'Things like making babies who have no royal father to claim them.'
'It is rather serious, isn't it, Taita?'
I struck a chord on the rate while I framed a reply. 'Rather serious? Oh, I think that is the wrong word. If you give birth to a bastard, or if you take a husband, then you will be obliged to relinquish the regency. That is the custom and the law. Lord Merkeset would be the next in line as regent, but there will be covert warfare amongst all the nobility for the position. Without your protection as regent, the prince would be in great danger. We would be torn by internecine strife?' I broke off, and shuddered at the prospect of it.
'Tanus could become regent in my stead, and then I could marry him,' she suggested brightly.
'Don't think I have not thought of that before,' I told her sombrely. 'It would be the solution to all our difficulties. But then there is Tanus.'
'If I ask him, he will do it gladly, I am sure of that,' she smiled with relief, 'and I will be his wife. We need no longer play these shams and subterfuges to be alone together.'
'I wish it were that easy. But Tanus will never agree. He cannot?''
'What is this silliness?' The first sparks of anger lit her eyes, and I hurried on.
'That night at Thebes, the night that Pharaoh sent men to arrest Tanus on charges of sedition, we tried to force Tanus to declare for the crown. Kratas and all his officers swore their support, and that of all the army. They wanted to march on the palace and place Tanus on the throne.'
'Why did Tanus not agree to them? He would have been a fine king, and it would have saved all of us so much heartache.'
'Tanus spurned their offer. He declared that he was not a traitor, and that he would never mount the throne of Egypt.'
'That was long ago. Things have all changed,' she cried with exasperation.
'No, they have not changed. Tanus swore an oath that day, and he called on the god Horus to witness it. He swore that he would never take the crown.'
'But it no longer counts. He can go back on that oath.'
'Would you go back on an oath that you had sworn in the sight of the god Horus?' I demanded, and she looked away and hung her head.
'Would you?' I insisted, and she shook her head reluctantly.
'No,' she whispered, 'I could not.'
'The same code of honour binds Tanus. You cannot call upon him to do what you dare not do yourself,' I explained gently. 'Of course, we can put it to him, but you and I both know what his reply must surely be.'
'There must be something that you can do?' She looked at me with that blind trust that angered me. Whenever she had run herself into the deepest danger, she simply turned to me and said, 'There must be something that you can do?'
'There is something, but you will not agree to it, any more than Tanus will agree to wear the crown.'
'If you care anything for me, you will not even suggest it.' She understood me immediately, and recoiled from me as though I had struck her. 'I would rather die myself than kill this miracle of love that Tanus has placed in my womb. The child is him and me and our love. I could never murder all of that.'
'Then, Your Majesty, there is nothing more that I can suggest to you.'
She smiled at me with such sublime trust and confidence that it took my breath away. 'I know you will think of something, my darling Taita. You always do.'
And so I had a dream.
I RELATED MY DREAM BEFORE A FULL SESSION of the council of state called by the regent of this very Egypt.
Queen Lostris and Prince Memnon were seated upon the throne high on the poop-deck of the Breath of Horus. The galley was moored to the west bank of the Nile. The members of the council were seated upon the beach below her.
Lord Merkeset and the nobility represented the secular arm of the state. The high priests of Ammon-Ra and Osiris and Hapi represented the sacred arm. Lord Harrab and fifty of his senior officers stood for the military.
I stood upon the opemdeck below the throne and faced this distinguished gathering. I had taken even greater pains than usual with my appearance. My make-up was subtle and cunning. My hair was dressed with fragrant oils, and coiled in the fashion that I had made popular. I wore the two chains of the Gold of Praise around my neck, and my chest and arms were shaped and hardened by chariot-driving. I must have presented an extraordinary figure of beauty to them, for many of them gaped at me, and I saw the lust in the eyes of those whose inclinations ran in that direction.
'Your Majesties,' I made the low salutation to the pair upon the throne, and Prince Memnon grinned at me cheekily. His head was still bandaged, although it was no longer necessary. He was so proud of his war wound that I had let him keep it on. I frowned at him, and he adjusted his expression to be more in keeping with the occasion.
'Your Majesties, last night I dreamed a strange and wonderful dream which I feel it is my duty to relate. I beg your leave to speak.'
Queen Lostris replied graciously, 'Every person in this company is aware of the sacred gift that you have. The prince and I know that you are able to see into the future, and to divine the will and the wishes of the gods through dreams and visions. I command you now to speak of these mysteries.'
I bowed again and turned to face the council.
'Last night I slept at the door to the royal cabin, as is my duty. Queen Lostris lay alone upon her couch, and
