Read Online Queen of the Heavens by Kingsley Guy - Free Book Online

woman about my age, came to assist me. She rubbed my body with a coarse cloth, rinsed me with water brought in jars from the Nile, then dried and covered me with a fine linen towel.
    “This day is special, for I’m going to the palace to meet the Vizier Ramesses,” I told the servant. “He’s seeking a wife for his son so I must look my best.”
    “The son of a Vizier!” Tamit replied with a start. “Don’t worry, My Lady. You will be beautiful in all ways.”
    At the dressing table back in my room, the servant applied a few drops of frankincense to my forehead. “This will give you confidence for the meeting ahead,” she said. At my breasts, she rubbed the oil of lotus. “This will open your heart to the possibility of love with the Vizier’s son.”
    Tamit took from my cosmetics box a polished brass mirror and held it in front of me. While looking into it, I highlighted my eyes with a green paint made from malachite so they might appear as lush as the fertile Nile, then gave my face a blush by brushing a powder of red ocher onto my cheeks.
    The servant helped me into a tight-fitting dress and mantel of white linen. I also donned an overdress of pleated linen as fine as a mist, which I bound at the waist with a golden sash that dropped nearly to the ground. Standing behind me, Tamit placed a wig atop my head, and atop that a cone of ox tallow that would release the sensuous odor of jasmine throughout the day as it softened in the heat.
    I slipped on several bracelets of finely tooled gold and copper, and fastened to my lobes golden earrings studded with amethyst. Around my neck, I placed a beaded collar that included much turquoise, and on my fingers several rings, including one carved from alabaster in the form of a scarab. Most of these adornments had been given to Mother by Father and lent to me for this occasion. The earrings, though, had been in Mother’s family for generations, and passed down by the women. Someday they would belong to me, and then to one of my daughters.
    Finally, Tamit fastened a delicate cord around my neck that held an icon of Isis with wings. It was made of silver, which was three times more valuable than gold. The talisman had been presented to me by a wealthy landowner in gratitude for a healing I had performed on his son.
    “It is good that you wear the image of Isis,” Tamit said. “She will bring you many blessings.”
    I slipped on leather sandals, walked outside and faced the dawn. Rays from the sun god Ra warmed and invigorated my body. At my heart center I felt a flutter, as if Isis were moving her wings so that we might soar together into the heavens.
    By this time, Mother was up and about. Her clothing was similar to mine, but she appeared drab by comparison.
    “You’ve loaned me your best jewelry,” I commented to her as we sat down at a small table in the garden for a morning meal of melon and bread. “Are you sure you wish to do this? You, too, will be meeting the Vizier Ramesses.”
    “Don’t be concerned,” Mother replied. “You, not I, should be the center of attention. You look radiant.”
    “How could I not, with all the beautiful adornments I’m wearing?”
    “It’s not the jewelry. Your beauty comes from within.”
    “It is the beauty of Isis that you see, Mother.”
    A detail of soldiers arrived soon after we finished our meal. An officer escorted Mother and me to a large, statley chariot drawn by two magnificent horses, one white and another speckled gray. I walked with my head high, feeling quite regal, and took my place in the back of the conveyance opposite Mother and behind our officer escort, who served also as charioteer. We proceeded at a quick pace through the garden gate with six spear-carrying foot soldiers hurrying behind us. Fortunately for those afoot, the journey was not a long one.
    We entered the palace grounds through the main gate and proceeded along a limestone path, past colossal buildings covered with brightly colored