The Double Crown: Secret Writings of the Female Pharaoh by Marié Heese Page A

straight, trembling at the significance of his words.
    He leaned forward. “You desire power, do you not?”
    “I … no, that is, I …”
    “Let us have no lies, daughter. No pretence. Do you? Desire power?”
    I gulped. “Yes, Father, yes, I do.”
    “You should remember that it is easy enough to be ruled. To be a ruler, that is far more difficult.”
    I nodded, not trusting my voice.
    “What Pharaoh must desire, above all else, is the well-being of Khemet. Pharaoh’s power, and the exercise thereof, must have one aim and one aim only: to maintain Ma’at. Ma’at is all.”
    “Yes, Father.”
    “A just ruler, one who follows Ma’at, will have the love of his people. And the love of the people is a precious thing, a resource in adversity.”
    I was not sure that I understood this, but I repeated: “A resource. Yes, Father.”
    “And you must learn to take counsel from able men. But do not let them rule you. Pharaoh rules; he will take counsel when he asks for it. Yet ask for it often, listen with care, and then decide.”
    “I hear, Father.”
    “And one thing more. Mark this, my child. To rule others is a burdensome task. To rule oneself is the hardest thing of all.”
    This last was beyond me. But I nodded as if I had grasped his words.
    He sighed and shook his head. I knew what he was not saying: that he feared greatly for the Black Land, being left to a fragile king and a girl child. But I was certain that I could be strong, that I would not disappoint my father, would not let the Black Land suffer or diminish. I would hold Khemet.
    It was a fateful journey, for that was when my father inducted me into the Mysteries of Osiris. I shall not write in detail what transpired, for these are sacred and very secret matters, that may be made known only to one who will become a Pharaoh. That it was done, proves that not only my heavenly father but also my royal father on earth considered me – me, not the little Thutmose – to be the chosen of the gods. Suffice it to say that we went together to the tomb of Osiris that is at the ancient sacred city of Abydos, that I underwent such stringent tests that I thought more than once that I would not emerge alive, but that I was able to survive them all and satisfied the Pharaoh.
    Thereafter I stood at my father’s side and I learned much. He was a man well able to judge people and he saw straight through flattery and lies. I noted that he was always thoroughly prepared and better informed than any of his advisers, and that he never depended solely on one official’s view. I also noted that he allowed no single official, noble, general or priest to gain too much influence.
    If there was a matter of great importance to be debated, he would call the key men to attend on him privately one by one, ask for their opinions, and have a scribe note their words. Then they could not suddenly take a new tack in debate if it seemed politic. He would marshal their arguments and think about them, then identify the crucial issues. These also a scribe would note. He encouraged me to comment – not publicly, of course – when there were matters to be debated, and sometimes he noted what I said. This made me enormously proud.
    When I had seen thirteen risings of the Nile, my half-brother and I broke the jar together. It was no grand ceremony, for marriages in the Black Land are civil contracts between the families of the persons concerned and this contract was within the royal house.
    The night before we were to be joined together, Inet came to see me in my rooms, where I had lived as a princess all my life. I would henceforth move into the women’s section of the harem palace. My husband had his own rooms, to which he called his concubines when he had decided whose turn it was. He had several such – in fact, had sired the half-royal princeling, Thutmose, upon one Isis five years previously – but he had taken no other wives before me. I had seen much less of Inet since I had become