The King's Man (17 page)

A silence fell. Mutemwia drew up her knees, hooked her heels over the edge of the chair, and folded her arms around her linenclad calves. Huy had seen her perform the same informal movements countless times in the office of his house outside Hut-herib during the long nights when the two of them talked closely and effortlessly together. Mutemwia, like her son, found sleep difficult and early morning risings even more onerous. The memory was sweet and Huy began to relax, expecting her to look up at any moment and dismiss him. Instead she said, “Vizier Ptahmose will be making his regular tour of all the sepats at the beginning of the month of Mesore. The harvest will be in by then and we will be waiting for the Inundation. He visits every Governor in order to assess the general well-being of the country. I want you to go north with him. Pay special attention to the state of the Delta and our borders with Rethennu and the tribes to the east that pay us tribute. There have been reports of pirates landing on our coast and complaints from the King of the island of Alashia that they have begun to plunder the towns on Alashia’s coast. We import almost all of our copper from Alashia, and we have a very friendly relationship with the ruling family. Your nephew Amunhotep-Huy can go with you in his capacity as King’s Scribe of Recruits. His mind has been overfull of his impending marriage. I suggest that you spend time in the Office of Foreign Correspondence. You need a better sense of Egypt’s influence.” She smiled. “The King and I agree that as his Personal Scribe you have had little to do. He wants you to continue taking down his future plans in private, as you have already done, but we are wasting your talents, Huy, especially as you will no longer See for anyone we do not send to you. Is that acceptable?”

It was a warning, and the new task she had set him was a confirmation of her trust. Huy nodded. “The King has told me that he intends to move the court to Weset,” he ventured. “Am I to keep an occasional eye on the progress of the new palace’s design?”

“Talk to Kha.” She uncurled and stretched. “If he has any problems, he’ll probably bring them to you anyway. Amunhotep has already scandalized him.”

“How so?”

“By deciding to build on the west bank instead of the east.” She shot Huy a keen look. “Yes, I know that the City of the Dead lies on the west bank, but our reasons are sound. We are ushering in a new age for Egypt, an age of wealth. Amunhotep intends to strengthen our hold over our vassals, make the gold routes coming up from Wawat finally secure, extend our reach into the east and north, to the Bend of Naharin, Assur, Babylon, Arzawa, invite an ambassador to Egypt from the Khatti, the new power rising in the northeast. In short, we will create an empire. The old palace on the east bank is large, but the city itself has grown around it and hems it in. Over the years we will need room to expand as more and more foreign delegations arrive. Besides”—she linked her hands and bent over them towards him—“we want our citizens to see that Weset is supreme, the home not only of Amun but of his divine son also, that Mennofer belongs to the past.”

“You say ‘we,’ Majesty, but I am perfectly aware that the future you describe was born in your own mind. You are an admirable visionary and a shrewd Regent.” She grinned at him. To Huy she looked to be no more than a young girl.
That’s an advantage when dealing with men in authority: they will bow to a woman while grossly misjudging both the level of her acumen and the sophistication of her mind
.

“Are you with me in this, Great Seer?” she demanded. “Shall you and I together make my son the richest and most powerful King Egypt has ever seen?”

A tide of elation swept over Huy, swamping all fatigue and strain.
I am guilty of underestimating her also
, he thought as he held out his hand.
She is entirely capable of ruling Egypt on her own
.

“Yes,” he said. “Yes!”

She clasped his fingers briefly. “Go and sleep.” She was dismissing him. He rose and bowed. “Drink date wine before you eat and it will rekindle your appetite. I warned you about the poppy a long time ago, if you remember. Now, is there anything you need, apart from a way to escape from your apartment? I know how much you hate the palace after your quiet little estate, but be patient. Amunhotep has set aside for you a portion of land by the river opposite Weset, and if you offer one of Kha’s sons enough gold he will design for you. You will need a place of escape, for I intend to work you very hard. Do you love me as well as my son, Huy?”

The question had come out of nowhere, but oddly Huy was not surprised. It was as though the words had been drifting fully formed about the pleasant room and had found expression through her mouth instead of his.

“You are my friend, Majesty. I have always had a deep affection for you.” But that was not what he meant, nor what she wanted to hear. A sadness passed over her dainty features and was gone.

“I must tell you something you will not like before you go,” she said as he turned to leave. “The King is determined to call our new home the Palace of the Dazzling Aten.”

Huy froze. “What? Why? That’s totally unacceptable, insulting to Amun who inhabits Weset, and dangerous, Mutemwia! Does he harbour a secret devotion to the Disc? I—”

“I agree,” she broke in, “but believe me, he cannot be swayed. He argues that the foreigners will not be insulted by this god who in fact means nothing to him, and that Egypt will seem less insular, have more in common with other countries.”

“Egypt is insular,” Huy said hotly. “She is unique. What other country is privileged to live by the laws of Ma’at, which even a divine King must obey? Why should Amunhotep care for the opinions of our inferiors?”

“Attempt to change his mind if you can,” Mutemwia said, “but he’ll simply quote one of the hymns to Amun at you: ‘Aten of the day, creator of mortals and maker of life.’ Oh, Huy, does it matter that much? After all, the Disc is merely light not heat, and its rays become lions when they strike the earth. Shrines to the Aten are so very few, and the Disc is boring to our commoners. I’m inclined to let the matter rest. Sleep in safety.”

Huy arrived at his quarters with his mind full of everything Mutemwia had told him. In spite of his nightly infusion of poppy, he could not rest. His room was dim, his couch comfortable, his sheets smelled faintly of the vinegar in which they had been rinsed, but no matter how he positioned his body, unconsciousness would not come. In the end he got up and, tying on the limp kilt Tetiankh had recently removed, made his way quietly to the garden door. The guards outside straightened, saluted, and prepared to accompany him, but he waved them back. The grass was soft and cool under his bare feet, the air redolent with the scents of the night-blooming flowers. Starlight shivered on the surface of the pool as he walked past it. He went on until he entered the deep shadows of the sycamores. Here he turned. A few high clerestory windows in the wall of the palace showed a dull orange where a small number of residents remained wakeful. Otherwise he was surrounded by darkness. Lowering himself to the ground, he leaned back against a wide tree bole and felt every tension begin to leave his body.

I should do this more often
, he thought.
Nowhere else is there silence and privacy, and I miss both so very much
. For a while he allowed his mind to lie fallow, but then the day’s events began to demand attention and reluctantly he considered them, knowing that he would get no sleep until he did so.
I’m not concerned about a journey through Egypt. Vizier Ptahmose and I need to get to know one another better, and I am easily able to fulfill the task I have been set. Hut-herib is on the way to the northern coast; I may be able to spend a little time on my estate, even visit Methen. I don’t look forward to travelling with Amunhotep-Huy, though. My nephew has always been a bad-tempered, sulky young man who tried my patience every time I visited Heby. No, it’s the speed with which changes are coming that distresses me. The pace of my life is increasing, and in spite of the way Atum has preserved my body, my ka tells me that I am growing old. I passed the age of fifty some time ago. Tomorrow I must spend the morning with the Minister for Foreign Correspondence. Who is he? I don’t know, and Mutemwia did not tell me
.

An image of the Queen sprang vividly into his thoughts, her lithe little body swathed in filmy white linen, her huge eyes fixed on him as she leaned forward on the gilded chair. He stirred, folding his arms against the sudden flutter in his chest.
Every time I am in her presence she reminds me of Anuket, the Anuket of my early days at school, when Thothmes’ family welcomed me into their home during the weeks the school was closed
, he mused.
My mind refuses to remember the Anuket of the later years, lined and raddled, drunk every day. The likeness I see with such painful clarity is a slim and lovely girl sitting cross-legged on the floor of the herb room surrounded by fragrant blooms, a festive garland in her lap, her long fingers stilled over it as she lifts her face towards me with a smile. I will carry that vision with me into my tomb. Yet sometimes the features raised to me belong to the Queen, a flash of mental confusion soon righted. It’s no wonder that in her company my senses occasionally lie to me and I become uneasy
.

But they did not lie to you during the years when she and her son spent much time on your estate
, another voice whispered in his head.
You formed a bond of friendship with her, you enjoyed her conversation, but not once did you see Anuket in her place
.

Huy frowned into the dimness.
She gives me dreams
, he thought all at once.
I go from her quarters to my couch and I dream of Anuket. Somehow I must substitute those perilous images waiting to fill my sleeping mind with something safer before they lead me to my own destruction. I could so easily come to desire her, that’s the problem. That’s the truth I’ve been trying to avoid. Oh, Atum, why do you allow me to teeter on the edge of this pit? Do you intend it to strengthen the channel between the Queen and me, or is it a malicious caprice? Both loving you as my creator and hating you as my torturer is exhausting
.

He came to his feet slowly, wanting to shake himself free of his thoughts like a dog coming out of a river.
Very well
, he told himself with savage force.
Very well. I shall make sure that each of my days is full of duties and my nights dulled with poppy. If by chance I cannot sleep, I shall watch the contents of the Book of Thoth scroll past my inner vision, a futile exercise that may prove useful in my need to evade reality. Tomorrow Ba-en-Ra or this Sarenput he’s hired will invite Chief Architect Kha and his sons to dine with me. After that I’ll make my plans with the Vizier, talk to the King and Yuya about Tiye, dictate a letter to Thothhotep and Anhur, so far away in the south
. Yet under the rebellious determination that was quickening his steps as he made his way back to his door was a lake of grief and despair in which he feared he would drown.

In the morning, Ba-en-Ra and a younger man with short, curling hair and a large, upturned nose were waiting for him as he emerged from his bedchamber. Ba-en-Ra bowed profoundly and apologetically. “I beg your forgiveness for not consulting you before I hired this person, Great Seer,” he said. “It was becoming obvious to me that one herald to deliver your letters and messages would not be enough. Sarenput comes from the noble May’s employ, with May’s permission.”

“You are my Chief Herald and I have already spoken to you regarding my expectations of all those in my service,” Huy replied, looking Sarenput up and down. “You may hire as you see fit. So. Sarenput. You are as thin as a twig, and a herald’s life is a strenuous one. How have you fared under the noble May?”

Sarenput bowed. Huy could see the bones of his spine as he bent. “I eat prodigiously but become no fatter, Master,” Sarenput answered. “I am skinny but very strong. I had to be. I have spent more time out of Egypt than within it since the noble May became the Minister for Foreign Correspondence. Before then he was one of His Majesty’s palace stewards.”

Huy’s interest was kindled. “So you grew tired of travelling in alien lands?”

“I grew tired of delivering Egypt’s greetings and instructions to the petty kings of our vassal states and standing before them while they pretended that they were conferring some mighty favour on Egypt by having the scrolls read to them. In my opinion the Regent should instruct His Majesty to occupy these little kingdoms and declare them Egyptian territory. Half a division would provide enough soldiers.” His speech had become progressively hotter, his gestures more pronounced. Those stick-like arms opened wide. Huy noted with amusement that the silver arm band denoting Sarenput’s profession had slid from his upper arm to dangle from his wrist.

“I hope that you will serve me with the same fervour you invest in the future of Egypt’s holdings,” he said. He nodded at Ba-en-Ra. “We will put him on sufferance for three months. Now find Chief Architect Kha and invite him and his sons to a meal with me at sundown. And you, Sarenput, go to your previous superior and request an audience for me within the hour.” They bowed and left, and Huy turned to Amunmose. “As soon as Ba-en-Ra returns, you may begin to organize a feast. Make very sure that every dish will be tasted.”

“Under Steward Paroi will be delighted,” Amunmose muttered half under his breath. “Gods, Huy, will there ever be a break in this frenetic pace?”

“Soon, I think. Write to Merenra on my estate at Hut-herib and warn him to expect us sometime during the first week of Payni, after Yey’s funeral. Paroi will stay here.”

Amunmose’s eyebrows rose. “A reprieve?”

“For you, not for me. I’m to tour the sepats with Vizier Ptahmose. If the gods smile on me, I’ll manage a day or two at home.” The word felt strange on Huy’s tongue as he dismissed Amunmose.
Could it be that in spite of my dislike of the palace, it’s truly becoming my home?
he wondered. He heard Paneb’s polite but authoritative voice as the scribe was admitted, and presently the man approached. Huy bade him a good morning, outlined the tasks of the day, and they both settled down to wait for Sarenput’s return.