by Max Overton
A crack in the rock leaked a thin rivulet of water into a small rocky basin at the base of the cliff, from whence it oozed over the lip and ran down toward the muddy pool where the donkeys were drinking thirstily. The boys eyed the water avidly, but Ephrim held his brother back until Ament reached them.
"Go ahead," Ament said. "Just don't drink it all."
When they had all drunk their fill and refilled the water skins, they lay in the dappled shade of the thorn trees and idly watched the donkeys grazing on the grass. Ephrim and Jerem, their spirits restored by water and rest, wandered off amongst the vegetation, exploring their surroundings, and presently Ament smiled as he heard their laughter.
"How quickly they forget their troubles," Ament said.
"I doubt they have forgotten them," Zephan replied. "They are young though, and resilient, and will seek a scrap of pleasure where they can find it. At the moment, it seems as though catching grasshoppers is enough for them."
Ament shaded his eyes and looked up at the hills and crack in the rock, stained dark by the trickle of water. "Where does it come from?" he asked. "How can water come from a rock?"
"I have heard it said that a holy man, or maybe it was a holy woman, for the stories vary, struck the rock here with his staff and ordered water to gush forth for his followers. Others say there has always been water trickling from this place, sometimes more than this, sometimes less, but I have only been here once when there was no water at all." Zephan frowned, remembering. "Two old men died that time, though we shared what water we had."
"Yes, but where does it come from?" Ament waved in the direction of the peaks. "Is there a river up there? Or a lake?"
"Who can say except the gods? Rain falls sometimes, but this cannot be sky water for it has not fallen for some months now." Zephan yawned and closed his eyes. "Just thank the gods and leave it at that, Ament. Then get some sleep. We leave at dusk once more."
"Where to?"
"West. Two days to a well, then another two to my tribe. Then we will see."
Ament had to be content with this for Zephan refused to say any more, just turning over and falling asleep. He lay awake a while longer but drifted into sleep himself to the muted sounds of the two boys at play.
Chapter 17
Year 1 of Userkheperure Seti
The annual viceregal report came in from Khaemter, King's Son of Kush, and it made for dismal reading. Tribal incursions from the west and south had tied up the Kushite legion in a series of indecisive encounters, and in the absence of a military presence, bandits had increased their hold on the countryside. In particular, the king's gold mines which had been struggling back to their former efficiency, slid to new lows of production.
"This is preposterous," Seti exclaimed, crumpling the report in his hands. "Gold production was higher when even my brother Messuwy was in charge. Now that his thieving adviser Sethi is gone, there should be more gold coming into the treasury, not less."
"The province is experiencing unrest," Neferronpet observed. "Perhaps Khaemter is right when he says he has insufficient men to guard the province and guard the mines."
"The Kushite legion is at full strength and he has native levies he can call on. This never happened before, so why now? Advise me, Neferronpet."
"Khaemter will eventually triumph; the tribes are not well organised. You could just wait it out..."
Seti shook his head. "No, something must be done now."
"Then you must send soldiers into Kush."
"To bolster the Kushite legion? It should be strong enough already."
"I was thinking more in terms of taking the burden of guarding the mines off his shoulders, your majesty. Leave him free to pursue the tribes while your appointee tackles the problem of the bandits."
"Who do you suggest?"
"Troop Commander Djau."
"Do I know him?"
"He took charge of the Amun legion during the recent troubles when Merenkhons was with you in the Great Field. None of the other commanders was prepared to act."
"Yes, I remember. Good. How many men will he need?"
"His troop should be enough, your majesty. Three hundred men."
"Draw up the orders," Seti commanded.
* * *
Djau set off within days of receiving his orders, loading the three hundred men of his Troop aboard barges for the long voyage upriver to Abu and the first cataract. They would not need to travel further than that by water for the gold mines of Kush lay in the hills far to the east of the river, and the best way there was to follow the Royal Road through the dusty sun-seared wilderness.
Seti sent word of their coming to Khaemter, stressing that as the burden of protecting the king's gold was lifted from him, he had no excuse in bringing the province under control once more. Unbeknownst to the king, another messenger left Waset within half a day of his signing the order for Djau. This messenger slipped away under cover of night and carried a verbal message to Sethi, recently returned to the land of Kush. Travelling much faster than the heavily laden barges, the messenger was admitted to Sethi's presence in the hinterland of Kush before Djau and his men reached Abu.
"My lord Sethi, Hem-netjer Roma-Rui sends his greetings..."
"Roma-Rui has been made Hem-netjer again?" Sethi asked. His question was spiced with malice for he knew very well that Roma-Rui was still deposed.
"No, my lord," admitted the messenger. "Forgive me, I misspoke. Former Hem-netjer Roma-Rui sends his greetings and bids me tell you that Troop Commander Djau of the Amun legion is on his way to Kush with three hundred men. He is tasked with protecting the gold mines and the gold caravans."
Sethi dismissed the man and paced about his tent while he considered the news. Since Khaemter had been made King's Son of Kush, his master Messuwy had been steadily gaining control of the province and amassing troops for his eventual assault on the Two Kingdoms. Reports of unrest that filtered back to the king were actually disguised reports of troop movements as Khaemter and Messuwy crisscrossed the province bringing men under his banner. Such efforts required the expenditure of much gold, however, for the loyalty of most men had to be bought. Ironically, the king's own gold mines were funding Messuwy's bid for his father's throne, but only as long as Sethi could continue to capture the gold caravans. The mines themselves were well-nigh impregnable, but the caravans were vulnerable, especially if spies kept one well informed of the route taken and the number of guards.
Sethi made his decision and called for one of his men, bidding him carry a summons to a local bandit chief. A day later, when the bandit arrived with a small but well-armed band of his men, Sethi met him under the shade of a tamarisk tree, pouring him thin wine in a stone cup.
"Greetings, Bennu. Wine?"
Bennu, short and stocky with black hair and swarthy beneath the layered dirt on his skin, grinned, displaying broken and discoloured teeth. "Won't say no." He took the cup and drank, screwing up his face in an expression of disgust. "You don't believe in bringing out the good stuff, do you?"
"I'll be happy to drink better wine with you if you're successful."
Bennu shrugged. "So what do you want me to do?"
"Three hundred men of the Amun legion are coming south to guard the gold caravans. I want you to take your men and attack them, draw them out and test their strength."
A bray of laughter greeted Sethi. "You don't want much, do you? I'm not attacking three hundred soldiers."
"I'm not asking you to. Taunt them, draw off a small force and attack those. I need to know their skill at arms before I commit my own men."
Bennu considered, and then gathered his saliva and spat in the dirt. "You're happy enough to risk my men though."
"Your men are scum and you can find more in any cesspit in Kush. You won't be risking your own life, I'm sure."
"They're still my men. I'd expect recompense, for their families if nothing else."
"A kite of copper for each man who falls."
"Five," Bennu replied.
"Two each," Sethi countered, "and a deben of silver just for you."
"Done." Bennu spat on his palm and held it out.
Sethi hid his distaste and touched palms with the bandit chief. He knew Bennu thought he had made a good deal, but Sethi would have paid ten times that and still counted himself fortunate to have got off so lightly. Little if any of that copper would find itself to the families of the fallen, but that was not his concern.
"How are they coming?" Bennu asked. "The river, I suppose. And when?" he added.
"The Royal Road from Abu. The latest news I have indicates they'll be in Abu in a few days."
"I'll send my own spies out then. As for an ambush point..." Bennu thought for a moment. "The well at Nak-pilu perhaps. Three hundred men will crowd the well surrounds, so they'll have to spread out."
"I'll leave the details up to you," Sethi said. "Just make sure you engage them fiercely enough so I can gauge their ability."
"You just make sure you have my copper and silver ready."
Sethi sent one of his own men, a native of Kush, along with Bennu to observe the fighting and report back. The bandits moved fast, taking up positions near the well of Nak-pilu while others of their band scouted out the slow advance of Djau's troop up from the cataract above Abu and into the hilly uplands of Kush. By the time the Amun soldiers reached the well, the scouts had formed their opinions of the fighting worth of the men.
"Soft men," one said scornfully. "City men."
"Men playing at being soldiers," said another.
"Ill-disciplined," said a third.
Bennu grinned, although if the soldiers were as poorly trained as his scouts suggested, his casualties would be light and he would collect little copper from the lord Sethi. Still, there were always the spoils of war. Weapons taken from the fallen would be useful, and who knew what else might be plundered.
"Ready the men," he instructed. "You," he said, pointing at Sethi's man, "Come with me."
From the hillocks, rubble piles and thorn thickets surrounding the well, Bennu and his men looked down on the Amun camp. The soldiers had formed into groups of five, erected a tent and were now engaged in preparing a meal on several small campfires. As far as Bennu could see, there were no guards, no sentries posted with the exception of a few men standing around near the well.
Bennu grunted and pointed out how the attack should take place, whispering to his most trusted men. "You see how some twenty tents are separated from the others by the bend in the road and those thorn trees? We will attack them from two sides and sweep back, away from the main camp."
He waited for them to get into position and then led the charge down into the encampment, yelling and screaming along with his men. Tents collapsed as men trampled them, fires were kicked apart and scattered, and soldiers died from spear thrust and axe blow as the bandits poured over one end of the Amun camp. The din of battle rose as the surviving soldiers grabbed any weapon to hand and fought back.
A ram's horn sounded, and the rest of the Amun camp leapt to their feet. Commander Djau yelled his commands and the Amun soldiers formed up in rough columns and started toward the camp under attack. Bennu heard them coming and signalled for his men to retreat. The supporting soldiers were barely in sight before the bandits melted away into the scrub and the rocks, leaving a scene of devastation behind them.
The bandits regrouped further down the road and Bennu listened to reports from his men. He nodded in satisfaction and beckoned to Sethi's man. "You heard? Six of my men dead, another eleven wounded, but at least twenty of the enemy dead, maybe more."
"You'll get your copper," Sethi's man said, "for my master is an honourable man, but may I make a suggestion? The Amun camp is like a kicked anthill. If you were to hit them again, you could inflict more casualties with minimum loss."
"I should get a bonus for the men I kill."
"Put it to him. Lord Sethi is a generous man and will surely reward you."
Bennu grinned and beckoned to his men, leading them back toward the Amun soldiers milling around the overrun camp site. Djau and his men were more concerned with putting the camp to rights rather than putting out sentries to guard against a vanished enemy, so were taken by surprise once more as the bandits swarmed out of the thorn scrub and fell upon the enemy. The bandits were outnumbered but had surprise on their side as well as an intimate knowledge of the terrain, so by the time Djau had managed to regroup his men in a defensive position, dead and wounded soldiers littered the open ground. Bennu withdrew and, well satisfied with his men's efforts, left the Amun soldiers to lick their wounds and returned to Sethi's camp.
"Thirteen of my men dead, another twenty wounded."
Sethi nodded. "As I promised, two deben and six kite of copper, plus one deben of silver," he said.
"My wounded need some recompense," Bennu pressed.
"Another deben of copper shared between them."
Bennu nodded, knowing that none of his men or their families would see the copper he had negotiated on their behalf. "There is also the matter of the dead Amun soldiers."
"We did not agree on any price for them. Your job was to test their resolve, not to kill them."
"Nevertheless," Bennu said, "every man I killed is one less for you to worry about later. Your man said you would be generous."
"Did he, indeed?" Sethi glowered at the man he had sent. "How many of the enemy were killed?"
The man shrugged. "Hard to say exactly. Maybe as many as twenty..."
"At least forty," Bennu interrupted. "Twenty alone in the foray, more when we attacked again."
"I suppose you did not think to bring me proof, like cutting off their hands?"
"We had other things on our minds."
"So, you say forty, my man says twenty...how can I know the truth of it? Shall we say thirty, and I will give you another deben of silver in payment?"
Bennu accepted and Sethi arranged payment before dismissing the bandit chief. When they were alone, Sethi's man prostrated himself before his master.
"Forgive me, lord. Bennu pressed me for payment for the enemy dead and I had to say you might pay him."
Sethi nodded. "A deben of silver is a small price to pay for a tenth of the enemy dead without risking a single one of my own soldiers. But next time, do not make promises on my behalf or I will take the price out of your hide. Understand?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Now, what is the quality of these Amun soldiers invading Kush? Are they good soldiers?"
"My impression is that Djau is a good commander but the soldiers are unused to warfare. Bennu's men described them as undisciplined and soft. City men rather than battle-hardened warriors."
Sethi smiled and dismissed the man. He thought about the lay of land around the gold mines and the road leading there, and then called his officers to him.
"We are going hunting," he said. "Two hundred and seventy rabbits are challenging our right to harvest gold for the rightful king."
* * *
A month passed and a patrol sent out by the governor of Abu found a wounded man, emaciated and sick, stumbling out of the hinterland of Kush. He mumbled incoherently and held up the stumps of his arms where both hands had been removed. The soldiers cleaned him up, fed him, and took him to Governor Tarkahe.
The man knelt and held out the stumps to the seated governor. "Hear me, noble one. I have a vital message for Userkheperure. Find me passage on a boat that I might travel to Waset and deliver my message to the king."
"Who did this to you?"
"A lord called Sethi, noble one. He is the leader of a band of soldiers marching under the insignia of the Kushite legion. They fell upon us and slaughtered us, leaving only me alive to bear witness to our humiliation. I escaped, though bearing this mutilation, and have been many days on the road."
"Us?" asked Tarkahe. "Who is 'us'?"
"I...I am Troop Commander Djau, noble one. I passed through your city two months ago with three hundred men of the Amun leg
ion to protect the king's gold mines. I have failed in my duty and lost my men, and I must now throw myself on the king's mercy. Have pity on me, noble one, and send me into the king's presence that I might tell him what he most needs to know, the whereabouts of his traitor brother Messuwy."
Governor Tarkahe considered Djau's words and then called soldiers of his personal guard to him. "Take this man out and execute him. He has betrayed his king and does not deserve to live a moment longer."
"No, noble one," Djau screamed as the guard hauled him to his feet. "I must tell the king what I have seen. He needs to know that his brother Messuwy..."
"Silence him!"
A guard smashed the base of his spear into Djau's face, and the man's cries broke down into a bubbling scream as blood sprayed out. He was hauled away and his screams ceased abruptly outside the governor's chamber.
Tarkahe called a scribe to him. "Take a letter." He waited while the scribe sat cross-legged on the floor and assembled his papyrus, his pots of paint and thin-tipped brush. "Governor Tarkahe of Abu, to His Majesty Prince Messuwy, rightful Lord of the Two Lands, greetings..."
Chapter 18
Year 1 of Userkheperure Seti
Zephan, it turned out, was a younger son of Jochim, chief of the Shechite tribe. To call him 'chief' was perhaps to elevate him to a higher status than he deserved, for the Shechite were made up of many widely-scattered families and Jochim was but the head of this particular family. His word was law, however, and the forty or fifty men, women and children encamped at the Well of Beeran obeyed him in everything.
Zephan was greeted warmly when he arrived at the encampment, dusty and tired and leading three strangers. The two Retenu boys were accepted without comment but Ament, as a Kemetu, was viewed with suspicion. The men of the tribe gathered round, staring and fingering their daggers, and Zephan had to loudly proclaim that he had granted them safe passage. They drew back slightly at that, but sent them to the patriarch of the family.
Jochim stood outside his tent and, when Zephan knelt before him in the sand, put his hand on his son's head. A woman and two small children stood off to one side, eagerly watching, and Jochim beckoned them over.