“What story have they given you?” Ramesses demanded.
“They speak little Egyptian,” Kofu replied. “But the taller one says they deserted the army.”
“What are your names?”
“They call themselves Anittas and Teshub.” Anhuri raised his brows. “Whether those are their real names is anyone’s guess.”
Ramesses peered down into the faces of his captives, and even the tallest one only came to his chest. “Why would you leave Emperor Muwatallis?”
Both men shook with fear, but it was Teshub, the fatter one, who replied, “We understand very little Egyptian.”
“Then you may use the little Egyptian you have,” Ramesses roared, “and explain yourselves to me, or you will be explaining yourselves to Osiris!”
Teshub glanced in my direction, and his gaze lingered on me. “We left the army of Emperor Muwatallis,” he said quickly. “We did not want to fight for such a coward.”
Anhuri prodded the fat man with the edge of his sword. “What do you mean coward?”
“Emperor Muwatallis has fled!” Teshub said. “He heard that the great Pharaoh Ramesses was coming with an army that could fill the horizon!”
Ramesses looked at me, then at his generals. A wide grin spread across his face, and he stepped closer to the deserters. “Muwatallis heard that I was coming and fled? In which direction?” he asked eagerly.
Teshub pointed to the north.
“Aleppo?” Kofu demanded.
“Yes.” Teshub nodded swiftly. “To find more soldiers.”
Ramesses’s eyes glowed. “We will take Kadesh tomorrow!” he vowed. “I will lead Amun’s army north to the city before Muwatallis brings reinforcements. Instruct my men to get up. They are done sleeping tonight.”
“And the other divisions?” Kofu asked.
“They shall follow at first light.”
Even before the gray of dawn brightened the sky, the division of Amun assembled on the hill. They would reach the gates of Kadesh before nightfall, and I wondered how long it would be before the Hittite army returned. In the privacy of my pavilion, Ramesses encircled my waist with his arms. They had been bronzed by the harsh summer’s sun and were corded with muscle from his years of training. I felt them tighten protectively around me and wished they would never let go. But he still had to make his farewell to Iset, and to Merit, who was dressing our sons.
“Capturing the governor will be quick,” he said eagerly. “When Muwatallis returns, he will see that Kadesh has been retaken. Then Asha and the fifth division will appear! It’s over for him.”
“And what will stop him from taking this hill?”
“Because Muwatallis has fled north, Nefer! He will have to get by us first. You are well protected here.”
WE WATCHED the Amun soldiers move out, and by afternoon, the men had disappeared and all we could see was a dusty marching column in the distance. Merit held tightly to Prehir, wiping away his tears as he gestured toward the horizon. But Amunher squirmed in my arms, feistier than his brother, and he didn’t shed any tears.
“He would crawl after Pharaoh if he could,” Merit remarked.
“He will be a little warrior. Won’t you, Amunher?”
“ He will be a
“Rahotep would sooner give up his leopard robes and go naked than crown Amunher.”
“Then I hope he enjoys the cold,” Merit snapped.
We both looked to the tent where armed soldiers guarded the Hittite deserters. Even from the edge of the hill, I could hear the two men arguing inside. One of the guards called to me, “They are speaking in tongues, Princess. Their captivity has made them lose their minds.”
I listened, then quickly handed Amunher to Merit and moved closer to the tent. One of the guards opened his mouth, but I shook
my head fiercely, putting my fingers to my lips. When I had heard enough, I stepped back. “They are speaking in Shasu. And they’re fretting about what Egypt will do to
There was silence inside the tent. The guards looked at me with terror as I shouted for someone to bring General Anhuri. The cry of
When General Anhuri came running, he had his hand on the hilt of his sword.
“They are spies!” I said. “These men are not Hittite deserters! They were speaking Shasu!” My voice rose with terror. “They were arguing over what will happen to them once Ramesses discovers the Hittite army hiding behind the hills of Kadesh!”
General Anhuri and his bodyguard entered the tent, armed with canes. I winced at the sounds of the men being beaten within. The nearby soldiers had heard what I was saying, and news was already spreading among the ranks that Pharaoh was marching into a trap. The division of Ra was already mobilized, and the men of the other divisions took up their spears, and axes, and shields. When Anhuri emerged from the prisoners’ tent, fresh blood stained his kilt. His grim nod confirmed what I had feared. “The three divisions are moving!” he shouted. “The princess Nefertari is placed in charge of the supplies and the three hundred guards who will be left behind.”
MERIT AND I watched from the top of the hill as three divisions disappeared down the slope into the valley below. They wouldn’t reach Kadesh until morning, and although there were hundreds of guards to keep watch, that evening I refused to sleep. “I want to wait here and see it,” I told Merit.
“See what?” she cried, shivering in her cloak.
“I want to see Amun’s pennant flying triumphantly from the city’s walls,” I said stubbornly.
But even in the gilded light of the moon, it was difficult to make out what was happening below. Campfires blazed before the walls of Kadesh, and though I knew that three divisions were making their way toward Ramesses, only their torches were visible from above. I listened to the night sounds of crickets, and sometimes I could make out small animals scampering through the brush, but it wasn’t until the sun rose that I could clearly see what was happening. And then I covered my mouth in shock.
When Merit joined me at the rim of the hill, she followed my gaze into the distance and saw for herself what I had been watching since dawn. Although Amun’s division had taken Kadesh, the heavy walls of the city had been breached. Columns of our troops trod the northern road toward the city, still short of the river. Then she saw the encircling wings of Hittite troops coming toward us, only a single day’s march away, and panicked. “They’re coming! The Hittite army is coming!”
Her sharp cry summoned women from their tents, and when Iset saw how close the Hittites were, her voice rose to a hysterical pitch. “We must leave! We must leave now before they reach us and murder us all!”
But I knew that Ramesses would fight back. Three divisions had come to his aid, and surely Asha would arrive by river at the head of the fifth division to crush the soldiers now marching toward us. If we fled now . . .
A boy clambered up the hill into our field of vision, wearing the kilt of a messenger. Ibenre took his news.
“What is it?” I asked swiftly.
Ibenre’s look was grave. “The division of Ra has been ambushed. At least two thousand soldiers have been killed.”
“We must go!” Iset pleaded. “We must go before they kill us all!” She turned to run back to her pavilion, but Ibenre put out a hand to stop her.
“If you leave alone, you will be captured. We go when Princess Nefertari says we go.”
“But look!” Iset pointed wildly to the plains below.
“Those columns are still a distance away,” I told her. “Once we leave for Damascus we can’t turn around. It’s a two-day journey.” I saw Iset blanch, and I added calmly, “Asha may yet come. We cannot abandon Ramesses here, his supply lines cut and surrounded.”
We waited as the sun rose higher in the sky, hoping to see Ramesses’s victory banner flying alongside the
