Part V
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The Pharaoh did not touch me
until I was sixteen. It would have been
perfectly acceptable for him to use me at thirteen, but he was not
interested. Although I never admired or loved
him, I was thankful that he did not enjoy such young girls.
In fact, he pretty much
forgot my existence. He was not a
lecherous man and enjoyed only one woman at a time. At this point, he was only interested in the
favorite, Henutnofret, whom he did not even use that
often. Because his wife Neferet was also his sister, following in Egyptian
tradition, they hardly ever shared the same bed. To produce children, when it was her time of
month, they would share a bed. But for
most times of the year, they both willingly separated to be with their own
lovers, and it was a happy arrangement.
Although people outside the
palace would never know, it was not concealed inside the palace, and neither
especially attempted to conceal it. Seti allowed his favorite lover of the moment free access
in many of the rooms, while Neferet's lovers, more
often than not strapping members of the Med-Jai, were led discreetly into her
rooms after she had retired for the night. But they were a happy couple who got along very well. Neferet advised him
in many matters, and both were content to be friends.
I learned this mostly from
the other girls, who really had nothing better to talk about. But I had learned to listen and pick up on
whatever I could. We, of course, could
not have other lovers. We were forbidden
to touch another man and men were forbidden to touch us. If one of his personal women was caught with
another man they would both be sentenced to death. Betraying the Pharaoh was not a matter to be
taken lightly. And making him seem a
cuckold was, perhaps, even worse.
None of the women ever
considered seeing another man. And most
men were too frightened to come near us. When we walked through the halls they would ogle us, imagine what we looked
like without our paint, have fantasies about what the
Pharaoh would make us do behind closed doors. But they were too afraid to come close, scared that they would
accidentally smudge our paint or be seen as too near to us by the Pharaoh. Pharaoh was a jealous man. He wanted to show us off as another way to assert
his power and superiority. He wanted
other men to want us and to admire him even more. So he was fanatical about seeing us near
other men. That was, I learned later,
the reason for the heavy paint. If he
saw us and the paint was smudged, he would know we had been touched by another
person.
And if he thought that,
things could get very, very dangerous.
So we were careful. I never considered looking at another
man. One was enough as far as I was
concerned.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
You may wonder what we did to
pass the time. We could not read, no one
knew how except the Priests, high ranking officials, and male members of the
nobility. Often royal women could read,
as I knew Nefertiti was being taught. But no one considered the fact that we might
want to learn. I was fascinated by
knowledge. I knew I was intelligent, but
I would never have an opportunity to prove it. Some women were content to spend their lives eating and sleeping and
bathing and primping themselves. That
was not enough for me.
At first our chief occupation
was dancing. At his nightly fancy and
luxurious banquets, the Pharaoh would often request that his women come and
dance for the assembled crowd. This
would mean once or twice a week, and it was considered a treat. As usual we wore sheer fabric and danced
seductively. I was taught early on how
to do this. It was not hard, I simply moved my hips in time to the music. The Pharaoh loved to see the men admire our
lithe bodies. "They are mine," we could
almost hear him saying. "Don't you wish
you were me?"
Other than dancing in a group
for him once or twice a week, I never saw Seti. He was a busy man, and at the moment was only
interested in Henutnofret. She went to great lengths
to please him. She would wear her hair
in the way he liked and would bring him special delicacies from the
kitchens. I did not understand this
until much later. Whether he used us or
not, we all lived in the same quarters, had access to the same baths and
servants, and were protected and safe. Why she would try to please the man who used her body without her
permission and doomed her to the life of a whore I could not understand.
Later, I did. She wanted power.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Seti did not want us just laying around and doing nothing
all day. He thought that we would become
fat with good food. So he demanded that
we exercise daily.
This was no problem for
me. I was a good athlete. I was quick and fast and an
swift learner. The first exercise was
dance. Tefenet,
one of the women who watched over us and made sure we had the proper food and
clothing, conducted types of dance lessons daily. Although they were hardly vigorous exercise,
they got us off of our feet and gave us an activity.
But the best part was when,
three times a week, Sheftu would come. She was the wife of a high ranking Med-Jai, a
type of female warrior, skilled in all different types of weapons. She could use swords and short daggers and
spears. Although we were not required to
learn all of these weapons, Seti wanted us to stay
fit and active and learn hand to hand combat with daggers. These were a special kind of daggers, with
three sharp points made of gold, like mini-Tridents.
Most of the women were not
interested in learning to use the weapons, and did so half-heartedly. I, however, was fascinated, and soon became Sheftu's favorite pupil. As I have said, I was quick and agile, and I learned the moves with
frightening speed. Sheftu
taught me things she did not attempt to teach the other women. She taught me how to flip my lithe body over
itself, how to throw a dagger or a spear so that it could kill a man. Of course we were never expected to be in
actual combat. We fought friendly
matches, practicing our moves, displaying our skills. By my fifteenth year I could beat every woman
that Sheftu had taught.
That is, every woman who
would fight me. All did except for Henutnofret.
She had finished her training
by the time I had arrived, and never joined in our matches. She watched us disdainfully or would leave,
seeking out another form of amusement. As Seti's
favorite, she had access to parts of the palace we did not dare go.
She was good–she too was
small, and she made her moves with quick, precise movements. I only saw her fight two times. The
first was when I saw her and Sheftu practicing. They did not know I was there, and I hid
behind a pillar in the shadows. Henutnofret had excellent technique, but like me, Sheftu was more original. The match was good and I watched spell-bound. It was the best match I had ever
witnessed. Most of the girls were slow
to learn and did not make their moves quickly enough. But Sheftu and Henutnofret were almost evenly matched. In the end, however, Sheftu's
creativity won out. In a quick move, she
jabbed her trident into Henutnofret's, twisting them
together. She then yanked her trident,
pulling Henutnofret's arm. Off balance, Henutnofret
wobbled, and Sheftu pushed her against the wall and
aimed the trident in her free hand at Henutnofret's
throat.
"Good. Your technique is excellent. But always remember that the best move is not
the most complicated or difficult. The
best move is the one that will catch your opponent off-guard." Sheftu removed the
dagger from over Henutnofret's throat. Sweating, she patted her arm with a mentor's
pride, and left the room. Alone, or at least thinking that she was alone, Henutnofret glowered. She turned, and in one swift movement threw her dagger into the heart of
the statue of Seti's father in the front of the room.
I realized that she wanted to
always be the best, be the favorite, be the most
admired. That was why she wouldn't fight
me. So I tucked that information away,
into my mind, my body. I never knew when
I could use the information I stored inside myself. But, a fighter to the bone, I knew to always
remember my opponent's weaknesses.
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