Out of the Black Land - By Kerry Greenwood Page 0,27

you were just selected at random out of the school of scribes solely to annoy the old man Nebemanet, who made his disapproval of the Divine Akhnamen’s religious views so distressingly plain to Pharaoh’s Royal Father?’

‘I was selected by Pharaoh may he live out of the school of scribes,’ I agreed. ‘Why, I still do not know and I have not seen Divine Akhnamen since.’

‘He will call for you,’ said Mentu, sipping more of my wine. ‘Do not, if you will accept my advice, argue matters of gods with him. They say that he is perilous if crossed, and as he elevated you out of the school, he can cast you down again, and all those who hold with you.

‘Do I wish to involve myself in office, when I could thus be ruined if you make a false step; or if Divine Akhnamen takes against you? A pretty problem. I believe that the answer lies in the bottom of another cup of wine.’

Meryt poured more wine for him. He looked at her.

‘A Nubian hound, a Nubian slave they are powerful arguments for your influence, Lord. Neither give their allegiance lightly. You, woman,’ he addressed Meryt roughly.

She knelt. A slave is required to kneel if she is spoken to by the nobility. Her face was perfectly blank, like a carving in ebony. I struggled with rising anger.

‘Lord, what do you require?’

‘Are you owned by this young man?’ he pointed at me. Meryt nodded.

‘Has he your loyalty?’

‘He has,’ said Meryt. Mentu considered her, then reached out and playfully tugged a tress of beaded, plaited hair.

‘You’re a good girl,’ he commented, and gestured to her to rise. She did so with perfect, athletic ease. ‘I might be of use to you, Lord, though not as a scribe. I know the palace, Lord Ptah-hotep. I accept your appointment. I will serve you faithfully. Now, what do you want to know?’

‘Tell me about the Master of Scribes,’ I said, as a test of his accuracy.

‘A good man, if dry as the papyrus he studies. From an old family. Reliable, loyal, all those cold virtues.’ So far I agreed with my new second in command.

‘The Nomarch of the Nome of the Hare?’ I asked at a venture, having just read his report.

‘Drinks too much and quarrels incessantly with the Nomarch of Heliopolis. They share family connections—his First Wife is the Heliopolitan’s sister. Spends too much of his inheritance on boats and huge feasts.’

‘Is he cheating on his taxation?’ I hazarded, not knowing how far Mentu would be willing to go in informing on his friends.

‘Probably. Look for inconsistencies in the returns on fish; it’s been a wonderful season for fish. And turtles.’

‘How about Heliopolis, then?’

‘Fat and lazy, do anything to avoid trouble. Wouldn’t run the risk of cheating, because it would mean that he had to make an effort. Has a longstanding argument with the Temple of Osiris on the bank opposite the city. Study the temple’s share closely; he’ll shave their ingots if he can.’

‘And Thebes?’

‘Ah, that is my cousin.’

Without being asked, Meryt filled the cup of this loquacious informant. I found myself beginning to like Mentu, though he was everything I disapproved of in a man.

‘Your cousin?’

‘Indeed. Now he will pay more than he is required to pay to the Temple of Hathor, because he and the temple priestesses have an understanding. Whenever he feels the need of comfort, he calls for them and they attend his palace and relieve his… monotony,’ Mentu laughed and I joined in.

‘They are very skilled, the ladies of the Lady of Love and Beauty. The feast of Horus and Hathor is famed all over the known world. Achaeans and Trojans and Klepht travel many leagues to lie down in their smooth arms and taste their divine kisses. May I hope that my Lord will come with me to Edfu when the season comes?’

This was a loaded question, and I contented myself with a nod. I had never lain with a woman and did not know if I desired to taste such well-travelled flesh.

‘Apart from his fascination with the priestesses?’

‘Thebes is rich in his own right, no commoner’s son.’

I allowed the silence to grow long after the initial discomfort.

Mentu shifted on his chair. Finally he said, ‘No insult was meant, Lord. But if he is rich in his own right, he is less likely to peculate. Except for his expenses in love, you can trust the Theban Nomarch.’

I recalled my invitation to the temple at Karnak. ‘The High Priest