‘Come, Mahu.’ Queen Tiye pushed back her hood. Her face was drawn, her eyes red-rimmed with weeping.
‘Where have you been?’ Ay snapped.
‘We have waited for you,’ Nefertiti whispered.
‘At my pleasures.’ I bowed and made to kneel.
Tiye grasped my wrist. ‘This is no time for obeisances or courtly courtesies,’ she said sadly. ‘Tuthmosis my son is dying.’
‘What!’
‘Your lord has taken sanctuary in the Temple of Amun-Ra.’
‘How do you know?’ I gasped.
Tiye looked over her shoulder into the darkness. ‘Come!’
A shape emerged from the entrance leading down to the kitchen. One of the oil lamps flared, revealing the round, painted face of Maya. He was swathed in a shawl, which concealed neither his exotic perfume nor the jingle of his jewellery. He reminded me of the Syrian girls I had just left.
‘Well met, Mahu.’ He minced into the circle of light.
Tiye patted him affectionately on the shoulder. I realised only then how this powerful group were intent on winning over all the children of the Kap. They had planned, they had intrigued, they had plotted from the start to isolate, educate and train young men to serve the Grotesque, the Veiled One, Akhenaten.
‘Was it always meant to be like this?’ I asked the question without thinking. ‘Were we always supposed to be servants for him?’
‘Yes,’ Tiye replied. ‘But the Divine One, at the last moment, refused to let my son join you. This house was the nearest he got. Everything else including’ — Tiye gestured at Ay and Nefertiti — ‘was to be hidden in the shadows.’
I pointed at Maya. ‘What have you learned?’
‘I have two spies in the Temple of Amun,’ Maya drawled, eyes smiling. ‘A lector priest and an acolyte responsible for their laundry.’
Ay laughed sourly. Maya ignored him.
‘Early this evening they informed me that Tuthmosis was found seriously ill in his chamber.’
‘Where was …?’
‘Your master?’ Maya’s eyes rounded. ‘He stayed near the Holy of Holies. Apparently Tuthmosis had returned to his chamber beyond the central courtyard where he became seriously ill. The alarm was raised by a servant. A priest tried to tell Akhenaten, as he now calls himself, what was wrong but he refused to leave the Holy of Holies. Akhenaten fears for his life — he believes there’s a plot to kill him and he refuses to leave the sanctuary.’
I thought of Akhenaten, long-faced, cowering in those dark aisles, his enemies surrounding him like a band of dogs.
‘Excellency,’ I gestured at Ay, ‘why not send your brother Nakhtimin to inform the Divine One?’
‘My husband is befuddled! As yet no one else knows.’ Tiye’s eyes filled with tears. ‘If they did, they might decide to strike …’
‘At the roots,’ Ay finished the sentence.
‘If the Divine One is informed,’ Maya jibed, ‘he might decide to cut both root and branch.’
‘What do you advise?’ I asked.
Maya gazed blankly back. The rest stood in silence. I recalled my conversation with Sobeck about Aunt Isithia. We were snakes coiling in the darkness. Everything we did was cloaked in secrecy. My journey to Thebes, those long sombre alleyways with the burst of sunlight at the end. I had run through them so quickly.
‘Surely,’ I began.
‘Surely,’ Ay mimicked my words.
‘Strike now,’ I urged. ‘This is the moment, that heartbeat in the battle, when all hangs in the balance.’
‘How?’ Nefertiti asked.
I threw all caution aside. ‘Let me go to the Temple of Amun. Horemheb and Rameses can be my guards. The shaven heads don’t know them. They’ll see what they expect to see, officers from the Sacred Band. Huy is a royal scribe, Meryre a chapel priest,’ I pointed to Nefertiti, ‘whilst Pentju is her physician, a scholar in the imperial House of Life. That’s it.’ I clapped my hands. ‘We will all be emissaries from the Great Queen. Horemheb and the rest were all sent to spy on us; let’s turn their weapon against them.’
Nefertiti clapped her hands, her beautiful face bright with life.
‘I’ll seal the document,’ Tiye intervened. ‘Despatched under my own seal.’ Her eyes glowed with excitement. ‘No, on second thoughts, I will go with you.’
‘Impossible!’ Ay objected. ‘They would suspect something’s wrong. Why should the Great Queen accompany her envoys at the dead of night?’
‘True,’ Tiye conceded. ‘I hold my own cartouche. I’ll sign passes, issue a demand, saying I wish emissaries to see my son.’
‘Both your sons,’ I urged.
‘Agreed.’ Tiye nodded absentmindedly.
‘And if they refuse?’ Ay asked. ‘If the shaven heads object?’
‘Sooner or later,’ I replied, ‘the news of Tuthmosis’ sickness and my master’s sanctuary will become known.’
I paused and walked away. Something was wrong. Crown Prince Tuthmosis was seriously ill in the Temple of Amun yet Tiye and the rest were not concerned about him. It was Akhenaten.
‘Tuthmosis,’ I declared. ‘He’s dead already!’
‘I know what you are thinking.’ Tiye’s voice carried across the room. She came up close. ‘I love my two sons, Mahu, but Tuthmosis is doomed. I know that, we all know that. I recognised the symptoms, his hideous secret for the last seven years. He coughs blood. No physician can save him. Indeed, this is what could have happened now: an attack, the bursting of blood within. However, I must, I can if God is good, rescue my surviving son. He has a destiny.’ Her voice faltered. ‘Please,’ she whispered; the imperious Queen of Egypt was pleading with me. She stretched out and grasped my hand. ‘Please, Baboon of the South, you have the cunning.’
‘What about the rest?’ Ay demanded. ‘Horemheb and Rameses? They might refuse.’
‘Let’s invite them to a meeting,’ I retorted, still holding Tiye’s hand, ‘and see if they’ll agree.’
My proposal was accepted. Ay was a little truculent, his jealousy of me apparent, but Nefertiti had forgotten her fears and took him aside, whispering, stroking his arm. By the time Snefru returned with Horemheb and Rameses, Huy and Pentju, Ay was in full agreement. Maya, of course, had disappeared, murmuring that it was best if his comrades did not see him.
Any protests at being disturbed at such a late hour died on their lips as Horemheb and the rest came into the hall of audience and greeted Queen Tiye. They silently made obeisance and waited until Snefru had arranged cushions on the floor and withdrew. We all squatted down, staring at each other over the glowing light of the alabaster jars. Queen Tiye was flanked by Nefertiti and Ay, whilst I sat with the rest facing them.
‘This is no idle summons,’ Tiye began. ‘Mahu will explain.’
My blood was still running hot. Despite the night I was not tired but eager to press on. I told my comrades in short, pithy sentences what had occurred and what was planned. When I finished there was silence.
‘It means we force our way,’ Ay began, ‘into the Temple of Amun accompanied by only two soldiers.’
‘And the Great Queen’s warrant,’ I replied.
‘And if we refuse?’ Huy asked.
‘Then we can all go to bed,’ I replied.
‘If you refuse,’ Horemheb grated, ‘you can go back to bed, Huy.’ He glanced along the line. ‘Answer the question, Mahu.’
He was sitting next to me, so I turned and held his gaze.
‘Go back to bed, Comrade, but you and I, we shall be finished. We shall never be comrades or friends again. The next time we meet will be as sworn enemies.’
‘And if we try to stop you?’ Rameses whispered.
‘That is not your duty,’ Ay snapped. ‘You are supposed to be here to protect us.’
‘I am only asking,’ Rameses cheekily replied. ‘We are officers in the Sacred Band. Tonight’s work could finish us.’
‘And if you don’t co-operate,’ Tiye spoke up quietly, ‘you are finished anyway.’
‘Can’t you see?’ I urged. ‘One way or the other, this very discussion will be made public.’