Sety removed the talisman from around his neck and touched it to the linen that covered Father’s eyes. “I open your eyes, King Scorpion, that you may see.” He touched his nose. “I open your nostrils, that you may breathe.” Then, in turn – “I open your ears, that you may hear. I open your mouth, that you may eat.” Sety replaced the talisman around his neck. “Now, King Scorpion, you can live eternally in the land of the dead.”
Men helped Sety and me down into the burial chamber. Elites lowered Father’s litter to us. We took him from the litter and laid him gently atop several layers of reed mats in the exact center of the chamber. Sety and I climbed out. Carpenters dropped into the chamber. They quickly assembled the wooden shrine around and over Father’s body. Once the shrine was finished a dozen porters began carrying the grave goods destined for the burial chamber from the warehouse to men who waited in the grave to stack them around the shrine. Each porter made many trips between warehouse and grave. They continued until the warehouse was empty and the burial chamber was practically overflowing.
While porters were filling the grave I sacrificed an ox. After it was dead I sawed off its foreleg, which one of the porters placed in the burial chamber. The last objects added were the palettes Tamit and I had separately commissioned for Father, laid side by side atop the shrine.
“Now we’ll share a last meal with Father,” I announced.
Servants had laid out a feast while porters were filling the burial chamber, the food and drink prepared in the nearby facility that served all elite funerals conducted in this cemetery. We seated ourselves on reed mats, the royals shaded by sunscreens, everyone else baking in the afternoon sun. While we ate, workmen began assembling a roof over the grave, setting in place many thick timbers that spanned the grave from one side to the other, each timber less than a foot away from its neighbor.
Once the feast concluded, everyone gradually began drifting away by twos and threes to make preparations to return to their settlements at first light tomorrow, Nofret carrying Gehes to the royal boat, Heket taking my girls. Lagus and Mekatre walked away together, deep in discussion. Servants began clearing away the detritus from the feast.
I remained seated on a mat beneath the sunscreen, out of respect for Father, watching as dozens of men continued to assemble the roof. Guards watched too, to ensure no one stole any grave goods. Matia joined me, solemn. Neither of us spoke in the hours it took to complete the roof. Once all the timbers were in place, workmen positioned reed mats across them. Then they laid down a layer of mud-bricks atop the mats that they then covered thickly with clay. Finally, they mounded dirt atop the clay, every bit that had been excavated from the grave.
Why Matia stayed I hadn’t a clue, and I didn’t ask.
***
Shemu (Harvest)
Matia
***
It was late in the afternoon when workmen layered the last dirt atop Scorpion’s grave. The mound was impressive, more massive than every other ruler’s in the cemetery, the grandest of them, backed by distant cliffs where lay the entrance to the underworld, the cliffs shaded deep blue, the plains between grave and cliffs turning gold. Yet, for all its grandeur, the scene was lonely, lifeless, forlorn. I sat with Iry long after the workmen had taken up their tools and trudged back to their distant huts and the guards had headed back to the boats. He seemed loath to leave and I was in no hurry myself. The only sounds were wind sweeping across the plain, occasional gusts driving ribbons of dust before them, and the cries of distant birds. I dared not disturb the silence. I could only imagine what Iry was thinking. His father was dead. He was going to be king. The throne he’d once coveted and had abandoned hope of ever sitting was now his due to a twist of fate. The woman he’d planned to share his life with was dead, her grave a few paces from Scorpion’s, within sight. I wondered how many empty years Iry would live before he finally joined Tamit. I hoped he’d find some kind of peace long before that day.
As for me, sitting next to Iry was sheer torture. I was in love with him. Scorpion was dead and I was free. But Iry wasn’t. Setting Heket aside, Tamit still occupied every bit of his heart. He’d never love me, even if I was foolish enough to confess I loved him. Confessing would be selfish on my part. And it wouldn’t gain me anything. It might, in fact, raise a wall between us, cause him to avoid me from now on. No, I needed to keep what I felt for Iry to myself. At least I could be with him from time to time that way, not be perceived as a threat to his arrangement with Heket, not make him uncomfortable. Iry, I knew, wasn’t the only one who faced long empty years. But the love I felt for him was going to make what I was about to ask him extraordinarily difficult, and gaining his agreement more difficult still.
“You’ve waited with me for a reason, I assume,” Iry finally said.
“Yes. There’s something we need to discuss. Without anyone overhearing. I thought it’d be disrespectful to bring it up before Scorpion’s grave was completed.”
“Go ahead.”
“You’re not going to like it.”
“I’m waiting.”
“You need to marry me, Iry.”
Iry stared at me for a long moment. “I have a wife. Heket. As you well know.”
“A wife in name only, Iry. Given our history, I understand that being my husband is the very last thing you want. But the future of Tjeni and Nubt and the entire valley might depend on it.”
“Why?”
“After your father died, when I was trying to convince Minnefer and Perneb to name you king, Sety told them about his dream and why Gehes is important.”
“We’ve kept that a carefully guarded secret,” Iry interrupted. “You, me, Father, Sety. Even my brothers don’t know. If they had they’d have guessed they were out of the line of succession.”
“Minnefer and Perneb wouldn’t have backed you otherwise, so Sety had no choice. They know you know about the dream, Iry. They know you’ll make Gehes your heir to keep the dream on track. But it was immediately obvious what they were both thinking, even as they vowed to back you – they could marry me, claim the post of Gehes’ regent, then kill you.”
“And then kill Gehes and rule in his place,” Iry inferred.
“Ending my line and putting a dagger in the heart of Sety’s dream.”
“Defying both man and god.” Iry shook his head. “Ten years, Matia. We’re right back where we started. Plotting a marriage.”
“Ten years ago I tricked you into believing it’d be far more than a political marriage, Iry. But that’s all it’ll be this time. A marriage in name only, simply to protect Gehes.” A marriage in which, this time, unlike the last, I’d actually be in love with him. But he’d never know.
“Unconsummated, like mine and Heket’s?”
“Yes, Iry. I’ll never ask to share your bed. I won’t ask anything of you at all.” As excruciatingly hard as that would be. Gehes’ life was important now, not my own needs.
“What about Heket? Do you expect me to set her aside, Matia?”
“Who says a king can’t have two wives, Iry? Besides, it’s not like Heket and I will be jealous of each other. We’ll coexist quite peacefully. You won’t have to deal with two women fighting each other over you.”
“I don’t know, Matia. Marriage seems awfully extreme.”
“What about our lives so far hasn’t been extreme, Iry? What won’t be in the future?”
Iry pondered, glanced at Scorpion’s grave for a long time, took a deep breath. “We really don’t have a choice, do we, Matia? Tjeni’s elites can be devious.”
“Not to mention Mekatre and Lagus.”
Iry nodded. “I agree, Matia. But we won’t announce our marriage until after I let Heket know.”
The sun was less than an hour from dipping below the rim of the distant cliffs. Wordlessly, Iry set out for the distant river and Scorpion’s royal boat. Iry’s boat. I let him go. I was sure he wanted to be alone with his thoughts, to ponder what we’d agreed, to come to terms with it. As I already had.
I rose a quarter of an hour later. I gazed one last time at the grave. “Goodbye, Scorpion.” Then I too headed towards the river. My shadow stretched before me. I hadn’t gone far when I spotted a woman pacing back and forth not far ahead, where the path dipped from the cemetery’s low plateau to the wadi. Even from a distance I could tell she was agitated.
She fell to her knees as I neared.
“Myt?”
My mother’s sister. Forced to marry Maya to unite my family and his. She’d come with Maya to Abdju for the burial.
She looked up at me, her face anguished. “Majesty. Something awful’s about to happen.”
“What, Myt?”
“I overheard things I shouldn’t have, Majesty. Terrible things.”
“What?” I was growing impatient. “Stand up.”
“Last night, Maya was boasting to his brothers that he’s going to rule Nubt. He’s going to seize control of the gold mines in the eastern desert.”
What a fool! “Maya’s going to try to break Nubt away from Tjeni?” He’d never be able to stand up to Iry’s army.
“Oh, no, Majesty. His Majesty’s going to give him Nubt to rule after he kills his brother.”
I was confused. “Use names, Myt, not titles. Be clear. Who’s going to give Nubt to Maya?”
“Mekatre, Majesty. He’s going to kill Iry. Mekatre told Maya that Iry stole Nubt from him.”
Not surprising. Mekatre had vowed he’d make Iry pay on the day Scorpion had taken rule of Nubt away.
“Maya told his brothers that Mekatre convinced Lagus to join his plot. Lagus isn’t happy he was passed over for king. He wants revenge on Iry too.”
“What did Maya say about the plot?”
“Maya and Mekatre and Lagus and others are going to kill all the rulers who’ve come to Abdju. Maya said they’ll never have a better opportunity to take over the entire valley. Mekatre’s going to put men who are loyal to him in charge of all the settlements. Lagus doesn’t know that part.”
“When are they planning to strike?”
“I don’t know, Majesty. Maya didn’t say.” Myt fell to her knees and grasped my legs. “They’re going to kill you too, Majesty! Maya said Mekatre hates you. And they’re going to kill Gehes. Mekatre doesn’t want a rival brother for anyone to rally around.”
Bad enough that my brother had killed Pabasa. Now Iry’s wanted to kill Gehes. I clenched my fists. I wasn’t about to lose another son to an ambitious man. “Who’s involved besides Maya and Mekatre and Lagus?”
Myt recited a long list. I knew every conspirator from Nubt. I recognized names from Tjeni too. Not everyone had fallen in line behind Minnefer and Perneb. Luckily, neither of them were implicated. Possibly because they had designs on me. I recognized a couple of elites from Nekhen and some from the North. Mekatre meant business.
“Thank you for coming to me, Myt. Now, go back to Maya. Do what you’d normally do. Don’t make him suspicious.”
“Yes, Majesty.”
“But first, go find Nofret. She’s on Iry’s boat. Tell her evil’s afoot. Tell her to hide Gehes somewhere safe. Tell her to ask Niay for help. Will you do that?”
“Of course, Majesty.” Myt hurried off.
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that Mekatre would attempt a coup so soon after Scorpion’s death. It was inevitable, and having the valley’s kings and rulers present at Abdju was certainly a bonus. That meant Mekatre had to strike before the rulers departed for their homes in the morning. If he succeeded he’d take control of the entire valley in one fell swoop. Probably better from Mekatre’s perspective to kill Iry before he was crowned rather than after, too. If Mekatre had put as much effort into learning how to rule as he did in subterfuge Scorpion never would’ve taken Nubt from him. I hurried after Myt. It was up to me to stop Mekatre and his fellow conspirators. I had a few hours at most to do it. But how? I couldn’t simply arrest Mekatre, even though I was regent. I had no actual evidence he was going to do anything sinister. No one would believe me if I accused him based on what Myt had overheard. No ruler would believe me if I warned him his life was in danger either. But there was no way I could stop Mekatre by myself. I needed someone’s help. It struck me there was one ruler who might assist. One who’d viciously crushed all opposition to his taking his settlement’s throne. One who’d once lusted after me and still did. Antef. He was my only hope to upend Mekatre’s plan. Unless Mekatre’s assassin had already killed him. Or unless he refused to meet with me, given our checkered history.
***
“Leave us,” Antef ordered a girl serving him in the pavilion on his boat.
Night had fallen in the time it took me to hurriedly walk from grave to river. All around us, by torchlight, crewmen were busily readying Antef’s vessel to depart for Pe and Dep in the morning. The vast majority of his traveling companions were gathered around campfires on the nearby river bottom, eating.
“Scorpion’s barely in his grave, Matia. Have you come looking for a new husband already? Do you need me to protect you from Scorpion’s sons?”
I shouldn’t have been surprised that’s the conclusion Antef would have drawn. “I’m here to save your life, Antef. And many others.”
Antef laughed and drank down half his wine. “How noble of you, Matia. And unbelievable, given all the lies you’ve told me.”
Great. Whenever I deceived a man it always came back to haunt me. Always at the most inopportune time. Because of how I’d led Antef on during the journey from Nubt towards the North I was going to have a hard time convincing him I was telling the truth now. But I had to convince him or all was lost. “Mekatre’s going to try to seize control of the entire valley tonight, Antef. His coup may already be underway. He’s lined up men in every major settlement to help him. If he succeeds, no ruler will leave Abdju alive. Including you. He’s going to kill Iry and me and my son too.”
“What about Lagus?”
“He’s in on it.”
“Why are you warning me, Matia? You can’t possibly care if I live or die.” Antef’s eyes narrowed. “How do I know Iry and his brothers didn’t send you to provoke me into attacking them so they could kill me and take my settlement for themselves? Lagus is holding my sister hostage, after all.”
As if he’d given a moment’s thought to Satiah since Iry and I had carted her off to Ineb-hedj. “No one sent me, Antef. And you’re right – I don’t care if you live or die. But you’re my best shot at stopping Mekatre and saving several dozen rulers.”
“I am?”
“You’re vicious enough to do what needs to be done quickly.”
“What's that, Matia?”
“Force the man who volunteered to assassinate you to confess. Then go with me and tell Iry so he can arrest Mekatre.”
“Why should I help you, Matia? Seems to me I’ll be better off if I simply kill my assassin and let Mekatre murder all my rivals. Think of the confusion in the North! Think of the opportunity! I’ll be able to swoop in and make every settlement in the North pledge me fealty. I’ll rule a region greater than Tjeni’s. I’ll control the river. I’ll bring Tjeni to its knees. Mekatre’s an idiot if he thinks he can stop me.”
“Mekatre is an idiot. A well-known fact. But you should help me because I know the name of the man who’s going to assassinate you, Antef. You don’t.”
“No matter.” He was unconcerned. “I’ll kill all my elites. I’ll get the right man by default.”
“I didn’t say the assassin’s an elite. You can’t kill everyone in Pe and Dep.”
“You’re bluffing, Matia.”
I was. I kept my face impassive. “Can you afford to take the chance I’m not? How many servants did you bring with you, Antef? How many oarsmen are on your boat? How many guards? How many female companions?”
Antef considered for a moment. “Let’s say I help you, Matia. What’s in it for me?”
“I know you’re feeling the pinch from Sakan. Not as many goods reaching Pe and Dep. And
you’re shut off from trade with the South and the settlements in the delta. Help me tonight, and Iry will allow your boats to move freely throughout the valley and the North from now on.”
“You’re speaking for Iry? I find that hard to believe.”
“I’m regent of both Tjeni and Nubt until Iry’s crowned. Which means, as of this minute, I rule the South. I speak with authority given me by Scorpion. Iry will honor my promise to you.”
Antef regarded me with narrowed eyes. “What if I want more than unhindered trade, Matia? What if I want something more personally rewarding?”
“Such as me agreeing to marry you?”
“As Sabu promised.”
“Sabu had no right to promise me to anyone, Antef. Besides, Iry’s going to take me to wife.”
“I don’t believe you. Iry has a wife.”
“And soon he’ll have two.” I shook my head. “Do you honestly think Iry would allow you or anyone else to gain control over Gehes, Scorpion’s son?”
Antef drank down the rest of his wine. “Nonetheless, I want more than you’re offering, Matia.”
I didn’t have time to play games. If Antef wasn’t going to cooperate I had to move on. “I offered you a valuable gift, Antef. You don’t want it? Fine. Other kings are at risk too. One of them will help me.” I stood, started to walk away.
“Wait!” Antef rose and grabbed my arm. “You win. I’ll help.” He’d been bluffing.
I’d bluffed better. “Wesy,” I said. “He’s the assassin.”
“So it was an elite after all.” Antef smiled wryly. He summoned a guard. “Bring Wesy to me immediately. And his wife Ita.”
We didn’t have long to wait, though to me it seemed an eternity. Mekatre could be making his move even now. In less than ten minutes the two were standing before us. Wesy looked nervous. So did Ita. I felt sorry for her.
House of Scorpion Page 57