ISBN: 9781483541495

She who walks the Endless Corridors of Night

Like bells

sound in ancient rhythms

she walks in beauty’s

blessing.

Holding up the gold cup

she toasts to life’s array

of magic

predestine.

That yields to folds

of thought and mind,

and is not Prometheus bound

but

drops

like

stone

in

water.

CHAPTER I

The scent of perfumed oils wafts across the room tickling at my nostrils and I know, without opening my eyes, that my mother is standing in the doorway to my sleeping chamber, hidden behind the linen drapes, wanting to look in on me, yet, as usual, she is late and must hurry on past.

I keep my eyes closed. I knew she would not enter my chamber for she was on her way to my father's rooms. I heard the swish of her skirt and the jingle of her bracelets as she moved away, her bare feet making scarcely a sound on the marble tiled floor. Only the sound of the accompanying guards’ hard leather sandals let me know she has proceeded to my father’s rooms.

As soon as she was gone the odor of my guards' sweat once more pervaded my chamber. Oh if only they would leave and I could be alone. But I am never alone for I am Nefure beloved daughter of the God King Thutmose I, and like my mother must always be accompanied or watched over by guards.

I toss and turn and immediately feel the fans, held by the servants kneeling around my bed, waft the air about me. Mere children, younger than I, they kneel to either side of my bed fanning me with their hand held, long poled ostrich plumed fans so that I might be cool and sleep.

But I cannot. I sit up and order them from my chamber watching them rise on cramped legs, the result of kneeling so long, and scamper out through the linen draped doorway. As they leave the lights in the oil sconces flutter but do not die so that the shadows of the guards, standing outside of the chamber, take on grotesque and undulating shapes until the floating wicks finally stop their movements.

I feel beads of perspiration on my upper lip and wish I had not sent the fan bearers away. Of course I could call them back immediately if I wished, but decided against it. I laid down to sleep once more, though sleep was hard to come by for I kept imagining all kinds of specters and ogres in every shadowed corner of the room. The flickering lamps had done nothing to allay my fears and I huddle in a ball under my soft blanket my eyes closed tight shutting out all light.

When next I wake, filtered light is creeping into my bed chamber and the servants are back once more, in their kneeling positions, to either side of my bed, and wafting the air about me with their fans.

I rouse myself and slowly look around. I see Alisama standing off to one side, a far away look on her face.

Alisama, who sleeps at the foot of my bed, has been up a while for I note that my clothes for the day are already laid out on the gilded ebony chair and my oils, perfumes, powders and unguents wait for me, in their containers inside my open tortoise shell box, atop the carved and gilded console.

I stir and slowly stretch, sit up and am helped from my bed by Alisama who seems startled to have been caught day dreaming. She divests me of my night shift. Her eyes never making contact with mine as the servants form a wide circle around us with their backs to us, wafting their plumed fans backwards over their heads with fluid grace.

I push two aside so that I might walk over to the chair that I use to relieve myself and do so, into the fresh sand tray that lies beneath the round hole cut into the wooden seat.

Alisama claps her hands and a young boy runs in, keeping his head down low so as not to gaze upon my person, and quickly, with practiced ease, pulls out the sand tray which he immediately takes from the chamber.

Alisama then bathes me with perfumed water and, after drying my body with a soft cotton towel, rubs my body down with scented oils. Next my eyes are outlined with kohl and my black wig placed on my head before she wraps and pins, with gold pins, my morning high skirt about me. Made of the sheerest of cottons, it is wrapped around me three times over my small, just forming breasts. Then my gold and turquoise three stranded necklace is attached around my neck and I chose a coral, a turquoise, and several gold rings for my fingers from my jewelry box. How I love that box. I stroke its rough surface lovingly with my hands. It is made from black lacquered woven reeds and decorated with nacre. My father had brought it back, as a gift for me, from a trip he had made to the Land of Punt when I was yet too young to travel with him.

Punt! Sometimes, when I can’t sleep at night, I lie thinking about the land of Punt and imagine myself taking a journey to its exotic location. But, for now, I can only imagine the land and its people and the wealth it is reputed to hold. Nothing compares to the riches that are Egypt’s, but still, it would be worth the journey.

I have been taught, since I was very young, that the God Amun, Lord of all the gods, presider over Karnak, had ordered my father’s expedition to the land of Punt, for he ‘so much loves the King of Upper and Lower Egypt’ that he had wanted him to see for himself the marvels of every country. When I rule I will also order an expedition to the fabled land of Punt.

I w-am brought back to the present as Alisama claps her hands and the fan boys and girls quickly run to form two lines to either side of me. I slip into my morning slippers, woven of the finest palm fronds, and, with Alisama bringing up the rear, exit my sleeping chamber.

The guards, the same who had watched over me all night, are relieved by the day guards who immediately fall in behind my small cortege, their short skirts with studded leather overlays flapping with every step they take. Their sandal clad feet also flap in unison on the marble tiles echoing my every step. It is hard not to walk in cadence with the guards’ pace. Behind me, I hear Alisama smother a giggle as I try to high step like the guards. She is the only one, of course, who could observe what I was doing.

The guards keep up their pace, not looking at me, for to do so would be to incur my wrath and punishment, for gazing on the royal personage is not tolerated unless acknowledged. Looking upon the royal personage unbidden could even be considered sacrilegious.

Thus, we make our way out onto the terrace where baskets of fruits and bowls of grains await, as does my darling Sitre- In, my old wet nurse, who stands alongside my two tutors. They all pretend not to notice that Alisama and I are giggling and not behaving in a proper and dignified manner. This of course only causes Alisama and I to giggle all the more.

“Nefure!” admonishes Sitre-In.

“Yes, ma’am,” I respond, as I sit on my little gold chair under the blue and gold awning and wait for the food servants to come and kneel before me and, with heads bowed, proffer up, for my selection, baskets and bowls of fruits and grains. Another servant, pours a goblet of beer for me and I begin my first meal of the day after the food and drink tasters have taken their samples.

From my vantage point I can look out over the city of Thebes, glistening in the morning sun, out over the white temples and, bathed by the sun's rays, the pink and brown administrative buildings which stretch out before me until they meet up with the brown mud houses of the people and the rush huts of the lowly workers. Long straight avenues, flanked by pillars and obelisks, stretch from the palace to every reach of the city before me.

Where I am seated is on the eastern bank of the Nile and is for the living, the dead, in their resting places, lie to the west of the river.

One day, all this will be mine.

I then cast my eyes over the great river Nile, as it flows by beneath us. From my vantage point I can look down onto the barges which are being readied for our journey to Abydos, for I am to be wed there to my half brother Thutmose, who lives at Abydos with his tutors. I do not relish the thought of being wed but I do look forward to the journey, for as long as memory has served me I have accompanied my father on most of his travels throughout his kingdom and I love visiting new places. Indeed, Alisama and myself were often the only two females along on his trips and expeditions, for he did not even take a wife to comfort him.

How I relished these moments with my father. He treated me as an equal for I was well versed in my writing and sums and in all the ceremonial rites of both court and temple. I also have a most able tutor who teaches me the ways of overseeing governmental and regimental duties. I am prepared to take on any task that might befall me as the daughter and legitimate heir of my father Thutmose I. Marrying my half brother Thutmose, named of course after our common father, will not change that, for we will rule together.

Thutmose and I had often played together as children and, I like him well enough, though he is not very smart for he would rather play at soldiers than learn his lessons. I, however, know that knowledge is the path to power for I have been well taught by my tutors and the priests of Karnak; one can always find a good general to deal with all things military and to handle any outside threats to the Kingdom but, one must be in control, especially of all things administrative and legal, if one is to be a strong ruler and maintain peace on the domestic front.

I have tried to persuade my father to let me marry my other brother, Moses. I am going to call him by that name, though we all call him Sen-Mut, because later on, another man, also named Sen-Mut, would play a large role in my life and I don’t want you to be confused by what I tell you. And, Moses is not really my brother, even though I call him that, for he has been raised as such.

What can I tell you about Moses? Only that he was the sweetest baby ever, even if he is now proving himself to be headstrong in all matters. He has a charm, however, that is not lost on anyone and, much more so than I, can wheedle anything he wishes out of anyone - except my father. When he talks people listen, for he has a way with words and a most melodious yet commanding voice. I have tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to plead with my father to let me marry Moses rather than Thutmose, for Moses is a fine boy, intelligent, quick on his feet and with the bow and arrow. He listens to his tutors and is adept with a stylus, even though still very young, and knows all the workings of the kingdom and rites of the temple. But my father is adamant, he will not allow any foreigner or ‘Asiatic’ to ascend to the holiest of thrones.

We were living in Memphis, not where we are now in Thebes, when little Moses came into my life. I was then the only surviving legitimate issue of my father and mother, two brothers and a little sister having died in infancy and childhood. And then my father had a son by a concubine and, no matter what I did, no matter how brilliant I was in my studies, and no matter how well I applied myself, it was understood that this son, Thutmose, would be the next Pharaoh. He was a sickly and somewhat unstable boy, though I liked him well enough for, he was after all my brother, but then little Moses came into my life and I loved him and forgot about Thutmose, away in Abydos.

I was walking along the river bank of the mighty Nile in Memphis, which was then considered the capital of our great country, though now Thebes has become our capital, with my dear nursemaid Sitre-In, one of my tutors, and a small escort of guards, when we all noticed an unusual occurrence. Ibis, ducks and geese were rising and settling, rising and settling as though performing some kind of a ritual dance, from a clump of very densely packed papyrus water reeds, which grew fairly far out in the river.

“What is happening?” I asked, my curiosity roused. But no one seemed to know, nor could we see anything out among the reeds from where we walked along the river bank. If Alisama had been along for the walk, she would have been curious like me, but she was not yet allowed to accompany me when I was with one or more of my tutors, except at meal times of course. It would not have been proper for a maid to learn any of that in which I was being instructed.

“It’s probably a crocodile or a hippo annoying the birds,” said Sitre-In. “Come, do not concern yourself with silly birds. Princesses should not be concerned with such lowly creatures. You must remember, always, that your father is coregent and your mother is the honored Great Royal Wife Ahmose, and one day, soon, for your grandfather lies sick, your father will be the Pharaoh of all of Kemet. You should behave accordingly and pay attention to your lessons.”

“Sitre-In birds are not silly, are not Pharaohs considered to be the manifestation of the falcon-headed deity Horus?”

“Of course, but falcons are wise, swift birds, renown as hunters, whereas the birds we are referring to are considered good enough to eat, but not good for much else!”

“Oh I wouldn’t say that Sitre-In. We do use their feathers for decoration and for stuffing pillows, and their fat is used in winter on our chests for medicinal purposes. And sometimes we even make utensils from their bones.”

“You know very well what I mean young lady, please do not forget that I love you and nursed you as a baby, I am but trying to keep your mind on more serious matters”.

“Yes, Sitre-In,” I replied, though I was nonetheless intrigued by the birds. Birds normally did not resettle back from where they were disturbed, so I, personally, did not feel that the reason for their soaring and settling was a crocodile or hippo. But I obediently followed Sitre-In down the pathway and looked across the wide river to the temples, pyramids and small homes that dotted the landscape surrounding Memphis.

“Princess, if you look across the river you can see how the rulers of yore built their pyramids in clusters, family clusters,” continued my tutor.

“Yes!” I responded somewhat distracted and wishing I could find out instead what had caused the birds to rise.

“Can you tell me, Princess, which God was then worshiped as the primary God?”

“Ptah,” I answered bored. Everyone knew that. Why didn’t he ask me something I didn’t know so that I could learn something new?

“Very good, Princess. Indeed it was the God Ptah and Memphis was the center of the cult to honor him. Now he is considered to be only a state God. Can you tell me what his attributes are and how you would recognize him were you presented with several small statuettes of different gods?”

“He is a creator god and is the patron god of craftsmen. He is usually, though not always, represented wrapped up in the attributes of a mummy.”

“Yes, indeed. You know your lessons well,” said my tutor, as Sitre-In smiled benignly at me.

“Princess, what was the original name of Memphis and why was it called thus?”

“Memphis was originally called White Wall because of the fortifications which were erected to protect the King’s palace and which were built of dazzling whitewashed mud-brick. The sphinx, which sits on guard at the site of the great Temple of Ptah, is also constructed of white alabaster,” I responded.

“Very good,” said my tutor. “What else can you tell me about this great city?”

“It was a center of trade, a great port, but enough, for now,” I said, “let us just enjoy the walk.”

As we walked we came upon a group of fishermen casting their nets from the shore while others cast one wide from a boat, that bobbed just offshore, and which was made from the same reeds that had attracted my attention.

“Guards! Call the fishermen on the boat to shore!” I heard myself state. “I wish to go on the river to find out the cause of the birds’ unrest.”

“Nefure!” said Sitre-In in an admonishing tone of voice, while my tutor began to fuss and begged me to continue on our walk and with my lessons.

“I want to find out what is causing the birds that we passed earlier, to act in that way,” I responded, trying to sound as though I had authority but even to myself, I sounded childish.

One of the guards was meanwhile calling the boatmen over to the shore. As he shouted out to them to bring the boat to shore they looked up and, seeing who was on the shore, quickly pulled in their net and poled the boat to shore as ordered.

The two men and one boy on the boat jumped to shore and fell to their knees in front of me, while the oldest of the men held on to the side of the boat to prevent it drifting away.

“The princess wishes you to take her out on the river,” said the guard.

The little boy and the men looked up at the guard in astonishment, and the one holding the boat stood up, hesitantly, though his companions still stayed on their knees and bowed low. The man holding onto the boat was now in a quandary. If he fell to his knees again he might release the boat, yet if he did not fall to his knees he risked losing his life! So he fell to his knees again while still managing to hold onto the side of the boat. I knew what they all must be thinking. Why our lowly craft when the Princess has several large royal barges at her disposal? But they could not address a Princess and therefore acquiesced to the request.

So, as a guard lifted me up and placed me on the small craft, followed by Sitre-In, who would not let me venture onto the river alone, the tutor stood on the bank following our progress, with much hand wringing and pleas for us to reconsider our action. Like the fishermen who could only acquiesce to my demands he too could only go along with anything I wished though, supposedly, I was in his care while he tutored me.

But I ignored him and urged the fisherman to take us to where the birds had caused me to stop on my walk earlier. The man holding the boat vaulted in with alacrity and began to pole us out into midstream. As we moved along on the river, in the direction I requested, the guards followed along the pathway while the other fishermen, stood, mouths agape their fishing forgotten, their catch floundering about in the nets at their feet.

The fisherman on the boat poled us through the reeds to where the birds had risen as though disturbed. As we neared, I thought I heard a baby cry. But no that could not be, there was no habitation in this area which was solely devoted to temples and chapels. But I was not wrong! For, when we finally pulled into the middle of the thickest part of the reeds, I heard the sound again.

“A baby!” I exclaimed, standing up, causing the boat to rock from side to side. Sitre-In, who had insisted I could not go alone with such a lowly person as the fisherman, clutched the sides of the boat her fear reflected on her face at the thought that the boat might capsize!

“How can that be?” she managed to say, as she swallowed hard. “Please, Princess, please sit down before we all drown.”

“Look!” I exclaimed, as we saw something that looked like a miniature papyrus bark caught up in the reeds.

The fisherman steered the boat closer. I pulled back the reeds and was finally able to peer over the side of the boat and into a small woven basket in which lay a little baby boy! The basket had been snagged on a clump of reeds.

“Ooh!” I exclaimed, as I knelt upright, for water had come over the edge of the boat as I leant forward and I could feel it lapping about my knees and over my feet.

“Nefure! Let’s return to dry land, please, the boat is taking on water and I am afraid we might drown. Your father would be most displeased,” said Sitre-In, cajolingly.

“No, not before we rescue the baby. Can you reach the basket?” I asked the fisherman.

He nodded, hesitating.

I looked from him to the basket where the baby was now wailing most pitifully.

“You may address me,” I said to the fisherman who stood, his thin legs shaking as I spoke.

“Have no fear, no harm will come of it. Can you reach the basket?” I asked.

“I will have to wade into the reeds to do so though, for the boat cannot approach any closer, the reeds are too dense.”

“Please,” I beseeched him. “We cannot leave a small baby out here, the crocodiles or hippos might do him harm, or worse, eat him!”

You should have seen the look on the man’s face as he looked at me, then over to the basket and all around us, in case a crocodile or hippo lurked in the shallows!

“You will be well rewarded,” I said, “and you need have no fear, crocodiles and hippos would not be able to make their way through such dense growth!”

I don’t think he believed me, I scarce believed myself, but the thought of a reward goaded him to do what I requested, besides, he could scarce decline to do as requested by the Pharaoh’s daughter, for to do so would mean certain death.

He looked from me, to the guards on the river bank, training their spears in our direction, in case a hippo or crocodile presented itself but, I am sure, looking to the fisherman as though they might make him their next target practice if he did not do as I bid him to!

“Princess, please hold onto those reeds so that the boat will not drift,” he said, shaking at his audacity in speaking to me. As he climbed over the side, the boat rocked dangerously close to capsizing so that Sitre-In screamed out in fright.

“Aieeeeeee!”

As if he knew her fear the baby renewed its pitiful crying. I am telling you the noise the two of them made would have scared any lurking crocodile or hippo far from the vicinity!

I held the reeds tightly while I watched the fisherman bend over the basket, unsnag it from it’s reed prison, and pick it up by its sides. He slowly came towards us carrying it above his head, water dripping down over his face and shoulders. As he reached the boat I leaned over the side to help him place the basket on the floor and in so doing I let go of the reeds, so intent was I on securing the basket and examining the little baby boy. As a result the boat began to drift backwards, out into the middle of the river, with Sitre- In whimpering and the fisherman trying to wade after us. The guards on the shore were forced to jump in, one after the other, and waded over to us, holding on to one another, leaving a solitary armed guard on the look out for trouble.

Finally, the guards were within reach and able to pull the boat, by grasping the fisherman’s pole I held out to them, back over to the shore. The fisherman made it back by himself and just in time too, for we heard several loud splashes coming from the opposite shore and turned around to see three large crocodiles enter the water, their snouts just above the surface as they made their way over to the clump of reeds we had just left. Birds rose into the air once more, squawking and screeching and resettled further downstream. We were all a little wet when we finally set foot on dry land not to say more than a little relieved I can tell you.

Once there, I thanked the fisherman profusely as he stood before me, his mean shift clinging to his silt encased legs and thighs and asked Sitre-In to make sure he was recompensed, as well as to have the guards issued an extra ration of beer. They were trying to stand at attention as I talked to Sitre-In as water dripped down their legs and formed puddles at their feet. One, I noticed, had even lost a boot to the river. I must make a note that he be issued a new pair.

I picked up the little baby boy and held him to me, paying little heed to Sitre-In, who followed me and admonished me in an hysterical tone of voice, carrying the baby’s wet basket and waving it every time she tried to make a point!

“Nefure! Don’t you ever, do you hear me? Ever do anything like that again. You almost had us all drowned or eaten by crocodiles! Really, you are the Pharaoh’s daughter and must behave as such, are you listening to me?” she asked, as she walked behind me and the guards and my tutor, still wringing his hands nervously, fell into step behind her all hurrying to leave the place to which crocodiles were making their way over.

“And the way the fisherman spoke to you, you a royal personage, why I would have him punished not rewarded!”

“Don’t be silly, who else was he going to ask? You were quivering on the bottom of the boat!”

“And getting wet too. Just look at my best dress. And look at you! You look like any girl from the town, and the hem of your skirt is all soaked. And for what, some baby whose mother has thrown him away! He’s probably disease ridden, or worse!” she grumbled, as she walked behind me.

“Hello! Little one. What is your name and where do you come from?” I asked the boy baby, knowing full well that he could not tell me.

Then inspiration hit me, I would call him Moses, which means ‘drawn out of the water’.

He was naked except for a small leather thong around his neck from which hung a talisman, in the shape of a scroll of some kind. I held him close to me as he gurgled and dribbled down my shoulder and I loved him instantly.

“At least you didn’t lose a sandal in the process, one of the guards lost a boot,” I informed Sitre-In, who worriedly looked backwards at the guards.

“Oh dear, what is your father going to say about all this?” she asked, in a quivering voice.

“Oh do stop worrying, dear Sitre-In. He’ll be angry of course, but he won’t stay angry for long. He is never angry for long with me!”

“Well, let’s hope this won’t set a precedent,” she said.

Once back at the palace I asked for a nursemaid and spent the rest of the day playing with my new acquisition.

My parents were not too displeased but they were not too happy either.

“Nefure, as a royal princess you can do almost anything you wish, but to take in an unknown baby, well what are people going to think or say!” said my mother, that evening when she came to visit my chambers.

“What can they say or do about anything the Pharaoh or his kin do?” I asked, sweetly, as the baby gurgled and kicked his little feet in the air as he lay on a soft blanket on the floor.

“Isn’t he sweet? Just look at him, he’s so alert,” I said.

“He reminds me of one of your brothers,” said my mother, suddenly looking sad and away from the baby, as a tear trickled down her cheek. But even she was soon taken in by the baby and asked if she might hold him.

My father was a different story. He was not pleased but said, when I was called before him the next morning, “If you will take full responsibility for the baby’s care then you may keep him, but you are to apply yourself to your lessons and are in no way to be distracted from your daily duties by this child. Is that understood?”

“Yes, father, I promise, ” I replied.

“And don’t you ever endanger, needlessly, guards and servants again! What were you thinking? If I didn’t know you had ordered them to do what they did I would have them all thrown to the jackals of the desert. Your actions were very foolish and unworthy of a royal personage. Is that understood?”

“Yes.”

“Father?” I said after a pause as I remained standing in front of him. He finally looked up somewhat exasperated.

“Yes, what it is, I am very busy, please be quick.”

“Well, one of the guards, in protecting me and Sitre-In lost a boot and needs to have a new pair. Also I ordered an extra supply of beer for the guards who rescued us and to have Sitre-In see that the fisherman was recompensed.”

“I see,” responded my father. “It seems you would dispense favors and rewards as though you were the Pharaoh himself! Just remember, my girl, that one day you are to be wed and though you and your husband will both rule, he will nonetheless be the one to dictate policy and all things pertaining to the royal household.”

“Yes, father,” I responded, my eyes downcast in humility.

“Go, go”, said my father, as he plied himself over his papyrus. “And don’t spend any more money or hand out gifts without my permission, the treasury is not bottomless!”

I left as slowly as I could for I really felt like jumping and running in jubilation, but knew that would not have been proper.

Sitre-In was, of course, quickly won over. It didn’t hurt that I had a new dress waiting for her when she came into my chambers the following morning as well as a ring for her finger. And of course, Moses was such a good little baby boy, how could anyone not love him and be won over by his smile? And his skin, it was flawless, unlike that of my father and my brother, who both had a similar skin affliction and shared the same features.

And that is how little Moses came to live with us, with me, and when we moved to Thebes, the year my father became Pharaoh, Moses came too, though he was not to live with us. Moses was first entrusted to the priests of the Temple of Karnak to be educated in the priestly ways, rites and ceremonies, as well as being tutored in all matters pertaining to the ruling of the kingdom and the manly arts of war, for at this point I was the only surviving legitimate heir to my father and Moses was like a little brother to me. But I missed his companionship so much that I pleaded with my father, almost on a daily basis, to let Moses come and live with us at the Palace. Finally I wore my father down and Moses was allowed into the Palace even though I was, by the time that happened, married. Moses was twelve years old at the time. But let it not be said that I give up, for I don’t!

I was taught that our land, over which we ruled, Kemet, which means black land, was a land unlike any other and that we were blessed to be living there. Kemet lies along a fertile valley whose beneficence is received from the great river Nile to either side of which lie deserts. While the deserts are the source of wealth in the form of precious ores and jewels that are mined there, they also serve as a barrier and impediment to any would be invaders. Those who complain that the desert is inhospitable and of the constant presence of sand and dust that finds its way into our clothes, homes and food, would do well to appreciate what it keeps away from us and our way of life, as well as what it provides for us, in the form of jewelry for adornments and as trade goods in the stones and ores culled from its mines and quarries.

The great river Nile has been likened to a long green papyrus stem and is but two to fourteen miles wide from the first trickle of the mighty Nile at Aswam, which lies up river from where we reside, to the broad flower head of the papyrus at the delta which lies seven hundred miles down river where the Nile merges with the Great Sea through a series of channels. Every year, mother Nile brings her rich dark brown silt to the fields on either side of her, the floods she brings the silt with, replenishing the famished parched land. The Nile is also called the vale of Isis's tears which she sheds so that we might benefit from their munificence. Its belly teems with life and provides food for our tables while her flowing waters provide a means of transportation for pleasure, trade and communication.

My maid servant, Alisama, is the only daughter of Yaphut who, while he lived, had been an indigo grower. Indeed, he had owned one of the largest indigo fields in the region and then, like so many who work in the indigo fields, he was taken sick and died when Alisama was but a child. There being no other issue from her father's loins except for a weak and sickly little sister who had been sent to live with relatives inland, and her mother having died in childbirth, Alisama and her father's property had gone on the auction block. My father had bought the indigo fields and his slaves now labored there. Alisama had been brought to the palace and, being close in age to me, trained to be my maid and companion. It is a fact of life that indigo field workers and processors do not live long. It is as though the indigo plant carries some pestilence, unseen but deadly none the less, for people who work around it and with it become sick, suffer abdominal pains and eventually die in great pain. Thus was Yaphut’s lot. The indigo plant, however, is much prized and the crop brings in a good revenue to the grower as well as to the royal coffers, after the scribes’ notations for the tax collector’s assessment have been made.

Every day I make a point of reminding Alisama how lucky she is to have escaped a certain death by being denied the right to work in the indigo fields or processing plant. She looks at me with her big brown eyes, and sometimes a tear trickles down her cheek, but she says nothing.

I suppose she misses her father even though she lacks for nothing here at the palace and, as my maid, is held in high favor by all the other courtiers and servants. But she does not tell me of her feelings, nor I her mine, for that would not be proper. One day she will marry and my father has put aside part of the proceeds from the sale of her father’s indigo fields for her. She will marry well and be well provisioned when she does.

With a sigh I look down on the barges below. The largest of them is almost full with bales, baggage and baskets of food. Slaves from Nubia, numbering fifty, wait to go on board, their dark skins glistening like obsidian against their pale brown linen shifts, while other slaves, palace ones, dressed in their white linen tunics with blue and gold sashes, are erecting the canopy on one of the accompanying barges on which my father and I will journey to Abydos. A rich carpet is being laid down along with a large throne chair for my father and a smaller one for myself. The thrones are being placed to the rear under the canopy. The barge slopes up towards the back so we will have an unobstructed view as we journey up river and will be seen by anyone on land, though since my father is the God King Thutmose I, many will avert their eyes in reverence and fear.

Soldiers walk down, in orderly formation, onto one of the barges that will accompany us on our journey, while camels, horses, asses and an assortment of sheep, fowl and exotic birds are placed on yet another barge. There is an uproar as a caged tiger is also placed on board the same craft! I stand up, and along with several of the servants we watch in amusement as the caretaker prods the animal through the slats with a long pole, this, of course, only causes the animal to roar louder and the other animals to panic. The barge rocks, dangerously close to tipping over, and men run around trying to right it by using the guide ropes while an overseer dispenses discipline with a long whip. The pungent smell of the beast reaches up to us and I am glad the tiger will not be on the same barge as I! Soon order is restored, just in time, for the chamberlain arrives with his entourage and several scribes, to check everything against the items listed on wax slates.

I feel a presence and a shadow besides me. I look up and see the well loved face of Sitre-In, my wet nurse.

“Good day Nefure. You look tired, did you send the fan bearers away again last night?”

How well she knows me, I feel like saying no, but know that she would see through me for she has known me since my birth and is one of the few allowed to speak directly to me.

“Yes, you know me too well, Sitre-In dear.”

“Sometimes!” she says, with a smile.

“Are you ready to accompany me on my journey?” I ask, looking up at her and noting she has on her traveling robe.

“No my princess, that is why I am here. News came to me last night that my sister has died and I request permission to go fetch her remains and return home to tend to her funeral and make all the necessary arrangements.”

“Of course! I am so sorry. Please ask for anything you might need, you have my permission to take a cart and oxen, for you will journey far. Also, take a servant to tend to your needs. And I will also detach a couple of guards to escort you and see you safely back.”

“Thank you princess. I had hoped to be with you for your marriage to your brother, I remember him well. I hope his health is good?”

“I have not heard otherwise, though we all know he does not enjoy the best of health. I will miss your presence so at this most momentous time in my life. But I will look forward to seeing you and telling you all about it when I return.”

“I will look forward to it too, my princess. You are taking Alisama?”

“Of course, I needs must have someone my age, otherwise I would be bored. It is nice to have someone to share with too.”

“Your husband will be able to do that henceforth,” said Sitre-In, with a tone of reproach to her voice.

“Yes, of course,” I reply. “But I had hoped that my father would see it in his heart to include Moses in these festivities, but he is unbending, as always. I do not understand why he cannot see that Moses would make a much better ruler than Thutmose. He at least does not have mood swings like Thutmose! Nor is he in ill health.”

“Hush child, the walls sometimes have ears. Well, I will take my leave and wish you good speed and a safe journey.”

“Thank you, and may the Gods be with you on your journey home. Do not tarry too long away from us Sitre-In, please,” I say pleading, for I know I will miss her warm and comforting presence.

“I will make all haste to return to your side,” she says, bowing and leaving the terrace.

I sit back and languorously finish my meal. As I finish, the young scribe from the temple is shown in and my morning lessons begin. All too soon it is time to return to my rooms to change into my traveling clothes. So I dismiss the scribe and leave the terrace.

I am just finishing dressing when Moses is announced.

I turn to Alisama who looks at me and then leaves the room to wait for me outside.

Moses enters dressed in a warm brown shift tied with a striped sash, his long brown hair, flowing about his shoulders. No matter how much we entreat him, he will not shave his head like all other boys his age, though when he was younger his head was shaved. He does have a rebellious streak in him.

“Good day Moses!”

“Good day, I think,” he replies.

“You think?”

“Well, you will be leaving for Abydos, to become the wife of your brother, and I wish it were not so!” he exclaims.

I look at him and feel a fluttering in my heart, he is very handsome and so unlike what I remember of my brother Thutmose.

“What my father decrees, must be obeyed,” I respond.

“Tell me you do not love him!”

“He is my brother, and soon to be my husband, I must,” I reply gently, as I hold him by the shoulders and look down into his warm brown eyes and prepare to rub his nose in farewell.

“Oh Nefure I love you, I wish it was I that you were being wedded to.”

And before I can react he stands up on his toes and kisses me hard on the lips. I step back as his hair brushes across my face but, before I can say anything, he is gone from my chamber. I just stand there, one hand on my lips where Moses had kissed me, feeling as though he had placed a branding iron there. I turn and pick up my mirror, but my lips look back as normal as could be. Made of the best polished brass, the mirror does not lie. I drop it back on the dressing table and stand shaking. How could a boy affect me so. Suddenly I feel a pair of hands on my shoulders.

“Moses?” I whisper, willing it to be him.

“No, it is I,” says Alisama softly. “Come, it is time to go, everyone is waiting.”

When I next make an appearance it is on the ground floor of the palace and trumpet blowers announce my arrival as I exit the great hall. Everyone stands at attention, in the case of the soldiers, or falls down on their knees, their heads down and their arms stretched out along the ground in front of them, if they are workers, servants, or slaves.

My gown of sheerest white cotton, interlaced with gold threads, catches the rays of the sun and on my head my little crown of gold in the shape of a sphinx makes me feel like the queen I am soon to become. On my feet my gold sandals. My body glistens with new oils and I exude the scent of jasmine as I walk towards the royal barge. The pathway is strewn with lilies and, as I walk, the crushed blooms exude a sweet, almost overpowering scent. The soldiers lining the path I walk move their feet apart and drop their spear hands thus forming an impassable line of cris-crossed weapons, keeping all at bay.

The herald announces me and I wait until he is done. “King’s Daughter, God’s Wife of Amun, the exalted and beloved Princess Nefure!”

My father's standard, gold and blue, flutters in the gentle breeze. His wives stand to one side, fanned by their many servants, as he arrives accompanied by his secretary, his ministers and eunuchs and is announced after the trumpeters are silent so that all can hear the herald announce “The Horus King of Upper and Lower Egypt, beloved and revered Pharaoh, Thutmose I, Lord of all he surveys”.

Last minute orders are given, everything is checked one last time while my father makes his farewells to his wives, the concubines have been left behind in the harem, and my mother, Queen Ahmose, the Royal Wife, is drawn forth to say her goodbyes to me.

I stand dutifully while she twitters and floats a kiss across my brow. She is unsure of herself and does not know what to say to me or my father. My poor mother. She is very pretty and much in demand by my father at night but she has no conversation nor is she well trained in affairs of state. She is also, totally ruled by, and subservient to my father even though the line of succession comes through her bloodline. I squeeze her hands and we rub noses.

My father is the first Thutmoside king. He was not royal by birth, as was my mother Ahmose, but was famed as a general, achieving the title of Great Army Commander, and by marriage to my mother was able to become Pharaoh, succeeding Amenhotep I, who died without issue. I do not see what the difference would be if I married Moses, rather than Thutmose, but as my father says, we know nothing of Moses’ background or whence he came, so I must marry my closest living male relative and that person happens to be my half brother. But, unbeknownst to even my father, or so I hope, I have sent out, to all the corners of the land, men who will seek to find out who Moses’ parents were or are, if they are still alive, and whence he came.