House of Scorpion

by Mark Gajewski

  I could hardly believe Iry was actually telling Scorpion he needed me. What a drastic change in his attitude. But he was right about what he was saying.

  Mekatre was livid. “We don’t need anyone’s trust! Nubt belongs to us! I can make these people fall in line, Father! Give me another chance!”

  “You can’t hang every elite in Nubt, Brother,” Iry said. He turned his back on Mekatre. “Matia’s not an outsider, Father. She represents Nubt’s legitimate royal house. She and your unborn son give our house credibility here. I’m convinced Matia will ease the transition of Nubt into our house better and faster than I can on my own.”

  I couldn’t believe that Iry was proposing the very thing I’d advocated eight years ago, that I be allowed to help him rule Nubt.

  Scorpion looked at me, resigned. He was going to let me stay. “I’ll return before you give birth, Matia.”

  I tried not to exult. “Of course, Husband.”

  Scorpion addressed Mekatre. “Iry and Sety and Matia will remain in Nubt. You’ll return to Tjeni with me. Now, feed us.”

  He headed towards the per’aa.

  Mekatre grabbed Iry by the arm and leaned close. “This isn’t over, Brother. You’re going to pay for taking what’s mine. One way or another. No matter how long it takes.”

  ***

  A few days later, Scorpion’s boat carrying him and all the royals except Iry’s daughters and Heket pushed into the channel and began drifting north towards Tjeni. I rejoiced. Mekatre was gone from Nubt. Good riddance. My half-sister Nebetah was on board too. Scorpion had confided that he planned to marry her to one of Tjeni’s elites. She’d never set foot in Nubt again, wouldn’t be a potential rallying point for any of Sabu’s supporters who still existed. And they did exist, as evidenced by the bodies hanging in front of the per’aa. Nofret was going to remain in Nubt to keep me company, at my request. She’d accompany me wherever I went in the valley from now on.

  “So… Nubt’s ours,” Iry told Sety and me. “We have a lot of work to do.”

  “Mekatre did so much damage in the weeks we were at Nekhen in addition to the executions, Iry,” I said. “Men and women I trust told Nofret and me that he raided elite homes and took their finest possessions for himself. He conscripted their prettiest serving girls for his per’aa…”

  “That sounds about right,” Iry said with disgust.

  “He threw lavish banquets and used up most of the wine Sabu had set aside for the elites. He did nothing to replenish the grain supply. Most distressing to all – elites and commoners alike – he replaced the image of Seth in our sacred court with Wepwawet.”

  “I spoke to Niay before he left,” Sety reported. “He’s going to bring two boatloads of emmer and barley south as soon as he reaches Tjeni. It should arrive eleven days from now. I’ll have the grain Harwa and Khentetka ruined cleared from the granaries by the end of this week.”

  “We need to harvest what remains in the fields and get a head start on filling them,” Iry said.

  “Starvation would definitely prompt rebellion,” I said.

  “Father promised to send some of Tamit’s trained scribes to us on the grain boats so we can start getting Nubt’s warehouses and goods and grain under control,” Iry said. “Niay’s going to build me some boats in coming months so we won’t be dependent on Tjeni’s – every one of Nubt’s cargo boats is substandard. None has a sail. Most are reed.”

  “We should make an inventory of how much gold and how many copper tools we have with which to barter for necessities,” Sety said. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “I’m going to call a meeting of all the elites for the day after tomorrow,” Iry said. “That’ll give us a day to get organized so we can tell them what we’re going to do.”

  “Agreed,” I said. “I’ll use tomorrow to bury my cousins.”

  “Should I attend the burial, as a sign of respect?” Iry asked.

  “That’d be a mistake, Iry. You’re the brother of a backstabbing monster. The son of a king who promised to honor my relatives for helping us capture Sabu, then let another of his sons execute them. What Mekatre did will have severe and lasting consequences. It’ll take years for anyone from Tjeni to regain the trust Mekatre so cavalierly threw away for no reason.”

  “I’ll stay away out of respect, Matia.” Iry sighed. “I can’t believe Mekatre let himself be so easily duped into such a drastically mistaken decision.”

  I left Iry and Sety at the quay. Nofret and I headed straight to the per’aa. Armed soldiers were stationed at regular intervals along Nubt’s streets, scrutinizing passersby who were regarding them with open hostility. Exactly what I’d hoped to avoid by capturing Sabu and peacefully surrendering Nubt to Scorpion. Half a dozen of Scorpion’s soldiers were guarding the per’aa’s entrance. “Bring Ani and his brothers and their wives to me at the foot of the gibbets one hour from now,” I ordered.

  Four hurried off.

  Nofret and I went inside. A comely serving girl was in the corridor. One of Mekatre’s trophies, no doubt. She bowed.

  “Gather every bolt of linen inside the per’aa and pile it outside the entrance. Strip the beds of linen sheets too.”

  “Yes, Majesty.”

  I spotted two more girls. “You two. Grab some containers. Then follow me.”

  For the next hour, Nofret and I swept through every room in the per’aa except hers and Heket’s, confiscating golden necklaces and bracelets and girdles and amulets and cosmetic jars and see-faces and cosmetic palettes and ivory figurines and weapons and fine decorated pottery and placing them in the containers the girls were carrying. My relatives were not going to the Afterlife without proper grave goods. Unfortunately, Mekatre had taken every valuable object that had been in his room with him to Tjeni; I hoped they brought him nothing but bad luck. I recognized many items Pentu had originally given me, that Sabu had subsequently given to Ani and Mekatre had then taken from Ani. I kept a few that had sentimental value but tossed the rest into the containers. I pressed three more girls into service along the way as my trove grew. In the kitchen I ordered women to bake bread and fill jars with dried meat and fish and beer, and ordered porters to carry the jars at dawn to graves I was going to order dug today. I ordered the overseer in charge of wine to transport half the remaining jars in the per’aa’s storeroom to those graves.

  I exited the per’aa at the end of the hour. Ani and his four brothers and their wives were waiting for me outside the entrance, sullen, angry, soldiers behind them, studiously avoiding looking at the bodies on the gibbets. A great pile of linen was next to them.

  I addressed Ani. “Take the bodies down. You and your brothers.” I addressed the wives. “Prepare them for burial. Wrap them in linen.”

  “But, Majesty…” Ani’s wife protested.

  “Your husband put them there. Do what I say.”

  I retreated to the shade beside the per’aa and watched as the men and women did my bidding, all of them retching multiple times. Served them right. They were partway done when Renut, Parahotep’s widow, joined me along with Myt, Maya’s wife, my mother’s sister.

  “Thank you for this, Majesty,” Renut said.

  “Spread the word I’m going to bury my cousins in the elite cemetery tomorrow at dawn,” I said. “I won’t allow anyone from Ani’s family to attend. I’ve already stripped the per’aa of luxuries to lay in their graves. They’ll have foodstuffs too.”

  “They would’ve faced the eternal death if not for you, Majesty,” Renut said.

  “His Majesty, Iry, approves,” I told her. “He’s not like his brother.”

  “I’d like to believe you, Majesty. But he’s going to have to prove it to us. By more than this.”

  The next morning I led a very long procession from inside Nubt’s walls to the elite cemetery. All of Scorpion’s soldiers who’d been stationed along Nubt’s lanes since Nubt’s surrender had been, at Iry’s order, withdrawn out of sight. I presided over the service and no one objected. Ir
y provided a bull for a sacrifice and plenty of meat and other food for the funeral feast. As I watched the last of the dirt that had been excavated from the six graves mounded atop them I couldn’t help reflect how diminished my family, and Nubt, had become virtually overnight. I’d been right all those years ago. Sabu had been the death of Nubt. Thank the gods I was going to play a small part in resurrecting it.

  ***

  The day after the burials Iry and Sety and I took our places on three chairs atop the dais in Nubt’s audience hall, none of them a throne, each of us carrying a stick of authority. Iry was pointedly not wearing Nubt’s crown or any other symbol of kingly power; we’d decided only Scorpion should when he presided in this hall, to remind everyone who their true king was. It felt odd to me, sitting on the dais. For years I’d waited on Father in this very spot, then watched his audiences from my hidden nook. But today I was part of the proceedings.

  Nofret offered me a cup of wine.

  “Thank you.”

  She served Sety and Iry, then turned to go.

  “Stay, Nofret. Next to me.”

  “Now,” Iry ordered the herald.

  The herald opened the door and Nubt’s elites filed in. I knew them all. I noted that the members of Ani’s house arranged themselves on the right side of the hall and everyone else on the left. House Ani was being shunned. Quite a few of the other elites kept their eyes downcast, refusing to meet mine. They were ashamed for doing nothing the years Sabu had abused Nofret and me. That’s why I’d asked Nofret to serve us today and stand beside me atop the dais – to remind them and make them feel guilty. They’d be more amenable to the message Iry had to impart that way. I spotted Khentetka and Harwa entering, both hesitant, both no doubt wondering why they’d been summoned to appear in the hall along with their betters. I caught Khentetka’s eye and smiled. She visibly relaxed.

  Iry leaned over. “I’m glad Father let you stay, Matia,” he said in a low voice. “Every person in this hall hates me because of what Mekatre did. When I was in the North I bluffed my way into leading Ptah’s Settlement because I was able to convince the elites I could improve their lives.”

  “But here you face only suspicion and hostility.”

  “Which is why I intend to make everyone see you as equal to Sety and me. They need to believe they have someone to turn to who’ll sympathize with them.”

  The last of the elites shuffled into place.

  Iry stood. “My father, King Scorpion, has charged me and Sety and Her Majesty, his wife, with overseeing Nubt. My brother Mekatre is on his way to Tjeni and will not return here.”

  Low murmurs throughout the hall.

  “The three of us have already started repairing the damage Mekatre caused.”

  “I’ve buried my unjustly executed cousins,” I said, glaring at Ani.

  He regarded me evenly, without a hint of remorse. He assumed he’d gotten away with his treachery.

  I was going to make sure he paid for what he’d done before the day was over.

  “Sety has begun removing the ruined emmer and barley from the granaries,” Iry continued. “Boatloads of grain will arrive from Tjeni in about two weeks to refill them. I promise – no one in Nubt will lack for basic foodstuffs as long as Nubt and Tjeni are one.”

  The elites regarded Iry stonily. As I’d said, suspicious and distrustful. He’d be judged by his actions, not his words.

  “I’m aware my brother took servants from every elite family and pressed them into service inside this per’aa,” Iry said. “When you return to your homes after this audience you may take them with you.”

  Louder murmurs now. Iry had struck a chord. He’d done something concrete for them.

  Iry sat.

  I stood. “Guards. Arrest Ani and his brothers,” I ordered calmly.

  Outraged cries from one side of the hall. Sideways glances and much whispered conversation from the other.

  A guard moved beside Ani and tried to seize his arm.

  Ani jerked it away, smirked, strode briskly to the space at the foot of the dais, crossed his arms, stared at me defiantly.

  Guards forced his four brothers to join him. The five stood in a line, guards directly behind them.

  “Ani, you lied to Mekatre about Bebi and his brothers and cousins. You tricked Mekatre into executing your rivals.”

  Ani shrugged. “So you claim.”

  “So I know.” I raised my stick of authority high. “At dawn tomorrow I’m going to hang the five of you from the gibbets you erected to murder my relatives.”

  Ani’s women screamed. Then they cried out, fell to their knees, beseeched me to have mercy.

  The men were no less dignified.

  “Mekatre hung them! Not me!” Ani cried.

  I had no pity in my heart for any of them. I addressed the condemned. “Your bodies will be left to rot and be picked apart by birds until only your bones remain. Then your bones will be burned and the ashes scattered to the winds so that the very gods will never find a trace of any of you.”

  Ani blanched. He’d finally realized the precariousness of his position. “You can’t do this!”

  “Her Majesty’s stick says she can,” Iry said from beside me.

  Two of Ani’s brothers fell to their knees, clasping their hands, begging for their lives.

  I ignored their cries for mercy. Yes, I was in Nubt to smooth the transition to Scorpion’s rule, and I was sympathetic to Nubtians, but I wasn’t going to let anyone push me around. As I’d just proved with Ani and his brothers, I was willing and able to settle old scores. My unsubtle message – don’t cross me in the future. “Get them out of here!” I ordered the guards.

  They prodded the condemned from the hall at lance point, protesting, pleading, terrified.

  I addressed the rest of Ani’s relatives. “Your homes are forfeit, and your belongings. The same sentence Sabu laid upon my family, which none of you objected to, and all of you benefited from. Now… the oldest unmarried daughter from each family in Ani’s house will come forward.”

  Hesitantly, about twenty girls moved to the space in front of the dais. I guessed them to range in age from eighteen to six or seven.

  “From today you’ll serve the royal family in this per’aa.”

  Some of the younger girls began to cry. The older looked stunned.

  “Your daughters will be hostages for your good behavior,” I told their families. “As for the rest of you, the women and girls will be parceled out as servants among the rest of Nubt’s elites. The men and boys will become fishermen.”

  Women and girls began to keen. They clutched their husbands and sons and brothers. I watched them, reveling in the knowledge they were getting what they deserved. I held up my cup and Nofret refilled it. I calmly drank my wine down.

  After a few minutes, at Iry’s command, the guards silenced everyone.

  Iry stood. “Unlike the traitors of Ani’s house, King Scorpion will reward those of you who honor their fealty to him. You’ve just witnessed what will happen if you do not.” He sat.

  Now it was Sety’s turn to speak.

  “Mekatre removed the image of your god, Seth, from your sacred court, and replaced it with the image of Tjeni’s god, Wepwawet. By this time tomorrow, Wepwawet will be removed and Seth will be restored.”

  Murmurs of appreciation now. Kindness following brutality.

  Sety held up his hands for silence. Then he held up his talisman. “The falcon god, Horus, cast this talisman from the sky more than two thousand years ago and gave it to my ancestress. Horus has been the god of my family ever since. He’s the one god known throughout this valley. He’s the primary god of King Scorpion’s house. So, a second pole will be erected in Nubt’s sacred court with the image of a falcon on top.”

  The faces in the crowd all looked accepting. What was one more god, anyway, if they had theirs back? Especially a second god they knew.

  “King Scorpion has appointed his son, Iry, to oversee Nubt when he’s absent,” Set
y continued. “But know this – Her Majesty carries King Scorpion’s son in her belly. Their son mingles the royal blood of Tjeni and Nubt. Their son will be a descendant of your rightful king, Ika. When Her Majesty’s son is of age he’ll rule Nubt in fealty to his father.”

  Looks of wonder in the crowd, and hope. The upcoming years of rule by men from Tjeni, though long, were numbered. Thanks to me. I’d played so many roles in my life – king’s daughter, bargaining chip, elite’s wife, king’s slave, king’s wife. Very soon I’d add king’s mother to the list.

  Sety sat.

  Iry stood. He scanned the room. “You may all return to your homes now. Take your servants with you. Assemble in front of the per’aa tomorrow at dawn to witness the execution of Ani and his brothers. That is all.”

  The hall began to empty – quickly.

  “Harwa and Khentetka – approach the dais,” Iry called before they could exit.

  They pressed forward through the milling crowd, frightened again. More than one elite stared as they passed. They halted at the foot of the dais, bowed.

  Iry and I both descended the dais.

  “I promised you my father would reward you for helping Matia and me capture Sabu,” Iry said. He handed Harwa a stick.

  Harwa took it, baffled.

  “You’re not a farmer anymore, Harwa. As I said, Sety’s cleaning the grain the two of you ruined from the granaries. Harwa, I’m putting you in charge of making sure the rest of Nubt’s fields are harvested and that the grain not needed to feed farmers’ families gets delivered to the granaries.”

  “Thank you, Majesty,” Harwa said, bowing low.

  “I’ll assign a scribe to help you.”

  “Khentetka, I want you to stay in the per’aa with me from now on, like when we were girls growing up,” I said. “I want you to be my companion again. You and Harwa will have your own quarters.”

  Sudden tears glistened in her eyes. “Thank you, Majesty.”