Now on the day of the birth of the Princess Neter-Tua, there happenedanother birth with which our story has to do. The captain of theguard of the temple of Amen was one Mermes, who had married his ownhalf-sister, Asti, the enchantress. As was well known, this Mermes wasby right and true descent the last of that house of Pharaohs which hadfilled the throne of Egypt until their line was cast down generationsbefore by the dynasty that now ruled the land, whereof the reigningPharaoh and his daughter Neter-Tua alone remained. A long while past, inthe early days of his reign, his council has whispered in Pharaoh's earthat he should kill Mermes and his sister, lest a day should come whenthey rebelled against him, proclaiming that they did so by right ofblood. But Pharaoh, who was gentle and hated murder, instead of slayingMermes sent for him and told him all.
Then Mermes, a noble-looking man as became the stock from which hesprang, prostrated himself and said,
"O Pharaoh, why should you kill me? It has pleased the gods to debasemy House and to set up yours. Have I ever lifted up my heel against youbecause my forefathers were kings, or plotted with the discontent tooverthrow you! See, I am satisfied with my station, which is that of anoble and a soldier in your army. Therefore let me and my half-sister,the wise lady Asti whom I purpose to marry, dwell on in peace as yourtrue and humble servants. Dip not your hands in our innocent blood,O Pharaoh, lest the gods send a curse upon you and your House and ourghosts come back from the grave to haunt you."
When Pharaoh heard these words, his heart was moved in him, and hestretched out his sceptre for Mermes to kiss, thereby granting to himlife and protection.
"Mermes," he said, "you are an honourable man, and my equal in blood ifnot in place. For their own purposes the gods raise up one and cast downanother that at last their ends may be fulfilled. I believe that youwill work no harm against me and mine, and, therefore, I will work noharm against you and your sister Asti, Mistress of Magic. Rather shallyou be my friend and counsellor."
Then Pharaoh offered high rank and office to him, but Mermes would nottake them, answering that if he did, envy would be stirred up againsthim, and in this way or that bring him to his death, since tall treesare the first to fall. So in the end Pharaoh made Mermes Captain of theGuard of Amen, and gave him land and houses enough to enable him tolive as a noble of good estate, but no more. Also he became a friend ofPharaoh and one of his inner Council, to whose voice he always listened,for Mermes was a true-hearted man.
Afterwards Mermes married Asti, but like Pharaoh for a long while heremained childless, since he took no other wives. On the day of thebirth of the Princess Tua, the Morning Star of Amen, however, Asti borea son, a royal-looking child of great strength and beauty and very fairin colour, as tradition said that the kings of his race had been beforehim, but with black and shining eyes.
"See," said the midwife, "here is a head shaped to wear a crown."
Whereon Asti, his mother, forgetting her caution in her joy, or perhapsinspired by the gods, for from her childhood she was a prophetess,answered,
"Yes, and I think that this head and a crown will come close together,"and she kissed him and named him Rames after her royal forefather, thefounder of their line.
As it chanced a spy overheard this saying and reported it to theCouncil, and the Council urged Pharaoh to cause the boy to be put away,as they had urged in the case of his father, Mermes, because of thewords of omen that Asti had spoken, and because she had given her son aroyal name, naming him after the majesty of Ra, as though he were indeedthe child of a king. But Pharaoh would not, asking with his soft smilewhether they wished him to baptise his daughter in the blood of anotherinfant who drew his first breath upon the same day, and adding:
"Ra sheds his glory upon all, and this high-born boy may live to be afriend in need to her whom Amen has given to Egypt. Let things befall asthe gods decree. Who am I that I should make myself a god and destroy alife that they have fashioned?"
So the boy Rames lived and throve, and Mermes and Asti, when they cameto hear of these things, thanked Pharaoh and blessed him.
Now the house of Mermes, as Captain of the Guard, was within the wall ofthe great temple of Amen, near to the palace of the priestesses of Amenwhere the Princess Neter-Tua was nurtured. Thus it came about that whenthe Queen Ahura died, the lady Asti was named as nurse to the Princess,since Pharaoh said that she should drink no milk save that of one inwhose veins ran royal blood. So Asti was Tua's foster mother, andnight by night she slept in her arms together with her own son, Rames.Afterwards, too, when they were weaned the babes were taught to walk andspeak together, and later, as children, they became playmates.
Thus from the first these two loved each other, as brother and sisterlove when they are twins. But although the boy was bold and brave, thislittle princess always had the mastery of him, not because she was aprincess and heir to the throne of Egypt--for all the high titlesthey gave her fell idly on her ears, nor did she think anything ofthe bowings of courtiers and of priests--but from some strength withinherself. She it was that set the games they played, and when she talkedhe was obliged to listen, for although she was so sound and healthy,this Tua differed from other children.
Thus she had what she called her "silent hours" when she would suffer noone to come near her, not her ladies or her foster-mother, Asti herself,nor even Rames. Then, followed by the women at a distance, she wouldwander among the great columns of the temple and study the sculptureson the walls; and, since all places were open to her, Pharaoh's child,enter the sanctuaries, and stare at the gods that sat in them fashionedin granite and in alabaster. This she would do even in the solemnmoonlight when mortals were afraid to approach these sacred shrines, andcome thence unconcerned and smiling.
"What do you see there, O Morning Star?" asked little Rames of her once."They are dull things, those stone gods that have never moved since thebeginning of the world; also they frighten me, especially when Ra isset."
"They are not dull, and they do not frighten me," answered Tua; "theytalk to me, and although I cannot understand all they say, I am happywith them."
"Talk!" he said contemptuously, "how can stones talk?"
"I do not know. I think it is their spirits that talk, telling mestories which happened before I was born and that shall happen afterI am dead, yes, and after _they_ seem to be dead. Now be silent--I saythat they talk to me--it is enough."
"For me it would be more than enough," said the boy, "but then I am notcalled Child of Amen, who only worship Menthu, God of War."
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