Out of the Black Land - By Kerry Greenwood Page 0,116

my hand I had the highest award for bravery which the Pharaoh could give. I was holding a golden bee.

General Horemheb reassumed his place and his bland countenance very quickly. But when he came to dinner that night I noticed that he had removed from his breastplate every single award, and was as undecorated as any common soldier.

***

But first I had to give my Kheperren all that I had promised. I stood him in my washing place and he emptied two well-jars of water and a dish of soap before he had removed all the dirt, grease and something which resembled tar, which he said was protective tree resin, applied to guard against the sun. He shaved his beard and lay down to be oiled and massaged by Meryt, who was the best massager I had ever encountered. She found every knot and pounded each one mercilessly, leaving her patient as completely softened as the meat which she flattened with a mallet before frying it in the Nubian fashion. Then I gave him a cup of wine and we made love, very gently, touching with wincing care. I had missed him like a crippled man misses his right hand, and clearly he had lacked me. We were slow, soft, stopping to exchange breath and to kiss, long kisses which turned languorous and then hot, so that we finished in a rush and a tangle of limbs.

Then we slept a little until the heat of the day was easing, for though it was Peret and the month of Mechir, the weather was unseasonable. I had not seen the records of the last harvest yet. Some of the Nomarchs were always late with their reports, but this year everyone was late.

I wondered if anyone was intercepting my correspondence and reading it, seeking heresy or conspiracy. If so, I wished them joy of the illiterate scribes of Elephantine and the extreme mendacity of the Delta. And if they could make any sense of the peculiar arithmetic of Thebes, which always seemed to come down rather heavily on the side of the Nomarch, then I hoped that they would tell me.

Horemheb was outside. We could hear him exchanging ritual insults with Mentu; who was with us for awhile, having been warned by his physician that a month’s abstinence from wine and women might preserve his life a little longer.

When he felt inclined Mentu was an excellent scribe, wrote a beautiful flowing hand and could sum up a complex document in one sentence which, suitably censored, could be used as a briefing note for the Lord of the Two Lands who could usually be compelled to listen to one sentence. Mentu had just summarised a basketful of letters from three vassal states as, ‘My neighbour is a liar. Send gold. Lots and lots and lots of gold!’ which was an excellent summary; and Horemheb, laughing, also agreed.

He was escorted into my inner office by Tani and Hani, one on either side, and they did not leave until I ordered them to go. They didn’t like anyone as big and warlike as the general anywhere near me.

The general slumped down into a chair, making the cords creak. Kheperren poured him a cup of the pale Nubian-style beer which he preferred and suggested that he would be more comfortable in the chair of state, which was built for such large limbs. Horemheb moved obediently, which was nice of him, because I was fond of the saddle-strung chair and I didn’t think it would hold up his weight much longer.

He was huge. He was also very tired and very worried.

‘How safe is it to talk?’ he asked.

‘There are two Nubians outside this door; the walls are thick and as long as we keep away from the windows no listener can hear; besides, we are on the third floor,’ I told him.

‘Apart from Hani and Tani and their equally huge brother Teti, there is Meryt; and apart from her there is Mentu, who will knock over a very large bronze pot which has carelessly been placed far too close to his chair, if he has to leap to his feet and prostrate himself before any Royal Personages. It makes a sound like a war-drum and can be easily heard from here,’ I concluded.

The General passed one scarred hand over his ravaged face and said, ‘You choose your lovers well, Kheperren. I can see that you are as careful and wise as your friend has been telling me these ten