by Overton, Max
"I curse him," Horemheb shouted into the night. "May all the gods of the underworld hunt Menkure down to his death for the destruction he has brought on Kemet."
The king had a stela erected on the site of the battle, and ordered masons from the town of Nekhen inscribe his victory on it. Then he turned his head to the north again, to the city of Ineb Hedj and his bride-to-be.
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Chapter Thirty-Two
The tenth day came, and Scarab sent her Shechite companions out of the city. She would have sent Khu and Nebhotep too, but they refused to leave her.
"It's no good arguing," Khu told her. "You can order the members of the Pillar around, but not us. We are sticking right by you."
"I can do this a lot quicker and easier if I only have to look after myself," Scarab retorted. "You know how my power works. I cannot absolutely guarantee your safety. That rests with the gods."
"Doesn't it always?" Khu asked.
"Someone's got to watch your back," Nebhotep said. "You can't be looking everywhere. Besides, if we left the city it would send a message that you were about to leave. If we stay with you, they get no warning."
"Well, if you won't be told, you'll just have to come with me." Scarab smiled. "Truth be told, I will be glad of the company. Now, do you have everything you need? We cannot come back if you forget something."
Khu and Nebhotep carried heavy bags filled with surgical instruments and linen bags of herbs and spices. Scarab wore her desert robes and carried nothing except a few favourite pieces of jewellery and her golden scarab of Atum.
The guards stopped them at the entrance to the palace. "Sorry, Lady Khepra, but we has orders that you is not to go out."
"Let me speak to your officer."
The officer repeated the order, saying that she would not be permitted into the city today. "Please, Lady Khepra. Return to your rooms."
"I am sorry, officer, but my friends and I are going out today."
"And I am sorry, Lady Khepra, but you are not. If you persist, someone will get hurt."
"I do not want anyone to get hurt, officer, so I must warn you that the power of the gods is with me. Oppose me and you oppose the gods. Is that what you want?"
"I have heard the stories, Lady Khepra, and I also know that these powers have left you. Your threats are empty."
Scarab sighed. She lifted her arms and called out, her voice echoing in the marble-lined cavities of the palace. "I call on the Nine of Iunu. Hear my voice, Gods of Kemet. I seek to leave this city that I might carry out your will. Protect me and these my servants Khu and Nebhotep." She stepped forward.
"Restrain her," the officer ordered.
Two guards reached for her. One tangled his feet in his spear and fell over. He fell against the other guard and brought him down too. Scarab and her companions moved around the fallen men. The officer ordered two other guards in and they grabbed Khu briefly, before doubling over in pain. Now the officer pushed Scarab back and screamed in agony as cramp gripped the muscles of his arm. Scarab moved past with a glance of sympathy for the man's pain, followed by her two friends.
They moved off down the road, ignoring the servants who boiled out of the palace, pointing and chattering, having seen the effect on the guards. Other men came running as the officer yelled for reinforcements. They came after Scarab with weapons drawn and surrounded her.
"Go back, Lady," said a junior officer. "We don't want to hurt you."
"I must warn you that the power of the god Set is in me," she replied. "He will turn back any violence offered to me or my companions. Please step aside."
One of the soldiers laughed and stabbed his spear at Nebhotep. Before the point could come close, another soldier swung his own spear and drove it into the first soldier's arm, making him drop the spear.
"What are you doing, Hori? Have you gone mad?"
"I didna mean ta do that. I...the spear jus' came alive, like."
Another soldier swung his blade at Scarab, missed, and chopped into his own leg. He fell to the ground with a look more of surprise than of pain.
"Don't harm the lady, but kill the men," said the junior officer. The next moment, he died transfixed by three spears. Scarab, Khu, and Nebhotep stepped over the dead body and continued on down the street.
A crowd of citizens had gathered, silent, and kept pace with the trio, not drawing close to them but fascinated by the power of the gods. Further behind trailed a dozen or so soldiers and the officer in charge of the palace guards sent runners to have all the gates closed. He also sent a runner to the commander of the city garrison.
The commander, Ikeni, intercepted the crowd just as they reached the North Gate. He formed up a squad of his men across the road, and pushed his way through the crowd to the palace officer.
"This had better be good, Djau. I don't appreciate being pulled away from my duties for the sake of two men and a woman. Why can't you handle it?"
"That's Lady Khepra, sir. The king's wife. She...she won't obey me."
"Fornication," Ikeni muttered. "All the more reason to control her. The king won't mind as long as you don't hurt her. Just bundle her up and carry her if she won't do as she's told. Who are the men?"
"They're friends of Lady Khepra, sir. Physicians, I'm told. And, we can't prevent her, sir. She...well, she says the gods are in her. It's like magic, sir. We can't do anything."
Commander Ikeni stared at Djau. "Have you been out in the sun and addled your mind? There's no magic here, just fear of man-handling the king's wife. Well, I happen to know her position is none too secure, so you just go and arrest her now."
Djau licked his lips and massaged the muscles of his arm, remembering pain. "If it's all the same with you, sir, I'd rather not. I...I already tried that and I thought I was going to die."
"You are relieved of command, Djau. Be sure I will report this to the king when he returns."
Djau almost grinned with relief. "Yes sir, thank you sir."
Ikeni joined his men confronting the king's wife. "Now, Lady, I am asking you politely to go back to the palace. You've had your little outing but now it is time to go back before anyone else gets hurt."
"I cannot do that," Scarab said. "I mean to leave the city and I would appreciate it if you would stand aside and open the gate."
Ikeni frowned. "You do not understand, Lady..."
"No, you do not understand," Scarab said sharply. "The power of the gods is within me and any who try to harm me will be hurt or killed. I do not want anyone to be harmed but they will be if you don't let us leave."
"Are you mad? I have orders to return you to the palace, and I will, but I have no orders concerning your companions. If you do not turn around right now, I will kill them."
"The protection of the gods extends to them."
"I tire of this prattle." Ikeni beckoned one of the soldiers and pointed at Khu. "That man there. Kill him."
The soldier drew his sword and moved toward Khu. He stopped and a look of confusion crossed his face before he reversed the blade and plunged it into his own belly.
Ikeni stared, his mouth open. "What...? How...?" He swallowed and ordered two more men forward. As soon as they raised their weapons to Khu, they turned and hacked at each other, both falling to the ground with grievous wounds.
"Stop this, please," Scarab asked. "Stand aside before more people are hurt."
The commander shook his head, staring at his dead and dying troopers, and then stood aside, signalling his men to do the same.
"Please open the gate."
"No," Ikeni said. "That I will not do. I answer to the king on this."
"Khu, can you and Nebhotep manage to lift the bar?"
The two men struggled with it, but Nebhotep was still weak. The beam of wood only moved a hand span and stuck fast. "It won't move, Scarab. Can't you use your powers?"
"The gate is passive," she replied. "I cannot oppose passive resistance by an object."
"The
n what do we do?" Khu asked. "Can you threaten the officer to get him to open it?"
"I will not offer harm to anyone with my god-given powers. They are for defence, not offence. We must find another way out of the city."
The three moved off, back into the streets of Ineb Hedj, surrounded by an ever-growing crowd of interested onlookers and shadowed by Ikeni and his soldiers. They moved briskly toward the West Gate.
"I don't think this is going to work," Khu said. "The soldiers are following along and they'll just close this gate too."
"What do you suggest then?"
"The docks," Nebhotep said. "No doors, no gates."
"Just a large river," Khu objected.
"And boats."
"It is worth a try." They changed direction, moving quickly down narrow streets to the riverside.
The soldiers, as soon as they saw where their quarry was heading, cut through alleys and ran ahead, reaching the water ahead of them. Ikeni ordered his men to spread out and offer no resistance to the woman or men, but to cut each boat adrift and let it be carried out in the current.
By the time Scarab reached the waterfront, the work was well in hand. She walked toward a boat and three soldiers linked arms, standing in her way but offering no resistance, merely delaying her while another soldier cut the rope holding the boat to the dock and pushed it off with his spear. Khu ran toward another one and the same thing occurred. The soldiers did not fight him, did not even push back, but they held him back long enough for the boat to drift away.
"We'll have to swim for it," Khu said.
Scarab pointed to a swirl in the water that indicated the presence of a large fish or crocodile. "I'm not sure whether the gods will protect us against a creature seeking its dinner. That is not evil to be turned back."
"Then how? All the boats are gone."
"What about Amenhotep the fisherman?" Nebhotep asked. "We could wait until he gets back and have him take us."
Scarab shook her head. "I will not involve him. There are too many ways they could have revenge on his family once we have gone."
"Well, we have to do something."
Scarab closed her eyes and prayed, her lips forming the words silently. Nut, show us the way out of here . She opened her eyes and spun slowly on her heel, looking all about her. Nothing looked out of place or different, except a plume of smoke hung above the city to the north and west of the docks. She pointed it out to the others. "The goddess speaks."
The plume of smoke hung above the North Gate, where a cooking fire had escaped the confines of an oven and burnt down a house. A physician and three embalmers were dealing with the fallen soldiers as they approached, and they drew the bodies to one side. The crowd gathered round again chattering and pointing, and the soldiers took up their former positions.
"What is the point?" Khu groaned. "We couldn't open it before."
"The goddess sent us here," Scarab said. What do I do now ?
Pray . The tiny voice sounded in her head alone.
Who to ? Scarab considered the Nine Gods and their attributes. Atum gives the golden scarab that links me to the gods and Auset multiplies the gifts. Set turns back evil and Nut shows direction. Asar raises from the dead, Shu is the air, Tefnut is moisture, Nebt-Het lets me see in the dark, and Geb is the earth. Which gift applies to this situation ? She looked up at the plume of smoke now drifting away over the city in the northerly breeze. Shu ? Scarab opened her mind to the god of air and entreated him to help them overcome the obstacle of the gate.
The breeze died away and in the still air, the heat grew, rippling the air above the city. A puff of wind--dust and sand stirred and lifted, stinging bare legs. The breath grew to a gust, flapping the flags and banners on the temples, and then with a howl the north wind battened on the White City, storming the walls with a cloud of sand. The gate rattled and shook, pressing inward. Suddenly, the cross-beam split with a crack like the lightning bolt, and fell in pieces, the gate swinging inward. The crowd of people, faces muffled against the stinging sand, screamed and fled, along with several soldiers. The wind died on the instant.
Scarab, Khu and Nebhotep walked out of Ineb Hedj. Ikeni tried to rally his men but they were quaking in superstitious fear. He ran out after the trio alone.
"I c...cannot let you g...go," Ikeni stuttered. He drew his sword.
"You are a brave man, commander," Scarab said. "But who can fight against the gods? Go back to the city and make your report to the king when he returns. He will not be displeased that I have left." Ikeni looked uncertain, so she continued. "Tell the king that I have no interest beyond a stable and prosperous Kemet. As long as he governs well, I will have no quarrel with him. I will disappear from sight and it will be as if I did not exist."
"I can't tell him that, Lady Khepra," Ikeni said. "Tell the king you'll leave him alone if he governs well? He'd offer my balls to the gods of the underworld."
Scarab smiled. "I'll let you use your own judgment on that then, but I promise you the king will be glad to see the back of me."
She walked on. Khu and Nebhotep walked around Ikeni, alert in case he should try something, but the commander just stood and watched them go. After a time, when distance had made them tiny, he turned and trudged back into the city, trying to make up his mind what he would tell the king.
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Chapter Thirty-Three
I spoke the truth to the commander of the Ineb Hedj garrison when I told him I had no further interest in the king. I do not know exactly what the gods have planned for me, but with the deaths of Ay and Nakhtmin I have run out of enemies and as long as Kemet is at peace, I do not mind who rules the Two Kingdoms. I had other things on my mind that day when I walked out of Ineb Hedj with my dear friends Khu and Nebhotep. I was with child again, this time to Horemheb against my will, and despite the identity of the father, I knew this child was important. When the Gifts of the Gods were granted me, Auset, the Queen of Heaven, said the price for her gift would be a daughter. Now it seemed I would have that daughter and I would gift her to the temple at Iunu to be raised as a priestess. The gods have the gift of foresight, so no doubt Auset could see this happen, and I must keep my end of the bargain.
We crossed the river that same day in a fisherman's boat and went overland to Iunu, keeping away from the roads where I might be recognised. I had on my Shechite robes now, with a hood to cover my scarred face. My red hair was well known, but as it was common enough in Khabiru women, I thought I could pass as one of them. At Iunu, I visited the priests and priestesses of the Nine and offered up thanks for their renewed favour. The priestess of Auset quizzed me at length and let me go, exacting from her a promise that I would return when my time was near.
The members of the Pillar met us at Iunu, and Jesua tried to persuade me to seek out the tribal lands of the Shechites. Too many people knew I had connections there though, so I muttered something non-committal and said I had a hankering to visit my mother's people at Zarw. Jesua wanted to argue but dared not. He excused himself from my company as soon as he decently could and took most of the men with him. Only Salom and Terrik stayed with me, partly for my sake, partly for the sake of my friends Khu and Nebhotep.
I have many who seek out my company to seek an advantage or because of the feelings of awe my gifts arouse in people, but few friends. Khu and Nebhotep are my most steadfast friends. I think of Nebhotep as a father or an uncle. Having had only a remote father and an evil uncle, I like to think that the good physician's intelligence and compassion make up for what I missed out on early in life. I regard Khu differently. I have known him since he was a young farm lad and a truer friend or stauncher supporter I could not wish to find. I think sometimes that had I been born common or he a noble, I could have married him and raised a family. I considered that again after I deserted Paramessu, toying with the idea of a liaison with my loyal farm lad in the wilds of Nubia, or having an illicit relationship in the land of Sinai. It would not have been
fair on him of course, for if he had been anything more than a friend, certain people would have seen him as a danger, and eliminated him.
So we came to Zarw, a few months after escaping from Ineb Hedj, and there heard the news that Horemheb had returned from the south claiming a great victory over the rebels. He married Mutnedjmet, the daughter of Meryhapu, and made her his Queen. I do not know her, but I wish her well, married to that grizzled old warrior, and hope she has many sons if it will firm Horemheb's line on the throne of Kemet.
Poor Kemet, you have suffered so greatly these past twenty years since my father Nebmaetre died. I hope Horemheb will bring an end to your pain and usher in a time of stability.
The Khabiru have suffered at Horemheb's hands, for he never forgave them their lack of support in his time of need. He dispersed their huge tent city outside Zarw, scattering them across Ta Mehu to work on a series of building projects. Jeheshua and Chemosh, together with my friend Miriam, were sent north to the damaged forts. I followed them there and infiltrated their camp, working alongside them for a time, making mud bricks. They enjoyed less freedom than at Zarw, but their lot was not harsh and after a while I left them to seek out others I knew of the captive Khabiru. I wandered across the length and breadth of the Delta, seeking out Khabiru fragments, being careful always to hide my identity.
When it was my time, I came to Iunu once more, and under the protection of the priestesses of Auset, gave birth to my daughter. I named her Irauset, meaning 'fashioned by Auset', and took her with me when I left Iunu a few months later. The girl would return when the time was right, when her training must start, but for now I enjoyed the company of my infant child, as I had not been able to with Seti.
