and bone and hair around her neck, and undergo countless enemas.
She'd never been so regular in her life.
Cheftu hadn't said one more personal thing, and the one time he and Makab had come together they had ignored her thoroughly, making wagers on which of the nobles would come home with a lion carcass from their hunting trip with Pharaoh, bloody living forever.
She spent the mild days of winter wandering through the temple in its glory—a glory that made even Hollywood on hallucinogens look like black and white.
Everywhere was the glitter of precious and semiprecious stones. She had learned that each of the eyes represented in the hypostyle hall was inlaid with onyx. Each representation of the god Amun was studded with lapis, carnelian, and feldspar. The ithyphallic god Min sported a gold-plated condom.
To the Egyptians, these were re-creations of the gods and goddesses, each endowed with life through magic. The same magic was wrought on the dead through the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, making it possible for them to see, smell, hear, eat, and move, even make love, just as in life.
One day Chloe wandered down the colonnade leading to Thutmosis I's special temple—still within years of being finished, though he had flown to Osiris almost forty Inundations ago—when she saw a flash of brilliance. Pharaoh Hatshepsut, living forever! was having her obelisks set there and covered in electrum, an expensive blend of gold and precious silver. Because the obelisks had towered above the roof of the temple, the roof had been torn off, letting the metal-covered pyramidions pierce the turquoise sky.
The place was overrun with sweating dark Egyptians whose long eyes flicked away from Hat as she paced up and down like a caged animal. With a combination of ropes, pulleys, and brute strength they straightened the obelisks in their sanded pits. Chloe tried to make herself invisible as she watched, but the black eyes of Senmut, architect and grand vizier, found her, and she was politely asked to leave—for her safety, of course.
For days after, the court gossiped about how the army would receive no new breastplates so Pharaoh could erect more monuments to commemorate her holy conception, birth, and life. From what Chloe overheard, the army had not received anything new in many months because Pharaoh was more interested in beautifying deserted temples than in enlarging Egypt's empire, more than half the reason that Thutmosis III, her nephew, was straining at Hat's leash. He wanted to conquer new lands and bring new tributes into Egypt as pharaoh.
Apparently Hatshepsut had given Egypt a lifetime of peace, but the people wanted war. With every passing day Hatshepsut grew more paranoid about the young man in Avaris who would one day sit on her throne. It was commonly thought that if Thut III had been her son, Hat would have taken her place as consort many years ago. But her hatred for Thut II and her even greater hatred for his lowborn wife, Isis, had forced her to press on, determined to be pharaoh until she died.
Only Basha attended Chloe. She kept to her tasks and spent little time with her mistress. Chloe rested, read, and practiced writing, something her memory did provide for her. As a last resort, she tried embroidery. Apparently only Cammy had a gene for that.
Chloe made a sketch pad to capture some of the wonder around her, but Basha had been so shocked to see Chloe's drawings that she drew only covertly. She was scared they would discover her secret. Not knowing the consequences made it scarier.
Fear nauseated her; usually it was most intense in the morning. Later in the day she could pack away roasted fowl, fish, bread, fresh fruit, and vegetables, whatever was offered her. Time travel had given her quite an appetite—not that it had been delicate before. Cheftu had once watched her eat lunch, his expression one of polite horror. Apparently the “Flowers” of Egypt were supposed to be delicate. What else was there to
She'd never been so regular in her life.
Cheftu hadn't said one more personal thing, and the one time he and Makab had come together they had ignored her thoroughly, making wagers on which of the nobles would come home with a lion carcass from their hunting trip with Pharaoh, bloody living forever.
She spent the mild days of winter wandering through the temple in its glory—a glory that made even Hollywood on hallucinogens look like black and white.
Everywhere was the glitter of precious and semiprecious stones. She had learned that each of the eyes represented in the hypostyle hall was inlaid with onyx. Each representation of the god Amun was studded with lapis, carnelian, and feldspar. The ithyphallic god Min sported a gold-plated condom.
To the Egyptians, these were re-creations of the gods and goddesses, each endowed with life through magic. The same magic was wrought on the dead through the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, making it possible for them to see, smell, hear, eat, and move, even make love, just as in life.
One day Chloe wandered down the colonnade leading to Thutmosis I's special temple—still within years of being finished, though he had flown to Osiris almost forty Inundations ago—when she saw a flash of brilliance. Pharaoh Hatshepsut, living forever! was having her obelisks set there and covered in electrum, an expensive blend of gold and precious silver. Because the obelisks had towered above the roof of the temple, the roof had been torn off, letting the metal-covered pyramidions pierce the turquoise sky.
The place was overrun with sweating dark Egyptians whose long eyes flicked away from Hat as she paced up and down like a caged animal. With a combination of ropes, pulleys, and brute strength they straightened the obelisks in their sanded pits. Chloe tried to make herself invisible as she watched, but the black eyes of Senmut, architect and grand vizier, found her, and she was politely asked to leave—for her safety, of course.
For days after, the court gossiped about how the army would receive no new breastplates so Pharaoh could erect more monuments to commemorate her holy conception, birth, and life. From what Chloe overheard, the army had not received anything new in many months because Pharaoh was more interested in beautifying deserted temples than in enlarging Egypt's empire, more than half the reason that Thutmosis III, her nephew, was straining at Hat's leash. He wanted to conquer new lands and bring new tributes into Egypt as pharaoh.
Apparently Hatshepsut had given Egypt a lifetime of peace, but the people wanted war. With every passing day Hatshepsut grew more paranoid about the young man in Avaris who would one day sit on her throne. It was commonly thought that if Thut III had been her son, Hat would have taken her place as consort many years ago. But her hatred for Thut II and her even greater hatred for his lowborn wife, Isis, had forced her to press on, determined to be pharaoh until she died.
Only Basha attended Chloe. She kept to her tasks and spent little time with her mistress. Chloe rested, read, and practiced writing, something her memory did provide for her. As a last resort, she tried embroidery. Apparently only Cammy had a gene for that.
Chloe made a sketch pad to capture some of the wonder around her, but Basha had been so shocked to see Chloe's drawings that she drew only covertly. She was scared they would discover her secret. Not knowing the consequences made it scarier.
Fear nauseated her; usually it was most intense in the morning. Later in the day she could pack away roasted fowl, fish, bread, fresh fruit, and vegetables, whatever was offered her. Time travel had given her quite an appetite—not that it had been delicate before. Cheftu had once watched her eat lunch, his expression one of polite horror. Apparently the “Flowers” of Egypt were supposed to be delicate. What else was there to
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