Eater of souls

'Thank you,' Meren said.

'She may wish to concern herself with any alliance formed by the daughter of such a great noble.'

'I wouldn't presume to disturb the Lady of the Two Lands with so unimportant a matter.'

Before Tio could respond, there was a call from the deck. Relieved, Meren excused himself and left the deckhouse. Kysen was waiting for him nearby and began walking with him.

'We're about to dock, and we have a late guest.'

Meren went to the ship's railing as Joy of the Nile gently nudged the quayside. Approaching from an ornate chariot flanked by bearded guards was a man whose garments seemed dipped in silver. Meren and Kysen glanced at each other without speaking. Djoser appeared and leaned over the railing.

'By the gods, Meren, it's that serpent of a Hittite emissary. And he's brought a small army with him.'

Chapter 6

After Pharaoh had shamed him in front of the whole court, Meren had not expected Mugallu to remain in Egypt. The Hittite should have stormed home to the mountains of his Anatolian homeland and hissed accusations at his king. What was he doing coming aboard Joy of the Nile? As the ship eased through the water to gently nudge the dock, music, clapping, and laughter sent a barrage of sound across the water to greet the foreigner. Only a few guests noticed the Hittite party. Unfortunately, Reshep, Djoser, and the disgruntled Prince Rahotep were among them.

Sighing at the thought of introducing Mugallu to either Djoser or Rahotep, Meren stepped forward as the gangplank was lowered onto the quay. Kysen was behind him, along with Reshep, who seemed unconcerned that it might be presumptuous of a newcomer to insert himself into a welcome party for a Hittite prince.

Flanked by his illustrious escort of high-ranking military men and an assistant minister from Ay's office, Mugallu stepped on board. The rage that had turned his face carnelian in the throne room had ebbed, leaving his heavy features and bird-of-prey nose the hue of mud brick. Meren noticed one of the escort, General Labarnas, who nodded to him and grinned. Meren hated that grin. Hittites were notorious for going into battle grinning just like that, as if they found slashed bellies with entrails spilling out to be the most amusing of sights. The wisest thing to do was to avoid looking at Labarnas at all.

While he and the prince exchanged formal salutations, Meren summoned every skill he'd ever used to survive the crocodile trap that was the Egyptian court. Mugallu wasn't simply an emissary. Judging from his behavior so far, he was a trial, a challenge, a probing stick sent to jab at pharaoh's suspected weaknesses. And worse. Mugallu could be in Memphis to search for an ally, someone willing to betray Egypt, for a price.

At this thought Meren's lips curled in disgust, but he forced them into a smile of tranquil welcome. 'Shall we sit and talk, highness? You must be weary after spending all day conferring with the Divine Father Ay.'

'Indeed,' Mugallu said as he surveyed the men behind Meren. His gaze settled on Reshep, who bore it with an aplomb worthy of pharaoh.

Reshep stepped forward, lifting his hands in greeting as he spoke. 'I am Lord Reshep-'

'By the storm god, Meren, do all your nobles dress like women and oil themselves like catamites?' Mugallu asked. He left Reshep standing alone, his mouth hanging open, and walked toward the aft steering castle.

Meren heard a growl and thrust his arm out in time to stop Prince Rahotep from hurling himself on top of the Hittite.

'Get out of my way!' Rahotep snarled. 'He insulted us all, not just Reshep.'

Shoving his body against the straining prince, Meren hissed, 'Cease at once. He wants you to take offense, you fool.'

Reshep had recovered from the insult and grabbed one of Prince Rahotep's arms.

'Temper the heat in your belly, my friend. There are other ways to avenge oneself.'

'Listen to him,' Meren said as Rahotep refused to give up the struggle.

Djoser grabbed Rahotep's other arm while Kysen intervened to try to calm his friend. With Rahotep tethered, Meren left the group and quickly followed Mugallu aft. There, where the ship began to curve up out of the water, lay a gilded pavilion. A curved roof supported by slender columns with lotus capitals provided shelter. Openwork carving formed walls around three sides and showed Hapu, god of the Nile. Mugallu stood beneath the gold-painted roof and contemplated one of the two massive steering oars, now immobile and untended with the ship docked.

'Such a calm river,' Mugallu said as Meren joined him in looking across the black water. 'The Nile spoils you Egyptians. You're complacent, pampered by its abundance.' Mugallu glanced at Meren. 'Soft.'

Meren leaned against one of the columns and held Mugallu's gaze. 'Walk along the bank, highness, and you'll find that this tranquillity hides danger. One careless move, and you're meat for crocodiles.'

'I've spoken to Ay; rather, Ay has tried for hours to placate me,' Mugallu said. He resumed his contemplation of the Nile. 'Ay is wise and possesses a honeyed tongue, but your child-king ruined all his work by refusing to see me again when Ay asked to be received.'

Meren felt his skin prickle, and his hearing seemed to grow more acute. Mugallu's belligerent expression had vanished. His brows arched, and he was trying not to smirk.

'The divine one rarely sees emissaries twice. He consents to allow negotiations, but ordinary business is not for the living god.'

The Hittite's smirk contorted. 'I'm not ordinary business! By the storm god, I hate coming to this land, with its arrogance, its lazy preoccupation with itself. You'- Mugallu paused to run his gaze over Meren's immaculate figure, the jeweled belt, the transparent linen that revealed long legs-'you… nobles. You're pampered, oiled toys of pharaoh, and yet you're stuffed with pride. Every son of a jackal bitch is certain that Egypt is the chosen kingdom of the gods. I know what you call the rest of us. Barbarians, wretched Asiatics.'

'And what do you call us?' Meren asked as he studied Mugallu beneath half-closed eyelids.

The Hittite didn't respond. His fingers curled until he'd made fists, and Meren watched him struggle with his temper. Finally the wrath distorting his features dwindled.

'Don't you think King Suppiluliumas knows about your dead heretic king and the misery he caused? Egypt is weak, ridden with old hatreds that have set brother against brother.' Mugallu paused. 'Cousin against cousin.'

Meren stared straight into the Hittite's watchful eyes. 'Are you trying to say something about me and my cousin Ebana, highness?'

'You?' Mugallu leaned on the pavilion railing and shook his head. 'Why should I say anything about you, the Eyes and Ears of Pharaoh? Even in Hatti we know the power and influence of the King's Friend, Lord Meren. Tell me, do you think, even with all your skill at spying and plotting, that you and General Horemheb and the rest can hold Egypt together long enough for your boy-king to grow up?'

'Do you question the might of Egypt, highness?' Meren asked softly. 'I don't think your master is quite ready to challenge a pharaoh at the moment, even a young one.'

Standing, Mugallu gave him a smile that recalled the yawn of a sated hippo. The Hittite gazed across the deck and nodded at the crowd surrounding one of the professional singers.

'At home we waste little time singing of the pleasures of life. It makes a warrior soft. Instead, we sing of battle and victory.'

'We sing of such things as well,' Meren said.

'And we tell tales of great battles.'

'Like those of Thutmose the Conqueror, who spread the empire to the verge of the Hittite lands?' Meren was exaggerating, but Mugallu was beginning to irritate him.

The prince didn't answer. Turning his back on the revelers, he took a step closer to Meren and lowered his voice.

'I remember a tale, a favorite of the great king, concerning one of his royal ancestors. This king of the Hittites had an enemy, the prince of a rich and powerful city with a great army. This prince looted and destroyed several Hittite villages and refused to return the people he'd taken from them. Of course, the great king had to retaliate. Do you know what he did first, to weaken the prince?'

'You will tell me, won't you?'

Mugallu threw back his head and laughed so loudly that heads turned toward them.