The Twelfth Transforming Read Free

effeminate eunuch I spawned, and the Son of Hapu was right, and he uses his freedom to kill me?”
    Tiye swiftly decided to gamble. “Then you would have the satisfaction of knowing that the oracle was right, though how such a gentle and inoffensive young man as your son could ever conceive of murder, let alone the murder of his own father, is beyond me. Besides, my husband, if by some desperate chance the prince did succeed in killing you, what then? The gods would merely welcome you into the Barque of Ra a little sooner. Your son will be pharaoh what ever you do.”
    “Unless I have him executed immediately and put an end to this wrangling once and for all.”
    He spoke coldly. His face had fallen into an expression of polite repose, and Tiye could not tell whether he was angry or simply taunting her with a reminder of his omnipotence.
    “Very well,” she said cheerfully, aware that her hands were suddenly icy. “Speak the pharaonic word, Majesty. I will see that the order is carried out myself. I am a loyal subject. I know how to obey. Then, when you die in your turn, I will retire to my private estates with a clear conscience, having done my duty. What will it matter that the settling of the succession will be left to lesser men who will shower Egypt with each other’s blood in their scramble for the Horus Throne? I shall certainly not care that the Mighty Bull left no kingly seed behind!”
    He stared at her for a long time before nodding slowly. “The crowning argument,” he muttered, “and behold, my arrogant Tiye, at last I listen. Do not press my face against the bitter mingling of my pride and loss any longer. In Thothmes’ death the gods exacted a harsh payment for the wealth and power I have possessed all my life.” He smiled faintly. “They should be laboring for me in the Royal Treasury. I now concede. Have him released. I have done it all, had it all, and whether I am extinguished by sickness or an assassin’s knife, I must pass. I can at least spare you the annoyance of a ring of jackals barking in your face if I die without an official heir. But do not think that you can give him Sitamun. I need her.”
    Weak with a relief she dared not show, Tiye blurted, “I was thinking of Nefertiti.”
    Once again, startlingly, he laughed aloud. Turning, he reached for her throat, kneading and squeezing her. The gold chain holding up the sphinx pectoral pressed painfully into her skin, but she knew better than either to show fear or to resist. “A family tradition,” he wheezed, shaking her, his grip tight. “Once again you secure the throne on behalf of a bunch of Mitanni adventurers. For that is what you are, all of you. Loyal servants of the crown, earners of every reward, but may the gods have pity on any pharaoh who gets in your way.”
    “For three generations my family has served Egypt selflessly. Horus, you are unjust,” she choked. “My father did not force you to make me empress. He did not have that kind of power. You raised me to divinity yourself.”
    Suddenly he released her, and she tried to catch her breath quietly. “I loved Yuya. I trusted him. I love and trust you also, Tiye. It is the pain. Sometimes I cannot bear it. Cassia, oil of cloves, the mandrake, nothing really helps.”
    “I know,” she said, rising to stand between his legs. “There is only this.” Placing her hands on his shoulders, she bent and kissed him. He sighed gently, drawing her down onto his knee, his mouth soon leaving hers to seek her painted nipple. So much has changed, Amunhotep, but not this , she thought, passive with pleasure for a moment. In spite of everything I still adore and worship you . “Nefertiti?” she whispered, then cried out as he bit her. “If you will,” he replied, a quiver of amusement in his voice. He pulled the wig from her head and plunged both hands into her own long tresses.
    Just before dawn she left him sleeping peacefully, free of pain for a few hours. She wanted to stay