Chapter 14
Breathless, Brianamun and Nefret finally tracked Kevinkare down. He had locked himself away in his office as usual and was buried in his work.
“I’ve had an idea,” Brianamun said.
Nefret glared at him.
“Well, actually, we both came up with it at the same time... er... Anyway--”
“I have work to do.”
“Oh, don’t be a grouch, Kevinkare,” Nefret snapped at him.
“Don’t start with me, Nefret,” her brother retorted.
“Stop it, you two. Now Nefret and I were talking about who we were going to put on the throne, and it has to be someone who’s either on our side or can be easily manipulated by our people until a strong god-abiding king can be found. He’d either have to have royal blood or be married to the heiress--”
“Absolutely not!” Kevinkare exclaimed, jumping up. In his haste, his chair was knocked over.
“And why not?” Nefret asked, her hands flying to her hips.
“I am not going to be Pharaoh,” he hissed. “I’m couldn’t handle that kind of work. I have no desire to run the country.”
“But Meritaten--”
“Yes, I know she’s the ‘heiress,’ but with her out of the picture, whisked off by her savior--me, in fact-- that title would fall to Ankhesenpaaten, the next oldest daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti’s brood.”
“You’ve got it all planned out, don’t you?” Her tone was dry and she was shaking her head.
“Well, yes actually, dear sister.” He smiled a little too sweetly at her.
She rolled her eyes.
“Well, I’m not marrying a fourteen year old,” Brianamun muttered.
“Naturally not!” Nefret scoffed.
Kevinkare blew up. “Can you get out of here?!”
“I’m sorry I’m not Meritaten, but you do have to put up with me. I am your sister.”
He gave her the look that said “Don’t mess with me,” and she scurried from the room.
“The only way to deal with her is if you know her for years, and I’m still wondering...” Kevinkare muttered, his hand massaging his temples.
Brianamun smiled, amused. “Then who will we put on the throne once Akhenaten and Smenkhkareare... disposed of?”
“Akhenaten does have a son,” Kevinkare stated. “He’s only about twelve, and he’s way too young to rule properly. Yet if he was put on the throne with a couple of stiff supporters...”
“He’d be easily molded into a good king!” Brianamun exclaimed. “We just need to get to him and start working on him before Smenkhkare remembers his young brother-in-law... But surely he isn’t Nefertiti’s son. He’d have been made co-regent, not Smenkhkare.”
“No, he’s Kiya’s.”
Brianamun nodded. “Oh.”
“Have you decided on the plan to get rid of our rulers?”
He shook his head. “This kind of strategy that I’m planning takes time and patience.”
“We’ve patient for too long, Brianamun. It’s time we acted.”
“I know that, but we must be careful. If it’s discovered--”
“I know, I know, we’ll be killed for treason.” Kevinkare sighed. “I just want to get this overweight.”
“I feel the same way, but it’s not that easy. You know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Give me time to go through every detail of this plot. In the meantime, get to know this kid.” Brianamun paused. “What’s his name anyway?”
“Tutankhaten.”
Brianamun nodded. “One of the first thing we’ll do when he’s crowned is change that -aten to -amun.”
“Tutankhamun,” Kevinkare tried the name on his lips. “It has a nice ring to it.”
Brianamun grinned. “Sure does. I’ll see you later. I’m going to head to my place. I have a lot to do there.”
“Take Nefret with you please!”
“I think I might just do that.”
Kevinkare could hear the mischief and laughter in his friend’s voice, and it disgusted him.
********
Alexhotep was having a bad day. The fun of spying on Kevinkare only worked if his friend was at court. Alexhotep couldn’t just mosey on by the official’s house. Besides that, Smenkhkare was grouchy and on Alexhotep’s case about not having any useful information on “the physician.” Alexhotep had tried to remain humble, and he had pleaded that Kevinkare had not done anything suspicious. Smenkhkarehad scoffed at him and sent him on his way with a string of curses flowing out after him.
A letter was brought to him by a young boy that Alexhotep recognized as one of Kevinkare’s messengers. Alexhotep tore the seal off the papyrus scroll and eagerly read whatever it was that was so important.
An observer would note how his eyes lit up at whatever text was on the paper. A slow grin spread across his face as he thought of the task ahead of him. He and Howymose were to try and get as close to Prince Tutankhaten as feasibly possible without drawing suspicion towards themselves, the boy, or The Cause.
In his excitement, Alexhotep overlooked one slight problem which came crashing down on him then: Tutankhaten was hidden away in the northern palace where Nefertiti was to raise him.
Quickly, Alexhotep ran down the hall and called back Kevinkare’s messenger. The boy waited while Alexhotep scrawled a hasty response to his master’s letter. Sealing it, he sent the boy on his way again.
Then Alexhotep went on his way toward Howymose’s palace office. He found his scribe-friend behind his desk recopying a papyrus letter that the Regent had previously dictated him to send to the northern protectorates. It told how there were to find a way to protect themselves against the ferocious Hittites who were ever-so-slowly taking over Egypt’s northern land.
Alexhotep cleared his throat.
Howymose’s big, dark eyes peered up at him. They smiled at the sight of his friend. “I take it you got the letter that I did?”
“Yeah, and I felt the same way that you do about it.”
“Felt?”
“We have a problem.”
“What’s that?”
“Tutankhaten’s in the northern palace. Nefertiti’s raising him.”
“He’s not banished there though.”
“But we’ll never be able to get in.”
Howymose smiled as an idea occurred to him.
“I don’t like that look,” Alexhotep muttered.
“How do you feel about dressing up?”
“I can’t downplay. It’s the goatee and tattoos.”
Howymose had never been able to understand the exact reason Alexhotep had gotten those tattoos. [Yes, they did have tattoos in ancient Egypt, but it was probably worse pain than you go through today.]
“No,” he went on with a sigh. “I guess it’s up to me then.”
“How will you do that?”
“Dress up as part of Nefertiti’s staff and get in there. I may be a well-known scribe, but my name is better known than my face.”
“That sure is right. You’re a behind-the-scenes man,” Alexhotep stated with a grin. “Do you have the right costumes and stuff?”
“Well, it won’t be hard to find some.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
“And may the gods be with you.”