The Sekhmet Bed by L. M. Ironside Read Free Book Online Page A

gods ever made. I thought a lioness would be perfect. I hope you like it.”
     
    “ It’s beautiful,” Mutnofret said, clutching the pendant to her heart. “I’ll wear it at our wedding feast. Look, Ahmose.”
     
    She held the lioness out so Ahmose could examine it. It was indeed a marvelous carving, perfectly detailed. Its eye was a tiny, hard, sparkling flake of obsidian. Thutmose must have paid plenty to commission such a skilled carver.
     
    “ And here is your gift, Ahmoset.” She blushed. Only Nofret and her childhood nurse had ever used the familiar name with her before. It made her delightfully giddy, for Thutmose to address her with such affection.
     
    He handed her a red cloth bundle, larger and heavier than Mutnofret’s. She squeezed it through the cloth without unwrapping it. It was about as long as her hand and bumpy. Another carving, then.
     
    When she peeled back the red cloth, she gasped. The face of the goddess Mut looked back at her. The carving was exquisite. Mut’s face, arms, and bared breasts were of rosy alabaster; her hair was jet; her carnelian dress was polished to a brilliant sheen. The double crown of Egypt was upon her head, ivory and red jasper, as delicate as a feather. Ahmose could not speak.
     
    “ To beautify your worship, my god-chosen wife.” Thutmose’s words were light, as if this gift was a bauble, as if calling her wife was all in a day’s jesting. But Ahmose’s hands clutched the statue of Mut as if they would never let go, and her heart held onto the word as if its sound was the breath of life.
     
    Wordless, Ahmose turned to show her gift to her sister. Nofret’s smile was tight. It never touched her eyes.
     

 
     
     
    FIVE
     
     
    “ I believe you were right about Thutmose,” Mutnofret said.
     
    She had invited Ahmose to bathe with her after supper. They lay in Mutnofret’s tiled pool, relaxed and quiet. Crushed herbs floated on the water, their earthy scent rising on the steam. Two of Nofret’s women arrived, carrying a kettle of hot water between them. They upended it into the bath, and the heat crept up Ahmose’s legs.
     
    Meeting Thutmose, flirting with him, appeared to have brought Mutnofret around. She was still hurt, of course; sometimes it showed. But Nofret seemed committed to renewing the closeness she and Ahmose had enjoyed until that mad day in the throne room.
     
    “ How was I right?” Ahmose asked lazily.
     
    “ He is suitable .” Mutnofret rolled over in the water, propping herself on her elbows. Her back swept down into the bath; her buttocks rose out of the water again, two perfect round islands.
     
    Ahmose sat up and crossed her arms over her small breasts. “I’m glad you like him. I’m sure he likes you as well. I think he’ll be a good husband, don’t you?”
     
    “ Mm, much better than a baby for a husband. What strong arms he has.”
     
    Ahmose’s face burned. The bath was far too warm. “I think I’m ready to get out now. Will you scrape me?”
     
    Nofret rose, elegant as an ibis taking wing. The water streamed from her body, sparkling in the light of the bath’s braziers as it ran off her rounded flesh. She reached a hand down to help Ahmose to her feet. Her eyes traveled down Ahmose’s body; the corner of Nofret’s mouth quirked.
     
    “ What?”
     
    “ You need to be plucked, little sister. Let me call one of my women. They’re very good. They never miss a hair.”
     
    While they waited for the woman to come with her tweezers and ointments, Ahmose and Mutnofret scraped each other’s skin with curved copper strips. It was invigorating after the hot bath. Water puddled on the tiles around their feet.
     
    “ And how is your little Northern friend?” Mutnofret asked, sliding her scraper down Ahmose’s back.
     
    “ Aiya? She’s as well as can be, I suppose. She’ll have her baby soon.”
     
    Mutnofret tutted. “Poor young thing. She’s so small.”
     
    The scraper hissed like a cat as it