there could be civil war if Smenkhara pressed a claim, and there would certainly be no children,” she said crossly. “Your son and Nefertiti will produce dozens of royal children. The game palls, Amunhotep.”
“Yes,” he agreed unexpectedly, his eyes closed. “It does. Surero, bring in the Syrian acrobats and have the lamps lit. Are you going, Tiye?”
The question was petulant, and she stood and looked down on him with sympathy, for he was seldom a whiner. “I must feast tonight with the Alashian delegation,” she explained. “The contract will be before you tomorrow, Horus. May your name live forever.”
He opened his eyes, surprised at the formal farewell. “Yours also. Give my condolences to Nefertiti.”
He always manages to have the last word , she thought with inward laughter as she swept out.
5
A s Pharaoh had promised, the contract was sealed and delivered into the palace archives, and Nefertiti became a princess and his son’s wife with the pressing of his ring into the warm wax. Amunhotep listened to Surero’s minute account of the celebratory feasting that would be held for the pair with a lack of attention, finally ordering Smenkhara to be brought to him and playing with the baby throughout the rest of Surero’s report.
Pharaoh did not attend the simple rite of royal marriage that took place a few days later at Karnak, but Tiye was not concerned. She knew that it was the ratifying of the contract that had been important. Commoners did not regard marriage as a religious undertaking, and it was only royal gods who sought the blessing of Amun on the unions that would produce more divine beings. Nevertheless, Tiye took a delight in seeing her son and Nefertiti, resplendent in silver and dressed in blue and white, the imperial colors, standing solemnly with hands joined before Amun’s mighty sanctuary. When it was over, there was a feast that was open to all, but Tiye, suddenly exhausted, left it as soon as she could. I have accomplished a great deal in a short time , she thought as Piha slipped the yellow gown from her shoulders and bowed her into her sleeping robe. Now I am tired. I need time in which to do absolutely nothing .
She decided to visit her private estates at Djarukha, a journey she had not made in years. The season was making her restless in a way she understood only too well. The river had risen, turning the country into a vast, calm lake. Idle peasants flocked to Pharaoh’s building projects at Luxor, Soleb, and the Delta, and work went on in his tomb, its gaping entrance now lapped by the waters of the Inundation. The sowing had begun and soon new crops would thrust against the wet, black soil, while persea and date palms spread tender green leaves to a Ra become beneficent and forgiving. Fish teemed in the river and the canals, eggs hatched in the nests along the banks, and Tiye’s own body made her feverish with the vitality of spring.
“Come with me, Ay,” she urged him as they sat side by side on the roof of her audience hall. Shaded by her canopy, they were enjoying the scented breezes and the glitter of sun on the water beyond the lushly waving crops that spread between the dun cliffs at their back and the snaking Nile. “We will stop at Akhmin for a few days and persuade Tey to come, too. I have nothing to do. No foreign crises, no policies to determine, and Pharaoh’s health is stable. I am beginning to fancy that I can smell Thebes, and I can certainly hear it. I want the quiet of the little house Amunhotep built for me all those years ago.”
Ay glanced at her and then away, knowing as well as she what had prompted the sudden urge to travel. “If you like, Majesty,” he offered noncommittally. “But are you sure that you do not also need to get away from them?” He indicated the little group gathered in the shade of the prince’s apartment wall. From where he and Tiye sat, the prince himself could be clearly seen, cross-legged on the grass as usual, short
“Yes,” he agreed unexpectedly, his eyes closed. “It does. Surero, bring in the Syrian acrobats and have the lamps lit. Are you going, Tiye?”
The question was petulant, and she stood and looked down on him with sympathy, for he was seldom a whiner. “I must feast tonight with the Alashian delegation,” she explained. “The contract will be before you tomorrow, Horus. May your name live forever.”
He opened his eyes, surprised at the formal farewell. “Yours also. Give my condolences to Nefertiti.”
He always manages to have the last word , she thought with inward laughter as she swept out.
5
A s Pharaoh had promised, the contract was sealed and delivered into the palace archives, and Nefertiti became a princess and his son’s wife with the pressing of his ring into the warm wax. Amunhotep listened to Surero’s minute account of the celebratory feasting that would be held for the pair with a lack of attention, finally ordering Smenkhara to be brought to him and playing with the baby throughout the rest of Surero’s report.
Pharaoh did not attend the simple rite of royal marriage that took place a few days later at Karnak, but Tiye was not concerned. She knew that it was the ratifying of the contract that had been important. Commoners did not regard marriage as a religious undertaking, and it was only royal gods who sought the blessing of Amun on the unions that would produce more divine beings. Nevertheless, Tiye took a delight in seeing her son and Nefertiti, resplendent in silver and dressed in blue and white, the imperial colors, standing solemnly with hands joined before Amun’s mighty sanctuary. When it was over, there was a feast that was open to all, but Tiye, suddenly exhausted, left it as soon as she could. I have accomplished a great deal in a short time , she thought as Piha slipped the yellow gown from her shoulders and bowed her into her sleeping robe. Now I am tired. I need time in which to do absolutely nothing .
She decided to visit her private estates at Djarukha, a journey she had not made in years. The season was making her restless in a way she understood only too well. The river had risen, turning the country into a vast, calm lake. Idle peasants flocked to Pharaoh’s building projects at Luxor, Soleb, and the Delta, and work went on in his tomb, its gaping entrance now lapped by the waters of the Inundation. The sowing had begun and soon new crops would thrust against the wet, black soil, while persea and date palms spread tender green leaves to a Ra become beneficent and forgiving. Fish teemed in the river and the canals, eggs hatched in the nests along the banks, and Tiye’s own body made her feverish with the vitality of spring.
“Come with me, Ay,” she urged him as they sat side by side on the roof of her audience hall. Shaded by her canopy, they were enjoying the scented breezes and the glitter of sun on the water beyond the lushly waving crops that spread between the dun cliffs at their back and the snaking Nile. “We will stop at Akhmin for a few days and persuade Tey to come, too. I have nothing to do. No foreign crises, no policies to determine, and Pharaoh’s health is stable. I am beginning to fancy that I can smell Thebes, and I can certainly hear it. I want the quiet of the little house Amunhotep built for me all those years ago.”
Ay glanced at her and then away, knowing as well as she what had prompted the sudden urge to travel. “If you like, Majesty,” he offered noncommittally. “But are you sure that you do not also need to get away from them?” He indicated the little group gathered in the shade of the prince’s apartment wall. From where he and Tiye sat, the prince himself could be clearly seen, cross-legged on the grass as usual, short
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