Nefertiti

“That was well done,” my father complimented.

Nefertiti sat smugly in her chair, waiting for Merit to finish beading her wig. A pair of red riding gloves had arrived in her chamber, a gift from Amunhotep. She said, “It was fun.”

“This once,” my father warned.

“Why? I enjoyed it. Why shouldn’t I learn to ride?”

“Because it’s dangerous!” I exclaimed. “Aren’t you afraid?”

“What’s to be afraid of?”

“The horses. Or toppling over the chariot. Look what happened to Crown Prince Tuthmosis.”

My father and Nefertiti exchanged glances. Ipu and Merit both looked away.

“Tuthmosis died at war,” Nefertiti said dismissively. “And this isn’t war.” Merit strung the last beads over Nefertiti’s wig, and when my sister stood up the glass made hollow music.

My father stood with her. “I will be in the Per Medjat drafting letters to foreign nations. They must know where to find your husband and address their petitions.” He glanced across the room, where nothing had changed since yesterday’s news. “We are leaving in five days,” he reminded us quietly, “and both of you should be overseeing your packing.”

When our father left, Nefertiti held out her arm to me, unconcerned with foreign nations. “Come.”

I scowled. “You heard Father. He said we should pack.”

“Not now.” She took my arm and pulled me along.

“Stop. Where are we going?” I protested.

“To your favorite place.”

“Why the gardens?”

“Because there’s someone there we’re going to meet.”

“Amunhotep?” I guessed.

“And someone else.”

We walked through the halls and entered the palace gardens with their tree-lined avenues and sprawling lakes. Someone with a very good eye for design had placed a fountain of Horus in the lotus pond, surrounding it with cattails and indigo irises. Stone benches were shaded by the heavy boughs of sycamores, and a path bordered by jasmine led to the bathhouses. Beyond that was the harem, where the lesser ranked of the Elder’s women lived. I watched the dragonflies dart in and out of the grass, the sunlight catching on their blue-gold wings where we walked.

“The first thing we shall do when we get to Memphis is erect the largest temple ever built in Egypt. Once the people see Aten’s glory”—my sister strode ahead—“there will be no need for the priests of Amun.”

“Father says there are balances. The power of Pharaoh is balanced by the power of priests. Even our tutors taught us that.”

“Did they also teach us that the priests control the purse strings of Pharaohs? Is that balanced?” Nefertiti’s eyes darkened beneath the shade of a sycamore. “Mutny, the Pharaohs of Egypt are puppets. And Amunhotep is going to change that. He will take the focus away from Amun and raise Aten in his place. The Pharaoh and queen will be heads of the temples. We will control the calendar, declare the feast days, and be in charge—”

“Of all the gold that once flowed freely into the temples of Amun.” I thought of the general and closed my eyes against the truth of his words. When I opened them, my sister’s gaze was resolute.

“Yes.”

“Nefertiti, you frighten me. You weren’t this way in Akhmim.”

“I wasn’t Queen of Egypt in Akhmim.”

At the end of the path, I stopped walking to ask her, “Aren’t you afraid you will offend the gods?”

Nefertiti bridled. “This is Amunhotep’s dream,” she said defensively. “The more I do for Amunhotep, the closer he will be to me and no one else.” She stared across the lotus pond and her voice became a whisper. “He is going to Kiya’s bed tomorrow night.”

I saw the worry in her face and said hopefully, “Perhaps he won’t—”

“Oh, he will. It’s tradition. You said so yourself. But it will be my children who inherit this land.”

“Father thinks you’ve become too ambitious,” I warned her.

Nefertiti glanced at me sharply. “You had a family meeting without me?”

I didn’t answer.

“What did you talk about?” she demanded.

“You, of course.”

“And what did Father say?”

“Nothing much. It’s our aunt who does most of the talking.”

“She doesn’t like me. She doubts her choice. I know she must. Seeing another beautiful woman rise in the palace—”

“And humble as well.”

She gave me a look and we continued to walk. “Don’t tell me she isn’t resentful.”

“Regretful, maybe. You were brought here to bring balance, not tip the scales!”

“And how does anyone expect me to do that?” she asked heatedly. “I can’t tell him what he believes is wrong; he would run to Kiya and I would be finished.”

At the farthest end of the gardens, we came upon a bower. I heard Amunhotep’s voice, low and intense on the other side of the tangled vines. I made to back away, but Nefertiti glanced sideways at me, then took my arm and pushed past the trees and into the clearing. At once, Amunhotep straightened. He was standing with a general, and both of them turned.

“Nefertiti,” Amunhotep said with delight. Then he saw me and his smile thinned. “The inseparable sisters.”

The general bowed. He was young, like Nakhtmin, but there was a seriousness in him that Nakhtmin didn’t possess; a hardness in his eyes. “Queen Nefertiti,” he said, as if the words didn’t give him much joy. “Lady Mutnodjmet.”

“General Horemheb will be coming with us to Memphis,” Amunhotep announced. “He wishes to push the Hittites back and to reclaim territory that Egypt has lost since my father retired from the army. I have promised him a campaign in the north as soon as we reach Lower Egypt. And I have told him that all the booty the soldiers can collect may be kept by him and my army, so long as he can reclaim our land.”

“That is very generous,” Nefertiti replied, watching Amunhotep carefully; I saw that the general was watching Amunhotep with the same guarded look.

“Other soldiers can remain with my father to waste their careers, but Horemheb will follow me to glory!”

I glanced at General Horemheb, who wasn’t moved by speeches.

“And has Your Highness considered where the money will come from for these campaigns?” he asked frankly. “To regain lost territory will be expensive.”

“Then I will tax the temples of Amun,” Amunhotep replied.

Nefertiti exchanged a quick glance with me, but the general didn’t blink. “The temples of Amun have never been taxed. What makes you think they will give up their gold now?”

“Because you will be there to enforce my will,” Amunhotep countered, and then I understood what was happening. He was striking a deal.

General Horemheb clenched his jaw. “And how do I know that once the army has collected the taxes from the temples that the gold will be used to fund a campaign in the north?”

“You don’t. But either you will trust me or you will spend your days in the service of a Pharaoh who is too old to fight. Only remember”—Amunhotep’s voice took on a warning tone—“in the end, I will be Pharaoh of Upper Egypt as well.”

Horemheb looked at Nefertiti, then at me. “Then I must trust your word.”

Amunhotep held out his hand to the general. “I will not forget your loyalty,” he promised.