Chapter 11
Alexhotep returned to the palace, the note for Meritaten securely put away. It was dark and the stars shone brightly. It was the perfect night for a pair of young lovers.
Slightly depressed that he was alone, Alexhotep entered the palace.
He usually worked endlessly at his office. The only time he enjoyed himself at his home in the palace was when he was deeply sleeping in his comfy, warm bed. And for once, he did not go directly to his office. He went straight to Meritaten’s quarters.
He knocked lightly on the door.
“Come in,” Meritaten called distantly.
Alexhotep entered, his face grave.
Meritaten stood up at seeing him. “What’s going on?”
“I have a letter from Kevinkare,” Alexhotep replied after double-checking that they were alone.
Her eyes lit up. “You do?!”
He handed it over to her.
Anxiously, Meritaten tore the seal off and hastily read it. (Akhenaten had spoiled his daughter by granting her the best education. If she was to follow in Nefertiti’s footsteps as a priestess, Meritaten must be literate.)
Alexhotep watched her expression closely.
Her face went from hopeful to depressed.
“I can’t see him,” she stated as though he didn’t know.
“I’m sorry, Highness.”
Meritaten sighed.
“Can’t you go out to see him?” Alexhotep inquired.
“He says he thinks it’ll be best if we don’t communicate for the time being. Well, at least person to person. Will you deliver letters between the two of us?”
Alexhotep’s tense face eased into a smile. “It’d be my pleasure, Your Highness.” He turned to leave and stopped in mid-step. Turning back around he asked, “If you love him so much why don’t you run away with him? If you left the Egyptian territory, Akhenaten would be powerless to stop you two.”
Meritaten sighed. “Egypt is in my blood; I can’t leave it. All Egyptians understand that... and as much as I want to run away with him, I know I could never bring myself to actually do it. I don’t have that kind of courage.”
Alexhotep shrugged. “Oh well, Your Highness, I tried.”
She smiled reluctantly.
Alexhotep slipped out the door and returned to his duties.
******
It took several days to travel the distance from Thebes to Akhetaten, but considering that the current flowed northward, the time went all too swiftly for Nefret.
I wonder if Brianamun knows I’m gone, she thought.
She knew what her fate would be. She’d be tried and convicted, no questions asked. She’d plotted against the king, and it was commonly known. Besides, hers was a face that wasn’t easily forgotten. Once someone saw it, it was forever etched in their memory.
Bound in the dirtiest, darkest depths of the ship, Nefret could barely tell if it was night or day.
As the hours ticked by ever so quickly, she soon found herself being hauled from the ship.
A crowd had gathered to see the prisoner.
Her hair was stringy and oily. Dirt clung to her. Lack of food had made her weak. She was no match in the least for the soldiers who dragged her down the ramp.
The huge group of onlookers jeered her and sneered.
Nefret kept her head high and her chin up. In the crowd she saw several pitying, friendly faces: allies of The Cause. Among those was her own brother, his tear-streaked face watching her own.
Nickathor stood with an unfamiliar girl, pity and remorse shining in his blue eyes. He knew she worked for them, and he’d also heard about her and his best-friend... He wondered if Brianamun had heard that she’d been caught.
Nefret was brought to a waiting chariot. Within it was Alexhotep. He kept his face impassive, but Nefret knew he was no foe.
Her hands were bound to the side of the chariot, and Alexhotep started off.
“I’ll get you out of this, Nefret,” he whispered.
“Thanks.”
“This is the only time I’ll be able to give you directions so listen carefully.”
Nefret nodded.
Alexhotep relayed the directions Nefertiti had once given him. “Once you’ve made your way out of the city, try and find a disguise... you’re, uh, quite easy to recognize.”
“I know that...” she sighed.
“And go to Kevinkare. He should know what to do, and if he isn’t available, go to Nickathor. Do you know where he lives?”
“I’m sure I can find out.”
Alexhotep rolled his eyes. “There’s no use of you risking yourself to ask directions. From Kevinkare’s estate, Nickathor’s is about two blocks down, the fifth house on your right. It’s easy to find, don’t worry.”
“I’m only worried about you getting me out.”
“I can take care of it. Everything’s under control... Let’s just hope they let me take you to the dungeon first...”
“Me too.”
They pulled up at the palace.
A couple of lower soldier unbound her hands from the chariot, and led her by the end of the rope toward the Vizier’s office.
Alexhotep stood beside the door as the Vizier took Nefret in with his eyes. He accused her and ridiculed her, but she stood strong despite the tears blossoming in her eyes. She didn’t say a word, but only looked straight ahead. Once his voice had become to ache from yelling, he turned to Alexhotep. “Take her to the dungeon. The trial will begin tomorrow.”
Alexhotep nodded and led Nefret toward the forbidding place. The dungeon was deserted, as he’d ordered it to be.
He brought her to the window first and opened it a crack. Then he opened the secret passage. Chopping off her bonds, he tossed them down the dark corridor.
“Feel with your hands down the hall. “I’d give you a torch, but if it’s suspected that one is missing...”
“I understand.” Nefret leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you so much.”
She slipped down, her figure being swallowed up by the thick darkness.
Alexhotep then went back to the other aspects of his job.
*****
Brianamun caught word of Nefret’s plight the very night that she was captured.
Helpless and bound to his duties to the priesthood, he could do nothing but hope and pray for her well-being.
Impatiently, he had to wait for the his month of service to end so he could return to Akhetaten and see what was happening.
*****
Nefret exited the secret passage (which had seemed like a place of eternal darkness) into the open desert. She was in the midst of a cliff range.
Biting her lip, she followed the path that tomb workers used daily to work on Pharaoh’s eternal resting place.
Jackals eerily howled in the distance, sending shivers up her spine.
After what seemed like hours of walking in the middle of nowhere, the edge of Akhetaten’s city appeared.
She was passing a small farm. An old woman hurried inside.
Nefret remembered how night was a time when demons scurried around.
Still, she he hailed the old woman.
“May I please borrow a shawl? I’ll repay you tomorrow, I just need it at the moment... the night is extremely cold against my bare arms.”
Not knowing how she’d done it, Nefret had pushed the right buttons because the old woman gave her a beautiful one with the wings of Isis embroidered on the inside.
“No need to repay me, young lady. What you are currently doing is payment enough,” the old woman told her.
Something in her eyes reminded Nefret of youth. They sparkled and smiled at her.
The old woman wrapped the shawl around Nefret’s tiny shoulders and sent her on her way.
As Nefret went on her way, she didn’t see the farm disappear along with the elderly woman.
She felt as though the wings of Isis were really encircling her and it wasn’t even a shawl. Feeling light-headed and without a care in the world, she walked right by a group of guards. They didn’t even notice her.
Safely, Nefret made it to Kevinkare’s home.
Abandoning the shawl in the living room, Nefret ran into Kevinkare’s office.
He looked up. For a moment, he was surprised, but then he broke into a broad grin. Kevinkare stood up and hugged his sister--all the years of sibling rivalry melting away as they were reunited.