Read Online The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran - Free Book Online
Authors: Michelle Moran
Tags: Fiction, Historical
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the robing room. "My lady, what are you doing awake?"
I turned from the mirror and felt fierce determination. "I want you to make me as beautiful as Isis today."
Merit stepped back, then a slow smile spread across her face.
"I want you to bring my most expensive sandals," I said hotly, "and dust my eyes with every fleck of gold you can find in the palace."
Merit smiled fully. "Of course, my lady."
"And bring me my mother's favorite collar. The one worth a hundred deben in gold."
I sat before the mirror and inhaled slowly to calm myself. When Merit returned with my mother's jewels, she placed a bowl of figs on my table. "I want you to eat, and I don't mean picking at the food like an egret." She bustled around me, collecting combs and beads for my hair.
"What will happen today?" I asked.
Merit sat on the stool next to me and placed my foot in her lap, rolling cream over my ankle and calf. "First, Pharaoh Ramesses will sail to the Temple of Amun, where the High Priest will anoint that scorpion in marriage. Then there will be a feast."
"And Iset?" I demanded.
"She will be a princess of Egypt and spend her time in the Audience Chamber, helping Pharaoh Ramesses rule. Think of all the petitions he must stamp. Pharaoh's viziers oversee thousands of requests, and the hundreds that they approve must go to Pharaoh for final consent. Pharaoh Seti and Queen Tuya aid him already; he can't do it alone."
"So now Iset will render judgment?" I thought of Iset's hatred for learning. She would rather be at the baths gossiping than translating cuneiform. "Do you think that Ramesses will make her Chief Wife?"
"Let us hope our new Pharaoh has more sense than that." In the cool hours of morning, she stiffened my wig with beeswax and resin, then replaced the beads that had broken in storage. She spent a great deal of time with my kohl, mixing it with palm oil until it was perfectly smooth, then applying it to my eyelids with the thinnest brush I had ever seen. When she turned me around to face the mirror, I inhaled. For the very first time, I looked older than my thirteen years. My face was too small for the wide sweeps of kohl that women like Iset and Henuttawy used, but the fine black lines Merit had extended from the inside of my eyelids to my temples were incredibly flattering. The carnelian beads she'd braided into my wig matched the large carnelian stones of my scarab belt. And the pinch of precious gold dust that she had blown onto the wet kohl highlighted the filigree of my sandals.
I turned to face Merit, and she fastened my mother's jewels around my neck, then let the hair of my wig fall into place.
"You are as beautiful as Isis," she murmured. "But only if you sit like a lady. There will be no running around with Pharaoh Ramesses today. This is a marriage, and princes from Babylon to Punt will bear witness if you are acting like a child."
I nodded firmly. "There will be no running."
Merit scrutinized me. "No matter what Pharaoh wants. He is King of Egypt now and must behave like one."
I imagined Iset in my chamber, and all of the things she would do with Ramesses under the painting of my mother come nightfall. "I promise."
Merit led our path through the crowded halls of the palace. Outside, beyond the linen pavilion, hundreds of courtiers had gathered near the quay where the ships would set sail for the Temple of Amun. Neither Ramesses nor Iset had arrived, and Merit raised a sunshade above our heads to protect us from the rising heat. I couldn't see any of the students from the edduba, but Asha spotted me from across the courtyard and called out, startled, "Nefer!"
"Remember what I told you," Merit said severely.
As Asha approached me, his eyes widened. He took in my wide, carnelian belt and the gold that glittered above my eyes. "You're beautiful, Nefer," he said.
" I haven't changed," I said heatedly, and Asha stepped back, surprised by my seriousness. "It's everyone else!"
"You mean your chamber." Asha glanced at
I turned from the mirror and felt fierce determination. "I want you to make me as beautiful as Isis today."
Merit stepped back, then a slow smile spread across her face.
"I want you to bring my most expensive sandals," I said hotly, "and dust my eyes with every fleck of gold you can find in the palace."
Merit smiled fully. "Of course, my lady."
"And bring me my mother's favorite collar. The one worth a hundred deben in gold."
I sat before the mirror and inhaled slowly to calm myself. When Merit returned with my mother's jewels, she placed a bowl of figs on my table. "I want you to eat, and I don't mean picking at the food like an egret." She bustled around me, collecting combs and beads for my hair.
"What will happen today?" I asked.
Merit sat on the stool next to me and placed my foot in her lap, rolling cream over my ankle and calf. "First, Pharaoh Ramesses will sail to the Temple of Amun, where the High Priest will anoint that scorpion in marriage. Then there will be a feast."
"And Iset?" I demanded.
"She will be a princess of Egypt and spend her time in the Audience Chamber, helping Pharaoh Ramesses rule. Think of all the petitions he must stamp. Pharaoh's viziers oversee thousands of requests, and the hundreds that they approve must go to Pharaoh for final consent. Pharaoh Seti and Queen Tuya aid him already; he can't do it alone."
"So now Iset will render judgment?" I thought of Iset's hatred for learning. She would rather be at the baths gossiping than translating cuneiform. "Do you think that Ramesses will make her Chief Wife?"
"Let us hope our new Pharaoh has more sense than that." In the cool hours of morning, she stiffened my wig with beeswax and resin, then replaced the beads that had broken in storage. She spent a great deal of time with my kohl, mixing it with palm oil until it was perfectly smooth, then applying it to my eyelids with the thinnest brush I had ever seen. When she turned me around to face the mirror, I inhaled. For the very first time, I looked older than my thirteen years. My face was too small for the wide sweeps of kohl that women like Iset and Henuttawy used, but the fine black lines Merit had extended from the inside of my eyelids to my temples were incredibly flattering. The carnelian beads she'd braided into my wig matched the large carnelian stones of my scarab belt. And the pinch of precious gold dust that she had blown onto the wet kohl highlighted the filigree of my sandals.
I turned to face Merit, and she fastened my mother's jewels around my neck, then let the hair of my wig fall into place.
"You are as beautiful as Isis," she murmured. "But only if you sit like a lady. There will be no running around with Pharaoh Ramesses today. This is a marriage, and princes from Babylon to Punt will bear witness if you are acting like a child."
I nodded firmly. "There will be no running."
Merit scrutinized me. "No matter what Pharaoh wants. He is King of Egypt now and must behave like one."
I imagined Iset in my chamber, and all of the things she would do with Ramesses under the painting of my mother come nightfall. "I promise."
Merit led our path through the crowded halls of the palace. Outside, beyond the linen pavilion, hundreds of courtiers had gathered near the quay where the ships would set sail for the Temple of Amun. Neither Ramesses nor Iset had arrived, and Merit raised a sunshade above our heads to protect us from the rising heat. I couldn't see any of the students from the edduba, but Asha spotted me from across the courtyard and called out, startled, "Nefer!"
"Remember what I told you," Merit said severely.
As Asha approached me, his eyes widened. He took in my wide, carnelian belt and the gold that glittered above my eyes. "You're beautiful, Nefer," he said.
" I haven't changed," I said heatedly, and Asha stepped back, surprised by my seriousness. "It's everyone else!"
"You mean your chamber." Asha glanced at
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