Fall of the House of Ramesses, Book 1: Merenptah

by Max Overton

"There are many poisons. It would help if I knew what you wanted it to do."

  The young man looked at the old woman with obvious distaste. "I want to kill someone. What else?"

  "Of course you do. Why else would you come and see me? What I meant was, do you want to kill instantly or over many months? Painlessly, or in agony? Do you care if people know he died by poison, or do you want the death to appear natural? How is it to be administered, in food or drink, or by other means?"

  The young man frowned and shook his head. "I thought it a simple matter. Let me think...it would be better if it appeared a natural death, and fairly quickly, hours or days rather than months."

  The old woman nodded. "I do not want to know who is to be poisoned, but I must know if the one who gives it has intimate access to the victim. I can give you something to slip into the food that won't taste too bad, but it may strike down others that eat from the dish, is that a problem?"

  "Yes. If others die, questions will be asked."

  "In his wine...or beer?"

  "Chancy."

  "Then you will have to lay hands on him. Can you do that?"

  "It could be arranged."

  "To an orifice? To the tender skin of nose or mouth or anus?" She cackled with sudden mirth. "Or to the head of his member?"

  "Possibly. What must be done?"

  "I can prepare an unguent to be smeared on exposed and tender skin. It would work more certainly through a cut or a scrape."

  "And it will kill?"

  "Oh yes."

  "Quickly?"

  "Anywhere from a few hours to two or three days depending on his health and how much is given."

  "When will it be ready?"

  "Three days. Bring the fee when you return, one deben of silver."

  * * *

  "Does she suspect?"

  "How could she?" the young man asked. "She said she did not want to know and I did not tell her."

  "Nevertheless, when you have the unguent, kill her."

  When the young man had gone, Messuwy sat alone in his shaded courtyard in Khent-Min and considered his plan.

  Three days and I will have the unguent, another seven or eight and it is in the hands of the physician.

  The health of the king was the factor on which everything hung. If he continued with the symptoms that had plagued him the last month or so, then it should be only a day or two before he sought relief. He would call the physician to him and it would happen.

  Can I be sure it will happen? What if the physician refuses?

  Messuwy and his agents in Men-nefer had chosen carefully, targeting a physician with access to the king's body who could be induced to commit treason. Not for anything mundane like gold, but to keep his sons alive. A month ago, men had kidnapped the eldest boy and killed him, burying him in a shallow grave in the desert. Then they had approached the physician Ahmes with their proposal, do as we say or your son dies. Ahmes refused and threatened to go to the king, but they snatched his second son and the physician capitulated.

  What else? Send word to Khaemter immediately with the words 'the arrow is loosed'. He will bring the Kushite legion north with all speed.

  Fresh from a visit to Waset, Messuwy knew that Merenkhons was ready. He had trusted men of the Amun legion ready to place themselves in the Great Field, disguised as common labourers. They would be under the command of Sethi, brought out of hiding to take part in this vital aspect of the plan. Can I trust Sethi? He is wily and cunning, and willing to do anything to achieve power. Dangerous too. I have played the fool, letting myself be guided by him, drawing him out so I could judge his worth, but no more. This plan is mine and I will now tell him what to do. After all, I will be king when all this is over and he will still be just my lieutenant.

  When Prince Seti set foot in the valley, he would be struck down and his body would disappear beneath one of the piles of rubble strewn through that desolate place. A dreadful tragedy that would paralyse Tjaty Neferronpet. News would then reach the south that the king was dead and Roma-Rui would declare Messuwy rightful ruler of the Two Lands. His coronation would follow immediately. Neferronpet would die and Khaemter would take his place. Sethi would assume command of the legions of the south.

  I must send word to Seti that his tomb has suffered a setback. Nothing less will bring him hurrying down here without a care for his safety.

  The timing was the difficult aspect of the plan. Baenre Merenptah had to die, and Seti also. If only one of them died, the success of the plan became uncertain. If the deaths went off as planned, then Khaemter's soldiers were essential to curb any disorder that might arise from the change of king. Messuwy wished the Kushite legion was already in Waset...But that would alert the king that something was wrong...and that he could be in two places at once, in Men-nefer to oversee the death of the king, and in the burial valley to make sure Seti died.

  I can't be in either place; it would look too suspicious. Sethi is competent enough; I can leave him to get on with it. So, let me think...in ten days the unguent is in Men-nefer, and if I send word immediately, Khaemter and his troops will be well on their way to Waset. Seti...let me see...if word reaches him at the time the unguent arrives, he leaves for Waset arriving there several days after the king dies, but days ahead of the news. Ten days after the unguent arrives in Men-nefer, news of the king's death reaches Waset; Khaemter is here by then and Seti is dead.

  Messuwy took papyrus and paint and composed his letters. The one to Khaemter was simple, the already agreed upon phrase 'the arrow is loosed'. A covering letter to his brother-in-law Bay asked him to deliver the unguent to physician Ahmes. Instructions would be included, couched in innocuous terms so that no one could possibly interpret them as a danger to the king. Bay was also to hand Seti a letter from the Overseer of the Great Field, reporting a fault in the rock at the heir's tomb site, and requesting his urgent attention. A separate letter to an agent in the palace known only as Bebi. He would apply the necessary last-minute pressure on the physician. All had been arranged beforehand, and it now came together. Messuwy laboured over the letters for some time, and when all was prepared and each letter was bound and sealed with a clay token, he sat in thought once more.

  I will delay the letter to Khaemter until I send the unguent off. Better to be certain the plan will unfold before I bring him down to Waset. If something goes wrong it is better to turn him back before he reaches the border of Kush.

  Three days later, the young man brought Messuwy the small clay pot of unguent. He levered the top off and stared at the purplish green paste within. A faint aroma of goose fat and something else, sharp and slightly unpleasant, arose from it.

  "Will it work?"

  The young man grinned. "Yes. She objected strenuously, but I applied a dollop to the inside of her cheeks with a stick."

  Messuwy looked at his agent with curiosity. "What happened?"

  "For a while, nothing, and I thought it was ineffective, but then she started squinting as if the light in her hut was too bright and her breath came faster. She became clumsy and staggered around, mumbling and cursing in a hoarse whisper. Then she started looking intently into the shadows and talking to someone who wasn't there. It was most strange."

  "Did she see a ghost, perhaps?"

  "Who can say? I couldn't see anyone. Then she fell down and started shaking. After a while she became unconscious and died a little later. Three hours from smearing to death."

  * * *

  Messuwy sent the unguent and letters off, committing himself. His father Merenptah had obviously forgiven his earlier conspiracy, perhaps because it had gone no further than the complaining of young men at imagined slights. The king would not overlook an active attempt on his life. Just the discovery of the poisoned unguent would be enough to bring his wrath down on all their heads. The best he could hope for as son of the king was a quick death and a quiet burial.

  It will not go wrong. The physician Ahmes is an essential member of the king's court. The king's bowels ha
ve been giving him trouble and he will have need of Ahmes' services. It will happen. Then Seti dies and nothing can stop us. A month from now I will be king, King Menmire Setepenre Amenmesse Heqawaset.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Year 9 of Baenre Merenptah

  Baenre Merenptah was no longer the Bull of Heru. His strength had drained from him like water from a cracked vessel and constant pain from his joints and teeth racked his thin and shrunken body. Physicians now regularly prescribed painkillers which sometimes worked, relieving his agony for a time, but there were side effects that added to his misery. The concoctions he was fed stopped up his bowels and when he strained to relieve himself, bright red blood burst from swollen veins around his anus. His neru pehut was constantly in his chambers, applying soothing creams and flushing the detritus from the king's bowels with his warm solutions. Other physicians also attended him, for his eyesight was failing and he often had lapses of memory. The poultice of mashed turtle brains mixed with honey did little for his eyes, and the foul-tasting potions aided his memory not at all.

  The kingdom was now wholly in the hands of his son and heir Seti, ably assisted by the Tjaty of the North, Merysekhmet. Day after day, the Heir dispensed justice from the Double Throne, adjudicating in disputes, making laws and inflicting punishments on wrongdoers. The people became accustomed to Seti acting as king. Merenptah struggled now to even perform his priestly duties and often delegated them to his son. Ta Shemau, the southern kingdom, was more removed from the direct rule of the king and justice was usually in the hands of the Southern Tjaty, Neferronpet. If the case was deemed serious enough, a noble or aggrieved plaintiff could appeal to the king, but as messages took several days to pass between the capital and Waset, Neferronpet was usually left to manage local affairs by himself. As a last resort, plaintiffs and defendants would make the long trip to Men-nefer to lay their case at the feet of Seti.

  Tausret had put her grieving behind her and turned back to management of the palace. The royal couple had given temporary burial to their stillborn daughter, alongside the embalmed body of their young son in a crypt of the Place of Beauty. The tomb of Seti, being prepared in the dry valley that was the Great Field of the kings, would eventually house the king and queen, as well as their children. The death of their daughter, and the disagreements that followed, strained relations between the young couple and into this gap stepped the Syrian Butler, Bay, brother to Suterere, dead wife of Messuwy.

  Bay was a skilled manager and as one of the Royal Butlers (newly promoted by Seti), the machinery of the palace with its many interlocking departments and hundreds of men and women ran smoothly under his control. Tausret found him invaluable as an administrator, and soon found that his calm and reasoned demeanour was a useful bridge between her and Seti. Though at first communications were along the lines of 'Please tell my husband that I will not be able to receive him tonight', and 'Tell Lady Tausret that there is a delegation from Assur arriving in the next few days and I would be obliged if she prepared for it', he was gradually able to bring them together and enable polite conversation to take place. He encouraged them to relax in pleasant surroundings, first of all by themselves, and later together; and organised entertainments to amuse and delight. The day when Seti and Tausret shared a bed together brought a smile to everyone's lips, especially Bay's. He was slowly becoming a confidant of the next king of Kemet and of his queen.

  A letter arrived on a courier boat from Waset and the cities of the south, with a small pot of unguent, and a note for physician Ahmes. Bay saw that the package came under the seal of an associate of Messuwy in Khent-Min, and Bay sat and pondered its meaning. Messuwy had no love for his father the king, or for Seti, but the unguent was not actually from him, and it was addressed to Ahmes. There seemed no connection with the royal family, so after sniffing the contents, he sent it along to the physician. Presumably Ahmes knew about it and had perhaps requested it from a fellow physician in Khent-Min. Bay made a mental note to ask Ahmes about it.

  A separate letter arrived on the same courier boat, ostensibly from the Overseer of Ta-sekhet-ma'at, the Great Field, and addressed to Prince Seti. Again, Bay considered this letter, unopened, and then delicately pried open the featureless clay seal. The plain seal made Bay frown, for if the letter truly came from the Overseer, it should bear the symbol of his office. Bay regarded it as his duty to be aware of everything that happened within the palace and, as much as possible, outside it. If it meant opening letters addressed to the Heir, then he would just have to be careful not to get found out. Becoming indispensable to the next king meant knowing everything before the king was aware of it.

  According to the letter, the rock tomb being excavated for Prince Seti had run into difficulties. Bay did not profess to know the expert terms used in the letter, sandstone, limestone, crushed zone, rock fall, but it sounded serious. The Overseer requested Prince Seti's attendance at his earliest opportunity as work on the tomb had necessarily ceased. Bay pursed his lips. This would have to be brought to the Prince's attention immediately. The tomb in which to spend eternity was the most important aspect of a Kemetu's life, particularly if that Kemetu was the heir to the throne. A tomb took years to excavate, furnish and prepare, and nobody but the gods could say how long a man might live. Any stoppage might jeopardise the comfort of the heir's afterlife. Bay fashioned a new clay seal from a jar of wet clay and attached it to the letter strings, setting it aside in the sun to dry. As soon as it was dry, he took it to Seti himself.

  * * *

  "From the Overseer of Ta-sekhet-ma'at, my lord."

  "Thank you Bay." Seti took the letter and was just about to break the seal when he glanced at it. "This is the original seal? You haven't opened it?"

  Bay kept his face impassive. "That is how it arrived, my lord."

  "Then the Overseer is getting lazy. There is no symbol of the Great Field stamped upon the seal."

  "No, my lord."

  Seti broke the plain seal and opened the letter, quickly scanning the contents, his lips moving silently. "They've run into problems with my tomb and want me to go there. I don't know why; I'd have thought any competent builder would be able to make the necessary changes."

  "Perhaps they have a choice of options my lord, but need you to decide."

  "Possibly, but he should have at least outlined the options. He's wasting time just sending me this."

  "Will you go, my lord?"

  "Yes...no...curses, I suppose I'll have to, but..." Seti tossed the letter aside and smiled ruefully at his Royal Butler. "Thanks to your good offices, Lady Tausret and I are on good terms once more. I hate to leave her just when things are improving."

  "Perhaps you could take her with you, my lord? A few days extra will not matter, so why not take a royal barge and enjoy a leisurely trip on the river?"

  Seti nodded. "That's a good idea. Merysekhmet can manage for a month. I'll take Lady Tausret and relax for a while. It will do our marriage good."

  Bay smiled. "Shall I make the arrangements, my lord?"

  "Yes, do so. We'll leave tomorrow, I think, but I will need to talk to the king and Merysekhmet first." Seti smiled. "I suppose I'd better ask Tausret too."

  Although protocol dictated Seti should tell the king of his decision before anyone, the young prince decided he would see what his wife had to say first. He found her with the palace overseers in charge of food, drink, and furniture, planning a banquet that was to be held for the Governors of the northern sepats in a month or two. Seti nodded at the overseers as they bowed, and took Tausret aside with a smile.

  "How would you like to spend a month cruising up and down the Great River with me?"

  "I'm far too busy."

  "With the Governors' banquet, I know. Leave it in the hands of the overseers. Besides, we'll be back in plenty of time."

  Tausret grimaced and then smiled. "Where are we going?"

  "To Waset. The Overseer of Ta-sekhet-ma'at reports some problem with my tomb. I was going to just
take a swift boat there and back to sort it out, but then I thought...well, actually, Bay thought...we might enjoy a bit of time together on the royal barge. Just us two."

  Tausret laughed. "Just us and a hundred sailors." She reached out and stroked her husband's youthful face. "I'd like that, husband. It was thoughtful of Bay to suggest it."

  "We leave tomorrow, if my father agrees."

  "You haven't asked him yet?"

  "It's unlikely he'll say no."

  "Can he manage without you, husband? For a whole month?"

  "That's what the Tjaty is for. Let him earn his keep."

  The king was conferring with the Tjaty when Seti found his father in his private rooms. Merenptah lay on his bed stark naked, his wrinkled skin exhibiting a pallor that told of a life now spent out of the harsh rays of the sun god. Merysekhmet stood beside him, calmly passing the time talking about inconsequential things and telling tales from their younger days. The king looked round over his shoulder when Seti was admitted.

  "Ah, there you are, my son. Merysekhmet tells me you are going south to Waset."

  "How did you know that, father? I have not long found out myself."

  Merenptah chuckled. "You know how rumours spread in the palace. When do you leave?"

  "I had thought tomorrow, with your permission of course, father."

  "Gladly given. Your tomb is the most valuable thing you own, and it must be safeguarded at all times. Dismiss the Overseer if he has been negligent, hire more men, do whatever is necessary."

  "Thank you, father. What is happening here?"

  "I have the most excruciating pain when my bowel moves, and I bleed. My neru pehut is coming with a new cream that he says will sooth me and dull the pain."

  "I am sorry to hear that, father, but I pray the new cream works."

  "Would that my bowels were the only thing wrong," Merenptah said. "I swear my very bones ache whether I move or am at rest. My teeth pain me when I eat, my eyes fail me, and sometimes I forget things. Why, just now Merysekhmet told me of something I used to do when I was younger that I had quite forgotten. What was it? It's slipped my mind again."