Chapter 7
I stepped down from the carriage with the help of young servant from the palace and slowly walked towards the main hall where the meeting was about to begin. We are going to go over the groups in the big city of Luxor first. There is a lord there who seems to have an interest of recruiting beggars and thieves to act as his own play thing. The group of beggars and thieves terrorize the town and control most of the imports and out ports. It's Tau's and my job to act as potential business partners, and siblings, to catch an interest in the rebellion and contribute. We are to record evidence which can bring Benipe (the lord) to trial. We have a limited amount of time to find the evidence without exposing our identities since we don't have a reputation as businessmen near Thebes. Most likely, after a week or two, they'll get suspicious and try to find information on us. It's a bad idea to use me since the throne was overturned not too long ago and not a lot of people have blue eyes. Apparently, my blue eyes are very popular story material. The kids have been told of the glorious blue orbs of a beautiful maiden who overturned Hatshepsut.
"What if I were to act as if I'm blind? I will cover my eyes with a thin darkened cloth, so they'll be less suspicious of me. With that, I can overhear things when they let their guard down. Also, they can't see the color of my eyes."
"... Actually that is a good idea. The thing is how a pair of siblings can become big business partners if one of them is blind?" Thabit questioned mocking my intelligence.
"I would be the brain and Tau can be the body. I give orders and Tau commands our workers. I think it would fit us perfectly, don't you think?" I said, mocking their abilities to be anything more of use then just a puppet with muscles. I gave Tau a small smile and he gave an undignified snort and ignored me. I narrowed my eyes and gave a sly smile. This is so much better then listening to old women gossip in our garden. The plan is going perfectly. I can see Gahiji smirking at me to my right. I was invited to learn more about Tau and Thabit since I'm working with them for now. This amused me to no end. The two soldiers kept quiet in front of the king and accepted bitterly, while glaring daggers in my direction. I gave them a big smile and pulled off a 'I'm going to give you hell' look. I glanced at Gahiji to see if he was interested in me yet. I heard he had the guts to lure the minister's wife out on the night he arrived and rumors have been going around.
"I think this would be a perfect chance to have a dinner gathering to familiarize ourselves with our partners. Luxor is not the only destination." Gahiji insisted we have the dinner at his current place, since the dinner was not formal and his place was closest to the central.
"And of course those attending can bring a date." I could feel his stare on my face as I kept staring down the sworn brothers. Teasing them is so much fun. We went back to memorizing exactly how we're going to act and then working on the emotions behind them later on. But we couldn't decide on how Tau should take to me being the real boss. There were 2 choices. He can either hate me, but still listen to me even if I do act blind, or adore me and is completely loyal. If he acts like he hates me (which won't be hard), he can maybe find out if they're planning any kind of massacres. If he acts like he adores me and is loyal, we'll be much easier to trust. If they wanted to threaten us, they can use me as hostage without knowing I can kick serious ass. (Sheftu is definitely not getting any information on the projects. Imagine the tantrum he would kick). We're choosing one after we decide to either hate each other, or tolerate each other, or even be friends.
I got home just as the sun was setting, I had a long day. We went over some more locations first is Luxor then Karnak, Abydos, Saqqara, Memphis, Cairo, Giza, and Alexandria. After that, it's the year end mark and we come back to Thebes and this mission would be over. His majesty would give Sheftu errands, so he can meet up with me in different places, but it would only last a few days since His Majesty needs Sheftu with him. He knows Sheftu is going to be distracted with me gone, but he also knows Sheftu cares about the king as much as he cares about his needs and comforts.
We spent a few days getting our stuff together, packing necessities, books, and clothes. I have been spending a lot of time with Tau and Thabit under His Majesty's orders. You can tell by the look on Sheftu's face, he is not happy. I found out a lot about Tau and Thabit as I talked to them. They did refuse to talk to me for the first few days, but I set them straight for that. This is not a game, and they're not little kids anymore. Both of them did look sincerely guilty for a while and tried to be nicer to me. I let my guard down a little, hoping for a chain reaction. The more I was in their company, the more jealous Sheftu got. He would sometimes randomly ask if I loved him in the middle of the night. It was like he wasn't sure if I was with him because of love or his wealth. Honestly, I was a little offended he thought of me so flimsily, and, truthfully, I didn't want to leave him. But I didn't want to become one of those housewives that does nothing but sit in their house. Sooner or later I'll go insane. As the days flew by, the more nervous Sheftu got. He stopped with the errands and stayed home most of the time, filing documents and signing paperwork. I stayed home too. We shared more time with each other. As it got closer to time for the mission to start, I started to feel that edge of panic creep up my spine and it scared me. Yes, I spent most of my life as a slave before meeting Sheftu, and, yes, when I started the spy work, I tried my best to stay away from him. (Even if it didn't turn out that way, I still fell in love with him). But now I feel like our times are limited, which it is! Osiris!
I promised myself I would not disappoint the king, and I will keep my promise! I will get to know the rest of the team better! And still have time for Sheftu! Who am I trying to fool, I'm only human. Tau and I got the friend part down, and read and re-read our mission. We planned out our escape and got most of our connections. He had a distant cousin who lived in Luxor who is a wealthy merchant. He can get us passes to a lot of the underground inns. Thabit had friends from Cairo. Sheftu, who is meeting up with us at most of the destinations, has many connections, seeing as he did plan the rebellion for years! Nekhonkh was friends with the sailors and major tradesmen seeing as he is one of the more recognized captains. I feel as if I'm lacking in something. I was not raised as a young lady. Yes, I know how to read and write and speak Babylonian, but other than that, I cannot offer the team anything. I felt useless, absolutely worthless. I want to prove my worth. Sheftu did not save my tan arse just to have me sit in a corner grieving my loss, well, more like lack of gain. I will not fail this assignment. That is absolute!
We set sail this afternoon. I woke up before the sun rose to get all the necessities onto the boat. Sheftu didn't help... he's in his work room sulking. It's already high noon and I already have all of my items on board. Only the assigned members of the team and some sailors are going. Sheftu, who will visit later on, will sail with us for Karnak and stay a week. The rest of the time, he will be too busy running the king's errands to be really involved in my work. I had no problem getting out of bed this morning, which does ring concern in my intuition. Sheftu has been guilting me into staying, saying things about how I did my job already and how this kind of work isn't suitable for me and blah blah blah. I didn't bother too much on them. I knew he wasn't trying to insult me about my abilities as a person. He wasn't trying to put me down about the things I can't do, what I'm not suitable for. But it still pissed me off. I didn't act on it though. I still put on that smile for him because I know this is hard for him. He lived in a world where everywhere he turned there was danger, and he finally has someone other than the prince to protect, someone he can fully protect and not just assist. It's in his blood, to feel obligated to cage me in his safe cocoon. But I'm not that woman. I can't sit still and I certainly don't fit the criteria of a good housewife. I'm wild and unexpected, surely, someday, I will settle down and live my life peacefully, but the slave in me won't let me. The slave in me wanted to be free, wanted to feel the wind my hair as I sailed on the waters and eat all kinds of food I never did and play childish games I never got to as a child. Sheftu is a lot older and much more mature then me. I'm still a kid inside. I hope he can understand that, and I hope he's willing to wait for me. Wait for me to go to him myself, then, and only then, will both of us be truly happy. I spent weeks turning to dead ends and wandering aimlessly on this subject until I concluded, the only way I will feel comfortable in my own skin is to do what I want first. If Sheftu really loves me, he will not keep happiness from me. And if sailing around Egypt is what makes me happy, then so be it. If I'm to be caged in his perfect little world, I will drive both of us insane. I know I'm being selfish, but it's important to me. I'm not trying to say that 'woe is me,' but I spent most of my life cooped up and beaten. Sheftu has had a rough life, too. He was never fully safe in the court. There was also potential dangers all around him and His Majesty. Hopefully, we will be together again, safe and healthy.
I'm a little cautious though. Like I said, this morning there was no problem. Sheftu didn't try to tie me up yet, like he promised. He didn't even fuss about me getting up so early. He just awakened with me, kissed me, and fed me breakfast. Now that I think about it, even if he didn't help me, he didn't stop me. And even if he's in his room sulking, he wasn't full out panicking. There's something wrong here.
BAAAMMMM! The sound of doors being knocked down.
I immediately put the shenti down and hid under the covers. There's someone here!
WHERE IS SHEFTU?!
He's in his study. That's 2 rooms down. He should've heard that.
WHERE IS HE?!
I am currently under the sheets and deadly still. I felt my heart speed up and you can practically smell the fear in the air. I heard mumbling and a few shuffling feet. There must be at least 3 men in here. One of them was approaching the bed. I knew I shouldn't have hid on the bed, but the closet was too small and there were drawers under the bed. I slowed my breathing and waited for them to check the other rooms. There was barely anyone here. It was the servant's days off and the slaves were off helping at the docks. Sheftu was in his study this morning and Nuri was with a servant shopping in the market for the farewell gathering this afternoon. I didn't hear Sheftu go out, but I heard 2 of the men search the whole house. They were gone for a while and the first man was in the center of the garden where he can see most clearly. The two men came back and reported that there was no one in the house. Then it donned on me.
There is no one here.
I'm all alone in this big house with 3 strange men who were bound to be burglars.
They're coming back!
Rough shuffling can be heard from right outside the door. I started slowly panicking. My survival instinct kicked in. I had to get out of here. There has to be someone outside, and if I'm fast enough I can outrun them. I just need them all here to make sure they don't chase me from further ahead. They stood outside discussing some sort of plan. I couldn't hear them over the pounding of my heart. I had to get their attention. I had to risk it. I'll run full speed to the shore and get help.
I slowly inched my foot out towards the small table where a small water pitcher was and gently kicked it. It crashed to the floor and then there was silence. They didn't make a move. They all stood and listened, if they were closer, they could probably hear my heartbeat. I heard one of them slowly come towards the bed, where the jar was closest to. I felt his hand slowly reach towards the huddle of blankets and rip it away from me. I threw the cover to his face, wrapped it around his body, and kicked him. He was spouting instructions to his comrades who were right outside. I ducked as they tried to grab me. They were no one I knew. This wasn't a joke to scare me by Sheftu. No, this is real. I ran for the gate as fast as I could, but one of them grabbed me before I could reach the gates. I felt myself being squished under the immense weight of the man on top of me and felt a cloth cover my eyes. They tied me up and punched me a few times. I was still on the ground screaming bloody murder. I felt strong kicks to my stomach that left me breathless and felt sweet darkness engulf me.