House of Scorpion

by Mark Gajewski

  Sety inspected the ground. “The pottery fragments are ancient designs too. Probably broken water jars. Carving must have been thirsty work.” He gazed at the underside of the overhang. “An elephant atop three mountains?”

  “Possibly referring to my predecessor’s predecessor, Elephant,” Father said, inspecting the etching closely. “I remember a tale Bull told, how Elephant had chased and slain barbarians who’d raided a hamlet beholden to him. Maybe this is where he caught up to them. Maybe it commemorates his victory.

  “Hard to say for sure now.” I stood. “Anyway, I had this new scene etched a week ago.”

  The images stood out, bright against the dark rock, their lines not yet dulled by blowing dust and time.

  Father craned his neck and looked up at the figures. “Explain it.”

  “The scene commemorates your victory over Sabu. The storks flanking the shrine represent local divinities. They invoke the gods’ protection on this site, so that it’ll never be defaced or destroyed by your enemies.” I pointed just left of the shrine. “The man holding the staff below the falcon represents me. The mobile shrine with its associated falcon represents Matia, the female power behind the throne, taking part in a procession to watch the execution of a captive.”

  Father pointed to the bottom of the tableaux. “The falcon hovering over the scorpion is obvious, based on the symbols Tamit invented to label goods. The scorpion is me, and the falcon is Horus extending his protection over me.”

  Sety touched his talisman and nodded.

  “The figure carrying the staff and standard is you, Sety,” I continued. “The long-necked bird with a serpent in its beak is a harbinger of victory.”

  “The captive with his arms bound and hands tied behind him must be Sabu,” Father inferred.

  “The man holding the end of the rope and a mace is you, King Scorpion,” Sety added.

  “The bull’s head behind the captive indicates the prisoner, Sabu, was a man of great power,” I said.

  “Was,” Father said with satisfaction. “But not anymore.”

  “An excellent tableaux, Majesty,” Sety said.

  “It’s not just a commemoration of victory,” I said. “It’s a warning to anyone from Nekhen or any barbarian from the western desert who might be tempted to invade Nubt. This region belongs to King Scorpion. Enter with hostile intent at your peril.”

  ***

  Crewmen were waiting anxiously for Niay to give the command to pull the gangplank aboard and push Father’s boat away from the quay and set out for Tjeni. It was the day after I’d shown Father the tableaux in the desert. We were gathered on the quay saying our goodbyes – Father, Matia with Gehes in her arms, Sety, Nofret, Khentetka, Harwa, Heket and my girls.

  Heket embraced Nofret. Tearful, Nofret hurried aboard. Unlike Matia, she couldn’t wait to be gone from Nubt. Everything she saw daily reminded her of Sabu and what she’d suffered at his hands.

  I embraced Harwa and Khentetka, then Sety. “Goodbye, my friend. Thanks for your help these past months.”

  He touched the talisman to my brow. “May the god watch over you, Iry.”

  The three followed Nofret aboard.

  Father knelt and Abar and Neith jumped into his arms. He kissed them both. “I’ll see you before too many months,” he promised.

  They moved to Matia and grabbed her legs. She squatted, and both of them kissed Gehes. “Bring him back to Nubt with you,” Abar ordered sternly.

  “I will,” Matia promised laughingly.

  “I have something for you, Father,” I said. I nodded at a guard. He handed me a three-foot-long siltstone palette, suitable for grinding cosmetics. “I commissioned it from a local stone carver.”

  Father studied it.

  “The lion above the depression for grinding represents kingship,” I said.

  “The lion’s a force of nature, trampling anyone who gets in his way,” Father said.

  “The naked man below the depression with his arms bound behind him standing beside a walled settlement represents Sabu as a captive before the walls of Nubt. He’s being prodded forward by a standard topped with a scorpion that represents you.”

  “The falcon resting atop the wall represents Horus,” Father said. “Simple yet impressive, Iry. A mobile commemoration of my conquest of Nubt.”

  “You can assign a man to carry it in front of you in processions from now on so everyone will recognize your might. You can take it with you to your grave so the gods will know too.”

  “Along with the one Tamit made for me.” Father embraced me. “I’m pleased, Iry.” He hugged my girls one last time, then boarded.

  Only Matia and Gehes remained on the quay.

  “I know I’ll be back in a few months with Scorpion, Iry, but Nubt’s always going to be different for me from now on,” Matia said sadly. “I know I’ll never sit on the dais in the audience hall again. This seems like an ending.”

  “I’m truly sorry for that, Matia. You were right all those years ago at Nekhen. You’ve proven these past months that you’d have been a better ruler than either Sabu or your father.”

  She smiled. “High praise, coming from you, Iry.”

  “Nubt’s better off because of you. I wish you didn’t have to go.”

  “You kept the promise you made me all those years ago, to take my counsel,” Matia said. “Thank you for that, Iry. You couldn’t have given me a greater gift.”

  With that, she took her leave.

  I stood at the end of the quay along with Heket and my girls and watched until the boat disappeared around a slight bend in the river. Then I took my girls by their hands and the four of us headed back to the per’aa. All at once, I felt surprisingly lonely. It was going to be odd ruling Nubt by myself. I could only imagine what Matia was feeling. I was glad I’d given her a taste of what she’d always desired. She’d have that to remember when Father locked her away in his per’aa.

  ***

  Peret (Seed)

  Matia

  ***

  I was sitting on a tall flat stone with Nofret beside a patch of fragrant flowers, shaded by a cluster of palm trees, in the garden attached to Scorpion’s per’aa. We’d returned from Nubt three days ago. The sun was about to set. A warm breeze was making the flowers dance. Birds were chittering, settling down for the night. This garden had been my refuge every evening in this cold hostile settlement during the three months between my mission to Nekhen with Iry and my departure for Nubt to kill Sabu. It was my refuge again. It was the one place no one dared bother me.

  Everyone in Tjeni, except Scorpion and Nofret, continued to revile me because of Tamit’s murder. My role in the peaceful surrender of Nubt and preventing the loss of Tjenian lives in battle didn’t matter. Only the loss of the woman they’d all loved did. Compounding my ostracism were Mekatre and Nebta. Both blamed me for costing him the rule of Nubt. I thanked the gods each morning for Nofret and Gehes. Without them I’d be going mad.

  “Leave.”

  The barked command was harsh. I looked up. Mekatre. Why was he invading my sanctuary?

  Nofret glanced from Mekatre to me, questioning.

  I nodded.

  She rose and departed.

  Mekatre moved in front of me. “So… you executed Ani and his brothers and destroyed his house the day after I left Nubt.”

  “That’s right.”

  He snorted. “Exactly what I did, Matia. Rooted out enemies. You’re as vicious and vindictive as me. Worse, behind your pretense of compassion.”

  “Hardly. I executed in the name of justice. You murdered because you were gullible and stupid. Ani tricked you.”

  Mekatre clenched his fists, angry.

  I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to let him intimidate me. There was no point in being diplomatic to Mekatre. He was my son’s rival and mine and always would be and I was going to treat him as such.

  “Hiding in the garden. Get used to it.” He laughed. “You’ll never fit in here in Tjeni. You’ll alw
ays be the daughter of the king of Nubt, not one of us. You’ll always be the person responsible for Tamit’s death at the hands of a Nubtian assassin.”

  “No doubt you spread that news.”

  “Absolutely. Widely.” Mekatre stepped towards me, loomed over me. “You never should have taken Nubt away from me, Matia. You never should have made Father break his promise. You and Iry stole Nubt. You humiliated me. You embarrassed me. You’re both going to pay.”

  “You lost Nubt all by yourself, Mekatre, because you’re no judge of character and easy to manipulate.”

  He snorted again. “If it hadn’t been your dead relatives, you and Iry would’ve made up some other excuse. You two have wanted to jointly rule Nubt since the day you met. But you only got to pretend you were Iry’s equal for a few months, Matia. He played you, the same way the two of you played me. Nubt belongs to him alone now – not you, not your brat.”

  It was obvious that Mekatre was trying to drive a wedge between Iry and me. He was so unsubtle. And wrong. “You’re imagining a conspiracy between Iry and me that doesn’t exist, Mekatre.”

  “It exists all right. Don’t bother denying it. You two are obviously plotting to get rid of Father and take his throne for yourselves. Then you’ll consummate your long-delayed marriage.”

  “Tjeni’s my home. Scorpion’s my husband. Iry’s not going to set Heket aside. You’re delusional.”

  “You think you have power, being married to my father. But it won’t last. Father will tire of you soon enough, Matia, the same way he tires of his concubines. You know about them, I assume.”

  I didn’t. “Of course.”

  “Do you have any idea how many he’s gone through since Iry’s mother died two decades ago? He’s infatuated with his newest one for a few months, then gets bored with her and never sees her again. Not even if she gives him a child.” Mekatre snickered. “That’s what you have to look forward to.”

  If Mekatre thought Scorpion was going to treat me like an ordinary concubine he was sadly mistaken. Mekatre had no idea why Scorpion had married me. He had no idea one of our child’s descendants would unify the valley. He had no idea Scorpion believed Horus himself had arranged our marriage. Because of that, Scorpion treated me with respect. He’d been solicitous during my pregnancy, had gifted me afterwards. I’d impressed him with my bravery when I’d kidnapped Sabu. No, he wasn’t going to treat me like a concubine, ever. Mekatre was clearly trying to upset me by throwing Scorpion’s concubines in my face. Maybe if I’d chosen Scorpion to be my husband out of love I’d have cared that he’d shared his bed with as many women as Mekatre claimed. But I hadn’t and I didn’t. I kept my composure. “Maybe if your father’s concubines had captured Sabu and handed him Nubt he’d have treated them differently,” I said calmly.

  Mekatre leaned close. “You won’t always have Father around to protect you, Matia. In a few years he’ll be dead. When I take Tjeni’s throne I’m going to send you far away where you’ll never be heard from again. Your brat too.”

  “I thought Lagus was going to be king after Scorpion,” I said innocently.

  “So does he.” Mekatre was still laughing when he exited the garden.

  ***

  Scorpion slipped into bed with me later that night. We were in a different room than the one we’d spent our first nights in together – Scorpion had sealed it after Tamit’s murder and it’d never be used again. Moonlight was streaming through a single window, high up. By it I could barely see his face.

  “How are you settling in, now that we’re back from Nubt?” Scorpion asked.

  “If it was up to everyone in Tjeni you’d have left me there. I’m a pariah, because of Tamit and because I’m from Nubt.” I rolled onto my side. “What’s my purpose here in Tjeni, Scorpion? I need something important to do. I refuse to simply attend your banquets for the rest of my life and sit at your side looking pretty and being ignored by everyone.”

  “What is it you want, Matia?”

  “When I was with Iry in Nubt, he let me counsel him in the audience hall. It’s what I trained my whole life to do. I was good at it,” I said earnestly.

  “Iry told me as much. It made sense for him to let you help him, given your knowledge of Nubt and your connections to its elites.”

  “I could help you too, Husband.”

  “You don’t know anything about Tjeni, Matia,” Scorpion scoffed. “Why are you even interested?”

  “It’s my home now, thanks to you. I didn’t know how to rule Nubt either, until I did.”

  “There’s plenty for you to do overseeing this household. And your most important task – raising our son.”

  And protecting him from Mekatre. After our discussion in the garden a few hours ago I knew I was eventually going to have to deal with him. “I can do more than one thing, Scorpion.”

  “I’m well aware of your capabilities, Matia. Your kidnapping of Sabu was exceedingly brave. But what’s more important to the future of this valley than making sure Gehes lives to rule after me? That’s what you should concentrate on.”

  Scorpion was so frustrating. I wanted to scream. I wished I was back in Nubt with Iry. He’d had an open mind when it came to me. Scorpion didn’t and never would. Father and son were so different. Iry had seen me as an asset; he’d taken advantage of my knowledge and capabilities. That despite a brief encounter a decade ago that had shaped both our lives and erected what we’d both supposed to be an insurmountable wall between us. Then, unexpectedly, we’d been thrown onto the same path, each of us older and wiser, shaped by wildly different experiences, tempered by pain and sorrow. In our second go-round Iry had turned out to be, along with Pentu, one of the finest men I’d ever known. So fine that, during our time together at Nubt, I’d fallen in love with him. A bolt out of the blue and just as unexpected and impossible to avoid, the same way he’d described falling in love with Tamit. It’d happened not long after he’d let me preside in Nubt’s audience hall, not long after he’d told me I’d earned the right. It wasn’t just gratitude I’d felt for him for letting me do what I’d always dreamed of doing. But I was Scorpion’s wife and Iry would never stop loving Tamit and so my love for him would be unrequited. Something I’d accepted and would never try to change. Something I’d keep hidden from Scorpion. And Iry.

  “What were your wives like, Scorpion?”

  “Why do you want to know, Matia?”

  “Just curious. Lagus and Mekatre aren’t like Iry. I’m wondering why.”

  “My first wife was the daughter of King Bull, my predecessor. It was an arranged marriage – Bull wanted me to succeed him, and since he had no son his daughter tied me to his house.”

  “Did you love her?”

  “Not particularly. But I married my second wife, Heria, because we’d been in love since we were children. She was the daughter of one of Tjeni’s elites.”

  “That must have been hard for her, the years you were married to Bull’s daughter.”

  “It was hard for both of us.” Scorpion put his hand on my hip, idly stroked it. “Bull tried to pressure me into marrying a king’s daughter after his daughter died to cement an alliance. But I couldn’t live apart from Heria anymore.”

  “You fought for the woman you loved.”

  “I did. Lucky for me, I intimidated Bull. I got my way.”

  “Do you still miss Heria?”

  “Very much.”

  “That’s the reason you let Iry stay in Nubt. You understand what he’s going through, trying to come to terms with Tamit’s murder.”

  “I do.”

  “You’ve never stopped loving Heria. That’s why you never married again, until now.”

  “It is.”

  “If it wasn’t for Sety’s dream you wouldn’t have married me either. You’d have simply added me to your flock of concubines to tie Tjeni to Nubt, the same way they tie their hamlets and settlements to you.”

  “How did you find out about my concubines?” Scorpion asked.

&
nbsp; “Mekatre told me.”

  “Trying to stir up trouble between us, I suspect.”

  “He is. He delights in it.”

  “Fact is, Matia, I haven’t summoned a single concubine to my bed since we married. You’re the first woman since Heria I’ve actually cared about. Maybe because you’re unexpectedly impressive in so many ways – planning wars, eradicating my enemies, transitioning Nubt into Tjeni. Maybe because our marriage is about the future of the valley, not about linking two powerful settlements. It’s bigger than both of us.”

  “We had to marry so Gehes would be legitimate and able to claim your throne.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Mekatre told me your concubines have given you many children.”

  “None of them matter, Matia. The boys will be officials someday. Those with aptitude will be scribes or overseers. The girls will be royal weavers, just like their mothers. Overseeing them is going to be part of your duties running my household.”

  “Do you plan to take more concubines from the hamlets that were beholden to my father?”

  “No. Iry’d be wise to, but I doubt he will.”

  “Marrying Heket was very difficult for him, Scorpion, after Tamit.”

  “I know. It gave me no joy to arrange that marriage. I loved Tamit too. But it had to be done to secure Nekhen. Are you jealous of my concubines, Matia?”

  “Not at all, Husband. I just want to know how I fit in here.”

  Scorpion nodded. “Lagus has plenty of women in the North, most tying hamlets to him.”

  “Satiah can’t be pleased about them, or the daughters of Ineb-hedj’s elites,” I noted. “I heard about them when I was on Iry’s mission to Pe and Dep. Though I suppose a hostage-wife is no different than a concubine.”