Khui had drunk mainly a weak local beer and was polite and attentive as he and Lorentis chatted. Lorentis described her position in the royal household and gossiped harmlessly about Princess Abana and the other members of the royal family. Khui seem enthralled by her story and despite Lorentis’ urgings he said little about himself. Lorentis was impressed by his confident yet humble mien. It appeared to Lorentis that they’d hardly settled at the table before she noticed that the crowd had thinned and there were barely two dozen guests remaining. Nebetah had long since retired.
At one end of the table a small group were carefully sniffing large fresh blue lotus flowers and giggling inanely as the psychotropic pollen affected their senses. Another drunken group were groping the naked dancers they had inveigled to sit on their laps – usually, but not always, male guests with female dancers.
Lorentis and Khui rose and made their way to the doorway, in Lorentis’ case slightly unsteadily as she was unaccustomed to drinking even watered wine. There she saw Idu and Hanuka waiting but there was no sign of the litter or servants from Nakhtmin’s house. Lorentis was barefoot and couldn’t walk the long distance to Nakhtmin’s house. Even if she could it would be too dangerous to walk through the dark streets of the poor-quarter with only two servants.
Diffidently, Khui suggested that Lorentis spend the night in his nearby apartment, part of the Nomarch’s palace complex, with Idu and Hanuka to return in the morning with the missing litter.
Lorentis accepted Khui’s offer, but with the variation that Idu and Hanuka would sleep in the apartment that night and return to Nakhtmin’s house for the litter next morning. Khui’s apartment was in the living-quarters of the palace, close to the official administration offices. The apartment was quite large with a separate bedroom, a living room and a study with a desk crowded with rolls of parchment. Khui offered Lorentis the use of the bedroom while he slept on a mat in the living room with Idu and Hanuka. He probably later regretted his generosity. Hanuka snored.
Next morning Khui had departed by the time that Lorentis arose, and Hanuka had left for Nakhtmin’s house. Idu lounged around as Lorentis visited the communal privy located in a room off the corridor outside, using a modest gown thoughtfully left for her on the bed as she had slept.
Lorentis let her own luxuriously long black hair flow down her back as she washed in a basin of warm water, removing the makeup and sweat from the night before and leaving her refreshed. She then wandered around the apartment, noting there was little in the way of personal effects to give information about the occupier. More information was obtained in the study, with most of the papyrus scrolls on the desk containing detailed construction drawings of buildings, lists of building materials and the names of preferred contractors and workmen. Khui was an architect.
Not long after she had washed there was a gentle knock on the door and servants entered with a light breakfast of fruit, cereals and fruit juice. Considering scribes rarely had servants to provide food, and the quality of the living apartments, clearly Khui was a valued and senior official. Just as Lorentis sat down to eat the door opened and Khui walked in looking fresh and clean.
“My apologies for not waiting for you this morning, but I had an early appointment,” he said as he strode quickly across the room and sat at the table opposite Lorentis. As they chatted quietly over breakfast Lorentis decided impulsively that she would cancel her attendance at a poetry soiree where she was due as a guest that evening and instead invite Khui to visit her.
“Khui, if you are not otherwise engaged this evening, I’d be pleased if you called on me to share a meal and conversation. Perhaps an hour before dark?” she asked, feeling astounded at her own daring. “I’m staying at the house of Nakhtmin, on the south side of the town and would welcome your company.”
Khui readily agreed, and a few minutes later apologized for the need to leave Lorentis for an interview he was due to have shortly with Hapimen. “I can’t keep my betters waiting if I want to keep my job!” he said as he rose and kissed her hand lingeringly. “Until this evening!”
Hanuka had returned a few minutes before and was in the hall playing dice with Idu while they waited. To Khui’s query he confirmed that the litter was waiting outside and that this time wouldn’t leave without them. The litter was indeed outside in the street, close by a side doorway. The same slaves and servants as had accompanied them the previous evening stood nearby, looking somewhat the worse for wear. Clearly Hanuka had forcibly expressed his mistress’ displeasure at her abandonment, with the two most senior of the servants sporting bruises to their faces to reinforce the warning. The litter-borne trip back across town was quickly accomplished and they approached the square whitewashed façade of Nakhtmin’s townhouse as the temple’s horns marked noon with a brassy clamour.
As befitted an aristocrat with extensive land holdings in the somewhat more fertile land several days journey to the north of the town, Nakhtmin’s house, although a relatively modest twenty rooms in size, was luxuriously furnished with expensive woods and exquisitely decorated. Nakhtmin and his family were not in residence, being on his country estate supervising the tending of the harvest planted a few weeks before, but he’d left an adequate staff in attendance. The most senior of Nakhtmin’s servants had accompanied him to the country, but a steward, cook and a handful of minor servants, scullions and slaves had remained.
Lorentis had arrived two weeks before and taken over Nakhtmin’s empty house without his knowledge – after all, what were rich relatives for if not to take advantage of?
After she had returned that morning, Lorentis met with the steward and cook, explaining that they would have a guest that evening. The steward was instructed to obtain an amphora each of fine red and white wine – preferably imported, but the best from the Faiyum would suffice. Cook was to prepare a simple but exquisitely prepared repast, based on waterfowl and beef. Lorentis handed over copper deben to cover the costs. There was a limit to the amount that you could abuse the generosity of family.
After the steward returned Lorentis carefully tasted the wine and had it set to cool. He’d obtained a fine Phoenician red and a pert white wine grown in the Faiyum. Lorentis was glad for the impromptu wine appreciation lessons Nikolas had given her on the way south on the Breath of Bubastis. The cook returned a little later with meat, fruit and vegetables fresh from the market. Over the next hour or so, as he started his preparations, Lorentis drove him to distraction until in a fit of temperament he ordered her from the kitchen.
Khui arrived promptly on time, accompanied by one servant who immediately retired to the kitchen. Khui was shown by a slave to the bathroom where he rinsed the dust and sweat of the short journey from his face and hands, and washed the filth from his feet.
In the hot season even a relatively short walk in the evening could cause discomfort. He was again simply but richly dressed, with his clothes having the same quiet understatement of the man himself; his shaved head was again bare.
On being shown back to the dining room he was welcomed by Lorentis and he again gallantly kissed her hand. Lorentis had carefully selected another semi-transparent dress, this time in light blue, and again wore the lapis jewellery. On this occasion her artfully coiffed hair was her own, following Khui’s lead in not wearing a heavy formal wig. Khui was surprised but gratified to find that Lorentis had planned a tête-à-tête without other guests present. After sitting opposite each other at a small table Khui tasted the wine and complimented Lorentis on her selection. He drank the wine un-watered, but abstemiously. While he spoke little of himself, he discoursed freely and knowledgably on art, poetry and history. He showed a dry and slightly sardonic sense of humour, teasing Lorentis gently.
Lorentis found herself captivated by Khui’s quiet, educated and well-modulated voice, his lively and expressive face and the gentle use of long-fingered manicured hands in emphasis of his conversational points. The food arrived and the empty plates departed, course after course. Lorentis barely noticed
the food or the servants about her. After the last course she captured Khui’s hands and held them gently clasped between hers. At last, in the early hours of the morning, Lorentis took her courage in both hands and said, “Enough! It’s time for us to retire. Khui, will you spend the night with me?”
“With all my heart,” replied Khui earnestly. Lorentis rose, still holding Khui’s hand, and led him to her bedchamber. There she stood before Khui, shed her dress with an elegant movement and stood naked before him. She gently assisted him from his SnDwt formal startched kilt and led him to the bed, the moonlight streaming through the open window behind silhouetting her as she did so.
Lorentis was sixteen years of age, two years beyond the age many women married. She had known several men, but none like this.
Khui was slightly older and had more experience, but was content to allow Lorentis to take the lead and dictate the pace of their union.
After she tasted him once, and then twice, she directed him into herself and they were as one.
Next morning, after several more mutually satisfactory samplings during the night, each as gentle and tender but as urgent as the last, Khui woke from a deep sleep to find Lorentis curled against him, her head resting in the crook of his arm. Smiling gently he was content to hold her close and savour the fragrance of her hair and body. Shortly her eyes opened and with a wicked and mischievous smile she moved over him, her mouth awaking his passion and then mounted him from above, gently and rhythmically thrusting as she looked him tenderly in the eyes. Then satiated once more they lay in each other’s arms.
They rose after midday and bathed together, standing in the bathing-room and pouring water over themselves before scrubbing each other and rinsing off the soap, the water flowing into the drain in the floor. Lorentis found it as hard to keep her hands off her Adonis, as he did to keep from touching his Venus.
Retiring back to the bedchamber, Lorentis sat cross-legged on the bed, unthinkingly exposing herself to him. He stirred again in unconscious response. “Khui, there are things that I’ve not yet told you,” she said, as he absently toyed with her small but firm breasts.
“Oh, are you a female demon who sucks the lifeblood from men as they sleep?” quipped Khui.
Lorentis smiled and said, “No, but nearly as bad.” She paused for a moment seeking the right words. “In the last two days, or nights, you have shown me that you are a man who is content with his lot in life, and honours and respects the traditions of our country. You are from Middle Egypt and have been here in the South for two years. You are in the employ of Hapimen. Tell me truthfully, are you his man or a man of the people?”
Suddenly serious Khui replied, “Hapimen is an ignorant self-important fool. He is hereditary Nomarch, but Pharaoh would be much better to appoint a competent governor. His officials rob him, and the kmet, blind. But when I bring my concerns to him he dismisses them and favours others. I do not seek favour for myself, but the honest contractors I recommend are ignored and the corrupt favoured. Sub-standard work is performed at inflated prices. Even beyond this, the general administration of this region is poor. Why do you ask?” he queried with interest.
“Myself and several friends are here in the South at the personal request of Divine Ramesses to investigate disquieting news. I don’t have close contact with them, as we are undertaking separate work, but I would like to have you meet with the leader of our group, Nikolas of Kydonia.”
“A Greek is in charge of the investigation?” asked Khui in surprise.
“Nikolas would be offended to be called a Greek – he’s from Crete and lets few forget it! Yes, a foreigner is in charge. Pharaoh is able to trust few of our own countrymen.”
Khui looked out of the open window. The angle of the sun made it early afternoon. “I could meet with him today, if that would suit. After all I can hardly turn up at work this late!”
Lorentis called for Idu to visit Nikolas at the market or at the ‘Black Raven’ to arrange an appointment. However, when Idu returned several hours later he reported that Nikolas and Kiya were away and Idu had left a message at the hostel that he would return.
CHAPTER 12 ASWAN
Year 53. Month kA-Hr-kA. 4th Akhet.
Early November 1223 BC
That morning Nikolas had hired two donkeys at the caravanserai, intending to explore the granite quarries to the south of Aswan. Ra-em hotep had undertaken two main duties in the South. The first was supervision of the mines near Aswan that formed the basis of the economy of Upper Egypt; the second was the supervision of the massive building-project being undertaken by Ramesses at Abu Simbel far to the south-west, and the smaller work at Abydos. The quarrying of granite near Aswan was central to both duties and Nikolas believed that an understanding of the nature and scale of the enterprise was required.
Nikolas and Kiya left Aswan in the relative cool of the early morning. Shortly after leaving the southern gate the road rose sharply as they left the river valley and passed into the hills and wastelands beyond. They were well covered in loose beige-coloured linen robes and broad-brimmed hats to ward off the sun, and thin face-cloths to discourage the activity of the ever-present hordes of flies. As they traversed the narrow rocky path through the low hills and sand drifts, the early morning sun cast strange and fantastic shapes in the shadows of the boulders and huge wind-worn rocks strewn around.
After a short journey of a little over a mile they approached the village of Shallal, a ramshackle collection of thatched-roof stone huts huddled in a small valley between two steep hills. The huts were divided into two groups with the small low circular stone wall of a well between. On the higher ground beyond the buildings could be seen the scars of an open-cut granite quarry. Teams of near-naked men, wearing only brief loincloths, moved purposefully on the hillside and the sound of hammering came clearly through the still air.
As they moved closer and the track dipped down towards the village Nikolas could hear the calling of a few goats from the rough pens behind the huts. Smoke rose lazily from several fires placed in front of the huts. Women and older children could be seen waiting their turn at the well, large pots on the ground next to them, while two women moved carefully back towards their huts with pots balanced on their heads. Several old men sat together in front of one hut, repairing hammers and other mining tools. The people were poorly dressed, wearing little more than tattered rags to hide their bodies. A few naked young children played listlessly in the dirt beside the well.
What caught Nikolas’ attention was the near silence in the wretched village, as if the people were too exhausted by their lot to even chatter and gossip. As they passed through the first collection of huts Nikolas saw the buildings had no doors. Some had curtains of dirty tattered cloth to give some degree of privacy; in others the doorways gaped emptily. Nikolas could see several families huddled inside most of the huts, their clothes were filthy and their skins covered with sores. Myriads of flies buzzed and crawled over every living thing and lay clustered on the animal manure littering the one street.
With a start Nikolas noticed a man with horrible scars and sores disfiguring his face standing in the half-light of one doorway.
Looking more closely he saw others; men, women and children bearing telltale malformation, sores and scars; many were missing noses, fingers and toes that had rotted away from their bodies. This was a leper colony.
Nikolas felt sick in the pit of his stomach, not at the sight of the lepers but at their wretchedness and the way that they’d been abandoned to their fate. Kiya murmured to herself in compassion.
Nikolas paused and then stopped his donkey and slid off. He turned to help Kiya dismount and then together they approached the women clustered about the well, who had all turned to stare at the strangers in their midst.
“Greetings, gentlefolk,” he said. “May the blessings of the goddess Hathor be upon you,” referring to the patron goddess of miners; his greeting was met with silence and blank stares. After a few moments a middle-aged wom
an, taller than the others, moved forward. She carried a naked young boy child at her hip, his belly swollen with malnutrition and flies clustered around eyes and nostrils, seeking to drink what moisture they could. The woman wore what appeared to be an old sack with holes cut for her head and arms. Although clearly just entering middle age, she was old and worn before her time. Hard work, ill-health and grinding poverty had ravaged what had once been a comely face.
The woman inclined her head in greeting. “Welcome, noble sir and madam,” she replied in a firm voice. “I am Ashait, wife of hry WHyt village headman Siptah.” Ashait waited politely and confidently for Nikolas to respond.
Looking beyond Ashait, Nikolas could see two men coming down the slope from the quarry. As they hurried down the steep slope dust rose from their bare feet and stones loosened by their passage rolled ahead on them. They were burned a deep bronze by constant exposure to the harsh sun. Both were of middle age and height, whipcord thin and dressed only in dirt-stained linen loincloths; grey dust covered their bodies, face and hair. They stopped several paces away and half bowed.
“I am Siptah, headman of this village,” said one. “What may we do for you?”
Nikolas replied, “Greetings, Siptah. I’m Nikolas and this is Kiya, my assistant. I’m a healer and would like to assist your people.”
“We cannot pay anything for your services, noble sir. As you can see, we are poor and have naught to spare even for our children.”
Murder in the Palace: A Nikolas of Kydonia Mystery Page 26