by Dee, Debbie
Merymose relaxed his shoulders. “I’d rather we just carry her back. If she gets mad, she gets mad.”
“Honestly, I want to take her back too, but I don’t want to be one more person telling her what to do. I think she’s had plenty of that. We should let her decide for herself.”
Tiy smiled. Amenhotep would probably never understand how much what he said meant to her. He’d lived his entire life dictating orders, and she’d lived her whole life taking them. Not just from her mother, who seemed to be the worst offender, but her servants had often made decisions for her that she didn’t always agree with. What to eat, what to wear. For once, someone was going to let her decide, even if they disagreed.
“We’ll bring her back another time,” Merymose said.
“The festival season is almost over; it may be a long time before we are able to return.”
“Then she’ll wait.”
Tiy groaned and cleared her throat.
“Tiy!” Petep said. She pushed Amenhotep and Merymose aside and gathered Tiy’s head into her lap. “Are you okay?”
Tiy did a quick check of her body, straightening her limbs and squeezing the muscles in her arms and legs. They seemed fine. She twisted her hips and wiggled her shoulders. Not too much pain there either. Perhaps a little sore, but nothing was broken, and nothing bad enough to shorten their trip.
“I’m all right,” Tiy said. “Can I have some water?”
A jug was at her mouth before she could take her next breath. From which direction it came, she had no idea. She chugged down its contents until it soothed her dry throat.
Pulling herself up, she looked around at the anxious faces staring back at her. “I’m fine, really,” Tiy said, her voice a little clearer. She twisted her neck to stretch it, noticing the mortared limestone bedrock rising on both sides of her little group. “Where are we?”
“Believe it or not,” Petep said. “You are in the arms of the sphinx.”
Petep got up from her knees to refill the jug of water and Ramose followed closely behind, offering to carry the jug for her.
“How do you really feel?” Amenhotep asked.
“Fine enough to explore. I mean, we came all the way out here.”
Amenhotep smiled, but he was dignified enough not to gloat at Merymose.
“I’d feel better if we all just went back to the palace,” Merymose interjected.
“She said she is fine,” Amenhotep said.
“So she says. She could just be trying to appease us.”
“Or her curiosity is begging to be satisfied before we leave.”
“All the more reason she may not be rational enough to know whether or not she is capable of staying here.”
Amenhotep clenched his fists. “She should be allowed to choose for herself.”
“She isn’t well enough to make a sound choice.”
Tiy groaned, cutting their argument short. “How about I stay here for an hour and rest while all of you go find the best places to explore. And then, before we leave, I’ll go see what you found.”
“Wonderful,” Amenhotep said, slapping his knee. “Both sides are satisfied. You are a true diplomat. I’ll keep you company. Merymose, you must use your burly bronze to protect my sister.”
“Ramose is with her.”
“Then you must act as escort,” Amenhotep said with a ring of authority. “Leave what water you have with us and you may share with Petep.”
Merymose didn’t argue as he slunk off toward Petep and Ramose.
Amenhotep grinned and sat next to her, their shoulders touching as they leaned against the mortared limestone. “What shall we do while you recuperate?”
“I really don’t mind if you want to go with everyone else,” Tiy said. “I know how much you look forward to your time away from the palace.”
“I like being here with you.”
Tiy searched his face, pleased to find nothing that would contradict his comment. “Me too,” she said after a moment
“You know, it’s interesting you landed here. Before my father became Pharaoh, he rested in the very shade you rest in now. He fell asleep and Ra came to him in a dream. He told my father the kingship would be his if he cleared the sand and uncovered the sphinx, restoring it to its full glory.”
“It was buried?”
“Yes. I know you have seen how the desert sands shift with time. Anything left unmoving is buried, something I understood with more clarity the day we met.”
Tiy gazed up at the huge creature with a human head and lion’s body. Its square face had a broad chin and wore a stone headdress with a cobra on the brow, a mark of royalty.
“Before I am crowned Pharaoh,” Amenhotep continued, “I will pay homage before the Sphinx, and I will receive the same promise of protection from the sun god.”
“Are you scared? To become Pharaoh, I mean?” Her heart sped up a bit, knowing she had asked him to share private feelings with her, thoughts he may not have revealed to anyone else. But Amenhotep looked down at her and smiled with warmth in his eyes. He didn’t seem to mind.
“Yes, in some ways I’m nervous. I don’t think I’m prepared to lead Upper and Lower Egypt. My brother was always training to rule the Two Lands, even before he could walk. At least my father is young. I still have time to learn what I need to know.”
He sighed and swirled a finger in the sand below them. “I wasn’t ready to be thrown into all of this. Everything is so different—the classes, the training, the servants scurrying around me all the time. Everyone treats me so differently, as if I am an all-knowing god who will conquer the world. You’ve seen how Petep defers to me about everything when we’re together, even though she is older.”
“She is just trying to respect the crown you will someday wear.”
“I know. Petep is a good person; I shouldn’t be so hard on her. Ramose is different around me too. We used to get into all kinds of mischief together, but now he is afraid to try new things with me.”
Tiy didn’t respond. All of Egypt changed after the eldest prince died.
“Ramose was furious with himself after the sandstorm. I had to twist his arm just to come out here. We’ve come every year before the end of the festival season, and I really wanted to show you.”
“Thanks,” Tiy said as she nudged his shoulder. “I’m hoping I’ll get to see more than just the paws of a sphinx, as stunning as they are. But really, Amenhotep, did you have to make me fly head first into them just to get a better look? I would rather see the area in a more on-the-ground approach, if you don’t mind.”
Amenhotep laughed. “You are so different than everyone else, Tiy. From the moment we met, you treated me like a normal person, not like the next Pharaoh.”
Tiy’s belly constricted. Had she behaved disrespectfully? She began to run every conversation she had ever had with Amenhotep through her mind, cringing at how she may have shown disrespect to the crown.
“You have misunderstood me,” Amenhotep said. “I meant you aren’t afraid to speak your mind and ask questions. You aren’t afraid to offer thoughts of your own and joke around with me. You don’t cower around me like so many others do.”
“Thank you, I guess.” Tiy wasn’t sure how to respond.
“I like being around you,” he said. “Maybe it’s because Petep and Ramose are so much older than I am. Merymose too, for that matter, although he has only just begun to follow us around. He winked at her as if she would know what he meant by that.
“There are others our age,” she offered, although she liked that she was the one he wanted to be with.
“I suppose you’re right. I don’t know what it is then. Maybe it’s because you saved me. Twice. I don’t know. I’ve never spoken to anyone else about my fears of becoming Pharaoh. In fact, I seem to have the habit of telling you a lot more than I tell others.”
“I know what you mean.” She couldn’t explain it, just like she couldn’t explain her strange urge to follow him into the desert. “I feel sa
fe with you—from judgment. I trust you.”
Amenhotep smiled. “Promise me something.”
“What?” Tiy asked. She couldn’t imagine what Amenhotep could want from her. He had everything and could do anything without her help.
His shoulders shook in silent laughter. “Relax. I’m not going to ask for your left foot or anything.”
“Oh, well in that case…”
“Maybe I should make you promise not to laugh first.”
“We’ll see,” Tiy said making no such promise and giggling before she could stop herself.
“Promise me we’ll always be friends, even when you move back to Akhmim—if you move back—and even when I become Pharaoh. Promise me we’ll still find a way to be together.”
Tiy’s laughing smile vanished. She could sense the sincerity of his request, but they were both so young, how could they make such a promise to one another? When he became Pharaoh, he would be inundated with responsibly, traveling all over the world on conquests and diplomatic visits. He wouldn’t have time to maintain a friendship with someone like her. She looked up to see that his face had fallen with her hesitation.
“Tell me,” he said. “Tell me what you are thinking.”
“There are so many things that could happen that would make us break our promise.”
“You are over-thinking this,” Amenhotep said, rolling his eyes. He already knew her too well. “Why can’t we just make the promise and do our very best to keep it? Don’t you want to be my friend?”
“Of course.”
“Then promise me.”
Tiy shrugged as if she’d made such a promise a hundred times before. But her breath trembled a little, and her chest seemed to tighten with hope. She’d never wanted anything more. A friend. A true friend. “I promise,” she said, knowing that two little words would never mean more to her.
“Me too,” He said, his eyes catching hers.
Tiy cleared her throat and couldn’t keep the corner of her mouth from turning up into a smile. “Aren’t you supposed to say the exact words?”
Amenhotep laughed. “I prooooooomise,” he said.
Tiy smiled and their laughter filled the narrow cavity of stone until it faded into comfortable silence. With their breathing quieted, their shoulders slumped together as they waited for the others to return. Tiy couldn’t have been more happy about her stolen moment with Amenhotep under the sphinx. And about the promise they had made. She only hoped they would be able to keep it.
PART 2
Desert Queen
1386 BC
Contents
Chapter 16. Khufu’s Pyramid
Chapter 17. Midnight Mistake
Chapter 18. Royal Death
Chapter 19. Quiet Burial
Chapter 20. Young Pharaoh
Chapter 21. Broken Promises
Chapter 22. Unheard Question
Chapter 23. Royal Blood
Chapter 24. Deceitful Balance
Chapter 25. Transparent Sleeper
Chapter 26. Insecure Authority
Chapter 27. Painful Confession
Chapter 28. Foreign Drink
Chapter 29. Desert Queen
Chapter 30. Pharaoh’s Equal
Chapter 31. Living Boulders
Chapter 32. Deadly Stampede
Chapter 33. Forever Changed
Chapter 16. Khufu’s Pyramid
The colder months came and went in a blur. Before Tiy could blink, she was in her second year of school. Tiy and Amenhotep found adventure wherever and whenever they could, despite his growing schedule and her increased schoolwork. When there was no adventure to be found, or when they wanted quiet moments alone, they sat by the Nile in Amenhotep’s secluded oasis, enjoying hours of conversation. Their promise to each other was as easy to keep as breathing air or drinking cool water on a hot day. They shared a friendship that blossomed and strengthened every day, a friendship that grew into something as natural as the sun rising in the morning and as bright as its noon-day light. And although they never spoke it out loud to one another, they needed each other. For different reasons, Tiy could only assume, because she couldn’t fathom why he would need her friendship. She only knew that her life would be like a shadow without him.
Kepi still hated Tiy and showed it every day at school. She saved her ultimate cruelty, however, for when Amenhotep was absent from school. He would often be away for weeks on end, and Kepi’s malice escalated with each passing day. She was hurtful, lashing out in class with vicious insults at every opportunity. It wasn’t until the end of her second year that Tiy told Amenhotep about it.
“What do you mean she called you a Mitannian swine?” he said through his teeth.
“Menkheper gave her six lashings for that one, but she didn’t seem to care.”
“Had I been there, I would have ordered more than six lashings. I’ll make sure this ends once and for all.” He jumped up from his perch by the Nile and stomped out from behind the trees.
Tiy scrambled after him. “No, no, Amenhotep. Don’t say anything.”
Amenhotep didn’t stop.
“Please, Amenhotep!”
He turned to face her, his fists clenched. “Tell me, Tiy. Why shouldn’t I do anything about this?”
Tiy hugged herself. “Because then she’ll know how much it bothers me. I don’t want it to, but it does. I’m trying. I just don’t want her to know. Please, don’t tell her.”
Amenhotep wrapped an arm around her shoulder and led her back to the Nile. “I won’t say anything. For now.” He gave her a pointed look. “If she gets worse, I want to know.”
Tiy nodded.
“I wish you wouldn’t listen to her,” he said.
“But she’s right. I’m different.”
Amenhotep sighed.
“I’m not Egyptian.”
“You’ve lived in Egypt your whole life, haven’t you?”
Tiy nodded. “My parents and grandparents too.”
“Then you are as Egyptian as I am and don’t let anyone make you believe otherwise.”
Tiy raised an eyebrow.
“Just wait, I’ll prove it. You’ll see that you belong here.”
“Let’s just forget about Kepi.”
Amenhotep nodded and then his eyes lit with a mischievousness she’d seen a hundred times before. It was a look that almost always got them into trouble.
“Whatever you’re thinking, Amenhotep, I’m sure Ramose will try to stop you.”
Amenhotep waved a dismissive hand in the air. “He might, but it’s just the thing you need. I won’t let Kepi bring you down, so I’m going raise you to the top of Egypt instead!”
Tiy folded her arms, but she couldn’t keep her own smile from sneaking through. “Now I know Ramose will stop us.” She paused. “What do you have in mind?”
“When was the last time you’ve been to Giza?”
Tiy’s smile faded. “I haven’t been back since I landed face-first in the arms of the sphinx.”
Amenhotep laughed. “That was such a good day.”
Tiy rolled her eyes. “I have no intention of repeating that experience.”
“Don’t worry. I have something else in mind. I’ll convince Ramose it’s a good idea.”
Tiy smiled and watched him dash into the palace. There was no way Ramose was going to be on board with Amenhotep leaving Memphis. The Nubian war had escalated and rebel assassins had cropped up left and right. For Amenhotep to leave the protection of his guard, would be ludicrous. Ramose would talk some sense into him.
Fifteen minutes later Amenhotep and Ramose came strolling around the corner with Merymose and Petep in tow. Their smiles put a sour taste in Tiy’s mouth.
“You didn’t agree to this, did you?” she said to Ramose the moment they reached her.
Ramose shrugged and smiled.
“I counted on you to talk some sense into him.”
Ramose’s smile broadened. “I can’t be held responsible for Amenhotep’s overwhelming desir
e to enter the Afterlife.”
Amenhotep laughed. “Admit it, Ramose. You agreed that if we all disguised ourselves as tomb diggers and left through the lower quay, then we’d be as safe as old priests in a temple.”
“I didn’t mention any priests,” Ramose said, “but yes, the risk is low, even for my standards.”
Tiy threw up her hands. “This is absurd. There are Nubian spies everywhere!”
“They aren’t going to Giza.” Amenhotep said. “The place is dead.”
“And yet you are willing to risk your life to go there,” Tiy said.
Amenhotep grinned.
Tiy looked at Ramose, who shrugged again. “I really don’t think we’ll run into any problems.”
She knew he was right, which was probably why it had only taken Amenhotep a few minutes to convince the others to join him. Not only was the deserted Giza an unlikely place for assassins to lie in wait for royal targets but if they dressed as tomb diggers they’d be avoided all together. But why did she still feel so nervous about the trip?
“I don’t know,” Tiy said. “I still don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Amenhotep squeezed her shoulder. “I promise. It’ll be just the thing you need to forget…certain individuals.”
Petep scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. Tiy cringed, knowing Petep had guessed who he was talking about. Fortunately, she had more manners than Kepi and said nothing to the other boys.
Amenhotep whispered in her ear. “You can ride on my camel with me if you want.”
Tiy flushed and turned her chin to face him. He gave her a sincere smile and she found herself returning it. Of course he’d know the last remaining fear behind her reluctance, even when she hadn’t yet admitted it to herself.
“All right,” she said. “Let’s go.”
***
Four hours and a much easier camel ride later, Tiy found herself staring up at the tallest of the three great pyramids of Giza.
“Khufu’s tomb,” Amenhotep said with a whisper of awe. “His greatest life achievement and an eternal monument to his name.”