The Forgotten: Aten's Last Queen (5 page)

Even though Nefertiti acted kind and loving around Tutankhaten, she did everything she could to elevate Merytaten’s status, as Merytaten was her first daughter. In the ever-expanding wall carvings, we as Nefertiti’s daughters were always portrayed much larger and usually with the king and queen while little Tutankhaten was somewhere in back with Maia holding him. My mother also adopted the name Neferneferuaten, meaning “Most Beautiful One of Aten.”

Her new baby was named the same but with an added script, Tasherit, meaning “the younger one.” The name was certainly true for my mother, though, because I had never seen a more luminous woman. Even as she grew into a fifth pregnancy, she only became more vivacious. How many women could claim five births? Soon my mother would. She also made more public appearances and was hailed as the most beautiful woman of the lands by her people. Everyone outside the palace soaked her up like water on the hottest of days, every sinew screaming for a taste, each sip never enough to satisfy. Busts were begun of her regal features and placed around the palace and temples for people to worship. Small statues were made of both Pharaoh and Mother for people to pray to in their homes as well, but hers were in greater demand. All wanted a piece of her divine beauty.

No one seemed to notice that two mortals now took the place for a multitude of gods.

I was only 4 when my husband was born, and I do not remember his infancy. It wasn’t until we were older children that we began to form a bond. All I remembered was the change in my mother’s eyes and in her love toward me and my sisters. Of course, being young, we did not yet feel the double crowns bearing down on all of our brows. It seemed so clear that Merytaten would take that place. And Tutankhaten and I were so young… too young…

The Span of Earthly Things is as a Dream
1322 B.C
.

In my private chambers, I finished the papyrus. Setting aside the reed brush, I looked down at the foreign letters. I took in a deep breath as I read over the finished product. Being educated in the language from an early age, I could write in Hittite for myself.

Noble King Suppiluliuma
,

My husband has died. A son I have not, but to thee, they say, the sons are many. If thou would give me one son of thine, he would become my husband. Never shall I pick out a servant of mine and make him my husband.
I am afraid.

The King’s Wife of Kemet

Releasing my breath, I saw that even though things were far from over, my feet had started down the path. The letters were black, but the final sentence had a mixture of red used to highlight it. It needed to be more than just read, it needed to be felt.

The letter was quick and precise. Hopefully the king would see the urgency of the situation and realize the potential for peace without further bloodshed. Still, I wondered if I should add the riches the king would acquire with his blood line ruling over two lands.

No, there was just no time to flower up the correspondence. It was persuasive and to the point, and it needed to get out tonight.

The letters on the papyrus still smelled of beeswax from the ink mixture. At one time, I had enjoyed sitting next to the scribes as they carefully mixed their colors and recorded the words of Pharaoh. But now the inky sweetness did not calm my pounding heart as this secret meeting was finally coming to a head. I looked up at my faithful nurse, Tia. She had stood by me for as long as I could remember.

Tia looked as I always remembered her. Age barely lined her face. She had been my nurse since birth. She had small eyes and a petite nose. Her lips were thin and pink. Her face was defined by high cheekbones that curved upward at her ears making it look like her cheeks were actually lined with small plums. Her hair was long and almost always up and plaited. Her fingers could weave wondrously elaborate plaits. She was of average height and build, but to me, she was anything but average. To me, she was the most comforting person in the world. Her presence was always there, and she calmed my heart when I laid eyes on her. I always felt safe when she was near. How I hated the fact that I was about to send her away.

“Roll this up with this signet on top.” I said, handing Tia a parcel with my late husband’s signet ring and a second piece of writing, “In this is the name of my fastest, most trusted rider. Show him the ring and tell him to bring this to the Hittite King,” I said, getting up stiffly. Though I did not carry my mother’s bodily grace and command, I could carry my vocal power. It was no wonder, though, with all the struggles these past years which had weighed heavily on me and Tutankhamun.

“Pharaoh is coming home; the priests are preparing to begin the mummification process. We must make haste! And make sure Ay does not see you.” I then quickly left the room and scanned the candle-lit halls to make sure no one had overheard my plan. To my eyes, all was clear. My hopes rose just a little, and I silently prayed to Aten that things would work out.

In the distance, the sun chariot was sinking into the Red Lands. Darkness began to creep in all around me with its lean finger-like shapes crawling toward the palace, pressing down all light that dared to oppose it, and gliding over the sands with ease. As I looked to the horizon, I wondered when my husband’s body would arrive home for the process and what it would look like now. I was scared thinking of that soon-to-be moment when I would first view the still, cold form of my beloved. How different would his face look? It was a face I had grown up with and watched stretch into a tall, proud man. How broken was his body now?

In one day, my husband had died and unknowingly taken with him all the trust, security, and peace of the world around me. Suddenly, I needed to watch my steps for fear of them being silenced in the ever-reaching darkness. I had to search out servants and workers behind closed doors who had always been loyal to my family and even then only confide just enough information to help my cause but not give away the plan if caught. I had to be manipulative, untrusting, and calculating.

Suddenly, I felt like a stranger.

This was not who I was. It was so tiring. I feared if this did not end soon, I would become this way permanently, to be conniving and slink around in the shelter of darkness to get my way. It was as if I could feel my heart tipping the scales and cursing my ka to the jaws of Ammit.

Things never used to be this way. Of course, that was in a different world. A world pregnant with Aten’s light filling our souls and cleansing our thoughts. Though publicly my husband and I had supported all the temples, my heart still belonged to Aten. He had been a constant in my life. He had warmed me when I was cold with fear. How I missed His safe glow at this moment. At night, the other gods and demons returned. All were remembered again and brought back to the land of the living. The priests may have returned the gods to the land, but evil had followed on their heels too.

I could feel the beginnings of a head pain. The throbbing seemed suddenly to swell behind my eyes and stop me in my tracks. I knew that I had to lie down for fear of this becoming debilitating. I should rest.

But I had no time for rest anymore. I had to be strong now. Once my beloved returned to this land, the process for his burial would begin. Already, the artisans and priests were hastily preparing for his journey to the Afterlife. It was all happening so quickly. Once he arrived, I only had 70 days before an heir to the throne
had
to be named. For this task, I would trust a foreign prince instead of the snakes that seemed to slither around the halls of the palace, slowly undulating toward me like the darkness encroaching on the city. They did not have my husband’s best interests at heart. They wanted to see my family permanently erased for all time. Even my aging and withered grandfather, Ay, was no longer speaking to me. He had been secretly meeting with the priests of Amun, the strongest rivals to my husband getting the crown in the first place.

Once Tutankamun’s tomb was sealed, so too would my life end.

I had to keep moving…

Chapter Two

Let Not The Heart Be Troubled

1340 B.C.

The afternoon was oppressed with heat, but we were immersed in the cool blanket of the Nile which hid our skin from the sun disc’s burning gaze. Meketaten and I swam around the royal barge as it took its occupants on a leisurely glide on the Great River. Our barge was surrounded by four other skiffs with soldiers watching the waters. They kept any curious crocodile or hippo away.

Most sailing vessels would have a section that was under canopy to shield the rider’s eyes from the sunlight. Father did not believe in hiding himself from his God above. He sat comfortably underneath the rays shining down from heaven. Father was sitting on the deck writing a song to Aten. He had wanted to find inspiration in a place where the sun occupied the entire space around him, filling his ka with Aten’s power and grace. He chose to go out into the river and watch as the water oscillated under Aten’s unflinching stare. Everywhere around us was glowing.

Meketaten and I were playing Water Snake. Currently, I was the chaser. Once I caught up to Meketaten, I would try to swim under the water and pull her down by her legs. Then I would be the one to try to keep my head above the surface for the longest. Unfortunately, being the smaller of us, Meketaten was hard to catch. I could hear her laughing at me.

“You move slower than a fat cow engorged with milk! Come on, at least try to catch up!”

“I can’t help it I have an actual snake for a sister! I’m afraid of the snap of your jaws if I get too close.” I retorted harshly. Five years old was not an age that took to teasing well.

Meketaten stopped and slapped the water’s surface at my face. Then she resumed laughing as I tried to clear my mouth and nose of it. My breath burned me as the water rushed down my throat.

“Mom! Meket is trying to drown me!” I whined.

“Mom! An is being a baby!” Mekeaten responded in kind, mimicking my tone.

Mother looked down at us from her seat. She was next to Father helping him compose his praises. Her glance was enough to tell us to stop it, her eyes shouting displeasure at us for interrupting them.

Wiping the water from my eyes again, I climbed up onto the deck of the flat barge. I lay down in the sun and let it dry me. Meketaten came up beside me. We lay there naked, eyes closed, and let Aten’s touch warm us up again. We could hear Mother and Father talking quietly, the scribe scratching out words as they spoke. Occasionally a line would catch our ears with clarity though I preferred the beeswax scent floating about my nose.

Oh sole God, like Whom there is no other!

Thou did create the world according to Thy desire
.

“I hope I become a Great Wife someday.” Meketaten spoke up quietly next to me. I opened my eyes a slit to look at her. She had not moved. She looked peacefully asleep as if the wind had spoken instead of her.

“I don’t. You never get to see your children,” I replied.

“Oh, of course you do.”

“Not like the other kids in class do. Their mothers are with them every morning and every night. They even kiss them to sleep.”

“Now you are acting spoiled. As a princess, you must learn sacrifice.”

“That is easy for you to say. If you get bored with me, you can just go spend time with Merytaten. What is there to sacrifice when there is hardly anyone in your life? All I have is you and Tia.”

“You’ve always wanted all the attention,” Meket said with a groan in her voice. “You don’t have to fight for us, you know! Mother sacrifices her time from us for everyone else. And now I have to sacrifice my free time to listen to you complaining.”

I could tell she was trying to be funny. “Then next time, you should sacrifice your speed so I can win a game for once.”

Meketaten snorted out a laugh. “Sacrifice is only for the good of the people. Who cares about the good of the sister?”

“Have you been talking to Merytaten again?” I asked. Merytaten had stayed home to watch over our baby sister. She enjoyed spending time with little ones. It’s the ones like me that she ignored, the ones who could talk back.

“Merytaten is not so bad. She’s the oldest, so she has the most responsibility. But if I’m lucky, perhaps I can become a Great Wife after her. Did you know our grandfather took his own daughter as a wife?”

I shivered at the thought. “Father is not like that. If you’re going to marry someone, it would be baby brother. Unless you want to marry Father?”

“Ew, no! And brother? Nah. Merytaten will be Pharaoh someday. I heard Mother talking about it.”

I sat up on my elbows and leaned over Meketaten, “What are you speaking of?”

“I heard Mother talking to Merytaten that she will one day rule the lands as a pharaoh.”

“What does Father say?” I asked tentatively.

“Father is so busy writing poetry and worshiping in the temples, what does he care for anything else? He’s ignored us ever since Brother’s problems walking.”

I lay back down on the deck feeling dizzy in my confusion about Merytaten being a king and why Meket was saying things about being a pharaoh’s wife. “So then who will you marry? Surely you would not wait for a child of Merytaten’s?”

Meketaten laughed softly. “No. It’s just a wish is all. But wouldn’t it be wonderful to be the Great Wife? Everyone bowing to you? Everyone singing praises to you, worshipping you? Calling you beautiful beyond compare?”

Thou suppliest their necessities
:

Everyone has his food, and his time of life is reckoned
.

I responded flatly, “Everyone depending on you too. What would you do if you ran out of food? How would you feed everyone? What if there was a plague? They’d blame you.”

“That is a question for my husband, the pharaoh. I will let you know when he has a free moment to address your petitions,” she replied with a smile. “Besides, Aten would not let our family starve or our people. We are His favored.”

“But if Aten supplies our every need, why work at all? He should just give it to us then.”