War of the Crowns

by Christian Jacq

  ‘We’ve done it! We’re free!’ roared Moon, and his words gave renewed courage to his crew. The flagship had indeed freed herself at last.

  With two precise slashes of her dagger, beautiful Anat hamstrung a veritable wild beast of a Hyksos, who was about to stab the Afghan in the back. As an Egyptian sailor finished him off, she looked up and saw a Hyksos aiming his spear at Kamose, who was standing at the prow.

  Shouting would be futile—the pharaon would not hear. Leaping forward with all her strength, Anat threw herself in front of the spear, which plunged into her chest.

  At that moment Kamose turned, and he saw her sacrifice. Maddened with grief, he dashed across the deck, jumping over corpses. Bringing down his sword in fury, he sliced the murderer’s skull almost in two.

  It was the hardest battle Jannas had ever had to fight. True, the Egyptian losses were severe, but the Hyksos’ were even worse, because of Kamose’s tactics and the manoeuvrability of his boats.

  ‘Are we going to follow them, sir?’ asked his second-in-command.

  ‘They are too fast, and Kamose may lave laid traps for us to the south of the city. But the flood will riot last for ever and, however skilful the adversary may be, he will one day come up against our chariots. For the moment, let us concentrate on bandaging our wounds and taking effective measures to ensure the safety of our capital.’

  Standing on the highest tower of the citadel, Khamudi had watched Jannas achieve victory, hailed by cheers from the Hyksos archers. Already very popular, the commander was now seen as the saviour of the Hyksos and the emperor’s true right arm, in place of the High Treasurer, who from now on would have to treat him with the greatest respect.

  Khamudi knew he had neglected the army in favour of the city and provincial guards. As soon as possible, he would make good that mistake.

  His wife ran to meet him. ‘We’re saved, aren’t we? We’re saved!’

  ‘Go and comfort the lady Tany. I must go and give the good news to the emperor.’

  Apophis was sitting on his austere throne, in the half-light of the audience chamber.

  ‘Majesty, Commander Jannas has put the Egyptians to flight.’

  ‘Did you ever doubt that he would, my friend?’

  ‘No, of course not! But we have lost a great many boats and sailors. That is no doubt why the commander chose not to pursue the defeated fleet but to ensure the defence of Avaris. Unfortunately, our victory is not complete, because Kamose is unscathed.’

  ‘Are you quite sure of that?’ asked the emperor’s icy voice.

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  She-Cat was horrified to find Moustache’s body. She leant closer: he was still breathing. To her relief, most of the wounds were superficial, though his left ear had been almost completely sliced through.

  ‘A remedy for pain, quickly!’

  One of her assistants brought her a small round vase, containing a powerful pain-reliever based on opium. Opening Moustache’s mouth a little way, she made him take enough to ensure that he would feel no pain for several hours.

  With a linen net soaked in sycamore-sap, she cleaned the wound and removed the fragments of tissue that might become septic, then brought together the two parts of the ear. Using bronze needles and linen thread, she sewed it up.

  ‘Do you think it will work?’ asked the Afghan.

  ‘When I do something,’ retorted She-Cat in annoyance, ‘I do it well. Do you want me to take see to your shoulder? At first glance, it doesn’t look too good.’

  The Afghan’s eyes rolled upward. More seriously wounded than he wanted to admit, he fainted.

  Kamose held Anat’s hands for some time after she died. Then he tenderly wrapped a shroud round her body. He loved her, and she had given her life to save him, but there was no time now to grieve for her.

  ‘About turn!’ he ordered.

  ‘The men are exhausted,’ objected Emheb, who was himself at the end of his strength.

  ‘We must show the Hyksos that we are capable of taking the offensive again.’

  ‘Majesty …’

  ‘Order to all vessels in the fleet: about turn and head for Avaris. Tell the soldiers to wash, change their clothes, and prepare for battle.’

  Under Moon’s direction, the boats carried out the manoeuvre.

  She-Cat emerged from the cabin where the wounded were being treated. ‘What is happening?’ she asked Emheb, who was sitting on a coil of rope nearby.

  ‘We are turning back to attack Avaris. The Hyksos believe we have been put to flight, and the king thinks the effect of surprise will be decisive because Jannas has not yet had time to organize the city’s defence.’

  ‘But our losses were heavy, and the enemy outnumbers us enormously.’

  ‘That’s true,’ said Emheb.

  ‘And Jannas is an experienced commander, who won’t be thrown into confusion even by a surprise attack?’

  ‘That’s true, too.’

  ‘So if we launch this attack, we shall all die?’

  ‘And so is that.’

  The heat, the sun, the sparkling waters of the Nile: the Hyksos lookout thought he was seeing a mirage. It could not possibly be an enemy boat coining back towards Avaris.

  He signalled to his colleagues to alert them, and they relayed the message to Jannas, who with his officers was studying the capital’s future system of defence.

  ‘That little king is becoming a serious problem,’ said Jannas. ‘He wants to take us by the throat even though he has not one chance in a hundred of succeeding. In his place and at his age, I might perhaps have committed the same folly.’

  ‘Are we in any real danger?’ asked an officer anxiously.

  ‘Kamose does not know the size of the reinforcements I have not yet committed—they’re waiting to the north of the city. He is committing suicide.’

  The pharaon stood at the prow of the flagship, thinking of Ahhotep. If she had been here, she would have done exactly the same. The Hyksos could not possibly have guessed that the Egyptians would find the resources necessary to resume the fight.

  The sombre expression of the sailors, including Moon, told Kamose that they thought his decision pure madness. But he knew that none of them would flinch from the challenge.

  ‘A lookout has sighted us,’ said Moon. ‘Shall we continue at full speed, Majesty?’

  Kamose could not reply. The river was becoming confused with the sky, the riverbanks were spinning. Large drops of sweat trickled down his face.

  ‘Majesty, are you ill?’

  The sensation of vertigo was so great that Kamose swayed.

  Moon helped him sit down. ‘Have you been wounded?’

  ‘No. No, I don’t think so.’ But he could hardly breathe. ‘She-Cat must examine you.’

  The Nubian could find no wound. ‘This is a sickness I don’t know,’ she confessed. ‘The king must drink plenty of water, and rest in his cabin.’

  ‘Am I to order the attack, Majesty?’ asked Moon.

  Kamose took several seconds to understand the question and to realize what it implied. His brain had slowed down, and he had to make an intense effort to compose his reply.

  ‘No, Commander. We shall stay here for a few hours, then head back towards Thebes.’

  *

  ‘The Egyptian fleet is withdrawing, Commander,’ said Jannas’s second-in-command.

  Jannas frowned.

  ‘Are we to give chase, sir?’

  ‘Absolutely not. Obviously, Kamose wants to lure us after him and into a trap. He has proved that he can attack Avaris again, and he hopes to provoke just that reaction from us. Further south, there are other troops commanded by Ahhotep. If we pursued Kamose, we’d be mauled by the claws of that she-panther.’

  ‘Then what are your orders, sir?’

  ‘Remove the wrecked ships from the trading-port, bury the dead, and strengthen Avaris’s defences to the maximum. I am to be alerted as soon as an enemy boat makes a move.’

  Jannas had many details to sort out, notably
the reorganization of the army and the war-fleet. From now on he intended to be their true commander-in-chief, free from the influence of Khamudi and his henchmen. True, he would have to be careful not to put too much emphasis on Khamudi’s incompetence, because the emperor trusted Khamudi completely as regards government and the economy; but Apophis must accept that the Egyptian army was not just a collection of bunglers, and that there was a real war to fight, a war between Lower and Upper Egypt, between the North and the South.

  Because of their speed, the Egyptian warships quickly rejoined the cargo-vessels captured from the Hyksos. Throughout the journey to Thebes, liberated towns and villages greeted Kamose’s fleet in triumph.

  Wonderful news was spreading: the pharaoh had beaten the Hyksos, the White Crown was victorious! Everywhere, feasts and other celebrations were being organized. Everywhere, people were singing and dancing. In the summer sky the sun shone, driving away the darkness.

  Despite his exhaustion, the pharaoh stood at the prow of the golden vessel at each principal stopping-place, notably Memphis, Khmun and Qis, the scenes of his great victories. Cheered by the people, Kamose had believed his strength would return. But the dizziness was wearing him out, his legs gave way under him, and he had to stay lying down, even though he could not sleep.

  Moustache and the Afghan were leaning on the ship’s rail. Moustache’s ear was healing well, but the Afghan was still a bit weak from his wound.

  ‘We’re nearly at Thebes,’ said Moustache. ‘I don’t understand why Queen Ahhotep withdrew instead of joining us at Avaris.’

  ‘And I don’t understand why our system of carrier-pigeons isn’t working,’ added the Afghan.

  ‘Still, we reached Avaris and stood up to Jannas.’

  ‘Yes, we did, and it was a great achievement. But the emperor and his citadel are untouched, and I doubt if Jannas’s troops will stay on the defensive for ever.’

  Moustache thought about the next battle, in which Jannas was sure to use his heavy weapons. But he soon shook off the thought, for there ahead of them were the green banks of Thebes and a crowd mad with joy, awaiting the heroes to congratulate them and celebrate their triumph.

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  Married soldiers fell into their wives’ arms, while the others enjoyed the attentions of enthusiastic young Theban girls who wanted to touch the victors and show their undying admiration.

  Already, the cargo-ves seis’ precious contents were being unloaded, while the people of Thebes watched in awe. Seeing this, they did not doubt for a moment that Kamose had defeated the Hyksos.

  Supported by Moon and Emheb, the pharaoh was cheered for a long time. Officially, he was suffering from a leg wound which made it difficult for him to walk. But, as soon as she held him to her heart, Ahhotep realized that her elder son was dying.

  Putting on the bravest face she could, so as not to spoil the Thebans’ happiness, she saw him helped into his travelling-chair to be borne to the palace, and then climbed into her own.

  Teti and Ahmose greeted them, Ahmose rapturously happy to have his elder brother home again.

  ‘You’ve got very thin,’ exclaimed the boy.

  ‘The battles were very hard,’ explained Kamose.

  ‘Did you kill all the Hyksos?’

  ‘No, I have left you a few.’ He suddenly felt ill again, and had to be helped by Qaris.

  ‘Kamose must rest,’ said Ahhotep. ‘bashall make the ritual offerings in his place.’

  The riches from Avaris were offered to Amon, in his temple at Karnak, before being distributed to the Thebans, with the exception of the gold and lapis-lazuli, which would be used to adorn the temple.

  Concealing her anguish, the Wife of God spoke the ancient words that enabled the Invisible One to manifest himself upon earth. This caused the light that had appeared on the world’s first morning to shine out, as it had done upon the mound that emerged from the primordial ocean, at the very spot where Karnak had been built.

  As soon as the ceremony was at an end, Ahhotep returned to the palace and hurried towards Kamose’s bedchamber.

  In the passageway outside, she was met by Qaris, who, despite his anxiety about the king, was supervising preparations for the victory banquet. ‘Majesty, do you think … ?’

  ‘All this noise must stop at once.’ The head palace doctor appeared in the doorway of the patient’s bedchamber. ‘Majesty, my diagnosis is definite: Pharaoh Kamose has been poisoned. It is impossible to cure him, for the heart of his being has been affected. The poison has spread through all his vessels, and the king’s life-energy is almost spent.’

  Ahhotep entered the room and closed the door behind her.

  Kamose was sitting down, his head resting on a cushion, and was gazing at the Peak of the West. She took his hand gently.

  ‘Avaris is intact and the emperor is still alive,’ he whispered, ‘but we inflicted severe losses on him, and I have shown him that we can strike at any moment. Jannas knows that our army can fight. We must strengthen our positions, then seize Avaris and finally liberate the Delta. But the course of my life is run. It falls to you, my mother, to continue the struggle that you yourself began. Forgive me for leaving you this superhuman task, but my breath is leaving me; I can no longer hold it within me.’

  Scalding tears flowed down Ahhotep’s cheeks, but her voice was steady. ‘It was the Hyksos spy who took me away from you, and it was he who poisoned you, in order to make the attack on Avaris fail.’

  Kamose managed a small smile. ‘So he believed that I would win victory. A victory which you will achieve in my name and in my father’s, won’t you?’

  ‘I give you my oath upon it.’

  ‘I have tried to be worthy of him and you. I hope my brother will fight at your side, and I ask one last favour.’

  ‘You are Pharaoh. Speak, and I shall obey you.’

  ‘Will you have stelae engraved, telling of my fight for freedom?’

  ‘Nothing that you have accomplished will be forgotten, my son. These monuments will sing of your exploits and your bravery, and they will be displayed in the temple at Karnak, where your glory will be preserved among the gods.’*

  ‘It is not easy to die so young. But you are beside me, and I have the good fortune to gaze upon the western bank where the soul’s peace reigns. For several years I have been unable to sleep. Now I am going to rest.’

  Kamose raised his eyes to the heavens and his hand gripped his mother’s very tightly.

  ‘The mummy is cold, Majesty,’ a priest told the queen. ‘That is an excellent sign: it signifies that the deceased has expelled his bad heat, which is made up of passions and resentments, and that his soul has been purified. Henceforth, Pharaoh Kamose possesses the serenity of Osiris.’

  A widow, now in mourning for a twenty-year-old son, Ahhotep yet again refused to succumb to the blows of fate. Since Kamose had no son or successor, it was she who must lead the funeral rites. Just as she had done after the death of her husband, she took on the office of regent queen and governed Egypt.

  Kamose’s sarcophagus was decorated with feathers evoking the travels of the soul-bird in the heavens. Inside, she laid a gold and ebony fan to ensure him eternal breath, axes, and a gold boat, in which his spirit would sail for ever across the universe.

  With surprising gravity and composure for a child of ten, Ahmose had followed every stage of the mourning, from the mummification of his elder brother to the interment in the burial-ground on the western bank of Thebes. But, after all, the sages of Egypt considered ten to be the age at which one became fully responsible for one’s own actions.

  Ahhotep had a threefold mission: to continue the war of liberation, to prepare Ahmose to become pharaon, and to discover the identity of the Hyksos spy, that person who was so close to her and who had already inflicted so much suffering upon her.

  As the funeral procession went towards the riverbank, Emheb approached the queen.

  ‘Majesty, I can no longer keep my thoughts to myself.’


  ‘What is it, Emheb?’

  ’I saw the citadel of Avaris at close quarters, and it is impregnable. Everyone knows that you have achieved many miracles and that the gods have filled your heart with magical power. But the emperor has built himself an indestructible lair. We can certainly attack it and attack it again, but each time we will lose many men. I believe that is exactly what Apophis is hoping for, and that when we have been weakened enough he in turn will attack us.’

  ‘For the time being, in accordance with the wishes of Pharaoh Kamose, you are to go to Memphis, strengthen its defences and consolidate our positions in the liberated provinces.’

  Sorely tried, Teti the Small had not been present at the final stages of the funeral ceremonies. She could not accept that death had spared her, only to strike down a young king of twenty summers. And she knew that little Ahmose would never laugh as he had done before, and that from now on he could no longer enjoy the carefree existence of childhood.

  Kamose’s death had put a premature end to rejoicing and reality had imposed itself again, with all its cruelty: the war was far from over, Hyksos military power remained almost intact, and even the survival of Thebes was uncertain.

  Ahhotep helped her mother to her feet.

  ‘I am so tired,’ said Teti. ‘Leave me to sleep.’

  ‘Qaris has prepared us an excellent dinner, and you need to regain your strength. Don’t forget that Ahmose’s education is not complete and that he still needs you.’

  ‘I admire you so much, my daughter. Where do you get so much courage from?’

  ‘From the will to be free.’

  To show herself worthy of her rank, Teti joined her family for the meal. And when Ahmose asked her to tell him about the Age of Gold, she realized that she could not slacken her efforts. She had to educate a future pharaon; that must be the joy of her old age.