The Egyptian rose
1341 BCE
Chapter 12
A harsh knocking on the door jerked Khenti out of sleep. He looked down
at Amisi lying peacefully next to him and wondered how long they had
fallen asleep for. As slowly and as quietly as possible, he threw on a
pair of pants and made his way to the door, flinging it open and staring
at his best friend. In his arms, Baruti held a sleeping Princess of
Egypt. Khenti glanced back at Amisi and pushed his friend backwards
enough to close the door gently behind him, not wanting to wake her up
or have Baruti suspect anything.
"What are you doing here? And with her?"
"I figured an eye for an eye would be fair trade," Baruti smiled, a
sinister gleam in his eyes, one that Khenti did not like in the least.
"Fair trade for what? What are you talking about?"
"They took Kiya, so I took her," he gestured at the sleeping girl in his
arms.
"Who took Kiya? And why did you take her—you didn't want her involved
in the first place?!"
"Nakhte took her!" he was completely exacerbated in his response. "Held
a knife to her throat! There was nothing I could do to save her! She was
so scared!"
"And you took Meritaten because—"
"We give her back when I get Kiya back safely," he smirked proudly,
shifting a bit as Meritaten stirred in his arms but did not wake up.
"Where did you take her from and how did we get involved?"
"She had fallen asleep by the river. I was trying to fish to gather my
thoughts better and I saw her asleep on the grass."
"So you brought her here? Are you mad?! They have officers everywhere!
They know she's already been here, this is the first place they'll look
for her again!" Khenti whispered loudly.
The door opening behind him startled him enough to turn around and
Baruti to bring his attention behind his friend. Standing in the
doorframe wrapped in just Khenti's shirt, stood Amisi, her eyes tired
and squinting in the light from the hallway. Baruti could not help but
look and smiled over at Khenti who simply turned to glare at his friend.
Two rosy marks formed on Amisi's cheeks as she looked down at herself,
realizing she was only half-dressed.
"Go back inside, Amisi," Khenti growled, obviously embarrassed by her
appearance.
"But—"
"Go, I'll be inside in a minute!" Amisi shut the door and Khenti was
left to defend himself against Baruti's laughter.
"So this is what happens when we leave you alone at night!" he mused, a
smile spread from ear to ear.
"Don't!" Khenti warned. "Give her to me and go find your wife! I'm sick
of you bringing me into these things but there's no reason for her to be
your bartering tool!"
"You are already involved!" his friend protested. "Remember, they killed
your—"
"I know! And now they've arrested my father!" Khenti cringed at the
words coming from his mouth as soon as he said them.
"I still think you need to tell him."
"Just give her to me and leave!"
Baruti sighed heavily but handed the sleeping girl over to him. Khenti
shifted his weight on his feet and continued to glare at his friend.
Before opening the door again, he turned his head. "Don't say a word
about Amisi," he growled and shut the door behind him in Baruti's face.
Baruti stood there for another few seconds before turning to walk away,
determined to get his wife back. Knowing who could help him, he crept
down to the jail to have a talk with the chief of police.
* * * * *
"Baruti is only a poor substitute," Kamenwati continued to challenge
Mahu. "What really bothers you about confronting your mother?" he
pressed.
Mahu looked up at the old man through painful eyes. Slowly he answered.
"I fear I will be a disappointment to her."
"Maybe you should have thought about that before becoming one of them!"
a voice full of anger said behind them.
Mahu spun around and Kamenwati jolted his head towards the voice. "Baruti!
We were just speaking about you," Kamenwati mused.
"I need your help," Baruti said directly to Mahu, taking a step towards
them and ignoring Kamenwati's comment.
"Why? What could you possibly need from me?" Mahu asked with an annoyed
overtone.
"I need you to help me find my wife!" Baruti shouted, clearly upset with
his friend's tone.
"It is not my fault that you can't keep track of your wife, Baruti."
"Nakhte took her!" he shouted back.
"What would he want with Kiya?" Mahu asked, a bit more confusion in his
tone.
"Kiya mentioned the king wanted to speak to her," he replied, only
giving him half the truth of the matter.
"And Nakhte just took her?"
"Right in front of me, dragging her away," Baruti sighed heavily, his
shoulders sagging in defeat.
Kamenwati had been watching the entire exchange between the two men
without saying a word. He finally spoke, startling both to look in his
direction. "Why don't you have Khenti help you? You two are still
friends, yes?" he said proudly.
"Khenti?" Mahu asked.
"Khenti won't do. I need someone with rank to go after her, someone who
might know where Nakhte took her," Baruti explained, looking directly at
Mahu. "Besides, Khenti doesn't need my problems interfering with his
own."
"What problems?" Baruti noticed a bit more concern in Kamenwati's tone
this time.
"He wouldn't tell me," he lied.
"But you two are such great friends," the old man argued.
"Look, if he had wanted to tell me what problems he's having, he would
have. It's bad enough I found him with—" Baruti caught himself before
giving away too much information about who was sleeping in Khenti's bed
that evening.
"Found him with whom?" Kamenwati pushed.
"Nevermind," he quickly stammered. "Mahu, please, I need your help."
"Wait, I'm curious as well. Who was Khenti with?" Mahu eyed his friend
suspiciously.
Baruti sighed. "He was with Meritaten. Apparently they were making plans
for the next riot," he lied through his teeth, keeping his promise to
Khenti about Amisi.
"He wouldn't dare bring her into this again!" Kamenwati shouted angrily.
"Mahu, you've got to let me out so I can stop him from doing anything
foolish!"
"Be quiet, old man! It's his fault you're in here!" Mahu shouted
back.
"His fault?" Baruti exclaimed, remembering his argument with Khenti and
his subsequent surrender of Meritaten into Mahu's hands.
"Khenti has had Meritaten by his side on several occasions and the king
fears she's turning against him," Mahu explained.
Baruti couldn't stand the assault and spoke up against his friend. "Khenti
needed someone in his life who understood! It's not every day you lose a
parent to the gods!"
Mahu glared at him, knowing he had hit a sore point. "Tell me, then
Baruti, how is my mother?"
The two men stared at each other then, unable and unwilling to break
away from the other's eyes. Mahu's chest rose and fell with his heavy
agitated breathing and Baruti clenched and unclenched his fists, ready
to do battle. What had been a simple plea for help had turned into a
fight Baruti did not want to have. It was true he had been there for
Mahu's mother when the other man wasn't, but it was no reason for Mahu
to bring it up now. Mahu slowly regained control of his breathing and
spoke first, knowing this was a sensitive subject.
"My mother, Baruti, how is she?" he asked again.
"She… she's fine. She misses you, Mahu," the other said with sincerity.
"I'm sure she does," Mahu replied bluntly.
"I'm sorry but I don't have time for this, Mahu! Nakhte kidnapped my
wife and you're worried about your mother!" Baruti's eyes pleaded with
Mahu, begged him to forget the argument and help a friend.
"I'll help you this time but the next time you get involved in
something, you're on your own!" Mahu agreed, although he was still angry
with him.
Kamenwati watched the banter and smiled. "Can someone let me out so I
can help, please?"
* * * * *
When Meritaten finally woke mid-morning, she knew she definitely was not
near the river Nile at all. Instead, she was back in Khenti's room,
lying on a makeshift bed. The large bed that she knew was his was empty
and when she glanced around the room, letting her eyes adjust to the
daylight coming from the window, she noticed it too was scarce. Again
she felt trapped. She was afraid to open the door in case more guards
had been ordered to come find her, but laughter on the other side made
her a bit more at ease. When the door opened, Khenti was there with his
arm draped around Amisi's shoulders, both of them laughing and smiling
at the other.
"We brought you some food," he announced, shutting the door behind them.
"You're going to need your strength if you keep insisting on running
away all the time."
She blinked at him without knowing what to say, since she knew she
hadn't told anyone she had escaped the palace, but graciously accepted
the food. Eating in silence, she periodically lifted her head to look
over at them. They were talking over the desk, not within earshot of
what she could hear, and they seemed to be in deep discussion. When she
was finished eating, she cautiously brought the plate over to the desk
and finally spoke to them, making sure she had their undivided
attention.
"How did I get here?"
"Baruti brought you," Khenti stated matter-of-factly. "He said he found
you asleep by the river and he didn't think you should have been out
there all alone. What were you doing out there anyway?"
"I don't want to talk about it!" she said, folding her arms across her
chest stubbornly.
"I'm afraid you have no choice!" he concluded, looking over at Amisi
briefly before continuing. "By now you father has sent officers to come
after you. If we are to protect you in any way, we need to know what is
going on."
Meritaten swallowed hard before giving him an answer. "My father locked
me in my room and had a guard stand watch. I got out and ran to the
river."
Khenti was unfortunately skeptical of her story. "I'm sure you did
something to provoke the king—something along the lines of not
following his orders or not stopping us when you had the chance perhaps?
Or maybe he knows you came to your senses and you know all the evil
things he's done to his people?" He pressured her for an answer with
just his eyes.
"Have I really come to my senses though, when you are no better than he?
Your people have stoned me and poisoned my head with stories that
I don't even know are true!" she argued harshly. "Your people
have not cooperated with my father's laws enough that he sent me
out to deal with the problem! I was roped into being the keeper of
everyone's secrets and was put in the middle of your stupid feud!"
Amisi stood up and looked down at him. "We need to stop this, Khenti."
"What do you propose I do? Our lives will be changed forever if we give
in!"
"I don't want to be a part of this anymore!" Meritaten exclaimed. "Both
sides of this have ruined my life!"
"Does he know that you know everything?" he asked.
"What does it matter, I'm his daughter!" she retorted, slightly on the
defensive.
Amisi and Khenti exchanged a glance and Amisi walked over to Meritaten,
placing her hands on her shoulders protectively. Khenti looked away, not
having the ability to look at both of their forlorn faces. Before Amisi
could stop her, Meritaten turned around and wrapped her arms around her,
her body shaking as she began to cry. Amisi glanced up at Khenti as she
attempted to console the child. Khenti stood up and walked towards the
door, without looking back at them, and left the room, slamming the door
behind him.
"I'm sorry you have been thrown into this situation, little one," Amisi
sighed, stroking her hair lightly.
"You don't have to be sorry. This is my destiny and I can't ignore it
anymore," Meritaten sighed, lifting her hand up and wiping her eyes.
Amisi smiled. "Destiny is nothing more than what you wish for your life.
The gods never intended for us to have a set path."
"How do you know?"
"If the gods wanted us to have a set path, they would have given us a
sign and we would not have been made to suffer all those years."