Her obsession with securing Thutmose’s inheritance had been the source of all my own troubles. If not for her insistence on making me Thutmose’s wife, this festival day would have found me at home in Akhmin with my sister, Bit-Bit. Together we’d be singing songs of praise to Hathor and draping her statue with flowers. Every so often we’d drop the tune to lick our lips as we imagined the wonderful feast my stepmother Mery was preparing for us. How we’d laugh if we caught one another doing that!
Instead, here I was in Dendera, pushing my way through the crowds of people choking the streets near Hathor’s temple. It was very difficult breaking a path through so many merrymakers. Besides the goddess’s sincere worshippers and those people using the sacred festival as an excuse for wild revelry, there were also all of the shopkeepers and street vendors eager to sell their wares. I couldn’t tell if the man offering me a honey cake wanted to share a treat with a fellow worshipper in a friendly way or wanted me to buy it. The problem was, neither the merchants nor the ordinary celebrants would take no for an answer. Every step we took had to be fought for, as though we were wading through the thick, fresh silt of the riverside when the waters of the Inundation sank back, leaving their treasure behind. Arms waved all around us, like a bewildering thicket of windblown reeds.
I began to perspire from the effort of making any progress at all. Besides struggling to move forward, I had the triple distraction of keeping track of Nava, holding tight to Ta-Miu’s basket, and trying to keep Amenophis in sight. He had taken my advice seriously and was carrying himself as if he were someone extremely important, someone to whom an ordinary city dweller should show reverence.
It’s working! I thought proudly. They’re all falling back as soon as they see that commanding look in his eyes. He’s like the old images of past pharaohs, the ones that show them trampling their enemies. See how wonderful he looks, how impressive, how—Uh-oh, how am I going to catch up?
Amenophis had mastered my advice too well. He was far ahead of us. The person he was pretending to be was too important to bother looking behind him to see if we were still there. I’d noticed the same behavior among the nobles and other high-ranking officials in the royal palace at Thebes: They expected their slaves and servants to keep up with them no matter how fast the pace or how many parcels, scrolls, fans, stools, or other items their followers had to juggle. If they couldn’t keep up, it would be their problem—and probably their punishment as well. But that wasn’t any concern of the big, important man they followed.
Suddenly I was very glad that I had to tell Amenophis to behave like that. It wasn’t a natural part of who he was. I called for Nava to stay close beside me, got a better grip on the cat’s basket, and used my shoulder to shove our way after him.
When we caught up to him again, I was breathing hard and sweat was pouring down my face, my back, and my legs. “Slow down, for the love of Isis,” I said, shifting Ta-Miu’s basket to my other hip. “We almost lost you at least five times. All I can say is that it’s a good thing you’re so tall and that Kawit reshaved your head.”
“Why, so you can follow the glare?” He grinned and ran one hand over his hairless skull.
As hot as I was, I began to wonder if I’d be happier with my head shaved, too. I loved my hair, but I could always get a wig. Nearly all of the palace women wore them.
“Very funny,” I said. “And very true.” We both laughed while the mob of singing, clapping worshippers swirled around us. “I think you should carry this for a while.” I indicated the basket.
“What?” he cried in mock indignation. “The idea! A royal prince does not go through the streets carrying baskets.”
“Then take Ta-Miu out and carry her in your arms,” I said. “Holding a sacred cat will serve to make you look even more regal.”
“Regal, scratched, and bleeding.” He was enjoying himself. “But are you sure you want me to bother? Look, there’s the main gateway to Hathor’s temple. We’re here!”
I made him wait a little longer before we approached our final goal. I wanted to inspect him, to be sure that we’d done everything we could to make him look like the prince he was. Aside from his frayed clothing, he had the bearing and presence of a prince. We were as ready as we were ever going to be.
We broke through the crowd massed before the temple gateway and marched in single file up to the men stationed there. By the looks of them, they were young priests, not soldiers, which gave me hope and puzzled me at the same time. They aren’t Thutmose’s men! If he still wanted to keep us from seeing Pharaoh, this is exactly where he’d put them. Has he given up? Has he decided we are no longer a threat?
I shook my head. That seemed unlikely. Thutmose saw everyone as a threat. Pharaoh gave his older son the authority to rule Karnak, to uphold the balance of Ma’at, but we’re here to tell him that the prince used his power to twist justice, not to preserve it. Once I testify, once I show Pharaoh that Ta-Miu lives, it will prove that Thutmose isn’t fit to rule the Black Land, now or ever. And then what will he have left? It will be the end of everything for him.