Heretic of El Amarna

Chapter 6: Amenhotep

I heard feet passing my door early in the morning. In my sleep state, I almost dismissed them. Many footsteps passing my door before dawn is not normal, and it came to me that Thutmose might be up to something.

I got off my cushion covered, wooden bed and dressed hastily. Then I followed a little ways behind the guards and my brother, being sure to stay out of sight. I was worried now; he had two guards with him and he was heading for Nefertiti’s room. What he was planning I did not know, but I was frightened for Nefertiti.

When they reached her room, I hid behind the large statue of Thoth, god of wisdom, which stood beside her door. I peered around it and saw Thutmose whisper something to Nefertiti. She paled, but she it was obvious she was still defying him.

What if she tries something foolish? I prayed a silent prayer to all of the gods I could recall that she would not do anything further to make Thutmose angrier than he was. What I did not see was that the very fact that she would not obey him made my brother angry.

He smiled at her, but his smile held no warmth, and she shrank from him. I could tell she was still sleepy because she did not fight the guards when they grabbed her arms and carried her from the room.

Once again, I followed them. What were they doing with my cousin?

I soon found out what they were doing. They took her to a small storage room.

I hid behind another statue – they were plentiful in the palace – and I watched as they threw her into the room. She fell hard on her side, and I heard her soft cry of pain. She had injured something. A slight moan escaped her, and I knew she was holding back the tears of pain.

When she made her way to the straw cot erected in the corner of the room, I could see that she had injured her ankle.

I was angry now. I hated my brother for injuring her! She was to be his Great Wife, and he treated her no better than the refuse that was kicked out of the way in the streets. How dare he?

Yet I could do nothing, and I remained hidden, seething in quiet rage at my brother’s cruelty. If he killed her, I did not know what I would do to him! I would no longer be in my right mind if that happened.

However, I was surprised when Thutmose hissed at the guards. “My mother says we are not allowed to injure her physically! Be more careful with her!”

He walked into the room then and spoke harshly to her. His voice echoed across the hall, and I heard him clearly from my hiding space.

Nefertiti cringed away from him, looking down, and shivering. These actions told a far different story than her previous behaviors had. She was scared to death of my brother. I realized with a shock that she always had been. I had seen the same look in her eyes whenever he touched her, but she had always hidden it behind pranks and commanding airs. Now I saw the reality of it.

I wondered what Thutmose had done to her to cause this. I’ve never seen him hurt her physically or emotionally. He has always been kind, perhaps in a formal way, but still, not cruel to her. It was only recently that he had shown his true colors. Perhaps he had shown the truth about himself to her in private? However, I was sure that was not it; I was equally sure that she had not known that Thutmose was as cruel as he has shown himself to be.

I watched her carefully and saw that she kept her eyes fixed on him and did not shrink from him in fear as it seemed she wanted to. Yet, I doubted Thutmose knew that. He did not understand Nefertiti, nor did he know her body language as I did.

“You are staying in here until I am satisfied that you are broken. Not only that, you are not going to have any visitors apart from myself and my mother.” Thutmose told her, back muscles rigid, hands clenched.

Now I understood. He would keep her from human contact until she viewed him as the only person left to her. Once she was dependent on him, he would set her free. Knowing Nefertiti, I was not at all sure that by then, she would not view my brother as her salvation and do whatever he said. That frightened me more than my wild imaginings about what my brother might do.

Then he softened his tone with her, and I heard him throw her a lifeline wrapped with threat. “This is your last chance to cooperate with me, Nefertiti. If you do not do so now, I will go through with my plans to break you for as long as it takes to accomplish my goal. Will you cooperate or not?”

She had dropped her gaze to her lap, and Thutmose put a finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him.

I could see the answer in her rigid face and body, and I knew Thutmose could see it in her eyes. However, he still waited for her to answer.

She mutely shook her head and shoved his hand from her chin. He smirked, still angry with her, and said, “I thought that would be your response.”

He turned from her and left her in the dark room. The skin close over the doorway, and I could not see into the room anymore. I moved farther back behind the statue. From the guards’ vantage point, I was not visible even when I peered around the statue to see what was going on, but to Thutmose, who was leaving the room, I would be visible and if he caught me, who knew what I would suffer.

“Guards, keep her in here. Allow her no visitors. I would like you to place some sort of makeshift wooden door up here and make sure it is sturdy and lockable. I do not want to chance that she escapes. I will send five other guards to watch the door day and night while you make sure the carpenter does what I have asked. I know wood is scarce, but I want it done, and I want it done soon! Make sure the carpenter gets it done as fast as he can.” My brother told the two guards.

The guards nodded that they understood and took up their points again. Now I was beginning to wonder how I was to get out from behind the statue of Isis without being seen by the guards. How would I explain my presence, and would they tell anyone? I decided to try to bribe them.

When Thutmose was gone, I came out from behind the statue. One of the guards saw me and said sharply, “Hold on there. You are not allowed over here. How much did you hear?”

“Oh, me? Not much. I only saw it.” I lied, hoping that they would believe me.

“Yes? Well then, I guess I’ll need to report you to Prince Thutmose. He won’t like that you were behind that statue the whole time and saw the whole thing, Prince Amenhotep.” The guard warned.

By his tone, I could tell that he wanted me to bribe him. Both guards were looking at me and the money pouch I had hurriedly tied to my sash on the way out of my door.

“Oh, well…. I guess if you are going to inform on me anyway, I will not give you the money I was going to give you to keep quiet.”

I knew I was playing the game the right way for these two when one of them said, “Oh, humph….. Well….. I suppose if you were to pay us, we would keep quiet. Prince Thutmose will not need to know, provided you do pay well….” He left it hanging.

I pulled out several gold coins and gave them to the guards. I was sure they would not tell anyone I had been listening, and I walked away down the hallway, feeling somewhat more secure than I had before. However, I was still worried about Nefertiti and her health if Thutmose continued down this path with her.