My head shot up. “What did you say?” I spoke so loudly that I silenced the whispering princesses.
“You can’t deny it,” Aunt Tiye said, her voice even colder than Thutmose’s. “Your selfishness has put us all at risk. If your father hadn’t spoiled you so badly, you would be a proper girl, listen to those who are wiser than you, and do what you’re told. Ah, but I’m not guiltless. I let my affection for my brother blind me. I thought there was no harm in taking the oath that gave you three years’ time to get over your silly reluctance to marry my son. I was so wrong, and now my son came far too close to paying the price for your stubbornness. If you’d married Thutmose at once, the gods would have blessed us with a son by now and my boy’s path to the throne would be secure!”
“You don’t know that,” I said. “If that wmoan could turn Pharaoh against Thutmose, why couldn’t she turn him against any child Thutmose might have as well?”
“Whose side are you on, you ungrateful girl?” My aunt was no longer willing to hear reason. Her suspicions of plots and conspiracies had just been proved right, and she was even more frightened than before. “Once this affair is settled, you will marry my son!”
“Aunt Tiye, you took a public oath,” I reminded her, speaking in a soothing voice. We didn’t need a shouting match. “You swore before Amun to give me these three years—two, now. I’m not ready to become Thutmose’s wife.”
“Get ready.” Once again, my aunt’s eyes were dagger blades. “Two years is too long for us to wait. My husband isn’t—isn’t well.” Her expression softened to one of true regret and worry. She did love him, and not merely because he’d given her a crown. Her lapse lasted only a moment. “The women’s quarters is a nest of vipers’ eggs. More can hatch in two years’ time. I won’t wait to see it. You’ll be my son’s bride before the next season of the Inundation. It’s settled.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off: “I know how attached you are to that little slave girl who came with you from Akhmin. I made it my business to know. If simple loyalty to your family means nothing to you, maybe you’ll act more sensibly for her sake.”
I surged to my feet. “You can’t touch her,” I said.
“Because she’s your slave?” Aunt Tiye looked as if she pitied me. “One word in Pharaoh’s ear and she’s mine. My husband still loves me, even if he wastes his time and strength with those others.” Her mouth twisted in disgust. “When morning comes, he’ll awake to the news of how those two from Ugarit intended to deceive and manipulate him. He’ll also learn how well I dealt with the matter, saving him the trouble. He’ll be so pleased that he’ll give me anything I ask for, and if all I want is one insignificant slave child …”
“Nava isn’t a slave!” I shouted. I couldn’t help it; I couldn’t hold back anymore. “I gave her her freedom months ago. Henenu the scribe and your own daughter Sitamun witnessed the document, and Henenu himself carried a copy of it to the shrine of Ma’at, for safekeeping.”
“They would help you.” Aunt Tiye shot a bitter look at her eldest daughter. Sitamun met it calmly. “Whispers run through these halls like mice. You wouldn’t believe what people notice. When I first came here as a young bride, I decided to harness those mice to serve me. Every servant under this roof knows he’ll be handsomely rewarded for any information I find interesting. It’s a shame they can only fetch me scraps of knowledge. Why does Henenu meet so often with you and my Sitamun and that Habiru child? Many servants have seen you all climbing to one particular rooftop, day after day, but unfortunately none of them could find any excuse for going after you to learn more.”
“If I tell you, you should reward me,” I said. “For that, and because I was the one who told you about the Ugarit women’s plot, not your ‘mice.’ You owe me a debt, Aunt Tiye: Repay it. Let Nava and me go home.”
Aunt Tiye’s smile could be more unsettling than her scowl. “But, Nefertiti, you are home,” she drawled. “Your future is here, on the throne of the Black Land as the next Pharaoh’s Great Royal Wife.” She grew thoughtful. Seeing the sly look that crept into her eyes made the short hair at the nape of my neck prickle with apprehension. “A common scribe, alone in secret with two royal princesses, and no one knows the reason why? That can’t be appropriate. He should be questioned. Thutmose, my son, since your promised bride is one of them, can I trust you to do whatever it will take to get the truth from Henenu?”
Thutmose’s smile was every bit as unnerving as his mother’s. “Gladly. You’re right as always, Mother: No man but me should spend time alone with my beloved Nefertiti.” He gave his brother a hard look. “The scribe will be questioned and punished. I’ll have the guards secure him at once.” With that, he started for the door.
“You can’t be serious!” Sitamun exclaimed, running to block his way. “There was nothing improper about our meetings with Henenu. He was helping us learn how to improve our scribal skills, that’s all. I swear it by Ma’at!”
“And so do I!” I cried. I no longer cared if Aunt Tiye found out that I knew how to read and write. Henenu’s future was in the balance. Next to that, it didn’t matter if she tried to force me to take my mother’s place as her new Seshat.