As Pharaoh had commanded, we left Dendera for Thebes the next day. The festival of Hathor still filled the streets, but Pharaoh and Aunt Tiye had finished their service to the goddess, so there was nothing to prevent them from departing. The priests all hastened to assure their most generous patrons that Hathor was completely satisfied with the rich thanksgiving offering now carefully stored in the treasure rooms of her sanctuary. They came down to the dock to attend the departure of the royal ship, all the while throwing flowers, waving palm fronds, and chanting, “Hathor smiles! Hathor smiles!”
I stood between Nava and Amenophis, watching the ship’s crew set the sail, feeling the resistance as the captain turned the vessel’s prow upstream, against the current of the sacred river. The gorgeously painted sail caught a helpful breeze and bellied out strongly. The god Hapy, who ruled the river, was strong, but his power was tempered by the authority of Shu, who commanded the favorable winds. With his help, we would reach Thebes soon.
Once again I found myself a passenger aboard a royal ship. As I rested my eyes on the dark blue waters, I thought back to how Aunt Tiye had taken me on board her own splendid vessel from my home in Akhmin to a new life as the betrothed of Prince Thutmose. How my little sister, Bit-Bit, had envied me! I was going out into the wide world to a future as a princess, married to the young man who was certain to become the next pharaoh. And when that happened, I would be his queen! I would live out my days having every wish fulfilled, with only the most gorgeous clothes, the finest jewels, the most luxurious surroundings. Poets would praise me and artists would make my face eternal!
I had to laugh. What childish dreams those were. Bit-Bit had no idea of the reality that had been awaiting me. If Isis were merciful, the day might come when I’d see my dear little sister again and be able to tell her about everything that had happened to me since we parted. Would she envy me then?
I glanced away from the sacred river and met Amenophis’s eyes. He was gazing at me with the strangest smile on his homely face. “Why are you staring at me like that?” I asked. “Is there a smudge on my cheek? I don’t see how that’s possible: I had the most wonderful bath last night. I’ve been scrubbed and oiled and scented and had my hair washed and plaited and decked out with these”—I flicked the gold charm weighing down one of the countless tiny braids framing my face—“until our escape and adventures seem like nothing more than bad dreams.”
“Was it a bad dream when you said you loved me?” he murmured.
I moved closer to him and gave him a kiss. It was the best answer.
Well, maybe not for everyone.
“Amenophis, get away from that girl!” Aunt Tiye swept down on us like a hawk on a baby hare. Her dainty hand clamped onto his bony wrist and she yanked us apart. She glared at me as if wishing her eyes could riddle me with flaming arrows.
“Good morning, Aunt Tiye,” I said sweetly. I knew exactly how to pitch my voice in order to annoy her most. I had a death sentence hanging over my head, a future that might be written in blood or dust, and a cunning, ruthless prince for an enemy, but I couldn’t let fear devour me. If I could steal a bit of laughter by teasing my manipulative aunt, I’d scoop it up with both hands.
“Don’t you play the tame, dutiful little lady with me, you sly thing. Oh, how I curse the day I asked Ay to let me bring you to Thebes! You were nothing but an ungrateful, wayward, obstinate block of stone from the first, and now you’ve made things as bad as they could possibly be for everyone, including yourself. A normal girl would have bowed her head and let her life be guided by people old enough to know the best and wisest course to take. But not you! You’re like a she-goat that kicks over the milk bowl just for spite. It wasn’t enough that you spurned the crown prince”—she glowered at Amenophis when she said that—“but you plotted against him with his own brother!”
“Aunt Tiye, none of that is true,” I said, trying to be heard without shouting above her. There had been too much of that in Hathor’s house. “Those wild schemes Thutmose described are inside his own mind.”
“That’s just what you would say.” Aunt Tiye looked ready to spit at me. “Anything to tear him down. Well, it won’t work! When you stand in the Palace of Ma’at at Karnak and take the oath of truth, you won’t be able to cover your deceptions with clever words. The goddess will look into your heart and give us all an unquestionable sign that everything you’ve said against my Thutmose is a lie!”
“Or not,” Amenophis said under his breath.
His mother heard and shot him a look like a spear point. “There is only one reason that I haven’t ordered you to be punished for all you’ve done to betray your own brother: I pity you. Yes, I pity you with all my heart. What chance did someone like you ever have to resist this girl’s charms? She could ask you to fetch her a bull hippo’s tusk from a living beast and you’d kiss her hands and rush off to meet your death singing! With or without magic, she’s turned your head. I only hope that when she’s gone, you’ll be yourself again.”
“I don’t think you understand the way things are between Nefertiti and me, Mother,” Amenophis said, his voice level. “Without her, there is no me. We speak with two mouths but only one voice. We look at one another with eyes that don’t see beauty or ugliness, only love. She is my heart, and the wings that will lift me to the stars when I go to meet Osiris. Nothing can part us.” He shook off his mother’s grip and held me in his arms.