misfortune that Nento couldn't be silent as well. The man uttered a litany on his responsibilities and excellent performance in an urgent whisper.
Like Wah, Nento had been a courtier at Horizon of Aten. But unlike his fellow servant, Nento had been clever enough to secretly desert the heretical faction once opposition to the king gained overwhelming strength. He constantly watched the shifting currents of power in royal circles, hopping from one nest of influence to another depending upon the ascendancy of one great man or another. Nento wasn't evil, just possessed of an all-consuming interest in his own advancement. Were pharaoh to suddenly declare that there were no gods at all, Nento would be the first to trumpet his agreement. Meren didn't like him much.
'Nento, I'm well aware of your work, now be silent. Kysen and I must return to Baht. Reia will be in charge of the charioteers here. In a few days you will sail south with the barge and complete the trading run as planned. I'll send for you if I need you.'
Kysen coughed behind his hand. Giving him a suspicious glance, Meren decided that his son was trying to stifle a laugh. He frowned at the young man,
'You will meet me back at the house, and quickly. I don't want our guests to know we've been gone.'
The king finished his prayers, cast a last, regretful glance at Nefertiti's beautiful features, and joined them. They all stepped outside into a world lit by stars. The moon had vanished, and with it the evil west wind. The men on guard had disappeared as well, hidden by rocks and slopes.
Karoya was waiting just outside the entrance. He scoured Nento with a contemptuous stare until the king dismissed the poor man and Kysen as well.
'Thy majesty has promised to return to court upon the morrow,' Meren said.
'I know. But I'm not going to hurry.'
'As thy majesty wills.'
The king's escort awaited them behind one of the mounds that surrounded the temple. As they began the walk out of the valley, a high, laughing whine filled the night's emptiness. Another joined it, and another. Everyone stopped, and the guards formed a circle around Meren and the king. Hyenas usually preyed on carrion, but when food was scarce, they dared to attack children, the weak, or the unwary.
Meren surveyed the rocky slopes of the valley. It was too dark to make out much, but he thought he detected movement. Something on an incline to his right dislodged gravel and sent it tumbling toward them. Meren drew his dagger. Spears pointed in the direction of the rockfall..
Hardly breathing, Meren surveyed the starlit boulders. Another chorus of wails echoed off the rocks. Then he saw a black shape detach itself from the slope and scramble away on all fours. More shapes loped off in the same direction, and Meren sheathed his dagger.
'They're gone, majesty, but we should make haste for the river.'
He escorted the king back to his yacht and exacted another promise that pharaoh would take himself back to Memphis the next day. By the time he got back home, Meren was exhausted. Having to sneak back into his own house didn't improve his mood either. Nevertheless, he was asleep by the time Zar had closed the door to his chamber after helping him undress and wash.
He seemed to have just closed his eyes when Zar roused him again. He sat up to find Kysen standing beside the body servant. It was still dark, and Zar's chest was swollen with disapproval as he stepped aside, holding an alabaster lamp.
'I'm sorry to wake you, Father, but there is a small difficulty.'
'Small difficulty!' Sennefer pushed Kysen aside. 'Is that how you describe it? My wife is missing, and he says it's a small difficulty.'
Meren's head felt as if it were stuffed with natron and linen bandages. 'Wait, Sennefer. Give me a moment.'
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. Zar returned with a kilt, which he wrapped around his waist.
Sennefer fidgeted, then burst out, 'Are you awake now? Because I've no time to waste. I can't find Anhai.'
'You mean she's vanished from your chamber?' Meren asked.
'No… uh, no.'
Kysen gave Sennefer a look of disgust. 'He hasn't seen her since before the guests began leaving.'
'I thought she was among the crowd,' Sennefer said.
Meren fixed him with a searing gaze, and he dropped his eyes.
'The truth, Sennefer. I've no patience with quibbling at this time of night.'
'You want the truth?' Sennefer ran a hand through his hair as he paced back and forth by the bed. 'I'll give you the truth, then, cousin. I didn't look for her, and I didn't ask for her. I waited, thinking she'd return, because I knew she'd gone off with your precious brother.'
'How do you know this? Ra went off to the village of Green Palm.'
Sennefer gave a bark of laughter. 'A lie, no doubt, to disguise their meeting.'
A noise at the door prevented Meren from arguing. Zar came forward, followed by a servant. Meren was surprised to see his steward Kasa. The man bowed, his face impassive.
'This humble servant requests an urgent word of the lord,' he said. He gave the others in the room a sideways glance that stopped when it encountered Sennefer.
Uneasiness crept over Meren. In all the years he'd been lord at Baht, the steward had never disturbed him at night.
'Give me a moment, Sennefer.'
'Gods! You're more worried about accounts than my wife.'
Meren took Kasa aside and nodded for him to begin.
'The lord is discerning.'
'Out with it, Kasa. What's wrong?'
'The workers were just beginning the day's grain grinding, lord.'
Meren glanced at the high, grilled windows of his chamber and found that the first gray light was filtering through them. 'Kasa, quit delaying. I've something else to deal with.'
'The-the two are the same, lord. One of the workers has found a body in one of the large granaries.'
' In the granary. In it?'
Kasa nodded, and Meren glanced at his cousin, who was still pacing and talking to Kysen.
'Not the Lady Anhai.' Meren thought of the tall, beehive-shaped domes in the granary court.
'Aye, lord. Someone dragged her up the stairs and, well, dumped her in on top of the grain and replaced the cover.'
'Meren, are you finished?' Sennefer asked. 'We're losing time while you babble about your taxes.'
Chapter 8
Meren strode out of the house with Sennefer at his side and turned left to reach the gate in the wall that hid the granary forecourt from view. His eyelids felt as heavy as fishing weights. A mooring stake was being pounded into his head, and his mouth was dry as the fields outside Baht.
He went through another gate, with Kasa trotting ahead. Kysen walked behind them. A crowd of servants and laborers had gathered in the large granary courtyard that lay north of the house, between it and the outer wall. Within the courtyard sat four granaries in two pairs. Between each pair of domed structures stretched a high, solid mud-brick platform with attached steps. Loads of grain were brought up the steps to the platforms and emptied into the top of the dome through a circular opening.
Meren followed Kasa to the second pair of granaries. The servants were muttering among themselves and making the sign against the evil eye. The steward stopped at the bottom of the steps, beside which stood an older man with yellow teeth. He was Meren's overseer of the granary, Hray, who had discovered the body. The two bowed as Meren mounted the steps. Sennefer was on his heels.
At the top of the stairs, Meren barred Sennefer's way and said, 'No. Let me look first.'
