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  Facing these three was another trio, outwardly as confident and sure of themselves, untroubled by what might lie ahead. Zau, the Vizier, had the middle seat, and he was flanked by Tothotep and General Sheshang.

  Rahotep had been so busy identifying the company that he almost missed the quiet speech of the Amon priest. Now he listened to it intently, hoping to gain some hint of his own part in any action for tonight.

  “Since the Son of Re believes that this too nearly touches his own temper and emotions and that his judgment might be colored so that he would act not as the Voice of Re in giving verdict, but as a man whose anger or sorrow can make him weigh the scales of Maat unequally, we serve in this inquiry under His decree and He will listen but judge not--”

  “There is naught to judge!” Zau spoke sharply, but with that inner note that suggested that the former speaker had presumed beyond all rights. “We ask of you why we have been so summoned, secretly, and not before all men? Of what are we accused? Of what can we be accused? We are loyal servants to the Most High One. To Pharaoh shall we appeal for a hearing--”

  He was looking beyond the tribunal of three to the young Pharaoh, intently, angrily, willing Kamose to face him and agree with his words. And the new king did turn his head to look at the Vizier, but his face was as remote as the face of the ancient king of the frontier fort on the Kush border. His delicate, almost too refined features--so different from his brother’s--mirrored no emotion, only detachment. He met Zau stare for stare, and the second of silence lengthened. It was as if those two fought a silent duel of their own, will against will as it might otherwise be mace against mace. Nor did the younger man flinch from meeting the power of the elder.

  It was Sheshang, perhaps the weakest of the rebel three, who broke through that quiet. A man of action, it seemed he could not endure the wait for direct accusation, the chance to defend himself.

  “The Lord Zau speaks for all of us,” he growled. “Let us be accused openly that we may defend ourselves against lies--”

  Tothotep cut in, his very calmness of tone dampening to the soldier’s call for action.

  “The time grows short. Now that our Lord Sekenenre--with him abide ever the Peace of Re--has departed to the horizon, there must be decisions made for the preservation of the Two Lands. Not only do we know that Nubia has turned against us under that traitor Teti, threatening our southern border, but also a general of Apophis is on his way to Thebes. His party draws near to Neferusi. These Hyksos are fat with easy living; no longer do they yearn for warfare. If we meet them weaponless, they will accept a token payment of tribute and leave us in peace. Is this not a time to unite to face them rather than indulge in quarrels among ourselves?” He was the reasonable man trying to restore friendship among foolish children, and so well did that part become him at that moment that had Rahotep not known that just the reverse was true, he might have been won to the priest’s support.

  Amony brought his flail down in a slap across his knees. “As the Voice of Anubis says, time grows short. If we are to receive Apophis’s general in a fitting manner, we must close ranks. But it appears that we differ as to the manner of the greeting we prepare for the sons of Set!”

  Ahmose had taken his stand beside his brother, a little apart from the judges. Now he stirred as if he would heartily endorse that statement. But he said nothing.

  “To bring down the wrath of the Hyksos upon Thebes is the act of one courting destruction and darkness.” Zau took up the argument with a fanatic’s fire. “Pay tribute, lest we be crushed between two shields--Nubia and the invaders! How dare we take the field against such a double set of enemies? Only two, perhaps three, of the southern nomes will support us, in part. Such an army as we can put into the field would be vanquished in its first battle, leaving us to be utterly swept away by an aroused Apophis. Perhaps then Thebes would cease to be--” His voice grew shriller and shriller as he spoke, and now he was on his feet, hammering his fists together to emphasize his points. Where Tothotep had argued with suave reasonableness, the Vizier strove to overwhelm his opposition with the force of his own fears.

  It was Sa-Nekluft who replied. “It seems we have been drawn from the path we are gathered here to follow. We are not here to debate the manner in which we are to greet the general of the Hyksos--whom after all these years Apophis has seen fit to dispatch to Thebes--rather are we in judgment upon traitors. Let us now consider the case of Nakh-hof, second commander of the guard, who did with his own hand slay the Son of Re!”

  Zau still stood, glaring at the Treasurer of the North as if Sa-Nekluft had swept away from him the power of speech. The General Sheshang stirred uneasily on his stool and was provoked into answering.

  “What proof have we of the treason of Nakh-hof?”

  General Amony became brisk. “Let the Commander Nereb stand forth and speak--”

  “Knowing,” Nefer-Rohu added sternly, “that he is under the Eye of Horus-Re and that his words will be measured against the Feather of Maat, here now, and also in the day when he goes to face the Judges of the Horizon--”

  The young officer came out of the far end of the hall and took the Oath of Maat readily. In colorless, formal words he told of what had happened in the Valley of the Lizard.

  Sheshang plucked at his lower lip as he listened, and when Nereb was done, he demanded harshly, “So it would seem that this vile Nakh-hof was indeed cursed of the Great Ones and lifted his hand against our departed lord, along with a renegade priest. But what have we here to do with a wickedness that must have been born of disordered wits?”

  “Not all the attackers were slain in the valley,” said Amony. To Rahotep he now had the look of Bis when the leopard cub had been particularly clever and knew it well. “Let the prisoners be brought forth!”

  Ahmose snapped his fingers in the direction of the curtain, and the captain took his cue, marching out his small party. He did not look at Pharaoh, but made his salute to the three judges.

  “Rahotep, Captain of Desert Scouts in the service of the Royal Son Ahmose, with captives taken on the field of battle.”

  General Amony leaned forward to inspect the prisoners. “Senti”--he named the Egyptian among them--”you are far from your command it would seem. When were you relieved from guard duty at the Well of Wali-heti?”

  The man stiffened but made no reply.

  “And three Hyksos. Yet you also wear their dress, Senti.

  And I have heard a tale of false beards, which is indeed a strange thing. Why does a Commander of Spears under the Son of Re lead an attack upon his overlord wearing the dress of the enemy?” From the purr of a great cat, his voice became that of a grim avenger. “Guard!”

  There was a stir by the door. The men wearing Ahmose’s badge came around the curtain.

  “Let this one be taken forth and questioned as is lawful.”

  Rahotep, remembering his own ordeal under the inquisitor’s lash, could have felt pity had he not known that this man was truly guilty.

  “Let the Hyksos be set aside and questioned by one of the scribes who can speak their tongue,” the general continued. “But”--his attention moved to the captain--”here is another who has, I believe, something of importance to say--”

  “This man is under the sentence of death as a traitor.” Tothotep cut in. “Those with him are runaway slaves. He and they cannot testify in any court.”

  For the first time Kamose moved. He stood up and plucked from his brother’s belt the officer’s baton-flail.

  “Let Rahotep of Nubia approach--” he said quietly, and something in his tone produced a silence throughout the hall.

  The Scout captain moved forward and went down on his knees to “kiss earth” in the full royal salute. Kamose’s sandaled foot slid forward, and Rahotep was startled as he realized the meaning of that gesture. Only a nomarch, or the heir of a nome, was allowed to touch the Son of Re’s person in homage. As his lips brushed the gemmed strap of the sandal, he felt the soft flick of the baton thongs
across his scarred shoulders and knew that in the sight of all from this hour forward his scars of infamy were erased, turned into the marks any warrior might bear from honorable battle.

  “We greet the Hawk, the Friend-Who-Stands-on-the-Right-Hand-of-One, who commands Pharaoh’s Scouts in war and is among the Shields of the Royal Person!”

  Not only was his earlier sentence erased, but also he had been publicly welcomed into the ranks of those permitted to follow the Pharaoh closely on the field, with a grant of nobility equal to that of his vanished inheritance.

  “Life! Prosperity! Health! May the Son of Re live forever! “ His fervent thanks were echoed by the others, even the accused, for the pardon of the Pharaoh, given directly, was a great honor, even to those standing as witnesses.

  “Now”--Amony brought them firmly back to the matter at hand--”let the Lord Rahotep give evidence of what he knows of this matter.”

  So the captain told all his tale, beginning with the tempestuous night on which he had been on guard in the palace, describing all that had followed--the attempt on Sekenenre’s life, the meeting he had witnessed in the temple, and his own abortive attempt to save the doomed Pharaoh. He strove to avoid anything but the bare recital of facts for which he, himself, could vouch. And when he was done, it was the Voice of Amon who addressed him.

  “And to this you will swear, knowing that now and on the day you journey to the horizon, your heart shall be weighed against the Feather of Maat and only the truth will prevail?”

  “So do I swear, standing in the way of Amon-Re,” he replied with equal solemnity.

  General Amony nodded. “You have our leave to depart, Captain. Leave your prisoners in our care and wait where you may be summoned again, should it prove necessary.”

  Rahotep saluted and withdrew with the archers. He longed to know the outcome of the trial, if trial it could be termed. But there was no appeal against such a forthright dismissal.

  Out in the corridor again Kheti sighed. “It seems that we are once more in favor, Lord. Let us enjoy the sun while we can. But what will they do with those traitors in there?”

  “That we shall have to wait and see,” Rahotep answered absently. He was more intent upon another problem. The news that the Hyksos king had appointed a general who was even now on his way to Thebes was startling. This must be a crucial moment for Kamose. Would the new Pharaoh surrender a token tribute to Avaris as his Vizier and those behind him demanded? Or would they now go forward with the plans of Sekenenre and advance to meet the future defiantly with ready spears and bows?

  Chapter 13: UP THE FLAIL

  “Of the three, he was the greatest danger.” Rahotep turned away from the window in the guest room of Sa-Nekluft’s house to face Nereb. “Zau believed in the rightness of his cause, Sheshang was ambitious, but Tothotep--” The captain discovered it difficult to find the right words to describe his mixed feelings concerning the priest of Anubis. “Yet the judges have seen fit to allow him to depart to his temple--” Nereb sighed. “We are bound by law and custom. Even the Son of Re has each hour of his life hedged in by regulations as old as the uniting of North and South Egypt. Tothotep has claimed the right of judgment by Anubis. But do not think that that will mean his freedom. He goes to face the Jackal in his own way. Pharaoh has already been assured that he has departed to the horizon--Those of the inner shrine have so taken their oaths upon it. It was the privilege of his office to claim the Great One’s punishment over the punishment of man.”

  “It remains to ask--how great was his power within the temple?”

  Nereb stared down at the floor, and there was an odd note in his voice as he replied.

  “It is Pharaoh’s belief that those who serve the Jackal in His shrine must not for a space be interrupted in their petitions to the Great One, since they must beg His forgiveness for the evil His Voice has seen fit to do. Therefore, a guard has been stationed about that temple that none may enter or leave until the ceremonies of atonement and purification are completed, and for a space longer than that!”

  “The Son of Re is wise; his justice covers the earth.” Rahotep repeated the conventional answer to judgment with more emphasis than usual.

  “Also that guard is drawn from the personal following of Pharaoh when he was yet but the Royal Heir,” Nereb added in a carefully emotionless voice.

  “There was some reason to believe that a guard selected with less forethought--?” Rahotep began daringly and the other officer caught him up quickly.

  “Those who are personally loyal to Pharaoh are bound to his interests by the warriors’ code. That was revived in all its power in the regiments commanded by the two Royal Sons, though elsewhere it may be forgotten or practiced but in part.”

  “Zau was not alone among the nobles in believing that we do ill to provoke the wrath of the Hyksos. Which of the nomarchs have sent their hundreds behind their standards? Neb-ket--Elephantine--in part. But the rest?” Rahotep said.

  “Pharaoh assembles his lords in council today,” Nereb returned. “They have come to mourn the Pharaoh departed; they will listen to the Pharaoh who now reigns.”

  But Rahotep, as well as Nereb, knew the folly of hoping for much from that direction. The Nomarch of Nabket, the son of the Nomarch of Elephantine had come, true enough; their state barges were moored at the docks of Thebes. But the other major nobles were represented by lesser men. There were pleas of border unrest from the Nomarch of “The Land in Front,” which faced Nubia, a plea that might well be true. The captain wondered if Unis were still alive--or had the rebel Prince Teti already rid himself of one who might be a rival?

  Nereb might have been reading Rahotep’s ranging thoughts at that moment. “This Teti, did your brother support him?”

  The captain shrugged. “You saw how welcome the prince was in Semna when you were there. I had been away from the Viceroy’s court more than five years. I have no knowledge of any pact that might have united Unis and Teti. But Unis is heir to the Lady Meri-Mut, and her family once held partial dominion over Egypt itself during the Years of Disturbance. However, if he thought to use Teti to climb to the high seat, I believe he has already had an unhappy awakening from some foolish dream. Teti is not such as will ‘kiss earth’ before any man. Nor was Unis one who could enforce his power upon Nubia. He is the eldest son of Ptahhotep, but he is not Ptahhotep!”

  “Time!” Nereb sprang up from the stool where he had been sitting. “But give our lord time! We are between two snakes spitting poison--either or both must be slain for our safety, but we cannot kill them at the same instant!”

  “I do think we have a measure of time in this,” Rahotep said slowly. “Teti is not lacking in wits. He will wish to secure what he now holds beyond any question before he moves to gulp anything outside his present borders. To take the field against Thebes, and those who hold for Thebes, while Unis may still have some power in Semna is a folly he will not commit. And there has been no news that my brother has abruptly departed to the horizon. But I tell you, Lord, should we hear that Unis unfortunately trod upon some poisonous thing in the garden--then let us pound drums and mount archers upriver to await a storm. If Pharaoh will move at once against this Hyksos threat before Teti can make sure of his authority--”

  That suspense seemed to be a part of the very air of Thebes. Under the ceremonial mourning for the Pharaoh departed was the unrest concerning the next moves of the Pharaoh present and future. Rahotep discovered that Zau was very far from being alone in his conservative fear of arousing the Hyksos and destroying the state of uneasy peace that had existed through the years of stalemate. Perhaps a goodly portion of the city was willing to pay tribute, willing even to welcome the alien general now on his way upriver, because they had no confidence in their ability to strike back. The battles that had crushed all their defiance generations earlier had grown worse in the telling, so that among the ignorant, the Hyksos were granted the powers and malice of evil gods, to whom men must resign themselves as they did to the se
aring winds from the desert.

  The treason that had murdered Sekenenre remained a carefully guarded secret. Lest the Vizier and his fellow conspirators be considered martyrs to their cause, they were said to have died of the plague. But as yet no word had come as to how Thebes was to receive the Hyksos general or what was to happen to the army camped in the highlands.

  It was given to Rahotep to be present as one of the royal guard when Kamose met with that small handful of nobles who had gathered at Thebes to greet their new ruler. Only two standards from the south--those signs of nomarchs or their heirs--were present. A second pair of standards of nomes near Thebes showed among a body of lesser courtiers--a handful of men standing in a hall where the passing of centuries had faded the paintings. Thebes was old, tired, worn--The court was shabby and shrunken. A prince of Thebes on the throne, daring to wear the double crown and defy the might of a widespread empire, was only a shadow Pharaoh as Rahotep was the shadow Hawk, Pharaoh and Nomarch in name more than fact.

  The Prince Ahmose stood beside his brother’s throne, the crooked sword of a royal commander across his arm, point upward, as the Crook and the Flail were balanced by Kamose. And in that tired company the younger prince, in spite of his statue-stillness, was doubly vibrant and alive.

  “Life! Health! Prosperity! Blessed be the name of the Son of Re!” droned the chamberlain. “Let him sojourn in the Two Lands until the white bird turns black, and the black bird turns white, until the hills arise to depart from us, and until water flows upstream! Hail the One whom Re has set as a shepherd for His people!”

  The company saluted, but it seemed to the captain that there was nothing spontaneous or enthusiastic in their greeting to their new lord. All were tired old men--for even those courtiers who were young in years had the selfsame air of weariness. There was no more vitality left here than there was in a sun-dried bone found in the sands of the outer wastes.