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Chapter 59
Tut’s Palace
1324 BC
“WE NEED TO TALK.”
“I’m listening.”
It was an hour before dawn. The entire palace was astir. After the largest manhunt in Egyptian history, the pharaoh had been located in the desert west of Thebes. Tut had been robbed of all his possessions, no doubt by a nomad. The young pharaoh was still unconscious.
In addition to a high fever, his body was covered with bruises and abrasions. Now Aye and Horemheb stood on opposite sides of his bed, looking down at their comatose ruler. The cavernous bedroom was dark, save for the moonlight shining in the window.
Aye said, “We should take this conversation into the hall.”
Horemheb pursed his lips. A long straight scar ran diagonally across his face, the result of a Hittite sword. When he was tense, it took on a reddish hue that made it stand out, even against his sun-damaged skin.
“If we go anywhere else, we will be observed. Obviously, the pharaoh ca
Aye didn’t like to be contradicted, but Horemheb was probably right. Besides, the royal vizier was still in great pain after enduring the humiliating lashes Tut had ordered. The guards had gone easy on him because of his status, but a few of the lashes had sliced into his skin. Now his back was a swollen mess, oozing blood and crisscrossed with whip marks.
“All right. Here then,” said Aye. He glanced about the room to make sure no one was there to overhear them. “I am getting to be an old man. I have served my nation since I was an adolescent and learned the serpentine ways of the royal court. We both witnessed the ruin brought on by Akhenaten’s reign, and we know that Tut is moving too slowly to fix the damage.”
“Are you saying-”
“Yes,” Aye stated flatly. “And if you help me, I can ensure that you will be my successor. I will not live long, but in my short time as pharaoh I can return Egypt to her former glory. You will complete the task, General.”
Horemheb’s scar was now a vibrant magenta. “How would we do this? Look at him. He’s a boy. No doubt he’ll recover from his fall.”
Horemheb sighed. He was nervous, yet he reveled in the notion of being pharaoh. “I never thought the day would come that I would speak openly… of killing the pharaoh.”
Before Aye could respond, they heard sandals shuffling on the tiled floor. They turned to face the sound, and Horemheb instinctively moved to block the door.
“Show yourself,” said Aye. “Come out now. Who’s there? Who?”
Yuye, the queen’s lady-in-waiting, a tall girl with green eyes, stepped out of the shadows. She was just a teenager, and the palace knew her as Ankhesenpaaten’s confidante. If anyone would tell the queen of their discussion, she would.
The girl was clearly terrified. “I didn’t hear anything, Vizier.”
“Yes, you did.”
Horemheb took a step toward Yuye. His hand was up, ready to slap her. But Aye stopped him.
“You’ll leave a mark,” he said to the general. “We don’t want that, do we?”
Aye turned his attention to Yuye. “The issue is not whether you heard something, but whether you will say something.”
“I won’t. I promise I won’t.”
Aye grabbed the girl’s wrist and yanked her toward him. His face was just inches from hers as he issued a quiet threat: “I know.”
Aye then turned to Horemheb. “You think of a plan for him,” he said, nodding his head in the direction of Tut. “I’ll take care of the girl.”
Chapter 60
Tut’s Palace
1324 BC
AT FIRST YUYE WAS CERTAIN Aye was going to kill her and dispose of her body. He’d forcibly pulled her out of Tut’s bedroom, his grip so tight that she thought her wrist might break.
There was a bedroom two doors down, and he led her inside. Then he threw her down on the bed.
“The queen will find out if you kill me,” she said, sounding bolder than she felt.
“I know,” Aye said simply. Then he completely surprised Yuye. He told her to take off her clothes.
He did the same.
Now the aging vizier was on top of her. Yuye was not a virgin, but she hadn’t had much experience either. She didn’t know what she was expected to do, but she did know that if she cried out for help she would probably die. Maybe not tonight. Maybe not tomorrow. So she submitted.
What choice did she have? Aye was the supreme legal official in Egypt. Only the pharaoh could overrule him. Aye, in other words, was the law. He, and he alone, decided what constituted rape.
At least he didn’t use force, so Yuye simply endured, knowing that this was one secret she could never tell the queen.
Aye seemed close to finishing, when suddenly he stopped himself and became talkative. “Listen to me. You will be my spy. Do you agree to do this?”
“I don’t understand. What kind of spy?”
“You will tell me the queen’s secrets. That kind of spy.”
“She will become suspicious. She is no one’s fool.”
Aye was quiet for a moment. The muscles of his still-raw backside clenched, and he arched his back.
Then he raised his fist and brought it down hard into the girl’s ribs. It was more pain than Yuye had ever felt in her life. She couldn’t breathe to cry out.
Now Aye rolled off her. “There will be more of this-more of us. I’ll let you know when and where. In the meantime, anything and everything that comes from the queen’s lips will be reported to me. Am I understood?”
Yuye nodded. Of course she understood him.
Then Aye rolled back on top of the girl.
Chapter 61
Tut’s Palace
1324 BC
IT HAD BEEN A WEEK since the pharaoh’s chariot accident. Tut was well enough to sit up and take broth and sip a glass of wine that contained powdered eggshells, which the physician believed would help heal the shell of Tut’s head.
But for the most part Tut slept, his every toss and turn watched by Tuya and the queen. The two women took turns attending him. Ankhesenpaaten had decided that they would be the ones to nurse him back to health.
Ankhe dabbed his forehead with a cool cloth, then bent down to tenderly kiss him. He had spoken a few words to her earlier, but she knew he wasn’t safe yet.
The wounds would heal eventually, but his infections could worsen. She had seen this happen many times with the sick.
She kissed him again and then whispered, “I forgive you.” She believed that she did. Tut had been unfaithful but for the good of Egypt and only as a last resort. Most important, it had been her idea.
The queen stood up and smoothed her dress, leaving Tut to sleep.
Now Tut lay alone in the darkness, breathing softly. She had left the white cloth on his forehead, but otherwise his skull was uncovered. Was he healing? the queen wondered.
It was well past dark as she made her way back to her side of the palace. She was drowsy after a long day caring for the ailing pharaoh.
Suddenly, a sound echoed down the hallway. “Who’s there?” she asked. “I heard someone.”
There was no answer, so the queen continued to her room.
A moment after she passed, a bulky figure stepped out from behind one of several stone statues that decorated the hall. Quickly, quietly, the man went into Tut’s room and hurried toward the pharaoh’s bed.
In his hand, a two-foot-long club. In his heart, murder.