The Golden Queen

Sixteen

Sixteen

I was in my chamber having lunch with Menefer the next afternoon. The gash that severed her cheek was pink and swollen. I instructed her to wash it with beer as often as she could to keep it form getting infected. Since the following evening, the palace had plunged into silence because Menefer had no news about Kephri, but Horemheb had been flogged under the orders of Thutmosis. I couldn't help but be angry with Ahmose for this.

There was a knock at the door, and Menefer got up to answer it. She exchanged words with someone, and then Iset stepped into the room. She asked Menefer to give us a few minutes alone. Menefer stepped outside, and Iset came to sit with me at the table. Her lips were pulled into a straight line.

"Have you heard Lord Thutmosis broke off his relationship with Kephri?" she asked, her tone eerily somber.

My lips parted as I began to ask why, but I faltered. Iset seemed upset. If her husband had broken up with his mistress, I would expect her to be happy. "His Majesty ordered Kephri to be imprisoned. I can't imagine Lord Thutmosis courting a criminal. It would jeopardize his reputation." Thutmosis had been so drunk last night I was surprised he remembered anything at all.

"He was so mortified by last night's spectacle that he rejected her. Now he has returned to my bedside because he knows I am a faithful wife," she continued. "Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me?" I asked. My stomach suddenly cringed, and I wondered if Iset knew about the aloe. I had slipped it into the chalice when I was alone. Had one of the servants seen me? If Iset disapproved of my actions, she could go to Ahmose and tell him everything. I had made such a big deal about crime last night, not realizing the irony of my situation. A wave of nausea rolled in my stomach.

"I don't know how, but I know you are responsible for their quarrel," she replied.

I swallowed the cold stone in my throat. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You must have used magic against her, or perhaps you charmed my husband for me. Your eyes burned with so much anger and vengeance last night. Either way, I am grateful to you, because now I have my husband back. I won't ever lose him again."

"Why would you want him back? Did you not see the way he beat on Kephri?" I demanded. I didn't understand how these people could pardon a man for beating a woman, regardless of her crime.

"He is a complicated man, full of arrogant pride, who cares only for himself. He may be difficult much of the time, but he is still my husband. I love him for all the wrong reasons," she sighed.

"I am having a very difficult time adjusting to your way of life. In my country, a woman can freely choose whom she will marry. I would never stay with a man who didn't honor and cherish me, and I certainly wouldn't tolerate him bedding another woman."

Iset laughed softly. "Your country sounds like a wonderful place to live. Women can choose so many things freely. It pains me to know he beds another, but he desires many sons, and that is what I cannot give him. I am childless." Iset's amber eyes saddened, and she ran a hand over her empty womb.

"Are you certain it is you who is childless?" I asked. Because of the enormous amount of inbreeding in their family, it was more likely Thutmosis would inherit a congenital disease, such as infertility, than Iset.

"I want children more than anything, but I can't help I was born this way. It matters little though, because he has returned to me."

"For now," I reminded. Iset's expression changed suddenly, twisting scornfully as I doubted Thutmosis' commitment. I didn't want to offend her, so I quickly added, "You needn't worry about him returning to Kephri because she has been imprisoned."

"I saw Kephri very early this morning. She was not in jail," Iset countered.

Furious, I grabbed my chalice and gulped down the wine, trying to calm my enraged heart. Ahmose had ordered for Kephri's arrest, so why was she still here in the palace? Had he become angry over our argument last night and gone back on his word?

Frantically, I got up from the table and started to go after Menefer. As long as Kephri was still in the palace, Menefer wasn't safe.

Iset called after me, "Are you leaving me, Kara?"

"I have to find Menefer," I replied. "Kephri knows she told Pharaoh about her affair. She will hurt her."

"Kephri won't hurt anyone," Iset replied evenly. "She was found dead moments ago."

I spun around on my heels to face Iset. Had I heard her correctly? My head felt dizzy, so I gripped the chair for support. "How?" I meant to say more, but my voice wavered until I lost it completely. My tongue became dry in my mouth. I swallowed and drew in a deep breath, unsure if I wanted to hear the answer. "How did she die?"

"I don't know the details yet," she answered. "I overheard the gabby servants on my way here. Word is probably spreading all over the palace. I'm sure we'll both find out what happened soon enough."

I tried to hold my head up without feeling swimmy. It wasn't grief I was suddenly consumed by, but guilt. I couldn't believe I had killed her. She was no longer here, but instead lying cold and dead somewhere...because of me. I had taken her life away.

I replayed last night over in my head, recalling how sick the aloe had made her. There was no reason the aloe would have killed her. Then it hit me. The aloe wouldn't have been fatal unless she was pregnant. She and Thutmosis had been having an affair for some time now, so pregnancy was possible. My stomach twisted into an unbearable knot.

"I know it's shocking, Kara, but why are you grieving? Kephri was a dreadful woman. Don't you hold some form of resentment towards her for harming your servant?" Iset eased back into her chair as she moved a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, adorned by a sapphire the size of a grape. "I must go now. There is much to do now that a murderer is loose in the palace. My guards are waiting for me outside." Iset got up and went to the door. Before she left, she came to embrace me. "This is a dangerous time, Kara. Do not be left unattended by a guard. I don't want to lose you."

I did not fear for my life at that moment. I feared I would lose Ahmose when I confessed I was the murderer.