“Leaving?” he echoed, anger rising in his voice. “It’s more like you’re running away. That’s all you can do, run.”
I snorted. “You’d have liked it better if I hadn’t run from your dagger in Ma’at’s house, or if I’d stayed in my prison and waited for someone to send in another viper. But if you were honest, Thutmose, you’d admit that you’re not half as annoyed by all the times I’ve run from you as you are by the fact that you’ve never been fast enough to catch me. And you never will.” I started from the room, taking the oil lamp with me and leaving it up to Ta-Miu to decide whether she stayed with Thutmose or came with me.
“Nefertiti, wait!”
14
THE HOUND AND THE GAZELLE
Thutmose called out for me to wait, and so I waited to hear what he had to say, at least for Amenophis’s sake.
Some time later, I was waiting again. I stood under the stars and looked for the moon, but the night had grown old and Hathor’s horns had sunk behind the walls of Thutmose’s private garden. One of his many maidservants was by my side, ready to fetch me anything I might want to eat or drink. She was a thin, shy girl who would look me in the eyes for only the briefest instant before turning away as if she’d been caught committing a crime. I wanted to ask her what it was like working for Thutmose, but I doubted she’d tell me. Most people don’t like being made to talk about unpleasant things. Besides, she was probably terrified that anything she’d say against Thutmose would get back to him and earn her a severe punishment.
“Do you think he’ll be much longer?” I asked. We had stood there in silence for a noticeable while, and my unexpected question made her jump. I tried to calm her by lightening the mood. “He did tell me to wait, but I didn’t think he meant forever.”
“Yes, Lady Nefertiti,” she replied much too quickly. And then: “I mean, no, Lady Nefertiti. My lord Prince Thutmose will be with you soon. He told us all that he wants to look his best for the contest.”
The contest …
“The race, Nefertiti, will be twice around my garden.”
“A race between us—I still can’t believe you’re serious about this, Thutmose.”
“Then call it a joke, if you like, something to amuse me. But you’ve heard the stakes I’ve set on it, and I promise you, I was not joking about them. I’ll have the slaves hold torches to light our course. My servants will be our witnesses, so you can’t cheat.”
“You won’t have to worry about that.”
“Won’t I? You claimed that when you ran, I could never catch you, but I know I would have been able to do it easily if not for all your tricks. Remember how you forced me to drink poppy juice that night? And in Ma’at’s temple, how you … Well, I don’t remember precisely what you did to outdistance me, but you won’t have any such chance now. It will amuse me to have us run an honest race, speed against speed, no tricks, no cheating. Agreed?”
“Yes, if you’ll let me send for my own witnesses, people who don’t have to read their futures in your smile or frown.”
“Tsk. You think the only way for me to win this is to coerce my servants into lying? I should feel insulted. You claim to believe in the gods, yet you doubt the word of your future god-on-earth!”
“But—”
“No. I set the terms of this race, and you are free to take it or leave it. If you win, I go to my brother and ask his forgiveness for everything you claim I did to him in the past. I free him from all suspicion and offer him friendship. If I win—”
“If you win, I’ll kneel at Aunt Tiye’s feet and tell her that I’m ready to be your wife.”
“What a lucky girl you are, Nefertiti. You win this race either way.”
I remembered how animated Thutmose had become when he spoke about this strange and terrible contest he’d devised. It transformed him from the listless man sprawled in a darkened room into a whirlwind of energy, issuing commands, sending slaves and servants running to obey. He seemed to have cast aside his life-haunting belief that traitors surrounded him and was actually enjoying himself. I would have rejoiced to see such a healthy rebirth if not for the feeling that he’d only transferred all of his mistrustful nature to me.
What is he planning? How will he twist this “honest” race into a snare?
I sighed loudly and fidgeted, then decided to put my nervousness to good use. Back home in Akhmin, in the days when my greatest worry had been mastering an intricate dance so I wouldn’t look foolish or clumsy, I’d always prepared myself by stretching my arms and legs, to limber them. I began to do so now. Ta-Miu watched me from her place on the rim of the long ornamental lotus pool that took up the center of the garden. She yawned.
The maidservant attending me took more interest. “Lady Nefertiti, are you all right? Do you need anything? Are you in pain? When one of us has a backache or stiffness in the shoulders, one of the other girls is very good at kneading away knotted muscles. I could fetch her for you.”
Her eagerness to help made me smile. “I’m fine. I’m just getting ready to run.” I stuck my right leg out behind me and tried to bend my left knee, but my dress got in the way of a full stretch. “Hmm. This was not intended for running,” I said, standing straight and plucking at the tightly fitting linen. “I’d better go back to my rooms and find something I can move in more easily. Look after the cat for me; I’ll be back right away.” I started for the doorway out of the garden.
“Oh, no, you mustn’t go, Lady Nefertiti!” The little maid ran after me and grabbed my arm, then squeaked over her own boldness and held up her hands as if to proclaim “I never touched you! Never! And I didn’t mean to do it!” “My lord Prince Thutmose will be angry if he doesn’t find you awaiting him here.”