“Do you think there will be war?” I asked quietly.
“If Pharaoh lives up to his word. What does the Sister of the King’s Chief Wife believe?”
Kiya made a dismissive noise in her throat. “What do little girls know about war?”
Horemheb fixed Kiya with his eyes. “Apparently, more than the wives of Pharaohs.” He pushed himself from the table and walked away. Then I stood up without waiting for Ipu to bring my dinner and announced that I had an urge to see the gardens.
Outside, a full moon had risen above the Garden of Horus. The lights from the palace illuminated the night and a fountain tinkled musically in the distance. I could hear laughter and the sound of happy feasting inside.
“I thought you might be here.”
I froze. A man emerged from the shadows and I thought of running. It had been foolish to come out to the gardens alone. But when he stepped into the light, I saw who it was. I remembered our last conversation and smiled coolly. “Good evening, General Nakhtmin.”
“Not even surprised to see me?” he asked.
He was wearing a long kilt and a short cloak of heavy linen. I studied him in the pale moonlight. “No. Should I be?”
“I just arrived in Memphis. Not even Pharaoh knows that I am here.”
“But Nefertiti said…”
He shrugged. “They were warned of my coming.”
“Then you should be inside.” I indicated the palace. “They will want to speak with you at once.”
The general laughed. “Do you think that Pharaoh cares what his mother has to say on his politics?”
I thought a moment. “No.”
“Then what does it matter if I’m in there pretending to be enjoying myself, or out here with a beautiful miw-sher, enjoying myself for real?”
I flushed deeply. Miw-sher was what my father called me. It was something you would call a kitten, not a woman. “Nefertiti is inside. You could still enjoy the company of a beautiful woman.”
“So this is why you are angry with me. I wondered—”
“I’m not angry with you at all,” I said defensively.
“Good. Then you won’t object to a stroll around the gardens.”
He offered his arm and I took it hesitantly. “You will get me into a great deal of trouble if my sister finds us out here,” I warned, but I enjoyed the feel of his arm against mine and didn’t pull away.
“She won’t come out here.”
I glanced up at him. “And how do you know?”
“Because right now she’s more concerned with building a temple to Aten.”
It was true. I doubted if anyone at feast was missing me at all. “So how is it in Thebes?” I asked glumly.
“Like Memphis. Full of politics,” he said. “Someday I will leave it all behind and retire in a peaceful village somewhere.” He looked at me in the moonlight. “And you? What are the plans for the Sister of the King’s Chief Wife?”
I was fourteen, old enough to marry and run a household of my own. I pressed my lips together. “Whatever my father decides for me.”
The general said nothing. I think he might have been disappointed with my answer. “They say you are a healer,” he observed, changing the subject.
I shook my head earnestly. “I simply learned the use of a few herbs in Akhmim.”
He smiled. “What’s this, then?” he asked, bending down and picking a leaf from a small green plant. I didn’t want to answer, but he held it higher, waiting.
“Thyme. With honey it can cure coughs.” I couldn’t help myself, and Nakhtmin laughed. We were at the edge of the garden. In a few steps, we would be at the palace.
“You don’t belong here,” he said, looking at the open doors to the Great Hall. “You belong with nicer people.”
My voice rose with indignation. “Are you saying—”
“I’m saying none of that, miw-sher. But these games are not for you.” We stopped at the verge of the courtyard. “I leave tomorrow morning,” he said. He paused, and then added quietly, “Be careful here, my lady. Let history forget your name. For if your deeds are to live in eternity, you will have to become exactly what your family wants you to be.”
“And what is that?” I demanded.
“A slave to the throne.”
I sat in Nefertiti’s chamber because she had called me there, and I watched her undress, flinging her expensive sheath to the floor. She held out her arms for me to slip on her robe, and I wondered if I was a slave to the throne. I was certainly a