Let him see it like this the next time he comes here, I thought, placing it deliberately so that one corner stuck out from under the mat. He mustn’t discover that I know exactly what he’s done to me. He thinks he’s won, but this little game of Hounds and Jackals isn’t over yet. I swear by Isis, I’ll do everything in my power to outplay him.
I ate my dinner at peace with myself. The light in my window turned scarlet and began to fade. One of my guards came in to kindle my tiny lamp. I knew that its comforting flame wouldn’t last long, so I used its light to write down a question that I needed to ask Sitamun but that I didn’t dare voice where Nava could hear: How long do I have until he sends me to my death? It was a reasonable question. Thutmose claimed I was safe until his parents returned, but he’d lied about everything else. I had to know.
Once that was done, I stretched out on my mat, said a prayer to Isis to keep scorpions out of my room, and went to sleep. I woke up to a day like the one that had gone before. Thutmose came to see me, bearing a fresh garland of flowers. How the gods must have laughed to see the two of us together, trading false smiles, dueling with deceit. He mentioned his brother, the way a hunter uses a lure to attract his quarry, but I brushed aside Amenophis’s name and turned our talk to other things. If you want an excuse to fuel your hate, I won’t give it to you, I thought. He left disappointed, and I gloated over it.
Sitamun and Nava came to see me at noon. Once again they’d brought the leather bag, and I couldn’t help being curious about what it might hold this time. Nava also brought her harp, and while she played and sang strange songs in the Habiru tongue, I found the opportunity to slip Sitamun my question. She read it, crushed the scrap into a ball in one fist, and said, “Even a blind hawk sometimes catches his rabbit. You will be kept here until my parents return.”
“So he told me the truth about that?” I raised my eyebrows. “Now I’ve witnessed a miracle.”
“Not a very big one. It was Father’s vizier who persuaded the others to delay your … fate.”
“How did you find that out?”
“Rumors fly through this palace like bats. But that isn’t all.” Her mouth became a flat line. “He did his best to hide his feelings, but my brother was not pleased when the vizier was able to sway things your way. Oh, Thutmose’s tame priests put up a token argument, but then the vizier asked, ‘Shall I tell Pharaoh that you take full responsibility for this—’ ” She glanced at Nava and her voice dropped to a whisper. “ ‘—this death?’ That was when the chief priest solemnly pronounced that the gods were eternal and could wait to see justice done.”
I studied my friend’s face. “So I’m safe here for now. Shouldn’t you look happier?”
“My brother was not pleased,” Sitamun repeated. “And you have nowhere to run.”
That was true. “You think that Thutmose would—?” I said.
“I don’t know. He’s my brother, and I love him, but I don’t recognize him anymore. With every year that passes, the sickness in his mind grows worse, and he becomes more and more of a stranger to me. What will become of him, Nefertiti? Who will he be when he finally stands before Osiris and Anubis weighs the sins in his heart?” She was on the point of tears.
“Sitamun, I promise you this: When Thutmose faces the gods, his heart won’t be weighed down by my blood. I can’t wager my life on guessing what his sickness will make him do, or spend my days just wishing he won’t touch me before your parents return. I’m getting out of here.”
“How?”
I had to answer honestly: “I don’t know. I don’t even know where I’ll go once I get out, but maybe Isis will come to me in my dreams and lend me a little of her cleverness.” I gave her a weak smile. “It’s my only hope.”
Sitamun embraced me. “Not while you have friends.”
We spent the rest of our time together that day proposing ideas for how to get me out of my prison, out of the palace, out of Thebes, where I should go once I had my freedom, and how to transport me there. While we whispered together, we had Nava sing and play her harp as loudly as she could to keep the guards in ignorance. She gleefully obeyed. What child wouldn’t welcome the chance to make as much noise as possible, especially one who’d been silent for so long?
“You could go home,” Sitamun said. “Your family will protect you.”
“That’s the trouble,” I replied. “Father would die to defend me, but until my name is cleared, he’d be shielding a criminal. His enemies and mine would be justified in punishing our whole family. I won’t do that to them.” I thought about my choices some more, then said: “Dendera. I won’t wait for Pharaoh to come back here, I’ll take my case to him.”
“Good idea.” Sitamun touched the gold necklace she wore. “This will buy a boatman to take you downriver. I’ll take care of that. Now all we have to do is figure out how to get you to the boat.”
“Details, details,” I said, smiling.
“I’m going to speak with Master Henenu and Amenophis about this,” Sitamun said. “They may have some good ideas.”
“Not Amenophis.” I raised my hands. “He mustn’t be involved. If Thutmose found out, he’d have him convicted of treachery.”
“But he wouldn’t dare execute him for it.”
“He can’t do that to me, either, and yet we both know I’m still in danger. Keep Amenophis out of this. Please.”
Before Sitamun and Nava left, my little friend told me, “I brought you a present, Nefertiti.” She opened the leather bag and handed me a large clay bottle.
“This is a lot of perfume,” I joked.
“It’s not perfume,” Nava said. “It’s oil for your lamp. Lady Sitamun got it, but it was my idea. I don’t want you to be alone in the dark. You might be afraid.”
I gave her a hug. “Isis bless you, Nava.”
“And may the One bless you, too,” she said, her small face the image of adult solemnity.
“The one what, dear?” I asked, so distracted by my plight that, for a moment, I forgot that Nava worshipped only one god.