by Overton, Max
Horemheb smiled. "The last of them? Aren't you forgetting that Seti is her son? He'll be king after you."
"I do not regard her as the mother of my son. Tia-Sitre is my Queen."
"As you wish. Rule out killing them then. What do you want to do?"
Ramesses put aside his anger with an effort. "The Khabiru are too valuable a resource to just let escape, and their herds and flocks are needed too. We must bring them back and return them to their servitude."
"Would not that action bring on another plague? I don't think Kemet can survive much more."
"I don't believe the plagues came from a god. The blood was a trick, frogs and flies and locusts have swarmed before, sickness is always with us--do we blame a god each time? An informant from Lebanon tells me a mountain shook far to the north and poured out ash and smoke in great abundance. Whatever caused that had nothing to do with us. Some god was angry with the inhabitants of that country perhaps."
"You would take the risk? You would risk Kemet?"
"Yes."
"Very well. You will be ruling Kemet long after I have gone to the West. If you think it worth the risk we shall do it."
"Good. The Khabiru are converging on Zarw and I imagine from there they will head northeast, threading the chain of forts and into Kanaan. I propose that we mobilise the legions and cut them off, driving them back into Ta Mehu."
"Which ones?"
"I'll send messages today to Seqenenre on the Hittite border to move the Heru legion south as fast as possible, and Ptahwere's Shu legion at the forts to prepare. The Geb under Djedhor has come up from Waset. I'll join the Geb and drive them north toward Shu and Heru. Then I'll crack them open at the Stream of Kemet."
Horemheb considered. "A good plan, but we need a commander with fire in his belly to control the Shu and Heru legions. They will be the anvil, and Geb the hammer. You will go north today, Ramesses, and prepare the northern legions. I will join the Geb and drive our quarry to you."
"I am quite capable of doing this all myself," Ramesses protested.
"I have no doubt of you, old friend," Horemheb said. "But this may be my last chance to take the field and lead a legion into battle. Do not deny me this."
Ramesses bowed his head. "Let it be so then."
The younger king left within the hour, a barge transporting him and a hundred picked companions to the east bank, and from there they galloped north on the Royal Road toward Zarw and the northern legions. Ahead of him, messengers carried his words to Commanders Seqenenre and Ptahwere.
Ramesses passed Zarw before the main body of Khabiru reached the city. He saw several hundred camped nearby, and swung aside, not wanting to give them warning of his presence. By the time he got to the Shu legion a day later, Ptahwere was still getting them in battle-readiness.
Back in Ineb Hedj, Horemheb prepared for his last foray into battle. He sent word to Djedhor to ready his men, and to the armoury to have his chariot readied. At about the time Ramesses and his squad reached Iunu, Horemheb mounted his chariot on the eastern plains and set off for the Geb legion. He met with Djedhor and outlined his plans before starting the legion slowly northward.
* * *
Jesua's army swept eastward across Ta Mehu, antagonising the population of the Delta lands as it came. Scarab's column, by contrast, stuck to the roads where possible and bought food as needed from villages and towns on the way. They even compensated farmers for any damage caused. Abrim, like Jesua, believed that Yahweh spoke for the Khabiru and Shechites, and that the native Kemetu were beneath consideration. He brought down the small Sena group of Khabiru, but as they passed mainly through desert regions, they had less opportunity to cause a disturbance.
All three groups converged on Zarw, and swelled the population considerably. The garrison commander shut the gates of the city and prepared to withstand the inevitable siege with whatever means he had at his disposal. The Khabiru ignored the city though, and set about organising itself in the fields outside the walls.
Scarab called the leaders of the armed Shechite groups and elders from all the Khabiru communities together to discuss the exodus from the land of Kemet. Many refused to attend a meeting where a woman would be issuing orders, though they seemed prepared to follow her orders once they had been filtered through male commanders. Two elders that enthusiastically attended were Ahaziah from Per-Bast, and Jeheshua who had known Scarab in the Zarw camp. The former had travelled with Scarab to Zarw, but Jeheshua had not seen her for years.
The old jeweller was gray haired and stooped, but his eyes still twinkled and the corners of his mouth were readily tugged into a smile. He greeted Scarab warmly and publicly vouched for her to the other elders attending the meeting.
"Do not be blinded by her gender or her background," Jeheshua said. "I have spoken with her often and I know that her heart is pure and her mouth speaks the truth of God's Word."
"Your reputation is beyond question, Jeheshua," said an elder from Djanet. "If you say she is from God, I will accept it. However, our journey out of Kemet will carry us past angry Kemetu and into the path of possibly hostile tribes. I debate the sense of having a woman lead us, even though she is a woman of undoubted integrity. It would be more sensible to have a warrior lead us--someone like Jesua the Shechite, who has already proved his worth. A woman cannot be a warrior."
Khu exploded to his feet. "Thus speaks a man who knows nothing," he shouted. "There is not a man here who could face Scarab in combat. I know because I have seen her fight, but I doubt that anyone except the Shechites have seen that."
There was a roar of mingled anger and laughter from the Khabiru--anger at Khu for his disrespect, laughter at his absurd suggestion.
"If you don't believe me, ask Jesua," Khu challenged. "Ask him if he will fight Scarab for the leadership."
Jesua gave Khu a very sour look but said nothing.
The Djanet elder shook his head disapprovingly. "No man would demean himself by fighting a woman. Besides, we follow Yahweh and his Prophet Mose, so we have no need of a woman's..." he smiled, "...military skills."
Mose got to his feet and stood before them all. "Yahweh speaks to me, and I pass on the words of the Lord God to his people, but my sister Scarab finds favour in the eyes of the Lord. Listen to her, for the power of God works through her."
Silence greeted Mose's words for several minutes. At last, Khu rose to his feet and said, "I propose that Scarab be named military leader of the Khabiru exodus. If any disagree, let him speak now."
"Do you accept this charge?" Dahvin asked.
"If it is the wish of the assembly," Scarab said quietly.
"I have heard the words of Prophet Mose," the Djanet elder said, "But surely God must mean the woman to be a helper to her brother, not a commander. I propose Jesua the Shechite."
"What do you say, Jesua?" Abrim asked. "Will you lead us?"
"Yes."
Khu leapt to his feet again. "Will you fight Scarab for the honour, Jesua?"
Jesua scowled. "You know I will not. She is protected by her powers."
"Then who better to lead us?" Khu asked. "A person favoured by Yahweh and blessed by protective powers. Accept this position Scarab."
"If it is the wish of the assembly."
"It is," chorused many. Others nodded or just said "Yes".
"It must be unanimous," Scarab said. "I will not command an unwilling person."
Everyone looked to Jesua who reluctantly nodded. Abrim and other Shechite leaders followed suit and then, one by one, the rest of the assembled men agreed to follow the military leadership of Scarab.
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Chapter Forty-Five
Despite the arguments over the military leadership of the Khabiru exodus, the passage of the great column was not expected to face any real enemies. The route east and north from the border city of Zarw quickly led into red desert and the Kemetu settlers were sparse. Although Jesua had antagonised a great number of people as he t
rampled across the face of Ta Mehu, most of these angry people had been left behind. The only other source of strife would be unknown tribes in their path. However, Horemheb had recently pushed the boundaries of Kemetu interest far to the north, to the boundaries of the Hittite Empire, so the tribes in the region would be unlikely to bother them.
A greater danger to the slow-moving column would be the lack of fodder for their animals and water shortage. Scarab carefully planned a route that would take them further east to include several wells. This seemed to take them out of their way, but as she pointed out to Khu, their destination was vague.
"Mose says Yahweh's command is to take his people out of the land of Kemet, but does not say exactly where they are to end up. He says he'll know it when he sees it."
"We could be wandering around in the desert forever."
Scarab organised the Khabiru into a long column, in which the wagons and the women and children could move. The Shechite women and children joined them. At both ends, and ranged along the sides were the Khabiru men. Youths divided the flocks into manageable units and shepherded them along parallel to the main column, having them range out to find what forage was available. The members of the Pillar, and such Khabiru men as volunteered, were armed and sent out in patrols, scouting out the route ahead, and keeping their eyes out for any hint of danger.
For two days, everything went well, though reports came in that fast moving Kemetu patrols were shadowing the column. Jesua wanted to capture one to find out what they were looking for, but Scarab forbade it.
"I will not give a local commander an excuse to attack us. They probably just have orders to keep an eye on us."
Although she told no-one, Scarab was worried. She sent out patrols of her own, in twos, mounted on fleet horses, to the north and, almost as an afterthought, back toward Zarw. What they found alarmed her.
"There is a legion coming up behind us, paralleling our course but to the south."
"There is a legion to the north of us, moving down from the line of forts."
Scarab called a meeting of her military forces, about five hundred strong, and told them what the patrols had found. "I don't like it," she said. "Two legions are too many just to watch us leave. I think the kings have changed their minds once again and are coming to stop us."
"But you said that the legions were moving alongside us, rather than attacking?" Abrim said.
"Yes, but as soon as we turn north, we will run straight into one of the legions. I don't doubt that once we start fighting, the legion behind us will move up quickly."
"Could we just keep moving east?" Khu asked.
"Not for more than a day or two. There are no more wells."
"But you can find water with your gift."
"If I must, but only as a last resort. We must turn north."
"Into the legion coming down from the forts," Jesua said. "A legion will cut through the column like a blade through fresh curds. We cannot allow that."
"Nor will we. The column will turn north and attempt to force the line of forts. Khu and Abrim will have fifty men each to guard and guide the column. Jesua, you will have two hundred men in your command. Your task is to engage the northern legion and draw it away from the column."
"Two hundred men against a full legion of fifteen, sixteen hundred?"
"Yes. Take Mose with you if you like. His god will protect him and possibly anyone near him."
"You think I am afraid?" Jesua asked. "My men and I do not need Mose. He will remain safe with the column. We will destroy this northern legion."
Scarab nodded. "Go with God or gods then. I will take the other two hundred and go south to confront the other legion."
The column turned to the north, ponderously, guarded by Khu at the front and Abrim behind, while the rest of the Pillar split into two groups and raced toward the last known positions of the approaching legions.
Toward nightfall, Scarab caught sight of the southern legion and recognised the standard. "Geb, which means Commander Djedhor. I wonder if I should try talking to him first." Then she saw Horemheb's standard, and a little later saw the king himself in his blue leather war crown driving a chariot.
Scarab called her men to her, all two hundred crowding around, and she gave them their instructions. "The kings have sent two legions after us, one here and one to the north. Jesua is taking care of the other one, but our job is to make sure that this legion, commanded by Horemheb himself, does not get through to the Khabiru column. I know this is a daunting task, but you are some of the best fighters I have seen, and I think if we exercise a bit of caution, we can keep our casualties low. Our task is therefore to sting Horemheb, anger him, and draw him away from the Khabiru. We will not meet the legion in battle for we are outnumbered, but instead we will prick them and disappear--sting them again and flee. As soon as the legion pursues some of us, we hit them from the sides and confuse them."
Her men cheered her, and Scarab divided them into four groups of fifty men, three commanded by a reliable man and she took the fourth. It was dark when she led her men forward.
The Geb legion had set up camp with the usual guard posts and mobile patrols. Four groups of Shechites threaded the defences and fell silently on the encamped Kemetu, striking hard and slipping back into the darkness unscathed. The camp was in an uproar the rest of the night, and when the sun rose, the legion formed up in battle order and moved out.
Scarab led them to the west, moving through rocky ground to prevent pursuit by chariots. She and her unit taunted the legionaries, angering them until they lost formation. Then another group would erupt from the sands, strike them hard and run. As the legionaries chased this new group, another would strike from a different direction and flee. Soon, Kemetu corpses started littering the sands and Horemheb halted the legion to collect the bodies and send them back for burial. While the Geb legion halted, Scarab sent runners back to find out what was happening to the Khabiru and Jesua's force engaging the northern legion.
Reports came back from Khu and Jesua. The Khabiru migration moved steadily north and east, encountering no opposition, but Jesua's force had met the Shu legion under the banner of King Ramesses and was fleeing westward, drawing the legion after it.
"It is working," Scarab exulted.
She returned to her efforts with redoubled vigour, falling on any unprotected legionaries and fleeing whenever Horemheb or Djedhor struck back. Once, on the third day, Horemheb reacted quickly to one of these lightning raids and threw a cordon around the attacking force, isolating Scarab and a dozen of her men. Mindful of her demonstrated powers, Horemheb ordered his men back and sent volley after volley of arrows at the small group. So many missiles fell on them Scarab was unable to protect them all and two members of the Pillar died, along with a dozen Geb legionaries from deflected arrows. Eventually, another group broke in to rescue them, and the running battle resumed. Over the next few days, Scarab and her men drew Horemheb's legion north and west toward the coast, leaving the Khabiru exodus to move unmolested past the line of border forts and into the comparative safety of the South Kanaan foothills.
A runner came from Jesua. "I cannot contain Ramesses. He is moving past me to attack the column."
Scarab sent a reply back. "Meet me at Hollowed Rock at dawn tomorrow." She named a desert landmark known to all the nomadic tribes. If they ran all night they could be there in time.
They met as the sun rose over the low hills and Scarab saw that Jesua had lost nearly a quarter of his men, and the rest were exhausted.
"You've been pushing them too hard."
"Not hard enough. Ramesses is slipping past us."
"Then we must do something to distract him."
Scarab gave Jesua and his men an extra half day to rest and then told them to harass Ramesses' southern flank. She, in the meantime, would run her men around to the east to block the Shu legion's progress, at the same time drawing off Abrim's men from the rear of the Khabiru column.
The message to Abrim said
, in essence, "Bring every man you can to the pillar of dust, and bring a herd of goats."
She and her men were in position, a tiny force sitting between the approaching Shu legion and the tail of the Khabiru column a day's journey further on. When the legion drew near, Scarab told her men to wait, and walked out to meet them.
Men ran out to meet her, and though they dared not lay a hand on her, brought her to Ramesses in his chariot. The king smiled mirthlessly when he saw her, and stepped down to talk to her.
"Have you come to threaten me with another plague?" Ramesses asked.
"The plagues come from Yahweh, and Mose is his prophet," Scarab said. "My power comes from the Nine of Iunu and that is a totally different thing. I have come to ask you to turn around and go back before your soldiers get hurt."
"A soldier's life is filled with pain and sorrow," Ramesses said, shrugging his shoulders. He turned to his men. "Kill her."
The soldiers knew Scarab's reputation and the ones nearest her hesitated. She leapt to one side, ducking and weaving and her motion convinced reluctant soldiers that her powers had gone. They struck at her with swords, cast spears and loosed arrows but no weapon touched her, finding instead the flesh of fellow soldiers. More and more troops got caught up in the frenzy, and the attention of the legion turned inward. Her men struck hard from the east and a little later, Jesua's men from the south, throwing the periphery of the legion into disarray. It was never more than a skirmish, for three hundred men cannot possibly overwhelm five times that number, but dust rose into the sky in a great pillar and Abrim's men followed the sign westward. They found the battle and joined in.
The Shu legion rallied and pushed back. At a signal from Jesua, the Pillar melted away and Abrim's men ran back to their goat herd and drove them northwest. Scarab stood untouched in a maelstrom of dead soldiers.
"Give up, Paramessu," Scarab called to the king. "The gods will not let you harm me."
"The man who was Paramessu is dead to you, you bitch. I am King Ramesses and I will not give up. My scouts have seen your Khabiru moving northwest with their herds and I intend to destroy them. You can only protect yourself, not them, so I will leave you here unharmed and slaughter them." The king gave the signal to his legion and they moved off in pursuit of Abrim and his goats.
