by Paul Doherty
Amerotke followed the page boy along the gallery. On either side the walls were decorated with huge frescoes of Egypt’s victories over its enemies. Chariots, painted in blue and gold, thundered over fallen Nubians, Libyans and warriors from the Land of Punt. Asiatics gazed up in shock and horror at the glory of Pharaoh and the power of Egypt’s army. Along the edge of the painting ran words of praise.
‘He has stretched out his arm. He, the golden falcon of Horus, has swooped upon his enemies. He has broken their necks. He has shattered their heads. He has taken their gold and treasure. He has made the earth tremble before his name.’
Amerotke wondered if the inscriptions would be an epitaph on Egypt’s glory. A boy Pharaoh at home, a divided royal circle, and now a murderous hatred had broken out among those who governed Thebes.
The page boy padded ahead of him then turned right. The guards at the door were dressed in full ceremonial armour: red and white striped stiffened headdresses, corselets of bronze, leather kilts. The soldiers, from one of the crack regiments, stood, shields slung across their arms, swords drawn. When the page boy whispered to one of them the bronze doors were opened and Amerotke was led into Hatusu’s private chambers, which were cool and well lit. Pastel shades on the walls provided a welcome relief from the warlike scenes outside. The air was heavy with the smell of cassia, frankincense and the most fragrant perfume from flowers in pots or wreaths around the room. The chamber was sparsely furnished with some beautiful figurines of gold and silver, chairs and stools of polished wood inlaid with ebony and ivory.
The page boy left him in the antechamber and went through a small side door. Amerotke tried to relax, admiring the paintings of fishermen on the Nile throwing out clap nets and lithe dancing girls with their thick, rich wigs and sinuous naked bodies. In the shifting light these seemed to move gracefully, lifting their sistra and clapping in eternal, ever-moving dance.
‘My lord.’
The page boy was beckoning imperiously. Amerotke followed him into the chamber beyond and stifled his astonishment. It was a small room, the paintings on the walls hidden because there were only two lamps on either side of the great throne-like chair under a cloth-of-gold canopy. Hatusu sat, hands grasping the arms carved into the shape of snarling leopards. Her feet rested on a footstool covered with cloth-of-gold depicting the goddess Ma’at sitting in victory over one of the terrible demons of the underworld. On either side of Hatusu sat Senenmut and Sethos.
Amerotke was sure that Hatusu had chosen this chamber to convey the sense of her own royal power. If she had worn the blue or double crown and carried the flail and rod, she would have looked like Pharaoh himself sitting in judgement. Her face had changed, no longer soft and flirtatious. Now her jaw was tensed in fury, her eyes blazing. Amerotke glanced at Sethos, then genuflected. He was affording her no more dignity than she deserved yet he recalled Omendap’s warning. Hatusu was making it very clear she was to be Regent. Secretly he wondered if she also wanted to be Pharaoh.
‘Your highness.’ Amerotke spoke firmly. ‘You have summoned me here.’
‘If you do not want to stay, my lord Amerotke, you may go!’
Hatusu’s voice was tense and clipped. Amerotke sighed and got to his feet, folding his arms across his chest. Sethos’ eyes now looked guarded. He shook his head imperceptibly, a warning for Amerotke to heed his words. Amerotke felt a spurt of rebellion.
‘I am chief judge in the Hall of Two Truths,’ he said. ‘I represent Pharaoh’s justice.’
‘You were always stiff as a pole.’ Hatusu leaned forward, smiling now. ‘Do you remember, Amerotke? You used to have a b … bi … bit …’ she mimicked, ‘of … a stammer. Do you remember that?’
‘I remember the teasing, your highness. How can I forget? You and your pet cat, grey wasn’t it? With soft eyes and sharp claws. Sometimes it was difficult to tell between the two, the pet or its owner.’
Sethos’ hiss of breath was audible but Hatusu surprised him. An impish gleam appeared in her eyes.
‘You were always blunt, Amerotke. You’ve overcome your stammer but you have the same secretive face, the same passion for the lady Norfret and the same determination to do what is right. Don’t you ever get bored?’
‘Your highness, I was trained at your father’s court, so if I do I have the good manners to hide it.’
Amerotke could feel his anger. He found it difficult to control his breathing. He wanted to walk about, give vent to it. At the same time he felt childish; was he angry or simply frightened?
‘Some people would say you were impertinent.’ Senenmut spoke up. He was lounging sideways, one arm on the throne. He caressed it so lovingly Amerotke wondered if Hatusu’s henchman wanted to sit there himself.
‘I beg your pardon?’ Amerotke cocked his head as if he couldn’t understand Senenmut’s words.
The overseer of the royal works moved his hand, tapping his fingers on his thigh.
‘My lord Amerotke,’ he said again. ‘Some people would call you impertinent.’
‘In which case, sir, many people would say we have a lot in common.’
Hatusu laughed and sprang to her feet. She went and leaned against Amerotke, her face staring up at him. In the poor light Amerotke felt as if they had gone back years and he was a young man being teased by a little imp in Pharaoh’s household. As she pressed her body against his he caught her sweat, the costly perfumes and oils from her gown and body. She kissed him on one cheek and walked elegantly back to the throne where she slouched with a petulant cast to her lips.
‘What do you want, Amerotke?’
‘To be left alone.’
‘No, as chief judge?’
‘Life, health and prosperity for divine Pharaoh. Peace in his household.’
‘Amerotke,’ Sethos broke in. ‘Don’t play the foolish prude with us. To put it bluntly, a line has been drawn. Which side do you stand on?’
Amerotke raised his eyebrows. ‘I am afraid, my lord, I stand where I did before any line was drawn.’
‘You are a liar!’ Senenmut broke in.
Amerotke took a step forward and Senenmut raised his hands.
‘I apologise. I withdraw that. You are many things, Amerotke, but you are not a liar. Indeed, unless you are a fool, I think you are a man of integrity.’ He smiled crookedly. ‘A little prudish, rather stiff. But, if the kingdom slides into civil war?’
‘I will support Pharaoh against his enemies,’ Amerotke replied.
‘And who are Pharaoh’s enemies?’ Hatusu asked, her voice loud and strident. She stretched out her arm and opened her hand.
Amerotke saw the royal cartouche of the boy Pharaoh, the unmistakable hieroglyphics displaying Thoth the god of wisdom, Pharaoh’s royal name and the double crown of Egypt.
‘Well, what is the law?’ she demanded.
‘Whoever holds the cartouche, the seal of Egypt,’ Amerotke replied, ‘manifests the divine power of Amun-Ra.’
‘I hold it,’ she said. ‘Those fools in the council think that my stepson hates and rejects me. He does not!’
Amerotke leaned down and kissed the cartouche.
‘What do you want of me, your highness?’ He pointed at Sethos. ‘There sits the eyes and ears of Pharaoh. If enemies are to be searched out …’
‘Ah, so that’s it!’ Hatusu smiled. ‘You think you are here to be Pharaoh’s dog, to bark and show your teeth?’ Her voice became matter-of-fact. ‘I simply want these deaths investigated.’
‘Why?’
‘Because the assassin may have marked down anyone in this chamber for destruction.’
‘Why?’ Amerotke deliberately repeated.
‘Pharaoh is still a boy.’ Sethos spoke up. ‘Perhaps there is a member of the royal circle who believes he can wade through a sea of blood to control the throne of Egypt.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Amerotke replied. ‘Your highness, I believe the deaths are somehow connected with that of your husband. He was the first to die. Immediately, on his
return to Thebes, the other deaths quickly followed.’
‘But why?’ Hatusu asked.
Amerotke now regretted his earlier hostility. Hatusu looked vulnerable, mystified, her eyes full of fear. She knows something, Amerotke thought.
‘But if you trap the killer?’ Senenmut spoke up.
‘If I trap the killer then we will have the perpetrator, the cause, the motive. Yet it will be a difficult task. If I began with divine Pharaoh’s death, then I would rule Captain Meneloto was innocent.’
‘Do you accept my commission?’ Hatusu insisted.
‘I do.’
‘And you will report directly to me?’
‘Your highness, if you wish. But, there again, if I accept this commission, my lady, I must begin by questioning you.’
Hatusu sat back in her chair. ‘But …’ Her stammer was genuine. She smiled in self-mockery. ‘I know nothing. I received divine Pharaoh on the steps of the temple of Amun-Ra. We walked in. He collapsed and died in my arms.’
‘And he said nothing?’
She shook her head. ‘He said nothing!’
She’s lying, Amerotke thought. He glanced at Senenmut and wondered how much he knew.
‘I was in the crowds outside the temple,’ Senenmut declared. ‘I was not a member of divine Pharaoh’s entourage.’
‘I was even further,’ Sethos joked. ‘I was down in the city, overseeing the crowds along the quayside.’
‘Divine Pharaoh died at noon,’ Amerotke continued. ‘My lady, what happened then?’
‘Divine Pharaoh’s golden flesh was taken to a nearby mortuary temple. A physician was called.’
‘Which one? Was it Peay?’ Amerotke asked.
‘No, no, an old man from the House of Life. He felt for Pharaoh’s life beat in his neck and chest and held a mirror to his lips. He said the soul had gone.’
‘And then what?’
‘There was consternation and chaos outside.’ Hatusu shrugged. ‘Prisoners had been executed. Signs and portents in the courtyard – doves had fallen from heaven.’
‘Ah yes, I heard of that. What was wrong?’
Hatusu pulled a face. ‘Some people claimed it was a portent. Others that hunters had injured the birds. They had flown in across the city but the attempt to fly over the high walls of the temple proved too much.’
‘Was a search made? I mean, for the hunters? Were there other birds?’
Hatusu shook her head. ‘I don’t know. I stayed with my husband’s corpse in that mortuary temple until after dusk. I couldn’t believe he was dead. I couldn’t accept that he had flown to the far horizon. I thought it was some dreadful mistake.’
‘But people came in to see you?’
‘A few. Rahimere, General Omendap, others of the royal circle. They asked me questions, I forget now.’
Amerotke nodded. What Hatusu had told him was court protocol. A Pharaoh died, his Queen would grieve alone. The process of embalming, preparing his body for the royal funeral rites, would not begin until after dusk.
‘And then Peay was called?’
‘I stripped the body,’ she replied. ‘Divine Pharaoh’s crown had fallen off but that had been brought into the mortuary temple with him. I removed his kilt, his cuirass, pectoral and sandals and covered the body in a linen sheet. After dark Peay and the embalmers came to remove the corpse.’
‘And then the snake bite was discovered?’
‘Yes, on Pharaoh’s left leg just above the heel.’
‘Who saw it first?’
‘Peay. He had this ridiculous idea that Pharaoh might be in a deep swoon.’ Hatusu spread her fingers. She watched the light catch the rings carved in the shape of snakes. ‘The rest you know. I called Sethos, who was in attendance. He ordered troops down to the royal barque. The viper was found, curled up beneath the royal throne. So small, yet it caused such chaos.’
‘And why were the charges levelled against Meneloto?’
‘My lord Sethos counselled against that,’ Hatusu replied. ‘But I was distraught, angry. I truly believed, and still do, that Meneloto’s carelessness had cost Pharaoh his life.’
‘I would have given the same advice as Sethos,’ Senenmut growled. ‘But at the time I was never asked.’
Hatusu’s hand slipped over the arm of the chair, the back of her fingers grazing Senenmut’s knee.
‘Meneloto was put under household arrest,’ she said. ‘And the case was brought before you.’
‘Has a search been made for Meneloto?’ Amerotke asked.
‘Spies and scouts have been sent out, but, for all I know, he could be with the sand-dwellers or the troglodytes in the Red Lands.’
Sethos got up and carried a stool forward, gesturing Amerotke to sit. The judge did. He felt uncomfortable but, at the same time, secretly pleased. This is what I am good at, he thought, solving a problem, sifting the evidence. But how much of it is true? And, if I unpluck a loose thread, how much will it unravel, how far will it go?
‘Meneloto is a sand wisp,’ Senenmut jibed. ‘My lord Amerotke, do you wish some wine?’
The judge shook his head. ‘I drank enough at the banquet.’
‘In the council hall?’ Sethos asked. ‘You implied, Amerotke, that Pharaoh’s visit to the pyramid of Sakkara was significant. Surely you didn’t pluck that from the air?’
‘I didn’t pluck it from the air,’ Amerotke replied. ‘Remember, before Meneloto’s trial, I read the evidence, the depositions. Nothing remarkable happened after Pharaoh’s great victories in the Delta. It was more something Meneloto had said in his written admission to the court. How Pharaoh was jubilant at his great victories but, after Sakkara, became more quiet, withdrawn. Reference was also made to that at the meeting of the royal circle.’
‘It’s true,’ Sethos agreed. ‘Though, after Pharaoh rejoined the Glory of Ra, I and others were sent ahead of him into Thebes.’
‘My lady, your highness.’ Amerotke smiled. ‘Why did divine Pharaoh stop at Sakkara? Surely not just to see the pyramids?’
‘In a letter to me,’ Hatusu said, ‘written just after his victory, he said he had received a letter, a special missive from Neroupe, chief custodian and priest of the mortuary temples around the great pyramids at Sakkara; Neroupe was one of my father’s most loyal retainers.’
‘I’ve heard the name,’ Amerotke told her. ‘A scholar. He was writing a history of Egypt’s past. I met him once in the Hall of Light in the temple of Ma’at.’
‘Neroupe fell sick,’ Hatusu went on. ‘He was a very old man. By the time divine Pharaoh had reached the mortuary temples around Sakkara, Neroupe was dead.’
‘And what happened there?’
‘The royal barque was taken into shore,’ Sethos continued. ‘General Omendap will confirm these details. Divine Pharaoh travelled inland.’
‘Did you go with him?’
‘No, I stayed with the Vizier, Bayletos and the others on the royal barque. Divine Pharaoh always asked me to keep an eye on his chief officials.’
‘And then?’
‘Divine Pharaoh went by himself. No.’ Hatusu raised a finger. ‘He was accompanied by Ipuwer, Amenhotep and a detachment of the royal bodyguard, no more than five men. They were away three days at Sakkara.’
‘And Meneloto?’
Sethos pulled a face. ‘Yes, Meneloto went as well. It was his duty to guard Pharaoh’s body. From what I can gather very little happened. Divine Pharaoh stayed in Neroupe’s house. He visited the temples, shrines and tombs of his ancestors. Afterwards he returned to the royal barque.’
‘And did he tell anyone of what had happened?’ Amerotke asked.
Sethos shook his head. ‘The following day I was despatched in a barge down to Thebes. I brought letters for her highness and other members of his family. I, and others, were told to prepare for divine Pharaoh’s entrance into Thebes.’
Amerotke crossed his arms. He recalled Sakkara, its great tombs and mausoleums built hundreds of years ago as monuments, signs of Egypt
’s power and glory. Now, since the royal court had moved to Thebes, it had become a desolate, crumbling place, wedged between the green fields of the Nile and the hot, burning sands of the Red Lands. He felt a glow of pride, for he was correct: Tuthmosis, Amenhotep and Ipuwer had visited those shrines. All had died while Meneloto had faced serious charges and had now disappeared. Or had he been killed? But who was behind this? Rahimere and his faction? Or Hatusu and Senenmut? Was he Hatusu’s lover? Had their liaison begun when divine Pharaoh was away fighting Egypt’s enemies?
‘My lady?’
Hatusu was now whispering to Senenmut. She turned.
‘Yes, my lord Amerotke. I thought you had gone asleep.’
‘Did divine Pharaoh write to you? Or, in the few minutes when you met in the temple of Amun-Ra, intimate that anything was troubling him?’
‘I received one letter just after he left Sakkara,’ Hatusu said. ‘It proclaimed his great victories. It contained messages for myself and his son. How much he looked forward to his return to Thebes.’ She maintained her poise to hide the lie. ‘But nothing else.’
‘And so what now?’ Senenmut asked harshly. ‘My lord Amerotke, we wish you to investigate all these deaths. Of Ipuwer, you know as much as we do. The man put his hand in a bag and was bitten by a snake. How that happened we don’t know. Of Amenhotep.’ He spread his hands. ‘That is a matter for you to unravel. You have our authority to act.’
Senenmut, Amerotke reasoned, was using the words ‘our’ and ‘we’ as if he were now Hatusu’s chief Vizier, her principal minister of state. He stared at Hatusu, who held his gaze coolly. You were a mischievous minx, Amerotke thought, and, in my arrogance, I had you wrong. You are more dangerous and subtle than I thought. There are things you are not telling me. You don’t really want me to investigate. This is simply a pretext, a sop, a public gesture. The real game will be played out here in the palace. Once power is seized, what will you care? And, if you fail, what will it matter?
‘You have our permission to retire.’
Amerotke rose, bowed and left Hatusu’s chamber, entering the now empty hall of columns. The cushions and chairs were pushed back, goblets and plates still littered the table. He glanced towards the balcony and noticed darkness had fallen. From outside he heard the clink of armed guards. He hoped Norfret was home and wondered whether to join her. He remembered Amenhotep’s severed head and, of course, poor old Shufoy would be somewhere near the gates waiting for him.