Musicians were playing somewhere in the per’aa, no doubt for Pharaoh. It was earlier than I’d thought if tonight’s banquet was still going on. The sounds of harp and flute came to me faintly, indistinct against the rustling leaves and hum and buzz of countless insects among the flowers and the croaking of frogs in the garden’s pool. I lay on my back on the bench, looked up at the moon, closed my eyes for a moment.
A sudden noise brought me to wakefulness. The moon was close to vertical. I’d been lulled to sleep more than an hour ago. I heard another noise, saw movement. Five dark figures were huddled close together in the deep shadow of a grove of palms less than a dozen feet away. I froze, held my breath, terrified my nightly rendezvous with Pentawere had been discovered by Pharaoh, terrified that guards were searching for me in the garden. My heart began to beat so loudly I feared they’d hear it.
“Are the wax crocodiles in place, Nebzefai?”
With a start I recognized Pentawere’s voice. And Nebzefai’s name. He was a royal butler. All my senses were alive now. Something was going on. Why had Pentawere left me alone in bed to meet with a bunch of per’aa staff in the garden?
“They are, Majesty. Pebekkamen and El–ram and I hid them an hour ago. Under beds and in corridors. No one saw us, thanks to Peynok. He assigned most of Pharaoh’s servants to work at tonight’s banquet.”
“You’re certain the spells were cast?”
It was a woman this time. I was absolutely sure the speaker was Tiye.
“Spells for enchanting and banishing and confusing,” Nebzefai replied. “We control the will of the guards who protect them now. Whatever magic that might have been used to keep them safe has been superseded.”
“Their names were inscribed on the crocodiles, and I stabbed them to make sure they’ll die, Mother,” Pentawere said.
Magic! Stabbing? Pentawere and Tiye and these other men were planning to kill someone using magic. Or more than one person. They’d mentioned crocodiles. I recalled my conversation with Pentawere from earlier today. Pentawere and Tiye must have discovered that Ramesses was preparing to move against Pharaoh tonight! Pentawere couldn’t wait to warn Pharaoh in the morning, as we’d planned. So he’d rounded up supporters to deal with Ramesses before he could act. Not just Ramesses, but those conspiring with him. Kairy, for sure. Probably others. I breathed a sigh of relief. Because of my dream, because Pentawere and Tiye had taken it seriously, Pharaoh was going to live. I whispered a prayer of thanks to the falcon god.
“How about the archers, Binemwese?” Tiye asked.
I knew him well from Pentawere’s parties.
“Standing by. Ready to seize Djeme from within at your command, Majesty.”
Why did Pentawere need to seize Djeme? To counter Ramesses’ troops? Was there going to be a pitched battle inside these walls?
“Does everyone else know their role?” Tiye pressed.
“All thirty of them, Mother,” Pentawere growled. “I went over what they’re to do with everyone individually earlier today.”
Pentawere had obviously taken the threat to Pharaoh seriously. That such a large force was engaged in protecting Pharaoh was impressive.
“Be off now,” Tiye said. “All of you.”
Three shadows drifted off.
“What about the girl?” Tiye asked.
“Neset, Mother. Not ‘the girl.’ I expect you to treat her with respect at all times when she becomes my Great Wife. She’s in my bed right now, as we planned. Fast asleep. She’ll be my alibi when Weren comes to inform me they’re dead.”
Great Wife? It was really about to happen. Pentawere was going to save Pharaoh from Ramesses. He’d be named co–ruler. With luck, out of gratitude, Pharaoh would let us marry right away.
“Remember, Mother,” Pentawere warned. “Neset’s never to learn we killed Father and Ramesses. She must believe our story – that Ramesses killed Father and we slew him afterwards.”
Time seemed to stand still. I was absolutely stunned. My hand rose to my mouth. Pentawere and Tiye weren’t protecting Pharaoh. They were going to murder him – and Ramesses! They were going to use me to get away with it! Pentawere had betrayed me! I’d given him my heart and he’d just thrown it away. He planned to kill Pharaoh and deceive me? How long had he been working on his plan? He hadn’t put together a conspiracy with thirty people overnight. Months at least, maybe years. I’d trusted him, just like I’d trusted Mesedptah. I’d been as big a fool the second time as I’d been the first. How humiliating and awful – to be a pawn in the hands of a man who loved power more than he loved me.
“Hurry back to Neset,” Tiye urged. “Remember – when Weren bursts into your room he needs to find you and Neset in a compromising position.”
Tiye had been lying to me too. So much for her feigned friendship.
“Don’t worry, Mother. He will.”
I wanted to sit in the garden and nurse my wounds. Pentawere’s betrayal was making me physically ill. There was no time. The per’aa was apparently crawling with men and women involved in Pentawere’s plot. If I did nothing Pharaoh was going to die. I had to save him. But how? Whatever I was going to do I had to do quickly. The moment Pentawere parted from Tiye he’d return to his room and find me missing. With luck, he’d think I’d awakened and found him gone and returned to my estate as I would in a few hours anyway. Worst case – I had to assume he’d suspect I’d overheard the conversation in the garden and would be trying to stop him. If so, my life would likely be at risk too.
I frantically tried to make sense of everything I’d heard, figure out what to do. Nothing? Stand by and let Pharaoh be assassinated and Pentawere become Pharaoh and myself become Pentawere’s great wife? Should I return to Pentawere’s room, plead with him to change his mind, hope I could convince him to call off the murders? How many people had he said were involved? Thirty? Plus archers? Could he stop what he’d set in motion if I made him change his mind? Or should I forget about Pentawere and go to Pharaoh and warn him and his guards? Why would they believe me? With a sinking feeling I remembered – Pentawere had replaced Pharaoh’s guards with men loyal to him. They’d never let me pass to warn Pharaoh directly. They were probably the ones who were going to kill him. Besides, Pentawere had taken the additional step tonight of using magic to confuse them. Warning guards or Pharaoh was not a viable option. I clutched my talisman, whispered a prayer to the falcon god for guidance. And then I remembered the oracle. The oracle had told me to go to Pentawere. But I’d misinterpreted his meaning. Amen had not wanted me to become Pentawere’s wife. He’d wanted me to become Pentawere’s lover so I’d be in the garden tonight to overhear the plot and put a stop to it. Only one course of action seemed possible. Only one man in Djeme had the resources to stop Pentawere. The fourth Ramesses. I had to warn him, tell him his brother planned to kill his father. I doubted he’d believe my wild claim. But I had to try. Otherwise, Pharaoh was a dead man. Ramesses too. I’d dreamed of him being executed for what Pentawere was about to do. He was innocent of this night’s work, but he’d be blamed for it, even if they killed him. Pentawere and Tiye had likely set Ramesses up to be the scapegoat, to draw attention away from themselves. I recalled – I was to be Pentawere’s alibi. Murdered or executed, Ramesses’ blood would be on my hands. Somehow, I had to stop these assassinations.
I rose from the bench and hurried through the garden and onto the smooth path that edged it. I ran a short distance and entered the per’aa and dashed down a long passageway towards the fourth Ramesses’ room. I knew where it and every room in the per’aa were from my years of arranging flowers. The falcon god had truly been guiding my life, granting me access to this structure. Two guards were stationed in the hallway, each with a copper dagger tucked in his leather belt. Mayernu and Kairy. They weren’t Pentawere’s men, at least. His were guarding Pharaoh’s room. Mayernu ordered me to halt when I was a dozen paces from Ramesses’ door.
“I have news for His Majesty that can’t wait. Let me in his room, May
ernu. Please,” I pleaded frantically.
He looked me up and down salaciously, exchanged a knowing glance with Kairy. “He sent for you, did he, Girl? Guess there’s a first time for everything.”
I blushed. Mayernu didn’t recognize me from the day he’d accompanied Ramesses and me to visit tombs in Ta Set Neferu. He thought me a whore, summoned to spend a night with Pharaoh’s son.
“My Lady is acquainted with His Majesty,” Kairy told Mayernu. “If she says her news is urgent, it is.” He bowed slightly. “Go ahead, My Lady.”
One hurdle passed. Thank the gods Kairy was stationed in the corridor tonight. I knew now I’d badly misjudged him these past years. He hadn’t been part of a plot to murder the third Ramesses after all.
“But not alone,” Mayernu said sharply. “Wait here, Kairy. I’ll take her.” Mayernu led me somewhat reluctantly down the corridor and knocked softly on Ramesses’ door. I didn’t wait for a reply. I pushed the door open and rushed past Mayernu into the room.
Mayernu cried out in protest, followed after, grabbed at my arm.
We startled Ramesses. He was sitting on the edge of his bed. A bowl of oil on a table next to it cast light into the corners of the room. He rose, alarmed. “Neset! What’s the meaning…”
“I tried to stop her, Majesty!” Mayernu cried, seizing me at last and pinning both my arms behind me.
“I’ve come to warn you, Majesty!” I exclaimed, trying fruitlessly to twist free of the guard.
“Warn me?”
“Pharaoh’s about to be murdered!”
Ramesses took a step towards me. “Release her!” he commanded.
Mayernu let me go with a little shove.
“How do you know?” Ramesses queried, eyes narrowed.
“I overheard conspirators in the garden a few minutes ago, Majesty. I came straight here.” I rubbed my arms where Mayernu had grabbed them. I spotted the tail of a wax crocodile peeking from under Ramesses’ bed. I pushed him aside, fell to my knees, picked it up, stood, held it towards him, one hand under the snout, one under the tail. A knife stuck straight up in its back.
Ramesses faced me now. Mayernu was behind him.
“What’s this?” Ramesses demanded.
“Magic!” I replied. I drew the dagger from the crocodile and dropped it to the floor with a metallic clank. Perhaps that would break the spell and save Ramesses.
Suddenly Mayernu yanked his dagger from his belt and raised it high in the air.
“No!” I shouted. I dropped the crocodile and grabbed Ramesses’ arm and desperately twisted him to the side all in one motion as Mayernu’s arm swept downward. His dagger plunged to its hilt into my chest just below my right collarbone. I screamed. I screamed again when Mayernu jerked his dagger free. The pain was excruciating. I fell to my knees, clutched at my chest with my left hand. My right arm dangled, useless. In that same instant Ramesses dove at Mayernu and hit him in the stomach with his shoulder and sent him flying. Both landed on the floor. Kairy appeared in the doorway. Ramesses was sprawled on his stomach. Mayernu was rising to a crouch, bloody dagger in his hand. Kairy didn’t hesitate. He slit Mayernu’s throat from behind before he could move towards Ramesses. Mayernu’s dagger clattered to the floor. He collapsed in a heap. Blood seeped from under his body.
Kairy lifted me in his arms and gently laid me on Ramesses’ bed. Ramesses immediately perched beside me. He cut the straps from my dress with a knife, peeled the blood–soaked fabric away from my wound. My chest was crimson. Kairy pressed part of a linen sheet against the wound to try to stanch the bleeding.
I was nauseous, growing weaker by the second. The room was spinning. My chest was throbbing and pulsing blood with every beat of my heart. The pain was overwhelming. My right arm was practically paralyzed. I was about to pass out. I fought to remain conscious. More guards clattered into the room, carrying torches, their light flickering on the walls. My eyes fell to the floor. I saw the wax crocodile where I’d dropped it.
“Majesty.” I wanted to point but couldn’t move my arm.
“Shhh. Don’t try to talk,” Ramesses said softly. He called for someone to bring water.
“The crocodile.” I was insistent.
He looked, nodded his head.
Kairy picked it up and brought it to him. His hands were bloodstained. Mine and Mayernu’s.
Ramesses held the crocodile in his hands, studied it from all angles. “My name’s written on it.”
“Magic,” I whispered darkly. “They commissioned a magician to put a spell on it, to blind your guards, to kill you. The knife… I overheard them in the garden tonight.”
“Overheard who?”
“Pentawere. Tiye.” I licked my lips. I was finding it hard to speak. I was dizzy.
Ramesses stiffened. “My brother and his mother?”
“Nebzefai. Binemwese.”
Water arrived. Ramesses raised my head slightly and tilted the container to my lips. I swallowed a bit.
“At least thirty. Plus archers,” I whispered, my eyes rising to his.
“Treason!” Ramesses spat.
Then I remembered why I’d come. Fear gripped me. I seized Ramesses’ forearm with my good hand, leaving a bloody print. “Majesty – their main target is Pharaoh!”
He stared at me for a moment. Torchlight glittered in his dark eyes.
Kairy was already halfway out the door, sprinting, a bloody knife in his hand.
Ramesses rose from the bed and dashed after him. “You, stay with Neset,” he directed one guard as he passed. “The rest, with me!” he called over his shoulder.
And then I lost consciousness.
***
I awakened to singing birds and swaying trees and the light of early morning streaming through the window, making a bright rectangle on the floor. I didn’t recognize the room though I was certain it was in the per’aa, for the furnishings were of the highest quality. I felt a dull throbbing pain. Bandages were wrapped under my arm and over my shoulder and across my bare chest.
“You’re awake!” Beketaten cried from a chair by my side. She rose.
I tried to sit up but a sharp pain convinced me otherwise. Beketaten helped me lay down again. I gazed at her gratefully. I suddenly remembered what had happened. I’d been stabbed. Ramesses had been attacked. Was he safe?
“How long have I been asleep?”
“Three days. Wabkhet and Nauny and I have been taking turns watching you, Neset. The healers and magicians cast spells and used potions. One or the other seems to have worked.”
“Is His Majesty safe?”
“He’s in good health. He ordered me to tell him the moment you stirred.”
She dashed from the room and I settled back to wait.
In less than a minute Ramesses entered. He looked harried but none the worse for wear except for a bruise on his brow, no doubt from his encounter with Mayernu. He sat carefully on the side of the bed so as not to jostle me. He took my hands in his and bent and kissed my fingers. “I thought for sure you’d die,” he said.
His unexpected tenderness surprised me.
“I owe you my life, Neset,” Ramesses said. “If you hadn’t yanked me out of the way and taken Mayernu’s thrust I’d be dead.”
“Thank the gods I was in time,” I said fervently.
“How did you know he was going to attack me?”
“I didn’t, Majesty.” I recounted for him in explicit detail all that had happened that evening in the garden, what I’d overheard, what I’d done afterwards. I even told him about the oracle. “When I saw the tip of the crocodile’s tail under your bed I assumed the magic in the crocodile was supposed to kill you. Thus the knife in its back, and why I pulled it out. I had no idea Mayernu would strike.”
“Speaking of knives, how does it feel, your wound?”
“It hurts terribly, Majesty.”
There was a knock. Vizier Neferronpet entered the room. He bowed low. “You are needed in the audience hall, Usermaatre–Setpenamen.”
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My eyes moved to Ramesses’ face. “He calls you by a Horus name?”
“The Falcon Pharaoh Usermaatre–Meryamen, Son of Re, has flown up to heaven,” Vizier Neferronpet intoned. “The Falcon Pharaoh Usermaatre–Setpenamen, Son of Re, now sits the throne.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “No…”
“The sky rains, the stars darken, the vault quivers, earth’s bones tremble, the planets stand still,” Vizier Neferronpet chanted.
“I wasn’t in time to save Father,” Ramesses said, his voice clipped. “He was already dead when I reached his room.” He looked out the window, at the trees moving gracefully in the breeze. “It was one of his concubines, Heket. She cut his throat so deeply the blade touched his spine. The blood…”
A sob escaped my lips.
“We found a crocodile under Father’s bed too. There was a conspiracy, as you said. Pebekkamen confessed everything under torture. He gave us names. Butlers. The overseer of Father’s harem. Inspectors of the harem. Scribes. The overseer of the treasury. The deputy commander of my army. Several of its leaders. Thirty–nine traitors in all. My father’s wife Tiye and my brother Pentawere intended to seize the throne. They would have succeeded if not for you.”
So it had been true, what I feared that night. Pentawere had betrayed his father and brother and me. My heart was broken. And filled with guilt. “Majesty, it’s my fault your father was killed.”
“You warned me. How could it be your fault?”
“The talisman around my neck was given to my ancestress Aya more than four thousand years ago, by the falcon god himself.”
Ramesses placed his hand on my forehead. “You’re a little feverish…”
“It doesn’t matter whether you believe me, Majesty. It’s a long story, and I can tell you someday if you wish. But here’s the important part. The falcon god sends dreams to whoever bears this talisman. Those dreams have always come true. The night I slept with the talisman for the first time I had an awful dream. I saw you, Majesty, being convicted by a Great Kenbet for murdering your father. I saw you being burned alive in Djeme’s courtyard.”
The Gardener and the Assassin Page 55
