We on Father’s boat watched camp uneasily the remainder of the night, awaiting dawn when the river would be safe to navigate and we could head for home. The whole time Iynefer’s corpse slowly swung back and forth in rhythm with the current, banging over and over into the side of the boat.
***
Peret (Seed)
Matia
***
I sat beside the blazing campfire along with Father and Sabu and the elites, in a state of shock. Just a few hours ago Father and Scorpion had announced the alliance between Nubt and Tjeni. An alliance I’d negotiated to deny my brother Sabu Nubt’s throne. An alliance that would’ve made me mother of a king, ancestress of the valley’s unifier. An alliance that was now, thanks to Sabu, dead and buried. Thanks to Sabu, Tjeni was now at war with Nubt. It was only a matter of time until the king angrily stalking the deck of his nearby boat attacked and conquered us. Armed guards stood between our campfire and Scorpion’s vessel, where his equally-armed men watched us and where the corpse of Scorpion’s treasonous guard swung upside down from the bow. I saw Iry watching me, his battered face agonized. I felt sorry for him, a little. Even though I didn’t care for Iry and I supposed that after a time pretending I loved him would’ve become tiring, especially since he practically worshiped me, we both had grand ambitions and we’d have helped each other achieve them. Who knew? Maybe I’d have come to care for him in time. My heart had been closed to even the thought of love for years because of the inevitability of my marriage to Baki, a man I couldn’t stand. Maybe Iry would have opened it. I’d never know now. I glimpsed Sety too. He appeared baffled. I’d never actually believed his dream was more than a fairy tale. I’d embraced it because it’d been a useful tool as Iry and I forged the alliance between our settlements. Sety’s dream had fooled King Scorpion into believing the alliance and my marriage to Iry were components of a grand plan by the falcon god to unify the valley. It would’ve been nice if it’d been true. But it hadn’t.
Baki was basking in the glow of Sabu’s treachery. I couldn’t bear to look at him. He didn’t want me and I didn’t want him. Our marriage, inevitable now, was going to be a disaster. Sabu was strutting around the campfire, eminently pleased with himself. First he’d killed Hetshet, now he’d killed Nubt. I hated him.
Pentu was bitter and silent. He’d seen the alliance as Nubt’s salvation. He was probably pondering its destruction.
Father was shaken and overwhelmed. He stared into the fire for a long time. Suddenly he threw his cup of wine as far into the darkness as he could. “What have you done to us, Sabu?” he cried.
“Me?”
“The dead man used to be one of my guards. Years ago. I remember him. You sent him to Tjeni, didn’t you. He was beholden to you. You ordered him to attack my new wife. My wife!”
“You’re wrong, Father. I’ve never spoken to that guard. Not once,” Sabu averred.
I assumed he was lying. I believed Iry’s accusation.
“Majesty,” Baki volunteered, “I was with His Majesty from the moment the marriages were arranged on King Scorpion’s vessel until we heard your wife scream. I promise His Majesty didn’t speak to that guard.”
Supporting Sabu’s lies as always. Baki had no shame.
“Was Iry’s claim he heard you discussing an alliance with Antef a lie too?” Father asked Sabu.
Sabu shrugged. “If Iry lied about one thing, why believe him about another?”
I resisted the urge to call Sabu out. What purpose would it serve now other than to make me a target of his wrath?
Sabu took a long drink of wine. “Look, Father. Everyone saw Iry hanging around Matia at Nekhen. This attack probably has something to do with her.”
“Is that true, Daughter?” Father asked sharply.
“That the attack was about me? Absurd.”
“No. That you and Scorpion’s son were together at Nekhen.”
“What of it? Sabu spent time with several royal daughters while we were at Nekhen. And serving girls.”
“You’re pledged to Baki!” Father snapped.
I almost had to admire how Sabu had diverted Father’s ire from himself to me.
“Iry wanted Matia, Father,” Sabu said matter-of-factly. “His sister Heria clearly didn’t want to marry you. So Iry and Heria arranged the supposed attack to sabotage one particular marriage – yours. Iry probably assumed that once the alliance fell apart he could kidnap Matia. Or that she might have gone to Tjeni with him willingly. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if King Scorpion was behind the attack. He wanted an excuse to go to war against us. Now he has it. One he himself created.”
Sabu wasn’t making sense. But he was confusing Father.
“We need to prepare for war immediately!” Sabu exclaimed.
“I agree, Majesty,” Pentu interjected. He looked defeated.
“We can’t afford to provoke Scorpion,” Father disagreed. “We’ll give him some time to cool off, then approach him again.”
Father had his head in the sand. Nothing we could do, short of handing Sabu over for execution, would appease Scorpion now. Father wouldn’t do that. As much as I hated admitting Sabu was right, because of what he’d done we had to prepare to fight. Not to would be irresponsible. Not that doing so would make a difference in the long run.
“Majesty, there’s the matter of the marriages between your house and mine, now that the alliance with Tjeni is dead,” Pentu said crisply.
“Yes, yes. Nofret will marry Sabu and Matia will marry Baki as soon as we’re back at Nubt.”
My heart fell. The sentence I’d been under for a decade. A sentence I dreaded now more than ever, knowing Baki was an accomplice in Hetshet’s murder and was blindly devoted to Sabu.
“No, Majesty. They’ve been put off far too long. We’ll consummate the marriages tonight,” Pentu insisted.
A smart move on his part. Once the marriages took place no one in Nubt would be able to dislodge Pentu from his position. Sabu would try once Father died, but I was convinced Pentu would find a way to get rid of Sabu if I didn’t kill him myself. If Scorpion attacked Nubt while Father was still alive, Pentu would hand Sabu over to Scorpion no matter what Father said. Then he’d probably be able to negotiate a new alliance with Scorpion. He’d probably be able to position himself as advisor to whichever son Scorpion put on Nubt’s throne, most likely Mekatre. That meant Pentu was going to have a say in Nubt’s future for years to come. I wanted to have a say too. I made a decision. I was going to look out for myself beginning right now instead of meekly surrendering to men’s pronouncements. I was going to ally myself with a man who mattered.
“Marry me, Pentu,” I demanded. “Give Nofret to Father. Father, give Nebetah to Baki.”
Pentu stared at me, stunned.
Baki’s instinctive objection died on his lips. I’d just given him the girl he desired.
Sabu looked puzzled. Good. He was my mortal enemy now. I wanted him to worry about what I might be up to.
Father looked startled, then pleased. He’d just gained a girl about a third his age. A girl he’d been eyeing for some time, as I well knew.
“Agreed,” Father said hurriedly. “Are the marriages acceptable to you, Pentu.”
He gazed at me speculatively. “They are, Majesty.”
“Excellent. At least something good’s come of this night.”
“Yes. We’ve freed ourselves of Tjeni,” Sabu said.
“Idiot,” Pentu muttered so softly only I heard him. He drained the last of his wine. He stood, held out his hand. “Come, Matia.”
I remained seated. I wasn’t about to be summoned like a dog. Better establish that right away.
Pentu collected himself. “If you please, Matia.”
I took his hand and rose and let him lead me from the campfire to his nearby tent.
***
“Why me?” Pentu asked after he pulled closed the flap of his tent. Our tent. He sat.
A flickering bowl of oil cast light on his face a
nd our shadows onto the sides of the tent. He was truly baffled.
I sat down facing him. “Because you’re the only man in Nubt who can keep Sabu from taking the throne. Because you need my help to do it.”
“Do I?”
“Don’t treat me like an innocent uneducated girl, Pentu. I’m the reason we nearly had peace with Tjeni. Thanks to me sacrificing myself to Iry. We were this close to ridding Nubt of Sabu. This close! Do you think I’m going to surrender our future to Sabu without a fight? Do you think I’m going to let Hetshet remain unavenged?”
“Our marriage is simply a means to an end?”
“I don’t love you and I won’t pretend, Pentu, if that’s what you mean. You’re the only man in Nubt influential enough to deny Sabu the throne and punish him afterwards. That’s all I care about. So I’ve married you. The moment Scorpion’s troops approach Nubt you’re going to have to seize the throne from Father and negotiate a new alliance with Scorpion and I can help you do both.”
“Must I seize it?”
“Who else? You can’t support the head of one of the other elite houses as king – Sabu’s uncle Ani will be for war and he’ll want Sabu on the throne, so he’s out. My cousin Bebi will be against war, but he’s the weakest elite and unfit to rule. Hetshet’s uncle Maya will pretend to be neutral – he’ll portray himself as a compromise candidate, but name him and he’ll be the tool of whoever offers the largest bribe – and Ani’s house is the wealthiest. Meaning Maya will lead us into a war. We can’t save ourselves from Scorpion if anyone but you succeeds Father.”
“You haven’t picked all this up listening in the audience hall.” Pentu seemed somewhat impressed.
“Women gossip when they bathe, Pentu. Husbands tell their wives things they shouldn’t, or wives overhear conversations not meant for their ears – wives who pontificate to make themselves seem important in other women’s eyes.”
Pentu smiled.
“Once you take the throne or become an advisor to Scorpion you’ll need an heir so you can continue to chart Nubt’s course from beyond the grave,” I said practically. “A suitable heir. Not Baki. Another of my roles in our partnership.”
Pentu ran his hands through his hair. “How can you speak so casually of having a child with me, Matia? You lost Iry an hour ago. You’re in love with him – I can tell.”
“Feeling insecure, Pentu?” I laughed. “I fooled him and you both. I told you that first day under the willow that I was pretending so I could manipulate him.”
“I wasn’t sure you were being truthful,” Pentu admitted. “I thought you were trying to keep me from being angry for going behind Baki’s back. And that was before you’d spent every day with Iry for a week, and insisted on marrying him. I thought you might have developed real feelings.”
“I did what I had to in order to ensure Nubt’s survival. Yes, Iry’s a decent and pleasant boy. Maybe I could’ve fallen in love with him eventually. But in a week? Get serious.” I stared into Pentu’s eyes. “I kissed Iry many times to draw him into my web, but it didn’t go beyond that.”
“Heartless.”
I shrugged. “My marriage is the only weapon at my disposal to keep Sabu from the throne. Whether I wield it with Iry or you or someone else doesn’t matter to me. Sabu killed Hetshet and I want revenge. Sabu wants the throne and I intend to keep him from it. Know this, Pentu – I can either be a cold and surly and rebellious and unwilling wife, or I can embrace our marriage. It’s up to you. Keep me involved in Nubt’s affairs and I’ll make you happy. But if you don’t I’ll make you miserable.”
“I have no intention of being miserable, Matia.”
“So. Now that that’s out of the way, any idea how we’re going to neutralize Sabu’s allies so we can deal with him as we please?”
“No. The fact that Sabu trusts Baki and is under obligation to him means Baki will have access to Sabu, and so I’ll have a voice to try to temper Sabu no matter what.”
“Assuming Baki listens to you. If he balks, remind him that Nebetah is his now because I demanded it.”
Pentu nodded. “I understand the terms of our marriage, Matia. I believe we both want what’s best for Nubt. I promise you that together we’ll make sure Sabu never sits your father’s throne. But I hope you won’t reject out of hand the possibility that we may come to love each other someday. You’re a very impressive woman and more intelligent than anyone I know. I believe we can have a good life together if we let ourselves.”
I stared at Pentu for a long while. “You’re actually happy about this marriage, aren’t you. You kept putting off my marriage to Baki because you wanted me for yourself.”
“Yes,” Pentu admitted sheepishly. “My heart overruled my head.”
“You hid your feelings well.”
“What would the point have been of you knowing?” Pentu shook his head. “This – us being together – was impossible.”
“I won’t reject the possibility that love may come,” I promised. “But the less you expect, Pentu, the better.”
I lay awake long after Pentu had fallen asleep. What an extraordinary day! A few hours ago I’d been pledged to Iry and now shared Pentu’s pallet, a man more than twice my age, father of the boy I’d been pledged to for over a decade. And I’d requested it. Ironic – I could have poked my head out of my tent and seen the man who’d almost helped me save Nubt and stop Sabu, watching my tent from the deck of King Scorpion’s boat. A man I’d been given to as wife. A man who was now my enemy.
***
Peret (Seed)
Iry
***
At dawn Father’s sailors poled us from shore into the current, headed for Tjeni, Iynefer’s disgusting flyblown corpse swinging against the bow. I stared at the tent where Matia still lay with Pentu until it was only a spot in the distance. Then I turned my thoughts from Matia to Sabu. He’d destroyed the alliance. He’d ordered the attack on Heria. His man had almost killed me. He’d cost me the throne of Nubt. He’d upended the plan of the falcon god. Sabu was going to pay for all of it with his life.
Father sat with Sety beneath his pavilion as we drifted north. The rest of us gave Father a wide berth; we had sense enough to leave him alone when he was angry, and today angry didn’t begin to describe him. He’d ordered Sety to attend him because he valued Sety’s counsel above all others; Sety was the only person on board who didn’t fear Father, including me. The poor girl assigned to serve Father trembled so badly she spilled half the wine when she tried to pour his first cup. Sety calmly took the jar from her and dismissed her and poured Father’s wine himself.
I sat on deck near the pavilion, my back against the railing, too sore to move about. Every part of my body was either stiff or swollen or bruised. An hour into our journey a very grateful Heria joined me. She was still shaken from the attack. The bruises around her throat matched mine. I tried to drape an arm around her shoulders and draw her close. The pain in my ribs as I tried to raise my arm convinced me not to.
“I thought I was going to die,” Heria said, leaning against me. “When I saw you running towards me, Iry…” She burrowed her head against my chest. She wet it with her tears.
Lagus and Mekatre joined us a moment later. They pulled up a bench the oarsmen used when they were rowing south against the current and sat on it, facing us. We were drifting north; the oarsmen were relaxing elsewhere.
“What were you doing at the river last night, Iry?” Lagus asked.
I looked around to make sure we weren’t being overheard. “I happened on Sabu and Iynefer conspiring aboard this boat, as I said last night. Right after Father and Ika agreed to the alliance. When Iynefer left the campfire I followed him. He hid behind some trees along the riverbank. I got distracted. He made his move. I heard Heria scream and ran into the water.”
“And got beat up,” Mekatre observed. Back to his usual digs.
“And saved my life!” Heria said heatedly. I had at least one defender in my family. “Where were you, Mekatr
e?”
He snorted. “Not getting distracted by bathing women.”
Let Mekatre think what he wanted about me. Matia had drawn my attention away from Iynefer, not bathing women. But I wasn’t about to tell anyone how she’d so totally deceived me. I’d never hear the end of it. “Iynefer didn’t agree to attack Heria on the spur of the moment,” I said, ignoring Mekatre. “It’s obvious he was a spy planted among Father’s bodyguards by Sabu.”
“Who’d do whatever he was ordered without question,” Lagus said.
“If that’s true, why didn’t he confess and drag Sabu down with him?” Mekatre asked.
“You think I’m lying about overhearing him?”
Mekatre shrugged.
“I believe you, Iry,” Heria said loyally.
Lagus nodded.
“Maybe Sabu had promised to take care of Iynefer’s family if anything ever happened to him,” I posited. I swept my eyes around the deck. “Iynefer might not be Sabu’s only spy.”
“You mean, more traitorous bodyguards?” Lagus asked. He glanced about nervously.
House of Scorpion Page 15
