House of Two Pharaohs, page 31
Taita smiled again. ‘There will be a new role for you.’ He paused, allowing his words to linger in the air between them before he added: ‘In my place, at Pharaoh’s side.’
• • •
T
hree nights after departing Hardai and the sweltering marshes that surrounded it, Taita took his place alongside the other dignitaries in the nomarch’s feasting hall in Memphis. The palace was cool and airy, and it was as if the fear that had gripped the city had been completely forgotten amid the celebration of the nomarch’s return, and the army’s victory over the Shuyet. Dancers whirled, their gauzy dresses alternately hiding and then revealing their shapely forms as the musicians plucked their lyres and rattled their sistrums.
Seated on cushions around the low table, the wealthy and powerful of Memphis dined with the Council of Elders, enjoying the hospitality of their nomarch. The women wore black wigs, cut to accentuate their features, and dresses made of the finest Syrian silk, lavishly embroidered with jewels. The men were less flamboyantly attired, but their malachite eye shadow glittered in the lamplight, mirroring the colours of the sweet-smelling blue lotus flowers that all of the guests had been garlanded with as they stepped into the hall. It was a symbolic gesture, for the blooms represented rebirth.
At the head of the table, on one side of the Nomarch’s throne, sat Hannu. The old soldier had never been one for the affairs of court, and from his expression Taita surmised that he was silently renewing his disdain for some of the guests who had gathered to celebrate the victory.
On the other side of the nomarch’s throne sat Ankhu, looking as ancient as ever, but bright with a joy that refused to be dimmed. The old man had lived through the long occupation of the Hyksos. Now, for the first time since his youth, Memphis would remain free. His satisfaction bloomed on his face as he recounted for the guests the great deeds of Piay of Thebes, hero of Memphis.
Taita watched as Piay entered the room, and the feasting momentarily stopped as the gathered dignitaries stood and applauded their nomarch. He bowed and smiled as he received their gratitude and admiration, but Taita could see that something was troubling him.
‘You do not look as though you just saved the city,’ Taita said wryly as he approached.
Piay looked at him gravely. ‘Asil has fled. He escaped while I was away.’
‘Did you not expect him to? Surely you must have known that his request for a window was part of a plan, so his underlings in the Guild of Thieves might break him out.’
‘I did,’ Piay admitted. ‘But I had hoped he would experience a change of heart. That was why I offered him the opportunity to live out the remainder of his days honestly.’
‘Asil would never accept banishment,’ Taita said. ‘His life is here, inside these city walls.’
Piay nodded. ‘He is not a good man, but he is my father.’
‘Do not hang your head,’ his master admonished gently. ‘The Guild of Thieves has long been a part of the fabric of Memphis. It will take longer than six new moons to rid the city of its influence.’
‘Perhaps Zahra will have better success.’
Taita smiled. ‘You offered your father more than he deserved. It was always going to be his choice whether or not to accept your mercy. Men who have lived their lives in the dark do not like to be called out into the light, even if that is the only thing that will save them.’
‘He is an old man. He has chosen to remain in the dark, and he will die there.’
He patted his charge on the shoulder. ‘He is not dead yet. There is still time.’
Taita had spent many hours worrying that Piay would never overcome his grief after Myssa’s death. But his quest to save Memphis had changed him. A weight had been lifted. And now, with his task accomplished, he seemed to embody the meaning of the blue lotus flowers he wore. He was a man reborn.
‘Two days hence, Zahra will join us here, and we will set sail for Thebes to present her to Pharaoh. And though she has lived in Lower Egypt all her life, I suspect that she will be hardly any more familiar with the nuances of governing Memphis than you were when you first arrived. She will need a strong advisor. Have you given that any thought, Piay?’
Piay gazed over at the long table, where Ankhu was holding court. On the other side of the nomarch’s throne, Hannu was gulping wine from his cup. He waved down a servant for more, glancing irritably at Ankhu. Piay laughed.
‘I have. There are few who know Memphis, or what the city needs, better than Ankhu. He is an old man, so his assistance may not be long enduring, but I feel confident that with his guidance, Zahra will finish what I have begun.’
Taita smiled. How far Piay had come, since the day he arrived from Thebes. ‘And Hannu? What will you do with him?’
‘Well, I had thought of taking him with us, to Thebes. But I believe he will be happier here, and Zahra will have a use for him. I have decided to appoint him Captain of the Memphis Guard.’
Taita laughed. ‘He will not be happy about that. He’ll complain that you are demoting him – he is a general, after all.’
Piay grinned. But his smile dissolved as he considered their impending departure for Thebes, and the great responsibility that awaited him there.
‘Does something else trouble you, Piay?’
‘I don’t know how Pharaoh will receive the news – that I am to take your place, at his side.’
‘You need not concern yourself with that,’ Taita replied. ‘Pharaoh will listen to what I tell him.’ He chuckled. ‘Unlike someone else I know.’
‘I listen when it matters,’ Piay retorted.
Taita nodded. ‘You belong at Pharaoh’s side, and he will be glad of your presence. Egypt will be remade at last, and the grandeur of antiquity will return. One Egypt, from the cataracts to the Great Green. The days yet to come beckon. A new kingdom awaits us all.’
• • •
T
aita stood in the prow of the galley that would bear him back to Thebes, as the sailors bent their backs over their oars and urged the great ship out of the harbour at Peru-nefer. He gazed up at the white walls of Memphis as the river breeze swept across his face, gleaming in the light of Ra’s great orb.
‘When I first set eyes on Memphis, Myssa was with me,’ Piay said as he stepped to his master’s side.
Taita smiled as he glanced at his former student. How much he reminded him of Tanus, standing there in the sun. Tanus who also had once been Taita’s student, and with whom he had traversed the mighty black Nile, a lifetime before.
‘Now, as I leave it, I am filled with the feeling that I am once more as I was when I arrived. Myssa is with me again.’
Piay glanced back at the hold, where the body of his beloved rested in the sarcophagus that would protect it on the long voyage ahead, as the galley bore it first to Thebes, and then beyond – taking Myssa back to her homeland of Kush.
‘You are so much more than the man who sailed into Peru-nefer so many moons ago,’ Taita said gently. ‘You uncovered and unlocked the tomb of the Great Architect after one thousand years of mystery. You are the nomarch who saved Memphis, who saved all Lower Egypt from being plunged into darkness once more.’
Piay nodded as he absorbed his master’s words.
‘What will you do with her?’ Taita asked.
A gusting breeze hit master and pupil as the galley moved out into the main channel of the river, and Piay stared south, looking far beyond the horizon, to the land of Myssa’s ancestors.
‘She belongs with her people. I will take her back to her land. To the home she was stolen from, before I met her in Mycenae. To the land of her gods and the village of her ancestors.’ He smiled, and his eyes grew misty as he remembered their journey there, together. ‘There is a hill there, overlooking the place where her village once stood. She will want to watch while children play there again. As life returns to the place she loved.’
Taita absorbed Piay’s words solemnly, and rested his hand on his shoulder.
Together they stood, in comfortable silence, as the galley’s sail was unfurled, billowing as it caught the wind. The blue Eye of Horus gazed out on master and pupil, the wide Nile, and the great land of Egypt that stretched out before them.
• • •
B
eneath the blue victory banners that still hung from the walls of Thebes, the citizens had gathered, ready to welcome their Lord High Chancellor, the great mage Taita, back to the capital.
Zahra could see the love and admiration they had for Taita, these Upper Kingdom Egyptians who spoke so differently from the people she had grown up with in Avaris, and he returned their adoration, beaming back at them as he walked ahead of her and Piay, the Blue Crocodile Guard at their sides, escorting them through the streets of the capital.
The God-Pharaoh Rameses waited to receive them at the top of the palace steps, his arms opened wide. ‘Welcome back, Taita,’ he greeted his most trusted advisor magnanimously. ‘You have been missed, but we are grateful for the good news you bring.’
So, this was the one that her brother had called ‘the pretender’, Zahra thought to herself, as she assessed the man who stood before her. He was muscular, and his head was perfectly hairless under his elaborate, golden pschent. His malachite eye makeup accentuated his features, and he gave off the aura of one who was both man, and not.
Taita bowed before the handsome pharaoh, and from his smile, Zahra could see how much he cared for this god-king, just as he did for Piay. ‘Memphis is secured by the efforts of your nomarch,’ he announced proudly, indicating for Piay to step forward.
Piay bowed deeply before his pharaoh.
‘Rise, Piay,’ Rameses said. ‘You have done all that I asked, and more. The ancient jewel of this land is once more restored, and shines anew in its glorious crown. We owe you a great debt.’ He smiled benevolently. ‘How would you have me repay it?’
Piay bowed again. ‘I would ask only for permission to depart your presence, to bury my beloved in her homeland of Kush, Your Majesty. When this is accomplished, I will return swiftly to your court.’
‘You have my blessing.’ Pharaoh’s gaze alighted on Zahra, and she could tell that he was momentarily struck by her aura. ‘And who is this?’ he asked Taita.
Piay stepped aside, and Taita smiled encouragingly as he gestured for Zahra to step forward and introduce herself. ‘I am Zahra, Your Majesty. Daughter of Nimlot, priest of Anubis at the temple of Avaris.’
‘You are a member of the priestly class of the Lower Kingdom,’ Pharaoh said respectfully. ‘For your intellect to exceed your beauty, as I believe it must if Taita has brought you here, then the gods have blessed you with gifts sufficient to make Thoth himself jealous. I welcome you to Thebes.’
As Zahra bowed, Taita smiled at the Pharaoh. ‘I would strongly advise you to consider her as the next Nomarch of Memphis, Your Majesty.’
Rameses studied Zahra, holding her firmly in his powerful gaze. She looked down at her feet, prompting a smile from the Pharaoh. ‘What is your reasoning?’
‘Zahra is as remarkable an intellect as I have encountered. In so many ways, she reminds me of your own great ancestor, Queen Lostris. Our adversary in the north, the Shuyet, admired her abilities just as much, exploiting the power of her mind to match the strength of my own. In the great game that played out between us, I became certain of her worthiness, to serve as your representative in Memphis, and to restore Lower Egypt to its former greatness in the days to come.’
Rameses nodded as he mulled over his trusted advisor’s argument. ‘How, then, would you suggest I employ your valiant assistant, my dear Lord High Chancellor? When he returns from Kush?’
Taita paused before he answered, his eyes gleaming proudly. ‘Piay has uncovered the long-lost tomb of Imhotep. The spells it contains have the power not only to reunify the great land of Egypt, but to protect it against future enemies.’ He shifted his gaze to Zahra, and his face became grave. ‘From her home in the delta, Zahra has learned of a new threat lurking beyond the Great Green. A mysterious invader more powerful even than the Hyksos – the Sardi.’ Finally, he turned back to face Pharaoh. ‘Egypt must be ready. It must be unified. But once Imhotep’s tomb is open, the spells will begin to disappear. Only by unravelling and preserving them can I fulfil my duty and equip this great land with the means to defend itself. It is to the great monuments, and to the tomb of the Great Architect, that I will go to accomplish this.’ He bowed. ‘With your permission, Your Majesty.’
‘No one will ever replace you,’ Rameses replied.
Taita smiled. ‘Perhaps not, Your Majesty. But what I have seen from Piay during the trials he has endured, I have seen only once in my long life before. When measured against the long line of heroes that this great land has seen, only Tanus stands as his equal in courage, and selflessness.’
As Piay bowed in blushing appreciation of his master’s words, Taita smiled and nodded approvingly. ‘A man cannot learn who he truly is unless he has suffered,’ he continued. ‘Piay has suffered much, and faced many challenges. But he has come through his suffering, and a more capable advisor you will never find, not if you scoured the whole of the known world.’
Pharaoh considered Taita for a long moment, his face as inscrutable as the Sphinx. Finally, he turned his gaze on Piay and Zahra. ‘Step forward, Piay. Step forward, Zahra.’
Piay and Zahra complied, bowing again before the sovereign of Egypt.
‘You would have me take these, together – one to stand in for the other, who, in turn, will stand in your stead?’ Pharaoh asked Taita, without removing his heavy gaze from the man and woman before him.
‘I am certain they both will serve you well,’ the mage replied calmly.
The God-Pharaoh Rameses considered his most respected advisor. ‘Very well,’ he assented. ‘On one condition. When you have unlocked, deciphered and committed the ancient spells of Imhotep to memory, as I am sure you will, you will return to Thebes, and my service, to stand once more at my side as Lord High Chancellor.’
Taita bowed. ‘I will, Your Majesty. However long it takes me, when the task is accomplished, I will return.’
• • •
T
he setting sun hung red over the horizon as Piay climbed the rocky hill, with Myssa’s body in his arms. She was so light, he felt that she might take flight in the wind that whipped across the plain where her village had once stood.
Piay’s beloved had been mummified after he had retrieved her body from beneath Imhotep’s tomb. He had found Shabaka, a Kushite from Kerma – soothsayer, witch doctor and embalmer – in one of the poorer quarters of Memphis. Myssa had had her own religion, and Shabaka had helped Piay to appease her gods. And now, in returning her to Kush, he was bringing her back to them.
At the top of the hill, he approached the grave that he and the small group of guards he had brought south with him had dug in the sun-baked earth earlier in the day. Carefully, he stepped into it with his precious burden in his arms, and gently laid her down in the cool earth.
Standing, he looked down at the form he knew so well, his eyes filling with tears.
As he looked up, away from the natural tomb that would house his beloved from this moment on, he saw a small herd of elephants begin to move across the plain. He smiled as he watched the giant beasts – the cows swaying as they walked, the calves falling behind and then gambolling after their mothers, before falling behind again. These were the animals that he had come in search of on his first journey to Kush, and Myssa’s face as she had been then, smiling and beautiful, filled his imagination.
As Piay watched, a cow separated from the herd and turned her head to face him. As his eyes met hers, he thought he recognised the way his beloved would look at him, in those earliest of days. A part of him knew then that somehow, somewhere, Myssa was smiling on him, and Piay was filled with a peace as great as any he had ever known.
• • •
T
he night air blasted across the desert wastes, the cold reaching deep into Taita’s bones. In the distance, the jackals still howled, but they no longer sounded as threatening as they had done the last time he had stood in the shadow of the Great Pyramid.
Taita shivered and pulled his cloak tighter around him, then turned to where Hannu was squatting on the sand. A gang of soldiers crouched together nearby, talking in whispers while passing a water-hide between themselves.
Hannu hauled himself to his feet as Taita neared. ‘You may go,’ the mage announced.
‘Are you sure?’ Hannu asked sceptically. ‘I wouldn’t want to be left alone in this place.’
Taita smiled. ‘I am sure. The task before me is not a short one, and I do not know when I shall emerge.’
‘If you change your mind –’
‘My mind is settled.’
‘Aye. Right, then.’
Taita smiled, and Hannu glanced at him quizzically. ‘Will I see you again?’
‘Only the gods know that, Hannu. The mysteries of the spells contained in that tomb are great, and I do not know how I will be transformed as I unwind them. When I emerge, it may be as if only moments have passed. It may also be many lifetimes in the future.’
Hannu’s face fell.
‘But that is not for you to concern yourself with. You have been a loyal friend to Piay, and now that he stands in my place at Pharaoh’s side, he will have need of your counsel many more times in the seasons to come. When your duty to Zahra is fulfilled, and you have found another to relieve you as Captain of the Memphis Guard, return to him. Tell him that he has done well. That he has made me proud.’
Hannu grinned. ‘You have given me a difficult final task, my lord.’
Taita smiled again. ‘A fitting last request, then. You have earned it.’
Hannu bowed, and turned away. As he began to walk back towards the waiting soldiers, Taita felt compelled to call out one last instruction.
‘Take care of him.’
Hannu paused, turned and bowed again. ‘I will.’
Taita nodded a final parting and then strode around the edge of the monument, to the entrance to the tunnel that led to the tomb of Imhotep.
