The Horus Road by Pauline Gedge Read Free Book Online Page B

emotion that had swirled invisibly along its corridors, and she was immediately exhausted. Going to her couch, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
    In the evening she was summoned to her mother’s rooms, where Ahmose already sat drinking water while he talked with Aahotep. He rose to greet her with a kiss. “You look better,” he said, eyeing her critically. “Kamose has gone now. His heart has been weighed and he has left the Judgement Hall to take his place in the Holy Barque with our ancestors. Can’t you feel it?”
    “Yes,” she answered, coming forward with a short bow to her mother. “That is why the house feels so … so scoured.” She wrinkled her nose at the force, the appropriateness of the word. “I am sorry for Ramose. He still must accompany Nefer-Sakharu to Khemmenu and endure her funeral. Did he return, Ahmose?” He waved her to the stool before Aahotep’s cosmetics table.
    “Yes. Nefer-Sakharu’s beautification is complete, but I cannot release Ramose for a couple of days. Tomorrow is the last day of Pharmuthi. On the first day of Pakhons, which is also of course the first of Shemu, I have planned a great ceremony in the temple and Ramose must be here for it. I cannot be crowned King,” he went on heavily. “The atef-crown and the Double Crown are in Het-Uart. But I intend to declare myself King of Upper and Lower Egypt with every solemn rite of purification and acclamation and to date the Anniversary of my Appearing from the first day of summer. It is entirely appropriate.” He grinned suddenly. “Every Weset notable, every new military officer, every official, will be called upon to swear allegiance to me, including Ramose. Then he can go. As I travel north with the army, I will require the same act of loyalty from the governors of the nomes and the sons of those who betrayed Kamose, and from the navy. You, my dearest, will sit beside me in the temple as my Queen and will also receive the homage of those who owe it.” He reached over to stroke her cheek. “Make sure that Raa dresses Ahmose-onkh as sumptuously as possible. He can stand between us, a visible Hawk-in-the-Nest. This must be a ritual with all the pomp and magnificence we can muster. We need a show of power.”
    He sobered and turned to his mother. “Aahotep, I want you to wear as much jewellery and glitter as you like but your garment must be the sheath you were wearing when you slew Meketra. I know that you have kept it.”
    “Ahmose!” she cried out in shock. “No! Never! Quite apart from the fact that it is stiff and encrusted with old blood and probably smells, I could not bear its touch against my body!” He leaned towards her, elbows on his knees.
    “I want them all to see the triumph of the Taos. I want them to ponder our victory in the midst of all the incense and dancing and ritual, a victory won not with fine words and harmless gestures but with knives and blood. I want our strength to be before their eyes during all the hours in the temple. Disloyalty brings death. That is what I want them to finally understand.”
    “There are a thousand ways in which you can press your message home,” Aahotep objected hotly. Her own cheeks had become flushed and her eyes glinted angrily. Aahmes-nefertari had never seen her poise so shaken. “It is not only an utterly distasteful request, Ahmose, it smacks of insanity. No. I will not wear it.” He got up slowly and folded his arms.
    “I realize that the prospect is abhorrent,” he responded firmly, “but I have more than one reason for asking you to do it. This is not a request from your son, Aahotep. It is a command from your King.” She went very pale, the hectic colour draining from her face.
    “And if I still refuse?”
    “Then not only will you incur my extreme displeasure but you will spoil a surprise I have for you. Please trust me, Mother. I love you more than any son could ever worship the one who gave him life, because not only did