“I shall.” Neferure nodded emphatically. “Iam a very good girl. Senimen says so.”
Hattie heard a cough outside her door. “Comein.”
Senimen poked his dark head into the room.“Ah, there you are, Princess Neferure! You must not run away fromme at lesson time.” He sketched a brief bow to Hattie. “Forgive theintrusion, Your Majesty. I shall see it does not happen again.”
Hattie chuckled. “Never mind, Senimen. Ienjoy seeing Neferure and hearing of her progress.” She turned tothe child. “Back to your lessons, little one. Off you go! There aremany things you must learn so that, when you grow up, you can be agood queen.”
She sighed as she watched Neferure’s sturdylittle legs carry her down the hall in the direction of her ownrooms, hand-in-hand with Senimen. Hattie had grown very fond of thelittle princess, and it was becoming increasingly difficult toimagine leaving her behind when she returned to her own time. Well,who wouldn’t be fond of such a pretty, intelligent and affectionatechild? It wasn’t Neferure’s fault that the woman she thought to beher mother was really an intruder from another place and time. Itwas Hattie’s duty to treat the child as Hatshepsut would. Neferuredidn’t deserve to suffer for Hattie’s misfortune, regardless of howit would break Hattie’s heart to leave her when the time came.
The curtain flapped again. “Neferure, Ithought I told you to…” Hattie began. But it was Senemut stridinginto her room, not the child. His expression was grim. “What isit?” she asked. “Did the prince throw another temper tantrum?”
“Nay, Majesty. But it does concern theprince. I have something to tell you that I fear will alarm you. Itis most serious.”
Her knees buckled and she sat down abruptlyon the bed. “What is it? Tell me.” Filled with a sudden, darkforeboding, she held her breath, waiting for his response.
He hesitated, then boldly took both ofHattie’s hands in his and squeezed them tightly. “Hattie, someonehas tried to murder Prince Tuthmosis.”
CHAPTER 14
“Someone tried to kill Tuthmosis?” Hattiegasped. “Who? How? Is he all right? Tell me what happened,Senemut.”
“He is all right,” Senemut assured her,sitting down next to her on the bed. “He is just a littlefrightened. I have had him taken to my rooms, and placed under theprotection of my own bodyguards. He is safe…at least for now.”
Hattie passed a shaky hand across her brow.“How did this happen? Tell me quickly, Senemut. Who would want toharm that little boy?”
He frowned. “There are many who would wish toharm a crown prince and heir to the throne. It is a miracle whenany royal child reaches maturity.”
“What happened?” she repeatedimpatiently.
“Tuthmosis was about to have a meal. One ofthe ladies of the royal harem brought him his favorite food—barleyporridge and honey cakes.”
Hattie nodded. She knew the boy had a sweettooth, and had tried to win him over with honey cakes herself onmore than one occasion.
“His tutor, Ineni, told the prince that hemust eat his porridge before he could have his honey cakes,”Senemut continued. “While Tuthmosis was eating the porridge, hispet monkey stole one of the cakes and ran off with it. Within fiveminutes, the monkey was dead.”
She gasped. “Poison?”
“Aye. A virulent, quick-acting poison. HadTuthmosis eaten the honey cake himself, he would most probably bedead.”
Hattie leapt up and paced the floor. “Whowould want to harm him? He is just a little boy. Even if he is thecrown prince, surely he poses no danger to anyone at his age? Hepays little enough attention in court. For all the input heprovides, I might as well be making the decisions alone.”
The expression on Senemut’s face wasstrained. “Hattie, I do not think…I do not think the honey cakeswere poisoned because Tuthmosis was a threat to anyone. I very muchfear the poisoner was attempting to get rid of you.”
“Me?” she cried. “Why would anyone want toget rid of me? And why would they poison Tuthmosis to do it? If hehad eaten the poisoned sweet and died, I would still be here to…torule.”
Senemut slowly shook his head. “If the crownprince were to die, you would no longer be Regent on the throne ofEgypt. You are a woman, and cannot rule alone. By getting rid ofTuthmosis, a traitor could rid himself of both of you.”
Hattie twisted her hands together. “But, ifsomeone wants to get rid of me, why did he not try to poison me?Why Tuthmosis? Surely, it would be simpler to just kill me.”
Senemut sighed. “I, too, have pondered thisand I will tell you my thoughts, though they may be incorrect. AsRegent, you are too well guarded to make an attempt on your lifeeasy. You are not as impulsive as a child. The traitor would haveto come up with something less transparent than poisoning an itemof food you did not request.”
He hesitated, then continued. “Yet it may bethe traitor has already tried to rid himself of you also. I thoughtyou had died of grief at your husband, the Great God’s funeral, butit may be that you, too, were poisoned and the assassin simplymisjudged the strength of the poison. May Amun forgive me, but Ibelieve it makes sense for him to use the same means to murder bothyou and Tuthmosis.”
Nausea crawled around in the pit of Hattie’sstomach. She’d thought her worries were confined to dealing withrecalcitrant princes and finding her way back home. She hadforgotten the warning of the real Hatshepsut that the would-beassassin might have already tried to kill her once; she hadn’tbelieved her own life might be in danger. “Who did it? Who put thepoison in the honey cake?”
Again, he shook his head. “I know not. Thewoman who brought the food is being questioned, but I fear we willlearn nothing from her. The food was given to her by a servant,who, in turn, received it from one of the royal cooks. That cookhas since disappeared.”
“Well, find him!” she cried. “We must findout who did this, and have the traitor imprisoned. Then, the princewill be safe.” And so will I,she added silently.
“The guards are searching for the cook andquestioning the other servants, but I fear the unfortunate servantwas not the originator of the
