by Overton, Max
The troop commanders had their men drilling on the cramped decks of the barges where possible and organised competitions designed to hone warlike skills. Wrestling matches were popular amongst the men, particularly between sailors and soldiers, and when game came close enough to the water's edge, flights of arrows would seek the fleeing targets. Sometimes, one of the barges would put into shore to collect the bodies, rowing hard afterward to regain their position in the fleet.
Horemheb noticed his lieutenant's absence and shook his head smiling. Perhaps I was too hard on him , he thought. The girl may still be in Sehotep-Neteru...and perhaps it wasn't even her . On the second day, he suspected Penno was nursing hurt feelings and on the third day, with his lieutenant's continued absence, decided it had gone on long enough. He called an aide to him.
"Find Lieutenant Penno and tell him to report to me immediately. I will accept no excuses."
The aide returned alone nearly an hour later to his pacing and angry general. He trembled slightly, for no man liked to bring bad news to Horemheb, and looked down at the sun-whitened deck. "Lieutenant Penno is nowhere to be found, sir. I signaled the other barges but no-one has seen him for two days."
"What?" Horemheb swung round, took two swift paces toward the aide and gripped the man by the lower jaw, forcing his head back. He stared into the terrified man's eyes. "Who was the last person to see him?"
"I...I d...don't know s...sir. P...perhaps his tr...troop commander, Nebseny."
"Find him. And my own troop commander Mose. I want them here before I've had time to piss."
The aide scurried off and Horemheb strode to the side of the barge, loosening his kilt. Soldiers and oarsmen alike scattered, drawing away from the angry general, and the course of the barge swung slightly until the other oarsmen could compensate. With a muttered prayer to Hapy for polluting his waters, Horemheb directed an arc of urine into the sluggishly flowing river. Has the bastard deserted? Over a mere reprimand? I'll have his balls before he dies . He shook himself dry and adjusted his kilt before walking slowly back to his awning and his hard chair. Sitting, he considered his problem.
If he has deserted, do I stop and search for him? I cannot delay if I am to find Smenkhkare, yet I cannot let Penno escape justice .
Splashing in the water by the stern disturbed his thoughts and Horemheb looked up in irritation to see men scrambling over the side, evidently from a small boat moored alongside. He recognised his own troop commander, Mose, and the frightened aide. The third man was not familiar. "Who are you?" he snapped.
"Troop commander Nebseny," the man said, saluting crisply. "You sent for me."
Horemheb grunted, struggling to maintain his anger. He accepted Mose's salute before turning on the trembling aide. "Why are you still here? Did I ask you to come back after delivering my commands?"
"N...no sir. Sorry sir." The aide saluted clumsily and fled. The soldiers standing around on the deck carefully looked away, thanking the gods the general's anger was not directed at them.
Horemheb regarded Penno's troop commander carefully, looking for signs of guilt. The man stared ahead, not meeting the general's eyes but not avoiding them either. "Where is he, Troop Commander Nebseny?" he asked softly. "Where is Lieutenant Penno?"
The man hesitated. "I don't know, Lord Horemheb."
"Must I put you to the question to wring an answer out of you? I dislike shaming a man before his fellow soldiers but I will do it if you force me."
Beads of sweat broke out on Nebseny's forehead. "I don't know where he is, Lord Horemheb. Truly." Another hesitation. "I...I only know what he told me."
"And that was?"
"He said he was doing the general's bidding...your bidding, my lord. He said only death would prevent him accomplishing his task."
Horemheb grunted. "What task was this?"
Nebseny's eyes widened slightly. "The task you set him, my lord. To capture the girl."
"I did not mean for him..." he broke off, cursing himself for starting an explanation to a subordinate, "He went alone?"
"No sir. He took a tracker and ten men."
"When did he leave?"
"At sunset two days ago. He said he was going to hide and follow and that I was to tell no-one." Nebseny sighed very gently and lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry, my lord, I should have told you."
"Do you think I want to be bothered by every little thing that happens?" Horemheb crossed the deck and stared out over the green water to the western bank of the river. "Two days is too long," he muttered to himself. Abruptly, he came to a decision, and bellowed for the barge master, who came running and knelt before the general.
"Put into shore, Master. Mose, you will take a hundred and fifty men ashore and form a cordon from the river's edge to..." Horemheb shaded his eyes, searching the riverbank. "To that hillock." He pointed. "No man is to be out of sight of his neighbors. Nebseny, you will turn two barges about and go downriver an hour, put into shore and disembark the men, all three hundred of them. While the barges return to us here, you will scour the western bank, driving everything before you. Allow no-one to pass you or to hide in thickets or caves. I will have these people caught, Penno and his men too, if they are there."
Nebseny saluted and turned to go, but Horemheb detained him a moment longer. "None of them are to be hurt, Nebseny. Impress that on your men. The woman in particular is to be taken alive and unhurt, even if it means men have to die to accomplish it."
The lead barge heeled across the current and pulled into a shallow bay, disgorging the soldiers who, under Mose's command, rapidly deployed across the thin strip of land between the water and the dry, scrubby hillock. At the same time, two barges turned and sped downriver, oars bending to hurl the ungainly craft northward. They soon disappeared from sight. Horemheb stood on the deck of his barge and stared at the vegetation, every movement in the trees and sound issuing forth as animals and birds called, alerting him to the possibility of his quarry slipping by unnoticed.
Cursing softly, he called another aide to his side and had his other troop commanders summoned. "Seeing as we are stopping anyway, we will make an exercise of this. Baenre, Seneb, Piankh--disembark all the men and form them up into three divisions, each to form line abreast from river to hills. You will sweep downriver a hundred paces apart until you meet up with Nebseny's men. All four groups will then do the same, sweeping back to this place. You will capture anyone you come across, hurting no-one. Any questions?"
"Who are we looking for, sir?" Piankh asked.
"A young woman, probably with a young man. Maybe some others. Just bring me anyone you find. There are no villages or farms on this stretch of the river so there won't be many."
"What about any game we flush, sir?" Seneb asked. "We need meat."
Horemheb thought. They did need meat but if the men were allowed to hunt, the exercise could rapidly turn into a farce. "Any game you come across is to be allowed to break back through the lines. On your return sweep, you may kill any game animal you see, but the bodies are to be left where they fall. No-one is to break ranks to collect them. The last line of men will perform that duty."
An hour later, the last of the lines of soldiers were on their way north along the western river bank. Horemheb left his barge and climbed up the slope toward where Mose had set up his command. The elevation on the small hillock afforded the troop commander sight of most of his line of men and he saw the approach of his general.
"No sign yet, sir," Mose said by way of greeting.
"I didn't really expect there would be yet. They've only just left."
Mose pursed his lips and kept silent, watching Horemheb out of the corner of his eye. As the minutes drew out, he started fidgeting and coughed discreetly.
"You have something to say, Mose?"
"No sir...er, yes sir. I mean, how do you know the girl is even there sir?"
"You think I would send fifteen hundred men out scouring the landscape on a whim?"
"No sir. Sorry sir."
<
br /> Another extended silence ensued. Finally, Horemheb turned from his contemplation of the empty landscape. "I don't know, Mose. It just seems likely."
"And she's that important, sir?"
"You mean, is she important enough to delay our march south to find Smenkhkare? Again, I don't know." Horemheb waved in irritation at a persistent fly. "Even if it is who I think it is, she is still only a woman, so maybe I am just wasting my time here."
Mose thought about this for a while, his forehead wrinkled in concentration. "Well, never mind, sir. Speaking for myself and my men, it's good to have a bit of action at last, even if it is just standing around in the hot sun."
The glowing disc arced its way over the sky, swinging the shadows round and lengthening them before they heard distant shouts from the north. Mose shouted out orders that brought each man in his thin line to attention. Staring north, Horemheb at last made out the figures of a knot of men pushing their way through the scrub.
"What in Heru's name are they playing at, bunching up like that? They had strict orders to stay in line."
"They've got captives, sir. See?" As he spoke a figure detached itself from the distant group and raced away toward the hills, two soldiers on his heels. Before he had run fifty paces, the soldiers were on him, pushing him to the ground before leading him back with his hands tied behind his back.
"Stay with your men, Mose." Horemheb started down the hill, trying to limit his pace to a dignified walk when it was all he could do not to break into a run. Down on the flat land near the river, he awaited the soldiers and their prisoners.
Troop commander Baenre left his men and ran across to his general. He saluted formally but could not disguise his pleasure and triumph. "We got them sir. Every last one of them."
Horemheb looked past Baenre toward the prisoners, frowning. "How many are there?"
"Sixty-one, sir. I was a bit surprised. I thought there'd only be a few."
"So did I," Horemheb admitted. "There is a young woman among them?"
"Yes sir. Two, in fact."
"Show me."
Baenre rapped out a series of orders and his prisoners were lined up ready for inspection. The young women were led forward and Horemheb took one look at the dark cicatrised skin and groaned.
"These are obviously Nubian women."
"Yes sir." Baenre looked worried. "Were they not supposed to be? I mean, we are in..."
"Enough! I am at fault, Baenre. I should have made it clear I was looking for a Kemetu woman, though she might look like a half-caste. Well, do you have any Kemetu prisoners?"
"No sir."
"Then release them."
A little later, Nebseny led his men in, followed by Seneb and lastly, Piankh, his men burdened with several carcasses of antelope, hare, buffalo and goat. They even had a handful of prisoners too, five hunters who had tried to claim one of the antelope was theirs. Horemheb snarled with frustration and ordered that the hunters be drafted into Piankh's troop.
The sun slid behind the western hills and Horemheb ordered the men set up a fortified camp on the spot. While the campfires were lit and soldiers got to work excavating primitive earthworks topped by thorn bush, Horemheb walked the perimeter with Mose.
"Perhaps they are on the other side of the river, sir."
"It's possible. More likely she was never there at all and I just wanted her to be."
"Do we look again tomorrow?"
"No, we have wasted enough time. We head south."
A man was waiting by Horemheb's tent when they returned to the camp. The sun had set and the flickering flames of the camp fires crackled with the smells of roasting flesh. The general's belly rumbled with hunger and he walked past the man, his mind fixed firmly on his supper.
"My lord Horemheb," the man called. "We have them."
The general turned quickly, all thoughts of food forgotten. "Penno? The girl? And the others?"
Penno's teeth gleamed white in the firelight. "Yes, my lord. I took your advice and used my initiative. I have them all in custody."
"I thought you'd deserted. I've had the whole army out searching."
"I saw them, my lord. That is why I returned. I was south of here hurrying to where I thought you'd be tonight. When I saw the barges pull in to shore, we came back."
Horemheb grunted. "You are sure it is the woman called Scarab?"
"Come and see for yourself, my lord. I brought them to Nebseny's tent after dark. I thought perhaps you might like to limit who sees her--if she is indeed this...er, woman."
"You are certain of her identity? Kemetu nobility? Others thought they had here today but were mistaken."
"You told me what to look for, sir. She has the look of the old king."
Horemheb nodded. "Take me to her."
Penno lead Horemheb and Mose through the camp to Nebseny's tent at the western end, where the land started to rise. His squad stood guard outside, saluting their commander and the general as they marched up. Nebseny emerged and held the tent flap open for the three men. Horemheb entered and stood staring at the woman flanked by two men, one very young, the other middle-aged.
"I thought it best to separate these three from the common soldiers with them, sir," Penno said. "I'd say the older one is a physician from the contents of his bag..."
"His name is Nebhotep," Horemheb said softly. "One-time physician at the court of Akhenaten and councilor to the late king Smenkhkare."
"Lord Horemheb." Nebhotep bowed gracefully. "You know as well as I that King Smenkhkare is not dead."
Horemheb ignored the physician's comment and walked across to the tall young man. "Faithful Khu." He laughed and turned his head to Penno. "Here is proof that anyone can rise in station in Kemet. This lad was born a poor dirt farmer and rose to be a councilor for Smenkhkare. Of course, the reason he rose is the help he gave to our third prisoner here." The general moved past Khu to the seated woman. He stared at her, taking in her stained skin and hair, now starting to show hints of its natural colouring. Her kilt was gaily coloured in the fashion of Nubia and a band of coloured cloth bound her breasts tightly. Dark eyes stared back at him fearlessly and Horemheb took a step back involuntarily.
"Lady Beketaten." Horemheb bowed deeply, though not quite to the extent due her position in life. "The king's sister is always welcome, though I wish you had seen fit to notify us of your arrival. None of this..." he waved his hand negligently, "would have been necessary."
"Where are my men?" Scarab asked. "Hapu and Sepi. They have done no wrong. What have you done with them?"
"They are being kept apart," Horemheb said smoothly. "They will be given the opportunity to join my army."
"They are already in my service..."
"As you are in the king's service," Horemheb cut in. "You are in the king's service, lady? King Nebkheperure Tutankhamen?"
Scarab leaned back in the hard wooden chair and stared back at the white-haired general. "You know I am not, Lord Horemheb. My allegiance is to the rightful king of Kemet, my brother Smenkhkare."
"Your brother died, lady..."
"You know that is false..."
"...and your other brother became king. You follow a pretender to the Great Throne of Kemet. Tutankhamen is king."
"...and little Tuti is king only so my uncle Ay can rule Kemet through him." Scarab smiled gently. "You are an intelligent man, Lord Horemheb, and a capable one. Why do you do the bidding of Ay? You are worth many of him."
"Enough." Horemheb turned to Penno. "Feed them and see the men are secured. Have her bathed and clothed properly. She is a Kemetu princess, not a whore. When she is presentable, have her brought to my tent." He stalked to the tent entrance and lifted the flap. "Oh, Penno. Well done, but next time, tell me what you mean to do."
The waning moon had risen, casting a silvery path over the river, when Penno brought the Lady Beketaten to Horemheb's tent. Despite the heat of the day, the night was chilly, the stars bright points glaring from the dark body of Nut. Horemheb stood outsid
e his tent, warming himself by a small fire, his guards mere shadows in the greater shadow of night. He thanked Penno and bade him goodnight before holding a chair for Scarab.
"May I offer you wine, Lady Beketaten?"
"Thank you." Scarab wrapped a shawl around her shoulders against the cold and sipped from a common clay cup. The camp tailors had quickly cut and sewn lengths of linen into a plain but serviceable full length dress. They had even found some cheap jewelry with which to adorn her, and sandals for her feet.
Horemheb noted the gleaming red hair showing in swathes between the still-stained dark locks, thankful that the skin dye had proved less resilient. "I am sorry I cannot offer you the full comforts of the palace, Lady Beketaten, but an army camp is rather lacking in luxuries."
"I thank you for your hospitality, Lord Horemheb. May I ask what you intend to do with me?"
"You have eaten?" Horemheb asked. "If not, I can have food brought."
"I have had sufficient, thank you." She sipped again. "You have not answered my question."
"That rather depends on you, Lady Beketaten."
"In what way?"
"Are you friend or enemy?"
Scarab smiled. "That is a very broad question, Lord Horemheb. Friend of what? Enemy of whom?"
"Of Kemet, what else is there?"
"Kemet is its king, its lawful anointed king."
Horemheb laughed--a short, barking, humourless laugh. "Kemet has two anointed kings, one an oath-breaker and the other a pawn. What a choice."
"Tutankhamen is a pawn of Ay, I understand that, but how is Smenkhkare an oath-breaker?"
"When I came south to find him last year, he captured me and wanted me to break my oath to Tutankhamen. I offered to meet him in battle to settle the issue of who was rightful king. He accepted, swore an oath, that if he won, I would accept him as king. If I won, he would go into exile." Horemheb stood, the memory bringing a flush to his face and his hands clenched into fists beside him. "He claimed to be a king, standing before the gods on my behalf, yet he deceived me. He left me and hurried to Waset hoping to wrest his throne back from Ay before I found out what was happening." He grunted. "But I stopped him, defeating him at Waset and narrowly missed killing him. I will not fail again."