The King's Man (45 page)

Mutemwia leaned towards him. “Is he to be maimed in some way, then? Or perhaps you were distressed because he will not rule well when the Double Crown is placed on his head? Will there be an unsuccessful palace revolt against him? Will Egypt suffer under his hand? What?
What?
You and I are almost as close to one another as brother and sister, Huy. Can you not relieve me of this anxiety?”

Now Huy did move, swaying onto his knees and bending forward with head lowered in a gesture of submission so that she could not see his discomfiture. Her guesses were unpleasantly close to the truth. “Majesty, if I were allowed to unburden myself of this Seeing, I would have hurried to approach you before any other. You and I share a mutual respect and understanding in spite of the gulf of blood between us. But I dare not defy Anubis’s clear directive. Forgive me.”

She was silent for a while. With his face inches from the sweet-smelling grass, the idle conversation of her women drifted over him. A bird screeched angrily in the branches above and flew away with a rustle of dry leaves. The gold border of her sheath was a bright blur on the periphery of his vision. Presently she sighed.

“Given your honesty, there could be no other answer,” she said. “In the meantime, I must try to quell my gloomy conjectures and get on with my duties as best I may. Will you at least promise to come to me first when the god’s ban on your tongue is lifted?”

I could do so
, Huy thought swiftly,
but what if she forbids me to attempt to reverse this country’s grave destiny for fear that my action may endanger her surviving grandson? And what action are you planning anyway, mer kat? All your desire is bent on sailing to Mennofer, examining the scroll, solving the one puzzle that has obsessed you since your thirteenth year. Have you any idea how Egypt’s fate is to be averted?
“The contents of the Seeing belong to His Majesty the Emperor first,” he said carefully. “He alone must weigh its importance. Believe me, Mutemwia, I would rather dissect its message with you than with Horus, indeed already I wish that I could call upon your insight and calm astuteness. However, I also must follow a diversion, and the vision must wait.”

“Very well.” She signalled that he might rise. Huy stood, taking the graceful hand extended to him and kissing it lightly. “Go and mollify Their Majesties before you embark for the north. I wish you success in the culmination of your quest. Send me scrolls of your progress, and may the soles of your feet be firm. I love you, dear friend.”

I love you also
, Huy thought as he bowed and walked into the dazzling heat of mid-morning.
There is no one whose advice I value more, but I have a growing suspicion that no advice will be able to save me from the solution Atum expects. I thank the gods that I need not ponder the matter for weeks to come
.

To Huy’s surprise and relief, his interview with Amunhotep and Tiye did not take long. Both of them seemed to have accepted the necessity of his absence. Amunhotep, entirely sober, grudgingly agreed to attend the morning audiences and make decisions together with Chief Royal Treasurer Sobekhmose and Seal Bearer and Chief Scribe Nebmerut. “Everything will be sent on to you, though,” he said. “It’s a nuisance, Uncle, to tie up the majority of my heralds in running to the Delta and back, but there’s no choice. Why don’t you just ask that the scroll be brought to you here? I’ll provide an escort for it of as many soldiers as you like.”

“It may be in a very fragile condition, Majesty,” Huy replied. “Having it carried south, no matter how carefully, might irreparably damage it. Besides, I doubt if Ptah’s archivist will allow it to leave his care.” He spread his hands. “You own Egypt, Amunhotep,” he pressed. “All of it is yours under Ma’at. You’re entirely capable of taking the reins of government from my hands for a few months, even though—”

“Even though your hunting dogs and concubines will have to amuse themselves,” Tiye broke in firmly. “Huy has had no rest from the demands of government since you made him your mer kat. What emergency could possibly arise that can’t be dealt with by you and Huy’s advisers, my love? Anyway, when was the last time Huy made a personal request of you? Let him go.” Her kohled eyes met Huy’s then slid away.

You see this as an opportunity to sample the taste of real power, don’t you, my Empress? Amunhotep will quickly tire of morning audiences and long meetings with the ministers, but you will not
.

“Well, what if you die of some accident or disease?” Amunhotep grumbled. “Then Tiye and I will never know the substance of the vision regarding my little Prince.”

“It resides with my scribe Paneb. If I die, you may immediately request it from him.”

“The gods will not allow you to die, mer kat. Not yet.” Tiye was leaning forward. “Now acquaint His Majesty with any current business in which you are engaged, then go with our blessing.”

The brief exchange was over. Huy, bowing himself out, felt a pang of possessiveness towards the many complex duties he was relinquishing into the Empress’s greedy hands, but the emotion was quickly submerged under a flood of anticipation. He was temporarily free.

HIS BARGE PULLED AWAY
from his watersteps just before sunset, followed by the two vessels carrying his servants and belongings. He intended to sail downriver until he had rounded the bend that took a leisurely sweep eastward before the water returned to its northerly flow and the bustle and noise of the city was behind him. The month of Phamenoth was almost over. Egypt’s fields lay carpeted with newly sprouted green crops, its canals still largely full. The river below Huy flowed gently toward the north. Huy, leaning on the rail, watched the sky gradually darken and the stars appear. Nasha’s perfume drifted up to him. She was sitting on a stool by his side, stirring occasionally, hands folded in her lap. Huy had rightly assumed that she would want to travel as far as Thothmes’ home at Iunu. He was eager to see his old friend but did not regret the fact that he would be disembarking at Mennofer, a full day’s journey south of that city. Ramose had also begged to be included in the flotilla. He was returning to the Aten’s temple at Iunu, where he would perform his overt duties as a steward and prepare his customary private report for Queen Mutemwia.
He and Nasha will be good company on the long journey
, Huy reflected.
They will prevent me from becoming too preoccupied with the task facing me. How good it is to be away from the demands of the court!

By the time Huy stood beside his litter on the palace’s water-steps at Mennofer and watched his barge continue north, the Inundation had begun. It was the middle of Pharmuthi. A full month had slid by since Weset had sunk below the horizon. His other boats were being tethered to the posts sunk at the foot of the steps. In a moment the ramps would be run out and servants and goods would begin to file along the edge of the guarded canal, across the vast concourse, and into the emptiness of the labyrinthine residence.

Huy had decided to occupy whatever quarters lay closest to the Temple of Ptah, in the southern palace apartments, so he could easily reach the temple without his litter. The Fine District of Pharaoh was surrounded by a high and sturdy wall and bisected north to south by another wall sealing off the palace from the ancient White Walls, the Citadel, and the large District of Ptah. Two canals met the outer main wall. The northern waterway ended at the edge of the stone forecourt leading to the palace’s main reception hall. The second, farther south, ended at the bisecting interior wall, and was intended to accommodate those privileged worshippers arriving by skiff. There was a gate and a short paved avenue leading directly under Ptah’s entrance pylon and into the wide outer court. All Huy had to do was walk to the head of the canal, go through the gate, and take the few steps to reach the towering pylon. He neither knew nor cared whose rooms were filling with the chaos of unloading under Amunmose’s sharp eye. They were larger than his previous apartment, with a garden between the outer doors of his reception room and the inner wall cutting through the precincts, and a massive cedar door that protected him from the reverential comings and goings along the god’s canal. Even though the King was not in residence, soldiers guarded every entrance and exit. The palace at Mennofer was ancient and sacred.

Quelling the urge to send a message to the temple immediately, Huy took Perti with him and escaped from the temporary chaos in the apartment to find the captain of the guards. He did not hurry. The huge building was blessedly quiet, the corridors dim, the air untainted by the scents of human occupation.
No distasteful aroma of jasmine carrying its weight of unhappy memories
, Huy thought, listening to the echoes of his and Perti’s sandalled feet against the walls they were passing.
No need to thread my way through a constant press of servants and courtiers, acknowledging bows and greetings, my mind full of a dozen tasks to be accomplished before I can retreat to the cramped quarters that were assigned to me here. My full attention will go to the scroll. The baby Prince’s Seeing will be relegated to the verge of my consciousness
. But his spurt of exhilaration was short-lived. He was midway along a wide, dusky passage when he thought he heard the sound of a faint scrabble behind him, and his nostrils filled with the acrid whiff of a wild animal. Gripping Perti’s arm, he came to an abrupt halt.

“There’s something following us,” he said. “Some kind of a dog. I caught its odour briefly. Listen.” He wanted to turn around, to see one of the greyhounds the King used for hunting emerge from the gloom at the far end, but he did not dare.

Perti was scanning their surroundings. Finally he shook his head. “I smell nothing, and if an animal was trailing us, we would have known about it sooner. I can walk back, Master, but I think it’s just the sheer emptiness of this place distorting the noise of our feet and our breathing.”

Huy did not answer him. They set off again at a brisker pace. Huy’s spine prickled.
So even here, where I’ve come in obedience to the will of Atum, I am to be shadowed
, he thought with an anger tinged in fear. He was very glad to emerge from the palace into bright sunlight and the tug of a hot wind.

Perti escorted him back to the apartment before leaving to order the necessary new duties for the soldiers now under his command, and closing the wide doors behind him with a moment of inner relief, Huy beckoned Amunmose. Much of the disorder had disappeared and the reception room was quiet.

“Rakhaka and his staff have gone to the kitchens to prepare a meal,” Amunmose said in answer to Huy’s question. “He’s grumbling about the distance he and the food must travel, but then he always finds something to complain about. Your couch is dressed and your chests unpacked. Amun and Khenti-kheti have been placed in their shrines. I’ve spread the servants out in the other apartments along this corridor. Kenofer’s gone to see that the nearest bathhouse is ready for you. I don’t know what happened to the wine jars, but I dare say someone will appear to tell me before long.” He grinned. “I’m going to enjoy being the only chief steward in residence, Huy. Do you need anything?”

“Yes. Find Paneb and Ba-en-Ra.” He went to the nearest chair and sat.

Amunmose sketched a bow. “I gave them separate quarters. Paneb already has a pile of papyrus from Weset for you to deal with.” He hurried away.

The doors to the little garden were open and guarded. Huy looked past the two broad-shouldered soldiers to the dazzle of sun-drenched growth beyond. The grass was yellowing.
Amunmose must find a couple of men to water it each evening
, Huy thought, but behind the thought was a sudden anxiety.
A hyena could easily slip past my guards and come in if I don’t keep the doors shut. It could pad through the reception room, find my bedchamber, be squatting on my couch and waiting for me
. He stirred.
But no. Doors open or closed mean nothing to the creature Anubis controls and Imhotep caresses, the emissary whose message I’m unable to comprehend
. He was glad when his scribe and his herald came purposefully towards him over the blue and white tiled floor.

He dictated a polite letter to the archivist of Ptah’s House of Life, warning him that he would be present to examine the scroll the following morning, and gave it to Ba-en-Ra to deliver at once. Then with a lighter heart he turned his attention to the number of scrolls Paneb had placed on the table beside him.
Tomorrow I will see the end of a long and troubling journey
, he told himself, listening to Paneb read while his excitement mounted.
High Priest Ptahhotep is in residence at Weset. As one of Amunhotep’s Fanbearers he has little time to spare for his duties to Ptah here in Mennofer. A good thing—I have no desire to discharge what would have been a necessary obligation to acquaint him with my findings, seeing that the scroll belongs to his temple. Dealing with the archivist will be annoying enough
.

He slept poorly that night, waking often on the unfamiliar couch to lie and listen to the deep silence of empty corridors and dark, untenanted rooms. He half expected to hear the scrabble of animal claws against the tiling of his floor before feeling the weight of a lean body settle beside his knees, but the shadows remained still. Each time he returned to consciousness the ache for more poppy woke with him, but he was used to this particular demand, a craving that had now become constant, and he was able to cocoon it within thoughts of the scroll. When he heard Kenofer cough and rustle as he rose from his pallet outside the door, Huy got up, wrapped himself in a sheet, and went to greet his bleary-eyed body servant. The sun had not yet risen.

Huy was tempted to order a larger dose of poppy than usual, but refrained from doing so for fear it would make him sluggish and blunt his faculties when the scroll was placed in his hands.
I should not be allowing myself this extreme anticipation
, he thought as later he made his way to the nearest bathhouse, where Kenofer waited.
The only evidence I have that the last words of the Book of Thoth will unroll before me is the fact that Imhotep is rumoured to have served as High Priest in Ptah’s temple. I should be cautious, doubting, ready for disappointment
. But he was unable to stem the flow of euphoria quickening his heartbeat.