Tiy and the Prince of Egypt (20 page)

Amenhotep killed forty bulls that day, sixteen less than on the hunt the day before. He had tracked down the runaway horse not far from the tree where Tiy hid, but it had been gored and trampled so badly that Amenhotep had to run the entire distance to the encampment. The terrain was difficult and he had also been injured in the fall—three broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a sprained ankle—yet he continued running until he could find a horse. He reached Tiy, hours later, and found her unconscious in the tree from loss of blood. Refusing to let anyone else carry her back to the encampment, he rode with her on horseback. He said it was the longest few hours of his life.

Upon their return, he had several scarabs sculpted and inscribed with his achievement for all of Egypt to hear. The people proclaimed him strong and mighty, an embodiment of the gods, and protector of the Two Lands. Amenhotep proved himself to his people and received the respect he deserved.

But something else changed in him, something that surprised Tiy, and yet seemed the most natural response to their harrowing experience. He seemed to find more reasons to touch her, to put his arms around her and hold her close. Every night he pulled her toward him and tucked her into the curl of his body as they slept. She craved his touch. Even a brief hand squeeze left her skin tingling with warmth.

The frightful experience
brought some perspective into her life, helping her discover that she needed him more than she had ever considered. The thought of him losing his life and leaving her alone became a fear she wasn’t sure how to cope with.

Every night as they curled up together, he
stroked the short bristles of her growing hair, the questions of how and why on his lips, but never asked. Tiy knew he wanted to know, that it took all his strength not to ask, but she had decided the best way to protect him would be to say nothing. What was the point of putting Amenhotep in further danger? He was guarded at all times, but she wasn’t about to take the risk of one of his guards succumbing to monetary persuasion and leaving him unprotected. Amenhotep’s life was more precious than a few extra gold coins, but would a guard smitten by Kepi’s charms agree?

Tiy had yet to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why her head was shaved or at least an explanation that would satisfy Amenhotep. She had discovered early in their friendship that she was incapable of lying to him
. If she tried to tell half truths, he would see right through them, or she would burst with guilt at her dishonesty and end up telling him the whole truth anyway. So she did her best to say nothing at all. The truth would only anger him, and she knew he wouldn’t take Kepi’s threats seriously and would put his life at risk the moment he exposed her. He would take public action by imprisonment, or worse. And who knew how many supporters Kepi had and if they would follow through with her threat.

Kepi wanted to humiliate her, and she had, but Tiy had grown from the experience. She had become a stronger person, a Queen passionate
about her country and capable of intelligent rule. She was beginning to embrace the person Amenhotep had seen all along.

Tiy determined to keep silent, but as time wore on, and as her hair grew longer, she could see that not knowing was wearing on Amenhotep. He was patient with her, acknowledging that she wasn’t ready to share the reasons with him, yet sometimes she could tell it hurt him, knowing she kept a secret from him. And that pained her almost as much as losing her hair had. She hated that he thought she couldn’t trust him.

It wasn’t until he could wrap her hair around his fingers a few times that he finally asked, unable to contain the question any longer. They had just enjoyed the end of the lengthy Opet Festival with music, dancers, food and drink, and had fallen into bed exhausted. She was nearly asleep when he broke the silence.

“Tell me, Tiy,” he said.

“Anything,” she promised. He had spoken with such sincerity that although she didn’t know what he wanted, she knew she would tell him. His arm wrapped around her midsection and pulled her tighter to him.

“Tell me why you shaved your beautiful hair. It was so unlike you.”

Tiy stiffened in his arms. She had promised to answer him, but she had also promised herself that she wouldn’t tell him. It had taken more strength to stay silent than she imagined it would, but her silence had kept him alive.

Amenhotep squeezed her twice. “Was it something I did
? Something I said?”

Her resolve crumbled. All this time he though
t she shaved her head because of something he had done? Amenhotep could never do any wrong. “It wasn’t you,” she whispered.

Amenhotep let out a long breath and relaxed. But after a
while, his shoulders tensed and he squeezed her again. “Are you sure? You can tell me if I did something. You know I would never intentionally hurt you, right?”

Tiy bit her lip. She couldn’t let him
believe he had been the cause. “It was Kepi,” she said.

Amenhotep sat up in bed, the blanket flying to the floor. “Kepi?” He sounded
as angry as she thought he would be, perhaps more. His voice took on a lower, barely controlled tone. “I want to hear everything. Don’t hide anything from me, Tiy.”

Tiy let it fall out of her m
outh in a garbled and somewhat incoherent blurt. “She came here, and I don’t really know why, well, I mean, I know why, but at the time it seemed really strange. I was going to make her wait in my audience chamber, but then I didn’t. I should have. She was nice at first, and it caught me off guard, although I wasn’t really on guard to begin with. I didn’t even have any guards with me. I should have. I didn’t know what to say to her. She was so nice and had some wine and then I felt funny. She got in my face and said I wasn’t really Egyptian, or maybe that was on the note she gave me saying she was going to hurt you, or maybe she said that out loud. I don’t know. Either way I woke up on the couch with my hair gone.”

She had spoken with
far more hand motions than necessary. Her heart thrummed in her chest, her breath racing in and out. Amenhotep’s silent grip tightened and then began to shake. He was mad, furious, livid. She just knew it. She could feel the waves of fury roll off him.

“Tiy?” he said in a deep voice.

“Yes?” she whispered.

“
Is this why you gave Merymose the Nubian vizier-ship?”

“Maybe?”

“Tiy?” His voice grew in anger.

“Okay, so what
? So I sent Kepi and Merymose to the most wretched place on earth. They are practically rulers down there, which should make her pleased. It’s not as if I had them put to death.”

“Tiy, that is exactly what should have happened. She assaulted the queen and threatened the king. Many men have died for lesser crimes.”

“She hasn’t done anything to hurt you.”

“And she couldn’t. I am surrounded by guards all the time. There are eight outside your door as we speak.”

“It only takes one corrupt guard to accept a handout. It only takes one to distract the others so someone can slip into your chambers at night and hurt you.”

“My guardsmen are loyal,
and they are given a very comfortable life for themselves and their families. They have no reason to accept bribery or to see me poisoned. I have to trust those closest to me, or I will never be able to govern with a clear mind. I would be second guessing everyone and everything. That is no way to lead a country. And you mustn’t let your fear of people like Kepi consume you and dictate your actions. You are stronger than you know, Tiy, as are the people of Egypt.”

Amenhotep always had so much confidence in her. He was always praising her intelligence and beauty. Tonight it seemed to sink deeper than it had before. Perhaps it was because he was holding her so close and making her feel secure. Or perhaps it was the sincerity in his voice, or that she was just beginning to recognize the things she had accomplished, the difficult circumstances she had found
ways to rise above, and the measures she had taken to become a strong queen. Amenhotep was right. The people were beginning to trust her and she needed to learn to trust them as well, including the eight guards outside the door. She felt a weight lift off her chest. She should have talked to Amenhotep long ago. He always managed to make her feel better.

But Amenhotep was still angry. His voice clipped as he spoke.
“If I didn’t need Merymose in Nubia so badly, I would bring them up here for a trial and quick hanging.”

“Merymose had nothing to do with this. It was just Kepi and her jealousy. You know she wan
ted to be the one to marry you.”

“Yes, I know, but that is no excuse.
I’ll handle this.”

“
Let’s just forget about her. I feel sorry for her. She married a decent man and has the opportunity to create a happy life with him, but she is too consumed with the past. I can already tuck my hair behind my ears. Before long it will be as if it never happened. We’ll look back on this experience and laugh about it.”

“I doubt that,” he said but she could tell that he had gotten control of his anger.
His breathing was no longer rushing in and out of his nose and his arms had relaxed around her. “She’ll regret what she has done.”

“She probably already does. She was behaving differently before she gave me the drink, almost as if she knew her
actions wouldn’t go unpunished, but she couldn’t help herself.”

They were both quiet for a
while. Tiy hoped she hadn’t made a mistake in telling Amenhotep. After the bull hunt, she never wanted to see him in harm’s way again. Something he’d said before jumped to the front of her mind and she remembered the uneasy feeling it had given her.

“Amenhotep?” Tiy whispered. His breathing had become shallow
, and she guessed he was almost asleep, but her question couldn’t wait until morning.

“Hmmmm?” He mumbled.

“Why do you need Merymose in Nubia so badly?

“What?”

“You said that if you didn’t need Merymose in Nubia so badly, you’d call them back.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled.

“Why?”

“The rebellion
.”

Tiy’s heart fluttered. “What about the rebellion?”

“It’s gaining momentum again.” He rolled over.

Tiy took hold of his shoulder and shook him awake. He couldn’t expect her to sleep now! Amenhotep rubbed a hand over his face and sat up.

“I meant to tell you sooner,” he said, “but you’ve been so busy interviewing servants and guards and chefs, replacing half a dozen every day with new ones, that I didn’t want to bother you with something still in its infancy.” He paused for a moment and then chuckled. “I think I know why you have been conducting all those interviews, why you insisted to be the one to do it.”

Tiy shrugged. “I only want those with the highest integrity surrounding you. You wanted a goddess protector as your queen
, and that is what I will give you.”

Amenhotep chuckled again. “You have certainly become a formidable presence among the s
ervants.”

“As I should be.” She couldn’t help but smile. She was glad to have any presence in the palace, let alone a formidable one. “What are you going to do about the rebellion?”

“If it doesn’t settle down soon, we will have to go to war. Merymose will have lived among the Nubians for a good length of time by then and his knowledge of the area and the people will help.”

“
How serious is it?”

“The number of
Nubian mercenaries employed by the Egyptian army has dwindled in the last year, giving me reason to believe that many of them have joined the rebellion. I’d rather avoid conflict, if possible. I see no reason for bloodshed when it can be prevented.”

“
How long do you think we can avoid this? It seems to keep coming back at us?”

Amenhotep sighed.
“When people are intent on total control, they often stop at nothing until they have either achieved their goals or are brought to death. Naturally, neither appeals to me.”

Nor did they appeal to her. Most of the Egyptian noblemen and their high-class families regarded their Nubian neighbors as vile and wretched, existing for the sole purpose of supplying thei
r cattle and slave populations. However, most of the countrymen and cattle-raising families recognized the Nubians as hard working and industrious people. Her father was among those who recognized the Nubian’s worth, despite his high status as the royal Superintendent of Cattle. Her mother, on the other hand, wasn’t so tolerant. As kind as she was to their southern slaves, she often blamed the Nubians for Egypt’s problems. If the Nile didn’t flood high enough to reach all of their crops, the Nubians were to blame. If the price of obsidian and ivory was too high, the Nubians were to blame. She was probably right about the latter, but Tiy couldn’t fathom how she could blame the Nubians for something the god of the Nile controlled. Hapi sent the flood if he was pleased with Egypt and her Pharaoh, not because of anything the Nubians did or did not do.

Tiy was glad Amenhotep favored diplomacy over weapons, not just because she hated to see so many lives cut short, but because she didn’t want Amenhotep to risk his life leading the Egyptian Army into a
n attack. It was customary for pharaohs to act as commanders over their armies and Amenhotep would be no different. Her protective instinct over Amenhotep flared and she hoped that if they were forced into war, Amenhotep might appoint someone else commander over his army. It was unlikely, but worth asking for her peace of mind.