As he walked through the already deserted streets he began to have second thoughts about visiting Senseneb. It was necessary to keep her out of this, he said to himself. But another part of his heart was desperate to know what had happened to her. The streets were dark, only punctuated by the occasional pale shaft of light from a window where a lamp shone, though the moon was still bright enough to illuminate the middle of the broadest roads. Khons’s chariot had not yet turned so far away from the earth that only a sliver of it could be seen at night.
He walked where the moonlight met the shadow, moving as softly as a cat. The few people he encountered walked past quickly, just allowing eyes to meet briefly for reassurance. Here and there on a corner a drinking house splashed more light, but the windows were small, and the sound from within was muted.
Making his way across the city he had to pass through the harbour quarter. It occurred to him quite irrationally that Senseneb might have gone to his house, so he turned down the side street which led to his little square. The street was narrow and plunged into deep shadow; Huy had not walked twelve paces down it before a hand reached out and grasped his right arm. He stopped dead and reached behind him with his left hand for his knife, but her voice arrested his action.
‘Huy.’ Senseneb’s face emerged from the darkness like the moon from behind a cloud.
Before he could ask questions she put a finger to her lips and led him back the way they had come. She seemed to know her way through the twisting streets of the quarter as well as he did. After a short time they arrived at the quayside. They stopped by a warehouse wall from where they had a broad view of every approach.
‘What’s happened?’ asked Huy, keeping his voice low. He was disturbed at how tightly Senseneb held on to his arm, as a child might, returned to its parent after a beating. Calmly, deliberately, but making a visible effort to keep her voice steady, she told him.
‘I didn’t dare come to meet you in case he followed me. So I went out several times on false errands and returned home. Then I left again and took a rickshaw. I came down to the centre, to the Great Temple of Amun, and got off there. I was so scared I thought at first that I’d bring Hapu with me; but then I thought it’d be better to leave him to guard the house. As soon as I’d made sure Merinakhte hadn’t followed me I went down to the harbour quarter and hid in that street, where I could see the square and your house. I don’t think anyone paid much attention to me, though one man stopped and offered me two deben of copper to go with him. I told him I was worth twice that, and he left.’ She laughed, but then almost immediately started to cry, softly but painfully, turning her face to Huy, nestling up to him and cradling herself in his arms. He held her gently, saying nothing.
At length she was quiet. The kohl around her eyes had run with her tears and he dabbed at it with a fold of his shawl, eliciting a smile again.
‘What shall we do?’
‘No one is going to betray you to Kenamun,’ said Huy, ‘but you must go back home.’
‘No!’
‘It will not be for long. How much have you told Hapu?’
‘He knows that Merinakhte is not welcome. He hates him anyway. That house was as much Hapu’s home as mine.’
‘Whatever happens, Hapu must stay there. You must not make it look as if you are leaving.’ He held up his hand as she opened her mouth to object, it is all right. We will be able to make arrangements for Hapu to follow us after we are gone, if he wishes it.’
‘And when will that be?’
‘Soon.’
‘But my father – ’
Huy looked at her. ‘There is no time to talk of that now. But do not worry. I will come to you soon. I will take every precaution. I must arrange for the queen’s departure. Ay has agreed to it but I must move fast in case he changes his mind.’
‘Can I help you?’
‘Your help will be vital, if all goes well. But not yet.’ He made a move to go.
‘Huy.’ She touched his lips with her fingers.
‘Be brave.’
‘I am terrified.’
‘So am I.’
They smiled at each other, touched foreheads, and kissed. ‘Now go,’ he said.
As Senseneb drew away from Huy and hurried into the night Horemheb, in the low dark workroom of his palace, angrily crushed a document in one large fist and glared up at the two men who stood opposite him. Illuminated from below by the lamps on the table, they looked like demons. One wore an expression of uneasy pleasure. The other looked taut, and angry.
‘What Ineny has just told us is very interesting,’ Horemheb said, turning from Ay’s servant to Kenamun. it makes me wonder what our people have been doing. From your reports I thought that everything was in order.’ it is. This is a new development, but not unexpected.’ Kenamun ran his tongue over his lips. Huy again. He had not forgotten their encounter years earlier, and his regret was that he had not finished him then. His misguided gratitude for the little scribe’s help in solving a case was rebounding on him now.
‘This man Huy is a former servant of the Great Criminal,’ put in Ineny.
‘Yes,’ replied Horemheb. ‘I met him once myself. We have underestimated him.’
‘He is nobody,’ said Kenamun. is he? He has managed to be a thorn in our side.’
‘I know where he lives. I’ll deal with him,’ said Kenamun, eager to recover lost ground.
‘Be careful,’ said Ineny. ‘He is under Ay’s protection.’ Kenamun looked at him with contempt. Horemheb ignored them both, retreating into his thoughts. Ineny’s information had come too late. If the man had decided to change sides earlier, things might have been different. He smoothed out the paper he had crumpled. It was a summons from Ay to a meeting, to be attended by the chief priest of Amun and the vizir of the Southern Land, the following morning. That Ay should suddenly have the assurance to summon him to a meeting was a shock. His shoulders slumped. At least he had the advantage of knowing what to expect. They might be able to block him, but they could not destroy him. And if it meant that he had to let Ay wear the pschent and become pharaoh, what then? He had ten years on the old man, and Nezemmut was young. She would have more children.
Still he could have done without this. He looked up at the two greedy, sullen, expectant faces above him. A pair of Set’s vampires, and worth about as much. Perhaps he had used the wrong tools to climb with.
Irresistibly, his thoughts turned to the armies in the north. He had always been more of a soldier than a politician. He would see what could be salvaged from the wreck. In the meantime…
Pointing at Ineny he looked at Kenamun. ‘Pay this shit off and get Huy,’ he said. ‘Now. Tonight. Yourself.’
He rose and crossed to the window, dismissing them with his back. A petty revenge, killing Huy. Like stamping on a scorpion after it had stung you. He heard the men leave the room, the hasty scuffle of their feet on the floor. But if Huy killed Kenamun, that would be no loss. Kenamun had ceased to be useful now.
After leaving Senseneb, Huy returned to his house, but he did not stay long. He washed and changed quickly, filled his purse, and made his way quickly down the street to another square. This was almost as empty as the one on which he lived; but on one corner there was a dingy drinking house, and in the middle of the wall opposite was a low entrance with a sign above it 'it by an oil lamp: City of Dreams. It was a brothel, a familiar place which he had occasionally used, along with the rivermen, tradesmen and craftsmen who lived in the harbour quarter. It was run by a fat Nubian called Nubenehem who had grown so large that she was virtually incapable of moving from the couch she inhabited behind the low table from which she conducted her affairs in the entrance of the house. The dimly-lit room was dominated these days by a statue of the god Min, adorned with an erection of prodigious length and width.