“Oh, that someone took care of everything for you.” The first maid shrugged. “You’re so beautiful, mistress; people must be pushing each other aside for the chance to serve you and keep you happy.”
I had to laugh. If only that were true! “Well, you don’t have to fret about watching me anymore. You know that I’ve been proved innocent. I can come and go as I like. So can you.”
“Oh, yes, mistress!” they exclaimed in joyful chorus, and left me in a flurry of promises to bring me a wonderful breakfast and a morning bath so luxurious that Lady Hathor herself would envy me.
In their haste to be gone, they left behind my dirty dishes. I sighed and carried them out of my rooms, not wanting the crumbs to attract vermin. I was in the courtyard, wondering if I should take the things all the way back to the kitchens or only leave them a reasonable distance from my quarters, when two men surprised me. One had the humble look of a servant, and he carried the burden of a covered basket as if to prove it. The other was dressed more richly and carried only a delicately made oil lamp shaped like a leaping gazelle.
“You there, girl! Do you belong to these rooms?” the lamp-bearer demanded.
Apparently I was looking humble enough to be taken for a servant, too. I suppose my freight of dirty dishes didn’t help dispel the illusion.
“Yes, sir,” I said with a little bow. His mistaken assumption amused me, and I had a great hunger for laughter that evening.
“I don’t want to disturb your mistress. She has endured much today, poor lady.”
“True, she isn’t herself right now,” I said.
“Small wonder! The goddess Ma’at appeared before everyone and declared that Lady Nefertiti was not only innocent of all wrongdoing, but also that the evil Set himself was at the bottom of the plot that had dragged such a pure and lovely girl through untold suffering!”
“Not Set.” I was glad to have the chance to gasp in amazement; otherwise I would have burst out laughing.
“The Evil One and none other.” My elegant visitor nodded vigorously. “What’s more, the dreadful god of the Red Land also appeared in person and tried to destroy Lady Nefertiti with a flaming spear! But blessed Ma’at’s sacred Feather of Truth became a wall of shining light around her and Set was vanquished.”
“Oh, my.” I opened my eyes as wide as they would go. “You must have been terrified.”
“Er, no.” The man looked sheepish. “I regret to say that I wasn’t there. But I have it on the very best authority that everything happened exactly as I’ve told you. What’s more, I bring the proof of it.” He made an imperious gesture for his attendant to come forward with the basket. “This is for Lady Nefertiti from the god-on-earth, the Beloved of Amun, Lord of the Two Lands, the almighty Pharaoh Amenhotep himself. You shall bring it to her and tell her it is hers to keep forever.”
The servant and I performed an awkward dance as he tried to hand me the basket while taking the dirty dishes from me at the same time. It was a miracle that we didn’t drop everything. I stared at the woven lid and wondered what could be inside. The temptation to lift the lid and peek was strong, but I knew it wasn’t something a mere “maidservant” could do in front of Pharaoh’s messenger.
Then the basket meowed.
“A cat?” I exclaimed.
“The royal cat, called Ta-Miu,” the man corrected me. “The very cat whose life was proof of Lady Nefertiti’s innocence.”
“But—but she’s Prince Thutmose’s cat!”
“Not anymore, apparently.”
“Why would Pharaoh do such a thing?”
The man gave me an exasperated look. “You are an impudent little creature, acting as if you’ve got the right to question Pharaoh’s commands. Lady Nefertiti must have her hands full, trying to get you to behave like a proper servant. You’d better learn to be quick, silent, helpful, and obedient or you’ll find yourself looking for work somewhere else. Now go do as you’re told.”
I bowed my head over Ta-Miu’s basket. “I live to make Lady Nefertiti happy.”
“Ah, that’s the way to be!” He chucked me under the chin. “You do have a pretty face, girl. I like you. You know, I’m a rather important person in this palace—entrusted with messages by Pharaoh himself. If you could … like me, I’d see to it that you got a job with even more prestige than waiting on Lady Nefertiti, better food, new clothes, easier work—”
“Oh, sir, I couldn’t,” I replied. “I know for a fact that if I … liked you”—I twisted my mouth as if I’d just bitten into something sour enough to make my teeth ache—“that wouldn’t make Lady Nefertiti happy at all!” With that, I dashed back into my rooms, leaving my visitor gape-jawed and his servant stuck with my dirty dishes.
I carried the basket into the inner chamber of my rooms, set it on my bed, and removed the cover. Ta-Miu looked up at me and complained about the shameful disrespect she’d been forced to suffer.
“Yes, yes, I know,” I said, trying to make myself heard over a strident, unending series of meows. “You are the divine child of Bast, and I should be grateful for the privilege of serving you.” I lifted her onto my lap and stroked her fur. “Except I’m going to be a very bad servant, at least until morning, because I haven’t got any food in my quarters and I’m really too tired even to think of going to the kitchens now. Will you ever forgive me, O exalted feline?”
“That will depend on how many fish you lay at my feet tomorrow, O worthless human!” said a weirdly pitched, throaty voice that came from the room beyond my bedchamber.
I jumped to my feet in alarm, sending Ta-Miu leaping from my lap to hide herself under the bed. “Who’s there?”
“You tell me,” said Amenophis, smiling as he crossed the bedchamber threshold. “Today I’ve been many different—well, not people.” He struck a stiff, dignified pose and intoned, “You are wrongfully accused. You are guiltless. You are free!”