Nefertiti (17 page)
'Well, he would much prefer my absence to my presence, by what-ever means necessary.'
'He is a rather powerful man, you know. It would be better not to annoy him.'
'It seems I annoy him just by being here.'
Parennefer, clever Parennefer, had no reply to that.
The ceremony concluded, and Akhenaten and Meretaten processed back out of the temple courtyard, back under the pylons, back across the bridge. Everyone followed. It took ages. Mahu was ahead of me, taking his due place right behind Akhenaten. I kept my eyes on his metallic hair, his powerful shoulders and back. I knew he was alert to everything that was happening, his gaze roving ceaselessly across the crowd and the high walls, in the habit of surveillance. And I'm sure I could feel him staring at me through the back of his skull.
We slowed down and let the vast crowd move ahead of us. Sweepers were already attempting to clean up after the sacrifice, and to lay the troubled dust of the courtyard to rest again with their deftly sprinkled handfuls of water, so that it would not unduly besmirch the dignitaries left behind.
'What are you doing next?' Parennefer asked.
'I have interviews, before sunset, with the Queen Mother and the royal children.'
'Oh, do you?' He went oddly quiet.
'What can you not say?'
'Nothing. Oh - just be very careful with her.' He leaned closer, turning his back to the crowd, and whispered like an actor in a comedy: 'She's absolutely ghastly.' He smiled, pleased with his courage in transgressing the rules of politeness. I saw Khety nod, as if to say: I told you so. 'But of course later you must attend the party,' Parennefer added.
I looked blank.
'The celebration at Meryra's villa, of course. By invitation only. I thought you would like to attend.'
It seemed important to meet this new figure of authority, but first I needed to wash and prepare myself for the coming interview. Parennefer offered us his own house nearby, and I accepted, glad to stay within the protective penumbra of his influence. Mahu had disappeared, but I felt as if he could see through walls. I had no wish to return to my bare little office.
The bathroom alone was worth the visit. A large square room, with grilles for light and beautiful geometric multi-coloured patterns painted on the lower portions of the walls, with marsh and river scenes and semi-naked girls above. The stone floor contained channels and a drainage hole and we stood in basins while servants poured cool, scented water over us.
'Well, I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd have a shower in a palace like this!' said Khety.
I didn't feel like talking. I peered into the mosaic of reflective glass on the wall above the basin, and shaved using a bronze blade whose handle was shaped like a naked, curvaceous woman. All sorts of unguents and potions were set out in little pots together with tiny spoons for their application. Khety experimented, trying out the whole range, until I told him he stank like a girl.
Someone's shadow was standing over me. I jumped up, shaking my head to sort my senses into some order. Lamps had been lit along the walls. I had slept like a village idiot. For a moment I could not remember where I was.
'It is time.' Khety looked amused.
Some dates and figs lay in a bowl and I wolfed down a handful hungrily. Sweetness in the late afterno
on gives me at least the appear
ance of energy.
We were prepared as well as possible in our dress. Parennefer drove me slowly and nervously to the royal palace in his own chariot, while Khety followed behind. Parennefer was one of those drivers who seemed to look no further than the horses' noses. Certainly he did not look up ahead to see what was happening on the crowded way.
He gave me one of his solicitous, tilted looks. 'Have they told you much about Tiy?' he said.
'I hear she's not in the finest form of beauty these days.'
'I could not say. But she is here only to attend the Festival. Although the King has constructed for her a palace and a temple, she has not until now wished to visit the new city. I've heard she thinks it has all gone too far, this move to the new city, the Great Changes and so on. But she feels compelled to support it, now that everything has happened. Everyone knows, I think,
that her words are still power
ful with Akhenaten.'
'Well, that's how it tends to be between mothers and sons,' I said, thinking of my own mother and her clever ways.
'Of course, but not only that!' he cried, as if I had not learned my lesson well. 'Firstly she is herself of royal status as the beloved wife of Amenhotep, Akhenaten's father, the Magnificent, Builder of the Monuments. But also, and not least, because her own family is the most trusted in the service of the royal family. Indeed, her father, Yuya, who began his career as Officer in the Royal Charioteers, rose to become Amenhotep's most trusted adviser. And her brother, Ay, today holds his father's offices, and is an extremely close adviser to Akhenaten.'
'I have heard of this Ay. What do you know about him?'
'He is known only to a closed circle; apparently he prefers to remain publicly anonymous. His family has grown around the royal family like ivy, until through marriage they have eventually become almost indistinguishable from it. It is a powerful alliance.'
These genealogies were mind-numbingly complicated. Who knew how, in future days, such chains of birthright and power-bargaining would be untangled? How such and such a girl would come to be sold to another foreign power for the price of a little peace or the cost of a small war? Whose names would survive, whose stories would turn to dust and blow away? But I had to get this clear in my mind or I knew I would make some stupid error in front of the woman I was soon to interview.
'So, Tiy is Queen Mother. Her father was an up-and-coming young man from a well-placed family who became very powerful. Her brother, Ay, is in the inner circle.'
Yes,' said Parennefer. 'His father, who was a good as well as a powerful man, ensured his son's position at the heart of things from a young age. I think in fact he was the youngest ever Master of the Horse.'
'And what is the nature of this man's relationship with Nefertiti, the Great Royal Wife?' I asked.
'I do not know.' And with that he clammed up, his face no more revealing than a sealed tomb.
I thought it through as we continued to drive through the now chaotic streets in the evening light. Here was a man at the heart of the royal family. Everything had been done by his own family to ensure the succession and improvement of that alliance. And it seemed to have succeeded astonishingly well. Yet I did not know anything of this man or his power.
'Is he here in the city?' I asked Parennefer.
He looked as if he was surprised I should still be thinking about Ay. 'Not at this precise moment, I believe. I understand he travels constantly between Thebes, Memphis and here. He has his own ship of state. But few know of his movements. Certainly not me.'
We arrived at the royal palace. Parennefer hurried us through the gateway, waving his hands loftily at the guards, who made themselves invisible. He led us down more long corridors, deeper into the complex. We were turning a corner when suddenly he held me back in the shadows.
'Be careful what you say in your meeting with the Royal Mother,' he said. 'She feasts on fear. She has the tongue of a crocodile. She can turn your life to dust. She will be meeting you with the princesses. Apparently she insists on being present during their interview.'
'That's the last thing I want,' I said, cursing my stupidity in not fore-seeing this.
We came to a door, he knocked, and we were admitted. I heard the familiar sound of girls shouting and arguing, punctuated by the apparently pointless instructions of a woman's voice. Nurses and servants ran about looking tense and tired.
'It must be bedtime for the princesses,' said Parennefer. He looked more worried now than before. 'Marvellous. I must be going. I will leave you in the capable hands of the governess. Ah, here she comes now.' Then he looked at me again and said quietly, 'We are early. I thought it best to arrive early.'
I understood him. He hoped to give us a little time alone with the princesses before Tiy arrived. I gripped his hand, communicating my thanks.
A middle-aged woman moved anxiously towards us, alarmed to see us there so soon. She was unprepared. She had just opened her mouth to greet us when she was interrupted by a sharp scream; a small ball of blue and red leather flew through an open door with all the furious inaccuracy of a child in a tantrum, and shattered a plant pot. Soil went flying across the floor. The door slammed shut.
The woman blushed. 'Come, clear this up, quickly.'
Servants hurried across to sweep away the mess.
'The princesses have such a wonderful appetite for life that the idea of bedtime is distressing to them,' she continued, addressing me. 'They grow tired, and then cannot account for themselves in the way I am sure they would truly wish.'
I interpreted her meaning. I tried to help her out. 'My girls are the same. Although the promise of a story can quiet them for a little.'
She nodded. 'But then one must be careful, for the Royal Grandmother believes literature is an unnecessary stimulation and may keep them awake all night.'
'Could I meet them now, before they sleep?'
'I was strictly instructed only to begin the interview when the Queen Mother arrived.'
'Well, I am here now. And they seem ready for bed. Could I perhaps meet them immediately?'
She was shaking her head fearfully when a girl appeared at the doorway. Meretaten. I remembered her from the ceremony.
'Bring him in now,' she ordered imperiously, and turned back into the room with a confidence that somehow was unattractive.
We entered the nursery. It was a long, high room with windows and doors to the terrace now covered with bright curtains. In the centre was a long, low wooden table. Alcoves contained beds. Toys of remarkable invention and beauty of construction overflowed from trunks. Papyrus collections of stories were packed onto shelves. Little statuettes and votive figurines were lined up along a shelf. The walls around each bed were hung with drawings, stories and poems on beautifully illustrated papyri. Servants were apprehensively attempting to restore some kind of order to the room's colourful and lively chaos.
At the table sat three girls on low stools; Meretaten stood at the head. As we entered they all looked at me expectantly. Their mother was in all of them. Their faces were fine and haughty, their hair black and glossy, their skin pure, their postures elegant and perfect. They sat as if posing, straight-backed and self-conscious, not with the indolent pleasure of my girls. Their governess introduced me to them: Meretaten, then Meketaten, Ankhesenpaaten and Nefernefruaten.
'I don't know if I can remember those names straight away,' I said.
Meretaten stared down her
nose at me. 'Then you must be a
fool.'
There was a little silence while the other girls waited to see how I would react. I asked her how old she was. 'Fourteen.' She gazed at me. 'And you other girls?' 'Twelve.' 'Ten.'
'Seven - and I'm not the youngest. Nefernefrure and Setepenra are already asleep.'
I sat down with them, at their level, on a low stool. The silence continued. The girls looked uncertain. I realized there were a number of women in attendance, waiting and watching. I whispered to the governess to ask if I could be left alone with the princesses.
'It is forbidden for men to remain alone in the nursery,' she replied.
'Then could you perhaps dismiss the attendants, and stay yourself as the chaperone?'
She considered it, but it was
Meretaten who nodded her agree
ment and clapped her hands. The attendants filed out of the room and closed the door behind them. As soon as they were gone, Meretaten relaxed slightly. Meketaten got up from the table and went to sit, cross-legged, on her bed, her sleek sidelock falling over her ear as she repeatedly combed it through.
'Do you mind if I talk to you all a little?' I said.
'That's why you're here, isn't it?' said Meretaten. She looked at me curiously now.
'Are you a seeker of mysteries?' asked Ankhesenpaaten.
'I am a detective in the Thebes Medjay, and your father has ordered me here. Perhaps you are aware of the reason why?'
'Because the Queen has disappeared,' said Meretaten. Those were her words, spoken with a strange kind of bitterness. No mention of the fact that it was her own mother who had vanished. She must have seen the look of surprise on my face, for she covered her tracks quickly. 'That's what people are whispering.'
'And what do you think?' I asked.
'I think you're here to find her. Which means she's been kidnapped, or stolen. Or she's dead.' I was shocked by her casual tone.
'I must be honest with you and admit I don't yet know what has happened to her, but I believe she is alive, and I am determined to find her and bring her back to you. She must miss you as much as you miss her.'
I heard behind me a little snuffle. Nefernefrure had appeared, silent tears trickling down her face.
'Now look what you've done,' said Meretaten.
The governess took the child in her arms and comforted her. The tears subsided, and the tiny girl glared suspiciously at me.
'I know how difficult it is to talk,' I said, 'but I wanted to meet you all because I need your help. I need yo
u to tell me anything you remem
ber about your mother in the days before she disappeared. Or anything about your mother you think I should know. Can you do that?'
The girls all looked at Meretaten, as if they were silently discussing an agreement. Then Meretaten took up and set spinning on the table a faience top. It whirled on its single point of balance, the bright colours blurring together so that the image of a smiling face appeared where, in stillness, there had been nothing more than lines. It was a rare and surprising object.
'That's a beautiful spinning top. Who gave it to you?'
'Our mother,' said Meketaten, pointedly.
We all watched the top in sile
nce. The princesses were mesmer
ized. Gradually it lost its poise, wobbled, subsided, and then fell over. Meretaten seemed to read its behaviour as a tool of prophecy, or at least decision-making, for she considered it for a little while before eventually nodding. They drew a little closer to me.
'She was behaving strangely. Her face was dark, sad. Full of shadows and worries.' The lamplight flickered in Meretaten's eyes as she spoke.
'Do you know why?'
Meketaten, lying on her divan, called out, 'She and father had a f
ight.
'
'No they didn't,' said her older sister.
'Yes they did. I heard them. Then she came in to say goodnight, and you were all asleep. She was crying but she was trying not to show it. I said, "Why are you crying?" And she said, "No reason, my darling, no reason." And she said it was our secret, and not to tell. Then she kissed me and hugged me like I was a doll or something, and then she told me to go to sleep and not to
worry because she'd make every
thing all right.'
'And when did this happen?' I asked.
'I don't remember the day. But not long ago.'
'And did she talk to any of you other princesses in the same way?'
They looked at each other and shook their heads. Meretaten was angry and silent now. 'I thought you said it was a secret. You've said it out loud now.' She glared at her sister, who glanced back at her, but wilted under Meretaten's angry look.