Their leader said in an arrogant, foreign accent, “Commander.
Hur, however, did not let him complete what he intended to say, and said to him with his customary calm, “Envoy of Apophis, you are speaking to the pharaoh of Egypt.”
The leader said, “The war is still ongoing and its outcome is still to be decided. As long as we are still men and there are weapons in our hands, Apophis is pharaoh of Egypt, without partner.”
Ahmose gestured to his chamberlain to be quiet and said to the envoys, “Speak of the matter about which you came.”
The leader said, “Commander, on the day of the withdrawal from Thebes, the peasants abducted Her Royal Highness, the Princess Amenridis, daughter of our lord king, Apophis, Pharaoh of Egypt, son of the Lord Seth. Our lord desires to know whether his daughter is alive or did the peasants kill her.”
“Does your master remember what he did to our women and children at the siege of Thebes? Does he not remember how he exposed them to the arrows of their sons and husbands, which tore their bodies to pieces, while your cowardly soldiers sought shelter behind them?”
The man said sharply, “My lord does not shirk responsibility for what he does. War is a struggle to the death and mercy cannot be called on to prevent defeat.”
Ahmose shook his head in disgust and said, “On the contrary, war is an encounter between men, whose outcome is decided by the strong, while the weak suffer. For us it is a struggle that must not be allowed to suppress our gallantry and religious values… though I wonder at how the king can ask about his daughter, when such are his understanding of and opinions on — war.”
The envoy said — with disdain, “My master enquires for a reason that he alone knows and he neither asks for mercy, nor — will show it himself.”
Ahmose thought for a moment, not unaware of the motive that drove his enemy to ask after his daughter. He therefore asked clearly and in accents born of contempt, “Go back to your master and tell him that the peasants are a noble people who do not murder women and that the Egyptian soldiers think it below them to kill captives, and that his daughter is a captive who enjoys the magnanimity of her captors.”
Relief appeared on the man's face and he said, “These words of yours have saved the lives of many thousands of your people, women and children, whom the king has taken captive and whose lives are hostage for the life of Princess Amenridis.”
Ahmose said, “And hers for theirs.”
The man was silent for a moment and then he said, “I have been commanded not to return before I see her for myself.”
Displeasure appeared on Hur's face but Ahmose hastened to tell the envoy, “You shall see her yourself.”
The leader then indicated the ivory chest that his two followers were carrying and said, “This chest contains some of her clothes. Will you permit us to leave it in her room?”
The king was briefly silent, then said, “You may do so.”
However, Hur inclined his head toward his master and whispered, “We must search the clothes first.”
The king agreed with his chamberlain's opinion and the chamberlain ordered the chest placed before the king, who opened it with his own hands and took out the contents, garment by garment. In the course of so doing, he came across a small casket. This he took and opened, only to find therein the necklace with the emerald heart. The king's heart trembled when he saw it as he remembered how the princess had picked it out from among his other jewelry at the time when he was called Isfmis and sold gems, and his face reddened. Hur, however, said, “Is prison a proper place for baubles?”
The envoy said, “This necklace is the princess's favorite piece of jewelry. If the commander wishes, we shall leave it. If he does not, we shall take it — with us.”
Ahmose said, “There is nothing — wrong — with leaving it.” Then the king turned to the officers and ordered them to accompany the envoys to the princess's chamber, and the envoys left, the officers behind them.
19
The same evening, forces coming from the south, recently trained at Apollonopolis Magna and Hierakonpolis, caught up with the army and small ships loaded with weapons and siege towers sent from Ombos moored at the harbor of Thebes. The captain gave the king the good tidings that a force of chariots and trained horsemen would arrive soon. Men from Thebes and Habu were inducted into the army, with the result that Ahmose's army both replaced the men it had lost and increased its number beyond that it had possessed the day it first crossed the borders in its invasion. The king saw no reason to remain in Thebes any longer, so he ordered his commanders to get ready to march north at dawn. The soldiers said their farewells to Thebes and its people and turned from recreation and calm to face struggle and fighting. At daybreak, the soldiers blew the bugles and the huge army moved forward in ranks like the waves of the sea, preceded by the vanguards with the king and his guard at the head and the chariot battalion and others following. The fleet, under the command of Ahmose Ebana, set sail, its sturdy vessels cleaving the waters of the Nile. All were eager for battle; their will had been honed by victory till it was like iron, or harder still. In the villages, the army was met with boundless enthusiasm and the peasants hurried to its route, cheering and waving flags and fronds of palm. It continued on its way without mishap until it found itself at the forenoon at Shanhur, which it entered without resistance, and in the evening at Gesyi, which opened its gates to it. Everyone spent the night at Gesyi and they resumed their march at dawn. They made fast progress, so that they reached the edge of the Field of Koptos and could see the valley that ends up at that city. Here a sad silence enveloped the army at the memories that arose in people's minds, and Ahmose recalled the defeat that had overtaken the army of Thebes in that valley ten or more years ago. He remembered the fall of his brave grandfather Seqenenra, who had watered this ground with his blood, and his eyes scanned the sides of the valley as he asked himself, “Where, I wonder, did he fall?” He happened to look at Hur and saw that his face was pale and his eyes brimming with tears, which affected him yet more. “What a painful memory!” he said to him.
Hur replied, with trembling voice and labored breath, “It is as though I hear the souls of the martyred with whom the air of this sacred place is populated.”
Commander Mheb said, “How much blood of our fathers has watered this place!”
Hur dried his tears and said to the king, “Let us all pray, my lord, for the soul of our martyred sovereign Seqenenra and his brave soldiers!”
Ahmose, his commanders, and his entourage all descended from their chariots, and prayed together ardently.
20
The army entered the city of Koptos and the flag of Egypt fluttered above its walls, the soldiers cheering long to the memory of Seqenenra. Then the army marched to Dendara, without finding the least resistance. Diospolis Parva was reclaimed the same way. Then it proceeded along the road to Abydos, expecting to find the Herdsmen in the valley there. It failed, however, to come across a single one of the enemy. Ahmose was amazed and asked himself, “Where is Apophis and where are his mighty armies?”
Hur said, “Perhaps he does not want to meet our chariots with his infantry.”
“So how long will this chase go on?”
“Who knows, my lord? It may go on until we face the walls of Avaris, the Herdsmen's impregnable fortress, whose walls took them a century to build, and which likely will cost Egypt dear in blood before our soldiers can break in.”
Abydos opened its gates to the Army of Deliverance and it entered them in triumph and rested there that day.