The Twelfth Transforming Read Online Free PDF

the curvaceous hips flowing. The dwarfs trotted after her, exclaiming in shrill voices and swatting at each other.
    “I pity the man who marries that one,” Tiye observed. “He will need to be heavy-handed.”
    “She should have been married by now,” Ay responded. “In any case, when Nefertiti marries the heir, Mutnodjme will be too close to the throne to give to anyone whose loyalty to the family might be suspect. Her own loyalties go to whoever can amuse her.”
    “Horemheb would be able to contain her very well,” Tiye said thoughtfully. “I wonder if he could be induced to marry her. I would be loath to force him. He is a good commander and takes his bribes openly, not underhandedly, as a minister of the crown should.”
    “It would be better to hold her in reserve until Nefertiti and the prince are safely wed,” Ay objected. “There is still Sitamun, I know, but Pharaoh will not let her go until he is dead. She is his link with Thothmes, his son, and with his own past.”
    Tiye silently acknowledged his insight, and his hardness. “You speak too disrespectfully of my husband,” she chided quietly.
    He did not apologize. “I speak of political necessity, without malice,” he replied. “We both know that if the prince were allowed to choose Sitamun over Nefertiti for chief wife, Sitamun’s jealousy of you and her lack of political acumen would relegate you to the powerless position of dowager once Pharaoh dies. Sitamun would not allow you near the ministers and would not bother with them herself. If Amunhotep later wants to marry his sister, he may, but not until Nefertiti is chief wife.”
    There was a moment of silence as Tiye rolled his words around in her mind. She and Ay had often engaged in this discussion, and it had always seemed like a mental exercise, a defense against the boredom of scorching summer afternoons, but now the considerations were all too real, the alternatives vital. She watched Ay’s baboons where they squatted in the dry grass at the other end of the garden. They yawned and chittered desultorily to one another, scratching under their jeweled collars or grooming each other’s fur in search of lice.
    At length she said, “If anything should happen to Nefertiti before a marriage contract is sealed, I would rather see Mutnodjme take her place with my son than Sitamun. But we will wait and try not to be anxious. I wish you could persuade her to remove her youth lock and let the rest of her hair grow. She has been a woman now for four years.”
    Ay grinned ruefully. “I’ve given up that fight. Mutnodjme likes to be different. She likes to shock her inferiors and titillate her equals. She is the arbiter of all that is fashionable in Thebes.”
    “And while she remains concerned with fashion she will not be playing more dangerous games.” Rising, Tiye clapped her hands, and immediately Ay came to his feet. A host of servants poured from the quiet dimness of the house. Tiye received her brother’s obeisance, holding out both hands for his kiss. “I will send Kheruef to you when I am ready. May your name live forever, Ay.”
    “Yours also, Majesty.”
    In spite of the outward confidence I have always shown, I did not really believe this day would ever come , Tiye thought as she walked to the gate where her litter bearers were rising to bow to her. Amunhotep is free. Egypt has a crown prince, and the rest is a matter of mere detail. This is my greatest victory, and I am happy .

2
    T iye’s breath of command blew through the palace and the military barracks like a desert wind, so that three days after she had broken the good news of his release to her son, Amunhotep was able to leave for Memphis surrounded by the full pomp due an heir. During those three days the men who measured the height of the river had reported a tiny rise in its level, and it was both a relieved and an excited crowd that gathered on the palace water steps to catch a glimpse of the prince who was to appear