by Overton, Max
"Maybe," Samu grumbled. "But when did the nobles ever care for we who enable them to live in comfort?" He eyed the young girl standing in front of him. "And where are you off to, pretty one? Come pass an hour with me and I'll buy you a pot of beer." He leered, his eyes dropping to her breasts, bared as was the fashion, her thin linen shift tucked under the bronzed swellings.
"Keep your evil thoughts to yourself, old man. I am about my mistress' business and have no time for such things." She sneered. "Even did I wish to, do you think I would choose a dried-up old stick of a man like you? I like my men young, firm of thigh and buttock and with a strong back."
"That rules you out then, Samu."
The old street sweeper started and looked round, relaxing as he caught sight of a younger man sauntering across the street toward him.
"Mahuhy," he acknowledged with a bob of his head.
Mahuhy swaggered up to the young girl with a broad smile. He loosened the kilt at his waist and flipped the end to one side, allowing her a brief glimpse of firm genitals. "If you are looking for a good time, pretty one, don't waste your time with old men."
The girl flushed then looked at the younger man with a considering eye. Tall, with dark features that hinted at Nubian ancestry, his black eyes sparkled above gleaming white teeth. "And who are you?" She waved a fly away with a slim brown hand.
"Mahuhy, a trader and businessman. And you?"
"Tio. Personal maid to my lady Sebtitis." She touched her upper lip with the tip of a tiny pink tongue. "In what do you trade, Mahuhy?"
Samu snorted. "Whatever you have stolen, he will find a buyer for. Or if you wish to sell yourself, he will be pleased to arrange it, for a price."
"Come now, Samu, old friend, you do me an injustice," Mahuhy said with a smile, one hand coming to rest on the old man's scrawny shoulder. "Have I not always let you in on my good fortune?" His grip tightened.
Samu grimaced with pain and grunted. "When it cost you nothing."
Tio glanced at the old street sweeper dismissively before focusing on Mahuhy. "I would not want to sell myself, but I am not averse to being entertained for an evening--if the young man interested me." She looked at him boldly.
"You know the tavern in the Street of Cloth? I am there most evenings around sunset. Ask for me. I am sure I can find you an...interesting young man to amuse you." Mahuhy smiled knowingly, forcing another blush from the young girl. "On the other hand, if you need money, I can find buyers for almost anything. Trinkets, perhaps? There are fripperies that your lady would not miss?"
"Perhaps. I will think on it." Tio glanced down at Mahuhy's kilt and turned away with an exaggerated swing of her hips. "I will see you at the Street of Cloth one evening, Mahuhy. Then we shall see if you are enough of a man for me." Flashing him a quick smile, Tio walked away, her head high and body moving gracefully in her thin linen dress.
Mahuhy grinned and tugged at himself, adjusting the folds of his kilt. "She looks like she knows what she is about," he observed.
Samu grunted again and picked up his reed broom. "A whore who doesn't yet realize it."
"The best type. I shall enjoy introducing her to the pleasures of my establishment."
"Fleecing her of all she makes, too, no doubt."
"How else am I to afford my other business ventures? Anyway, enough of this, old man." Mahuhy glanced upward. "A little after noon, I think. What say you we find a shady tavern and rest our weary bones after an honest morning's work?"
***
The bed chamber of the noble lady Sebtitis was spacious and well-appointed. Facing the north, and shadowed by the Great Palace in Waset, it remained cool until well after noon, even in the height of summer. Polished granite floors held the cool of the previous night, stretching gray and pink and white in a wide expanse that reflected light and sound alike from the high, curtained windows looking out onto a walled courtyard. The lady's bed, made of carved ebony with ivory inlay, sat rumpled, decked with soft linen sheets, rugs and pillows at the far end of the room, beneath transparent gauze curtains that kept out the mosquitoes during the rains, and revealed enticing sights whenever Sebtitis felt in need of a lover. Chairs, tables and inlaid cedar chests lay scattered around the chamber, every available level surface cluttered with a profusion of tiny bottles, pots and unguent jars. A wicker cage stood in one corner, flashes of yellow flitting between the narrow cane bars as a small song-bird spoke tremulously of half-forgotten freedoms.
The lady Sebtitis herself sat, with her servants in attendance, on a wide cushioned stool near one of the windows, looking out on the courtyard. High brick walls surrounded a wide expanse of garden paved with flagstones, the edges softened by luxurious plantings of flowers and shrubs, an ornamental pool with lotus blossoms and a spreading acacia tree. An old man fished fallen blossoms from the pool with a piece of cloth attached to a long pole.
A sleek shadow slipped from behind the curtain and arching, rubbed against Sebtitis' bare leg. She looked down, a smile on her lips, her fingers trailing over soft fur. "Miw," she cried.
The cat crouched and leapt lightly onto the woman's lap, butting its head against her chin. Sebtitis laughed and scratched between the cat's ears, eliciting an eruption of purring. "I love you, too, Miw darling, but I must get ready and I cannot do it with you here." She picked up the spotted cat and handed it to a young, naked girl standing beside her. "Abar, take him down to the kitchens and feed him. Some fish, I think."
The girl hurried off with the unresisting cat, her bare feet slapping faintly against the floor. Sebtitis shrugged off her linen shift and sat naked on the stool. "You may start, Weret."
"Yes, my lady." Weret signaled and a young woman stepped forward with a small tray. Weret picked a small cloth from the tray and, dipping it into citrus-scented water, began gently to wipe her lady's face, clearing away any trace of sleep. Finishing, she dropped the cloth to the floor, where another naked girl quickly salvaged it. Weret dabbed the traces of moisture from Sebtitis' face and picked up the pot of powdered alabaster.
"A touch too much sun, my lady," murmured Weret. "However ..." she judiciously dabbed the powder onto her mistress' skin with a short stick crushed and splayed out at the tip like a brush. "... I think we can keep you fashionably pale."
"What would I do without you, Weret?"
Rouge came next, just a hint to raise the cheekbones, mixed with a touch of ochre. Weret examined her lady's face carefully, brushing away the excess. A girl stepped forward with the eye makeup, colouring creams for the eyelids with powdered lapis and malachite. Kohl followed, the black border accentuating the green and blue of the eyes, drawn out into an almond shape, with thick black tails extending toward the temples.
"With your permission, I will leave rouging the lips until just before you leave, my lady. You may require some refreshment and that would smear the colour."
Weret turned her attention to ears and throat, working with alabaster, ochre and rouge to create the impression of glowing health yet lightening the natural coppery tint of the skin. She rubbed a thumb over her mistress' breasts, from nipple to base of the throat, frowning slightly at the faint loss of elasticity as the skin sprung back. She squatted and viewed the breasts from the side. "Aloe, my lady. I think we must use an astringent today."
The unguent pot was produced and the astringent applied. After a few minutes, Weret nodded and bent to the task of hiding all traces of the preparation. She finished by rouging the nipples. "There, my lady, your breasts will be the envy of the whole court, Queen Nefertiti included."
Sebtitis laughed; a clear tinkling cry of pleasure. "Surely not? I have heard her described as the most beautiful woman in the world."
Weret smiled. "Only one of the most beautiful, my lady. The men at court today will not be able to keep their eyes off you."
Sebtitis looked down, her fingers delicately tracing her flat belly and firm thighs. "I wish I could see myself properly, Weret. I can only see a glimmer in the bronze mirror."
"You will see
your beauty reflected in men's eyes today, my lady." Weret beckoned to two young women standing by an open cedar chest. "Have you decided on your dress?"
"Show them to me again. I cannot make up my mind."
The women held up the two dresses to their naked bodies. Both garments were of the thinnest, finest linen, sheer and revealing, falling in clear cascades to the floor. Both were designed to be fastened beneath the breasts, lifting and firming. One had a thin strap that ran upward from the bodice, between the breasts and looped around the neck. Gossamer thin wings extended down over the shoulders, partially obscuring the breasts.
"I am not sure I like that one after all, Weret. If my breasts are so fine, I should not hide them."
"Indeed, my lady, yet sometimes a hint of pleasure is more exciting, more titillating than the plain view."
"Perhaps." Sebtitis delicately scratched her bald head with a long painted fingernail, her expression thoughtful. "If I was to wear it I should open the front. Pull the sides open a tiny bit, Weret, and I shall give them a glimpse of my belly."
"Inspired, lady." Weret signaled to the women and one dress went back into the chest while the other was rushed off to the seamstress. "And the wig, my lady? I would recommend the long black one. It will make you appear paler by contrast."
Sebtitis nodded. "Show me my jewels. Where is that lazy good-for-nothing? Hekenu, come here at once, you bad girl, or I shall have you beaten."
A scrawny young woman hurried in, a small chest clutched in her arms. "H... here, my lady," Hekenu stammered. "I was dusting the box, lady. Forgive me."
Sebtitis reached over and pinched the girl hard on her buttock, smiling as the girl yelped in pain. She took the box and opened it, pawing through the trinkets within. "Where is my lapis neckless, you wicked girl? Have you stolen it?"
"No...no, my lady." Hekenu leaned over and pointed. "See, lady, and here it is. Let me put it on you ..." She lifted it from the box and deftly fastened it around her mistress' neck. "Beautiful."
"Beautiful," Weret echoed. "It matches your eyes perfectly." She hurried Hekenu away and picked out some other pieces of jewelry, laying them carefully on a low table. "Perfumes next, my lady?"
Sebtitis picked up a polished bronze mirror and held it up, turning this way and that, peering at the dull reflection. "Am I truly beautiful, Weret? As beautiful as the young queen?"
"Indeed you are, mistress. Why, the young king himself will not be able to take his eyes off you."
"Now that is an interesting thought. It would not be the first time a king has sought pleasure away from the arms of his queen. Perhaps I can entice the young king Amenhotep into having an affair."
***
Seti, judge and troop commander of the garrison town of Avaris in the eastern Delta of the Great River, sat back in his ornate, cushioned chair and regarded his only surviving son. The young man stood at attention, his bronzed, muscular body gleaming with a faint sheen of sweat, his linen kilt still crisp and clean despite the heat. Picking up a faience cup of watered wine, Seti sipped, his eyes all the while fixed on the young man's face.
"Your report, soldier."
The young man glanced quickly at an older man standing against a wall behind the judge, and then looked straight ahead again. "Sir. I proceeded as ordered to the Khabiru encampment outside of Zarw with a troop of my men. There we requested an interview with ..."
"Requested, soldier? The Khabiru are hired men, just one step up from slaves. You do not request, you command. You are an officer in the army of the world's greatest empire."
"Yes, sir. We interviewed Kishom, head of the council of Khabiru elders concerning the trouble in the city. He was, er...persuaded to admit his men were at fault."
Seti leaned forward. "Persuaded? How?" He sat back again and waved his free hand dismissively. "Never mind. Carry on."
"One moment, commander, if I may?" The older man stared at the young officer. "What was the crime committed by these men?"
"They demanded higher wages of the king for their labors in building the king's city and demanded the right to take their wealth back to their own country."
The older man frowned. "And this is a crime?"
"No, sir, not of itself. When their demands were refused they became angry and rioting broke out. A child died."
"Ah. Go on with your report, soldier."
The young officer stared at the older man for a further moment before returning his gaze to his father. "Kishom identified the men responsible and we arrested them, six in all. We interrogated them on the spot and, after extracting confessions, removed them from the camp."
"You had no trouble taking the men?"
The young man allowed himself a small shrug. "Nothing we could not handle, sir."
The older man pushed away from the wall and stepped forward a pace. "Tell the judge the whole story, boy. There was a riot."
The soldier looked hard at the older man for a few seconds. "Yes, sir. There was a riot. A crowd disputed our right to take the men. I sent a platoon in with staffs to break a few heads. It did not last long. We removed the prisoners and brought them to Avaris. They are in the cells now."
"Your boy displayed a cool head, Seti, old friend. A lesser man might have panicked and shed unnecessary blood." The older man, his craggy face topped by a bald head grizzled with gray stubble, walked over and poured himself a wine from a side table.
Seti nodded, a faint smile creasing his lips. "So the six men have confessed and await trial?"
"Five, sir. One died during interrogation. Another...well, he may not live to be executed."
"No matter. I will conduct the trial tomorrow. The executions will be carried out immediately after. I see no point in delay."
The older man sipped at his wine thoughtfully. "Wise," he agreed. "It is a custom for clemency to be shown on a coronation day. Our new king is part Khabiru himself and may well pardon the men if he gets to hear of their trial." He poured another goblet of wine and held it out toward the young soldier. "I think your son Paramessu has acquitted himself most creditably. Will you allow him to join us in a cup of wine?"
"Of course." Seti nodded. "At ease, my son."
Paramessu accepted the goblet and looked enquiringly at the older man. "Forgive me, sir, if I do not know your name. I was informed you would accompany my troop to the Khabiru encampment, but not who you were or why."
Seti rose and walked over to the older man. "This is my old friend Horemheb. We have been comrades for what, twenty years now? He has recently been promoted to General of the Eastern borders and is touring the garrison towns. I insisted he stay here a few days."
"And I am very glad I did. Tell me, Paramessu, do you concern yourself with the future of our To-mery, our beloved land?"
"Yes, general, sir. I am very proud to serve in the ever-victorious army."
Horemheb grunted. "The idealism and short-sightedness of youth," he muttered. "What do you see happening, now that the prince Amenhotep has been raised to full regent?"
Paramessu raised his eyebrows. "Happen, sir? Why should anything happen? Apart from the usual patrols," he added hastily.
"What do you know of the prince, boy?"
"Only that he is the noble son of an illustrious father. He was raised in Zarw with his mother the Queen, becoming co-regent shortly after his brother Tuthmosis--may his name live forever--was called to the gods."
"And of his policies?" Horemheb held up a hand. "Let him speak, Seti. I would have no secrets here. He is an intelligent young man."
"Those of his father, the great Nebmaetre Amenhotep, sir," Paramessu said slowly. "Though he has had no experience of war...nor even hunting."
"His policies are those of peace," Horemheb stated flatly. "He takes no interest in the army and little in the affairs of the nations. All he concerns himself with is religion and beauty."
"You know the state of the garrison command here in Avaris, son," Seti added. "Most of the garrisons are as ill-equipped as we. Do you thin
k a king who has no interest in the army will spend gold to strengthen it?"
"But that would be suicidal, father. Even now there is unrest on the borders. It would be foolish to weaken our armies further."
"That is why I have been appointed General of the Eastern borders," Horemheb explained. "I am to examine the state of our defenses and make recommendations."
"So the king is prepared to act?"
"Not the king, Paramessu. The old king is still incapable of ruling us, and the Queen and prince Amenhotep are disinclined to soil their hands with such ugly things. No, it is the king's advisor, Ay, who has given me my appointment."
"The Queen's brother?" Seti frowned. "I thought such appointments could only come from the king or his Tjaty."
"The papyrus of appointment bears the seal of the Tjaty; however, our noble Tjaty Ptahmose is in his dotage. Ay increasingly holds the reins of power behind the throne. After all, he is brother to Queen Tiye and father of Nefertiti, the new queen."
"What manner of man is he? I saw him once, when he visited Zarw, but I was not introduced."
"A hard man and an ambitious one. Were he of noble birth he would go far."
"I would say that king's advisor was going far," Paramessu commented. "Especially as he is Khabiru."
Horemheb nodded. "Indeed, but were it not for the old king's infatuation with Ay's sister, and with their father the redoubtable Yuya, he would not have risen that far. As it is, Ay seeks to distance himself from his Khabiru origins. He lets it be known he is son of Hapu, a scribe."
"Yuya?" Paramessu looked at his father. "I do not know this name."
"He was a Khabiru prophet of their god El or Adon or something." Seti crossed to the table and poured himself some more wine. "He arrived in the Two Lands in the time of the old king's father Tuthmosis, and prophecied for him. Nebmaetre appointed him Tjaty, of all things, and there he remained until his retirement and death ten years ago, when Ptahmose took over the position."
Horemheb grunted in disgust. "And that is why we have so much trouble on our borders now. Not only do the Khabiru grow above their station, but the seeds of rebellion are sown in the allied nations to the north and east. However, I shall put a stop to that if the gods are willing."