Tiy and the Prince of Egypt

by Dee, Debbie

  “I can walk just fine,” she said, although it felt wonderful to not have to use her leg.

  Amenhotep continued as if she hadn’t spoken, settling her into the raft with the gentleness of a whisper, despite the commotion surrounding them. “Your father’s division could reach us sooner, but they won’t receive the new intelligence until my messenger is able to reach them.”

  “So that just leaves our fleet to fight the entire Sudanese army.” Tiy said.

  Amenhotep nodded. “It isn’t safe for you here. I know somewhere close you can go for a few days. The rebels have lost their momentum. I think the Sudanese army joining their forces may have been their last effort to turn things in their favor. We have been able to counter attack all their initiatives, and thanks to you, this last one as well. And I do think it’ll be the last.”

  “I’m not leaving you.” Tiy said.

  “I’m not letting you stay here in the middle of a battlefield. The Sudanese army could be upon us at any moment!”

  “I’m not leaving you,” Tiy repeated.

  He was quiet for several moments, the sound of water lapping up the sides of the raft filling the silence. Finally, he released her with a heavy sigh. “I can’t say no to you, can I? You can stay on my barge with me if you promise to remain below deck.”

  “I will, I promise.”

  He sighed again and steered the raft toward his barge. He helped her climb aboard ahead of him and then led her to the deepest cabin in the barge.

  “Why didn’t you take me to your cabin?” Tiy asked, surprised.

  “Because it is too high and too close to the danger. You promised.”

  “I promised I would stay below, not in this closet. There isn’t even a porthole.”

  “I know,” he said with a smile. “It’s safer this way.”

  She put her hands to her hips. “And how will I know you are safe?”

  “Tiy, my Desert Guardian, you have saved me again. You made me safe by bringing me warning of the Sudanese army. Look at you, your body is worn, you have bandages on your leg for reasons I will want to learn of later, and you have death in your eyes. You need to rest.”

  “I have death in my eyes because an ambush is nearing with soldiers intent on killing you and I’ll be trapped in this hole-in-the-wall not knowing if you are alive or dead!”

  The horn sounded again followed by the whistling volley of hundreds of arrows. They thumped against the sides and decks of the barge, an eerie rhythm against the desperate shouts of soldiers. Amenhotep took hold of her shoulders and held her eyes with burning insistence.

  “I have to go to my men. You will put me in harm’s way if I am constantly worrying about you going above deck. Do you understand? Please, just please, stay here.”

  Tiy nodded, reeling from the raw emotion she saw in his eyes. He was gone before she could exhale a breath. The dull thumping against the barge increased as did the agonizing cries of obsidian arrows meeting flesh. She strained to listen for any cry that could be Amenhotep’s, praying to Monthu, the falcon-god of war, to give him strength, virility, and victory.

  As time passed, Tiy grew more irritated and restless. She picked at the skin around her fingernails, bit her lips, and twisted her hair around her fingers. Each sound above tried every shred of her patience. The barge creaked and groaned as the Nile waters heaved underneath it. The soldier’s boots slapped against the deck as some of them took running leaps off the barge to fight hand-to-hand.

  The tiny cabin grew unbearably hot, so she opened the door to allow in some fresh air, reeling back as a fresh round of ear-splitting screams entered the room instead. Tiy jerked forward out of the wooden doorframe and looked toward the deck, seeing nothing but the wooden planks above her.

  Once again curiosity overpowered her better senses and she limped up the stairs to the cabins above. She was still keeping her promise to Amenhotep and remaining below the upper deck, but at least now she could find a cabin with a porthole that would allow her some sort of view and offer a slight respite to her growing unease.

  Tiy stumbled through the first door she came to and entered a dark cabin. It wasn’t much larger than the one below, but it at least had the luxury of a window. She pressed her face against the glass and jumped back in terror. Taking a deep breath, she pressed her face to the glass once more. A swarm of brightly clothed rebels flooded the east banks, with a blanket of black-robed Sudanese soldiers flooding the west.

  Egypt’s fleets were surrounded.

  Amenhotep’s already divided army was split between the two banks. There were not enough of them to hold back the papyrus rafts launching from the banks and drifting toward the fleet of barges. The rafts swarmed with angry rebels and chest pounding soldiers as they shouted and thrust their swords in the air.

  “I was too late.” Tiy whispered aloud. She had arrived soon enough to warn Amenhotep but not soon enough for him to gather the other divisions of his army. Merymose and Ramose were looking for an army from the east. They had no idea Amenhotep was already in the thick of battle.

  The papyrus rafts neared and she watched in horror as they boarded the barges and brandished their swords against the Egyptian soldiers. Steel met steel in a clash of seething rage.

  The barge rocked on its keel and Tiy thrust her hands against the planked walls to keep from stumbling. She hated that she was sequestered below, safe from danger while Amenhotep risked his life for Egypt. She felt undutiful and wormlike as she hid in the dark beneath the storm. Her body squirmed with inaction.

  She watched with increased anxiety as swarms of Sudanese soldiers boarded the deck above her. She could make out their eager faces as they neared and was certain several of them had seen her as well. She stood back from the window, hoping to hide her face in the shadows, but a familiar face made her heart lurch. She pressed her face against the glass again and scanned the faces of the rebels closing in. An Egyptian soldier fell from the deck above, obscuring her view as he plunged into the water below her window. She searched the sea of faces again, but the face she had recognized had already climbed onto the deck.

  Tiy shuffled away from the window, chewing her nails with indecision. It could have been someone else. It could have been a stranger. But she felt sick inside. The face she had seen could very well have been the person she thought it was, the one person she had heard swear on his brother’s grave to kill Amenhotep. She shuddered as the memory of Kamen’s angry face flooded her mind. It had been etched into her memory and she knew she could not have mistaken his face for another’s. She was certain now that it was Wesi’s friend she had just seen board the barge.

  She paced the small cabin as her insides churned with unease. Every time she blinked she saw Kamen’s face flash before her eyes. She couldn’t stand there and do nothing when someone filled with so much hatred toward Amenhotep was so close. She knew Ma’at, goddess of truth, would be displeased, but she begged for quick forgiveness for breaking her promise and dashed up the companionway into the open air of the upper deck.

  Chapter 40. Two Souls

  Tiy’s eyes scoured the deck, narrowing in on Kamen at the stern, his bow raised and a sharp arrow trained for Amenhotep’s unprotected head. Her heart lurched to her stomach.

  “Amenhotep!” she shouted, but she wasn’t loud enough. He had just sent a Nubian rebel to the Underworld and was leaping up the platform stairs at the main mast. She pushed toward him, ignoring her throbbing leg as she reached the platform stairs and barreled into him, sending them both careening to the platform boards. Kamen’s arrow flew past their heads and over the railing, sinking into the Nile.

  Amenhotep snatched Tiy from the ground and pulled her behind his back, his sword stretched out before him. His shoulders heaved from the exertion of battle.

  “You wretched girl,” Kamen said as he jumped to the platform. He was seething, his face twisted into an angry mask. He swung his sword in unbridled fury and came down hard on Amenhotep’s sword. An older man called out Kamen�
��s name and rushed across the deck, taking the platform steps by two.

  “Kamen, this man is Pharaoh!” the older man shouted. He had the aged face of Kamen and the worry lines of a father. “Step back. Let one of my trained men fight this fight.”

  Tiy sucked in a breath. Kamen’s father was the rebellion leader, the man they’d been searching for! Kamen swung his sword again and Amenhotep deflected it with ease.

  “He won’t be Pharaoh for long if I have anything to do with it,” Kamen shouted.

  The old man gripped his sword. “His power is greater than yours. The gods protect him!”

  Kamen’s returning laugh was shrill. “We’ve killed one Pharaoh. We can kill another!”

  “This isn’t a fair fight,” the old man said to himself. He puffed his chest and jumped into the battle with Kamen.

  Amenhotep contended with the two swords, swiping through the air with the strength of Shu’s desert winds. Kamen’s attacks were sloppy and lacking power, but the rebel leader fought with greater force. Amenhotep contended with the two, his strikes precise as he split his concentration and strength with the agility of a two-headed cobra.

  Tiy watched in terror as he fought, wishing she could help but not knowing how. Amenhotep had been fighting long before Kamen boarded the barge, and had to be tiring, but she had no weapon and there was nothing around her that she could use. She backed up against the railing, eyes wide as Amenhotep fought against the two men, his sword flashing through the air like lightning. She could no longer hear the chaotic screams behind her or the clashing swords. She could only hear Amenhotep’s labored breathing as he fought for his life.

  Perspiration poured down Amenhotep’s torso as he strained to withstand the onslaught of fury. Tiy flinched as each attack was warded off by Amenhotep’s increasingly weary blows. She searched around once more for a way to help him and to her complete surprise the Sudanese soldiers appeared to be retreating. Twisting her head toward the eastern banks, she sobbed in relief at the sight of not only the chariots led by her father, but the armies led by Merymose and Ramose as well. How they had arrived so fast, she couldn’t fathom and didn’t care. All she knew was that help had come.

  She looked back at Amenhotep and cringed with horror. Kamen and his father were growing weary, but their swords were striking Amenhotep’s golden pectoral as blow after blow went un-deflected. Amenhotep’s fatigued arms were failing him. It was only a matter of time before the pectoral failed him as well. He continued fighting, thrusting furiously toward his assailants.

  A fight between an Egyptian soldier and Sudanese soldier began at the base of the platform stairs and ended just as quickly with the sword of the Sudanese soldier falling to the ground. A flutter of relief spread through Tiy as the Egyptian soldier raced up the stairs and joined Amenhotep’s fight. He raised his sword to bring it down on the neck of Kamen’s father, but as he swung he was forced to redirect his swing at the last moment to deflect the sword of another rebel. Amenhotep was left again to contend with two.

  Tiy couldn’t watch any longer and do nothing. She leapt down the platform stairs and fetched the sword from the fallen Sudanese soldier. The cold steel felt formidable in her hands as she strained to lift it.

  She crept back up the stairs and stood near the railing, waiting for an opportunity to thrust the foreign blade. The three men circled one another, shifting positions, weaving in and out of one another. Amenhotep’s back was to her when she caught an opportunity to step in. Without hesitation, she lurched forward and raised the sword above her head.

  “Tiy! No!” Amenhotep yelled over his shoulder. He turned to push her out of the fight, exposing the open sides of his golden pectoral. Kamen thrust his sword into the soft flesh of Amenhotep’s side, and Amenhotep grunted in pain, falling to one knee.

  Tiy’s piercing scream filled the air, alerting several soldiers nearby who began fighting with powerful vengeance at the sight of their fallen king. One of them finished his opponent and took on Kamen’s father, but didn’t have the speed or strength to take on Kamen as well, Amenhotep raised a weak arm to block another blow, but the force of it knocked him back, blood pulsating from the wound in his side. He raised his sword again, but his bloodied hand shook and Tiy knew he could not withstand another blow. Roaring like a lion, she thrust her sword toward Kamen’s chest, forcing him away from Amenhotep and into a fight with her. Kamen deflected her strike with ease and turned to her with murder in his eyes and hatred on his tongue.

  “It’s over, you filthy ‘Gypt!” he shouted. “We’ve won!” He raised his bloodied sword high above his head, his back arched, and screamed with fury as he swung down.

  Tiy thrust her sword out in front of her, bracing herself for the inevitable blow. His sword bore down onto hers, nearly ripping it from her hand. She clenched both hands around the hilt and, as he began another downward strike, swung up to meet him. Their swords clashed and a resounding vibration shot up Tiy’s arms. With only a flash of a second to recover herself, Tiy barely managed to parry Kamen’s next blow. Again and again he brought his sword down with unbridled anger, each strike coming closer to killing her than the last. She knew that she didn’t have the skills or knowledge to expect to survive, but she hoped she could at least hold Kamen off until one of their soldiers reached them. As far as she knew, Amenhotep was still alive and there was still something to fight for. But no matter how badly she wanted to see if Amenhotep still breathed, she couldn’t take her eyes off Kamen.

  Kamen moved his body in a way she did not expect and fire erupted in her arm. Her eyes pulled down to find an angry slit stretching from her elbow to her wrist. Kamen’s eyes grew wild as he brought his sword across his chest and behind his shoulder as if he were going to hit her with the back of his hand. With only one good arm, Tiy held her sword with a shaking grip, squeezing her eyes shut as Kamen’s sword flashed down toward her.

  But the blow never came. She opened her eyes to see Amenhotep on one knee, his hand on the hilt of a dagger thrust into Kamen’s belly. Amenhotep caught Tiy’s gaze, his eyes filling with shadows of death. Saving her had taken the last of his strength.

  He fell forward with a loud moan and lay motionless on the wooden planks. Tiy dropped to her knees, forgetting her wound as her mind escaped the horror in front of her. Everything blurred and an unsettling numbness settled over her. She knew she was screaming and reaching out to Amenhotep because she could see herself doing it. She could feel her mouth open in anguish and her arms stretching their full length, but she couldn’t hear her screams or even feel the strong arms that held her back as Amenhotep was carried below.

  Empty faces loomed in front of her, their mouths moving, but their words unintelligible. Egyptian soldiers swarmed the deck and sent the rebels and Sudanese soldiers to the Underworld. But she heard none of it.

  Ramose was suddenly in front of her, saying things she couldn’t comprehend. He pointed into the oblivion that had become the edges of her vision, blurred and skewed. He turned to the surrounding soldiers, livid.

  “What is she doing here?” he shouted at the nearest soldier. “Take her below!”

  The soldiers must not have responded fast enough for Ramose’s liking because he let out a frustrated breath and lifted her into his arms, carrying her below himself. All the while, the memory of Amenhotep’s eyes filled with love and fear…and death, haunted her.

  She was taken to Amenhotep’s chamber where Ramose laid her next to him. Her senses came to life as she curled next to his uninjured side, her skin able to feel the smooth bandages covering his torso, the cool sweat on his cheek. She listened to his shallow breathing and watched the slow rise and fall of his chest. He lived. Nothing else mattered.

  A priest gathered her arm into his lap and set to work on the wound, tugging on her skin with needle and threat. Her vision blurred from the pain and she felt the priest press a hand to her head. He mumbled something to her, or to Ramose, she couldn’t be sure. His voice hummed like a distant dream in
her mind.

  “He is very fortunate to be alive, the gods are protecting him,” the priest said.

  “Queen Tiy watches over him,” Ramose said. “She is the reincarnation of Nekhbet.”

  The priest raised his eyebrows. “Is that so?”

  “Pharaoh Amenhotep is convinced.”

  “Pharaoh Amenhotep is a god himself. It is only fitting for him to have a goddess as a companion.”

  “I agree,” Ramose said. “How is she? I don’t know what happened out there.”

  Ramose and the priest turned to look at her curled next to Amenhotep, their faces filled with concern.

  “She is no worse than His Majesty, although I fear seeing him injured has caused her mind to protect itself. It seems the goddess Nekhbet exists only for him.

  “And he for her,” Ramose said nodding.

  “Yes, his color is improving already,” the priest agreed. “Let us leave them to rest, they will heal each other.”

  Tiy heard them leave, but her eyes remained on Amenhotep, her senses returning to full awareness as she lay next to him. She breathed in his scent and closed her eyes.

  Chapter 41. True Love

  Ra pushed the sun across the sky twice before Amenhotep stirred. They were well on their way to Memphis, having brought the Nubian rebellion to its knees. Merymose stayed in Nubia to organize the reformation and Ramose led the troops north.

  When Amenhotep awoke, he pressed his lips to her forehead before whispering, “Why do you keep scaring me?”

  “What do you mean?”

  He was quiet for a long while. “When that rebel came at you with his sword, and I was too weak to do anything, I…I’ve never felt more scared in my entire life.”

  “But you saved me.”

  “No, you saved me. Every breath you take, every morning you wake up next to me, every smile you send my way…saves me. I would be dead without you.”