Lynda Robinson - Murder at the Feast of Rejoicing

He'd had enough. If he stayed, the misery he was hiding might escape and reveal itself. Getting to his feet, Meren opened the door, stepped outside, and kept his gaze away from Bentanta. She followed him. Reia was waiting for them.

"Take the Lady Bentanta to her chamber. Set a guard outside her door and see that she remains there." He kept his gaze trained on the palm tree.

"I'm going home in the morning, Meren."

"You'll leave when I give permission."

"If you try to stop me, I'll tell your family about the letter."

Meren looked at her then. "I might have believed that threat if it had come from Anhai. I don't believe you."

"Did you know you're one of the few people I'd like to kick?"

"Take her to her chamber, Reia."

He didn't watch her go. He was too busy praying he wouldn't give way to misery and confusion before she left.

Late the same afternoon Meren stood beneath the awning of the deckhouse of Wings of Horus. Kysen was talking to Nebamun not far away. After the interview with Bentanta he'd sought refuge here, hiding like a wounded antelope. Flooded with remorse, he had relived the grief of Djet's death. Now he understood Nebetta's and Hepu's animosity on account of Djet, but he also blamed them for Sennefer's impotence. Hepu had beaten and sneered at his sons almost from infancy, and Meren was certain that this mistreatment had robbed Sennefer of his manhood. His aunt and uncle were like two demons sent to spawn evil and spread it throughout the family.

It had taken him a long time to regain his composure, but he'd climbed out of the refuse pit into which he'd fallen. He had to, because it was urgent that he confirm Bentanta's tale of Anhai's murder. He'd sent for Kysen and told him what had happened at Green Palm and in Bentanta's cell. Kysen was now giving a censored version of the tale to Nebamun.

"So there it is," Kysen was saying. "He jammed one of these into her chest." He hefted the oblong grindstone.

Nebamun took it, his arm sagging under the weight. He held it in one hand and thrust it against the palm of the other. Meren watched him for a moment, then beckoned Kysen.

"You said Nento is growing more and more agitated at the haunted temple. Should I send him away?"

"I'll go again tonight. If he's no better, you can dismiss him in the morning. Father, you don't look well."

"I feel as if I've brought a curse home with me."

"Anhai is the one who brought the curse," Kysen replied. "If she hadn't been so vicious, Sennefer wouldn't have fought with her."

Meren turned his face to the north breeze, but even that beneficent wind couldn't banish the deathly heat. Nebamun set the grindstone down on the deck and approached them.

"What say you?" Meren asked. "Could my cousin have caused his wife's death in such a strange manner?"

"My lord, I think it is possible."

"Why?"

Nebamun pointed to the casket he'd brought with him, in which were stored his medical texts. "The wisdom of the ancient ones has been passed down for countless generations. Wisdom learned from the study of our brothers, the cattle, the ox, the goat, and others, as well as experience from great healers such as the great Imhotep."

"I know that, Nebamun. You don't have to convince me."

"Yes, lord. And we also know that the heart is the house of the soul. Within it resides a person's reason, his character and feelings. The gods speak to us through the heart, and through it they let us know their will. But also, from the heart issue channels linking all parts of the body. These channels convey blood, air, tears, sperm, sustenance."

"Nebamun, all I want to know is whether a sharp blow could kill Anhai."

"That is what I'm trying to explain, lord. The heart is the center of the soul, the crux of all channels in the body. A sudden blow could disrupt the flow of blood, air, everything." Nebamun held up a finger. "And such a blow could murder the ka in its house."

"Then Sennefer could have killed his wife with one strike."

"Aye, lord. I think it possible."

Meren nodded and walked away to stand at the ship's railing. He heard Kysen thank Nebamun and dismiss him. When his son joined him, he was leaning on the railing watching a royal trading vessel sail by, its decks laden with incense trees, several baboons climbing on its mast.

"Bener was looking for you this morning," Kysen said. "She accused Isis of flirting with poor Simut."

"Was she justified?"

"I'm afraid Simut isn't wise in the ways of young women. He's caught between the two and wishes to be relieved of his duties as their bodyguard. He said he's suffering greatly."

"I'll ask Aunt Cherit to supervise them. They won't be able to fool her."

"I can already hear Bener's howls of dismay," Kysen said with a smile. Then the smile faded. "Now what do we do?"

"This tale of the grindstone, I've been thinking about it. Even if Nebamun agrees it's possible, I can't justify believing Bentanta without something more to confirm what she says."

"You could, but you won't."

"Please, Ky, not now. I've been thinking about that night at the feast, and what various people have said about how Sennefer behaved."

"Even Wah noticed him," Kysen said with a grimace of distaste. "After hinting that your brother and Bentanta were guilty, that is. He said he saw Sennefer after Hepu finished speaking."

"Which doesn't help verify Bentanta's tale."

Sighing, Kysen propped his forearms on the railing and gazed out at the deep blue water. "I know, especially since Wah offered a convincing detail. He said he was able to spot Sennefer because he had a fresh unguent cone on, and it was lopsided."

"Then I don't see how-" Meren turned to look at his son. "An unmelted scent cone?"

"Yes."

"But not much earlier, the one he had on was already melting."

They looked at each other.

"Between the time Bentanta and Anhai quarreled and when Hepu finished his interminable Instruction, he used two scent cones." Meren turned back to gaze across the river at the desert.

"Why would he do that?" Kysen asked on a note of suspicion.

"He may have lost the first one."

Kysen said, "In a struggle."

"Perhaps. I must think about this, Ky." Meren closed his eyes. "But it's as I said. If Sennefer killed Anhai, then who killed Sennefer, and why?" Meren opened his eyes reluctantly to face his son. "And since we've been so astute in confirming what Bentanta has told us, we've just increased the likelihood that my brother is a murderer. Ra is the only one I've been able to link to Sennefer's death except Bentanta."

"Even if she's told us the truth about Anhai's death, she still might have had a reason to kill Sennefer. One we don't know about. And anyway, from what you've told me, I wouldn't put it past Hepu to kill Sennefer rather than allow anyone to find out his son was a murderer."

Meren straightened and eyed his son. "By the gods, Ky, you've grown as suspicious as I am."

"I'm only using the reason Nebamun says is one of the properties of the heart. Hepu is bloated with pride in his virtue. His heart is unbalanced near to madness with it. I can imagine he would fear for his sacred reputation enough to get rid of a son who was both impotent and a murderer. You have said he is violent."

"But if he thought Sennefer killed Anhai," Meren said, "Ra could have murdered him out of revenge. You forget that I had Sennefer confined immediately after finding

Anhai's body. Ra would know that such an action meant I suspected him."

"I only meant that Ra isn't the only one who had a reason to kill Sennefer."

Meren smiled bitterly. "And there's still Bentanta. She feared the discovery of her adultery. Who knows what her husband's family would have done had they found out? She was right. An adulterous woman can lose everything, including her life."