The King's Man (3 page)

Amunhotep was talking about his chariot horses. Mutemwia was watching him, her rings glinting as she moved her wine cup slowly to and fro. Huy, glancing from one to the other, saw more than the physical likeness between them. Both carried their noble blood with a grace Amunhotep was just beginning to display, but now a subtle aura of easy confidence surrounded them, the mutual satisfaction of a task accomplished. Huy did not feel left out; indeed he had understood Mutemwia’s goal and the caution with which she had proceeded to accomplish it, and had complied without words. He came to himself with both pairs of large black eyes fixed on him inquiringly.

Amunhotep laughed. “Have you eaten too well, Uncle? What were you thinking?”

“I was remarking to myself on the many similarities between you and your Majesty Mother, and yes, I have eaten far too well. My physician will compel me to fast all day tomorrow.” The comment was a small test. Huy had not known that until the words left his mouth. Would Mutemwia tell him that the royal physicians would be caring for his health from now on? Or would she not care, seeing that her network of spies was incredibly efficient? Mutemwia said nothing.

The King rose and Huy followed. “I keep forgetting that I must not call you Uncle anymore now that my blood relative is returning,” Amunhotep said ruefully. “I’ll miss that freedom, but I’ll enjoy calling you Amunhotep. Now I want to dictate to Anhur, and afterwards my Mother wants to speak with you in her quarters.”

Mutemwia bowed to him then kissed his cheek. “Sleep well, my son.” Acknowledging Huy’s obeisance with the slight tilting of her head, she walked towards the door. At once a bevy of servants followed behind her. Huy recognized Nefer-ka-Ra, her scribe, in the group. The door was closed.

Amunhotep beckoned Nubti. “Go and find the Seer a palette and bring papyrus and ink as well.” He turned back to Huy as the steward floated away. “After you’ve taken down my letter, we’ll play a game or two of sennet. I still can’t go to my couch until the middle of the night. Neither can my Mother, and it’s always a struggle to leave my sheets in the morning. I do like those rare days when my presence isn’t needed to give audience or bless some god’s festival and I can go on snoring! Mother deals with the administrators and then tells me what she’s done. If I disapprove, I must tell her why and give her strong arguments or she overrides me. She’s making sure that when I reach my majority and have full control over Egypt, every official, both governmental and religious, owes me something and is utterly loyal to me. So many of them!” He cocked an eye at Huy. “You are exempt,” he added. “You are my scribe because I love you and you are Egypt’s Great Seer and I don’t like being here without you.”

“But my brother Heby and my nephews are not exempt.”

“Well, partially.” The King’s glance became shrewd. “They are your close kin, therefore I feel warmly towards them, and Heby has made an honest and competent Mayor for Mennofer. Ramose is still only eleven and cannot yet perform any duties as a steward in the Mansion of the Aten at Iunu, but his appointment lets everyone know that I intend to personally supervise the worship of that god.”

Huy looked at him curiously.
Was Ramose’s elevation Mutemwia’s idea or Amunhotep’s?
he wondered.
Would I have been as astute at twelve years old? Or is Amunhotep so anxious to show me how capable to rule he’s becoming that he is taking his mother’s farsightedness for his own?

“I think the choice of your other nephew for Superior King’s Scribe of Recruits is very good, don’t you?” the King went on. “He’s a competent-enough scribe at twenty, but added to that is his reputation among the officers and men. He’s comfortable with them. He shares the soldiers’ rough jokes and speaks to the officers in the language of the barracks and the training ground. Ah! Here’s a palette for you.”

Huy was about to say that his nephew Amunhotep-Huy was a harsh, quick-tempered man, but Nubti was handing him a scribe’s tools and withdrawing.

“Tomorrow you can use your own palette. I’m ready to begin.”

Hastily, Huy went to the floor, murmured the usual prayer to Thoth, and picked up a brush.
So it begins
, he thought as the King began to pace.
Am I still within your will, mighty Atum?

When the letter was finished, Amunhotep took it, beckoned to Nubti, and handed it over. “Take it to Nebmerut for sealing and then to Maani-nekhtef before you retire,” he ordered Nubti. “Now, Uncle, we will play sennet.”

No we won’t
, Huy thought.
If I don’t lay down the white cord delineating my boundaries now, this wonderful boy will take over my life completely
. Placing the palette on one of the tables, he faced Amunhotep. “Majesty, I am fifty years old,” he said steadily. “If I am to serve you as I would like, I must keep my hours of rest intact as often as possible. This is my first evening here. I’m tired and just a little homesick, and I must speak with the Queen before I retire. Please dismiss me.”

An expression of sullenness flitted across the intelligent features. King and scribe stared at one another in a pregnant silence. Then Amunhotep dropped his gaze. “You’re right,” he admitted. “You reprimand my selfishness as gently as you used to do when I misbehaved in your house. I am corrected. Make your reverence, go to my Mother, then sleep without danger. The servants fall over one another, so be sure to ask for whatever you need. Until the morning, Amunhotep.”

Huy bowed, straightened, and smiled. The relief he felt did not show on his face. “Majesty, I will gladly be called by your powerful name when dealing with everyone but you and the Queen your Mother. I’ve been Uncle Huy to you for years, but now you are almost a man I would like you to call me just Huy.”

Amunhotep returned Huy’s smile. “I’d like that too. Your name holds many good memories for me.” He turned away.

Huy backed down the room then strode to the door.
He is still irritated at my presumption to gainsay him
, he thought as the soldier pushed it open and Huy walked through.
Nevertheless, I cannot allow him to control me or he will begin to believe that if the Great Seer is biddable under his hand, then bending everyone else to his desires is permissible. I hope Menkhoper and his other tutors are still able to hold on to the invisible leash. Besides, if I always give in to him, I’ll be no use to him as an adviser. His respect for me will erode
. In the passage he paused and one of the guards approached him.

“I am to escort you to Her Majesty’s apartments,” he said with a bow. “Her walls abut yours, Great Seer, so if I take you there today, you will need no help in the future.” Huy followed the wide, muscled back as the man took him not far past his own quarters and halted before another pair of electrum doors. Huy was too tired to scan the figures beaten into the metal except to notice that they wore feminine dress. Again there were guards and again a consultation with someone beyond. A young man in an ankle-length white sheath bordered in blue emerged, bowing several times.

“I am Ameni, Chief Steward of Her Majesty, Great Seer,” he said. “You are expected. Please enter.” Huy did so, wondering if Pa-shed, the steward who had served Mutemwia in his master’s absence, was even now preparing the Prince’s old quarters for his return.

Finding himself alone, he paused in the middle of the room and looked about. The Queen’s apartments were little different from those of her son. The evidence of opulence was everywhere, but softened by the influence of a woman. Or women, Huy mused, his gaze travelling his surroundings. Mut, Hathor, Sekhmet, Isis, Neith, all goddesses, graced the white-painted walls, making them bright with the vivid colours of jewelled belts and coronets. The lampstands flowed, the fine alabaster lamps themselves curved into flower buds, fruit, and bulbous seed pods. A shrine at the far end was closed, but the air held a faint whiff of incense smoke. Yellow reed mats covered the tiled floor. Several cushions were thrown about between the tables and intricately inlaid chairs.

All the apertures leading to other rooms showed darkness but one. A shaft of light came from it, mingling with the many lamps burning around Huy. As he stepped towards it, Mutemwia appeared, her diaphanous sleeping robe momentarily blurring its radiance. Her tiny feet were bare. She wore no adornment, and her hair fell in a gleaming shower to her shoulders. Watching her, Huy realized that she reminded him of someone, but he could not remember who that might be. He felt immediately at ease with her, this most powerful woman, even though she looked to be no more than a vulnerable girl. He bowed, smiling, and she waved him forward.

“This is like old times, isn’t it, Huy, when I used to wander about your house and garden at night, and we would often meet because you could not sleep and I was not tired.” She raised her chin at the nearest wall. “These are the rooms reserved for the Chief Royal Wife of the King. Neferatiri used them last, and as my son is still only twelve and will not be taking any wives for a while, I have sent Neferatiri back to the women’s quarters. As a dowager Queen she is entitled to wear the royal vulture on her head. I am perfectly happy to keep the gazelles’ heads. Sit down, my friend. It’s late and I will not hold you with silly chit-chat. Thank you, Ameni.” With a start Huy saw the steward at his elbow, placing beer and water on the table. “Are you hungry, Huy? Would you rather drink wine? No? Then you may go, Ameni. When the Seer leaves, summon Tekait.”

The man made no sound as he crossed the long floor and went out. Mutemwia poured water for them both. Huy drank thirstily, but the Queen’s cup remained full.

“The King and I have tasks for you,” she began, pulling a footstool towards herself with her naked toes and settling her feet on the cushion. “Firstly, I have prepared for you a list of High Priests and ministers in positions of responsibility at court. The King inherited some of them from his father. Some of them I myself have appointed. We want you to give audience to each of them. We need to know who will remain loyal to my son, who will work honestly and diligently, whom to trust. I have determined these qualities as best I can. You may See for them if requested, but if there is anything detrimental towards the Horus Throne in the visions, you must bring a record of them to me. You need not bother with my list tonight. Bring it to the Hall of Audience when the King sits. Maani-nekhtef will call out the names of those in attendance as they approach the Horus Throne. Nebmerut will note down their needs, and if necessary the King will see them in their several offices. Nebmerut, Beloved of the King, Royal Scribe and Seal Bearer,” she explained in answer to Huy’s raised eyebrows. “He will work under you or take your place if you are ill or absent. You will have much to do with him, so learn his character well.”

She paused to lean forward and lift her cup, and as she did so Huy was suddenly enveloped in a miasma of jasmine perfume. At once he was overcome by a confusion of emotions. Despair, desperation, rage, desire, deluged him as they had on the night when Anuket accosted him in her father’s garden. The aroma had seeped into his earlier sleep, and his rest, though deep, had been full of unwanted dreams.

“You don’t wear jasmine!” he blurted, half rising from his chair.

Mutemwia glanced at him sharply. “I have it sprinkled on my night robe occasionally. For some reason it helps me to sleep. What’s the matter?”

Huy sat down slowly.
I’m so tired tonight
, he thought resignedly.
That’s unusual for me unless I’ve been Seeing. I want to be dismissed and drink my poppy in silence
. The Queen was sipping her water, her eyes on him in speculation. Huy grimaced. “The smell of jasmine returns me to a time of great misery,” he replied. “Forgive me for startling you.”

“You didn’t startle me.” She put her cup back on the table. “But I must say that I have never seen the marks of exhaustion on your face before. I’ll be brief.”

She didn’t ask me what that time was
, Huy’s thoughts ran on as she began to speak again.
She probably doesn’t need to ask. She knows already
.

“The King’s uncle will arrive in a few days,” she was saying. “He will be treated with every honour to which he is entitled as a Prince. The King is most eager to get to know him. I remember him well and of course you do also. You made a Seeing for him. He will doubtless send for you before long.” She met Huy’s eye. “If he asks for another Seeing, I must know. If he sends such a request, it may mean that he has secretly decided to make a bid for the throne, in which case I must have him very closely watched, and Neferatiri also. The Prince will need her blood and position. She seems content, but I leave nothing to chance.” She ran both hands through her hair, lifted it, and, letting it fall back into place, folded her arms. “Apart from the hour of audience, the King won’t require your presence tomorrow. It might be wise to go to the administrative offices and let the ministers begin to get to know you. You remember the wording of your summons?”

“Of course, Majesty.”

“Good. You must restrict the use of your gift to those I send to you. The common people have had you long enough!” Her smile was infectious. In spite of his fatigue he found himself smiling back. “Amunhotep loves you very much,” she went on. It was the first time Huy had heard her use her son’s name. “Before he gives audience tomorrow he wishes to confer two titles on you: smer and erpa-ha. He intends to elevate you to the ranks of the nobles. It’s something his father should have done, but of course Thothmes would have reduced your power if he could, not added to it. What do you think?”

Huy did not answer her at once, although he knew exactly what he would say. He tried to read the thoughts behind the black eyes, which often seemed full of an innocence that was, in fact, utterly misleading. Was this a challenge? A test?
I deserve this
, he told himself.
I have served Egypt well and will serve her even better in the years to come. But I don’t want it. Have never wanted it
.

Leaving his chair, he knelt before her, and taking her little foot in both his hands, he kissed it and set it gently down. “I am more than grateful for this honour, but I must refuse it. I can’t serve the King and you if I hold a title.”