The Heretic Queen (22 page)

Pharaoh Seti struck his crook on the dais and declared, "Princess Nefertari is a daughter to me. I do not care what blood runs in her veins."

"But the people will," Henuttawy snapped. She understood that Seti was going to allow Ramesses to wed and added quickly, "At least wait until after the marriage to choose a Chief Wife." I could see her face now. She turned to Ramesses. "Wait to see how the people will react. For the sake of peace throughout your long reign, wait until the ceremony is finished."

"I fear a rebellion," Rahotep warned.

"Wait," Henuttawy suggested. "Then, if you still want to make her queen over Iset--"

"I wouldn't call it
over
Iset," Ramesses said quickly.

"
Instead
of Iset," Henuttawy corrected, coarsely. "Then there will be two feasts to celebrate."

Pharaoh Seti sighed. "The decision of Chief Wife will wait. But what does Nefertari have to say about this? I hope you haven't pressured her into marriage."

"Bring her in," Ramesses answered. "She can tell you herself."

I looked at Merit, who rushed to straighten my wig. When the herald discovered the open door, he glanced at the guards, then at us. We both stood quickly.

"You are wanted in the Audience Chamber," he said.

We followed him through the great doors of carved bronze, and I was shocked by how large the room really was once I was inside of it. Not even Paser's careful model had captured the true grandeur of the hall.
This is where my mother sat with Nefertiti when she was my age,
I realized,
and where she ruled alongside Pharaoh Horemheb.
I studied the long expanse of polished tiles and the vaulted roof of gold. The limestone columns depicted scenes of previous kings in their triumphs. Ebony chairs with ivory inlay were clustered around Senet boards throughout the chamber. I imagined that courtiers usually filled those seats, laughing together and ready to entertain Pharaoh whenever he grew bored.

Henuttawy and Woserit watched our entrance, and as we reached the thrones, the heated whispers between the viziers increased. Courtiers gathered like thick clusters of grapes around the dais while we held out our arms in obeisance and bowed. When I arose, Ramesses met my gaze.

"Princess Nefertari." Pharaoh Seti smiled. "You have returned to Malkata to be married to Ramesses. But tell me." He leaned forward. "Is this what you wish?"

I closed my eyes briefly and nodded. "More than anything," I whispered.

"And you are certain of this? My son can be very persuasive. If you're afraid to hurt his feelings, he'll recover."

"There is nothing for him to recover from except my excessive love," I said.

"Very pretty." Henuttawy clapped. "If the Passion Plays of Osiris are missing an actress we will know who to send them."

"It's not an act," I said simply, and something in my voice prompted Pharaoh Seti to sit back. He regarded me for a moment, and I hoped he could see the earnestness in my stare.

"Let them be wed," Seti pronounced with a wave, and I exhaled.

Ramesses stepped down from the dais and took my hand firmly. It was real. We were going to be married.

"Think of what the people will say," Henuttawy shrieked. "Brother, think of what you are doing!"

"There will not be a coronation. Yet," he conceded. "Simply a marriage."

From behind the table, Woserit asked lightly, "What is it that you have against this princess, Henuttawy?"

Henuttawy replied with terrifying sweetness. "I suppose it's that she's so ambitious and clever," she said. "Clever Nefertari, who began life as a worm and emerged as a butterfly."

"Enough!" Pharaoh Seti warned. He looked to the High Priest. "I wish to see them joined in marriage before my court leaves for Avaris. Arrange a royal wedding."

The hyena stepped forward, and his bald head reflected the late afternoon light. "Within two days?" he questioned. "Perhaps it would be better if His Highness waited until the auspicious month of Pharmuthi."

When Iset will give birth,
I thought.

"We will marry tomorrow," Ramesses swore. "If it's not possible to ready the Temple of Amun, I'm sure that Hathor or Isis can be readied."

Rahotep's face lost some of its color. "Amun's temple can be ready, Your Highness."

Henuttawy and the other viziers made to speak, but Pharaoh Seti stood and pounded his crook on the dais. "The proclamation will read as such: Tomorrow, there shall be a wedding between Pharaoh Ramesses and Princess Nefertari."

For the first time, Queen Tuya spoke. "I don't understand why it has to be so soon."

"Because if not tomorrow, then when?" Seti asked. "How do you know when the gods will bring us back to Thebes? Or do you propose to miss our son's Marriage Feast?"

Tuya's hand tightened around her
iwiw
's leash. "I am sure he will have many Feasts of Marriage we will miss."

"Perhaps. But none to a princess of Egypt."

Queen Tuya settled unhappily back into her throne, and when her hand rested lightly on Adjo's head, the
iwiw
wagged his tail contentedly.

"So will she greet the people?" Henuttawy demanded. "If she's going to be queen, she should walk through Thebes and meet her subjects."

Woserit glanced at her brother. "Nefertari doesn't need to go among them yet."

"Why not?" Pharaoh Seti frowned. "Let them become accustomed to seeing her with Ramesses."

I was too full of my own joy to see then what Henuttawy had done.

Court business being concluded, we left the chamber and Ramesses took me in his arms. "By tomorrow, you will be at my side in the Audience Chamber, and there's no one who will dare to say a word against you."

And of course, because I was naive and hopeful, I allowed myself to believe him--even though I knew what the courtiers thought. They believed I had my aunt's blood and that I'd be the new Heretic Queen. Merit came to my side and her face was as bright as an oil lamp.

"Congratulations, Your Highness. It is a union sure to be blessed by Amun."

"Thank you, Nurse. I was hoping Nefertari would join me in the Arena. Do you think that will be possible?"

"With a dozen things to do and arrange before tomorrow?" Merit cried.

Ramesses laughed, and I knew he hadn't really expected her to say yes.

"There is the matter of a dress to arrange," she said, "and a wig and malachite paint . . ."

"I believe she's saying no," I told Ramesses, and he put his arms around my waist.

"Then may I come to you tonight?" he asked quietly.

Courtiers were watching us and I forced myself not to look back at them.
They will always be watching us,
I reminded myself.
I will never enjoy a private kiss. There will always be eyes upon me, and I must simply get used to it.
That was the price for loving a Pharaoh. "Of course you can come to me."

A hundred pairs of eyes followed my walk through the halls with Woserit and Merit, and one of them was Henuttawy's. I smiled widely. If I had been a commoner about to marry some farmer's son, the women of my house would never have allowed my husband to climb into my bed before he had carried me over the threshold of his home. But Ramesses was Pharaoh. He could do as he pleased. By coming to my room before our wedding, he was telling the court that a single night couldn't be wasted in trying to create an heir with me.

CHAPTER TEN

A PHARAOH'S MARRIAGE BEGINS ON THE WATER

IN THE GREAT Hall that evening, the whole court appeared to see the worm that had turned into a butterfly. Everyone was eager to see the niece of the Heretic Queen, whom Ramesses was going to take to wife.

At the long, polished table on the dais, a servant led me to my seat between Ramesses and Woserit, while Iset had been placed at the side of Queen Tuya. I felt sorry for Iset, who didn't have the sense to laugh and pretend to be joyful. Though she should have felt triumphant in knowing that she was carrying Ramesses's first child, her face was as sour as a tamarind. I wondered if it was because he had not turned out to be the husband she'd imagined. I knew she enjoyed the exquisite jewels and fur-lined cloaks, but what did she and Ramesses have in common? But if Iset appeared dark and glowering, then across from her, Henuttawy was at her best. The viziers were laughing at her jokes, and when she saw me, she announced brightly to the table, "The butterfly emerges."

But Ramesses heard the edge in her voice. "She
is
like a butterfly," he said. "Hidden away for a year, and emerging more beautiful and talented than ever."

"When she told me she was not going to become a priestess of Hathor, I was worried she would not find a place in Thebes." Woserit turned to her sister. "But it seems that she has found a place on the highest step of all."

Henuttawy's smile vanished, and Rahotep's face looked immensely pained.

"Come," Woserit said cheerfully, "let us raise our cups." She lifted her wine and the rest of the table did the same. "To the princess Nefertari," she said.

"To the princess," Vizier Anemro repeated, though I wondered which princess he meant.

"And let us all hope that the curse of the Heretic King does not run in her veins."

Henuttawy had gone too far. Pharaoh Seti clenched his cup in his hand. "Nefertari is no more of a heretic than
you
are. I trust that she will make good decisions in the Audience Chamber. She may not be popular yet, but she's certainly no fool."

Everyone at the table knew who he meant, but no one dared to look in Iset's direction.

Queen Tuya shook her head, and Ramesses added indignantly, "She's also my
wife.
" But Pharaoh Seti remained silent, and soon steaming bowls of roasted duck were brought from the kitchens.

Ramesses turned to me. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

I smiled the way Woserit had taught me to smile in the face of disappointment. "I believe the court is waiting for your blessing."

Ramesses looked to his father, who nodded, then stood from his throne while the room fell silent. "We dedicate this feast to Pharaoh Seti the Great, beloved of Amun and Reconquerer of a dozen lands." A loud cheer went up in the hall and Ramesses proclaimed, "May the gods watch over your journey to Avaris, and may they watch over the joyous union tomorrow that shall precede it."

The court's cheers reverberated beneath the columns, because it would have been foolish to do otherwise. But I wondered how many of them were like the High Priest of Amun, who had fathers and grandfathers murdered by Akhenaten and Nefertiti.

As the cheers still echoed, Seti leaned over and whispered to me, "I am allowing you to put yourself in danger at this court. But there is no one else in the kingdom of Egypt I would rather see on the throne with my son than you. . . . Did you know that if Pili was alive, this would have been the year of her marriage as well? You would have been like two sisters in your bridal boats." He patted my hand, and I saw in that moment why his care for me had always been so tender.