The Heretic Queen

boy in the city of Memphis.”

If Ahmoses had said that he had been an acrobat in his earlier life, I would have been less shocked. Here was the man who had planted the seeds of my family’s ruin, asking me to do him a favor! Without him, the Heretic King would never have happened on the idea of a single god, or convinced Nefertiti to join him in ridding Egypt of Amun. She would never have been murdered by the priests of Aten, who grew angry when she wished to return to the old gods . . . And if my father’s life hadn’t been taken in those flames, who knew what might have happened at my birth? Perhaps my mother’s will to live might have been stronger. I looked down at him. “You ruined my family,” I whispered harshly.

The old man clearly understood the impact of his words. “The truth that there is one god can be used for healing or for harm. It was your akhu who chose harm, starving the land of Egypt to feed their own glory.”

“It was Akhenaten who betrayed Egypt, not my mother! Not my father!” The Audience Chamber had ceased to exist for me. While the business of the day carried on, it was as if only Ahmoses and I existed in that room. “Why are you telling me this?” I hissed, and it was a struggle to control my voice. “You could have come with your petition without telling me anything.”

“But I wish to tell you who I am. More important, I wish to tell you who I am not. I am not a worshipper of gold, like the Pharaoh Akhenaten.” When I flinched at my uncle’s name spoken aloud, Ahmoses raised his brows. “He was sent to me in Memphis when all of Egypt believed it was his brother who would take the crown. He was a second son, a younger prince sent away to become a priest. A bitter child. Angry and resentful of his older brother’s fortune. I thought the god of the Habiru could save him,” he admitted.

“And now you would have me dismiss every Habiru from Pharaoh’s service?”

Ahmoses met my gaze, and he was firm. “From the tombs, from the temples, from this palace where women work as body servants . . .”

“They are already free to go!”

“And the Habiru in Pharaoh’s army?” Ahmoses challenged. “Every able-bodied man who was captured in Canaan was made to fight for Egypt, and under Pharaoh Akhenaten when the army was used to build cities in the desert, the Habiru toiled like beasts. He promised our people freedom once the city of Amarna was built, but three kings have since taken the throne of Egypt. The Habiru soldiers have still not been given permission to leave Pharaoh’s army.”

“They are paid like every other soldier.”

“But unlike every other soldier the Habiru cannot leave until they are too old to carry a weapon. If that is not slavery, then what are we?”

“You are Egyptians,” I said hotly.

Ahmoses shook his head firmly. “No. We are Habiru and we want our freedom.”

I sat back and regarded Ahmoses in shock. “My reputation is in danger simply by speaking with you. You, who brought a curse onto all of my akhu. The people already believe I am a heretic like my aunt!”

“Because there are men in this room who would have them believe that.” Ahmoses’s eyes traveled to the High Priest Rahotep.

“No.” But even as I said the word I understood he was speaking the truth. I had always thought Henuttawy had bribed the market vendors to chant against me on the day of my marriage. But the anger in the streets had been too real. Those women with eyes as hard as onyx had not been paid; someone with words more persuasive than deben had spoken to them, someone with more power over their souls than even Henuttawy. I had been a fool not to see it before.

Ahmoses used his staff to lean across the dais. “I have seen him in the streets,” he said quietly, casting a glance behind him. But Rahotep was still berating his petitioner. “He was rousing the men to rebellion even before your marriage. The people revere him as the mouth of Amun. But you can convince them of his lies by setting the Habiru free. By telling the people that you are expelling the remaining heretics from Egypt. You wish to appear as a follower of Amun, and I wish to return my people to Canaan. So banish the heretical Habiru from Thebes and we both may profit.”

For a moment, I thought of nothing but myself, imagining how the people would react to the final banishment of all heretics from Egypt. They would cheer me in the streets, shaking sistrums as I walked. Ramesses’s face would fill with pride as he declared me queen. Then I thought of my husband’s army, and how a sixth of the men were Habiru. “You and I may profit,” I told him, “but how will Pharaoh profit? To our north the Hittites are waiting, to the east the Assyrians threaten to invade. You think I am willing to win my reputation at the expense of my husband?” I leaned forward on my throne. “Then you have petitioned the wrong wife.”

Only then did Ahmoses’s eyes blaze. “You know what persecution is! You know what it’s like to be called a heretic. Imagine how the Habiru feel, worshipping for a hundred years in private, wondering if we’ll be slaughtered like the followers of Aten for what we believe! All we ask for is the freedom to move from Thebes to Egypt’s lands in the north—”

“And I cannot grant that without Pharaoh’s consent,” I said just as hotly.

“Then when he returns victorious from Nubia, I will come back with my petition.” His eyes traveled to my thickening waist. “The Habiru’s wishes are the same as yours. All we desire is a future for our children.”

He turned away, but his words lingered with me like an upsetting dream.

I FOUND Merit in my chamber, folding my linens neatly into piles and placing them in chests. She looked up in surprise when she heard me arrive.

“Merit,” I said sternly. She knew from the sound of my voice that something was wrong. I shut the door behind me, checking to see that it was locked, then advanced across the chamber. “Merit,” I repeated, “what do you know about the High Priest Rahotep?”

She stood, searching my face to measure the strength of my demand.

“You knew him when Nefertiti was Pharaoh. You said he was against my being raised in this palace and that you convinced him to keep me here. But I spoke to a man in the Audience Chamber today. A Habiru who says he was Akhenaten’s tutor.”

Some of the color drained from Merit’s face.

“He said the High Priest has been turning the people against me. Not Iset. Not Henuttawy. Rahotep! So how did you convince him to keep me here? He hates my akhu. He hates me.” My voice rose. “What do you know about him, Merit? He wouldn’t have allowed Horemheb to keep me at court unless you knew something. What is it?” I demanded.

Merit crossed to a chair next to the brazier. She sat, took a small fan from the nearest table, and began to cool herself vigorously. “My lady—”

“I want to know!” I shouted, and perhaps the anger in my voice broke the spell of silence she had kept for so many years.

“He was the High Priest of Aten,” she whispered. “When your aunt saw that she must either return the gods to Egypt or face rebellion, she began to rebuild the temples of Amun. The priests of Aten were stripped of their power.”

“Including Rahotep?”

“Especially him. He lost everything to her.”

“The priests of Aten were given the chance to join the priesthood of Amun,” I challenged. “He could have saved his position.”

“Perhaps he didn’t believe we would return so eagerly to our true gods. But he lived embittered and in poverty for many years. Your akhu were not interested in helping him. He reminded your grandfather of heresy and ruin.”

“Do you think it was he who set the fire?” I asked. “Is that what you know?”

Merit looked down at the fan in her lap, and the strength to keep hidden what she had concealed for so long seeped out of her like water from a cracked bowl. “It may have been him. I would not be surprised. He is the Aten priest who helped to kill Pharaoh Nefertiti and her daughter.” She raised her eyes. “Before their murders, I saw him enter the passageway leading to the Window of Appearances.”

“Where she was killed?” I whispered.