stocked with orange fish. Even Nefertiti did some work, actually inspecting the bowls instead of pretending she had. In six days, Amunhotep the Younger would be crowned at Karnak and made coregent with his father. Even I knew what this visit meant. The queen had not come all the way to Akhmim for over six years. The only reason to visit now would be for a marriage.
“Mutny, go help your sister get dressed,” my mother said.
In our room, Nefertiti stood in front of the mirror. She pushed her dark hair from her face, imagining herself with the crown of Egypt. “This is it,” she whispered. “I will be the greatest queen Egypt has ever known.”
I scoffed. “No queen will ever be greater than our aunt.”
She whirled around. “There was Hatshepsut. And our aunt doesn’t wear the pschent crown.”
“Only a Pharaoh can wear it.”
“So while she commands the army and meets with foreign leaders, what does she get? Nothing. It is her husband who reaps the glory. When I am queen, it will be my name that lives in eternity.”
I knew better than to argue with Nefertiti when she was like this. I mixed the kohl and handed it to her in a jar, then watched her apply it. She rimmed her eyes and darkened her brows, and the paint made her look older than her fifteen years.
“Do you really think you will become Chief Wife?” I asked.
“Who would our aunt rather see give birth to an heir? A commoner”—she wrinkled her nose—“or her niece?”
I was a commoner, but it wasn’t me she was slighting. It was Panahesi’s daughter, Kiya, who was the child of a noblewoman, whereas Nefertiti was the granddaughter of a queen.
“Can you find my linen dress and gold belt?” she said.
I narrowed my eyes. “Just because you’re about to make a marriage doesn’t make me your slave.”
She smiled widely. “Please, Mutny. You know I can’t do this without you.” She watched in the mirror while I rummaged through her chests, looking for the gown she wore only to festivals. I pulled out her golden belt and she protested, “The one with onyx, not turquoise.”
“Don’t you have servants for this?” I demanded.
She ignored me and held out her hand for the belt. Personally, I liked the turquoise better. There was a knock on the door, and then my mother’s servant appeared, her face bright with excitement.
“Your mother says to be quick!” the girl cried. “The caravan has been spotted.”
Nefertiti looked at me. “Think of it, Mutny. You will be sister to the Queen of Egypt!”
“If she likes you,” I said flatly.
“Of course she will.” She glanced in the mirror at her own reflection, her small honeyed shoulders and rich black hair. “I’ll be charming and sweet, and when we’ve moved into the palace, just think of all the things we can do!”
“We do plenty of things here,” I protested. “What’s wrong with Akhmim?”
She took the brush and finished her hair. “Don’t you want to see Karnak and Memphis and be a part of the palace?”
“Father’s part of the palace. He says it makes him tired, so much talk of politics.”
“Well, that’s Father. He gets to go to the palace every day. What do we ever get to do here?” she complained. “Nothing but wait for a prince to die so that we can go out and see the world.”
I sucked in my breath. “Nefertiti!”
She laughed merrily. Then my mother appeared in the doorway, breathless. She had put on her good jewels and heavy new bangles I’d never seen before. “Are you ready?”
Nefertiti stood up. Her dress was sheer, and I felt a wave of pure envy at the way the material tightened across her thighs and emphasized the slenderness of her waist.
“Wait.” My mother put her hand in the air. “We must have a necklace. Mutny, go and fetch the gold collar.”
I gasped. “Your collar?”
“Of course. Now hurry! The guard will let you into the treasury.”
I was shocked that my mother would let Nefertiti wear the collar my father had given her on their wedding day. I had underestimated how important my aunt’s visit was to her, then. To us all. I hurried to the treasury in the back of the house, and the sentry looked up at me with a smile. I was taller than him by a head. I blushed.
“My mother wants the collar for my sister.”
“The gold collar?”
“What other collar is there?”
He snapped his head back. “Well. Must be for something very important. I hear