“As I said, I’ll be in Djeme, watching over Pharaoh’s stables. I doubt he’ll ever give me permission to return to Nekhen. Now. Something more serious. We need to take steps to dissuade future kidnappers.”
“There are more?” Beketaten asked.
“There might be.”
“Don’t you want to dangle me as bait again?” I asked sweetly.
“You’re right to be upset with me,” Kairy said. “All of you. I won’t put any of you in that position again. There may be kidnappers, there may not. I just don’t want to take a chance. Remember the excuse I used to move you to the estate in the first place, Neset?”
“Everyone in Djeme is afraid I’ll use magic on them.”
“Exactly. Tomorrow we’re going to remind my new guards that you’re a confessed witch and make any other traitors who are thinking of stepping foot onto this estate before Aya is born hesitate. Or, rather, whatever commoners the traitors might hire to kidnap you for them. Right after breakfast I want you to bury every amulet we can lay our hands on around the perimeter of the estate and in the garden and in front of the door of your house and below every window. I’ll tell my men we’ve had word of another attack and you’re protecting yourself with magic. They’re all superstitious. I’ll force them to guard you while you bury the amulets. Cast spells over each one. The more dramatic and nonsensical the better. Have Beketaten and Iput shake menat necklaces and burn incense and chant along. Have them pretend to be in a trance. Terrify my guards. They’ll spread the word along the east and west banks. That should keep intruders at bay. We’ll do the same after we set up the birth bower.”
I nodded. “I will. As long as you stay far away from us.”
Beginning an hour after sunrise, right after we saw Ani off at the river – it took us until early afternoon – Beketaten and Iput and I made a show of burying a plethora of amulets along the boundaries of the estate and around the house, accompanied by all of Kairy’s guards. As he’d predicted, they kept their distance as I conducted my ceremonies. The three of us were dressed in our finery and exceedingly solemn. I recited nonsense while Beketaten dug hole after hole and Iput dropped in amulet after amulet. Beketaten shook her menat necklace and waved incense for good measure.
Kairy stayed out of sight.
***
Peret (Seed)
Neset
***
The months after the kidnapping attempt, as my execution neared, I slept less and less. My garden plan completed, I worked feverishly the majority of every day recording my family stories. There were hundreds – at least while working on them I didn’t have time to sit idle and contemplate my imminent death. I particularly dreaded nighttime – I tossed restlessly on my pallet for hours, unable to stop imagining how my life was going to end. Whenever I did sleep I was always awakened by a nightmare, my sheets soaked with sweat. Whenever Aya kicked it reminded me I was going to entirely miss her life. The unfairness of it was crippling, growing worse with each passing day. On the nights I couldn’t sleep at all I usually wandered into the darkened garden and sat for hours or paced back and forth, miserable and frightened. Kairy was always in the background, a shadow watching over me, though he never approached. Since Ani’s departure for Nekhen not a single word had passed between us. When something came up that needed my attention he dealt with it through Iput or Beketaten. Beketaten could barely tolerate him. He even disgusted Iput.
After much thought, I’d figured out a way to stop Kairy from betraying Pharaoh. I’d written a letter to Duatentopet detailing my dream and what I believed it meant. I was going to tuck it into the pouch of family stories Kairy had promised to deliver to her after I was dead. I thought it fitting – he was going to deliver the document that would cost him his life and save Pharaoh’s to Pharaoh’s wife. I only wished I could be around to see his face when he found out who was responsible for his execution.
As my time approached, Iput and Beketaten and Kairy turned a corner of the garden closest to the river, shaded by acacia trees, into a birth bower. I watched from the veranda. It took them most of a day. Kairy lashed together a number of poles to form a rectangular frame. The women collected palm fronds and he laid them over the top to form a roof. They attached reed mats to the west side, to keep the sun off, and thickly draped the north and south with vines and flowers. The east side, facing the river, they left open. Iput laid out a linen pallet and birth bricks and an obsidian knife to cut the cord and carefully arranged dozens of protective charms inside and outside – images of Bes and Tawosret and Hathor, smashed crocodiles and scorpions, all of which I’d chanted appropriate spells over in sight of Kairy’s guards. I watched my friends and Kairy work, torn, eager to see Aya born, knowing I’d be dead hours afterwards. I was much like this valley in microcosm – precious life, on the brink of death.
***
I finished writing the last of my stories a week before I was due and carefully placed it in a leather pouch along with the rest. The pouch was bulging – so many family stories had been accumulated over the past thousands of years. It was almost scary they’d survived so long without being written down. Though writing hadn’t existed for the first two thousand years of my line. When I sealed that pouch it felt so final, as if I’d just brought closure to my own life. Precious little of it was left. All too soon I was going to give birth, then die.
Ani arrived from Nekhen the very day I recorded the last tale, my story, to fetch his bride and Iput and what was due Horus from the storage magazines of the Ramesseum. He docked at the Ramesseum’s quay so his vessel could be loaded with supplies destined for the Temple of Horus. He’d sail it to my quay in a day or so. He walked overland to my estate. Beketaten was overjoyed to see him.
Three days later, when Re was at his highest, I went into labor. Beketaten and Iput conducted me into the birth bower. Both were excited. I entered with extraordinarily mixed emotions, thrilled I was about to give birth to Aya, terrified about what awaited me after she was born far too few hours from now. Dutifully, Kairy sent a guard to Djeme to inform Pharaoh that my time had come. The hidden import of the message, of course, was that I’d soon be delivered along with Aya to Djeme, she to be hidden away in the royal harem, me to be burned. I fought not to picture the preparations they were about to make, the pile of wood they’d raise near my garden in Djeme where the other conspirators had died, the stake where they’d tie me.
My fourth labor was far easier than my others, and quicker. Aya dropped into Iput’s arms a few hours after sunset.
By the light of flaming bowls of oil scattered around the bower Beketaten washed the blood from my body while Iput cleaned Aya. Beketaten helped me to a fresh pallet, then covered me with a sheet from the waist down. Iput placed my daughter in my arms. Aya was beautiful, so tiny, so warm against my skin. She clutched my finger in her fist, then sought my breast. My tears of joy mingled with tears of dread. How long would I have with her before Kairy took us away? An hour? Two? I nuzzled Aya. Now that I held her I couldn’t stand the thought of being parted from her, of missing her entire life. I was in agony. I started crying and couldn’t stop. I touched the talisman to Aya’s head, whispered a tearful prayer to the falcon god to watch over her and protect her. I held her and stroked her, willing away the moment when we’d be parted.
Iput and Beketaten sat beside my pallet, trying in vain to comfort me, taking turns giving me sips of water and gently touching Aya and cooing over her. I was exhausted but I fought off sleep. I had to experience every moment of Aya’s life I could.
Well after the middle of the night Kairy stepped inside the bower. That could mean only one thing. It was time. My right leg began shaking uncontrollably. I clutched Aya tightly, protectively, desperately, wetting her anew with my tears.
Kairy looked at me for a moment, then Aya. He looked like he wanted to say something, to get down on his knees and caress my daughter. He didn’t dare. I would have clawed his eyes out. Instead he addressed Ani. “You need to leave right n
ow, while it’s dark. I’ve made sure the guards are all up by the house.”
Beketaten started to cry.
A choking sob issued from Iput.
Beketaten dropped to her knees and kissed me and lay her face against mine.
Our tears mingled.
“There’s no time for this,” Kairy hissed.
“You won’t even let us tell Neset goodbye, Brother?” Iput asked, incredulous. “Have you turned into a monster?”
“Neset’s going with you to Nekhen. Aya too.”
“What?” Had I heard him correctly?
“Beketaten – pick up Aya. Iput – grab the pouch of stories. Ani – carry Neset to your boat and get underway. Immediately. Don’t wait for sunrise.”
They all stood, transfixed.
Kairy was trying to save me from execution? And save Aya? How was he going to pull it off? Without being executed himself?
“Get going! Before the guards return. Hurry!”
Beketaten gently took Aya from my arms, then stood. She carried her to the open side of the bower.
Iput picked up the leather pouch full of my stories and slung it over her shoulder.
Ani scooped me into his arms, draped in my linen sheet.
“What’s happening?” I whispered.
“I don’t know,” Ani replied.
Kairy blew out the lamps, plunging the bower into darkness. He poked his head outside the open side and looked around its corner towards the house. “No one’s watching,” he said. “Go!” He drew his knife and stepped outside to guard the path.
“Cover your face and especially your hair as best you can,” Ani told me. “I don’t want any of my crewmen figuring out who you are.”
The women hurriedly left for the boat.
Ani carried me from the birth bower, pausing first to look up the path towards the house. I pulled the sheet over my head. He moved down the path towards the river, slowly, so he wouldn’t stumble in the dark and drop me. Ani was truly stealing me away. Was I going to escape death after all? I whispered a prayer to the falcon god that whatever Kairy was doing would work. But why was he trying to save me? Another act of defiance against the pharaoh he’d clearly turned against, based on my dream and the way Pharaoh had treated him in the audience hall? Word had spread widely of their break, whispered by the men guarding me, some of the rumors so outlandish they couldn’t possibly be true. Or was Kairy simply trying to avoid having my blood on his hands? Or feeling guilty for having used me and put his brother and sister and Beketaten in harm’s way? Or, maybe, using me as bait hadn’t been his plan after all. Maybe he’d been carrying out Pharaoh’s orders. Maybe the kidnapping had somehow fractured his loyalty to Pharaoh beyond repair. Though I had no idea why it should. Well, Kairy was trying to save me now. If he pulled it off – if I got to raise Aya and teach her the family stories and pass the talisman to her – that’d be atonement enough for all he’d put me through.
I wondered if Kairy would survive this night. What would the guards do to him when they discovered me and Aya missing? What would Pharaoh do to him when he failed to deliver us to Djeme? Everyone would know he’d helped me escape. Pharaoh would surely kill him. Ironic – by saving me Kairy was going to save Pharaoh from being betrayed by Kairy in the oval court. The falcon god was using Kairy as a tool to stop Kairy himself. I wondered too what was going to happen to Aya and me. Pharaoh’s vizier would surely send men to hunt us down. If they caught us we’d be executed, along with Ani and Beketaten and Iput. We couldn’t go to the estate in Nekhen after all. That’s the first place soldiers would look. How would Ani convince his crew to take us somewhere else? Could he buy his men’s silence so they wouldn’t turn us in to Pharaoh’s officials?
I felt the breeze, heard palm fronds clacking overhead. I closed my eyes, pressed my face against Ani’s chest. I heard waves lapping against a vessel. Ani carried me up a gangplank. The deck creaked beneath us. He took a few steps. A door opened, likely to the boat’s cabin, then quickly closed behind us. Ani set me on my feet. I freed my face from the sheet. Aya was cradled in Beketaten’s arms a few feet away. I’d never seen a sight as wonderful. Ani exited through the door. Iput closed it firmly behind him.
She embraced me. Then she pulled off the sheet and helped me lay down on a pallet. I was exhausted, grateful to be off my feet but especially to be alive. I wasn’t going to burn. Thanks to Kairy. Beketaten bent and placed Aya in my arms. I held her against my chest, wet her with my tears. Iput covered us with a fresh sheet.
On deck, Ani barked a muffled order. Less than a minute later the boat moved away from the quay and was caught by the current. Oars dipped into the water, slowly and carefully. No one traveled the river in the dark. We reached the middle of the channel and turned, headed south.
I could tell when dawn finally began to light the river several hours later because Ani’s men raised the sail. Our speed increased.
Half an hour after that Ani reentered the cabin. He ran his hand through his hair, gazed at each of us in turn. “What just happened. And why?”
Though the four of us speculated for hours we couldn’t make sense of any of it. I supposed we’d never know the reason Kairy had saved Aya and me. By the time we reached Nekhen and the estate Kairy had gifted Ani and Iput three days later, I assumed he’d paid for his crime with his life. Though no one else said it out loud, I could tell they assumed it too.
Then I did something I thought I’d never do. I grieved for Kairy.
***
Peret (Seed)
Kairy
***
I watched Ani’s men row his boat into the channel and begin to cautiously ply their oars. So far so good. Neset and Aya were on their way to freedom.
The nearer this day had come, the more I’d agonized over Neset’s pending execution. Watching her from a distance as she’d wandered her garden night after night, seeing her caress her belly over and over, hearing her sob when she didn’t know I was listening, I’d vowed I’d find a way to save her as well as Aya. The vizier and the judges of the Great Kenbet might want Neset dead, but I couldn’t reconcile her execution with maat. She’d saved Pharaoh’s life multiple times. Being executed afterwards wasn’t right or just. She’d been chosen by the falcon god to protect Pharaoh – for all I knew, he’d need her to protect him again sometime in the future. After all, I was about to join a bunch of traitors who were bent on removing Ramesses from his throne. If I couldn’t stop them, maybe she could. Plus, Neset’s ancestress Tiaa had put my ancestor Kairy on Nekhen’s throne. After thousands of years, the debt my family owed hers had come due and I was going to pay it. After much agonized consideration, I’d decided to defy Pharaoh and put my duty to Neset above my loyalty to him. Something I’d never pictured myself doing. After weighing many options, I’d finally figured out a way I might save her. My plan was risky and complicated. The chances of pulling it off were admittedly small, though so far the first step – Neset’s escape from her estate – had worked as expected. If something went wrong hereafter, though, I knew Vizier Neferronpet would execute me for defying Pharaoh. Then he’d hunt Neset down and execute her and Aya, and Ani and Iput and Beketaten for good measure. He’d assume they’d all been involved in her rescue. Only if my plan succeeded would they all live long and happy lives. The second step in my plan was imminent – to fake Neset’s death and deliver Maia’s son to the conspirators in Aya’s place. The final step would be to preserve Pharaoh’s line by identifying the conspirators and slaying Maia’s son. The day the imposter died Neset and Aya would truly be free. Nothing would point to their existence.
I had no time to waste. I hurried to a small grove of acacia trees not far up the riverbank from the birth bower. I’d brought Maia and her two day–old son there a few hours ago, as soon as it was dark enough we wouldn’t be spotted moving from her farm to Neset’s estate. I’d dug up Bunakhtef’s linen–wrapped body a day earlier and hidden it in a patch of reeds beside the grove. He was going to burn in Neset’s
place – if my plan worked. Maia was waiting beneath one of the trees, her linen–swaddled son in her arms.
“Come,” I said. “It’s time.”
Maia rose.
I went to the nearby patch of reeds, lifted Bunakhtef’s corpse, draped him over my shoulder. I led Maia up the path from the riverbank to the open side of the birth bower that faced the river. I paused, cautiously peered around the corner of the bower. No guards were in sight on the garden path. Maia and I quickly entered the bower. I dropped the corpse unceremoniously onto the ground along one side. I was sweating from the effort of carrying it and from fear my plan wasn’t going to work.
Maia continued standing just inside the bower, her son in her arms. “What’s this all about, Kairy?”
I’d gotten to know her fairly well the past three months, talking with her when I’d brought food and supplies to her farm several times a week. It had been stupid on my part, really – it would’ve been better to keep my distance from a woman I was taking to her death, not turn her into an actual person. She’d proven to be far more intelligent than Alara. She was for the most part reserved in my presence, and why not – she didn’t know me and I was going to forcefully uproot her from her farm and drag her away into the unknown. But not once had she tried to back out of our deal or ask me any questions about why I needed her son or about the men we’d be living among. Fact was, her son was all she was going to have in the world, and all she cared about was being with him.
Unfortunately for me, Maia had just chosen the worst possible time to get curious about her future. But the very best time from her perspective. Maybe she’d actually bided her time, waiting patiently for the moment I’d have no choice but to tell her what she wanted to know. My plan to save Neset and Aya was shaky at best; with a single word right now Maia could alert my guards that I’d switched babies and I’d be arrested and the vizier would hunt down Neset and kill her and the others. I didn’t appreciate being pressured into revealing information so unsettling Maia might be tempted to use it to ruin my plan. I didn’t like that I’d obviously underestimated her nerve and cunning either. On the other hand, I realized Maia was bound to hear snatches of conversation about her son’s future and me and the traitors’ intentions in the hours and days and weeks to come. It was inevitable once I delivered her son and her to the traitors. I supposed keeping Maia in the dark about what was happening would be even more dangerous for both of us than her knowing what was going on. Otherwise, she might inadvertently say something that would put our lives at risk. I’d kept the plan to use Neset as bait secret from her; that hadn’t turned out well at all. Time to learn from that mistake. I decided to trust Maia.
The Gardener and the Assassin Page 72
