Kysen spoke rapidly before the two reached the king. 'Golden one, I am a prisoner in my own house, and I don't know where Lord Meren is.'
The two councillors joined them.
'Ay, withdraw the guards from Lord Meren's family.'
Maya uttered an exclamation of dismay. 'But, majesty-'
'My majesty is convinced that Lord Kysen is a loyal subject.'
'But-' Maya closed his mouth when Ay put a hand on his arm.
Bowing, the vizier said, 'Yes, majesty.'
Kysen knew better than to trust such generosity. The fisherman might loosen the net; he didn't take it away altogether. 'Golden one, I've told you the truth.'
'Of course.'
Kysen darted a glance at the king as he bowed. Gone was the hurt and distraught boy. In his place was Nebkheprure Tutankhamun, Lord of the Two Lands, Son of Ra, the young ruler who spoke of hacking the heads of criminals from their necks. Meren had taught the king well. Once his suspicions were aroused, the king would trust no one until this mystery was solved. And he no longer trusted Meren, in spite of the many times his councillor had almost died to protect him. For pharaoh, the risk of such trust was too great, no matter the impulse of his heart.
Kysen glanced at Maya, who seemed torn between his friendship for Meren and his love of the king. And Ay? No one could tell what Ay was thinking.
The king was watching him impassively. 'Mose, escort Lord Kysen home.'
'Please, majesty,' Kysen said as Mose approached and clamped a hand on his arm.
'My majesty will hear no more.'
Shrugging off Mose's hand, Kysen bowed and turned to follow the Nubian. Ky.
He looked back to find that the king had come after him. Kysen dropped to the ground. 'Yes, majesty?'
'You may be assured, I'll never condemn your father unheard.'
'Thy majesty is wise and merciful, but I fear Lord Meren won't be allowed to live long enough to be heard.'
Chapter 16
Nefertiti laid her reed pen down on the table and blew on the ink that covered the sheet of papyrus spread before her. She clenched her hands to keep them from trembling. Only her training at Queen Tiye's side kept her from plunging into a frenzy of useless action.
She looked up at her father and saw the same helpless fury that churned inside her. Ay sat nearby in the shelter of a kiosk in the garden of the royal palace. Nefertiti turned her attention back to the notes she'd taken on the translations of foreign letters from the House of Correspondence.
'It is the destruction of the empire if we don't do something,' Nefertiti said. 'I never thought pharaoh would allow Suppiluliumas to destroy the kingdom of Mitanni. Tushratta was once our friend.'
Ay threw back his head, sighed, and contemplated the roof. 'Once Akhenaten made that cursed treaty with the Hittite, you and I both knew what would happen. Mitanni is gone, and there's nothing we can do about it. Now, with the Asiatic vassals at each other's throats, Suppiluliumas merely has to see that no one forms a lasting alliance. The king of the Hittites pays Aziru of Amurru to stir dissension among the vassals, while Suppiluliumas writes sweet letters to pharaoh and sends presents.'
'But all those loyal princes.' Nefertiti searched through the stack of papyri. 'Look, Akizzi of Qatna and Biryawaza of Upe plead for help. These are our regents, Father, and they're loyal. Nomads raid the cities of Palestine without fear of Egyptian troops. And today word came that rebels and nomads have destroyed two towns near Ugarit.'
'I know, daughter.'
Twisting a report in her hands, Nefertiti stared at a distant shrub without seeing it. 'These rebels who want kingdoms for themselves, they use the nomads as a facade and a tool. Half the war we read about is contrived, but if we misread the situation and fail to send aid when it's truly required, we lose loyal vassals.'
Ay was smiling at her. 'Queen Tiye would be proud of you.'
'Perhaps.' Nefertiti tried not to show the doubt she felt that the queen would thank her for her many failures. Frustration cut off any more speculation about Queen Tiye. 'If we fail to act, we could lose the vassals of Phoenicia, Palestine, Syria. The destruction will soak the ground with blood.' Nefertiti rose and strode around the kiosk. A slave tending to their food skipped out of her way.
Ay was still smiling as he intercepted Nefertiti on her way around the shelter. Taking her hand, he said, 'There has been much killing already, but you must realize that the Hittite king wants rich provinces, not burned earth.'
'Did you read that letter from the regent of Gezer?'
Nefertiti shook off Ay's restraining hand. 'Pharaoh's own commissioner is extorting silver from him. A man entrusted with the governing of vassals by pharaoh himself.' Nefertiti snatched up a translation and shoved it at Ay. 'Here. Look at that. Iankhamu seized the regent's wife and children and demanded two thousand pieces of silver for their return. If you hadn't sent a king's deputy to Gezer to inquire about administration, we'd never have discovered this in time. The corruption of pharaoh's officers is a disease that will kill the empire even if Suppiluliumas were to suddenly become Egypt's lover. Why aren't you angry?'
Ay pulled Nefertiti over to his chair and gently pushed her into it. He handed her a piece of spiced cake, and she bit into it as if it were the traitor Aziru.
'I've been angry for a long time,' Ay said. 'But pharaoh doesn't listen to me. He hears your voice. Quell the fiends that dance in your heart, daughter. I would discuss the problems we face and what you will say to pharaoh.'
'It's taken us too long to decipher Tutu's mountain of correspondence. I'll see pharaoh as soon as we finish.'
Nefertiti hadn't expected her conference with Ay to take the rest of the day. The sun set before she was able to request audience with her husband. Akhenaten was in his own apartments with the girls. Knowing better than to rush into a topic that annoyed her husband, Nefertiti allowed herself to relax with her family.
Merytaten sat on a pile of cushions and played a harp for her parents. The oldest of her daughters, Merytaten was an unfortunate child. The girl had never been clever of wit, and Nefertiti feared she would be as vapid a young woman as she was a child.
Little Ankhesenpaaten, now her next oldest, was Akhenaten's favorite. Pharaoh delighted in the little girl's open manner and chattering nonsense. They shared a love of music and nature. Only yesterday Nefertiti had come upon them while Akhenaten was reading his great hymn to the Aten. Young as she was, Ankhesenpaaten seemed to enjoy the beauty of the words. Nefertiti was about to send the girls to their apartments when Akhenaten rose from his couch and dismissed them himself.
Ankhesenpaaten's lower lip protruded in a pout that was becoming habitual. 'But I don't want to go, Father.'
Leading her by the hand, Akhenaten admonished the child with a mildness that only encouraged her. Nefertiti intervened, earning the girl's childish ire. Ignoring all protests, she directed the girl's attendants to remove her daughters.
When the children were gone, Akhenaten motioned for Nefertiti to take a cushion beside his couch and collapsed upon his own embroidered sheets as if dealing with the girls had exhausted him. He took up a silver bowl filled with dates. Biting a chunk from one of the candied pieces, he regarded Nefertiti happily.
'Tell me what you did today. Your adventures are always more interesting than listening to courtiers whine that they can't live without receiving more royal gifts.'
'Husband, your patience is a gift from the Aten.'
'As is your beauty, my dear.' Akhenaten licked his sticky fingers before selecting another date. 'I have missed
