by Overton, Max
The young woman sighed and slipped her hand from her husband's. "Let the king's will be done," she said softly.
Khenem groaned and then abruptly turned and ran from the courtyard. Meryhapu sprang to his feet, appalled at his son-in-law's breach of etiquette, but Horemheb waved him down.
"Let him go. I will give him an estate as recompense." He rose and took Mutnedjmet hands in his own. "I must leave you now, but I shall return to Ineb Hedj within three months. Then we shall marry and you will be crowned as Queen."
Mutnedjmet bent her head so the king would not see her tears. "I will obey, my lord."
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Chapter Thirty
Scarab sat quietly in Nebhotep's herbal room in the palace and watched the physician as he pottered amongst his pots of unguents and jars of dried herbs. It had been a month since Scarab had laid her hands on the dying man and in that time he had grown stronger by the day. The pain in his belly had eased the first day and the swelling subsided a few days later. At about the same time he had risen from his death bed and started eating again. He was thin and his skin hung upon him in folds where the flesh had melted away during his sickness, but his eyes were bright and his breath had lost the foul smell that reflected the growth in his belly.
"What are you looking for, Nebhotep?"
"The dishes of seeds and urine I put aside three days ago. I'm sure I put them...ah, here they are. Now let us see what they tell us."
"I already know what they will tell us. I only came to you for confirmation."
"Well, let us be sure. Emmer wheat and barley in water and urine...only the ones in your urine are growing so yes, you are pregnant."
"As I thought. What is the sex?"
"There the method is less precise. There is growth in both types of seed, which indicates a girl."
"Again, as I thought."
"What will you do, Scarab? Pregnancy was never part of your plan."
"Neither was captivity and being married to the king. Now it appears I am to be supplanted. Mutnedjmet, the daughter of the custodian of the royal necropolis, has divorced her husband and waits for the return of the king, so she can wed him. It seems she is to be made queen too."
Nebhotep hissed. "That is an affront not to be borne."
"I do not care. Hopefully we will be far away by then."
"Why do you not go right now? I'm sure you could just walk out of the city now that your powers have returned."
Scarab smiled. "I have told you, I am not leaving without you, or Khu or Abrim and Dahvin. We go together or not at all."
"And I have told you I would only slow you down. You must leave me. Horemheb would not harm an honest physician."
"No, he probably would not, but I will not put it to the test. We wait."
"Another five or ten days should do it," Nebhotep said. "Terrik will help me as he did before. So would any of the others for that matter."
"Perhaps. If Jesua ever speaks to me again. He was rather annoyed that I would not leave the city."
Nebhotep came and sat next to Scarab on a hard wooden bench. Even pottering around amongst his herbals for an hour had exhausted him. "You put him in a difficult position, Scarab. Give him some room to move."
"How do you mean?"
"The Shechites are a patriarchy, like all of the desert tribes. He is the leader of the Pillar, the young men sworn to serve the Eye of Geb, and he has trouble taking orders from a woman. Plus, you have the power of the gods flowing through you, and you are probably a better fighter than he. No wonder you threaten his manhood. If he gets annoyed, it might be that he feels threatened by you."
"Nonsense, I have never threatened Jesua--ever."
"Not in so many words, but he can make no decision that you cannot alter, and he can alter none of yours. From a leader of men he feels he has become a servant to a woman. It is an affront to his pride, and pride may be the only thing these tribesmen have."
"Hmm. I will think on this, but I cannot see a way around it unless I submit to him, and that I will not do. A pox on men's pride. Life would be much simpler if they let women run things."
"Quite possibly, Scarab, but you must find some way round it unless you want the Pillar to fracture and fall."
Scarab patted Nebhotep's leg and got to her feet. "I feel like some fresh air. Will you walk with me?"
"If you take it slowly."
Scarab led the way and matched her pace to Nebhotep's slow amble. They passed from the servant's quarters where the physician's rooms were, into the main part of the palace, and from there to the front entrance. Servants bowed politely but otherwise ignored them, and guards followed at a distance, cursing under their breath.
Nebhotep heard one curse louder than the rest. "That is not seemly," he said, glaring at the offender. "I am minded to report him to the Officer of the Watch."
"Leave it," Scarab said, her hand on his arm. "Theirs is an awkward duty. They are under orders to prevent me escaping, but they know that if I decide to, they cannot stop me. Then they face either their violence returning on them or the anger of their officers. No wonder they curse when I leave the palace."
They descended the palace steps and started down the wide Avenue of Kings that led to the city markets. A crowd gathered as they walked, mostly silent and curious, but some called out greetings or asked Scarab to step aside and cure a friend or family member. To these, Scarab always recommended a physician, saying she could only heal when the gods allowed it. Others wanted her to find things or to curse an enemy, and she ignored these pleas.
"They would have me spend my days and nights fulfilling their every whim," Scarab said sadly. "They would make no effort to help themselves or petition the gods."
"Well, I sort of know how they feel. If you had not healed me, I would be dead by now."
"That is not the same at all. I could save you because the gods returned my golden scarab. Their timing was exquisite. Another day or two and it would have been too late."
"If that was their intent," Nebhotep said. "Wait up a moment, please. Let me catch my breath." The physician leaned against a wall and let his racing heart settle. People walked around them, looking curiously at the man and woman, but not interfering. Several guards stood around some thirty paces away, casually keeping a watch on them.
"What I was saying," Nebhotep said after a few minutes, "Was it may not have been the gods' purpose to save me. It might have been plain luck that your charm returned then."
Scarab smiled. "After all you have seen, you are still not really sure of the existence of the gods, are you?"
"Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful, but once you start looking for gods acting in your life, where do you stop? When the sun shines, we say the god Re is pleased with us and offers his bounty, but he also shines on the enemies of Kemet, so what does that mean? Or when there is a storm and the sun hides behind clouds--is Re angry with us, or is the storm sent by Set, or is it just chance? Physicians wrap little prayers on papyrus into their bandages, but is it the gods that heal or the physician's skill, or the strength of the patient? I have seen men die plastered with prayers and others live that had none. What does that mean? People think I disbelieve in the gods, but it is only that I try to think of reasons for everything, and those reasons may have nothing to do with a god."
"What of your own cure? You said yourself that a growth in the belly kills, and you were on your death bed. Yet here you are, walking around and denying the gods." Scarab smiled to take the sting out of her words. "Apply your reason to that, dear friend. How were you healed? By the gods or...or something else?"
"I can think of no good explanation, so I admit it must have been the gods."
"And finding lost things, getting water from a dry rock, turning back harm, even raising a man from the dead. Are those easily explained?"
"Not easily," Nebhotep admitted. "I could perhaps explain them singly, but not together, and perhaps the explanation would be more incredible than
admitting the gods are visibly acting through you."
"We will make a believer of you yet," Scarab said with a grin. "Are you recovered enough to go on?"
Nebhotep nodded. "Where are we going?"
"To see the Pillar. They are camped out in Amenhotep's courtyard."
"Isn't that, well, dangerous for him? The authorities will not look kindly on his involvement."
"He insisted."
There were two Shechite tents erected in the fisherman's courtyard, one for sleeping, and the other for eating and talking. Several members of the Pillar were sitting around on mats, drinking weak beer and engaged in vigorous discussion when Scarab and Nebhotep arrived. The guards following them started to enter the courtyard too, but Scarab warned them off, saying they could surround the house and courtyard if they wished, but they were not to set foot inside without her permission.
Amenhotep's older children came running out to greet Scarab, screaming with delight, and Rea broke off from her chores to greet her visitor too, offering water and a stool. Scarab hugged the woman and accepted both, setting the stool down in the shade of the tent. The Shechite tribesmen greeted her solemnly as 'Eye of Geb' and knelt to offer up a prayer to her for a blessing. Scarab sidestepped the issue of their improper worship and blessed them in the Name of the Nine, before bidding them sit. She looked around at the men gathered in the tent.
"Where are Jesua and Khu?"
"Khu went to aid a man at the docks whose foot was crushed between a boat and the dock," Nertan volunteered.
"Jesua has left the city, but he did not say where he was going, or why," Abrim said.
"And the rest of you? What have you been doing?"
"We sit and we wait," Salom said.
"Talk, eat and sleep," Terrik added.
"Tell tales of mighty deeds done in the past..." Dahvin said.
"...And of others yet to be done." Natanel added.
"When will those times come again, Eye of Geb?" Nertan asked.
"Soon. Remember this, all of you. I was given the Gifts of the Gods for a purpose. Pride saw me lose those gifts. I forgot who it was that found water in the desert, who it was that plotted our course through the night, who it was that healed the sick or raised the dead, who it was that turned back harm or saw in the dark with this stone eye. None of this came from the woman called Scarab, nor from the one you call Eye of Geb. Rather, it all came from the Nine Gods of Iunu--Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Asar, Auset, Set and Nebt-Het. Never forget this and never again offer worship to me, for I am only a woman, not a god."
"But now you have the gift of Atum again," Dahvin said.
"Yes, I have it, and you and Abrim know the path by which it returned. Men died trying to bring it to me, and failed, yet it came from a place unlooked for. The gods took it from me for a purpose, and the gods returned it, also for a purpose."
"What is that purpose?" Terrik asked.
"That has not been revealed to me."
"So we wait in the White City until the gods tell you?" Salom asked.
Scarab glanced at Nebhotep, a half-smile on her face. "Yes, but it will be soon."
There was a commotion outside the gate, with voices raised. Nertan ran to see and peered out. "It is Khu," he called back. "The guards will not let him pass. Ho! You there. The Eye...Lady Khepra says to let him pass."
A few moments later, Khu was ushered into the courtyard and the gate shut again. The young physician ran to Scarab and hugged her, earning him some scowls from the Shechites.
"Ah, Scarab, it is good to see you again. I have been so busy. Why are you out here? Is it time to go off on our adventures again? And Nebhotep...you too. You must be feeling better."
Nebhotep embraced his young protégé, but less robustly. "I hear you have been treating half the population of Ineb Hedj, young Khu. You should leave some patients for the rest of us physicians."
"For you, always, Master, but I do the people a service by treating them rather than letting those butchers at the House of Life near them. Have you seen what they do to a simple case of...?"
"Enough, enough," Nebhotep cried. "Remember what else I taught you--that ordinary folk do not want to hear the details of our treatments." He saw Khu's crestfallen face and laughed. "Come, let us see whether Rea can find us some weak beer and you can tell me all about your latest case--this man at the docks. Did you have to amputate?" He led Khu off toward the house.
Dahvin and Abrim left the courtyard to buy food and when they returned, cooked the midday meal for everyone. They ate, talking companionably, until Jesua arrived. He stalked into the compound and dropped on one knee in front of Scarab before rising and turning his back on her. A couple of the men hissed at his lack of manners.
"What is the matter, Jesua?" Scarab asked.
"Nothing is the matter," Jesua snapped back.
"On the contrary, it is obvious that you are at odds with me, or one of the Pillar. Which one is it, Jesua? Me or a member of the Pillar?"
Jesua glared at the seated woman. "I have no argument with the Pillar."
"Me, then. Tell me."
Jesua looked away and his fists clenched and relaxed. "I would know what your plans are."
"When I am ready, I will tell everyone."
"Not good enough. We put our lives at risk for you--Gershon and Hakkan have already died--and for what? You treat us like slaves."
"I grieve for our fallen comrades, Jesua, but I did not ask them to put their lives at risk. I seem to remember each man offered his life in service freely, without coercion. If you desire it, I release you from what has obviously become an onerous duty."
"That is not what I seek."
"What then?" Scarab asked. "Speak plainly."
Jesua considered for several moments. "We are all free men of the Shechites and we decide matters in free assembly, where all men have their say before a decision is made. Within the Pillar though, we are told what to do, and must do it. I ask nothing more than I would ask of any man who sought to order his fellow tribesmen--to have a share in the decision making."
"But I am not a Shechite," Scarab said. "I am Kemetu and Khabiru, and Chosen of the Nine. I welcome the strength of the Shechites, but I do not ask it. The Nine have called me to their service and I cannot refuse, so I will do this alone..."
"Never alone," Khu growled, and Nebhotep nodded his agreement.
"...or in the company of faithful friends. I welcome your presence, Jesua, but I do not demand it. Follow freely or not at all, Jesua. I can live with either choice."
Jesua turned away, his jaw clenching and tears in his eyes. Abrim pushed his way to the front of the little group and confronted Scarab. "I give myself freely, Eye of Geb. Command me and I will obey."
"I too," chorused Dahvin, Terrik and Salom.
"Wait," Scarab said. "Think on this. Why do you give yourself?"
"You are the 'Eye of Geb'," Terrik said.
"What does that mean?"
"You have been touched by the gods," Abrim said. "You are holy."
"I have been chosen by the gods to perform a service," Scarab said. "But I am not holy. I am just a woman."
"Not just a woman," Khu murmured.
Scarab flashed a quick smile at the young physician. "What I am trying to say is the gods have chosen me, but no-one else. I can be reasonably sure that they will keep me alive to fulfil my task, but I cannot be certain that anyone associated with me will survive. That is why I say that if you give, it must be given freely. I will offer you what protection I can, but it may not be enough. It was not enough for Gershon and Hakkan."
"We all die," Abrim said. "How we die is more important than when."
"And how we live before we die," Salom added. "That is why I serve--to give meaning to my life."
"And who do you serve?" Scarab asked softly.
"You, Eye of Geb," Terrik said stoutly.
"No. You do not serve me, you serve the gods. I am their servant, and if you follow me, you serve only the gods. If I c
ommand, it is only because the gods have told me what to do. If you follow, you obey because the gods require it. If you question my orders, then you go against the gods. So choose, each one of you. Follow, and obey--or go your own way with my blessing."
"I will follow wherever you go, Scarab," Khu said. "No question."
"And I," Nebhotep added.
Terrik knelt, with Salom and Abrim beside him. "We follow too, Eye of Geb."
Dahvin, Nertan, and Natanal each added their declaration of obedience.
"Jesua?"
The Shechite leader nodded. "I too."
"Then I have a special task for you, Jesua," Scarab said. "I am with child--the king's child--and I must remain hidden if I am to protect her against the king. Find me a place of safety, Jesua. Not with the Shechites, for the king will look for me there. Another place." She looked around at the other members of the Pillar. "We leave this city in ten days time."
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Chapter Thirty-One
Horemheb arrived at Waset at the head of the Geb and three new legions to find his southern Kingdom in chaos. The three month unofficial truce between Paramessu and Menkure had run out ten days before and the strengthened Nubian army had pressed eastward again, investing the town of Ta-Senet. Paramessu's Sobek legion had dug in behind fortifications astraddle the road leading to the river crossing and the western road, but he had too few troops to do anything but sit behind his earth ramparts and watch the Nubians devastate the countryside. The only good news was that the tribesmen lacked the ability to force the walls of the town and could only sit outside waiting for starvation to weaken the defenders.
Then news arrived that Lords Nebamen and Raweret had plucked up the courage to act and had seized control of Waset from the tiny force under the command of Iurudef left to govern Amun's city. Iurudef was imprisoned, and his men given the choice of coming over to the side of the rebels, or death. Most chose death. Nebamen, now in tenuous control of the city, hurried through a coronation and had a reluctant junior priest of Amun place the Double Crown on his head. The senior priests had refused point-blank, and such was their position that they could neither be coerced nor killed.
