CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

FOR THE KING IS RA

  RAMESSES’S WIDE PECTORAL caught the morning sun, and the blue faience tiles across the dais made it seem as though he was walking on water as he approached his new throne. It was seven days after Pharaoh Seti’s burial, and thousands of noblemen filled the Temple of Amun at Karnak from cities as far away as Memphis. I wondered what they thought of crowning a king without his queen. From my place beside Iset on the third step of the dais, I looked down at my sons in their milk nurses’ arms. They were such bright, happy babies. I felt the burning need to know that they would always be safe, that they would never be subjected to Iset’s whims if I were to die and she were made queen.

A trumpet pierced the crisp air of Pharmuthi, silencing the courtiers in their fur-lined sandals and heavy cloaks. And though I hadn’t been chosen for Chief Wife, Ramesses glanced at me as Rahotep placed the red and white pschent crown on his brow. Several of the viziers did the same, and of those who were gathered on the dais, only Queen Tuya with her ill-tempered iwiw avoided my gaze.

“For the King is Ra,” Rahotep declared. “He is the creator of all things, the begetter of the begotten. He is Bastet who protects the Two Lands, and the one who praises him will be protected by his arm. He is Sekhmet against those who disobey his orders, and Lord-south-of-his-wall. And now he is Pharaoh of all of Egypt, Ramesses the Second and Ramesses the Great.”

Cheers erupted throughout the temple. When Ramesses descended the dais, the chanting was so loud no one could hear him when he held my chin and swore, “If not for my promise . . .”

But no one in the chamber missed his kiss on Amunher’s head, and when he took our son in his arms, Ramesses’s meaning was clear. Amunher was the future of Egypt. Queen Tuya’s glare could not stop Ramesses from raising our son above the crowds. While young dancing girls beat their ivory clappers together, Rahotep passed Henuttawy a meaningful look.

I grasped Merit’s hand; she had seen it, too. My sons could not leave her sight for a moment; every dish brought to the milk nurses’ chamber must be sampled by palace tasters first. Though Ramesses held out his arm for me to take, I remained where I stood.

“Go with Pharaoh,” Merit prompted in my ear. “Nothing will happen.”

“But Rahotep—”

Merit pushed me forward. “I’ll be watching.”

In the courtyard outside of Karnak’s temple, Thebans waited to see who Ramesses would take into his chariot. He had kissed Amunher before the court, and now, before the cheering crowds of Egypt, he offered me his hand. I held my breath, dreading that the people should fall silent, but instead, their cries became thunderous. As we rode through the streets in a procession of soldiers and golden chariots, Ramesses turned to me and smiled.

“You are conquering their hearts. You really are a Warrior Queen, Nefertari.”