The Heretic Queen (10 page)

The festivity was so joyous that all formality was dismissed, and Asha seized the chance to join me at the viziers' table. "So Iset is a princess now," he said. He looked down the length of the pavilion to the closed double doors of the palace. "At least you won't have to see her anymore. She'll spend all of her time in the Audience Chamber."

"Yes. With Ramesses," I pointed out.

But Asha shook his head. "No. Ramesses will be with me. There is going to be war with the Hittites."

I put down my cup of wine. "What do you mean?"

"The city of Kadesh has belonged to Egypt since the time of Thutmose. It was the Heretic King who allowed the Hittites to take Kadesh, and all of the port cities that made Egypt wealthy are enriching Hatti now. Pharaoh Seti won't stand for it anymore. He has reconquered all of the lands that the Heretic lost, and all that remains to be retaken is Kadesh."

"I know this," I said, impatient. "I've studied it all with Paser. But he never said Egypt was preparing for war
now.
"

Asha nodded. "Probably by Phaophi."

"But what if Ramesses is killed? Or if you come back maimed? Asha, you've seen the soldiers--"

"That won't happen to us. It's our first battle. We'll be well protected."

"Pharaoh Tutankhamun was well protected, and it didn't stop his chariot from overturning. He died from that broken leg!"

Asha put his arm around my shoulders. "A king is expected to lead his men into battle. It's too bad you weren't born a man, Nefer. You might have come with us. But we'll come back," he promised easily. "And you'll see. Nothing will change."

I smiled, and hoped it would be so. But in the blur of events, I was learning how poorly hope alone would serve me.

THAT EVENING, Merit brought me a stick of wax. She held the tip to the flame of the candle, then dripped it slowly onto the papyrus. I waited until the droplets had hardened before pressing my signet ring into the wax. Then I handed the letter to Merit.

"Are you sure you want to send this, my lady? Perhaps you need a few days to think?"

I shook my head. "No, I am certain."

CHAPTER FOUR

THE WAYS OF HATHOR

ON MY FOURTEENTH Naming Day, I went to the edduba as usual. I slipped off my sandals in front of the door, but inside, Paser was not sitting at his table. For the first time since he had been my tutor, Paser was absent. On the reed mats, the students were taking full advantage, chattering among themselves.

"Nefertari!" Baki exclaimed. "Have you heard?"

I set out my reed pen and bottle of ink deliberately. "What?"

"Paser is no longer going to be our tutor. He is vizier to Pharaoh Ramesses now."

I scrambled from my reed mat. "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday. My father told me this morning." Then he smiled wide enough that I could see his crooked teeth. "And we are to get a new tutor!"

A female shape appeared in the doorway. The students leaped to their feet, and unlike Henuttawy's entrance, they bowed deeply as Woserit approached, dressed in the long blue robes of Hathor. Her earrings and bracelets and belt were all of lapis, and the crown on her head was crested with small horns.

"Nefertari," she said. "It's time."

The students all looked at me for an explanation, and when the words stuck in my mouth, Woserit explained. "Your new tutor is coming. But Princess Nefertari's time with you is over. She will be joining me to learn the rites of our temple. She will become a priestess of Hathor."

A collective gasp arose in the room, but Woserit gave me a nod that meant I should smile and take my leave, and as I made my way past the curious faces, it occurred to me that an important part of my life had finished. No tutor would await me ever again. And although I'd always thought I would feel like an animal released from its cage when my student days were finished, I felt more like a bird that had been pushed from its nest and told it must fly.

I followed Woserit down the path along the lake. Though my heart was pounding, she retained her usual calm, that always seemed to hint at some great purpose. "I visited Merit this morning," she said, after some time. "Your most important belongings have been packed, and as soon as they're loaded on Hathor's ship, we'll set sail."

Thebes is a city cleaved in two by water. On the western bank of the River Nile is the palace of Malkata, and on the eastern bank are all of our most sacred temples. Each temple has its own ship, and this is what Woserit used each afternoon when she came to the Audience Chamber, or many evenings when she visited her brother in the Great Hall. Adult life, it seemed, meant movement. For fourteen years I had lived in the same chamber in the palace, and now, within fifteen days, I would be moving twice. Perhaps Woserit understood more than she let on, because her voice softened.

"Moving again and saying farewell will not be as terrible as you think," she promised.

In the courtyard outside my chamber, a small group had gathered to watch the servants collect my belongings. When I noticed Ramesses and Asha, my heart leaped.

"Nefer!" Asha exclaimed, and Woserit raised her brows.

"Nefer
tari,
" she corrected as he came over. "In the Temple of Hathor she will be properly known as such," Woserit explained. "Ramesses." She bowed politely to her nephew. "I will leave you to say your farewell."

Woserit disappeared inside my chamber, and both Ramesses and Asha spoke at once.

"What does she mean?"

I shrugged. "I'm leaving."

Ramesses blurted, "Leaving
where?
"

"To the Temple of Hathor," I said.

"What? To become a priestess? To clean tiles and light incense?" Asha asked.

I am sure part of his shock was in knowing that priestesses must train for twelve months. And although they may marry, many never do.

I suppressed the urge to change my mind. "Yes. Or perhaps to be a temple scribe."

Ramesses glanced at Asha, to see if he could believe this. "But
why?
"

"What else am I to do?" I asked solemnly. "I have no place in this palace, Ramesses. You're married now and belong in the Audience Chamber. And soon you'll be going off to war with Asha."

"But it won't last for a year!" Ramesses said. Iset entered the courtyard, and when she saw that Ramesses was with me, she halted sharply in place. "Iset," he called, "come and bid farewell."

"Why? Is the princess leaving us?" she asked.

"For the Temple of Hathor," Ramesses said disbelievingly. "To become a priestess."

Iset put on her most sympathetic look as she approached. "Ramesses will be so very sorry to see you go. He's always telling me how much you're like a little sister to him." She smiled as she said
little,
and I bit my tongue against saying something nasty. "It's simply unfortunate we didn't know sooner. We could have thrown a feast of farewell." She looked up at Ramesses through her long lashes. "After all, it's not as though she'll be returning."

"Of course she'll be returning," Ramesses retorted. "A priestess's training only lasts a year."

"But then she'll be serving Hathor. Across the river."

He blinked quickly, and there was a moment when he might have embraced me, even in front of Iset. I could see that there was more that Asha wanted to say. But then Woserit appeared with Merit at the head of a caravan of basket-laden servants.

"You can visit her anytime," Woserit promised. "Come, Nefertari. The boat is waiting."

I reached around my neck and took off the simple ox-hair's necklace that Merit hated. "What is
that?
" Iset sneered.

"I made it for her," Ramesses said defensively, then met my gaze.

"Yes. When I was seven." I smiled. "I want you to have it to remember me by."

I placed the necklace in his hands, and it took all of my strength not to look behind me at his crestfallen face as I walked to the quay. From the deck of Hathor's ship, I looked back at the life that I had always known. Ramesses and Asha waved from the banks, and a small group of students from the edduba had joined them.

"That was very clever, what you did back there. Giving him the necklace."

I nodded numbly, thinking that it wasn't cleverness, just love, and Merit placed her arm across my shoulder. "It's not forever, my lady."

I pressed my lips together. As I watched the fading shoreline, only one figure remained. She was dressed in red.

"Henuttawy." Woserit saw the direction of my gaze and nodded. "She thinks that you've retreated now, and that it's only a matter of time before Ramesses forgets about you and turns to Iset for his companionship."

I prayed that she was wrong but held my tongue, for now I had placed all those prayers in Woserit's hands.

IT WAS not a long journey to the Temple of Hathor, and as the boat neared the quay, Merit rose from her stool to gaze at the forest of granite pillars soaring above a polished courtyard.

"No wonder her sister is jealous," she whispered out of Woserit's earshot.

Towering obelisks rose against the sky, and beyond the temple, workers in blue kilts tended to Hathor's sycamore groves. The fresh shoots of the goddess's sacred trees shone like green jewels.

"Surprised?" Woserit asked us.