Orphan of the Sun (21 page)

‘Dedi is waiting for you on the roof,' Wab snapped at her. ‘You might tell us when you plan to go out and return.'

‘I'm sorry, Mistress Wab,' said Meryt meekly. ‘I had to go out on an errand to help my family.'

Wab sniffed. ‘You might think to help the family who are sheltering you.'

‘Of course – if there's anything I can do …'

‘It's a bit late.'

There was clearly no pleasing her. Meryt apologised again and slipped past her, through to the courtyard and on to the roof. Dedi was combing her hair with a preoccupied expression on her face, and only smiled wanly as Meryt approached.

‘Dedi, I'm sorry I wasn't here this morning. Your mother is angry with me …'

‘She is angry with everyone. We all are.' Dedi's voice was abrupt.

Meryt was taken aback, and sat down quietly to wait for her friend to expand. Dedi put down the comb and smoothed her hair with her fingers, and Meryt was reminded of the cat she had stroked earlier. It was almost as though Dedi were trying to calm her own agitation; and Meryt reflected that if Userkaf's intention was to unnerve Nebnufer and his family, he was managing rather well.

‘At least Neben remains loyal to me,' said Dedi, letting her hands fall by her side.

‘Were you with him last night?' Meryt remembered that her friend had disappeared once the party had broken up.

Dedi nodded. ‘Yes. He took me away from here because he did not like to see me so upset. There is a secret place that we go to, sometimes.'

Meryt did not enquire further. What Dedi and Neben did together was another area in which her friend was much more worldly-wise than she. ‘I am glad he is so good to you,' she said tentatively. ‘You need good friends at times like these.'

‘Yes.' Dedi sighed. ‘Good friends among men. But I fear they are not enough when the gods have abandoned you.'

‘Whatever makes you say that?'

Dedi played with her bracelets, fingering one that had little amulets strung all around it. ‘Userkaf is gaining power,' she said. ‘Half the men left with him last night. The unrest goes much further than Father had imagined. Userkaf is not a troublemaker with a few rowdy friends. He has the support of half the gang, and we do not understand why. What is all this, if not a sign that the gods are with him?' She raised her beautiful eyes to Meryt's, and Meryt saw the depths of the fear and confusion that lay there.

It was difficult to know what to say. After all, Kenna had said something very similar. Userkaf's confidence gave the impression of power and there were few men who did not respond to that.

Meryt frowned. There had to be some comfort that she could give. ‘Remember the findings of the council,' she said eventually. ‘And the oracle. They did not side with Userkaf. You must not give in to your fear, Dedi.'

Dedi picked up her comb and flung it down in fury. ‘That is easy for you to say!' she exclaimed. ‘It is not your marriage and your family's whole life that is at stake!'

Meryt recoiled from her friend in astonishment. She had never seen Dedi explode like this, ever. And
almost at once, anger gripped her too, for until now Dedi's life had been charmed. She had little idea of the struggles faced by Meryt every day. Meryt had always borne their differences with good grace, but the pressure of her own predicament now made her lash out. ‘How dare you!' she retorted. ‘I do not even have a family of my own and certainly no prospect of a happy marriage. Have you forgotten that, or are you too spoilt?'

Dedi gasped. ‘You ungrateful wretch. We have taken you in and sheltered you when who knows what has driven you here. We have trusted that your ill fortune will not follow you but I begin to wonder if it has. Why will Senmut no longer have you in his house, Meryt? What have you done to deserve such a thing?'

Meryt began to tremble. ‘It is not my doing,' she cried. ‘There are forces of evil around us but I am not under their sway!'

Dedi stared at her, her hair dishevelled and her breathing fast and shallow. She leant towards Meryt so their faces were close. ‘
What do you know about the forces of evil?'
she demanded, between gritted teeth. ‘What do you know? Are you part of the misfortunes that are falling upon us?'

‘No!' Meryt was frightened now. Dedi's lovely features seemed twisted and strange, as though something were eating at her from within. ‘Of course not! Dedi, you said you trusted me!'

Dedi leant back again, the line of her mouth thin
and bitter. ‘I don't know,' she said, almost to herself. ‘I can't be sure any more … '

Meryt stood up. She couldn't bear it. She looked out over the rooftops and up at the sky. There were a few wisps of cloud stretched out towards the horizon and she wished she was up there with the sun-god Re on his journey to the west. Why not, after all? She was Meryt-Re; beloved of Re. But for once, his familiar presence did little to comfort her. He seemed distant, aloof, far removed from the daily events on the earth below. She turned to go down the staircase.

‘Where are you going?' Dedi's voice was sharp.

Meryt looked back at her friend, her heart heavy. ‘I don't know.'

Dedi's anger seemed spent, for she reached out her hand. ‘I'm sorry, Meryt. Don't leave us.'

Meryt shook her head. ‘These are bad times, Dedi. I don't wish to bring further anguish to your family. If people fear me then it is better for me to go.'

‘It is not you that I fear. Not really.'

‘If you feared me, you would not be the first. You know that. And maybe I am getting used to it. There is someone I need to see. It isn't Teti this time but someone who may hold the key to the problems of your family.'

Dedi looked incredulous. ‘Hold the … who? What are you talking about?'

‘I can't tell you,' said Meryt. ‘In any case I may be wrong.'

‘You can't say that.' Dedi stepped quickly across
the roof and grabbed Meryt's arm. ‘Tell me, Meryt!'

But Meryt said nothing, for standing at the bottom of the staircase, with Nebnufer between them, were two members of the Medjay police force.

Chapter Ten

‘Father!' Dedi stared down at Nebnufer, her eyes wide with shock.

‘Don't worry,' Nebnufer told her. ‘We need to come up to the roof to talk, my child. This will affect the whole family, so you can stay if you wish.'

Meryt quickly decided to make herself scarce. She slipped out of the house, leaving Nebnufer to climb up to roof with the two policemen, followed by Wab and his sons. The Medjays' visit was bound to be something about Userkaf's goings-on, and she hoped that they put an end to his antics once and for all. Meanwhile, she walked determinedly to the southern end of the village. She would play her part, if she could.

Outside the gate, Meryt positioned herself so that whichever way Nofret returned from her job in the embalmers' workshops, she would be able to spot and waylay the girl. She waited for what seemed like an eternity, tossing limestone pebbles from one hand to the other and tracing patterns in the dust. Foremost in her mind was her dream about Kha. She
thought of Teti's words:
You must let your mind go. It will lead you to the truth if you allow it to …
She went over the dream again. There was the amulet, lying in the dust. It was so hot that she could not touch it, and the gold began to melt away, leaving only the fragments of precious lapis lazuli and glass. But as she reached to grasp them, they too disappeared, leaving nothing on the ground at all.

Let your mind go
. Meryt thought instead of Kha, standing in the moonlight, dressed in nothing but rags.
He has nothing
, she thought.
It is not he who receives the amulets. Nofret's story is a lie
. She thought of Userkaf – arrogant, wielding the power of the gods. If Nofret was stealing the amulets for her master, he was using them for despicable ends. He had great magic at his disposal and Nebnufer's downfall was his aim.

And yet … and yet … Meryt shook her head. Userkaf was not the sort of man to understand the fine workings of magic. He was a man of flesh and blood and wine. A man who longed for wealth and status and fine linen on his back.

Suddenly, the truth was so clear that Meryt could scarcely believe she had not seen it before. A sacred amulet was an object to be feared and respected. In the hands of the right person it could bring protection or destruction in equal measure. But this amulet was more than that. It contained enough gold and lapis lazuli to pay the wages of many men for months … She thought of the traders she had seen at
the gate. Such men could easily dispose of precious objects, for they dealt in them all the time. Userkaf was not interested in the amulets' power; their value was enough to set the village alight.

Meryt jumped up as she spotted the little figure of Nofret trudging towards her in the late afternoon sun. The girl had her head bowed and did not see Meryt until she ran into her path and spoke to her.

‘Nofret.'

Nofret stopped in her tracks. ‘What is it?' she asked.

Meryt drew herself up tall, and assumed a dreamy expression. ‘The gods have spoken,' she said, in a low voice. ‘They have come to me in my dreams and revealed the truth. Do you wish to hear it?'

Nofret took a step back. ‘Why … yes, of course I want to hear it,' she said, her nostrils flaring nervously.

‘Come then,' said Meryt. ‘We'll go up the hillside and I shall tell you.'

Without a word, Nofret fell into step behind her and they walked silently through the eastern cemetery to the top of the hill. There, Meryt did not sit down, but turned to face the servant girl with her arms folded. Her heart was beating fast, for she could not be completely sure of her ground.

She took a deep breath. ‘You lied to me,' she stated, as coolly as she could.

Nofret's mouth dropped open. ‘What do you mean?'

‘The gods have revealed the truth. You lied to me,' repeated Meryt, studying the other girl's face. ‘You lied to me about Kha. He is innocent. Did you think that you could get away with such a falsehood?'

Nofret stared at her, and Meryt could tell that her mind was working quickly. Then, to her astonishment, the servant girl laughed. ‘The gods do not reveal such things so easily,' she said.

Meryt's confidence wavered. Nofret had seemed nervous at first, but now all signs of her fear had gone. But she was not going to give up yet. ‘You are a strange girl, Nofret,' she said. ‘On one day you come to me for protection from the gods. On another you say they do not speak to me. Which is it that you believe?'

The servant girl pursed her lips, and shrugged. But Meryt caught a look of uncertainty on the other girl's face, and took a step towards her. ‘What if I told you that I know what becomes of the amulets?' she asked.

‘You can't possibly know that!' Nofret's voice was scornful.

Meryt smiled. ‘Can't I?' She turned to face the great River Nile and the mortuary temples, a slight breeze lifting her hair. ‘I have seen the amulets fall apart,' she said, resuming her dreamlike voice. ‘I have seen the value of their gold and of their lapis lazuli. I have seen the traders at the village gate and I have seen the gentleness of painter Kha.' She spun around quickly to catch the look on Nofret's face.
‘So tell me what you make of that, Nofret, servant of Userkaf!'

Nofret looked incredulous. ‘The gods revealed this?'

‘Yes,' said Meryt. ‘They did.'

The servant raised her eyebrows, and fell silent. She wandered away from Meryt and sat down on a rock with her back turned. Meryt began to feel frustrated. Perhaps she had gone about all this the wrong way, for it had not had the effect she intended. She had hoped that Nofret would crumble when she heard about Meryt's dream, and give away more information – perhaps even enough to blacken Userkaf's name. But instead she had clamped her mouth shut like the jaws of a jackal around its prey.

She marched over to her. ‘So what are you going to do, Nofret?' she demanded. ‘You can see that I know the truth. The gods will not protect you now.'

Nofret gave a cynical smile. ‘You know little, Meryt-Re,' she said. ‘You have seen that the amulets are sold to traders. It would not take the powers of a priestess to work out such a thing. You think you are clever but you will not catch me out like that.'

Despite her relief at having been right, Meryt was stung. ‘You play with fire,' she exclaimed. ‘You are a common thief and you stand in defiance of the gods.'

‘There's something you don't understand,' said Nofret. She stood up and looked Meryt in the face. In the depths of her eyes, Meryt saw more than defiance and fear; there was a curious deadness there too. ‘I am a servant girl. A slave.'

‘I know that,' said Meryt, puzzled.

‘But you do not know what it means.' Nofret twisted her lips into an almost pitying smile. ‘My life cannot get any worse than it already is. I have nothing to lose.'