The Sekhmet Bed Read Online Free PDF Page B

always expected a suitable marriage to a nobleman or a high priest, or perhaps to a very powerful steward. A common general? This was nothing short of absurd.
     
    Meritamun laughed and ran a hand over her bald head. “Not a single drop, so far as anybody can tell. As to why, he is absolutely brilliant with strategy. Amunhotep relied on him heavily, Ahmose; he was not only the most elite of the king’s soldiers, but your father’s dearest friend. Thutmose is more than just a strong arm. He knew the mind of the Pharaoh in ways no prince or priest ever could. He is better prepared to take the throne than any child of Amunhotep’s blood, and far better able to command the army than Mutnofret. Or you.”
     
    “ So you need a sword arm to keep our enemies at bay, and you think to legitimize him by marrying him to a princess. To me.”
     
    “ Think to , nothing. It will be done. The Hyksos wait at Egypt’s northern border. The Kushites wait to the south. To which of these will you give Egypt, Ahmose?”
     
    “ Neither,” she said fiercely. “And to no one else besides. I know what life was like for us under Hyksos rule. I will never let Egypt return to such shame. But the rekhet, Mother. What will they do? What will the common people think of a common man ruling them?”
     
    “ I imagine they’ll be thrilled.” Meritamun chuckled, finishing off the cheese. “What a tale to tell their children. ‘Be a good boy, and even you could grow up to be Pharaoh.’”
     
    “ But don’t the rekhet expect a person of the royal blood to lead them? It’s the Pharaoh’s divine nature that brings the floods. The rekhet know this.”
     
    “ Ah, it’s true. But it’s not the rekhet you need worry over. The nobles and the priests are the ones who need convincing. If they don’t accept Thutmose, the Kushites and the Hyksos will only need to decide how to divide up the land between them. It is the priests above all, and the nobles as well, who hold this land together.”
     
    “ How so?” Ahmose’s tutors had always told her the rekhet – the commoners – made Egypt live or die.
     
    Meritamun raised one hand, palm up and cupped as if it held water. “The priests take taxes and offerings to the gods. They store them away for times of need. They oversee the food surpluses in the name of fairness, so that those with riches cannot keep all the grain and cattle for themselves. They are the voice that speaks to the gods on behalf of the rest of us.” She raised her other hand in the same gesture. “The nobles oversee the working of the land. They ensure the crops are planted and harvested. They make sure flax is spun and cloth woven. They keep trade routes open and relations with foreigners intact, so wealth flows into Egypt.” The queen brought both hands together, pressing as if she clutched some brilliant and fragile fruit between her palms. “Without the priests, the rekhet might be forgotten by the nobles and the food stores might fail. Without the nobles, the wealth of Egypt would quickly dry up and all the people would be back to living as they did in the times before cities, when there was no Egypt as we know it today. If both do not work together as one, the rekhet become dissatisfied and rebellious. They refuse to fight in the army. They refuse to work the fields. They refuse to build. You can see where this leads.”
     
    Ahmose nodded. She was not completely convinced, though. So it was the rekhet who made Egypt live or die. They were important. But Meritamun’s point was well made. “The horses pull the chariot,” she said, “but a driver must guide them. The rekhet are the horses, the priests and nobles together the driver.”
     
    Meritamun smiled. “Nefertari was right about you. You will make a good queen.”
     
    “ I understand now why you’ve chosen Thutmose. And I understand the importance of keeping harmony in Egypt. But I still don’t understand why you’ve set Mutnofret aside. She is just