Queen of the Heavens (25 page)

Sety stormed from the room. I walked onto the terrace.
First he denies me passion. Now he makes me a prisoner in my own house,
I said to myself. I poured another chalice of mint water, but drinking it did nothing to remove the bitterness left in me by my husband’s tirade.

In the other room, my son whimpered as he stirred from sleep. I went to comfort him, and he reached up and grabbed one of my fingers.

“My, you’ve become so strong in such a short time,” I said. “Wait. I have something for you.”

I separated my finger from Ramesses’ tiny hand and he began to cry. I searched through a nearby chest until I found the tiny bow Sety had brought home for our first son.

“Here. Take this.”

The infant grasped the toy weapon. He stopped crying immediately and soon began smiling and giggling.

“You’ll be a great warrior, Ramesses, but you will have a gentle side your father has never known,” I said. “As you grow older, practice with a bow ceaselessly. Though a fearsome weapon, it will teach you many lessons and enable you to love.”

I took back the toy after a few moments and set it on a table next to me, picked up Ramesses and sat down in a chair. I recalled my boat ride on the river, and as I began nursing Ramesses all bitterness inside me vanished as the love of the Cosmos entered my heart.

I will live life as if on a boat in the middle of the Nile, free from the travail and anger in the world around me,
I thought as I looked down at the child.
Healing is but part of my soul’s purpose. You are the other part, my son, and Sety will not deny you your mother’s love.

The infant released my breast and rested in my lap. “With you in my life, your father’s anger cannot hurt me,” I said to my son. “I will love you. I will nurture you, and heal you if I must.”

I stroked my child’s forehead. “You will be the greatest Pharaoh Egypt will ever know, Ramesses. You will sit on the Throne of Isis throughout eternity.”

XXV

My love for young Ramesses and Tjia sustained me in my marriage, as did the words on the stone scarab the old scribe Pentu had given me on the day of my final lesson with him. I kept the scarab on a table by my bedside. In the morning and evening, I would read what he had etched into it:
Happiness for the soul lies not in the external worlds, for they will vanish. To find true happiness, look to the eternal within yourself.

I must never forget this message,
I would tell myself,
for in it lies salvation.

Does not everything in the earthly realm vanish? Honey on the tongue gives delight, but the sweet taste passes quickly. Beer and wine bring intoxicating pleasure, but it lasts only for a short time. The sensations of lovemaking take men and women into bliss, but then they vanish, causing lovers to seek them again and again.

I would look at the young Ramesses and think back to when he took my nipple in his lips for the first time. The tiny, helpless infant had vanished. He had grown stronger and larger and now was beginning to walk. So, too, had Tjia vanished as an infant, for now she was talking and playing with dolls.

They are the same children to whom I gave birth, but different children,
I realized
. From moment to moment they vanish, then reappear anew.

My parents had vanished as well, at least in their earthly form, causing me despair. First Mother took ill and passed to the west. Father, unable to bear his grief, followed but a few months later from a broken heart. I prayed often for them, and from time-to-time could sense their souls’ presence, which provided at least some solace for me.

When I looked into a brass mirror, I saw a beautiful woman, but my youthfulness had vanished, replaced by the maturity of womanhood. I was the same Tuya who had played with friends on the riverbank and sat under the yew tree with my teacher Maya, but I was a different Tuya.

S
omeday my body will wither and die, but the eternal within me is constant, and the source of true happiness,
I told myself.

To reach the eternal part of me, I spent much time in meditation, often before the statue of Thoth. As my consciousness dissolved into the Cosmos, the spot between my eyebrows tingled and my head filled with the color indigo. As it did so, I felt myself absorbing Thoth’s wisdom and knowledge, and I experienced joy even Sety’s anger could not disrupt.

I could not remain in meditation all the time, however, for I had duties to perform as both a mother and a Princess.

My husband and I maintained decorum, and the illusion of a compatible marriage, as I accompanied him to festivals and ceremonial affairs of state. I looked forward to performing my royal duties, for these were the only times Sety allowed me to leave the estate.

On one occasion, I accompanied him to the investiture of a new High Priest at the Great Temple of Amun and to the banquet that followed. Sety and I sat side by side at two small tables sipping wine, looking out at the milling guests. The High Priest came over to us, exchanged pleasantries with my husband, then looked at me.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet your wife,” he said.

A scowl crossed Sety’s face.

“I spent some time at the Temple of Ptah several years ago,” the High Priest continued. “A fellow priest named Siptah told me how as a young girl you restored his sight after he had been blinded by a spitting cobra.”

“Yes. I have fond memories of that day. How is Siptah?”

“I have not seen him for a number of years, but back then he was in good health, and his eyesight was better than anyone’s. He prayed often to Isis and performed many rituals to honor her. As many as he performed to Ptah.”

“He owes his sight to Isis,” I said.

“Isis or Tuya?” the High Priest asked. “Siptah told me there is no difference.”

I smiled, and dropped my head in a gesture of modesty. The High Priest smiled as well, nodded and left.

“Your admirers are many,” my husband noted, gazing forward rather than at me.

“Does this trouble you?”

Sety took a sip of wine and bit his lip. He did not answer, or speak to me for the rest of the day.

My duties as Princess still included producing royal children, which, to my chagrin, required Sety’s participation. I had given birth to an heir, but life held great uncertainties, and a second male child would help to ensure the continuation of the dynasty in the event disease or accident shortened young Ramesses’ life.

Despite the unpleasantness of our encounters, Sety’s and my efforts were not in vain and I once again became pregnant.

The pangs of childbirth struck while in Memphis. Nebet assisted me as I gave birth… to another girl.

“She has red hair like your son,” Nebet said as she handed me the infant after an attendant had washed from the child the residue of birth.

“She, too, is of the lion people,” I replied. “She will grow into a lioness and help bring balance to her brother’s life.” I looked down at the newborn in my arms and felt great pride. “She has high cheekbones, like me.”

“Yes, My Lady, and deep-set eyes as well.”

I did not know how Sety would react to the birth of another girl, since she didn’t meet the criterion for an heir. My husband, though, responded with affection, as he had with our first daughter. While a dreadful husband, I could not accuse him of being a callous father.

We named the child Hint-mi-re, this time after one of Sety’s grandmothers. Some months after her birth, while back in Thebes, I sat in the garden holding her in my lap as she slept. I marveled at how quickly the infant had grown.

“You are a magnificent child,”
I whispered. “You will grow into a beautiful and powerful woman. Of this, I am certain.”

I leaned back in my chair, enjoying my daughter’s company, along with the fresh scent of chrysanthemums and the sweet taste of a fig, when an officer of the Royal Guard approached and bowed.

“Yes, what is it?” I inquired.

“I’ve been sent by your husband to bring you to him.”

The officer’s reply surprised me. “He’s with Ramesses, on maneuvers with his soldiers, is he not?”

“Yes, My Lady.”

“Why did he send for me?”

“He did not say.”

Being with Sety under the best of circumstances was trying enough, but the thought of joining him at an army encampment, away from the luxuries of the estate, repulsed me.

“I will leave tomorrow,” I told the officer.

“Sety’s orders are to bring you immediately. A boat is waiting at the quay.”

I gave the officer a fractious look. “I’m quite certain Sety will not miss me if we wait until the morning to depart.”

“I’m sorry, My Lady, but Sety’s orders were quite clear. You are to come immediately.”

I could tell by the officer’s tone of voice that no amount of arguing would change his mind. I had the authority of a Princess, but he was acting at the behest of a Prince and he would not be swayed by my protest.

“My servant will accompany us,” I informed the officer.

I returned to the house with Hint-mi-re and left her with a wet nurse. I found Nebet and told her to take with her a cosmetics box and a fresh dress for me. Soon the officer, Nebet and I boarded a large chariot. The officer drove rapidly toward the river, leaving in our dust a detail of palace guardsmen who ran behind, trying in vain to keep pace. The speeding chariot bounced along the earthen path, making the short journey most uncomfortable.

The moment we set foot on the palace boat, the Captain gave the order to cast off. Crewmen raised the sail, for we were heading up river and had the north wind to propel us. Even so, the oarsmen went to work, rowing at a brisk pace. To my surprise, they continued rowing by the light of the full moon.

“The demons of the desert come to the Nile at night to perform their malicious deeds,” I informed Nebet. “What’s the urgency that the Captain would risk his boat by continuing only by moonlight?”

“I don’t know, My Lady. Something must be terribly wrong.”

Nebet’s reasoning was sound. Sety had not ordered that I be brought to him quickly because he desired the pleasure of my company. I cast a spell to ward away the demons and went to bed, but that night I slept fitfully as I wondered what this journey was about.

The next day, with the sun disk high in the sky, we pulled into the riverbank by a small village. The officer, standing ankle deep in the water, reached up to assist Nebet and me as we stepped off a plank from the boat to the shore. The three of us boarded a waiting chariot, which the officer drove at a breakneck speed to an encampment at the desert’s edge. We stopped in front of the smaller of two large tents that had pennants flying from their center polls. Sety emerged from the entrance as we approached.

“What took you so long?” he shouted at the officer, who dropped his head, but did not reply.

I broke the silence. “We came as quickly as we could. The oarsmen rowed throughout the night.”

“Come with me, alone,” Sety ordered, as he helped me from the chariot.

He and I walked quickly to the larger tent, decorated inside with rich tapestries and fine furniture, including a gilded throne. The pungent odor of incense made from spikenard filled the tent, but it could not mask a sweet though sickening smell.

Sety led me to the bed and pulled away a linen covering. I stood for a moment in stunned silence as I looked down at the swollen face of a dead man whose skin had begun to darken. He wore the
nems
and
uraeus
. It was Ramesses.

“What happened?” I said, after regaining some composure.

“A chicken bone.” Sety answered. “My father choked on a chicken bone. The arrows and swords of Egypt’s enemies could not kill Ramesses. Instead, he was struck dead by his evening meal.”

Grief weighed down my heart. I felt great compassion for Sety, who loved his father so much, but Sety’s loss was also mine. Ramesses had welcomed me into his family and treated me with great respect. He had trusted me with the affairs of his estates, and sought to reconcile Sety and me after the death of our first child. The Pharaoh had become my champion, continuing to express great affection toward me, even though his son did not.

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “We must take his body to the embalmers immediately.”

“No, Tuya.”

“Why do you say this? The temperature has grown quite warm. We cannot wait.”

Sety looked at me, impassively. “There will be no need for embalmers if you bring my father back to life.”

“What?” I exclaimed, not believing what I just heard.

“You will bring him back to life.”

“Sety, I cannot.”

“Why not?” Sety asked, glaring at me. “You claim you brought the young Ramesses back to life. You say that as a child you restored life to your dead cousin. If you could do this for them, you can do it for my father.”

Sety was quite right about young Ramesses and Rahotep, but the circumstances were so different.

“The souls of our son and my cousin still lingered nearby when I performed these miracles,” I said.

“My father’s soul still lingers.”

“It does not, Sety. Your father’s
ba
has departed from the earthly realm. This is why his body putrefies. It is too late.”

“If you are Isis, as you claim to be, it can never be too late,” Sety replied as tears gathered in his eyes. “Did not Isis resurrect Osiris after Seth cut his body into pieces and scattered them throughout the realm?”

Sety’s grief obscured his reason.

“Yes, but she did so after his flesh was mummified,” I said. “Osiris reigns again, but in the afterworld, as he presides over The Judgment of the Dead. After Seth killed him, Osiris never again ruled in the earthly realm. I will pray and chant for Ramesses’ soul, but that is all I can do.”

“You must try to do more.”

“No.”

Finally, Sety’s tears spilled forth. “Please, Tuya. Try to bring him to life.”

I reached out and grabbed my husband’s shoulders. “Sety. Even if I could, would you want your father’s soul to return to a body such as the one that lies before us? The Neters have ordained Ramesses’ death. It would be a sacrilege for me to attempt to interfere.”