KIYA: Rise of a New Dynasty (Kiya Trilogy Book 3) Read online

  “It’s not going to be the same around here without Papa and Tut,” she said, sitting up to look me in the eyes. “It’s always been the four of us and Itani. We all fled Amarna together and have been together ever since. Even with Tut in the palace, he still came by and spent time with us.”

  She sighed and sank back onto my chest. “Itani will be devastated when she hears. She always felt fiercely attached to him because he was her only full-blooded sibling, even when he would taunt her mercilessly.”

  I thought of Itani and tears filled my eyes. I hadn’t seen her in several years, and with Tut gone, her absence seemed unendurable. I sat up and found a piece of papyrus.

  “We must send word to Itani before she hears from someone else. Then, in the morning, I will demand for Horemheb to bring her back. I want to be able to watch over my children closely from now on so this doesn’t happen again.”

  That night, a storm blew over. Storms were so rare that the children were terribly frightened by it and all ended up in my bed with me. The wind howled and the thunder echoed around the house making it shake. It seemed as if nature felt our sorrow and grieved with us.

  Suddenly the door burst open. Rachel screeched with fright. Ezra scrambled onto my lap and clasped my tunic.

  “It’s all right,” I said to them soothingly. “It’s just the wind.”

  “No, it isn’t.”

  All the children clung to me at the deep voice. A flash of lightning lit up the house and Horemheb rushed toward us. Rachel screeched again as he bent over me.

  “Stay away from the Egyptian parts of the city. Don’t come to my estate. Don’t even dare try to go to Tut’s burial. Everything has changed, and you and all your people are in terrible danger.”

  “Horemheb, what has happened?” I asked in fear.

  “I don’t have all the details yet, but Ankhe sent me here because she is terrified for you. She has even made me bring Gerlind and her daughters to you so they can bid you farewell. I’m taking them northward so they can return to Gerlind’s people.”

  I looked across and saw three women standing in the next room, one holding a baby. “But Delila has Tut’s only child.”

  “That’s why she must flee. Ay doesn’t want your line to continue. He says the child has filthy blood, tainted by Hebrews and pale-skinned tribesman. He will kill her, like he tried to kill you.”

  I pried my children off me and rushed over to Gerlind and her daughters. I touched Gerlind’s face, relieved she would finally be free of the palace and her awful husband.

  “I can’t believe this is goodbye.”

  She smiled and clasped my hand between hers. “We will always be sisters, Naomi. I will never forget you.”

  I kissed her head and we embraced. I then turned to Delila, my son’s love, and his beautiful daughter in her arms. I kissed the child’s head, gently stroking her cheek. “Goodbye, little one.”

  “We will tell her of you and her father,” Delila said. “So that she may know what bravery and sacrifice means.”

  I touched her face and began to cry. “Thank you.”

  Horemheb’s hand rested on the small of my back as he said gently, “We must leave. This storm will hide our flight from the city.” He looked down at me. “We will flee on foot until we reach Abydos. Would you like me to take anything to Itani?”

  “Yes.” I rushed over to where I had left the letter and handed it to him.

  He took it and tapped it against his hand. “It will not take long from Abydos to reach the Delta by boat. I should return before Tut is buried forty days hence. So, Naomi, since I cannot watch over you, promise me you will stay in this sector of the city. Stay hidden, and don’t cause any trouble.”

  “I promise,” I answered earnestly, sensing how serious he was.

  He stepped forward to kiss me, but I turned away, not wanting my children to see and think I was betraying their father. So instead, he clasped my head, kissed it, and whispered, “I love you, Naomi. Be safe.”

  Then he took Gerlind’s arm and guided the women out of the house.

  Again, I found myself overwhelmed with people trying to console me, and again I didn’t want it. No one could say anything to take away the pain of my first-born child dying.

  During the forty days of embalming, rumors began to fly surrounding my son’s death. There were whispers of murder plots, training accidents, plagues in the palace, and even that he had been dead for months and it had been covered up. People said the gods punished Tut for his father’s betrayal of them. I hated having to hold my tongue and keep my head low. I wanted to defend my son’s honor in his death, but I had promised Horemheb not to draw attention to myself or cause trouble.

  I waited anxiously for his return to give me word of Itani, and of Gerlind’s safe flight from Egypt, and occasionally I caught myself hoping he had arranged a marriage with a princess so he could marry me. I fought to suppress those thoughts.

  Finally, the forty days passed and I heard that Tut’s body was in the throne room for the night before it was to be sealed in its tomb. I had to go see him one last time and perform my people’s burial customs for him. So, despite Horemheb’s direct instructions not to, I slipped out in the middle of the night and entered through the secret passageway I had used twice before.

  The moon gave me enough light to see as I hurried silently through the palace to the throne room. Cautiously, I glanced around as I reached the door and pushed it open. I scanned the room to make sure it was safe, then checked my shawl and veil were still securely fastened. Then, fixing my gaze on the altar in the center of the room, I headed straight for it.

  There, resting on it, lay my son, wrapped from his toes to his neck in linens, and smelling faintly of ground-up wood. I leaned over to look into his face, painted lightly with make-up. I stroked his head and cried silently. My son really was dead, the boy who had once been the hope of his father was no more, cut off when his life had barely begun. I touched his cheek, feeling his skin for the last time, and remembering the day of his birth, and when I first held him. As I stared into his face, I could not see the Pharaoh, but my little boy who bossed and bullied his siblings and cousins, who rode out to the fields on Malachi’s shoulders, and who loved me above everyone else. I kissed his cheek, then pressed my face against his chest, weeping onto it.

  Suddenly, someone touch my head and I drew back in fear.

  On the other side of the altar stood Horemheb.

  “I knew you would come,” he said softly with tears in his eyes. “I am so sorry, Naomi.”

  “Why are you apologizing?” I asked, keeping my voice low. “There was nothing you could have done.”

  His gaze fell.

  “Was there?” I gasped.

  “Naomi, I have uncovered intrigues regarding Tut’s death, but I do not wish to tell you of them. I don’t want to make your pain worse.”

  I looked down at Tut’s face again, then removed some oils from my robe and began preparing his body according to our customs.

  Horemheb watched, and spoke only once to ask, “It won’t leave a trace, will it?”

  “No.”

  When I finished, I kissed Tut’s head one last time and stood. I had to leave, but I struggled to make my legs walk away.

  Horemheb reached across Tut and handed me a letter. “It’s from Itani. She was extremely bereaved by the news, and it took all of my power to convince her to stay.”

  I turned the note over in my hand before slipping it into my robe.

  “Thank you, Horemheb.”

  My mind began to tick over, thinking about my two children with Akhenaten, and it finally sunk in what Horemheb had said to me. I locked eyes with him, feeling my anger swelling up. “What did you mean by intrigues?”

  “Naomi―”

  “Tell me, Horemheb. He is my son. I must know.”

  His gaze fell as he began, “The man he raced against that day was paid to run him off the road into the crocodile’s nest.”

  “B
y whom?” I growled.

  Horemheb stood and locked eyes with me. “I think you know the answer to that question.”

  “Ay,” I hissed.

  “And his son. Tut told him of his plans to give the Hebrews more freedom and it pushed him over the edge. Nahktmin had tried to kill him once before while sparring, but failed.”

  “But he gave him a nasty wound,” I said, remembering seeing it under Tut’s tunic.

  “Ay intends to take the crown.”

  I glared up at him. “No! You must stop him. Take Ankhe…”

  He shook his head. “I cannot, Ay has already laid claim upon her. Once Tut is in his tomb, he will take her as his wife, thus sealing his claim on the crown.”

  “Then you must find someone else!” I said desperately. “There must be plenty of princesses around.”

  “None who haven’t been traded for treaty marriages. Tut conceived none, and the few who survived the plague in Amarna are all gone.”

  “We cannot let this happen!” I said a little too loudly.

  Horemheb rushed at me and grabbed my mouth. “Hush. Come, let us go somewhere safe to discuss this.”

  I glanced back down at Tut, angry now for his death. He was supposed to be alive, still bursting into Horemheb’s house, and laughing at him as he scowled at his antics, or rushing in to me and stealing my food while I cooked. Anger burned inside me, fueled by the fact that Tut had trusted Ay, and Ay tricked him into giving him his confidence.

  More than anything else, I felt furious that after all I had done, after fleeing and covering my tracks and deceiving people I cared for, Ay had finally managed to bring my son down for his own selfish agenda. I remembered Mordad talking to me when I first arrived at the palace and she had said, “You need to think for yourself, listen to everyone, but believe no one, not even me. We all have our own agendas and we will do whatever we can to accomplish them.”

  The time had come for me to have a real agenda, something more substantial than protecting my son. Ay had accomplished his. He had killed the boy who threatened to take the crown away from his family; he even believed he had killed me. Now he would take his own granddaughter to seal his claim upon the crown, and for his son as well.

  I turned away from my son for the last time, and followed Horemheb out of the palace. He led me back to his estate where he took me into his study.

  I began pacing as soon as he shut the door, and started planning, scheming.

  “Naomi,” he said in a hushed voice. “Ankhe does not wish to marry Ay.”

  My head shot up and I turned to him. “Then she won’t, and you can…”

  He raised his hand. “She will not marry me. She says she cannot because she knows I am in love with you. She said with your husband and Tut dying, you need some joy in your life.”

  He paused and stepped closer to me. “She has written to King Suppiluliumas of the Hittites, for he has many sons. She knows of Ay’s treachery, and how he is the one at fault for her husband’s death, so is seeking desperately for an alternative.”

  “A Hittite?” I sank into the chair behind the desk. “Would a Hittite be better than Ay? They are constantly warring with us. Wouldn’t that cause problems?”

  I paused. Anyone would be better than Ay. I reached across the desk, slapping my hand on it. “Make it happen. My son’s wife needs to be protected from those who killed him.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Are you giving me permission to do whatever it takes to dislodge Ay from his position of power?”

  “Did you ever really need my permission?”

  A smirk spread across his face. “No, but I like that I do.” He leaned over the table to meet eyes with me. “We will bring him down, Naomi. He will pay for all he has done to you, to Tut, to Ankhe and to the late king. He will come to regret the day he killed your son.”

  I jumped to my feet. “What do you intend to do?”

  “King Suppiluliumas will be suspicious of Ankhe’s request, and so will send a messenger to see if he is being deceived. I will meet with the messenger secretly and tell of Ankhe’s tragic tale. Coming from me, the king will know it is no trick and will send a son.”

  I smiled. “Very good. But what if Ay discovers your secret meeting?”

  He frowned. “I will just have to be cautious.”

  “Ay has many eyes and ears, Horemheb. A Hittite entering the kingdom is likely to be noticed.”

  He grinned. “You are still so clever.” He stepped around and sat on the desk beside me. “I will go to meet him by the Red Sea; that way, he will not be in our kingdom long enough to attract attention, and my movements in that direction will not seem suspicious because there is still a battle going on at Kadesh.”

  I nodded, impressed. “That sounds like it may just work. But if he does get back, the prince who will be sent will certainly draw attention.”

  “I will have to send a convoy to meet him. I have already picked out some of my most loyal men, including your brother-in-law.”

  “You have everything covered.” I let out a long breath. “Except one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Ay is far too clever to miss Ankhe sending the letter in the first place. At this very moment, he probably has spies watching its journey.”

  He smiled and nodded. “I didn’t miss that. I sent assassins to take them out.” He reached over and grabbed my waist, pulling me in front of him. “Can you think of anything else?”

  I shook my head, then nodded. “What if this does fail? What if something goes wrong and Ay does take Ankhe as his wife? He will become king, and have a legitimate heir. You must marry, Horemheb.”

  He stood and grabbed me by the back of the head. “You should reveal yourself and take your place as the Queen Mother. That would make you a legitimate connection back to the bloodline.”

  I pushed back from him in alarm. “I can’t do that! Ay will come after the rest of my children, my sisters, all of my family.”

  He turned away from me and stabbed his dagger into the desk. “Then who should I marry? Ankhe is the only one left! I could send word to Abimbala for one of her daughters, but that will most likely be met by ridicule and taken as a sign of our kingdom’s weakness.”

  “Then keep looking! There must be someone whom you are missing.”

  He swung back to me with a pained look in his eyes. “Why can’t it be simple? Why can’t I just have you?”

  I pulled back startled, but quickly recovered. “Because you made a promise to protect my son’s birthright, and although he has been murdered for it, you must continue to protect it by filling his place.”

  He pulled his dagger out of the desk and turned to me, advancing angrily. He pulled up in front of me and waved it in my face. “I hate it when you do that.”

  He turned and opened the door for me. “Hurry home, Naomi. Your children need you.”

  I walked over and looked up at him. “What will you do?”

  He refused to look down at me as he muttered, “It is time for me to find a wife.”

  I nodded, feeling strangely hurt. I walked slowly away and down the stairs.

  As I arrived back at the farm, I paused and changed direction, heading for the knoll where Malachi was buried. I fell to my knees beside his grave and wept.

  ena chatted away, telling me how excited all of her and Eliora’s children were about her pregnancy. It would be her first child with Bilhan, and both sets of children were eager to meet their new sibling.

  My mind was elsewhere. Ay had buried Tut in a hurry; even Ankhe hadn’t had the opportunity to place her tributes into the unfinished tomb. Ay seemed eager to have my branch of the royal family forgotten, and himself raised to Pharaoh. Ankhe ran away after the burial ceremony to escape from him, and ended up at our farm. She cried for hours as she told me all the details of the funeral. She said Ay watched her the whole time in a way that told her he knew she had sent for a Hittite husband. She was terrified of what would happen to her, especially if King Suppi
luliumas refused to send her a son.

  I said to her, “If it falls through, marry Horemheb. Surely he’s a better option that your grandfather. You told me once that you had tried to convince him to marry you. Maybe under the current circumstances, he will accept.”

  She laughed sarcastically. “No. He is a man who is completely smitten with one woman.”

  I flushed, but hurried on, “At least think about it. Anyone is better than Ay.”

  She shuddered. “Yes, after how he arranged my Tut’s death…” Her voice caught as she gazed up at me. “I will think about it.”

  She stayed with us that night, curled up beside me and clinging to me as she slept, but in the morning, Tobiah ran to the farm and burst in. “Naomi! Is the queen here?”

  Ankhe tried to hide behind me as he entered the room. He stared down at her but snarled to me, “She has to leave! Ay is sweeping the city for her and will kill anyone he suspects of concealing her from him.”

  Ankhe whimpered and began to cry. “I don’t want to go back!”

  But when my sons appeared at the door looking confused, her face fell onto my shoulder as she cried, “But I must! Naomi, I cannot cause you to lose another son!”

  She slowly stood. She straightened her clothing, then washed her face before turning back to me. “Naomi, I don’t want to lose you. If I lose you, I will have nothing left of my husband. So I must leave now, on my own, but I will visit you at Horemheb’s house.”

  I nodded. “Thank you, Ankhe. Take care of yourself.”

  She smiled at my genuine concern for her, and I saw her beauty. It was such a pity her life had been so tragic.

  “Thank you, Naomi. I love you so much.” She threw her arms around my waist, squeezing me tightly. Then she turned and left without looking back.

  Several days later, I received word from Horemheb that he had met with the Hittite messenger and he had successfully convinced him that Ankhe’s proposition was genuine. He left a small band of men on the boarder to escort the prince to Thebes, and headed back with the rest.