Lynda Robinson: Murder at the Feast of Rejoicing

"He rushed at me deliberately," Reia said. "What madman charges a spear with a dagger?"

"A man who wants a quick death rather than a slow one," Meren said as he surveyed Wah's distorted, sweating features. Blood wet his arm when he touched the man. "Wah, can you hear me? Tell me who commanded you."

Wah stared up at him. "A pity I used all the poison on Sennefer." Blood seeped from his mouth. "You were going to tell the vizier." A long spasm of coughing stopped him. "Ay w-would have staked me out and flayed the skin from my flesh while I begged for death."

"Don't face the weighing of your heart in the hall of judgment without telling me the truth," Meren said. "Wah?"

Wah's eyes were closed now, and he began to gasp. Meren leaned close, turning his ear to the man's lips, but all he heard was a bubbling gurgle. At the familiar sound, he straightened and moved away from the man. Kysen, who had been holding Wah propped on his knee, allowed the body to slip to the deck.

"Lord, forgive me," Reia said as Meren stood. "He attacked so suddenly that I had no time to think."

"I know," Meren said. "He caught us off guard as well. Who would have expected that a fawning place-seeker would do himself such violence? Wrap the body and take it to the house with Paser's. Kysen, I want to talk to you."

He walked back to the deckhouse with a calm pace that belied his apprehension. When they were alone, he took a chair and beckoned his son to him.

"All this time it was Wah," Kysen said as he sat on the floor beside Meren. "He thought Sennefer knew he murdered Nefertiti and was threatening him?"

"He wasn't thinking clearly. If Anhai and Sennefer had suspected him of such a crime, surely they would have confronted him years ago." Meren rubbed his neck. The muscles felt tight enough to snap. "I think bearing such an. evil secret for so long warped his reason. He lived with the fear of discovery for many years. I think he'd begun to count himself safe, or he wouldn't have sought my favor."

Kysen slapped his thigh. "And just when he thought he glimpsed a path back to power and riches, Sennefer and Anhai blurted out his presence in the household of the dying queen."

"And Sennefer's death had nothing to do with Ra or Bentanta after all."

Kysen glanced up at him. "You don't look relieved."

"Ky, Nefertiti was murdered, and we don't know who was responsible. Wah wouldn't have done it on his own, and once word of his death gets about-well-you saw his terror. Even the Devourer doesn't evoke such fear."

"Then we have to find out who his master was."

"How do we do that? Do we start telling royal ministers, high priests, and our friends we think the queen was murdered?"

"Dangerous?" Kysen asked.

"Extremely. I wouldn't wager on our chances of living out the year."

"Then what do we do?"

Meren rested his chin on his fist and thought for a while. Then he said, "Paser's death was an accident, as was Wah's. He tripped while we were showing him how to spar with a dagger."

"Two accidents on the same day?"

"Everyone knows it's a miracle Paser's stupidity hasn't killed him before now. As for Wah, people may suspect there's more to his death, but no one will challenge us. After all, he was going to marry Idut, so we had no reason to want him dead. I know there will be talk, but nothing can be proved. If we say nothing, the rumors will die for lack of nourishment."

"There's little choice, I suppose."

"Keep silent about the queen's death, Ky. One word could get us both killed."

"You're just going to leave it?"

"No, but we have to be careful. This matter is intricate. We don't know why Nefertiti was killed, much less who commanded it and who benefited." Meren touched Kysen's arm. "We don't even know if Ay knows the truth."

"If he did, wouldn't he have searched out Wah and killed him?"

Meren hesitated, wondering whether to voice his own suppositions. "He may already have discovered and dealt with the one who commanded Wah…" The less Kysen knew, the safer he'd be. "Yes, most likely you're right. He doesn't know."

"So we're left with a tale of lies," Kysen said. "Sennefer killed Anhai, then killed himself?"

"Yes."

Lifting a brow, Kysen said, "The story will please Idut."

"But not Nebetta and Hepu. However, I suspect they will be anxious to keep secret Sennefer's impotence. Remorse over accidental death makes a better explanation than admitting your son was cursed by the gods and less than a man."

They lapsed into an easy silence broken only by the sounds of Reia and the men working outside.

"Father, how much danger is there?"

Meren sighed. "A great deal. In the last years of Akhenaten's reign, many factions vied for power. There were those who tried to use the king by professing devotion to the Aten, and those who suffered because he wouldn't support our foreign allies and vassals. And there were some who decried Nefertiti's influence, either because she failed to stop him from casting out the old gods or because she refused to use her power to enrich them. She also protected and favored Tutankhamun, may he live forever."

"And if we make inquiries about Wah?"

"If we're clumsy, we could be inviting death. I'll have to think about this carefully to decide upon a course." Meren rose. "Meanwhile, there seems to be no threat to the haunted temple, but we've still the family to deal with."

"Shall I find out what happened to Ra?"

"Yes, and I'm going back to the house. I'll have to write letters accounting for these deaths and send the bodies to the families. Gods, Ky, I think I would have gotten more rest at pharaoh's side than I have in my own home."

"I tried to warn you."

Meren left Wings of Horus and walked slowly back to the villa. Although it was still morning, waves of heat rippled up at him from the baking earth. Zar would sulk when he beheld Meren's disheveled state. His kilt was splotched with blood, and his legs were splattered with mud. Meren trudged through the gate past an aged doorkeeper, intent on bathing before he faced Idut and the others.

Unfortunately, a phalanx of relatives waited for him on the loggia, barring the front door. Everyone except Ra seemed to be there. Meren paused to survey the group, then mounted the steps. A walking stick was thrust in his path, knocking against his shin.

"So, boy, you've returned at last," Cherit said as she withdrew her stick and settled back in her carrying chair. "Come here and explain all this absurd running about. Have you decided to accuse your own brother of murder?"

"No, Aunt."

"Injustice!" Hepu loomed over Meren, his bulk expanding with righteous indignation. "I know you've been to Green Palm and found those who implicate Ra in my son's death."

Cherit whacked Hepu's arm with her stick. "Shut your teeth and let Meren explain."

Meren looked around the group. Idut was gazing at him, startled. Behind her Isis and Bener fidgeted. Isis looked eager, as if she expected to enjoy the impending confrontation, while Bener's avid expression was tempered by apprehension. Nebetta wore her now-habitual air of sorrow mixed with condemnation. Refusing to meet her accusatory stare, Meren faced Hepu instead.

"Uncle, I would have a word with you and Nebetta."

He walked to the end of the loggia and stood beside a column. Looking injured and hostile, the two joined him.

"Not long ago," Meren said to Hepu, "you made a curious remark when I spoke of Sennefer's dealings with women. You said he didn't seduce them, and then you said that it wasn't possible for him. I remembered being confused by your choice of words."

"My son was a man of honor-"

"Let me finish. Certain knowledge has come to me that makes plain your meaning. Sennefer was impotent, wasn't he?"

Nebetta gasped. "What lie is this?"