I sank onto my stool so our eyes were level. “I will come to you this time. Make arrangements with Tut for me to be concealed and brought to you when the time comes, and don’t let Horemheb know, because he will prevent it.”
She reached across and grasped my hand. “Thank you, Naomi. It’s so nice to have a mother again.”
We heard the children burst noisily into the house, heading our direction.
“When will you tell him?” I asked quietly.
She squeezed my hand. “Now, so that I have you to give me strength.”
Tut burst in with Rachel on his shoulders and the boys running around his legs demanding their turn. He laughed and set Rachel down. “Mama, what do you feed them? They are never-ending.”
“Coming from you, that is rather ironic,” I responded.
He laughed again. “I guess it’s hereditary.”
“Tut,” Ankhe said, standing up. “I would like to tell you something.”
“All right, what is it?” he answered distractedly, as he struggled against Aaron trying to pull out his dagger.
Ankhe glanced at me for help, so I said sharply, “Tutankhamen, you pay attention to your wife.”
His head snapped up and he pulled away from Aaron. “Sorry Mama, but…”
“Boys, leave your brother alone.”
They began complaining so I went to slap them. They fell instantly silent and dashed over to stand in a huddle by the wall, while Rachel took Tut’s hand and smiled innocently up at him.
“Tut,” Ankhe began nervously. “I am with child.”
A smile flashed across his face, before his eyes darted to me with concern. “Mama, are you…?”
I waved him off. “It’s fine. I have had plenty of children. You should rejoice in yours.”
Ankhe looked at me, confused for a moment, until Tut sprang on her. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet. “A child! Now two of my wives are carrying! I am so lucky!”
“Two?” Ankhe gasped in alarm. “Who else is with child?”
“Delila.” He grinned.
She frowned and her gaze fell. “Oh.”
“Don’t worry yourself, Ankhe!” He squeezed her again and gave her a quick kiss. “Your child will be higher ranked, and I will love them both.”
She smiled up at him lovingly. “I know you will. You are like our father that way; you have a loving heart.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” he said lightly.
“Here you all are,” Horemheb said, entering the room. “The noise dissipated and I thought maybe you boys had all killed each other.”
Aaron, Saul, and Ezra charged him.
“We will kill you!” Saul exclaimed.
“A fight to the death!” Aaron announced.
Horemheb flung them effortlessly under each of his arms while Ezra swung his toy sword harmlessly at his leg.
Ankhe seemed surprised. “Commander, I’ve never seen you be…playful.”
“I’m not being playful,” he said as he carried the boys over to the storage room and shut them in. “I’m defending myself from assassins.”
Aaron and Saul both roared from inside and banged on the door, while Ezra continued to hit Horemheb’s leg.
“Don’t hurt them!” Rachel yelled, while clinging onto Tut’s hand. “If you do I will have my brother kill you!”
“Rachel!” I frowned, shocked. “You don’t need to speak to him like that. He’s just playing with them.”
Horemheb laughed as Aaron and Saul yelled at him to let them out. Ankhe raised her eyebrows and turned to me. “Are any of them his?”
Horemheb scowled and stepped away from the door, causing it to burst open, and the two boys fell onto the floor. “Ankhe, don’t insult Naomi by implying she is less than a faithful wife. You of all people should know she is virtuous beyond reproach, and by implying I would deprive her of that is insulting to me.”
Tut rushed over to him and patted his chest. “Come, Commander, let us discuss some pressing matters.”
He escorted Horemheb out quickly.
Ankhe bent over the table with her jaw hanging. “The rumors were true? All this time he―”
“We don’t talk about it,” I said coolly.
“But it explains so much! Why he has never remarried, why he refused my advances before I married, why he is so fiercely loyal to Tut above everyone else―”
“Please, Ankhe, the children,” I hissed.
She glanced at each of them, and saw that only Rachel paid any attention. She smiled warmly at her. “Who is your father?”
“My Papa is Malachi,” she answered shyly.
“Stop it, Ankhe.” I folded my arms.
Her gaze shot up to me. “And who is Tut’s father?”
“You know who his father is.”
“How about Itani, then? After an heir was born, did you decide―?”
“Enough!” The children froze and turned to me, startled by my raised voice. I leaned closer and spoke softly so the children wouldn’t hear. “There is no question who the father is for each and every one of my children.”
She looked at my four youngest and tilted her head. “They do look like pure-blooded Hebrews.”
“I thought you were trying to impress me, Ankhe.” I scowled, raising an eyebrow.
She blinked and leaned back, startled. She touched her belly and nodded. “I’m sorry, Naomi. Growing up in the palace has made me suspicious of everyone and everything.”
“I never completely became a queen. I was always a Hebrew at heart.”
She stared at my children as they began to play roughly again. “I thought you have seven children, Tut and Itani, then five with that guard. But there’s only four here.”
“The oldest son with Malachi is being tutored, as the first-born, with my older brother.”
“You are very blessed, Naomi,” she said with a hint of envy.
I smiled and pulled Ezra out from his wrestling brothers and onto my hip. “I think so, too.”
alachi barely touched his food. He had begun to lose weight, so I was growing concerned. I coaxed him to eat as much as possible, but after a while, he flatly refused. I sat beside him, feeling discouraged, but grateful the children still hadn’t seemed to notice.
Many months had passed since he was first diagnosed. Tut had come to celebrate his eighteenth birthday. The children laughed loudly at him as he told tall tales of his court and noblemen. He rose to his feet and swung his arm to animate his story for them, and under his tunic, I saw a wound.
I couldn’t help grasping Malachi’s leg with alarm and whispering in his ear, “Tut has been hurt!”
Malachi watched him, and a few moments later, he too saw the wound. “It doesn’t look so bad. It’s probably a training injury.”
“Horemheb is supposed to prevent things like that!” I said in a hushed snarl.
He squeezed my hand. “He’s a man now. He can’t be protected forever.”
But I couldn’t let it go. After he helped us put the children to bed, I walked with Tut to his chariot.
“Thank you, Mama, for a wonderful birthday.” He took my hand and kissed it.
I smiled. “No wonder your wives all adore you.”
He laughed lightly. “I am pretty amazing, aren’t I?”
“Tut,” I said gently. “How did you get that wound on your side?”
He pulled at his tunic to look at it and shrugged. “I was just sparing with Nahktmin―”
“Ay’s son?” I gasped. “Tut, I don’t―”
“Mama, stop. I know he wanted us dead when I was a boy, but he’s different now. He’s a good and loyal servant. Nahktmin is a fierce warrior.”
“I still don’t trust them, not with you.”
He rolled his eyes. “Mama, I’m not a little boy anymore. I can make my own decisions. You and Horemheb are both completely paranoid.”
“If Horemheb is telling you also, you should take heed. He’s very cunning and sees things that m
ost others cannot.”
Tut scoffed. “By the time he was my age, he had killed more than a hundred men to climb into the third highest rank in the military, but over the years he has grown soft and allows people to push him around. The Horemheb you speak of from Amarna is no more. My court no longer fears him, but instead they call him the king’s lackey. Ay, on the other hand, remains powerful and has a son to fill his place when he’s gone. Horemheb has waited for you to give him a child, and it is now too late―”
“Tut!”
He groaned. “Mama, would you stop denying it? The irony about the whole thing is that although you are the reason he has grown weak, you could also make him strong again. You should give him one night to lift his morale―”
I slapped him. “Tut! Don’t speak to me like that! And don’t insult your Papa by making such a suggestion!”
His eyes flashed and he grabbed my arm. “Speaking of Papa, he hasn’t been himself of late and is looking tired. You never told me what the physician I sent you diagnosed. So tell me now; what’s wrong with Papa?”
My chin quivered, having dreaded the day when someone would notice. I fought back my tears as I whispered, “He’s very sick.”
“How sick? Will it pass?”
I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him. “No.”
He exhaled slowly and wrapped his arms around me. “Mama.”
He held me as I wept onto his chest, but I felt relieved I had finally told him.
“Naomi,” Malachi’s voice came from behind us. “What’s the matter?”
Tut let me go and rushed over to him, wrapping his arms tightly around him. “Papa, I’m so sorry for everything I have ever done to hurt or disappoint you. You’re the best father I could have ever wished for.”
Malachi knew right away that I had told him. He held Tut, caressing his head. “My boy, you’ve always made me proud.”
Several weeks later, a knock at our door in the middle of the night awoke us. It was Gerlind, hooded and veiled.
“Come, Naomi, Ankhe has begun her labor.”
I grabbed a shawl and veil for myself. We slipped silently through the darkness to the palace. We entered through a hidden door and up a secret passageway straight to the floor where Tut’s wives resided. Gerlind quickly checked the hallway before we stepped out. As we rushed down, I heard the moaning of a woman in pain.
Gerlind pushed open a door. Inside, Ankhe lay on a bed sweating and completely naked. She was struggling badly, while the two Egyptian women present tried to comfort her.
“I have brought you the Hebrew woman,” Gerlind said after she shut the door.
“Naomi!” Ankhe gasped. “Naomi, come to me!”
I rushed over and she grasped my hand.
“Remove your veil so I may see your face and take comfort in it.”
I hesitated, but obeyed.
“Let me check your progress.” I moved her legs to look and discovered that she indeed would have trouble pushing the child out of her birth canal. I didn’t say anything because I knew it would alarm her and cause her to tense and make the problem worse.
“You’re almost there,” I said and reached to check the softness of the birth canal.
“Don’t touch her, you filthy Hebrew!” one of the women said fiercely to me as she covered Ankhe.
“She’s my husband’s mother!” Ankhe bellowed at her. “She will do whatever she likes!”
“Kiya?” The other woman pulled my shawl off. “Is it really you?” She bent over to see my face.
“Jendaji!” I gasped with surprise. “You’re still around?”
She laughed. “Of course! But you…you’re supposed to be dead! I’ve believed for fifteen years you were dead!”
“Kiya is dead,” I said, reaching for Ankhe again.
Jendaji nodded. “I understand. So did you end up marrying that guard?”
“Jendaji!” Ankhe hollered. “Now is not the time!”
She sprang up and shifted Ankhe forward to sit behind her and rub her back.
Ankhe did labor for a very long time, and I grew worried. The second woman, who seemed to be Ankhe’s midwife, became snippy with me and told me to move out of the way so she could do her job, but Ankhe refused.
“She has given birth to seven live, healthy children, as well as helped her sisters deliver all of their hundreds. She will lead.”
I couldn’t help chuckling at her reference to my sisters.
Soon I saw the child’s head, but realized it had become stuck.
“Ankhe, take a deep breath,” I said gently, before plunging my hand in to find the problem. She wailed in pain as I felt around and discovered her bone was too small for the child to fit through.
I pulled my hand out in alarm, not sure what to do next. Both would die if the child didn’t come out, but could I sacrifice one for the other?
I took the midwife’s arm and pulled her aside to confer with her. She shook her head when I told her.
“I knew it. After the last one, I knew she would never be able to deliver a live child. We must pull the child out, but it will kill it.”
“Is there no other way?”
She glanced across at Ankhe. “The other option will certainly kill her.”
“So it’s one or the other,” I stated and shook my head. “How can we make such a choice?”
“We see if it’s male or female.”
Before I could even register what she said, she rushed at Ankhe and stuck her hand inside her. Ankhe screeched in pain as the midwife felt around, then she paused and looked up at Ankhe.
“My Queen, push.”
The choice had been made. The infant was a girl, so not being an heir, she was to die. I rushed over to Ankhe, having no desire to watch what the midwife was going to do. I clasped Ankhe’s face as she gazed up at me in fear.
“Naomi,” she gasped. “Don’t let me die.”
“I won’t.” I gently stroked her face. “Keep pushing.”
Within moments, the midwife pulled the infant free. It lay limp in her arms. She wiped it down as I took her place to catch the afterbirth, then control the bleeding.
“Is it alive?” Ankhe gasped. “Let me see my child.”
Jendaji and Gerlind helped lay her back as the midwife brought her the dead infant. “I’m sorry, my queen, the child did not survive.”
“No!” she wailed. “No!”
Tut burst into the room and ran straight to her. “Ankhe…”
She pushed him away. “I have failed you! Oh Tut, don’t even look upon me!”
But he grabbed her arm and pushed it away. “I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
He climbed onto the bed beside her and pulled her head against his chest. She cried loudly while holding her child’s cheek up against her face.
I backed away, wishing to remain unnoticed. I felt guilty for what happened. I should have done something to save the child, but I had no idea what. Would it have been better to sacrifice Ankhe for the child? I fought back the thought. What was done was done, there was nothing I could do about it, but I felt relieved I wasn’t the one who made the final decision.
As Ankhe’s crying slowly ebbed, Tut looked around at the other three women. “Where’s my mother?”
Jendaji and Gerlind motioned to me standing back by the wall. He gestured for me to come forward and he wrapped his arm around my waist. I went to kneel beside him, but he shifted over so I could fit next to him on the bed. He then wrapped an arm around both Ankhe and me and kissed her head.
“Mama is here. She will give us strength.”
She nodded and glanced over at me. “I know she will.”
Tut refused to let me go and made me sleep on a mat on the floor beside them. I worried about my children, but Malachi knew where I was, so would have Hepsati take them while he worked. We slept well into the day, until suddenly Gerlind burst into the room again and announced Delila was in labor. Tut pulled away from Ankhe, then paused. “I can wait…”
/> She smiled at him. “No, go.”
He looked down at me and grabbed my arm. “Stay with Ankhe. Give her comfort.”
He pulled me up onto the bed beside her, then rushed out of the room. She shifted uncomfortably, suddenly aware that she was completely naked, so I reached for a blanket to cover her. She smiled at me and rested her head on my shoulder where she fell asleep. I, too, closed my eyes, and drifted back to sleep.
At sunset, Tut awoke us as he rushed in to me, holding a screaming baby girl. “Mama, look!”
I leaped out of the bed, acutely aware of Ankhe’s sensitive feelings, and pulled him out of the room.
“Tut, she’s beautiful.”
He stroked her face, grinning from ear to ear. “Would you believe I did this? Mama, I see why you enjoyed having so many, and Papa, too.” He gently placed her in my arms. “Isn’t she beautiful? I don’t think I could ever love anything more.”
I rocked her to soothe her. “That’s exactly how I felt when I gave birth to you.”
He didn’t answer, so I glanced up at him. He stared down at his daughter with a deep, affectionate love. He sighed. “Now I know why you did everything you did for me. I would fight every army and every kingdom to protect her, and you have done that for me.”
I handed her back to him and kissed her head.
“Take care of her,” I whispered, remembering how the midwife had killed Ankhe’s child, and knowing if Tut found out, he would be devastated.
He caught my arm and kissed my cheek. “If I do half as well as you, I will be an incredible parent.”
I smiled warmly up at him. “I love you, son.”
“I love you too, Mama.”
Feeling exhausted, I finally returned home. But when I saw Malachi, I knew he felt much worse. I bit my lip at the sight of him kneeling down, pulling weeds from our garden. He looked terribly thin, and I knew he hadn’t eaten the entire time I had been gone.
Zakkai played with the three boys nearby, while I could smell something cooking inside, so I knew Rachel was doing her best to help out. But Zakkai kept glancing at his father with a concerned look on his face. I redirected my attention to Malachi as I approached and knew he was not the man he once was. I held myself tightly and bit my lip harder, fighting to hold back my emotions. He really was dying. My wonderful husband would soon be gone from this world and I could do nothing to stop it.
KIYA: Rise of a New Dynasty (Kiya Trilogy Book 3) Page 10