THE GOD'S WIFE (23 page)

“Are we going to go and get them?” the boy said, eyes afire with the anticipation of a real military mission.

The captain and Neferet nodded at the same moment. The captain pointed out the importance of keeping the hostage alive, so he insisted on using the advantage of surprise. Neferet stressed that Zayem not be killed, for he must stand before the court of Ma’at for his misdeeds.

Neferet looked toward the gloomy western land, still red from the sunset, and tried to imagine what it felt like plodding around there at night. The fiery landscape loomed forbidding enough during the day with its rocky caverns and hidden scorpions and snakes. However, the captain knew the territory and would take them along a safe route. She knew he cared, for he remained one of Kamose’s best friends. Certainly, if they caught Zayem’s unruly bunch, the soldier might be able to get some information from them about the roughs Kamose was fighting in the North.

The group broke up, with plans to meet at sunset the next day. The captain didn’t want Neferet to struggle along on the mission, but she insisted her duty required her to bring Deena home. She doubted that Deena would trust anyone else. The captain agreed to her logic with a sharp nod of the head. The boy would bring supplies, and two priests would accompany them, armed with a great deal more than amulets. Nareema agreed to stay in the city in case any word reached her there about Deena. The other two spies would remain at court, gathering information on Zayem.

The fire guttered out, and the group picked their way back to the civilized streets of Wast.

#

Dressed in old clothes, Neferet set out from the back entrance to the temple, making her way along the dark walls of Karnak until she reached the army captain, who stood alert where the vast structure met the road. He approved of her dressed-down disguise and gestured for her to cover her hair with a head cloth.

“Flies on the river,” he explained between immobile lips.

They moved on toward the Nile. Each step of the way, they picked up another traveler, a priest here, a guard there, until the full retinue met the boy spy who waited at the dock. All were armed with knives or spears yet kept their weapons well hidden. The army captain bore a fearsome spear and a well-crafted set of bow and arrows. As the light went down across the river, they took a ferryboat to the western shore, paying the boatman twice his usual fare in exchange for his silence about their odd trip. No one went west at sundown, even to bury a mummy.

Neferet hadn’t been to the Valley of the Kings since her grandmother was interred in the family tomb years ago. The ceremony had a somber but elegant tone. After the priests placed the mummy in the golden sarcophagus, the group ate a ritual funeral meal at the gates of the tomb, then broke their dishes and threw them into a pit near the entrance. Workers covered up the debris. Although only ten years old, Neferet felt the majesty of the place, with its sheer cliffs for walls and bright sunlight bathing the area in heat. She knew from here, her grandmother’s Ba would make its way to the stars.

At the far shore, Neferet stepped into the marshy land and made her way with the others to the paved road that led to the tombs. The captain instructed them to stay on the pathway until he gestured toward Zayem’s hiding spot. The boy skipped ahead of the rest, and a priest ran to fetch the overexcited lad. Staying together and not drawing attention was of utmost importance.

The tombs lay toward the setting sun, radiating the heat of the day back into the air. As the sky goddess stretched her body across the sky, filling the world with stars and dreams, the unfinished tombs became darker and less inviting. In the red light, there were hints of the artwork and statuary within. As night fell, they merely looked like ugly gaps in a beggar’s mouth of foul teeth.

They marched on, and the tombs rose up closer to them. Neferet recognized the pathway to her father’s future resting place. Workers had started on it several years ago and now were painting the interior. She wondered with a sick feeling if the workers had been stepping up their preparations. At Heb Sed, he shone as the picture of good health. Her father couldn’t be losing his grip on life thanks to Meryt, could he? The thought of losing him gave Neferet a bad twinge in her heart. She had a mental image of screeching Meryt burning into the back of her mind. She knew she’d never be that kind of queen.

The captain interrupted her thoughts by gesturing toward a pebble-strewn road to the south. He gestured that they all remain silent as they picked their way between the stones and gravel with their papyrus sandals. Neferet guessed they were as quiet as her cat Mau-mau.

With a bump, she almost ran into the boy, who froze into place at the head of the group.

“What are you hearing?” the captain whispered.

“Voices of men, but they are not in the place you showed us,” the boy said, looking around, wildness in his eyes. “Where are they?” Everyone stood by without moving as he used his senses to ferret out their quarry.

He sniffed the air and a disturbed look crossed his features.

“The tomb, over that way,” they looked over at a burial chamber, just begun, near the edge of the Valley of the Kings. “They are in there.”

In a tomb? What kind of people were they?
Neferet stepped forward and peered at the rock-cut walls. She saw writing carved near the door but couldn’t read it at such a distance.

“I’m going to sneak over there and find out what that says,” she told the boy. The soldier gave her a grim look but didn’t stop her. She slipped once on some sliding stones but arrived at the chamber entrance in a few minutes. She could hear voices inside, one of them female. On the right of the entrance she read the various names of Zayem, prince of Egypt, son of Meryt, the Great Wife. The characters all were contained within a cartouche, although Neferet questioned whether Zayem was truly royal at all.

So, he’s started his own tomb already, Neferet thought. He must have great plans for his magnificent future if he thinks he needs to begin this now. Then she stopped as she recognized Deena’s voice calling: “Stop. Leave me.” Then a muffled shriek echoed through the caverns, and the voice went quiet. Neferet’s hair tingled, and she crept back to her friends on the road.

She pulled the captain aside.

“It’s Zayem’s tomb, barely carved out,” she said, still puffing from her climb over the rocks. “They’ve got Deena in there ... crying out. How are we going to get her out of there?”

“In a tomb that’s being built, usually there are two exits, so the workers don’t get trapped in a possible collapse,” the captain said, sizing up the rock chamber with his eyes. “I think we should send a couple of the men over the top to look for the secondary entrance. You and I will make our way as close as we dare through the front door.”

“What if they see us?”

“Oh, they will, eventually. But I’m hoping they will be surrounded by that time. It’s essential that Deena see you, so I’ll let you know when to call for her.”

He gathered the rest of the crew and sent the priests, soldiers and spies over the top of the excavation area. Then he and Neferet moved at an angle toward the front door. To move in head-on would mean they would be seen too soon, he explained. Neferet followed in his footsteps, stepping around the bigger rocks and trying not to slip on loose gravel. She wondered about the snakes but reminded herself that they went into dark crevices to sleep at night.

As she walked, she noticed the moon nearing full, giving them ample light — but also affording Zayem’s men the same advantage.

A strangled cry came up from the South, and Neferet saw one of her men falling from the top of the tomb to the rocky floor. He had a knife embedded in his chest. Before she could cry out, Zayem’s toughs fanned out along the top of the tomb and began attacking Neferet’s retinue. She almost screamed, but the captain pulled her right to his side under an overhanging rock. He gestured for her to keep quiet.

Furious fighting ensued overhead, and Neferet’s men gave it their all. Spears flew and many of Zayem’s men fell. When the scuffling stopped, the captain peeked over the top of the sandstone for a fraction of a second and then slipped back down with a troubled look on his face.

“They are all over,” he said. “We’re completely outnumbered. I think they’ve killed three of our men. The rest are running away as we speak. At least, my soldiers fought to the death.”

Neferet tore at her raggedy clothes. All her thoughts were on Deena. If she couldn’t rely on her helpers to get Deena out, she would have to do it herself.

“Then I’m going in.”

“No, stop,” the captain said, trying to pull her back. The rag he held onto ripped, and she went rushing forward into the mouth of the fresh-cut tomb.

#

“Neferet, my darling. How well I know you,” Zayem said the minute she popped into view. He was sitting in a semicircle with rough, bearded men. Deena, tied at the wrists, sat in the middle. Gagged, she still managed a squeal when she saw Neferet. “I knew you’d fall for the bait. You always did as a child. I’d take a toy, and you’d jump and leap to get it back. You never gave up.”

And you never stopped stealing my things.
She stopped to assess her situation. There was no sign that the captain was behind her, but she assumed he waited at the door, listening. Zayem had five men with him. She could count on no one from her group alive or still at the scene.

“I have come for my friend Deena.”

“How charming. The life of a slave is so important to you.”

“She’s not a slave. She’s my friend. I released her from servitude, and she works in my household as a free woman.”

“Sad, isn’t it? Now she’s a slave again.”

“What are you talking about?”

Zayem sighed and got to his feet. He signaled that his gang should stay seated. He opened his arms as if in welcome.

“Don’t you see? Now that we are to be married, we share property, and Deena comes with the bargain.”

Neferet felt her face turn a fierce color as anger filled every one of her pores. She raced at Zayem to slap him, but he caught her arm and laughed.

“Hot blood. You always had that.” He dropped her arm and looked her over. “Even dressed like a hag, you incite my desire.” Neferet backed away from him with birdlike steps. He yawned. “But we’re already had our fun, haven’t we, boys?” The group grunted its approval.

Deena, her clothing all rumpled and torn, stared at the floor. Neferet tore at her rags and screamed, while Zayem laughed. She knew the time had come for some action but could think of nothing to do.

“I don’t need a taste of you, darling,” he said, touching her chin with a filthy finger. “I’ve already had it.” Neferet remembered Amun coming to life and covered her eyes. “Besides, when we are married, I’ll have you every night.”

“What makes you think we will be married? My father has agreed that I may choose Kamose.”

Zayem snickered. “Why do you think Kamose was sent to the border? Guess who planted that little idea in Mother’s head?”

Kamose!
She had wondered if he was on a real war mission or sent on a purposeless errand. She tipped her head up at a jaunty angle.

“You’ll never get me to marry you.”

“When your precious daddy is gone, in, say, two or three weeks, you’ll do as I tell you, because you won’t have any other option,” Zayem said. “Even the Grand Vizier won’t be of much help to you. I pay him too much for that.”

Neferet knew the Vizier was a snake, now she had her proof. But her father? Zayem was spiking the food?

“One or two weeks, Zayem? You are feeding him rat poison?”

“Oh, mother and I are taking care of his diet. It seems he’s not reacting well to his food …”

“Venom! There are food tasters …”

“Who can be replaced with tasters loyal to me. They just pretend to eat the food. Regular actors they are. We should have them in a few of the after-dinner plays.”

Neferet lowered her head and ran straight at his solar plexus, knocking him to the floor.

“Kill my father, will you? The all-mighty Pharaoh? The incarnation of the gods? They impale men in public for that, you spineless jackal! May you go to your doom.” Zayem stared at her with goggle eyes as he lay on the ground getting his breath back. “I won’t marry you ever,” she continued in a hushed voice.

The Hyksos men grumbled in the background, as if unsure whether to intervene on Zayem’s part.

Zayem laughed, pulled himself up half-way and rocked back and forth on his heels. “Then I’ll just have to execute my second plan.” He bent down low to look her in the eyes. “I’ll shut you up in this tomb and let you smother to death. If I can’t have you, there are plenty of other royal half-breeds of your father’s who will satisfy me.”

“The air passages. It’s not possible.” Neferet began to cough on limestone dust she had kicked up on the floor.

“This is a new construction. No air passages have been built yet.” He crossed his arms. “You have your choice: death or marriage to me.”

“They seem one and the same to me, you hyena. Go and leave Deena and me to die, because I will never submit to you.”

A strange look of pleasure crossed Zayem’s face before he faked surprise. “As you wish. But you would have made a fine queen.”

He gestured to the rough group of men and told them to file out the front door. He brought up the rear.

“When the door shuts, the moonlight is gone forever. Forever. Just remember to say hello to your father in the afterlife,” he said. Then he put a hand to his mouth and acted as if he forgot to say something. “Oh, I guess you won’t be seeing that afterlife, though, since you won’t be properly embalmed. The Ba won’t know where to find your Ka. Even your precious Amun will abandon you. Too bad. All much too sad.”

With that, he turned and slithered his way out the door. A heavy rock fell into place and both women were plunged into darkness.

How long do I have?
Neferet felt her way over to Deena and grabbed her hand. Together, they spoke of bravery and finding release. The darkness made that feel impossible, but they couldn’t let hopelessness cling to their spirits. The air hung so black that Neferet had no idea which way lay north or south. Did another escape route exist as the captain said? New construction or not, tomb workers would refuse to labor if they didn’t have a secret way out. If there was an escape hatch, she had no idea how to find it. Nor did she know if Zayem was right about the gods. Her Ba lived safely inside her, did it not? Surely, Anubis would find her. He weighed every heart on a balance with a feather, and if the heart stayed lightened by innocence, the deceased person would go on a journey to the Duat, the land between life and death. She had every expectation of navigating this land of the dead, mummy or no mummy.