I’d been surprised at how quickly Maia had adjusted to life in the oasis, my expectations colored by the guilt I’d felt so keenly those first months for uprooting her from the valley and forcing her to live in the midst of traitors. I knew now I shouldn’t have been. Maia had left behind what promised to be a miserable poverty–stricken existence. In its place she’d been given the opportunity to raise her son in a village where she lacked for nothing. Pentawere was the only person in the world who mattered to her and her only job was to take care of him – everything else around camp was done for her. In fact, she was presented with delicacies nearly every evening by men who swarmed her campfire at mealtime – she encouraged those gatherings, she told me, because no one could accost her in private that way. It was easier for her to keep a horde at bay by bestowing the favor of her attention on many at once than have to deal separately with individuals. I shared those campfires too, sitting a little apart, making sure things didn’t get out of hand. I’d broken up a couple of fistfights between her suitors the past year.
The only times the horde stayed away were nights like this, when Neby visited the village. Those nights only he and Nehi shared Maia’s fire, so they could confer.
Neby had arrived at the village a few hours earlier, leading two dozen donkeys laden with several months’ worth of supplies, plus goods and foodstuffs to pay the men who labored in the village. In a week or so he’d return to the valley, his donkeys carrying the wine produced in the village’s vineyard. As usual, Nehi and Neby were seated opposite each other. Nehi had made it abundantly clear the first weeks after our arrival at the oasis that he considered Neby to be little more than an errand boy and had treated him as such until Neby returned to the valley. In private, Neby had railed against Nehi to me, for the distaste between them was mutual, but Neby was outranked and dared not challenge Nehi’s treatment. I found Nehi equally distasteful and avoided him as best I could, which wasn’t all that hard. Nehi rarely stirred from the shade in front of his hut during the day, expecting his deputy to see to the guards he supposedly led. I’d never met a man as lazy. Nehi had no use for me either but couldn’t really push me around, for his superiors would need me to vouch for Pentawere’s parentage when it came time to challenge Pharaoh. I was rather pleased at the ongoing rift between Nehi and Neby; having traitors at each other’s throats promised a lack of solidarity when it came time to challenge Pharaoh. A possible chink in armor I might be able to exploit some day.
“Hard to believe it’s been a full year since I delivered Pentawere to this village,” Neby observed, breaking off a chunk of bread.
“How are things in the valley these days, My Lord?” I asked.
Neby snorted. “For our purposes, quite well. Half the officials in Ramesses’ court mock him behind his back. He hasn’t gotten over his father’s murder and the violent disruption to maat. So he’s been trying to resurrect memories of what he calls the ‘glorious past.’ He’s trying desperately to model his reign after Ramesses the Great. He’s even based his five names on Ramesses’.”
“The third Ramesses named his sons after the second’s,” I said. “Like father, like son.”
“He’s trying to build as extensively as Ramesses too,” Neby continued. “He’s visited the temples of Re at Iunu and Ptah at Mennefer and presented both gods with generous offerings. Ramesses intends to construct many new temples in coming years. As I told you on my last visit, five months into his reign he sent more than four hundred men to Wadi Hammamat to quarry Bekhen stone. Since then he’s sent a second led by the First God’s Servant, Ramesesnakht.”
“Ramesesnakht? What happened to Usermarenakht?”
“Dead. Immediately afterwards, Pharaoh appointed the deceased high priest’s younger brother as his replacement. Anyway, it was the most massive expedition in decades. Ramesesnakht was assisted by two royal butlers, plus Khaemtir, deputy of the army, Amenmose, Waset’s mayor, Bakehkhons, the superintendent of cattle, and Sunero, the marshalling scribe of the army, as well as dozens of lesser administrators. They supervised five thousand soldiers, two thousand temple workers, hundreds of farmers idled by the inundation, plus servants – more than eight thousand men in all. Conditions were harsh. I heard more than nine hundred workers died.”
“The First God’s Servant doesn’t care about soldiers or farmers,” Nehi observed. “What are their lives to him?”
I could have said the same about how Nehi treated the village’s laborers. He’d alienated almost everyone. But I didn’t.
“Ramesses hasn’t even selected a site for his tomb in the Great Place,” Neby added. “He’s been too busy arranging his quarrying expeditions plus one to mine copper in the land of Atika. Wouldn’t matter if he had – rumor is he hasn’t been paying the craftsmen in Ta Set Maat for the past year.”
I recalled Neset telling me craftsmen had refused to work the last time that happened. I wondered if they’d go on strike again.
Maia rose and carried Pentawere into the hut they shared to put him down for the evening. I still spread my pallet just outside the hut’s entrance every night so anyone who tried to enter would awaken me. So far, no one had tried. About half an hour later she emerged and headed towards a nearby pond to bathe, as was her nightly custom.
Nehi left the campfire soon after, then Neby. He was exhausted from his journey and sought the small hut I’d erected for his use after his first visit. He’d practically begged me to build him one of his own; he’d been miserable sharing Nehi’s in the weeks after our arrival a year ago.
I cleaned up the bowls and platters we’d eaten from, then began my nightly circuit of the village’s perimeter, stopping to chat briefly with each of Nehi’s half–dozen guards stationed at various posts. I’d begun patrolling within weeks of our arrival on the pretext that I was responsible for Pentawere and wanted to make sure everything was in order. In reality, I wanted to get the guards used to seeing me wandering about the outskirts of the village at night. Once I learned the names of the high–ranking traitors I’d have to flee the village and head for the valley under cover of darkness. I didn’t want to give the guards reason to be suspicious of me if they caught sight of me during my escape.
I’d plotted my escape route months ago and had carefully and gradually secreted a cache of supplies a mile or so from the village for the journey across the desert to the river. Escaping the village would be easy – almost every night most of Nehi’s guards snuck off to a village a few miles south of ours where lived numerous unattached women. I’d be able to steal a few horses and ride away hours before they crept back to their posts. In fact, my talking with the guards served as their alibi – in the unlikely event Nehi ever checked on them I’d promised to vouch that they’d dutifully manned their posts the entire night. In fact, the only nights the guards didn’t visit their women was when Nehi rode his horse to the same locality for the same reason. Those nights they remained on guard, fuming.
I’d originally planned to flee to the valley alone. But a few months ago I’d decided I was going to take Maia and Pentawere with me.
At the start of my mission, Vizier Neferronpet had ordered me to execute Pentawere once I learned the traitors’ names and before I reported to him at Djeme, and I’d promised I would. After getting to know Maia, in the months before she’d given birth, I’d begun hoping I wouldn’t identify the most important traitors for at least three years. Her son would be weaned then, and I’d be able to send her back to the valley and she’d never know I’d killed him. The one kindness I could give her. But after arriving at the village I’d realized the idea of sending Maia away had been foolish. Nehi and Neby would never let Maia leave, since she knew the village’s location and their names. I assumed that after I killed Pentawere and fled to the valley both Nehi and Neby would believe Maia had been part of my plot and would punish her for my actions. She didn’t deserve to suffer because of me.
But simply saving Maia from the traitors wasn’t the real reason I’d decided to
take her and Pentawere with me. Gradually this past year, so gradually I hadn’t even been aware it was happening, Maia had filled a void in my heart I hadn’t even known existed. I’d never felt for a woman what I’d come to feel for her. The strength and depth of my feelings had been overwhelming and completely unexpected. I hadn’t been exposed to many women before I’d spent time in Pi–Ramesses training the Falcon in the Nest. Campaigning with the army for a decade hadn’t been conducive to developing relationships. But Pharaoh’s son had attended party after party in the city and I’d attracted the attention of many women who’d orbited him at those gatherings, a crumb fallen from the royal table. But for the most part those women had been status seekers and privileged and empty–headed and insincere and had, frankly, intimidated me with their inherited wealth and worldliness. They’d flitted from man to man without thinking and dispensed their favors flippantly. Maia was their polar opposite. She was wonderful – kind, caring, intelligent, steadfast. I’d fallen deeply in love with her. I wished she could feel for me just a tiny fraction of what I felt for her. But that was impossible. Why would she? I’d forced her to leave her home. I’d forced her to agree she’d never tell her son she was his mother. I’d inserted her into a dangerous situation in this village. She was a decade younger than me. She had her pick of suitors in this oasis, all more suitable than me. More suitable, because none of them were keeping the secret from her that I was – that I’d promised Pharaoh I’d execute her son to preserve his line. That was a promise I hadn’t given lightly. I owed Pharaoh my fealty. He was counting on me to save his throne from these traitors. But I’d made my promise to him months before Pentawere had been born. He hadn’t been real then, just a boy I could use to save Neset and Aya from death. But Pentawere was very real now, and I’d come to love him too. For all practical purposes, I was his father. At least, Maia treated me as if I was. I’d agonized for months over what I’d do on the day I learned the name of the most important traitor. How could I force myself to obey Pharaoh and kill Pentawere before I fled to Djeme? Taking him with me would solve that problem. I could save both him and Pharaoh that way.
I approached the last guard post.
Not far beyond, behind a screen of palms, lay the pond where Maia was bathing. Suddenly, she broke into song. Her voice drifted to me – clear, sweet, high.
“While unhurried days come and go
Let us turn to each other in quiet affection
And walk in peace to the edge of old age.
And I shall be with you each unhurried day
A woman given her one wish
To see for a lifetime the face of the man she loves.”
The last notes faded away. As always, I was enchanted. I’d never heard a singer as accomplished as Maia. Another of her incomparable qualities.
I reached the guard post. I spoke briefly with the man stationed there, then headed for the pond. Maia and I met and talked in private every evening on its bank, where none of the traitors would overhear. Moments later I heard muted laughter behind me and turned and noted dark shapes hurrying south across moonlight–drenched fields. I couldn’t help smile. Predictable. The guards were going to enjoy themselves in the distant village this evening.
I approached the grove on the bank of the pond.
“Come to my hut tonight, Maia. I’m tired of waiting.”
“And I’m tired of telling you no, Nehi,” Maia said wearily.
A few stealthy steps brought me to the edge of a moonlit glade. Nehi was blocking Maia’s path back to the village. I was instantly reminded of the night Bunakhtef had assaulted Neset. But Maia wouldn’t dare pull the knife protruding from Nehi’s belt and use it on him, as Neset had her assailant. With a word he could have her executed.
Or me, if I interfered.
“I could make your life very easy, Maia. A few more years and the boy will be weaned and what use will we have for you? But I’ll have a high position once Pentawere sits the throne. You could have one too, as my wife. Or I could make your life very hard right now,” Nehi threatened.
I stepped into the clearing, noisily.
Maia spotted me. “Here you are, My Love!” she exclaimed.
I was so surprised by her greeting that I stopped dead in my tracks.
She hurried to me, embraced me, pressed her lips to my ear. “Take me in your arms, Kairy,” she whispered. “Kiss me. Put on a show for Nehi. A good one.”
Maia was a singular beauty – dark hair reaching to her waist, black sparkling eyes, ready smile, long legs, shapely body. I didn’t have to be asked twice. I wrapped my arms around her. Her skin was soft and smooth. I bent my head. Her arms circled my neck, pulled me closer. My lips met hers – soft, yielding, surprisingly insistent. I’d wanted to kiss her for so long. I took full advantage of my opportunity. I could feel her heart beating, rapidly. That was a surprise. Mine was pounding in my ears. I wished we were kissing for real, not for show. It was long before Maia broke our embrace. I glanced around the clearing. We were alone.
“Thank the gods,” Maia said in a low voice, stepping back. “Maybe if Nehi believes I’m yours he’ll stop following me and hectoring me and spying on me.”
“Spying?”
“Almost every night, when I’m bathing.”
“The worm! Why didn’t you tell me? I promise, Maia – I’ll make him stop.”
She shook her head. “How, Kairy? He’ll kill you if you challenge him. His men will back whatever story he makes up to justify your death to Neby. Then how will I escape him?”
Maia was unfortunately right. Nehi would murder me without a second thought. Then she’d have no one to protect her from him. And my mission for Pharaoh would fail. “Do you really think Nehi’s going to let you alone after this simply because he saw us kiss?” I was skeptical.
“Of course not, Kairy. We’re going to have to pretend I’m your woman anytime we’re out and about in the village from now on.”
Maia was being surprisingly calm. But hers was a problematic idea, radical, complicated, fraught with difficulty. How could we possibly pull it off? “Think about what you’re proposing, Maia. If we’re convincing enough we might fool Nehi. But do you really want to fool all the other villagers? Isn’t there someone special you’d rather pretend with than me? Or not pretend? Half of the traitors would marry you for real in an instant.”
“I can honestly say I have no interest in any man in this village,” Maia averred. She stared at me for a moment, then shook her head. “Apparently I’m asking too much of you, Kairy. Forget it.” She turned away and started walking towards the village.
“Wait, Maia. You’re not. Asking too much.”
She stopped, faced me.
“You’re in this village because I forced you to come. I owe you anything you ask. I just want you to be sure.”
“I am, Kairy.”
“Then from now on we’ll pretend you’re my woman.”
“Thank you.” She sounded truly relieved. “Will you walk me back to my hut now?”
“Certainly.” I couldn’t resist. “My Love.”
Maia half–smiled. She had no idea I’d meant the endearment for real. She glanced about the glade and shivered. “I have a feeling Nehi’s hiding in the shadows right now, watching us. Guess we should start pretending.” She linked her arm through the crook in mine, possessively. Her hair was wet and brushed against my bicep. She smelled clean, intoxicating. I wanted to lean over and kiss her again. I didn’t. She didn’t say a word as we headed through the grove towards her hut. That was strange. Usually Maia talked non–stop. But things had just gotten very unusual between us.
The brewer was scooping beer from a vat and straining it into jars in the clearing before the huts. He caught sight of us and stared. No one in the village had ever seen the two of us exhibiting any sort of intimacy before. He was one of Maia’s admirers; the expression on his face said he believed he’d just lost his chance to be with her. Good. Hopefully Nehi would too.
We h
alted at the entrance of Maia’s hut. Normally she’d go inside and I’d unroll my pallet outside. But that was before.
“If we want Nehi to believe, you’re going to have to sleep inside from now on,” Maia said.
“You’re sure this is what you want? It’s not too late to change your mind.”
“I’m sure.”
Maia slipped into the hut. By the light of the campfire she crossed to the rear and lay down on her pallet, adjacent to Pentawere’s. Normally I’d pull my pallet outside. Tonight I unrolled it just inside the entrance. Then I untied the reed mat rolled above the door and lowered it, plunging us into total darkness.
I tossed and turned for an hour after that, restless, replaying the night’s events over and over. So much had happened. All of it unexpected. I could almost taste Maia’s lips against mine, feel her body in my arms, catch her scent, feel her cool wet hair against my chest. A moment I’d longed for, over so quickly. And now what? I’d agreed to pretend to be Maia’s husband. I was going to be with her inside this hut every night from now on, and close beside her around the village, constantly putting on a show for Nehi and the others. How was I going to be able to restrain myself and play–act when I loved Maia for real? How was I going to keep her from discovering my true feelings? What would happen if she did? How incredibly awkward would our lives be then, and strained? Now I almost wished I’d told her no. But I didn’t want to tell her no. I wanted to be with her. Maybe someday, if she and Pentawere and I escaped this village, we could be together for real. But that would be years from now. I pounded the ground in frustration. How was I going to hide my feelings for years?
Not long afterwards I heard a faint noise. Soft fingers touched my shoulder. I sensed Maia crouching beside me.
“Are you awake, Kairy?”
She’d had second thoughts. Not surprising. She’d come to her senses. The sham was over. Better to end it right away than days from now. “I am.”
The Gardener and the Assassin Page 75
