Flail of the Pharoah (26 page)

Charmian was unsure.

‘Then there is the realm of the affections,’ Mira went on smoothly. ‘Friendship and romance, and the desire to dominate or serve. They say there is no such thing as an equal relationship. Always one person’s will has sway over the other’s in one way or another. Do you find this to be true?’

Charmian nodded cautiously. ‘I suppose so.’

Mira found herself growing irritated. Why was the girl such a milk-and-water creature? But she had found favour with Seti and must be respected for that. Perchance there was a lot she could learn from this infuriatingly submissive yes-woman.

She continued with her line of reasoning. ‘Of course we are all obedient to the Pharaoh, that goes without saying. But sometimes I feel Seti is rather reluctant to show his authority, to play the powerful ruler and fulfil the role that the stars have ordained for him. Do you feel your destiny is being fulfilled here in Egypt, Charmian?’

‘I am honoured more than I could ever have expected.’

‘Yes, because you have won the king’s favour,’ Mira smiled, taking her slender hand and patting it. ‘You make him feel strong and masterful, my dear, and that is a sure way to any man’s heart. But it satisfies you too, does it not, to be obedient to his will in all things?’

‘Yes, your… Mira.’

The queen chuckled. ‘Oh Charmian, Charmian! I see myself in you so clearly, myself at your age.’

‘You do?’ She turned on her with questioning eyes. ‘Then perhaps you can explain to me some things.’

‘Of course, anything.’

‘It is just… well something happened the last time I was with the Pharaoh. He tied me up and treated me roughly, almost cruelly and hurt me sorely, yet I only seemed to want him more. When he finally made love to me it was wonderful, and yet I felt I should be hating him. I cannot understand these strange feelings.’

Mira put a protective arm around her shoulders. The girl was indiscreet, after all, to speak so openly of such matters. ‘I have asked the goddess for enlightenment, and she has answered me with a riddle. She says, “the master shall be mastered and the slave enslaved, each in thrall to the other for their mutual pleasure”. I have felt it myself, and I can understand the meaning behind the words even though the words themselves seem contradictory.’

‘Yes,’ Charmian mused. ‘I think I can understand something of the meaning too. But does this mean we are similar, that we are twin souls?’

The queen smiled: this was going even better than she had hoped. ‘I believe so.’

Charmian clapped her hands in delight. ‘I thought as much! Something told me that you were the only person in this whole court who could really understand me. Oh, I am so glad!’

To Mira’s amazement the girl planted a delicate kiss on her cheek and then blushed with embarrassment. Did she truly understand the nature of the bond there was between them? The queen was still unsure of her. She believed Charmian to be artless, a naïve creature still compared to the wily Egyptian women, but was the girl entirely as she seemed to be?

Mira decided to open her heart to her. ‘My dear, you have succeeded where I have failed,’ she began. ‘All these years my soul has yearned in secret to be completely possessed by the Pharaoh, the man I love. Yet I did not recognise this longing for what it was, the desire to submit to his divine will, to his divine correction. Now you have come along and, within a few months, have turned the man we both adore into a true living god, a powerful ruler in the bedroom, as well as throughout the land of Egypt. I salute you, Charmian, for making a real man of my husband, at last.’

But instead of looking gratified, as Mira expected, the girl gave a puzzled frown. ‘But you are his wife, his queen, and I am only his concubine. When he sought to chastise me I gained some satisfaction from the feeling of helplessness, and from the stimulation, but I do not love the Pharaoh as you do.’

‘You don’t?’ The queen stared, perplexed, and felt anger grow within her. ‘Then you are toying with his affections, using him for your own purposes?’

‘No, no, it is just that… my affections lie elsewhere.’

This was good news indeed, music to Mira’s ears. Had the girl fallen in love with some courtier? If so she could perhaps be married off, leaving Seti to his wife again. Her mind raced on, making plans, but she did not notice the daydream into which Charmian had drifted: her pink lips parted as if ready to be kissed; her eyes dreamy and her fingers toying absently with a strand of hair in an unconsciously seductive way.

‘So you are in love, my dear,’ she encouraged eagerly. ‘Do not be afraid. It is not unknown for the Pharaoh to give up one of his concubines when he is tired of her, to allow her to make a judicious marriage. I hope your eye has fallen upon one of noble birth, however. It would not do for a lowborn slave to be given one of the king’s former bedfellows.’

‘Oh no, he is not lowborn. He is the highest prince in the land!’ Charmian exclaimed, clapping her hands together in delight.

A chill hand clutched the queen’s heart. ‘You mean Prince Neshi, my son.’ It was a statement, not a question, and the girl nodded, still lost in rapture, and Mira felt like throttling her. What a little fool! Did she really believe the Pharaoh would give permission for her to marry his son, the heir to the throne of Egypt? That honour must fall to a highborn Egyptian woman, and several candidates had already been identified. The girl was even more naïve than she had at first supposed.

But as she gazed on Charmian’s angelic features the queen didn’t have the heart to disillusion her. ‘He is a handsome boy,’ she admitted. ‘But far too young to take a wife.’

‘I can wait. I don’t mind how long, either. The king will tire of me eventually, but I have no intention of ending up with the cast-off ones in the brothel. Already I have my own room and one day I shall have a bedchamber like yours, here in the palace. I do not want to be queen instead of you, Mira. I only want to be your successor. There is no harm in that, is there?’

But Mira found she could not trust herself to reply.

There was a faint rustling of beads and Charmian realised someone was eavesdropping in the corridor. The queen heard it too and rose swiftly, striding to the doorway and pulling the curtain aside.

‘Who is there?’ Charmian called fearfully after her.

Mira stared down the corridor, then turned back into the room with a face like thunder. ‘Tut-Tut!’ she hissed in disgust. ‘That disgusting priest has been spying on us in person. I suppose we should feel flattered, since he normally sends one of his minions to do his dirty work.’

Charmian cast her mind back over what she had said to Mira. Now the high priest would know that she had desires for Neshi, the crown prince. He would also know the secret longings she shared with the queen. How damaging might that information be if disclosed?

‘He will tell the king,’ Mira declared, voicing Charmian’s worst fear. ‘He will make out that we were conspiring against his majesty. Neither of us is safe any more. If we are both disgraced we shall go down together. Someone like that bitch Kiya will take our place in the Pharaoh’s affections, and even my son shall suffer banishment!’

Embarrassed as she was by the queen’s near hysteria, Charmian could not help thinking mainly of herself. As a foreign slave she was in a far worse position than Mira who was, at least, a highborn Egyptian. How ironic it was that, just as she had been honoured with a room of her own, she should fall into disgrace.

But the queen was already rallying from her despair.

‘This cannot happen. I shall go to the Pharaoh myself and confess all. If I can reach him before Tut-Tut it will look better than being exposed by that fat slug. Perhaps you should come with me, Charmian. You will have to face the music eventually, and it may as well be sooner rather than later.’

Reluctantly Charmian agreed to take part in this damage limitation exercise, and asked for a few minutes to beautify herself, reasoning that she might as well make the most of her assets in this desperate situation.

By the time they reached the Pharaoh’s audience chamber Charmian had composed herself. She knew she was looking her best, in a transparent white gown with her finest jewellery and her fair hair curled and adorned. The queen, too, was looking as regal as ever, having asked Iras to perform her toilet with great care before putting on her finest day-gown and jewels. The pair were a formidable force to be reckoned with, and could see this in the eyes of guards who bowed and ogled before them, every step of the way.

As they entered the high-ceilinged room, however, Tut-Tut already had the king’s ear and Charmian feared they were too late. She felt sick to her stomach at the thought of suffering in reality. Up to now her punishment had all seemed a kind of game, a prelude to further delights. Even when she had been abducted, taken to that hellhole and wrapped like a mummy, she believed she would be rescued and returned to the palace.

But this was different. It was the Pharaoh himself who would decide her fate, and that of the queen. He could have her banished, or killed. She was no longer confident of his favour.

‘What is this?’ he asked pleasantly enough as they entered. ‘A deputation of women?’ But there was an undertone in his voice of something more serious and neither female smiled.

‘Your highness,’ the queen began. ‘We crave a private audience.’

‘Indeed?’ Seti’s manicured brows lifted. ‘You may speak before the high priest, wife. We should have no secrets from him. After all, he knows the secrets of our souls.’

Again that ominous tone in his voice made Charmian flinch, yet she thought it best to let Mira speak. She knew the king of old, knew better how to handle him. She was, after all, his official wife and his equal in the sight of the gods. But Charmian watched the woman throw herself, literally, at the Pharaoh’s feet and she thought it best to do likewise, and as she crouched before him she was trembling.

‘Husband, your wife and your concubine come to you as supplicants. We beg you to have mercy upon us.’

‘Indeed? And what could you have done that warrants such imprecation? Speak.’

‘Sire, we have murmured against your highness. We have discussed, without your knowledge or permission, the fate of your eldest son, Prince Neshi.’

‘He is
our
son,’ the king reminded her. ‘Why did you not discuss with me?’

‘I thought you would not approve.’

Charmian could remain silent no longer. It was her fault the queen was abasing herself before her own husband in this demeaning fashion, so she must admit all. ‘Your highness, it is I who brought up the subject of the prince with her majesty.’ She raised her eyes and saw those of the king regarding her from hooded lids.

‘You? I should remind you, Charmian, that you are a foreigner in our land. Why have you been discussing Prince Neshi with his mother without my knowledge?

Charmian felt as if her tongue was swollen and her throat constricted. If she had tried to utter another word she would have choked upon it. But then Tut-Tut stepped into the arena, looking smug.

‘If I may tell you what I overheard, your highness,’ he started. ‘This presumptuous young girl has set her sights on the crown prince, of all people, and desires to be his betrothed. Such arrogance can only be shown by one who is ignorant of our ways. Despite living amongst us this wretched girl has not comprehended her position in the court. She believes herself fit to…’ he broke off with a sardonic laugh, as if the idea were just too absurd to be mentioned, ‘…fit to grace the silver throne! And instead of ridiculing this idea, as it well deserves, her majesty seemed to give it her blessing.’

‘Is this true, wife?’ Seti sounded astonished. ‘Did you really encourage this girl’s dream?’

‘I did not know what to make of it, sire. I have had no time to reflect upon it, but I do know that Charmian could not help falling in love with our son. And does not every woman, however lowly her position and however exalted the object of her desire, dream that one day her wish might be fulfilled? It was so with me, husband, when first I saw your majesty out hunting as a young man. I dreamed of you then, but never dreamed that my dream would some day come true.’

It was a clever speech, Charmian granted her that, but would it move Seti’s heart to clemency? She prayed to all the gods of the Egyptians that the outcome would be favourable.

The Pharaoh’s face was impassive and Charmian held her breath in the silence that followed, fearing for her life. Then he turned and his eyes seemed to bore right into her.

‘What do you have to say for yourself, Charmian?’

‘I… I cannot deny it, your majesty.’

He gave a surprisingly ironic grin. ‘And this just as I thought we were getting to know each other better. Did you wish it were my son doling out punishment to you the other night, instead of me?’

Timidly, she nodded. Now the worst must surely happen, and she stared blindly ahead, fists clenched, heart racing, awaiting her fate.

‘I see,’ Seti said quietly. Again that agonisingly long pause, then he spoke to the high priest. ‘That matter we were discussing just now, do you think the prince and this girl might be accommodated in the arrangements?’

Tut-Tut frowned. ‘Possibly, your majesty.’

‘Then I shall question the girl privately. Leave us Mira, Tut-Tut, for a few moments.’