The Gardener and the Assassin

by Mark Gajewski

  Bek moved a few paces closer to the crowd, along with Pentawere. “Ramesses feared if he let the second Pentawere live this very day would come – that Pentawere would claim his rightful throne and be crowned because his blood makes him more worthy to reign than any of the third Ramesses’ descendants.”

  “Is this priest trying to single–handedly overthrow Pharaoh?” Kanefer asked me.

  Not the quickest thinker.

  Almost everyone was conversing with their neighbor now.

  “You’ve all heard of Kairy!” Bek cried loudly. “Some of you know him. He is, like you, from Nekhen.”

  Kairy raised his sword high in his left hand, slowly turned so all in the crowd could see him. No doubt now. He’d joined the conspiracy. I assumed he’d receive a suitable reward. Probably command of the army. Another man who’d betrayed me, along with Mesedptah and Pentawere. I glanced at Aya again. Why was she still in the court? I made signs for her to leave. She ignored me.

  “The fourth Ramesses ordered Kairy, whom he’d assigned to guard Neset, to deliver her son to Djeme immediately after his birth so he could execute him. Unjustly. But Kairy did not. Kairy feared the wrath of the gods if he allowed an innocent with royal blood to be murdered. So he brought Pentawere to me instead of Ramesses, to save his life. Ramesses scoured the valley for Kairy and the boy for many years. You all know this is true. Ramesses did not find either of them.”

  Hundreds of discussions spurred by Bek were sweeping the oval court. The royal women were in a frenzy, as were the officials in the seats around me.

  “Do something, Governor!” Hori insisted.

  “What do you suggest?” Kanefer asked. “That I personally attack these soldiers? I can’t do anything.”

  The high priests moved together, huddled, heads close, talking animatedly. To me it seemed the soldiers were slowly inching forward on all sides, compressing the crowd. Preparatory to what? Killing all of us?

  Ramesesnakht broke from the other high priests a few paces to Bek’s right and raised his hands and waited for quiet. “What proof do you have that this boy is who you say he is, Bek?”

  “Tell them, Kairy.”

  Kairy stepped briskly to Bek’s side. The moment I’d seen in my dream. The moment that’d been interrupted. I now had a pretty good idea what was going to happen next.

  “Kairy drove the chariot of the fourth Ramesses for a decade,” Bek cried. “Ramesses assigned him to guard Neset during her imprisonment. Kairy burned her body after she died in childbirth. That very night he spirited the infant Pentawere to safety and has guarded him to this day.”

  “Is this Neset’s child?” Ramesesnakht asked Kairy.

  I held my breath, leaned forward. Once Kairy lied and confirmed Bek’s claim, what would Ramesesnakht do? Would he bow to the inevitable and crown this pretender? Would he have any other choice, surrounded by Bek’s soldiers? What would happen to Aya and me then? Kairy had recognized me. He’d tell Bek we were alive. Bek would kill us because Aya disproved Pentawere’s claim to legitimacy. Too many people knew Aya’s real identity – Kairy, Ani, Iput, Beketaten – for Bek to let her live. Or any of us.

  Kairy placed his right hand on the boy’s shoulder. He still held his sword aloft in his left.

  The boy tilted his chin, stared at the crowd haughtily.

  The oval grew so quiet I could hear wind–blown sand swirling across the desert plain.

  “Do your duty, Kairy! Kill the boy!” Vizier Neferronpet screamed, rising to his feet beneath the royals’ sunscreen.

  The only action that could save Pharaoh.

  Kairy pointedly slipped his sword into his belt.

  The pretender was going to live.

  The vizier cursed Kairy.

  “This boy is not Neset’s and Pentawere’s child,” Kairy declared.

  A moment of shocked silence.

  I was stunned. Kairy wasn’t a traitor after all?

  “I am! I’m their child!” Aya’s voice rang across the oval court.

  A massive exhalation of breath from the crowd.

  Bek turned towards Aya, livid.

  Everyone was staring at her now.

  My heart was pounding. Kairy hadn’t turned traitor. But Aya had just revealed the truth of her birth and put her life on the line for Pharaoh. After I’d warned her to leave the oval court. Saving Pharaoh wasn’t her responsibility. It was mine. Why had she spoken?

  Aya strode towards the dais without hesitation, then halted a few paces to Kairy’s left. She stood as regally as any ten year–old girl could, serene, fearless. The breeze swirled her long red hair about her shoulders. Pride welled in me despite my clawing fear.

  Pentawere spun and confronted Kairy. “I’m not their son?” His personal illusion shattered.

  Nekhenians in the court were whispering to each other, baffled. They’d watched Aya grow up. Was her claim true?

  Ani moved beside her protectively, half–crouched, revealed his knife.

  “Isn’t that your daughter?” Kanefer asked me. “You’re not…”

  “You lie!” Bek spluttered at Kairy.

  “Explain yourself, Kairy,” Ramesesnakht demanded, at the same time raising both hands to try to silence the crowd.

  Kairy took the boy by the hand and stepped away from Bek. “The supposed kidnapping the night Neset gave birth was arranged in advance by me and the fourth Ramesses – life, health, prosperity, justified – to catch Bek and his fellow conspirators and ensure Ramesses’ legitimate descendants continued to rule. Vizier Neferronpet can confirm that was our plan.”

  “I do!” he shouted.

  Wondering looks from the crowd and the officials and the royals under their sunscreens.

  Bek’s face was red with anger and betrayal.

  “But Neset didn’t die in childbirth, as I’d claimed,” Kairy continued.

  “She burned,” Bek argued. “There were witnesses. Two dozen guards.”

  “I burned Bunakhtef, one of Pentawere’s adherents who’d tried to kidnap Neset months earlier. Under cover of that burning my brother Ani sailed away from Waset with Neset and Aya on board his boat.”

  “I did,” Ani affirmed.

  “Who is this boy?” Ramesesnakht asked, indicating Pentawere.

  Pentawere looked utterly lost and confused. So much for his former insolence and haughtiness. My heart went out to him. He’d been put in a position not of his choosing. He’d been lied to his whole life about who he was, built up to be someone he could never be. His life had just come crashing down around him, without warning or explanation.

  “The son of a farmer’s wife. Maia.”

  “Do you mean…” Pentawere grasped Kairy’s hand.

  “Maia is your true mother.”

  Pentawere looked thunderstruck.

  Kairy bent and whispered something. Pentawere looked at him uncertainly, then hurried to stand next to Ani.

  Kairy beckoned to Aya. She moved gracefully to his side.

  Bek wasn’t about to give up. “You lie, Kairy! Did this false pharaoh promise you a reward to lie about the boy and keep him on his throne? Where is Neset, if you spared her life? Produce her to testify which of these children is hers – the boy or the girl. Otherwise, it’s your word against mine. And I have soldiers to back me.”

  Once I’d confessed to a crime I hadn’t committed to save the fourth Ramesses. I was still under sentence of death for that. If I revealed myself now I’d put Amenherkoshef on the throne, but I’d burn. Only the gods knew what might happen to Aya. But if I remained silent Bek’s lie might be believed and Pharaoh might lose his throne and Aya and I would be dead anyway. I didn’t hesitate. The falcon god had given me life to protect Pharaoh’s line. I felt compelled to spend it. “I’m right here!”

  Now heads turned in my direction. More confusion. Everyone in Nekhen knew me as a mistress of the finest estate in the region and a woman who’d healed them in time of sickness and attended them during childbirth. Suddenly I was the mother of a girl w
ith royal blood? A woman who’d been condemned to death for killing a pharaoh?

  I rose from my chair, crossed the court to Aya’s side.

  “Liar! Another sham!” Bek practically screamed. “Everyone knows Pentawere’s woman had red hair!”

  I smiled and yanked off my wig and shook out my long tresses. I threw my wig. It landed at Bek’s feet.

  The crowd erupted.

  I vowed I’d never wear another wig as long as I lived.

  “You traitor!” Bek hissed at Kairy. He addressed his soldiers. “Kill Kairy! Seize the false pharaoh! Seize the high priests! Seize the royals!”

  Screams and shouts from the crowd. Panic among the royal family. Men and women and children spilled from their chairs. But there was nowhere for them to run. I embraced Aya and tried to protect her.

  “Men!” Kairy cried to the soldiers. “Remember your oath to faithfully serve your rightful pharaoh!” He pointed. “The man atop the dais. Ramesses, sixth of his name. Not Pentawere. Bind Bek and the rest of the traitorous priests!”

  To my surprise, and Bek’s, the soldiers disregarded Bek’s order and obeyed Kairy’s, roughly seizing every traitor in the oval. They quickly bound their wrists behind their backs securely with thick leather straps, then prodded them with lances to the area between the dais and the royals, Bek protesting and calling curses down on them all the while. Kairy barked another command. Two soldiers, leaders of some kind, repeated it. The soldiers surrounding the crowd began marching out of the oval and reassembling on flat ground outside the entrance, all but the two dozen surrounding the traitors.

  “Karakhamen. Ashemors. Take care of Nehi and his men,” Kairy ordered.

  “With pleasure,” one replied.

  The two headed for the soldiers assembled outside the wall.

  Inside the oval utter confusion reigned. No one knew what had just happened or why.

  “Take them to town and confine them!” Pharaoh ordered, pointing at Bek and his companions. “You’re going to be executed and hung from the town wall immediately after this ceremony,” he told them. “Except for you, Bek. When we sail north tomorrow you’ll be hanging upside down from the bow of the royal barque and will hang there the entire time I’m progressing through the valley, even after you’ve died of starvation and thirst, as a warning to other would–be traitors!”

  At Kairy’s command, the soldiers ungently prodded the traitors at lance tip from the oval court. Bek fruitlessly ordered them to obey him. His priests struggled against their bonds to no avail.

  Kairy watched them exit the court and laughed. “The traitors sent me south of the cataract three times to buy mercenaries with their gold, Majesty. They never dreamed I’d make them loyal to me instead of them.”

  “It’s good to see you, Brother,” Ani cried, striding to Kairy and embracing him. “I was afraid you were dead.”

  The boy, Pentawere, was standing a little apart, trembling, forgotten in the commotion. He’d awakened today believing he was about to be crowned Pharaoh. Instead, Bek and his fellow priests were now captives. I couldn’t imagine what was going through his mind. He had to be wondering if he was going to be executed along with Bek.

  Aya noticed too, moved next to him. “Don’t worry, Pen.”

  “You may address me as Majesty,” he said haughtily, either out of habit or disdain that an unknown common girl would be familiar with him.

  Aya laughed and shook her head. “I don’t think so.” She draped an arm around his shoulders. “You haven’t done anything wrong, Pen. Nothing’s going to happen to you. Isn’t that right, Uncle Ani?”

  “It is,” he affirmed.

  Pharaoh stepped down from the dais. “I’m in your debt, Kairy, for saving my throne. You too, Aya and Neset. My nephew told me about the plan, Kairy. He was afraid these priests would appear when he was crowned. When they didn’t we both assumed their conspiracy had fallen apart. Because you never reported names, we thought you were dead.”

  “Until a day ago I didn’t know Bek was the mastermind,” Kairy replied. “If I’d turned in the others, he’d have launched another plot independently.”

  Pharaoh sighed. “I should have suspected they’d make me their target. I should have brought soldiers with me.”

  “It worked out better this way, Majesty,” Kairy said. “No bloodshed. Besides, you would have brought the Amen Division with you from Waset. Their commander, Antef, is a traitor too.”

  Pharaoh regarded Kairy, instantly angry. “Put your men on my fastest boat first thing in the morning, Kairy. Go to Waset. Arrest him. And anyone else in the Amen Division you know is involved.”

  “Yes, Majesty.”

  Vizier Neferronpet moved to Pharaoh’s elbow. “Majesty, must I remind you that Neset’s been condemned by a Great Kenbet? That verdict cannot be ignored. Not even by you.” He motioned to Pharaoh’s two bodyguards. “Take Neset to the royal barque. Confine her.”

  “No!” Aya screamed.

  Ani wrapped his arms around her, restrained her.

  Kairy looked like he wanted to die.

  I wondered again why the vizier hated me so much.

  “Is this absolutely necessary, Vizier?” Pharaoh asked.

  “It is, Majesty.”

  Pharaoh stared at me for a long while, sympathy in his eyes. “Do nothing hasty, Vizier. You and I and the high priests will fully discuss this situation this evening.”

  “As you wish, Majesty.”

  A guard seized my arm.

  “Take the boy to the barque too,” Neferronpet ordered.

  Another guard grabbed Pentawere.

  “They’ll go quietly,” Kairy said firmly.

  The guards looked at Pharaoh, who nodded. They released us.

  “And the girl,” Neferronpet added. “Especially the girl.”

  Aya strode to my side, head high.

  “Majesty, we have a coronation to complete,” Ramesesnakht announced.

  “Indeed we do,” Pharaoh said. “Let us proceed.”

  ***

  The walk from the oval court to the royal barque was even more agonizing than the one from Djeme’s audience hall to the room where I’d been confined in the per’aa. Because this time Aya’s life was at risk along with mine. Why hadn’t she kept her mouth shut and let Kairy argue Pentawere’s illegitimacy? He might have convinced everyone. Or not. I’d known speaking up in support of Aya would likely lead to my death. I’d done it anyway. I’d devoted my life to protecting Pharaoh, as the falcon god had required. I couldn’t have remained silent. Now my life was certainly forfeit. But Pharaoh had to spare Aya. I whispered a prayer to the falcon god. I couldn’t believe after all we’d done he’d let our line end here, today.

  “What’s going to happen to me?” Pentawere asked timidly. His pretense had completely melted away, replaced by a young boy’s fear.

  “I honestly don’t know.”

  “Will Pharaoh execute me?”

  I knew that fear all too well. I put my arm around his shoulders. “No. Aya was right, Pen. You haven’t done anything wrong. You’re not a threat to Pharaoh.”

  “Because I don’t have royal blood?”

  “That’s right.”

  “But you do,” Pen said to Aya.

  “Apparently. For all the good it’s doing me.”

  “All my life the priests told me my mother’s name was Neset,” Pen said. “When I asked Kairy about you he said you were good and kind and smart and beautiful. He told me you’d loved my father very much. He told me you were innocent of conspiring against Pharaoh. He said you were a wonderful gardener and that you’d been very brave during your captivity. He said you would have been proud of me.”

  “I’m sure I would have been, if you’d been my son. Just as I’m proud of Aya.”

  “He told me Mother Maia was my wetnurse, not my real mother. Why did he lie to me?”

  “Probably to protect you and her, Pen. What if you’d called her ‘Mother’ and a priest had overheard? They’d have kno
wn you were an imposter. They would have killed you and her and Kairy too.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Where’s your mother now?”

  “Camped a few miles from here with a few women from our village, and her two daughters – I guess they’re actually my half–sisters.”

  “What about their father? Is he one of the traitors?”

  “Mother Maia is Kairy’s wife.”

  Completely unexpected. I suspected that was an interesting story.

  “I love her very much. I always have – even though I thought she was only my wetnurse. I love Kairy too.”

  We clattered up the gangplank onto the deck of the royal barque. The guard herded us to a sunscreen near the bow and ordered us to sit; he and two others stationed themselves close by.

  I put my arm around Aya’s shoulders and pulled her close. “Why didn’t you leave the oval court like I told you? I’m terrified what’s going to happen to you now.”

  “I stayed because I was supposed to, Mama.”

  “Supposed to?”

  Aya circled my waist with her arm and lay her head against my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mama. Everything’s going to work out. I promise.”

  I wished I had her confidence.

  The three of us sat on deck, waiting, for hours. I wanted to believe Aya and I were going to be spared by Pharaoh. But I’d learned that getting my hopes up was dangerous. For all I knew, these were the last hours I’d spend with Aya. And so I held her close as the day began to ebb. We had a long wait because Pharaoh had to complete his coronation ceremony, then accept the fealty of his Southern officials, then witness the execution of the traitors. The sun was low in the sky when the royal party and high priests and most important officials finally came into view, trodding the path through the cultivation to the riverbank. Kairy trailed the royals. He looked very concerned.

  The royals proceeded up the gangplank. Pen and Aya and I rose.

  “Neset!”

  Duatentopet. She rushed straight to me. She wasn’t as robust as I remembered, yet she was still beautiful. Tears sprang to my eyes. I bowed. “Majesty.”