The Forgotten Pharaoh

by David Adkins

  I was amazed at this sustained attack from my mother and eldest sister. “You are right that I am hurting. My brother has been murdered and there has been an attempt on my life.”

  There was a collective gasp from my sisters and mother. “There has been no murder and perhaps this attempt on your life is another of your fantasies,” my mother rebuked me.

  I had had enough. “There are witnesses to the attempt on my life. However, mother, I will only discuss these matters in front of my family.”

  “We are all family here,” she replied.

  “Only in front of my immediate family, “I said and looked at Ay. Everyone looked shocked except for Iset who was grinning.

  “Ay is chief vizier and a member of the royal family,” my mother reminded me.

  “Either he goes or I go,” I retorted.

  Ay puffed out his cheeks as if he were about to protest but then he thought better of it. “I will leave you to discipline your foolish boy.” He glared at me as he left the audience room and I glared back. I did not know where my bravery was coming from.

  “What has got into you?” my mother reprimanded me again. “What witnesses are you talking about?”

  “You may question Murat and my servants if you wish, mother, but there is a witness standing next to me. A cobra was strategically placed in my inner chamber. I was meant to suffer a horrible death from the grotesque fangs of the king of snakes; first Thutmose and then me. Nebetah was there and helped to save my life.”

  They all looked at Nebetah. “Tell us exactly what happened and what you saw, daughter.”

  Nebetah took a deep breath. “It was evening and I wanted to play a game of senet before I went to bed. I always play senet with Smenkhkare. I went to his apartment and was directed to the outer chamber by his servant, Murat. Smenkhkare was in the bedchamber presumably asleep even though the hour was early. I was pondering on whether to disturb him or not when I heard a commotion from within his chamber. I was worried and I got Murat to go and investigate. I followed Murat into the chamber. Inside a cobra was raising itself up and ready to strike Smenkhkare who had his back to the wall. Murat, who fortunately had his sword, struck off the head of the snake before it could strike. Thankfully Smenkhkare was saved but I fully believe that the snake must have found its way into his apartment from the garden. Nobody could possibly have wanted to hurt Smenkhkare.”

  I sighed. “It emerged from a basket which had been placed under my bed. Am I to believe that it came in from the garden, climbed the staircase and made its way along the corridor unseen? It then opened my door and made its way into my outer chamber and then opened another door and made its way into my inner chamber. Then it climbed into a wicker basket that had not previously been there or perhaps it brought the basket with it.”

  They all stared at me in disbelief. I did not know whether it was my story or my audacity that had dumbfounded them all. Iset shattered the silence with laughter. “It was a very talented snake to have achieved all that.”

  Nebetah looked crestfallen and Tiye and Sitamun were rendered speechless.

  At last my mother spoke. “I need to absorb what has been said. We will not talk about the funeral now for we can do that later with Akhenamun. It is obvious that someone tried to kill you Smenkhkare, but it does not mean that Thutmose was murdered. It was probably a servant with a grudge. We need to find out who that might have been but I now understand fully why you have not been yourself of late. I withdraw my criticism of you for you have had a terrible time recently and a very bad experience and to come so near to an awful death at such a young age excuses your behaviour.”

  Now I was rendered speechless. They still did not get it.

  “You are all dismissed,” my mother added.

  The three of us filed out of my mother’s apartment leaving my mother with Sitamun. Nebetah looked close to tears and wandered away. I started to go after her but Iset took my arm. “Let her go for she must learn what you have learnt.”

  “Which is?” I asked.

  “That there is a big bad, dangerous world outside the cosy confines of our family.”

  “And within,” I said.

  “And within,” she conceded. “And you, my little brother, have certainly shaken it up today. I will take my leave of you, too, and digest what you have said.”

  I started back towards my own apartment when I passed Ramose, Ay’s assistant. “I was seeking you out,” he said blocking my way down the corridor.

  “I am suddenly popular,” I replied.

  “I do not know what this is about but Ay has instructed me to pass a warning on to you. Stop stirring things up and for your own safety you should go back to the anonymity you enjoyed before.”

  “And if I do not?” I asked.

  “I do not know, but I will give you some advice of my own. A man or boy who crosses Ay is asking for trouble.”

  “Thank you, Ramose; I will keep your advice in mind.”

  Murat was waiting for me when I returned to my apartment. “I hope all is well,” he offered.

  “Try and keep me protected at all times,” I replied.

  “I will,” he promised and I retired to my inner chamber.

  The next morning I received another shock. I had a visitor and that visitor was my wife Taduheppa. “I was about to go for my morning walk in the gardens,” I informed her.

  “Then if I may, I will go with you.” She smiled that stunning smile that always captivated me.

  “Of course you may. How about we take a boat out on the lake,” I suggested.

  “Wait here and I shall go and tell Turet to gather up some refreshing fruit for us to take with us. It will be hot out on the lake where there is no shade.”

  Off she went and I was left feeling more than a little bemused. It was the first time she had ever taken the initiative in suggesting we do something together. A few minutes later she returned clutching a basket of fruit. The watermelon looked particularly appealing. We made our way slowly down to the lakeside and I noticed that a few guards were keeping me under surveillance. It did not worry me for I recognised them as being comrades to Murat and I presumed he was keeping his promise that I would be protected at all times. The royal barque, though now completed, was too large for the two us and so I took a rowing boat out on the lake. I rowed and Taduheppa sat opposite me, her delicate hands holding on to the side of the boat as she looked down into the cool waters of the lake. She was relaxed in my presence in a way that I had never seen before. I continued to feel bemused.

  She opened the conversation after a period of silent reflection in the morning sunshine. “I heard about the meeting and that the cobra was placed in your room in a basket proving it to be an attempt on your life.”

  “It was an attempt on my life.” I searched her beautiful face.

  “Surely you do not think I had anything to do with it?” She was annoyed but was curbing her anger.

  “I never said that. In truth I do not know what to think.” I was not yet ready to divulge to her my suspicions about Akhenamun for she had recently been enjoying intimacies with him.

  “If they tried once then they may try again,” she warned. “You will have to be careful, Smenkhkare.”

  “I believe the same person who was responsible for the murder of Thutmose tried to have me murdered.”

  “You are no doubt right,” she conceded. She did not try to suggest that the death of Thutmose had been accidental.

  “How do you know about the cobra being planted in a basket?” I asked. “When it first happened I went to your apartment to tell you but you were not there. You were otherwise engaged.”

  She looked guilty. “Last night I went to see Nebetah for some female company because I no longer enjoy the friendship of Nefertiti. It was obvious that something was wrong with your sister. You had had another family meeting to which I was not invited this time. It was clear that the meeting had upset her but she was distressed and would not disclose all the details except that a c
obra was placed in your room in a basket.”

  “My poor sister,” I sighed.

  “I did not press her but instead went to see Iset and I think she told me all that was said. She was amazed at the way you had stood up to your mother and that insufferable man, Ay. I was impressed when she told me about it.”

  “So who do you think murdered Thutmose and tried to murder me?” I asked.

  “I firmly believe it was Akhenamun. He is the only one I can think of who would gain from the death of Thutmose, but why he should wish to murder you I do not know.”

  “You shared his bed just days ago and now you accuse him of murder,” I sneered. “I believe I was making things uncomfortable for him and I was starting to pose a threat.”

  “How could you pose a threat?” She ignored my condemnation.

  I avoided her question for I did not want to give too much away. I had realised that with the death of Metos I was involved in dangerous plotting. “Where do you stand in all this?” I asked.

  “I stand with you,” she responded.

  “That is convenient now that Akhenamun has rejected you.”

  “Yes, I hate him.” She was getting more animated. “I know I have been foolish but I am a Mitanni princess and he has humiliated me. Not even the next pharaoh of Egypt can treat me this way. He promised that I would be his chief wife but it was just a ruse to get me into his bed. He always intended that his chief wife would be Nefertiti. Having got what he wanted he told me to go back to the ugly youth who was my husband and he laughed in my face. That was when I struck him and that was when he hit me back, knocking me to the floor. I want him on that same floor at my feet begging for his life.” She sat back in the boat and stared at me and I stopped rowing and let it drift into the middle of the lake. “That is what I want, Smenkhkare.” There was hostility in her dark eyes but it was not aimed at me.

  “Do you also see me as an ugly youth?” I asked.

  “You are a boy, but you are growing fast and you are not so ugly,” she smiled.

  “Am I your husband?” I asked.

  “Not completely but you will be when you are a man. Let us now relax and enjoy the beauty of your father’s lake.”

  The promise was enticing. I smiled and closed my eyes and dipped my hands in the water.

  “Is it safe to do that?” she asked.

  I opened my eyes. “There are no crocodiles in the lake. The gardeners make sure that none wander this way.”

  “I hope they do a good job,” she mused. “I will dangle my feet in the water.” She kicked off her sandals and pulled up her dress and lifted her legs over the side of the boat.

  “Be careful or you will capsize the boat,” I warned.

  “I do not want to do that for I cannot swim but you would rescue me, wouldn’t you?” she laughed.

  “I might,” I grinned, and I watched as she splashed her feet in the lake. I carefully moved across the boat to distribute our weight more evenly and make the small boat steadier. I looked at her bare legs and remembered her nudity when she had emerged from her bath. I loved her and wanted her so badly. If only she regarded me as a man.

  She looked at me as she pulled her legs back into the boat and I knew that she knew how much I desired her. She pulled me from my reverie with a question. “Where were you yesterday, Smenkhkare? I came to see you but you were not in Malkata.”

  “I was at the army camp across the river, Taduheppa.”

  “Why were you there?”

  “Just some training,” I answered.

  “Who did you see?”

  “Coreb, the general,” I replied.

  “I have never spoken with this Coreb but I have seen him at the palace. Does he command the entire army?”

  “He does. He is our general but he was also a good friend of Thutmose.”

  “Who is he loyal to, Smenkhkare?”

  “To Egypt,” I replied.

  “Is he your friend too?”

  “He is my friend too,” I replied. “Where is this leading, Taduheppa?”

  “I am just curious. Would he be loyal to Akhenamun if he were pharaoh?”

  “Not if Akhenamun murdered his friend.”

  “As the general of the army he must wield much power.”

  “That is true.” I was intrigued.

  “You must tell him that you believe Akhenamun had Thutmose murdered.”

  “I do believe Akhenamun had Thutmose murdered.”

  “Even better, Smenkhkare, but if only we could prove it to him.”

  “And then what?” I asked.

  She took my hand. “And then with Coreb and the army at your disposal you could become pharaoh. The army could cross the Nile and take Malkata.”

  “But what of Akhenamun and the palace guard?” I asked.

  “The palace guard could not oppose the army and Akhenamun would be at my feet begging for his life.”

  I offered her back her sandals. “The great pharaoh, my powerful brother, prostrate at the dainty feet of the Mitanni princess,” I said and smiled at the vision.

  “He is not yet pharaoh and he is certainly not great,” she smiled back. “Think about it, Smenkhkare – the throne and Egypt would be yours.”

  “And what of you, Taduheppa?” I inquired.

  “When you become pharaoh, you become a man and I become a true wife, your chief wife. Akhenamun would pay for his crimes and I would have Nefertiti as a servant girl.”

  “You are talking treason,” I pointed out.

  “You have not contradicted me,” she said.

  “Do you not think that I have not thought of these things myself?”

  She ran her still bare foot up my calf. I felt the pangs of almost uncontrollable desire and reached out for her leg. She withdrew her pretty limb. “You are not yet pharaoh,” she pointed out.

  “I am your husband.”

  “Not yet but soon; go and see Coreb again,” she urged. “Put these proposals to him. Convince him that Akhenamun murdered Thutmose. Do not wait too long. Try to be a man and meanwhile I will think how we can best place the blame on Akhenamun for the death of Thutmose.”

  “He almost certainly did kill Thutmose,” I pointed out.

  “Whether he did or not, it is essential Coreb believes he did.”

  “See what you can come up with,” I said. “It is the funeral in a few days but I will go and see Coreb at the military camp before then.”

  I could see the excitement in her stunning black eyes and it was contagious. “Let us go back to the palace and start our plans. You must get a message to Coreb that you will go tomorrow.”

  “And we must not speak of these matters with anyone,” I said.

  “Of course not,” she replied.

  I rowed the boat back to the lakeshore and we returned hastily towards the palace.

  A figure stepped from behind a bush and blocked our passage. “Are the little husband and the pretty wife getting on at last?” he asked.

  “What do you want, Akhenamun?” I replied.

  “My most valued servant, Metos, has vanished. I wondered if you had seen him or have any idea where he might have vanished to.” He was obviously in a dark mood and so I decided not to antagonise him further.

  However, that did not stop my wife. “It is very careless to mislay your servants, Akhenamun,” she mocked.

  He turned to me. “Tell your wife to watch her tongue, brother, or I might have it cut out.”

  “My father would not take kindly to that,” she retorted.

  “I do not care in the least about your father. He is king of a petty state while I am the lord of Egypt.”

  “The Mitanni kingdom is not a petty state,” I pointed out. “I cannot help you with regard to Metos. I am sorry you have lost him for I know he was a loyal servant to you.”

  He calmed down a little at my soothing words and shook his head. “It is most strange,” he muttered and walked away.

  “It is strange that Metos should have vanished,” said Taduhep
pa.

  “It is strange indeed,” I replied, and we walked back to the palace.

  ****

  On return to my apartment Murat was waiting for me. “I felt I was being watched,” I said.

  “Those men in the gardens are working for me. They have strict instructions to keep you safe,” he assured me.

  “Good, I hope they continue to do so. I want you to go to the army camp again and tell Coreb that if it is convenient I will come myself early tomorrow morning, and on your way stop at my wife’s apartment and tell Rana to inform her mistress that I leave tomorrow morning.”

  He looked at me quizzically.

  “It is safe to say that, but say no more than that. I will make an early start in the morning as I did last time and I want you to accompany me again.”

  “Of course, your majesty. I will return at nightfall,” he said and promptly left my presence.

  Once again I had a period of waiting for my tortured mind to deal with.

  Murat was later than I expected and I had retired to my inner chamber. He entered and bowed. “I am sorry, your majesty, but I was delayed on the way back. The boat I was on sank because the boatmen had packed too many people into it. It was all very chaotic at the riverside.”

  “These things happen. Why do you always call me ‘your majesty’?” I asked.

  “That is what you are,” he replied.

  “It has become common to call members of my family ‘your majesty’ but it is not strictly correct. It is a title that should be reserved for the pharaoh. You have saved my life and you should simply call me Smenkhkare.”

  “Then I will, but perhaps one day soon I might revert back to ‘your majesty’, Smenkhkare.”

  I smiled. “You know what is going on, Murat.”

  “Even servants have eyes and ears,” he observed.

  “Now what did the general have to say?” I asked.

  “I told him that you would come in the morning if it were convenient. He said it was very convenient and advised that we leave at an early hour.”

  “To avoid prying eyes. My general is as diligent as ever. We shall leave early in the morning, Murat, and now you are dismissed.”