Out of the Black Land - By Kerry Greenwood Page 0,83

she lives?’ I asked.

‘She is well and awaits us in the City of the Sun. I must go to my lord now, sister, the sun is setting and we have evening offerings. And here is Sahte, come looking for you, I’ll guarantee. The slave will take your bundle to the Widow-Queen’s quarters and I will see you tomorrow.’

Thus dismissed, I accompanied Sahte to the rooms of Queen Tiye, where I also found my sister Merope. They both smiled at me and congratulated me on my choice of lover, Tiye adding something extremely rustic on the subject of phalluses and the goddess Isis.

‘Lady, live forever, and if you wish to continue to live, you must not mention the name of any other god but the Aten,’ I said, sitting down and hauling Merope into a close embrace. I had missed her and she always felt good in my arms.

‘Ah,’ said the Queen Tiye. She wrapped a tress of greying red hair around her plump hand and asked ‘My Royal Son’s religion has a firm grip on him?’

‘And on his officials. Pannefer the Master of the Household and Huy the Chamberlain are both fervent believers in the Aten, or at least in their own power and position.’

‘Such is always the case in weak rulers,’ said Tiye, far too clearly for my newly-discovered sense of peril.

‘And the walls have eyes and ears,’ I added.

‘Doubtless,’ agreed the old queen, not moderating her tone in the slightest.

‘If it would please you, I would like to lodge with you when we reach Amarna, and the Widow-Queen Merope and I are ordered to join my sister tomorrow in the royal barge,’ I told her.

‘That is acceptable,’ said the lady Tiye. She was still mourning. Pain was on her countenance like a tight grey veil. Merope helped me to my feet and led me into the outer chamber, where more slaves were binding the last bundles of belongings.

‘Are we not taking the lamp?’ I asked. It was a fine alabaster one, carved in the shape of Sekmet, the lion-headed woman.

‘No objects with other gods on them may be taken into the City of the Sun, we have received orders,’ Merope said quietly. ‘Apparently we will have much more splendid rooms in the new palace. Come, sister, let us eat and then let us sleep, for I am very weary and confused.’

I listened as she ordered a servant to fetch us a light supper, ate most of it for I was hungry, and we lay down together. I dreamed—strangely, not of fear or danger—of Isis descending on the phallus of Osiris, and woke shivering and wet with desire.

I slaked it in the arms and breasts and sweet mouth of my sister Merope, but it was Ptah-hotep who had awakened it.

***

It is sweet to sail on the bosom of the Nile and watch the cultivation slip past, hear the voices of the boatmen and the bleating of goats on shore. Priestesses of the unnamed lady travel sparely and eat lightly, and the last time I had taken to the water I had been on the way to attend a fever in a distant village and had travelled in a fishing boat made of reeds, which had leaked and wallowed and threatened every moment to throw us to the crocodiles.

I was now seated in the boat Aten Gleams with my sister Merope. Little Ankhesenpaaten was lounging on my lap. With the usual perversity of children, she had divined how I felt about small humans and had decided that I was the one she would favour with her royal attention today. She was solid and heavy and would not sit still, so my thighs were being gradually flattened. I could feel every knothole in the wooden bench I was sitting on.

‘I like you,’ announced the small princess, unexpectedly. She was entirely naked except for the strings of beads and her earrings, which were evidently a source of great pride to her.

‘Thank you, Great Royal Lady,’ I replied cautiously.

‘You’re comfortable,’ she explained, digging her elbows into my side as she wreathed her arms around my neck.

‘I am honoured,’ I said, lifting her a little to free my breast from her knee.

‘My father is the Royal One of Amarna, Akhnaten may he live,’ said the little princess. ‘And if you aren’t nice to me, he’ll order his soldiers to spear you.’

‘I see,’ I replied evenly, concealing my shock at such a cool pronouncement.

‘Like he did to Teacher Khons. He was making me learn a