placing them in small pots, and I told the servants to take care of the rest for me. They promised they would, but I doubted if they would really pay attention to the jujube or give the mandrakes as much water as they needed.
The trip to Thebes from the city of Akhmim was not a long one. Our barge pushed through the reeds and cattails, and then splashed through the muddy waters of the Nile south toward the City of Pharaohs. My father smiled at my sister from the prow, and she smiled back at him from her chair beneath an awning. Then he beckoned me over with his finger. “You have cat eyes in the sun,” he said. “Green as emeralds.”
“Just like Mother’s,” I replied.
“Yes,” he agreed. But he hadn’t called me over to speak about my eyes. “Mutnodjmet, your sister will need you in the days to come. These are dangerous times. Whenever a new Pharaoh sits on the throne there is uncertainty, and never more than now. You will become your sister’s Chief Lady, but you must be very careful what you do and say. I know you are honest.” He smiled. “Honest sometimes to a fault. But the court is no place for honesty. You must take heed around Amunhotep.” He looked out over the waters. Fishermen’s nets hung limp in the sun. At this time of day, all work was abandoned. “Also, you must rein in Nefertiti.”
I glanced at him in surprise. “How?”
“By giving her advice. You have patience and you are good with people.”
I flushed. He had never said that about me before.
“Nefertiti is hot-tempered. And I am afraid…” He shook his head, but he didn’t say what he was afraid of.
“You told Aunt Tiye Nefertiti could control the prince. Why does a prince need to be controlled?”
“Because he is hot-tempered, too. And ambitious.”
“Isn’t ambition good?”
“Not like this.” He covered my hand with his. “You will see. Just keep your eyes open, little cat, and your senses alert. If there is trouble, come to me before anyone else.” My father saw which way my thoughts were tending and smiled. “Don’t look so worried. It won’t be so bad. After all, it’s a small trade for the crown of Egypt.” He indicated the shore with his eyes. “We’re almost there.”
I looked out over the prow. There were more ships now that we were nearing the palace, long vessels with triangular sails like ours. Women ran to the sides of their ships to catch a glimpse of our barge and to see who was in it. The gold banners flying from the mast identified my father as Senior Vizier to the Elder, and everyone would know that it was carrying the future queen of Egypt. Nefertiti had disappeared into the cabin, and now she reappeared in fresh linen. Rare jewels that our aunt had left for her hung across her throat and caught the sun. She came up and stood beside me on the prow, letting the spray cool her skin.
“Great Osiris!” I pointed. “Look!” There were fifty soldiers on the shore, and at least two hundred servants, all waiting for our arrival.
My father was the first to disembark, followed by my mother, then Nefertiti and myself. This was the order of importance in our family. I wondered how that hierarchy would change after my sister’s coronation.
“Look at the litters,” I exclaimed. They were gold and lapis with ebony carrying poles.
“They must be the Elder’s,” Nefertiti said, impressed.
We were borne up, each in our own curtained box, and I parted the drapes to see Thebes for the second time, sparkling under the afternoon sun. I wondered how Nefertiti could bear to sit back in her litter when she had never seen Thebes before. But I could see her shadow, proud and erect in the middle of her box, restraining herself as we swept through the city our father had never taken us to. A dozen flutists played as we went, passing the sandstone houses with their hundreds of onlookers. I wished I could be in the same litter as my mother, sharing her joy as the acrobats and musicians entertained the gathering crowds. We passed the temple of Amunhotep the Magnificent and the colossal pair of statues depicting him as a god. Then, in the midst of the desert, a lake glittered on the horizon. I nearly toppled out of the litter, my urge to see it was so strong. It was a man-made pool dug in a half-moon shape, and it surrounded the palace. Boats with small sails slipped across the waters in a place where sand and palms should have been, and I remembered my father saying that Amunhotep the Magnificent had built a lake as a symbol of his love for Queen Tiye, and that it was unlike any other in Egypt. It shone like liquid lapis and silver in the sun, and the crowds moved away as we approached the palace gates.
I quickly sat back on the pillows and let the curtains fall into place. I didn’t want to seem like a farm girl who’d never been outside of Akhmim. Even with the curtains closed, though, I knew when we had passed onto the grounds of the palace. The road became shaded with trees, and I could make out the outline of small chapels, villas of public officials, a royal workshop, and small, squat quarters for servants. The litter bearers ascended a flight of stairs and we were set down at the top. When we parted the curtains, all of Thebes was spread before us: the half-moon lake, the mud-brick houses, the markets and farms, and, beyond them, the Nile.
My father dusted off his kilt and announced his intentions to the servants. “We will be taken to our quarters and unpacked. When we are bathed and changed, we shall meet the Elder.”
The servants bowed deeply in a show of esteem, and I knew my mother was impressed at how much power her husband commanded in Thebes. In Akhmim he was simply our father, a man who liked to read by the lotus pools and visit the Temple of Amun to watch the sun set over the fields. But in the palace he was the Vizier Ay, one of the most respected men in the kingdom.
A male servant appeared sporting the side lock of youth. He was slight, with a kilt trimmed in gold. Only Pharaoh’s servants wore gold on their cloth. “I will be the one to take you to your rooms.” He began walking. “The estimable Vizier Ay and his wife shall be lodged in the courtyard to the left of Pharaoh. To his right is the prince, next to whom the ladies Nefertiti and Mutnodjmet shall be placed.” Behind us servants scrambled to gather our dozens of chests. The palace was built in the shape of an ankh, the center of which was Pharaoh. Scattered around him in various courtyards were his viziers, and as we passed these open squares women and children stopped to watch our procession.
Our guide walked across several brightly tiled courtyards with paintings of papyrus fields, then into a chamber where everyone stopped. “The Vizier Ay’s rooms,” he announced ceremoniously. He threw open the doors and granite statues peered out from every niche in the chamber. It was a room full of luxury and light, with reed baskets and wooden tables with carved ivory feet.
“Take my daughters to their rooms,” my father instructed, “then escort them to the Great Hall in time for dinner.”
“Mutny, be dressed properly tonight,” my mother warned, embarrassing me in front of the servants. “Nefertiti, the prince will be there.”
“With Kiya?” she asked.
“Yes,” my father replied. “We have arranged for jewelry and clothes to be placed in your chamber. You have until sunset. Mutny will help you with whatever you need.” My father looked at me and I nodded. “I have also arranged for body servants to be sent. These are the most highly trained women in the palace.”
“At what?” I asked ignorantly. We had never had body servants in Akhmim. Nefertiti flushed a mortified red.
My father replied, “At cosmetics and beauty.”
There was a real bed in our chamber. Not a reed mat or stuffed pallet as we had in our villa back home, but a large, carved ebony platform overhung with linens that Nefertiti and I would share. A brazier was sunk into the tiled floor for colder nights when we would sip warm beer and wrap ourselves in heavy blankets by the fire. And in a separate room used just for changing there was a limestone toilet. I pulled up its lid, and Nefertiti glanced over her shoulder in horror. Our guide watched me with amusement. There was a ceramic bowl filled with rosemary water beneath. We would never have to use a toilet stool and bowl again. It was a room fit for a princess of Egypt, and our guide interrupted us to explain that I would be Nefertiti’s bedmate until she was married, at which time she could choose to have her own bed.
Everywhere were the representations of growth and endless life. The wooden columns had been carved into flowers, then painted in blues and greens, dark yellows and reds. Egrets and ibis took flight along the walls, drawn by an artist skilled at his work. Even the tiled floor splashed with life, the mosaic of a lotus pond so realistic that like the gods, we, too, could walk on water. Our guide disappeared, and Nefertiti called, “Come look at this!” She
