more of their possessions than their husbands ever know about. And with these resources we issued contracts to build a few temples, buy goods from merchants, and hire scribes to write our legal documents. In this way we gained power and influence right under the noses of the Royal Court.
Despite my heavy schedule of meetings, I added one more that day or, more accurately, that ni
ght. It was well after Ra’s half silver disk rose that I heard a familiar knock on my door at the Temple, for I dared not meet with this spy in the house I shared with Sekhemkasedj. I made sure there were no candles still lit in my room. I knew that Nyla would have arranged that no other priestesses would be nearby.
I opened the door and my most important informer slid in gracefully. She wore a dark robe and her flowing hood concealed her face.
“I’m glad you could make it tonight,” I started.
“It’s best we get this done quickly,” she said nervously. “Eyes and ears are on alert everywhere in the Court these days.”
“Yes, quickly then.” I stepped away from her, but kept my voice to a whisper. “We are planning to act.”
“With my respects, Mother, you have been planning to act for many years now.” I quickly subdued my anger at her petulance. I was her superior in rank as Head Isis priestess, but she was older and had known me nearly all of my life.
“You’re right, but there have been many obstacles in our way. Now’s the time and we act sooner rather than later.”
“How soon?” she asked impatiently.
“That will depend on you,” I answered. She stood quietly for several seconds.
“In that case you should plan to act tomorrow!” Her anger was so near the surface I wanted to smile.
“Good. I don’t need to remind you that the very cult of Isis is in mortal danger. If we don’t act soon we risk becoming a lesser cult and think what that would mean.”
“And you believe that is what brings me into this cabal?” she said, every word measured. I searched her face for a clue to her mood, but it was cast in dark shadow.
“I suspect it plays a part at least.”
“I do not care a flea’s worth on an elephant for the plight of your precious temples,” she said with disdain. “I am an Isis priestess and that is between she and me and I need no temple to verify what is in my heart.”
I was taken aback by the vehemence of her words, but there was business to transact and so long as her motivation to aide our cause was high, I saw no need to pursue this line of discussion further.
“What we’re asking you to do is this,” I said, explaining in detail to her what must be done. Finally I handed her the two bags of herbs that Bakht had given me.
“Be careful with these. Just a pinch at a time, mixed in food. It is slow acting and will take many weeks to reach full potency.”
“I know, I have healed others from various poisons,” she responded, looking down at the bags.
“Not these. They’re an exotic variety not known to us in Kem. I urge you to be careful, but if you’re caught…”
“If I am caught I would never reveal your involvement, even under torture. We have learned how to deal with that eventuality, haven’t we?” With that she placed the packets inside her robe and made to leave.
“Wait. Before you go I have something to tell you,” I said. She hesitated, then turned to face me.
“Did you know… no, that is silly, no one here knows. I’m telling you now that I have a son.”
“You? When? I…”
“No one knew at the time, except for my two able assistants and some Apep priests in the Delta. I used an extended tour of temples in the Delta to hide my pregnancy. He is now eight years old.”
“So, why are you telling me this?”
“We’re placing a great deal of trust in you. Our plans, our very lives depend on you succeeding. I wanted you to know that we’ve got a succession plan in place. His father will serve as Regent for our son, and I as queen, until he comes of age. He’s being groomed right now for that eventuality. I wanted you to know how serious our plans are.”
She rocked back and forth, contemplating my words. “I realize that for a long time you have wanted to know what brings me into your cabal,” she finally said. “I have never pried into your alliances, into the other members of your group, for I have no interest in politics. I know I am but a Senet game piece and you will use me until I am of no use anymore… no, please, do not interrupt, let me go on.
“I appreciate your trusting my purpose and you have not pried into my motivation. So here it is, now, laid bare. I have loved Mery since she was but a child. I have taught her and healed her, as well as Zenty. And so, when she cast me aside in favor of that… that monstrous black mut spirit, that arrogant shaman priest Nekau… well, I soon pledged my revenge.”
“I understand, Ti-Ameny, for…”
“No, my Isis mother, I doubt you do. I do not mean any disrespect, but I truly doubt that you do.” I had to smile inside for if there is anyone in the Two Lands who understands better about being cast aside in favor of another, I have never met her.
“However, this I will tell you,” she continued. “Your vision is obviously far broader, far more important than is mine. My single focus is to see Meryt-Neith be shamed and suffer as have I. That in itself will be my reward.” She said nothing more that night, opened the door, peered out and then disappeared into the night. I knew then with more assurance than I had ever had that our plan would succeed.
I have thought many times since of that conversation with Ti-Ameny and the lessons it taught me about people and their motivations. I have learned not to judge, not to persuade, but to just use, unquestioning, whatever people bring to me in a way that mutually benefits us both. We are each of us full of contradictions and hypocrisy. We can justify anything to ourselves and in our self-righteousness feel morally superior. Yet here is the biggest learning of all. Forget lofty justifications. Forget appeals to reason, or duty, or higher purpose. The greatest motivators in all of Kem, in any land, are love and hate and it makes not a whit of difference in what order. They are one and the same.
And so, on the very next day, Ti-Ameny began to administer the deadly poison to Meryt-Neith. It’s funny, really, what the gods have wrought. A mere plant or two, one perhaps standing tall and colorful in a grassy meadow, another thorny and tenaciously rooted in a mountain crevice, can produce such a venomous brew. Just half a pinch Bakht told me. Just half a pinch each day. That is all it took.
In several ten-days the first signs appeared. Ti-Ameny reported that Mery looked fatigued, with dark shadows under her eyes. It was all the work she did, Nekau and Amka said, the many meetings, the architectural plans to approve, the laws she and Amka enacted. This went on for many ten-days until she sat as judge in a land dispute between a nobleman and a rekhi couple. Just a few minutes into the dispute, she began to scream at both parties and left the room holding her head.
In the weeks following that, she complained of severe headaches and would nap for much of the afternoon. Her appetite decreased and even Zenty was forced to take a leave from his military training to spend time with his mother. In time, her body took on a ghastly, yellowish pale.
One evening I had arranged a party for Sekhemkasedj and his fellow Royal agricultural estate supervisors, as well as the various suppliers that regularly bribed him to gain lucrative contracts. The Minister of the Royal Agricultural Estates attended, as well as the Governors of each nome immediately surrounding Inabu-hedj. It was an eclectic mix of cultured and common individuals. With the return of Mother Nile’s floods, business had been good for Sekhem and our house had been enlarged and the furnishings all replaced with fine handmade pieces. Pottery from some of Nekhen’s finest artists adorned every cubby. The food was endless and the wine imported by caravan from Babylon. In all we entertained more than one hundred and fifty guests that night. Many were so drunk they spent the night passed out on the floor or on our downstairs couches.
I had worked hard to make the night succeed because it afforded me an opportunity to advance our plans. Throughout the night I, as well as my allies, spoke with key people about Mery’s declining health.
“And to what do you attribute Meryt-Neith’s poor health?” the Minister of Relations with Foreigners asked me as a crowd gathered around us. “I mean as her relative you must suspect wh
at is at work. You two are so close.”
“Oh, I wish that were still true,” I said, tittering and playing to the crowd. “Poor Mery is so busy since she ascended to the throne, she’s hardly had time to breathe, let alone gossip with one so unimportant as me.” The crowd was eating this up.
“We correspond about matters of the Temples from time to time, but as for sisterly time together, she hasn’t had a moment to herself in a very long time, what with making war, listening to disputes… well, you know. All those male activities I think are terribly difficult for a woman.” The women in the group shook their heads in agreement.
“I’ve heard… well, I don’t believe this for a moment, but recently someone who’ll remain nameless, but is in a position to know,” I said, winking my eye, “told me that she is plagued by having to send troops against her own people.”
“Yes, yes, it destroys ma’at!” one of my allies in the crowd assented. “Perhaps the gods punish her for such effrontery.”
“Oh, no, don’t say such a thing!” I responded loudly enough to draw more into the crowd. “We priestesses pray for Mery every day. I mean, yes, Isis has spoken in dreams to my sister priestesses about some of Mery’s acts appearing to be heresy, but she is also a forgiving goddess. Oh, now you’ve upset me. Please excuse me. I go this instant to offer prayers for poor Mery’s redemption.” I heard later that the guests talked of nothing else the rest of the evening and in the weeks that followed, as Mery’s pain increased and her health declined still further, the entire Royal Court whispered of her punishment from the gods.
“The gods seem to favor our plans,” mother said to me one day when I visited her. It had been a while since I saw her and her age had finally caught up with her. She was stooped from the bent bones of old age and her face was as wrinkled as a prune. She wore a wig to hide her baldness.
“What’ve you heard?”
“I know that The Abomination is failing. My informer tells me she looks like death and that Amka and his Horus shamans work day and night to find a cure. But they won’t, eh daughter?” she said, giggling.
The Dagger of Isis (The First Dynasty Book 2) Page 29
