The King's Man (29 page)

Both boys were drinking pomegranate juice and helping themselves to the honeyed sweetmeats Amunmose was presenting.

Heby sat back and sipped appreciatively at his wine. “Syrian, Huy?”

“No.” Huy smiled across at his brother, noting with an inner wrench the spider lines fanning across the temples, the slight bowing of the naked shoulders, the pouch of flesh hiding Heby’s belt.
We no longer look alike
, Huy reflected glumly.
There was a time when we shared the virility and attractiveness of a manhood in full bloom, but Heby ages whereas I remain the same. No greyness, no sagging skin, no diminution of either intellect or physical strength except that caused by the strain of the Seeing. Atum has placed me beyond the grasp of time. He waits for me to discover the final solution to the meaning of the Book of Thoth, and his patience is an impersonal, relentless thing
. The eyes of the hyena came flooding into Huy’s mind, its golden gaze fixed on him as though it could go on staring at him serenely forever, and with a violent inward force he drove the vision away. “No, it comes from Alashia, Heby,” he explained. “A gift from the King of that island for directing our navy against the pirates. Do you like the flavour?”

“It’s different.” He drank again and set down his cup. “I’m going to miss having you so close, Huy. I’ve given up my position as Mayor of Mennofer so that I’d be able to concentrate on my duties to Amun’s cattle, and being Overseer of Amun’s two granaries here in the north is no happy boat trip either. Obviously Iupia and I will be staying on. I’ve commissioned an architect to design us a house outside the city, even though Amunhotep-Huy will be going to Weset with the court and before long Ramose will be taking his place at Iunu.” He gave Huy a rueful smile. “I’ll be sorry to leave our little house and our noisy, dusty street, but Iupia’s been nagging me for years to build something she considers more appropriate to my titles.” He glanced down at Ramose and Anen, sitting cross-legged on the floor and chattering away to each other.

“I remember the day you married her,” Huy put in. “I sat under the one scrawny sycamore tree in your tiny garden, drinking date wine with Thothhotep and watching your guests. You were still only Chief Scribe to Ptah’s High Priest here in Mennofer then, and Iupia was the daughter of an aristocrat. Now you’re a King’s official and so am I.” He paused, holding his cup in both hands and gazing down at the red liquid. He could see his distorted reflection in it, the image trembling slightly. He looked back at Heby. “Both the past and the future are ephemeral,” he said slowly, “and even the present, which we seem to inhabit endlessly, is a lie. Yet we dare to speak of where we will be in five or ten years’ time. Heby, we will still be in the present and still thinking that the moment lasts forever.”

“Why are you, the Great Seer, suddenly fretting about the passing of time?” Heby held out his cup and Paroi stepped forward at once to refill it. “It’s the move to Weset, isn’t it? You don’t want to go.” He took a mouthful of wine and smacked his lips.

“Her Majesty keeps increasing the amount of work she piles on me,” Huy replied. “On the one hand, I am blessed by her trust in me and my abilities. On the other, I have a strong sense that once in the south the load I carry will increase. I’ve spent my whole life so far in or near the Delta, Heby. All my memories are here. Weset means the beginning of a completely new life. It’s not that I don’t want to go. Something waits for me there, a final test of my loyalty to Atum. He has not put me to any test since I failed to stand against the King’s father, but I’ve told you that he has promised me a last chance to redeem my cowardice. I saw a hyena in the garden.” He had always shared the details of his strange existence with his brother. Now he related his encounter with the magical beast. Heby drank and listened, but it was young Anen who spoke up when Huy fell silent.

“You say that the hyena in the garden came to you from the Beautiful West, yet hyenas belong to Set, god of darkness and chaos, and they hate lions, and lions are the rays of the sun striking the earth, Ra and the Aten, golden and beautiful. Then how can there be hyenas in the Beautiful West?”

The words had tumbled out eagerly. Anen had risen to his knees and was holding the gilded arm of Huy’s chair. As Huy turned from Heby, he saw a red flush creep across the boy’s delicate features.

Anen sat back on his heels. “Forgive my presumption, Great Seer. I know I have offended good manners in eavesdropping on your words. I learn much that way, but Father punishes me for the habit.”

“It is a bad habit, but a good way for a boy to learn of adult things, Prince,” Huy responded gravely. “However, along with stolen knowledge must come the resolve to keep what one overhears to oneself. As for hyenas in Paradise, all I can say is that I saw one there but it was unlike the vermin the peasants fatten up and eat. Perhaps there is a place for the followers of Set in the Beautiful West. Who can say?”

“There must be, because some of the members of my family, having foreign blood, are red-headed, and yet we were born in Egypt and worship the King and the gods with every loyalty. The red-headed, and those who must use their left hands for everything instead of their right, belong to Set. So the priests say.”

“You need not fret about it, Prince. Set is not evil, he merely loves turbulence.”

Anen looked solemn for a moment. Then he nodded. “Thank you for informing me of this, Great Seer. Our tutors do not mention Set very often. According to your definition of the god, my sister Tiye used to be one of his followers. She enjoyed making turbulence. But since His Majesty has married her, she resembles a devotee of the goddess Hathor. She has begun to care about love and beauty and doesn’t tease me anymore or set her goose Nib-Nib to chase my brother Ay.”

I wonder if Tiye knows how closely she’s watched by these intelligent eyes
, Huy thought with amusement.
The Prince would make an excellent little spy for Mutemwia
.

Anen touched him briefly and reverently on the knee. “Great Seer, will you Scry for me? I would like to prepare myself for my future.”

“I would be honoured, Prince, so long as your father agrees. Have him send me a letter.”

“Thank you, Great Seer.” Anen scrambled back to his friend.

Huy watched him go with affection. His scrupulous politeness reminded Huy even more strongly of Thothmes, who would apologize for being in your way if you stepped on his toe.
He’ll be staying in Iunu to go on governing his sepat. I really only have three good friends apart from Heby: Thothmes, Ishat, and Methen. I’ll be reduced to trying to stay close to all of them by letter. In spite of my intimacy with the King and Mutemwia, the bonds of true friendship cannot exist. Either one of them has the power to destroy me. As for Amunhotep’s ministers, I am already superior to many of them. And Atum? Anubis? One does not make friends with gods who enjoy far more supremacy over one than the King himself
.

“Huy, you should be very pleased when you look back over your life and see how far you’ve come,” Heby was saying to him. “Why do you seem so glum?”

“Perhaps I am not grateful enough,” was all that Huy replied.

Later, after his guests had left and the household was settling down for the night, Huy sat in his office and read the reports from Naval Commander Nebenkempt, who requested that the building of more ships be considered; the noble Khaemwaset, governor of the three northeastern provinces, who had received a plea for heavier border patrols from the Assistant Governor who controlled Simurru, the area that included Amurru; and the officer in charge of the soldiers guarding the Horus Road. He and his men had been involved in a skirmish with the marauding Nemausha, killed a handful of them, and chased the rest back into the eastern desert. The scroll from Khaemwaset was more troubling. Amurru stretched along the coast. It bordered the land of the Amorites, and the land of the Amorites directly abutted the kingdom of Mitanni. Huy already knew from the foreign correspondence he dealt with that Mitanni was growing in population and prosperity. Governor Khaemwaset seemed to believe that Mitanni might be preparing to assimilate the tribes of the Amorites. Therefore a greater Egyptian military presence along the Amurru-Amorite border might ultimately be beneficial.
Mitanni would certainly become aware of such a move
, Huy thought as Paneb waited at his feet with brush poised.
There will be protestations of wounded trust from Mitanni’s King, although he’ll certainly be aware of the reason behind it. I wonder if Mutemwia would consider a complete Egyptian occupation of the Amorites. Of course Nebenkempt must have more ships if he needs them. The shipwrights of Nekhen and Nekheb are our best. Nebenkempt can send both mayors a list of what he needs
. The idea of Nekheb, a city he had never seen, brought Thothhotep’s face floating into his mind. It remained there while he dictated the necessary letters and reminded Paneb to make copies of the reports for the King and file the originals. The niches from floor to ceiling in Huy’s office were filling up rapidly.

Having dismissed Paneb, Huy had almost reached the haven of his bedchamber when Amunmose materialized out of the shadows, barefoot and clad only in his loincloth. He was holding a roll of papyrus. “I know that you’re anxious for your poppy and your couch, Huy,” the steward said, “but I knew you’d want to open this. The seal’s imprinted with the symbol of the Heq-at sepat. I’m assuming it’s from Governor Thothmes or the Lady Ishat.” He handed the scroll to Huy. “I’m off to my mattress,” he finished. “Sleep well.”

Huy entered his room with a light heart. He had not received word from either of his friends since the beginning of the month, and even before he came to a halt in the middle of the floor he was breaking apart the red wax. Quietly Tetiankh began to undress him, lifting the earrings from his lobes, pulling off the wooden frog always used to fasten his braid and setting it down on the cosmetics table, unhooking the silver necklet that tinkled as he laid it aside. The scent of lilies wafted to Huy from the bowl of hot water set ready for him, but for once he was unaware of the aroma.

“It’s not from Thothmes or Ishat, it’s from Nasha!” he exclaimed. “She apologizes for using the Governor’s stamp. Or rather, she doesn’t.” He stood still while Tetiankh washed the paint from his face, then sat, and while his feet were washed he silently scanned the letter.

“Dearest adopted brother, omnipotent Seer, and stern controller of the army and navy,” Nasha had dictated.

I am using Thothmes’ seal totally without compunction so that you will open my letter at once. I hear of the King’s move to Weset with indignation. I am so very bored, rattling around Father’s estate all by myself, and no one has thought to invite me to Egypt’s most exciting city. Therefore I have decided to invite myself. I intend to live with Amunnefer until your beautiful new house is built. Yes, brother of mine, everyone knows that you detest living in the palace and the King has promised you a private estate of your own. Such news filters down in mysterious ways from Thothmes’ servants to mine. If I receive no bleat of protest from you, I shall appear in your reception hall with all my chattels on the day you move in. Otherwise I am in danger of lying about in a drunken stupor for the rest of my days and facing a very unfavourable weighing in the Judgment Hall when my heart at last rests on the scales and will not balance Ma’at’s feather. Darling Huy, please do not refuse me this. Signed by my own hand, the Lady Nasha, the month of Pharmuthi, Year Two of the King.

Huy began to smile. He let the papyrus roll up, set it beside the water bowl, and, climbing onto his couch, drained the vial of poppy set ready for him and lay down. At once Tetiankh began to apply the nightly oil and honey to his face. “She wants to come and live with me when the King has finished building our new house,” Huy said. “I’d like that very much, Tetiankh. She and I have been close friends since I was a boy staying on Nakht’s estate with Thothmes and her sister Anuket. Nakht is dead now, and Thothmes is the Governor of the Heq-at sepat in his place, with Ishat and his children to keep him doubly occupied. Anuket is dead too. Nasha is very much alone. She ought to have married. The gods know she had many opportunities to do so.” He rolled over and Tetiankh began his regular massage.

“Forgive me for offering my opinion without being asked, Master, but it has always seemed to me that the Lady Nasha preferred your company to that of any other young man. She will be a good companion for you.”

“How tactful you are! I spent years besotted with Anuket. I’ve always loved Nasha as the sister of my best friend and we’ve always been easy with one another. I assume that Anuket’s husband, the noble Amunnefer, has already agreed to house her. I’m anxious to meet him again and inspect the poppy fields outside Weset that we ventured into together. I’ve never seen them, although the crop has helped to make me a very wealthy man. I’ll consider Nasha’s request.”
Even if I’d wanted her instead of her sister, that perfidious little witch Anuket, I wouldn’t have been able to make love to her
, Huy’s thoughts ran on.
I have been impotent by the will of Atum since I returned to my body and found myself in the House of the Dead, more years ago than I care to remember. Nasha herself will be somewhere in her fifties. She’s older than Thothmes. We shall be two old people bent over a board game and yawning while Nut swallows the sun and our couches beckon
. The vision was so distasteful that Huy murmured aloud. Tetiankh’s sure touch faltered and then continued. Huy fell asleep before the massage was over.

Three weeks later, on the fifteenth day of Pakhons, the month marking the beginning of the harvest season of Shemu, Iaret was accompanied to her husband’s tomb by Amunhotep, Mutemwia, Overseer Userhet and the other harem administrators, many of the women she had come to know during her stay there, and two hundred paid mourners who wore the blue sheaths of custom, wailed pitifully, and often stooped to place soil on their heads. Huy did not attend the funeral, but he heard the women’s keening gradually fade as Iaret was carried away from Mennofer’s House of the Dead.
Apart from the King’s blood-uncle Amunhotep and his mother Mutemwia, he has no relatives left
, Huy mused as he sat in the garden under the dense shade of a cluster of sycamores and watched the glittering liquid from the gardeners’ leather buckets being carefully poured onto the thirsty flower beds.
Last year Amunhotep’s half-sisters Amunemipet, Tiaa, and Petepihu succumbed to—what? Was it the fever that consumed them, or something worse? Has Mutemwia been coldly weeding out any contenders for the Queen’s crown but for the choice she rightly believed I would make?
The possibility was both flattering and horrible.
But she promised me once that she would never offend against Ma’at
, Huy reminded himself.
Her control over every aspect of government is absolute, but even if it wasn’t, I saw no guile in those wide gazelle’s eyes of hers when she vowed always to live according to the dictates of the goddess
.