“Zaya!” he exclaimed. “For all of twenty long years I called her my mother. If motherhood were mercy, love, and personal devotion, then she was my mother, too, Mama. Zaya would never wish evil upon us. She is an ill-fated woman, like a virtuous queen who has lost her throne without warning.”
But before Ruddjedet could open her mouth to respond, a male servant entered hurriedly, saying that Djedef's deputy Sennefer wanted to meet him immediately, without the slightest delay. The young man was taken aback, because Sennefer had been with him only a short time before. He reassured his fearful mother as he excused himself to go out to meet Sennefer in the garden. Djedef found the officer anxious, impatient, and upset. The moment Sennefer saw him he came up to him quickly, without any greetings or graces.
“Commander, sir,” he burst out, “by chance I have learned of sinister facts that warn of an impending evil!”
Djedef's heart raced, and he turned and looked unconsciously back at the guest room as he wondered to himself, “Do you see what new adversities the Fates have hidden from you?”
Then he looked at his deputy. “What do you mean by that, Sennefer?”
In bewildered accents, the officer told him: “Just before sunset today, I went into the wine cellar to pick out a good bottle. I was looking about waywardly — standing next to the skylight that looks out onto the garden — when I heard the voice of the crown prince's chief chamberlain talking in whispers with a strange person. Though I couldn't make out what they were saying clearly, I did hear him well when he finished by calling him, ‘Prince Khafra, who will be Pharaoh by dawn tomorrow!’ I was jolted by terror, as I was sure that His Majesty the King must have gone to be near Osiris. I forgot what I had been looking for and hurried outside to the soldiers’ barracks. I found the officers playing around and chatting as they usually do when off-duty, so I thought that the dreadful news had not yet reached them. I didn't want to be the bearer of evil tidings, so I slipped away outside, mounted my chariot and headed toward Pharaoh's palace, where I might establish the truth of the matter. I saw that the palace was quiet, its lights twinkling as always like brilliant stars, the guards going to and fro with no sign of anything wrong. Undoubtedly, it seemed, the lord of the palace was alive and well. I was stunned at what I'd heard in the cellar, and thought about it for a long time. I was worried and afraid. Then your person came to my mind, like a light leading a ship lost in the dark, at the mercy of the wind and waves in a violent storm, safely into shore. So I came to you urgently, hoping to take your wise direction.”
Agitated, Djedef asked him — having forgotten his personal troubles, and all that had taken him so much by surprise that day, “Are you sure that your ears did not deceive you?”
“My presence before you now is proof that I'm sure.”
“You aren't drunk?”
“I haven't tasted drink this day at all.”
The young commander fixed him with a frozen stare, and asked in what he imagined was a strange voice indeed, “And what did you understand from this?”
The officer fell fearfully silent, as though guarding his answer, leaving the commander to supply it himself. Djedef understood what lay behind his failure to speak, his heart pounding as he became lost in thought. At that moment, he remembered Prince Khafra's peculiar instructions: his order not to discharge his soldiers, and to await his commands at dawn — and to follow them, however unusual they might seem. These disquieting memories returned as he thought of what Sennefer, who stood before him now, had told him — on his first day as a guard to the prince — about the heir apparent's character, his short temper, and his severity. He recalled all of this quickly and with shock, as he wondered, “What else are you holding back, O World of the Invisible? Is Pharaoh in danger? Is there treason abroad in Egypt?”
He heard Sennefer say with passion, “We are soldiers of Khafra, but we swore our oath of loyalty to the king. The army altogether is Pharaoh's men — except for the traitors.”
He realized that Sennefer's suspicions matched his own. “I fear that the king is in peril!” he said, heatedly.
“I've no doubt of that — we must do something, O Commander,” said Sennefer.
“Most nights, the king spends inside his pyramid with his vizier Hemiunu, dictating his great book-in- progress,” said Djedef. “We must take our warning to the pyramid — I'm afraid that the treachery will be enacted against him while he's there in the burial chamber.”
“That's not possible,” Sennefer replied. “Only three persons know the secret of how to open the pyramid's door — the king, Hemiunu, and Mirabu. And the plateau encircling the pyramid is full of guards, both day and night, plus priests of the god Osiris.”
In an afterthought, Sennefer asked, “Does one of the king's guards ride with him in his chariot?”
“No, the great monarch who has devoted his life to Egypt does not feel the need for protection among his subjects, in his own country. I believe, O Sennefer — if our suspicions are correct — that the danger is crouching, ready to pounce, in the Valley of Death. That is a long road, devoid of any people, whose solitude would tempt the traitor to ambush his prey.”
Gasping, Sennefer asked, “What should we do?” “Our mission is twofold,” Djedef told him. “That we — warn the king of the danger, and that we arrest the traitors.” “What if there are princes among them?” “Even if the crown prince himself is among them!” “My dear commander, — we should not rely upon the heir apparent's guards.”
“You have spoken wisely, Sennefer,” Djedef replied. “We've no need of them — for we have a courageous army, every soldier of which would not hesitate to sacrifice his life for the sake of our sire.”
Sennefer's face lit up as he said, “So let's summon the army right away!”
But the young commander placed his hand on his zealous deputy's shoulder. “The army should not be called upon except to fight another army like itself,” he said. “Our enemy — if our concerns are real — is a tiny band that seeks refuge in darkness, plotting their evil by night. Let's lie in wait for them and hit them the decisive blow before they aim their blow at us.” “But, Commander, sir, hadn't we better warn Pharaoh?” “That's bad counsel, Sennefer,” cautioned Djedef. “We have no proof of this appalling treason except our own doubts — and they could be mere illusions. Hence, we can't warn Pharaoh yet about our dangerous accusation against his own crown prince!” “So then, what should we do, Commander, sir?” “The wise thing would be for me to choose several tens of officers of those whose courage I am confident — and you'll be among them, Sennefer,” the youth said. “Then, one by one, we'll hide in the Valley of Death. We'll spread ourselves throughout all its sides, alert, vigilant, and in wait. We'd better not waste time — we must beat our enemy to his ambush, so that we see him before he sees us.”
To be sure, the young man did not waste a moment. Yet, despite the vital importance of what he had to do, he could not forget his mother. He took her to Nafa's wing of their house, putting her in care of Nafa's wife, Mana. Then he returned to Sennefer, riding with him in his chariot to the military encampment outside the walls of Memphis. Along the way, he spoke to himself.
“Now I understand — why the prince commanded me to await his orders at dawn, for he has a gambit planned to kill his father,” he thought. “In the event that he accomplished this goal, he wanted me to stealthily march the army on the capital in order to finish off the Great House Guards, along with the king's faithful men such as Hemiunu, Mirabu, Arbu, and the others from Pharaoh's inner circle. Thus he would clear the field to announce his impatient self as king over Egypt. What despicable treachery!
“No doubt, the prince feels he can wait no longer,” he went on addressing himself. “But his own ambitions will condemn his hopes when they are only two bow lengths or less from reaching fruition. But will our suspicions turn out to be true — or are we beating our heads against mere errors and delusions?”
34
Dawn appeared, and life began yet again on the sacred pyramid plateau, as the shouts of the guards, the blasts of the horns, and the chanting of the priests echoed in the sky overhead. Amidst all this, the pyramid's door opened and two specters emerged from within, before it was closed and sealed once again. Each of these figures was wrapped in a thick cloak resembling those worn by priests during the feasts of sacrifice. The shorter of the two said to the other, “My lord, you're exerting your sublime self quite unsparingly.”
“It seems, Hemiunu,” answered the king, “that the further we progress in age, the more we return to our childhood. How my ardor for this majestic labor resembles my former passion for the chase and for riding horses! Indeed, I must redouble my efforts, Hemiunu — for — what remains of my life now is but the briefest part.”
