Heretic of El Amarna

Chapter 2: Amenhotep

When we returned to the palace, things were in a state. Not only had I disappeared, but my cousin, Nefertiti, had also disappeared. My older brother, Thutmose, was in a panic mode, shouting at the guards for letting her out into the streets, while his striped tabby cat, Ta-Miu, purred and rubbed against his legs.

“But my Prince, you never said that your cousin was not allowed out into the Thebian streets!” One guard protested.

“Sweet Isis!” My brother shook his head and snapped. “She is the future Queen of Egypt, you fool! She will be my Great Wife and you let her go out without a guard into Thebes? Have you taken leave of your senses?”

“No, my Prince.” The guard who had spoken hung his head, ashamed at his lack of thought.

I brought Nefertiti over, setting her down gently a few feet from my brother, allowing her to walk the remaining few feet on her own. Thutmose was cool towards me, but he guarded Nefertiti jealously, and I was sure he would not perceive it well if he saw me carrying her in my arms. She did not look displeased at the contact with me, and I knew she was not fond of my brother. She is too smart for him, and he gets on her nerves.

 Nefertiti flicked her long, luxuriant black hair over her shoulder, walking the remaining distance to stand beside my brother. I knew he was in for something by the way that her eyes gleamed. She disliked it when Thutmose punished the servants or guards for her escapades, but she refused to see that if she stopped these unexpected, unapproved outings, the servants and guards would not be in trouble in the first place.

Sighing I hurried to catch up with her, trying to catch her eye as I did so to stop her before she went too far. My brother is not overly smart nor is he cunning, but he is not stupid and if she insults him too openly, I fear that he will have her locked up for a time where she could not escape. If he does that, she will be miserable, and I do not want that.

Sweet Isis, what now?! I could not catch her eye, and she was up to something. Truly, I feared for her. Stop her before she goes too far, Sweet Ma’at!

Nefertiti put her slender arms around my brother’s chest, carefully avoiding the cat, who walked off in disdain, and hugged him fiercely. My brother stopped in midsentence, too surprised to continue. When he realized who was hugging him, he glared at her. “Nefertiti! Let go of me this instant!”

She looked up at him with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “Not if you will not stop tormenting these guards!”

Her tone was imperious as if she was the one in command. My brother’s jaw muscle tensed, and he tried to untangle himself from Nefertiti, but he did not succeed. Sighing, he said, “All right, I will let it go this once. However, if it happens again, I will have them placed in the public stands. They’ll be manacled there and whipped, Nefertiti. Understand? Whipped... Because of you and your escapades. I hope you will not try anything like this again.”

“I would not dream of it, Thutmose.” She purred.

I knew she would, but she would be cleverer next time about how she did it. However, despite the fact that Nefertiti had done this many times, my brother believed her. He was too trusting.

Later on, we were summoned before my mother, Queen Tiye. Despite my high respect of her, I knew that my words to Nefertiti earlier and her beliefs about my mother were both true. She was sometimes overbearing and cruel in order to get her way, but if you did not cross her, she could be kind and loving - provided she liked you.

She had great influence over my father, Pharaoh Amenhotep III, and could do almost anything she wished since she was his Great Wife.

My sisters, Sitamun, Isis, and Nebetah, stood beside her. My other sisters, Henut-Taneb and Beketaten, were not present.

“Nefertiti, you ought to be ashamed of yourself!” My mother hissed.

Nefertiti, to her credit, held her head high and stared Queen Tiye in the eye. She was as fierce as the desert stallions that pull our chariots. Yet even our stallions were afraid of the viper, and my mother was as dangerous and as cunning as any viper. Nefertiti would do well to have a bit of respect for her and perhaps even a little fear. Yet, Nefertiti was perfect to me in every way.

She's not yours, and she can never be so. She is your brother’s no matter what you may wish, and nothing short of his death would change it. My ba whispered to me.

My mother turned her black, beady eyes on me and with no more kindness than she had shown Nefertiti, she tiraded me for my foolishness. “Sweet Isis, boy! Do you never think before you act?”

I wanted to retort, but I held my peace and settled for sarcastically mumbling. “Of course not, Mother. If I did, I’d have to work and we both know how I hate doing any sort of work.” I knew mumbling irritated her, but I did it anyway.

“Speak up, you fool boy! Did you even think before you went after your cousin?”

“Yes, I thought for about five minutes, O Great Lady.” I kept my tone formal because she knew that I only did that with her in private when I was extremely upset with her.

“And what went through your head, my son? Perhaps you thought to win your cousin’s favor with the foolish stunt of keeping an eye on her alone in the city?” Her sharp eyes watched me.

I have to confess, I began to panic. What if she knows what I think of Nefertiti? She would never forgive me! I am one of her favorites, but she likes Thutmose better and she would surely punish me!

I looked up, trying not to look guilty. It had not been what was going through my head at the time, but my mother had that effect on people. She made others squirm with guilt even when they had done nothing wrong.

“That is not what went through my head at all!” I retorted, struggling to keep my voice level with her.

Nefertiti gave me an annoyed glance.

What does she want me to say? Sweet Ma’at! I cannot say that I went after her because I wanted her favor! It would be a lie and even if it were true, it would hardly be appropriate to say that I care about her when she’s been promised to my brother! Silly girl! I wanted to shake my head in irritation and leave the room, but I could not because my mother still looked at me with her intent black eyes.

“Well? Then what did go through that empty head of yours, my son?” 

“Aunt Tiye… My queen, please! Do not be angry with Amenhotep! It is not his fault. It is all mine! He never would have left the palace like that without guards if I hadn’t left it without them! Do not punish him! Punish me instead!” Nefertiti burst out.

My face burned in shame, but I looked her straight in the eye anyway. What is with her?!  I saw the truth in her eyes.

She could not hide it.

She loved me, and she was trying to protect me because of it.

She dropped her eyes quickly, her face growing red with embarrassment as she saw that I had discerned the truth.

My mother snapped. “Keep your mouth shut, Nefertiti! It does not befit one of your station to be sticking her nose in between the Great Lady and her son. You will be punished; do not believe you will avoid that! However, Amenhotep will receive his own due for his foolishness and nothing you can do will change that. Get out of my sight! You are to stay in your rooms for the rest of the month and you will only leave during a festival when you must leave!”

Nefertiti left, her back rigid with anger and head still held high with that arrogant tilt I knew so well. She was still showing her defiance and fiery spirit despite all my mother’s attempts to break her of it.

Sighing, I turned back to take whatever my mother threw at me. If Nefertiti could sacrifice so much for me, I should at least make her proud she did it. After all, I knew my mother had added at least another two weeks of confinement to the punishment she had had in mind for Nefertiti’s outburst on my behalf.