Egyptian Enigma by LJM Owen

Author:LJM Owen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction, 3D printing, ancient Egypt, archaeology, Canberra, cold case, cosy, cozy, Egypt, female pharaohs, food, forensics, historical women
ISBN: 9781760407926
Publisher: Echo
Published: 2018-01-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Year 5, Reign of Pharaoh Siptah (1188 BCE)

Waset, Khemet (now Luxor, Egypt)

Chancellor Bay lay unconscious in the bottom of a reed boat anchored in the river by stakes, unmoving as pots of milk and honey were poured over him. When they had finished, the servants holding the jars retreated and two Medjay carried a second, upturned, reed boat toward the first. As they waded through the powerful waters of the Aur they interrupted the river’s flow and sent chaotic eddies swirling downstream. When they reached Bay they lowered the second boat over him.

After realising that Chancellor Bay had been behind the false accusations against her cousin, Lady Meryt, Tausret had pieced together the full extent of his plot against the throne. It was Bay who had urged the priests to deny her irrigation program, lining the coffers of religious institutions and regional administrators across all of Khemet. He had intended to bring about the end of Tausret’s reign as Khemet’s covert Pharaoh, presumably to replace her as Siptah’s Regent – as a foreigner he would never have been allowed to occupy the throne.

As Tausret watched, the Medjay lashed the second boat to the edges of the first, forming a casket that left only Bay’s face exposed.

Promising the soul of Meryt that she would exact revenge, knowing Meryt’s ba watched over her each day, Tausret had spent considerable time and resources planning Bay’s demise. She had directed Seben to send spies into every major city in Khemet, spreading rumours against him: that he was too powerful, too ambitious, and suspected of plotting to kill Pharaoh. He was a foreigner after all – where did his loyalties lie? Not with Khemet.

When Tausret had offered Bay a prominent role in Khemet’s most important festival, the month-long celebration of Opet, he had eagerly accepted. Bay’s outrage at being abducted by Tausret’s personal Medjay the night before the festival began had been met with Tausret’s assurance that she was being true to her word. For Bay was, indeed, the most famous person at the entire festival, apart from Pharaoh…just not in the role he had anticipated.

Tausret nodded for a Medjay to wake the detested bureaucrat. The guard reached down and pinched the Canaanite’s nose.

Gasping for air, Bay awoke. His only sight must have been the sides of the reed boat around his head and Khemet’s blue sky above.

Tausret waded into the Aur, the raw power of Sekhmet, lioness goddess of vengeance, roaring through her limbs. She leant over Bay’s boat. ‘Comfortable, are we?’

‘Where am I? What is this?’

For the first time in her recall, Tausret saw panic in Bay’s eyes. ‘This, you treasonous pile of ox dung, is called restoring the balance.’ She stood up straight and spoke to the surrounding Medjay. ‘Feed him on the hour every hour.’

‘Yes, Mighty Lady,’ they responded in unison.

‘Allow all who would approach him to do so.’

‘Yes, Mighty Lady.’

Tausret waded to the riverbank, climbed out of the water, then onto a raised platform erected for her to address the gathering on the shore.

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