Iynefer secreted himself behind several closely-placed palm trees overlooking a stretch of shore strewn with several dozen women’s skirts. The garments shone white against the dark sand, the women far enough away that I couldn’t tell who any of them were, all indistinguishable figures in the shimmering river. But I hadn’t come to watch the women. I positioned myself behind the trunk of a palm tree twenty yards from Iynefer, a dark shape lurking in the shadows. I had no idea what he was going to do. I had no idea how I was going to stop him when he made his move. His job was to protect Father. He was much larger than me and well-trained and experienced at fighting. Now I rued the hours I’d spent studying instead of wrestling and practicing with weapons. Nervously, I fingered the handle of the flint knife tucked into my belt. I hoped I wouldn’t have to use it. If it came to a fight I wasn’t likely to win against a man with Iynefer’s prowess.
The women bathed for a long time. I doubted most of the royals were in a particular hurry to rejoin their new husbands and consummate their marriages. Except for one. Squeals and splashing and conversation and lilting laughter and an occasional song drifted on the breeze. The happy voices probably belonged to the elite women whose lives hadn’t just changed. The royals were, I supposed, questioning each other about their mates. The women might be from different settlements but they’d all just been sentenced to the same fate, given to men they didn’t know.
Eventually, women began to pass my hiding place on their way back to camp, some singly, most in groups of three or four. I noted elites from both settlements, and my sister Weret, and Pentu’s daughter Nofret. Then I caught sight of Matia, walking with her sister Nebetah. They paused ten paces from me, in a patch of moonlight.
“I can’t believe how lucky I am!” Nebetah gushed, placing her fingers on Matia’s forearm. “The wife of a future king! Lagus is so handsome!”
“You can thank me he’s yours, Sister,” Matia boasted. “I arranged it.”
“You?”
“I negotiated the alliance and the marriages, Nebetah. I’ll tell you all about it someday.”
I was shocked. If Matia told Nebetah the secret details, and Nebetah told Lagus, our future son’s life would be in danger.
“You negotiated? If that’s true, why did you choose Iry for a husband instead of Mekatre?” Nebetah asked. “Mekatre’s even handsomer than Lagus.”
“I had my reasons,” Matia replied.
Because she’d fallen for me. I gloated.
“He’s very easy to manipulate, Sister. I made Iry think the alliance was his idea, even though it was actually mine. He was so proud of himself when he believed he’d thought it up.”
Easy to manipulate? Her idea? What?
“Let me guess – you didn’t want Iry to know you’re smarter than him and make him feel inferior,” Nebetah said.
Matia laughed. A cutting, cruel laugh.
I was suddenly feeling very small. And quite inferior.
“How did you manipulate Iry, Matia? In case I need to manipulate Lagus.”
“How else?” Matia said lightly. “I made Iry believe I’d fallen in love with him.”
Matia didn’t love me? She’d lied? Her kisses had been a trick? She’d deceived me?
“Why, Matia?”
“I want to rule Nubt, Nebetah. Iry agreed to let me help him. So I pretended to fall for him – in an hour’s time. Can you believe he believed me?”
“Of course, Matia. He’s a man and you’re exceptionally pretty. What man thinks clearly around a pretty girl?”
“Iry’s not really my type, Nebetah, but he’s tolerable. I could’ve done worse.”
“Baki?”
“At least I’m free of him. Thank the gods for that.”
They moved on.
I watched until they were swallowed up by darkness, absolutely devastated. Matia had lied and manipulated. Why had I been so blind? So much for love and affection. Ours was going to be a strictly political marriage after all. I cursed her under my breath. It was impossible for me to back out now. I was trapped by Sety’s dream. I had to marry Matia and father the line of the unifier. But I’d never trust Matia again as long as I lived. Or take any counsel she tried to give me concerning Nubt at face value. I knew the truth about Matia now – she was a hard cunning woman willing to do anything to anyone to get what she wanted. But I could be hard too.
Several more women passed, elites, all cheerful.
I sank to the ground, my back against the tree. I was such an idiot. My dreams about Matia and me, all the longing and desire, dashed in an instant. An hour from now I’d enter a tent with her to consummate our marriage. How was I going to look her in the eye? How was I going to pretend to love her, knowing she despised me?
A piercing scream issued from the river.
I swung around. Iynefer had disappeared from beneath the palms. Distracted, I’d missed his move. A failure on my part with likely deadly consequences.
I scrambled to my feet, at the same time drawing my knife. I sprinted towards the river. I rushed past the palm trees onto the flats at the water’s edge. One skirt remained on the ground. I recognized Heria in the river, ten feet from shore. Iynefer was facing her, both hands around her throat, his back to me. She was desperately thrashing and kicking and twisting. He was struggling mightily to get a firm enough hold on her wet slippery skin to strangle her. It was only a matter of time; Iynefer was twice Heria’s size. I didn’t hesitate. I kept running full speed into the water, splashed three long steps, then launched myself at them. We collided and submerged. Jarred by the impact, I dropped my knife. I struggled to my feet, surfacing the same instant as Iynefer. Heria was to our right, knee-deep. I was behind him. Spluttering, water in my eyes, I tried to jump on his back and grab his throat. He jerked sideways. I slipped off. He was on me then. His greater weight drove me underwater. He pressed my back into the mud, held me down. I kicked, felt his knee buckle. He let go of me. I rolled, somehow got to my feet, surfaced, stood waist-deep, took great gasping breaths. I saw Heria on land, reaching for her skirt. Then Iynefer was on me again. A blow to my eye. I staggered. A blow to my stomach. I doubled over. A blow to my jaw. I raised my hands to protect my face. I tasted blood. Men burst from the palms onto the moonlit strand. Sabu and five of King Ika’s bodyguards. Conveniently close to the attack. Almost as if they’d known it was coming. One started running towards Iynefer and me. Sabu stopped him. A blow to my face I barely blocked. Then Iynefer was on top of me again and I was underwater and he was holding me down. Just when my lungs were about to burst Iynefer was off me and hands pulled me to the surface.
“Get him out of the water!” Sabu ordered.
Elites from both settlements, some carrying torches, began appearing behind Sabu.
Two of Sabu’s guards dragged me to shore, spluttering, gasping. They pinned my arms behind me. Iynefer was standing a few paces away, chest heaving, unrestrained. I felt my left eye closing, my face swelling. Iynefer looked untouched. Two guards flanked Heria. She was terrified, her skirt clinging to her wet legs, water streaming from her hair.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Sabu queried. As if he didn’t know.
“He attacked me!” Iynefer charged, pointing at me.
“Liar.”
“He was attacking the king’s wife! I tried to stop him!” Iynefer cried.
The kings arrived then, and my brothers, and the remaining elites and women from both settlements. They formed a semicircle behind Sabu, facing me and the guards holding me, and Iynefer. Father and King Ika pushed their way to the front.
“Get your hands off my son!” Father demanded.
Sabu’s guards let me go with a shove. I cried out at the sharp pain in my ribs.
“What’s going on here?” Father queried.
“Your son attacked my father’s new wife,” Sabu charged. “That man tried to stop him.” He indicated Iynefer. “One of your bodyguards. My father’s bodyguards and I heard Her Majesty scream and ran here. Your son wou
ld’ve killed him if we’d arrived a moment later.”
I laughed. Bad mistake. More pain in my ribs. If Sabu had held his men on shore a moment longer I’d be dead. Iynefer would have drowned me. Sabu must have heard everyone approaching. He wouldn’t have been able to explain why he wasn’t doing anything. So he’d sent his guards into the river to break up the one-sided fight.
“Iynefer?” Father asked, peering at the traitor.
“Iry saved me from him!” Heria cried tremulously. She dashed to Father. He wrapped his arms around her protectively.
“A lie,” Sabu said coolly. “Just look at Her Majesty. She’s too afraid of Iry to tell the truth. Terrified what he’ll do to her.”
“I am not!”
“I didn’t attack my sister,” I said.
“Who is this man?” King Ika asked, indicating Iynefer. “Not one of mine.”
“One of King Scorpion’s bodyguards, Father,” Sabu said. “I saw him on board the boat today.”
“You ordered Iynefer to keep the marriages from taking place, Sabu,” I said calmly. “I heard you two talking.” I spit out a mouthful of blood, gingerly touched my swelling lips.
“Liar!” Sabu snapped.
“I followed Iynefer here from the campfire, Father. I heard Heria scream. I stopped him from strangling her.”
“Father, Iry’s been eyeing your wife all evening,” Sabu accused, addressing King Ika. “He didn’t want you to marry her. He wants her for himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ordered this bodyguard to make a show of attacking her to sabotage the alliance between Nubt and Tjeni. Iynefer didn’t expect Iry would try to murder him to keep him from telling the truth. Iry failed. Iynefer has lived to tell the truth. Isn’t that right, Iynefer?”
“It is, Majesty,” Iynefer confirmed. “Every word of it.”
“First you said I was attacking Heria, Sabu. Now you claim I ordered Iynefer to make a show of attacking her. Which was it, Sabu? Him or me?”
“King Scorpion – I demand you turn Iry over to my father to be executed for assaulting Her Majesty,” Sabu snarled.
“Nonsense!” Father said angrily. “King Ika – your son’s clearly responsible for the attack on my daughter. It’s obvious he bribed Iynefer. I demand reparations.”
“Reparations? My son’s not a liar. He had nothing to do with this.”
“Sabu’s more devious than you know, King Ika,” Father said frostily. “Did he tell you about the alliance he arranged against me with Pe and Dep the day we arrived at Nekhen? The one Iry overheard him negotiating with Ny-Hor’s son Antef?”
Sabu went pale.
Thank the gods Father hadn’t mentioned Matia overhearing him too. That would’ve put her life in danger from her brother. She might have deceived me for days, and killed the love I’d felt for her a few minutes ago, but I didn’t want her to suffer at Sabu’s hands. Sabu’s blood-stained hands.
“My son would never negotiate an alliance without my knowledge,” Ika protested angrily.
“Does that mean you approved the alliance with King Ny-Hor, Ika? That you sent Sabu to arrange it? That the alliance you agreed to with me today was a trick? Perhaps Iynefer is actually one of your men. Your spy in my court.”
“No,” Ika spluttered.
“Turn Sabu over to me for execution! Immediately!”
“I will not,” Ika insisted.
All at once every bodyguard of both kings and every elite man and every king’s son was in a crouch, faces tense in the torchlight, weapons drawn. Except me. My knife was in the river. Not that I was in any condition to wield a weapon anyway.
“Lagus, get our women back to my boat. Now!” Father ordered, his eyes never leaving Ika.
Knives drawn, walking backwards facing Ika’s men, Lagus and Minnefer and Perneb herded my sisters and our elite women towards our boat a quarter mile away. None had to be urged to hurry.
“Bring Iynefer to me,” Father demanded.
Mekatre and I strode to the riverbank. We took hold of Iynefer’s arms and pulled him to Father. More pain in my ribs. Worth it. He didn’t resist; he had nowhere to run. We forced Iynefer to kneel on the sand at Father’s feet, facing him.
“Do you admit you were under Sabu’s orders to attack Heria?” Father queried.
Iynefer said nothing. A sure sign his relationship with Sabu was a long-standing one.
“My mace.”
The servant charged with caring for it brought it to Father. The shaft was polished ebony, the mace head a fist-sized oval of limestone, etched with the image of a scorpion.
Father seized Iynefer’s hair with his left hand and twisted it, getting a firm grip.
Iynefer began to splutter, threw his arms wide, begged for mercy.
“This is for daring to touch my daughter!”
Raising his right hand high, Father swung the mace with all his might in a long looping arc, smashing it into the side of Iynefer’s head. There was a dull thunk. Blood and brain matter splattered onto Father and me and Mekatre and everyone close to us. Iynefer tumbled to the ground.
Father bent. He twisted his mace back and forth, loosened it, then wrenched it out of Iynefer’s skull.
“Drag the corpse to my boat,” Father ordered two guards. “Hang it head down from the bow. Keep it there until it rots.”
“Yes, Majesty.”
Father pointed his bloody mace at Ika. “The marriages are off!” he thundered. “The alliance is off! For what your son did to Heria – I promise you, Ika, I will bring Nubt to its knees.”
“You’re welcome to try,” Sabu said defiantly.
Weapons still drawn, we all backed slowly towards Father’s boat. Ika’s men didn’t follow. I took a quick glance at Matia as I left the strand, her face illuminated by a torchbearer standing next to her. She was shaken, horrified. I looked away quickly, bitter, hurt. For an instant I was grateful for Sabu’s sabotage. Matia had deceived me. Thanks to Sabu I wouldn’t have to share my life with a woman who had no respect or love for me. But I’d been counting on our marriage to fuel my personal advancement and our son’s. Losing Matia was a giant step backwards for me. I had no idea how I was going to recover the ground I’d just lost and make a fitting future for myself. Reaching the riverbank, I boarded Father’s boat along with the rest of his men. Crewmen pulled up the gangplank. Moments later Ika and his people filed back into camp and arrayed themselves around several blazing fires, the royals ringed by King Ika’s armed bodyguards, all of them facing us.
I watched the Nubtians from the railing of Father’s boat along with every other man in Father’s entourage, all of us armed and ready in case Ika was stupid enough to attack us. I hurt all over. My jaw was tender, my lips still bleeding, my ribs throbbing. I’d be badly bruised in the morning. I couldn’t see out of one eye. Almost against my will, my good eye was drawn over and over to Matia, sitting beside the campfire around which Sabu was strutting and gleefully downing cup after cup of wine, looking smug and satisfied with himself. He’d gotten exactly what he wanted tonight – the certainty of war between Nubt and Tjeni. Our settlements could no longer exist side by side. One or the other must be absorbed. And it wasn’t going to be Tjeni. I pounded the railing in frustration. How cold Matia’s heart must be, to have played me for such a fool. The only consolation was that now she was going to have to face the reality of being a prize of war.
An hour passed. King Ika and Pentu engaged in a long discussion the entire time; Sabu and Baki joined in occasionally. Baki looked as pleased as Sabu. The other elites sat to one side, silent. There was considerable shouting at several points. Finally, Pentu rose. He held out his hand. After a moment Matia took it and stood. Pentu led her away from the fire and into his tent. I knew what that meant. He’d taken her to wife. Pentu was more than twice Matia’s age. Now I felt even worse. She hadn’t looked as if she’d been coerced. Was she pretending with Pentu the way she’d pretended with me? Was she planning to use him for some purpose known only to herself? Or did she lov
e him for real? He was a powerful man, and she craved power. Matia had been a falling star shooting across the heavens of my life. She’d just disappeared over the horizon, never to be seen again. Good riddance.
Sety moved beside me as Pentu closed the opening of the tent behind them. “I don’t understand, Iry. Matia was in my dream. I wasn’t mistaken. I saw the future so clearly. Tjeni and Nubt aligned, eventually Nekhen, then the entire valley united. Matia was the key. And you. But now… impossible.”
A week ago my ambition had been to succeed Father and sit Tjeni’s throne. Then I’d learned of his ambition to extend his rule into the North after he gained control of the South, and I’d expanded my ambition accordingly. Then had come Matia, and the alliance, and Sety’s dream, and I’d abandoned my quest to rule after Father. I’d pledged myself instead to pave the way for my descendants to unify the valley. But now all bets were off. Matia was married to a man from Nubt. Her children wouldn’t have Tjeni’s royal blood. Her children wouldn’t be mine. Sety’s prophesy wouldn’t be fulfilled. It was time for me to reassess my ambition. I was no longer bound by my vow to pave the way for someone else. So, once again, I was going to position myself to succeed Father. Then, after I took Tjeni’s throne, I was going to aggressively seek to unify the valley. What Abar had set in motion in Nekhen centuries ago I was going to finish. “Maybe wicked men have more power than gods,” I mused, indicating Sabu.
House of Scorpion Page 14
