Suzanne Robinson (35 page)

“Trouble,” Anqet said.

Seth nodded. “After I told His Majesty of the high
priest’s part in the desecration, it took all my influence to persuade him not to kill the old lecher Let’s go before Pharaoh feeds the high priest to his new lion cub.” Seth took Anqet’s hand, and they scooted toward the door.

“Seth.”

General Horemheb’s voice made Anqet jump. Seth groaned and turned back to his commander.

“Seth, how long did you say you’d be gone? Dear Countess, you are a vision fit for the gods. Seth, fifty Libyan prisoners escaped yesterday before they could be sent to the gold mines. I need a squadron to help chase them. And we need to talk about several new problems. The king’s majesty is worried because the Hittite king is threatening Pharaoh’s North Syrian vassals again, and we’ve also gotten word of an influx of refugees fleeing Bedouin raiders on the northeastern frontier.”

Horemheb paused for breath, but not long enough for Anqet or Seth to say anything before he charged on with his list.

“And the king of Babylon is worried that his Assyrian vassals are snuggling up to Pharaoh while they plan a revolt. They are. Seth, you’ve been remiss these past weeks. We must speak of these happenings and take council with Pharaoh.”

“My general, the king has spoken to me of these things. Pharaoh says Anqet and I have time before he needs us back in Thebes.”

“I don’t agree,” Horemheb said.

Anqet could see herself sailing to Nefer alone. She slipped her arm around Seth’s waist and pressed her body close to his. At once, Seth shook his head at the general. Horemheb grumbled at them.

“Don’t pester my former concubine, general.”

Pharaoh joined Anqet and Seth, and gave Horemheb a nod of dismissal. He pressed three fingers to his temple and smiled ruefully at Anqet.

“Lady, you must teach my body servant to get rid of headaches.”

“I will, Majesty,” Anqet said with a smile.

Tutankhamun beamed at them. “I’ve come to give you escort. You won’t get away from Thebes without me to interfere with Horemheb, and Ay, and Rennut. I forbade your stepmother to join you on the galley. You are in my debt.”

“The living god is a beneficent protector,” Seth said as he bowed to the king.

Anqet nodded. Tutankhamun walked them to his own private door that led to a concealed exit from the palace. No one stopped them, not even the high priest of Amun-Ra. The old man aimed a look of malevolence at Seth and Anqet as they passed. When Tutankhamun pushed the door open, revealing a sentry, Seth closed it again. He glared in the direction of the retreating high priest.

“Majesty, you will be cautious?”

Tutankhamun sighed and played with a scarab bracelet on his wrist. “He and that pack of greedy temple bureaucrats were behind it all. Don’t worry. I’m not a fool. I know the priesthood of Amun-Ra is too powerful for me to oppose openly. I want revenge, but not at the cost of civil war.”

Seth nodded his approval.

“We’ll speak of the ways of revenge when you return.”

“Thy will is mine, Golden One.”

The king and Seth looked at each other without speaking, and Anqet was suddenly glad she wasn’t the high priest of Amun-Ra. She stirred uneasily, for the king transferred his attention to her.

“I envy you,” the king said to the count. “You will have privacy and love. I rule the Two Lands, and I can have neither.”

Those words, and the king’s young, brooding face, made Anqet brave. “Divine Majesty, at my house you will always find both.”

Seth smiled his concurrence. Anqet was rewarded with a brief glimpse of the king’s surprise and unfettered joy before the living-god mask of gravity dropped into place.

“I think Seth has found a woman unsurpassed. Perhaps
in a few weeks I shall come to your haven of privacy and love.”

They slipped out the door while the king stood guard. Seth grabbed Anqet’s hand. She lifted her skirts and dashed down the corridor with him. It led to an enclosed courtyard. Seth sent a guard for their chariot, then took advantage of their isolation.

“Little singer” Seth wedged her between his body and a pillar and tried to swallow her mouth.

Anqet grinned beneath his lips. She slipped her hands inside his robe to stroke his ribs. She felt his erection prod at her thigh. Seth moved back from her and glanced down at his hips.

“I hate waiting,” he said.

Anqet pulled her robe back into place across her breasts. “Cultivate patience. I’ve had to wait to go home for months.”

“By Pharaoh’s mercy, I forgot my wedding gift.”

“You’ve given me enough jewels to fill Pharaoh’s treasury.”

Seth tapped her nose with his forefinger “This is a special gift. I sent my best squadron to Nefer Thanasa, son of Thuty-hotpe, and his band of leeches have fled your home. Bastis will be there to greet us when we arrive—and Nebre.”

“Seth-Seth-Seth-Seth!”

Anqet threw herself into his arms. He spun around with Anqet hanging from his neck, set her on her feet, and grinned down at her Anqet glanced over her shoulder The gate to the outside was opening to reveal their chariot.

“My love,” she said.

“Yes, enticing wife.”

“Before we leave Thebes, I must ask. What had the king to say about Sennefer’s burial?”

She expected tension and grief. She saw resigned sadness and peace.

“At first he wanted to destroy my brother’s ka. He ordered it done, but—I don’t know—he looked at me after
he said the words, and changed the order.” Seth shook his head. “Osiris has given the Golden One unsurpassed mercy. Pharaoh decreed that Sennefer should lie at Annu-Rest. I will put him beneath the chapel.”

“And Merab?”

“Vanished. Dega thinks he’s fled to the land of the Hittites or to Babylon.”

Anqet took Seth’s hand. Noting the predatory look on his face, she pulled him toward the gate. “I suppose we could start at Annu-Rest and follow the trail of coconut to our wily Lord Merab.”

Seth shook his head again.

“The only trail I intend to follow is the one that leads to your bed.”

That night, Anqet lay with Seth in the cabin of the galley. She nestled in the count’s arms and ran her hand along the burnished surface of a muscle in Seth’s arm. The count opened his eyes.

“So, beloved, you go home at last.”

“Bringing a mate with me,” Anqet said. She smiled into Seth’s water-green eyes. “When I first fled to Thebes, I wanted nothing more than to rid myself of Hauron and return to my ordered and predictable life, yet after all that has happened, I think staying at Nefer all my life would be boring. I was so young.”

Seth nodded. He traced a line across her forehead. “And now you are old, aged, wrinkled. Ouch!”

They wrestled until Anqet toppled them to the floor. Seth twisted away from her As she sat looking up at him, he moved back to the bed. Golden lamplight caressed sleek, strong legs and a bare abdomen. Seth stood before Anqet. He lifted his arms, beckoning, and chanted to her.