Scepter of Flint

by N. L. Holmes

  “Perhaps,” said Hani thoughtfully. “Or perhaps he simply accompanied his mistress to serve her needs, as a chamberlain might be expected to do.”

  “What do we do now?” Maya persisted. He’s guilty as can be, the rascal.

  “We probably go after him.”

  A flush of warlike eagerness spread over Maya. Life had become a little boring lately, since he and Hani had stopped traveling abroad, and his stories had begun to suffer. He was ready to see the world again and smash a few foreheads.

  At that moment, a happy cry rent the air. “Papa! Maya!”

  Out of the inner doorway, Neferet ran to them—oblivious to her dignity as a grown woman and a sunet—and threw herself exuberantly upon her father. “You came to get me! Oh, good! I want you to meet my friend Bener-ib.” She gestured to a girl who had followed her in and now stood behind her in polite silence. Neferet dragged her forward by the elbow.

  Bener-ib was a small, neat, delicately built young woman with a pointed, sharp-featured face and a grave expression. She made a polite bow.

  Well-bred at least, Maya thought. The higher he rose in society, the less he could tolerate vulgarity.

  “Bener-ib was studying medicine with the wab priests at Sau, but when the temple of Sekhmet was closed, she came up to Akhet-aten to study with Lady Djefat-nebty,” Neferet informed the men breathlessly. “Her father is a doctor and a friend of Lord Pentju. She knows e-e-everything.” Neferet put an arm around her friend’s shoulders and squeezed her proudly, while the other girl blushed.

  “Can she spend the holidays with us?”

  “Hello, Bener-ib,” Hani managed to get in. He turned back to his daughter. “I suppose so, but I must tell you that there’s plague in Waset, too, now, and your mother and Baket-iset are at the farm.”

  “Oh, we’re not afraid of plague, Papa. Are we, Bener-ib? We’re around it all the time.”

  Lord Hani flinched. The girl seems mighty cavalier about a deadly disease, Maya thought dryly. The young always think they’re immortal.

  “Are Bener-ib’s parents aware that she’ll be with us? Where do they live, my dear—in Sau?”

  “Yes, my lord,” said Bener-ib in a childlike voice that seemed at odds with her serious mien.

  A woman of few words, Maya thought.

  Neferet had enough words for the two of them. “Papa, your friend Lady Kiya has left.” Her voice dropped to a loud whisper. “Don’t tell anybody, but she was pregnant.” She grinned mischievously, baring the space between her front teeth that made her look even more like a female version of Hani.

  Maya felt a hot wave of outrage burning its way up his cheeks. Scandalous! The king is well off without that little she-cat.

  Hani shot Maya a resigned glance. Lord Hani had tried so hard to get Kiya to the Two Lands, had so often intervened to save her from her own folly. And look at her. Ingrate.

  “When did she leave, my duckling?” Hani asked.

  “Only yesterday, Papa.”

  Hani turned to Maya and said, hope brightening his voice once more, “Then we can still catch them with our fast military vessel. Maybe they haven’t left the country yet.”

  “And,” Neferet said smugly, “I found out when Lady Kiya’s chamberlain came. It was not quite a year ago. He claimed to be a friend of her father’s or somebody who had served him or something—everybody I asked had a different version—and she hired him on the spot. Really eager, if you follow me.” She turned to Bener-ib and snickered. “Apparently, she was a bit sweet on him.”

  “Thank you, little duckling. Your information is very valuable,” Hani said with a smile. “I just hope you didn’t make yourself too conspicuous with your questions.”

  “No, no, Papa. I was ve-e-ery discreet. May Lady Ma’at boil my eyeballs and pull out all my hairs one by one if I wasn’t!”

  Hani laughed, filled with love for his daughter. Then he turned to his secretary. “We have work to do.” He gestured to Maya and the girls. “Come on, my friends. Back to the boat. We’re heading north.”

  They hustled out in a motley procession and, oblivious to the beauties of the flowering city sacred to Haru, pounded down to the quays, where their boatload of soldiers waited. Hani herded the two girls up the gangplank, and Maya followed.

  Hani found the captain of the boat and told him, “There’s a royal yacht a day ahead of us on the River. They’re no doubt heading for Men-nefer or Iunu, and from there, they’ll go overland across the desert to Naharin. We must try at all costs to overtake them before they disembark. Once they’re on the road, it will be almost impossible.”

  The captain saluted, and Maya heard him yelling out orders to his men, who scrambled to their benches and pulled out their paddles. The boat eased out into the current and then shot off to the rhythmic splash of its rowers.

  “Where are we going, Maya?” Neferet asked her brother-in-law. “Isn’t this in the opposite direction from Waset?”

  “We’re going after a murderous tomb robber, my girl,” Maya said, throwing out his chest a little. He turned to face the wind and inhaled a deep breath with satisfaction. The air was damp and musky and cooler by far than it had been on land. “What a story this will make!”

  ⸎

  Midmorning the following day, Hani’s boat overtook the small yacht that had belonged to Kiya in her days as Greatly Beloved Wife. He had one of the soldiers hail it down as they passed in front of it.

  “Pull over! Pull over! Go ashore in the name of the king!” the fellow cried, waving his arms. His voice carried well over the water, and Hani saw the sailor on the prow of the yacht gesticulating to his fellows. Soon, a man who had to be the captain appeared at the gunwales and signaled his acquiescence. The boat veered toward the east bank, and the pursuing military boat followed suit, cutting the other craft off in case, for some reason, it should try to flee.

  “What’s this all about?” shouted the captain of the yacht.

  “We’re going to board you—king’s orders. Anchor, and put out your gangplank,” Hani called in loud voice.

  He saw Kiya emerge from the cabin and heard her little voice cry, “What’s going on?” Then she spied him standing on the deck of the military boat and broke out into a smile as she waved to him. “Hani! You came!”

  She was going to be shocked and disappointed at the role he was preparing to play. Hani himself felt no pleasure. But he anticipated the imminent arrest of Talpu-sharri with a grim eagerness. This case had dragged on too long.

  “Neferet, my duckling, I want you and Bener-ib to stay on the boat, no matter what. Do not get off. Do you understand?”

  “Of course I understand, Papa. What’s happening?” She stared across the increasingly narrow water between their boat and the yacht and waved at Kiya.

  “We’re here to arrest someone on that boat. He may be desperate and dangerous. Maya will stay here to keep an eye on you.”

  Maya shot him a look of disbelief from the other side of her.

  “I want to go, too, Papa. What if someone is injured?”

  Ammit take it, Neferet can always be counted on to make objections. “No,” Hani said roughly. “Stay here. This is an army maneuver, and girls have no place in it.”

  She fell silent but not in defeat. The stubborn lip was set in place. “Why don’t girls ever get to do anything fun?” she said accusingly. “You still treat me like a child.”

  “I would say the same thing to your mother, Neferet. This isn’t fun; it’s serious business for professionals. You can’t come. It’s dangerous.”

  The boat jerked as it struck the bank gently. The yacht had begun to slide out its gangplank, the lower end of which fell with a crash to the bank. Soon, the military boat did the same. The soldiers gathered, spears and axes in hand, and prepared to disembark, Hani at their head.

  “Oh, no you don’t, my girl,” Maya cried out. He grabbed Neferet’s arm and pulled her back as she edged toward the gangplank. “Your father said you couldn’t go.”


  “I suppose tending plague victims isn’t dangerous. Do you think I’m afraid?”

  At the end of his wits and beginning to grow tense over his own impending danger, Hani roared, “Stay here, I tell you.”

  He felt a pang of regret when he saw her shrink back, wide-eyed. But by the seven-headed demons, the girl won’t obey an order given in a normal voice. He turned and stomped down the gangplank, leaving his daughter watching sullenly from the deck, Maya planted wide-footed at her side, hands on his hips.

  Hani strode across the gravelly bank to the gangplank of the yacht. Kiya stood at the top, beaming. Tulubri and Pirissi approached from behind the cabin, looking curious.

  The soldiers marched purposefully up the plank of the yacht, their footsteps reverberating on the ribbed boards. Kiya met them at the top, surrounded by a bevy of her handmaids, with Tulubri and Pirissi standing behind her, looking uncertainly at the armed men.

  “Are you going to come with me after all?” the princess cried in delight.

  “No, my lady. You’re in good hands with these two gentlemen. I have come... I’ve come for your chamberlain. Could you call him for me?”

  “Of course.” Her dazzling smile deepened. As soon as she had stepped away, Pirissi said under his breath, “What is it, Lord Hani? Why the guard?”

  “We may have found our tomb robber. I think it’s Talpu-sharri.”

  The Mitannians exchanged a round-eyed look. “Does he have a mole on his lip?” asked Tulubri.

  Hani stared at him. “You mean you haven’t seen him?” he cried.

  “No, my lord. Our countryman seems to have been under the weather. He’s kept to the cabin since we embarked.”

  Suspicion smoldered like an unquenched ember under Hani’s breastbone. “How strange,” he said. He was hardly surprised when Kiya came back at a run, her skirts flying, and wailed, “He’s gone! Talpu-sharri is gone!”

  “Search the boat,” Hani barked at the soldiers, and they dispersed to comb the deck and hold—anywhere a man might hide. “When was the last time you saw him, Lady Kiya?” Hani put on a severe face. He knew she was no more honest than she had to be.

  “Right after he entered,” she said, her face puckered in distress. “He said he was feeling ill and that he was afraid it might be the plague and that I’d better stay out of the cabin. The crew pitched me a little tent last night.”

  “The slippery bastard,” muttered Hani, a huge weight of disappointment descending upon him. So close.

  “It would have been all too easy to sneak off the boat last night in the dark,” Pirissi said. “Everyone’s so afraid of the plague that no one would want to get too close.”

  Hani was steaming with frustration. He faced the soldiers, who were starting to trickle back after turning everything on the deck upside down. “That’s it, men. Our prey has escaped. Back to Akhet-aten with you.” To the two diplomats, he said, “May the gods grant you a safe journey, my friends. Get our girl home safe.”

  “We’ll never forget what you did for us, my lord,” said Tulubri with feeling. “Our king will hear what a good friend you have been to Naharin.”

  They parted reluctantly, Kiya weeping brokenheartedly in the arms of her ladies. Before he stepped upon the gangplank to descend, she murmured to Hani through her tears, “Why is no one faithful to me, Hani? I only want somebody to love me.”

  He marched down, somber and filled with pity for the unhappy princess, who asked so little and so much.

  ⸎

  Maya had watched the action aboard the yacht with incomprehension. Why didn’t they arrest Talpu-sharri as planned?

  At his side, Neferet said to her friend, “You see? They didn’t even fight. We could have gone with them.”

  “Let’s see what happened first before you get smug, my girl,” Maya said in warning. They waited while Hani trudged heavily up the gangplank, his thorny eyebrows knit in dissatisfaction. “What happened, my lord?”

  Hani let out a long breath through his nose. “The son of a dog has absconded. He pretended to be sick, and then he slipped off the boat, probably when they put ashore last night.”

  “How did he know we were coming for him?” Maya cried in disgust. “Who could have told him?”

  Hani shook his head, his mouth quirking bitterly. “We may or may not ever learn that. But we have to figure out what to do next.” He glanced at the two girls. “We need to get these ladies back to Waset for the holidays, then you and I will do some sniffing around. I want to know why those three tombs were targeted first—or exclusively. Because I hope to Ma’at that there will be no more.”

  “May that be so, my lord,” Maya replied fervently. “With Talpu-sharri in flight, I can’t foresee that there will be more robberies.”

  ⸎

  Hani frankly didn’t know what was going on. How did that wretch know we were coming—or was he already planning to jump ship? Surely he wants to get back to Naharin. There’s a price on his head here.

  While the soldiers disembarked at the capital, Hani made a visit to Aper-el, hoping that he would be in the office still before the Hall of Royal Correspondence emptied for the holidays. He needed to be sure the vizier was aware of his actions and was ready to cover him when Mahu pounced. But again, he could only leave a message to be handed over on the vizier’s return. Hani was deeply uneasy. Who knows when my letters will be delivered?

  The rest of the trip to Waset passed without mishap, and at last, the four of them made their way up the garden path to the door. It stood open except for the matting that kept out flies. Mery-ra met them in the vestibule with outspread arms. “Hani! And look who’s here—Neferet!”

  “And Neferet’s friend, Bener-ib,” his granddaughter said enthusiastically, drawing her friend forward. Bener-ib nodded respectfully, still looking serious and uncomfortable. “She’s Lady Djefat-nebty’s new student. She lives in Sau, but her parents said she could spend the holidays with me. Isn’t that wo-o-onderful?”

  “It is, but the other women are down at the farm.” Mery-ra turned to his son. “Are we all going down?”

  “You can if you want to accompany the girls, Father. I think I’ll stay here. There are still leads to be pursued. For one thing, I want to look into the men whose tombs were robbed—see who they were and what sort of enemies they might have had in common.”

  “We want to stay here, too, Papa,” said Neferet. “It’s boring in the country.”

  She used to love going out on the marshes with me to look at birds, Hani thought with a mixture of amusement and sorrow. Her childhood was over, and she had her own interests now. “Don’t you want to see Mama and Baket-iset?”

  “Of course. But there are going to be so many people down there if Aunt Anuia and her family are still around.”

  “And you don’t want to be stuck babysitting your cousins,” said Mery-ra with a knowing wink.

  She snickered guiltily.

  “You can stay here if you want, my duckling,” Hani said. “But I’ll be busy.”

  “Maybe we can help you.”

  “No, and that’s my last word on the matter,” Hani said severely.

  “But what if you need medical advice? What if your best witness dies and you have to find out if he was poisoned?”

  Hani only wished he knew who his best witness was. “All right,” he conceded. “If that happens, I’ll call on you.”

  Neferet looked at her companion in triumph. “I’ll show Bener-ib to Sat-hut-haru’s room. She can sleep there.”

  “Very well, my dear. You’re the mistress of the house at the moment.” He turned to Maya. “Do you want to go down with your family, Maya?”

  “If you don’t need me...” The secretary looked apologetic.

  Mery-ra said to his son, “I can help you, my boy, so Maya can have the holidays with his little ones.”

  So it was decided. That afternoon, Maya set off for the country house, and Hani sat down with his father to bring him up-to-date on the case. “When we went on
board Kiya’s yacht to apprehend Talpu-sharri, he’d already gotten away. Someone must have tipped him off.”

  Mery-ra grunted skeptically. “I’m not surprised. Mark my words; he’s more than he appears to be—a mere servant.”

  “Any insights hidden behind that cryptic remark, Father?” Hani said with a grin.

  “Not yet. It’s just a gut feeling. What else has happened?”

  “I ran into Pipi, and he said he’d overheard Lord Ay talking with some soldier about how they had gotten away with it once and the soldier had better be just as careful next time.” Hani raised his eyebrows. “Pipi assumed they were talking about the murder of Djau, I think, but it might as easily have been any number of other things.”

  “So what are you planning to do in the meantime, son?” Mery-ra asked.

  “Did you know a man named Ah-mes? Someone named Pa-ren-nefer? Sa-tau?”

  “I knew none of them personally, but by reputation, yes. They were all high functionaries at court—first of Neb-ma’at-ra, then of his son. Why?” Mery-ra eased himself down on a chair, and Hani did likewise.

  “Theirs were the tombs that were robbed,” Hani said, reflective. “I wondered if they had anything in common—if they’d gotten on the wrong side of the king somehow. Or had dealings with Mitanni.”

  “Let’s go ask their families. I can pretend to be a friend come to pay my respects.”

  “So they were men your age?”

  “More or less, yes. That is to say, reverend gentlemen full of years and wisdom.”

  Hani pretended to swat Mery-ra, but he couldn’t help laughing. “So you’re reverend, are you, you old rascal? If you weren’t my favorite father, I don’t know what I’d do to you!”

  ⸎

  Hani and Mery-ra made a visit that very afternoon to the villa of the Osir Ah-mes. The gatekeeper showed them into the luxurious mansion, and before long, a tiny older woman entered, dragging one leg. “My name is Henut-tawy. Can I help you, my lords?” she asked hospitably in a sweet, melancholy voice.