Queen of the Heavens Read online

  “That is a worthy ambition. The chariot is the key to victory for it allows us to strike swiftly and with great power. Years ago when I was a general, Lord Harenhab instructed me to pay close attention to the chariot corps and to raise its standards to the highest levels.”

  Sety quenched his thirst with a cup of water brought by a servant. “You succeeded. The Hittites won’t have a chance against us.”

  “Don’t underestimate the Hittites. They are worthy foes.”

  “Their charioteers can’t equal ours.”

  “Don’t be so sure. During the dark times before Lord Harenhab became Pharaoh, the Hittites used superior chariots and tactics to humble Egypt. Only now are we attaining the prowess of the charioteers from the east.”

  “We grow stronger by the day, Father,” Sety said confidently. “Egypt will regain its lost lands and lost pride.”

  “I’m sure it will, Sety, and you will help lead the way.”

  “Can you men speak of nothing but war?” I asked, perturbed that I seemed invisible to my husband and father-in-law.

  “Forgive us, Tuya. We do seem preoccupied by the subject,” Ramesses said.

  “Tuya doesn’t like war,” Sety announced.

  “I neither like nor dislike it. War is a part of the Divine Pageant and I accept it as such.”

  “Still, you don’t like talking about it.”

  “I can think of things I would prefer to discuss.”

  “Like what?”

  “The beauty of the Nile. Poems that speak of love. Our affection toward each other.”

  Sety smiled at me, then shouted to a groom. “Bring me a chariot with fresh horses. We’ll ride home together, Tuya, and I’ll say nothing about war.”

  “Do you promise?”

  “Yes, I promise.”

  Sety was true to his word. All talk of war ceased. He even composed a love poem that day and read it to me.

  When I look at you, I soar above the Earth,

  like Horus on falcon wings.

  With your gentle touch, I dissolve like honey

  sweetening jasmine tea.

  When you speak, I hear the Cosmos serenading me

  with music from the distant stars.

  As I place my lips upon your neck,

  I taste immortality,

  for you are a goddess as I am a god,

  and in our embrace, we dwell as One in eternity.

  Afterward, I massaged Sety’s entire body with a slippery unguent scented with mint, then anointed myself with jasmine oil and lit incense made from frankincense and myrrh. We inhaled the aroma of blue lotus blossoms and lay down next to each other.

  Ensconced in a divine bouquet, we joined in the embrace of creation, and reached heights of ecstasy we had not yet known.

  XV

  On the tenth and final day of each week, Ramesses, Sety and I would enjoy a conversation and midday meal with Lord Harenhab. I quickly learned in great detail about such things as the Hittite threat, the importance of Nubian gold to the prosperity of the land, and the vital need to keep the trade routes to the east open so Egypt might obtain the Lebanese cedar used to build the great boats that plied the Nile.

  I enjoyed these gatherings and was pleasantly surprised when I received an invitation to dine with the Pharaoh at the appointed time even though Ramesses and Sety were away from Thebes.

  Lord Harenhab, wearing the nems and uraeus, rose from his great chair as an officer escorted me into the royal chambers. “Tuya, what a pleasure to see you.”

  “Thank you for having me, My Lord,” I said after bowing. “With Ramesses and Sety away, I didn’t expect an invitation.”

  “Why would I not invite you? I’m delighted to be able to converse with a woman so intelligent and well-educated.”

  “You are too kind.”

  “Kindness has nothing to do with it. I’m selfish in desiring your company.”

  We walked through the terrace to the garden and sat down on wooden chairs at a stone table. A linen canopy provided shade and a gentle breeze bathed us in the aroma of blossoming lotus. A servant immediately brought us wine. The Pharaoh and I took sips, then set down our marble chalices on the green faience tiles that covered the tabletop.

  “I sent Ramesses and your husband up the Nile to meet with priests at a temple to Hathor,” Lord Harenhab said. “These priests have petitioned me to expand their temple. I’d like to do so, but I want to make certain their plans are reasonable.”

  “Sety told me. We must always honor the gods so they look upon Egypt with favor.”

  “Yes, Tuya, and we must honor them in great detail. Temples must be built to sacred proportions with the divine techniques known only by a few. The precision of design helps draw the power of the gods into the earthly realm.”

  “Do you know the techniques and the proportions, My Lord?”

  “I’ve studied them, but truly understanding temple architecture and construction is a full-time pursuit.”

  I admired the Pharaoh’s inquisitive nature. He told me before that he also had studied magic, astrology and the mystical nature of numbers.

  “I would like to have a temple in which I can perform my healing work,” I said. “Sety promised to build me one. I miss using my healing powers.”

  The Pharaoh grinned. “That would be an impressive gift. You’ll have your temple someday, I’m sure, but now isn’t the time for you to engage in the healing arts. You must direct your strength toward supporting your husband and producing children.”

  Lord Harenhab’s comment grated on me, as had a similar one made by him on the day we first met. Back then, I objected with a verbal outburst. I knew better than to make a habit of this with the Pharaoh, so I spoke in a measured tone.

  “I will bear an heir to the throne, My Lord, but I also wish to use my power to make life better for others. It’s my nature to heal.”

  “It’s my nature to be a soldier and to fight. Instead, the Neters entrusted me with restoring Egypt’s strength. Those who come after me will be the ones who gain the glory in battle.”

  Why is this? I asked myself. Lord Harenhab stood at the pinnacle of the divine order of the earthly realm. His people would do anything he commanded. He was a good, just and noble man who paid homage to the divine with his every breath, yet the Neters denied him the glory he so desired.

  “Your glory is great, My Lord,” I assured him.

  The Pharaoh brushed away my caring words with a wave of his hand. “It’s nothing compared to the glory awaiting your husband and son. On rare occasions the Neters have allowed me to lead troops in small engagements against Nubians and marauding sand dwellers, but they’ve refused me the leadership of great campaigns. It fell upon me to restore prosperity to Egypt after the troubled times and to rebuild its armies, not command them on grand adventures. I don’t question the Neters’ intentions. I seek only to honor them by doing the best I can in the role at hand.”

  Embarrassment rose within me. I had been assigned by the Neters to be a Princess and then a Queen, and to help shape the destiny of Egypt by bearing and rearing an heir, and yet I was complaining about my exalted position in the Divine Pageant.

  I bowed my head and spoke softly. “I’m being selfish for wanting to continue my healing work.”

  “Perhaps a bit, Tuya. You’ll use your healing power again, but your greatest task now is to bear a son and to help in the healing of Egypt.”

  The Pharaoh pointed to a flock of white birds wading in a pond nearby. “Look at the ibises, Tuya. They seem detached from this world as they search for snails and small fishes in the reeds. In their aloofness, they are like the cats that bring so much joy to our households. I see why Thoth took their form. Though the ibises do not speak, they seem to know so much.”

  “My teacher Maya gave me a statue of Thoth as a gift,” I said. “I keep the god of wisdom by my bedside. Every day, I ask him to imbue me with at least some of his knowledge and understanding.”

  “Good. Thoth taught
us our greatest lesson. ‘One became two, two became three, and three became the myriad of things.’ All began with the Divine One, my dear, and all remains within it. Remember, if there were no snails and small fishes there would be no ibises.”

  I contemplated the Pharaoh’s words. “Our separateness is but an illusion.”

  “Yes, Tuya. Everyone serves a purpose, but it’s not for us alone to decide what that is. The Neters have chosen some of us to do great things, though this might require us to live our lives somewhat differently from the way we wish to live them.”

  At that moment, I felt enormous love for the Pharaoh. I had been chastened by him, but gently so, and his wisdom and understanding had brought great clarity to me.

  That evening, in my bedchamber before the statue of Thoth, I vowed to postpone my healing work without complaint. I would concentrate my energy on my divinely appointed task of bearing and rearing an heir, knowing the power of Isis would be the power behind the throne.

  Within a few days of my meeting with the Pharaoh, Ramesses and Sety returned from their trip up the Nile. Shortly thereafter, I began directing servants as they packed my husband’s and my belongings, for the time had arrived for the court to return to Memphis.

  The days were growing longer and soon all Egypt would be brutally hot, though slightly less so in the north. Lord Harenhab, however, had another and far greater reason to return to Memphis than a slight improvement in comfort. He wore the red and white double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt and felt obliged to spend time in both Memphis and Thebes so the divine power flowing through him would benefit equally the people of the two lands.

  A flotilla of twenty palace boats of various sizes assembled near the Great Temple of Amun. The first and largest boat, for use by the Pharaoh and Ramesses, measured fifty paces as stepped off by a tall man. Sety and I boarded a smaller vessel behind it, still more spacious and luxurious than the one that had carried my parents and me to Thebes. It even had a senet game with pieces made from ivory and onyx. The rest of the court took their places on the other boats in line according to rank.

  The wind blew against us, but the current flowed northward so the flotilla proceeded in a single line with sails down and oars up. Peasants, many holding the hands of their small children, lined the lush riverbanks and bowed as we passed.

  At dusk, the flotilla stopped upstream from Dendera, the town where Itet had interpreted my dream. I placed burnt pieces of wood in a circle around Sety’s and my beds, then walked around the beds holding a bronze bowl containing a small amulet of Sekhmet. I held a crescent-shaped knife over the bowl, moving it in a circular motion to severe any ties between dark forces that might be lurking in the cabin.

  Through Sekhmet’s power, I proclaim this space inviolable. All beings that would do harm, begone or face Sekhmet’s wrath, I uttered again and again under my breath.

  “Why do you cast a spell?” Sety asked.

  “For protection against the demons of the desert,” I answered.

  “We seem quite safe on the river,” Sety noted.

  “It doesn’t hurt to take precautions,” I said, not wanting to alarm my husband by telling him the tale of the demon that attacked me downriver from where we had stopped. Sety slept soundly that night, though I remained awake. To my great relief, no demon appeared.

  A few days later, on a moonless night, I sat alone on the deck looking up at the sky. The stars shone so brightly it seemed as though I might reach up and pick them as if they were low-hanging fruit. As I gazed at the heavens, Thoth’s words came to mind. “One became two, two became three, and three became the myriad of things,” and I realized the force within me that sustained my life was the same one that caused the stars to sparkle. With a profound sense of connection with the Cosmos, I returned to the cabin to be with my husband.

  “Would you like to play senet before we retire?” Sety asked.

  “I would enjoy that,” I answered. I had played the game several times with Sety. He always defeated me, but my skills were improving and I knew it was merely a matter of time before they equaled his.

  The tosses of the sticks at first favored Sety. I resigned myself again to losing, but midway through the game the numbers I desired appeared frequently, and I masterfully moved my pieces to block my husband’s. Sety played adroitly, but in the end I tossed the five I needed to seal victory.

  “I win!” I beamed, expecting a compliment for my skillful play. Instead, Sety spoke not a word.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  He didn’t answer.

  “Sety. Are you all right?”

  He glared at me. “No, I’m not all right,” Sety shouted. With a sweep of his arm, he scattered the game’s pieces across the cabin and stormed outside.

  Stunned and confused, I fixed my eyes on the empty senet board. What caused such fury? A demon within him? I asked myself. This is the rage Ramesses spoke about.

  I gathered all the senet pieces I could find, placed them back on the table, and lay down on my bed shaking. I curled up in a ball, making myself as small as possible. The world seemed to have toppled down upon me, crushing me with its weight. My consciousness descended into a dark place, void of all feeling but fear.

  After some time, Sety returned and sat on the bed next to me. To my great relief, the anger had left him.

  “I’m sorry, Tuya, but I don’t like to lose.”

  Slowly, I uncurled myself and sat up. “Nor do I, but one cannot win all the time.”

  “As a soldier I must always win. If I don’t, I surely will die.”

  I touched my husband’s shoulder. “Senet is but a game, not a battle.”

  “I know. I said I was sorry.”

  We embraced, reclined on the bed and lay silently next to each other.

  “Let us make love and pretend this never happened,” Sety suggested, and I concurred.

  The two of us didn’t speak during coupling or look into each other’s eyes, but Sety’s gentleness soothed my spirit and I fell asleep in his arms. The next morning, Sety was pleasant enough, and we uttered not a word of the tumult from the night before.

  I wondered at first whether the spell I cast failed to protect Sety. Did a demon enter him without my noticing? I asked myself. If one had, it seemed to have departed, and by the time we reached Memphis I thought not at all of demons. How could I, with the Neters continuing to fill my life with so much love, joy and comfort?

  Ramesses owned another estate in Memphis, smaller than the one in Thebes but still quite grand. Sety and I lived there, while Ramesses again took up residence in the royal palace. The estate was near my parents’ home, so Mother visited regularly. Father’s work kept him busy, but he came with her from time to time and I was always glad to see them.

  To my delight, I found my husband paying even more attention to me. On occasion, he would ask me to join him late in the day after the heat had moderated as he guided a small boat through the reeds of the Nile hunting waterfowl with a throwing stick.

  On our first excursion together, Sety killed two ducks then took aim at an ibis.

  “No,” I shouted, “not the ibis.”

  My cry frightened the bird and it flew away before Sety could fling his stick. My husband looked at me, perturbed. “Why not?”

  “Because Thoth took the form of an ibis, and I have a special affection for Thoth.”

  “Near the tomb of Imhotep, they raise ibises, then kill and mummify them,” Sety said. “Merchants sell the mummies to pilgrims as offerings. Do you object?”

  “That’s different. Imhotep was a great healer. People make the offerings to him so they might enjoy good health. You kill ibises merely for their feathers and for sport.”

  Sety humored me. “All right, Tuya. When you’re with me I won’t hunt ibises, but I make no promises for when I’m alone.”

  “I can expect no more, but when you kill an ibis say a prayer to Thoth and ask that its spirit be reborn in another animal so it will continue to grace the
Earth.”

  A look of exasperation crossed Sety’s face. “All right, Tuya. I’ll say a prayer to Thoth.”

  “Good. The merit you gain by doing so will serve you well in your journey through the afterworld.”

  On days we didn’t go to the river, Sety and I would walk hand in hand at dusk through the gardens of the estate. We enjoyed the aroma of the flowers, the humming of the locusts and the singing of the birds, but most of all we took pleasure in each other’s company. Afterward, with great diligence and delight, we’d continue our effort to conceive the heir to the throne.

  In Memphis as in Thebes, life with Sety seemed perfect, though he and I did not play senet with each other again.

  XVI

  Life for me in Memphis flowed as smoothly as the waters of the Nile, until I became ill one morning and lost my meal from the night before. The next morning, I became ill again, which surprised me for I always enjoyed good health. Sety summoned a court physician who arrived before midday. He placed his hand on my wrist to feel the blood coursing through my body, examined my tongue, checked for fever, but found nothing amiss.

  “When was the last time you experienced your normal bleeding?” the physician asked.

  “Some time ago,” I answered.

  “Before the last full moon?”

  “Probably.”

  “I wouldn’t worry. I’ll send you a tonic of juniper berries and honey. Take it before you sleep and after you awake. It will settle your stomach and help you to keep down your food.”

  “Will I be all right?”

  The question amused the physician.

  “I think so,” he said, smiling at me. “You’re not suffering from an illness. You’re bearing a child.”

  The joyous news I had been awaiting came as a shock. Not that many years before, I played games with Peshet and my other friends on the riverbank. Now I was a wife and a mother-to-be.

  Am I ready for this? I asked myself. Within minutes calm and confidence engulfed me. Of course I’m ready. I’m fulfilling my destiny. I’m accomplishing the task assigned to me by the Neters.