Heretic of El Amarna

Chapter 30: Tiye

I stared at the empty doorway, dumbfounded that my son would speak to me in such a manner. But then a smile reached across my thin lips. He was growing a backbone. That would serve him well. He needed to be strong and confident to rule well.

Whatever I may have felt or thought about my second son, I could see he would be a good ruler if he only got his head out of the clouds and paid attention to his responsibilities and duties instead of just to his wife.

Speaking of which, my niece was a troublesome creature. She wasn’t exactly dangerous, but she was in the way of my son’s ascension to greatness. She needed to toughen up or she would never survive as his Great Wife. He couldn’t protect her all the time, no matter what he claimed, and she needed to figure out where she stood.

I would help with that. Not because I liked my daughter-in-law, but because my son loved her, and he was Pharoah now. He needed a strong Great Wife. And if he insisted that Nefertiti was to stay his Great Wife then she needed all the help she could get.

Which meant I needed to make sure the women of the court ignored my son’s edicts to respect Nefertiti. They needed to continue their harassment and alienation of her until she finally stood up to them.

And she would. She was weak in some ways, but I knew she would stand up if pushed far enough. She always did. But I had to make sure she snapped soon. Because my son was going to need her in the coming days.

I knew what they had been plotting together.

The overthrow of the old religion and the instigation of a new one. A monotheistic worship of the sun disk – the Aten. I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not, but I didn’t plan on jeopardizing it just yet.

I needed to speak with my brother about how to push Amenhotep in the right direction. The question was, how would we do it and when?

I shook my head, dismissing the maids lingering in the room. I stood, walking to the door as soon as they were gone.

Ay had returned from his trip today, but he hadn’t yet gone to see his daughter. It was the best time to speak with him.

***

I found Ay in his chambers, and I walked in, heedless of etiquette. I was never much inclined towards that when I was on a mission.

“Do you know what your daughter and my son are up to?”

He shrugged.

Ay had returned for the official wedding of my son and his daughter. He had handed off the bride as we always did, and played a minor part in the ceremonies. But I sensed that some distance had grown between him and his daughter. I wasn’t sure what it was that caused the distance, but he seemed colder towards her.

Perhaps that would play to my advantage. It would be much easier to play this game if he was in without any reservations.

“I shall take that as a no.” I settled into a chair in front of him, flipping a braided strand of my luxuriant black wig over my shoulder.

He stared at me. “What do you mean up to? They are Pharoah and Great Wife of Egypt. What is wrong?” He frowned.

I raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. “Do you not know how mischievous your daughter is and how thick-headed my son can be?”

He nodded. “I know well how cunning my daughter is.” He made a face. “She didn’t even have the decency to wait to have a proper wedding with him… She just saw an opportunity and ran off with him.” He muttered under his breath.

So that was it.

He was upset because his daughter had married my son without his leave. Well, I could understand that because I was upset with Amenhotep when I found out as well. I had become a bit less annoyed over it and had warmed to my son in many ways since then, but I still resented him for what he’d done.

I smiled at  him. “Well, your daughter and my son are planning to change the religion of this country in just a few years.”

“What?” Ay stared at me, his eyes wide. “But…But… Why? How? We cannot change the religion. They will mess up everything. Egypt has rested upon the pillars of her religion, customs, and leaders for millennium. He cannot change those things. Not now… Not after we just got the turmoil in the kingdom under control. The priests were furious when he cut off half of their funding, and I still cannot placate all of them…” He stood up, beginning to pace. “This… This madness cannot be allowed to occur.”

“Unfortunately, dear brother, it must occur… We cannot stop it unless we kill them both. But doing that now with no heir in sight will cause utter turmoil. That cannot happen. The switch of rulers must occur naturally – as naturally as possible anyway – and my son’s death must appear an accident. As must your daughter’s.”

“What? My daughter’s?” Ay stopped pacing and turned on me, eyes wild with anger.

He held far more regard for his daughter than I first believed. “Yes, your daughter. Ay, it is for the good of the country! I would not propose such a thing if it were not. You must believe me. If they go on to do all the things they have spoken of doing, they will destroy Egypt and themselves as well.” I stared at the floor, contemplating what a horrible mother I am for being willing to contemplate the death of my own son. But I must. I must because it is necessary for Egypt’s survival.

I look back up at Ay. “Brother, I would not wish to kill my son… I do not want to. But Amenhotep has proved resistant to any suggestions that he quit his slow exorcising of the funds going to the priests of any gods aside from the Aten… I cannot do anything further to persuade him to do otherwise. We have no other choices anymore.”

He sighed, sinking back down into his chair. “I am a horrible father for contemplating agreeing to this. Is there no way we can leave my daughter alive?”

“Nay, there is not, brother… She is the one who first implanted the idea in my son’s head. He is the figurehead of the problem, but she is the root… I apologize that it is so, but what is so, is so… I cannot change the facts.”

He nodded, eyes dark with weariness and sadness. “This is sad news upon the day of my first granddaughter’s birth…”

I smiled sadly. “Indeed it is… If only the child were a boy… Then we might get this all accomplished before he has a chance to destroy everything. But alas, it was not so.”

He shook his head, heaving another sigh. “Alas, indeed… Very well. I have no other choice. What do you propose.”

I smiled again, less sadly this time. He had agreed. Phase one of my plan was complete.

***

It was all set and prepared. Ay knew the Mitanni king, who had a daughter that would prove useful to our plans. He was going to try to arrange a marriage between the Mitannian princess and my son, provided I could convince Amenhotep to go through with it.

The Mitanni King, Tushratta, had many daughters, but his eldest unmarried child, Kiya, would fit into our plans well. If Nefertiti did not bear a son, Kiya might if I could convince my son that their marriage would be advantageous.

He might prove difficult to convince though, seeing as he loved Nefertiti so.

That boy was over the deep end with that girl. He had no idea what he was getting himself into. But I remembered well how it was for me when I married Amenhotep’s father. I too had been unaware – though not to the extent my son was – of what I was getting into.

And it still turned out well for me.

I, however, had not planned to change every important pillar of society during my reign. I had followed in the footsteps of tradition, being the proper sort of Great Wife.

Unfortunately, my son was not quite so willing to be normal. He always had to be different – he always had a strange notion, new idea or bit of knowledge, or was trying to prove some new, outlandish theory of his.

This time, though, he was taking it a bit too far.

What a tragedy it was that he had become Pharoah instead of his brother. Thutmose would have been a far better ruler and smarter as well.

But there was nothing for it now. I would have to make do.

And Kiya was the next part of my plan to improvise and make do.