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as royal as I am, and she is the First Princess.”
     
    “ Is that why you’ve come? To try to convince me to make Mutnofret queen? It won’t happen, Ahmose. It can’t happen. Mutnofret is the elder; this is true. And she is beautiful, I know. But age and beauty are not enough to guide Egypt through what lies ahead. Mutnofret is as hot-headed as the gods make them – oh, yes, I’ve heard about her temper! – and a hot-headed queen could damn Egypt forever. Mut knows I’ve tried everything I can think of to cool that girl’s heart, but she’s always been an ember waiting to fall on tinder. It cannot be overstated how eagerly the Hyksos wait for Egypt to show a sign of weakness. Any weakness at all. Mutnofret ranting on the throne beside a common-born king may be just what they need to chisel a few holes into our walls.
     
    “ Thutmose will be in a difficult position, as dangerous as any of his battles. He needs every bit of legitimacy we can give him. Today I claimed the voice of Amunhotep to name him the heir. It was barely enough. Thutmose needs the voice of the gods speaking for him, or the priests and the nobles will never be satisfied.”
     
    “ It’s because of me, then. You are breaking Mutnofret’s heart because I’m god-chosen.”
     
    Meritamun pinched the bridge of her nose, as if her head pained her. “The gods know I tried my best with Mutnofret. Her nurse and I, we did everything we could think of to curb the girl. But she was born with too much fire in her. She’s like a wild horse that will not be caught. Setting her loose on a common-born king – even a man experienced in battle – could be disastrous. Thutmose will need unity and peace in his family, not just legitimacy.
     
    “ I’m not without sympathy for Mutnofret, Ahmose. And I know how you love her. I love her, too, for all her fire. She is my own child. My first child! I regret the pain this will cause her. But I can’t go to my death leaving Egypt to face disaster. Caring for this land has always been my life’s devotion. If one thing can be said at my funeral, it will be this: Egypt was so important to me that I sacrificed anything – everything – even the happiness of my daughter – to save it from ruin.”
     
    Because she saw the sadness in Meritamun’s eyes, Ahmose said nothing. But her ka whispered restlessly. Will I, too, be required to make such a sacrifice? What will be said at the funeral of Queen Ahmose?
     
    “ Mutnofret will not be forgotten, I promise you,” Meritamun said. “She will be Thutmose’s second wife, and a queen in her own right. She will have rooms here in the palace and will attend court, if she chooses. I hope you will treat her as a near-equal, Ahmose. Your duty is to speak with the voice of the gods on Thutmose’s behalf, so none will challenge his rule. But it will be for you and your sister both to love this new Pharaoh and please him. To bear his children.”
     
    The skin on Ahmose’s arms raised into gooseflesh – a prickle of foreboding. “If we are to be near-equals, and both of us queens, who will bear Thutmose’s heir ?”
     
    Meritamun looked steadily into her daughter’s eyes. “That will be for you to decide.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    FOUR
     
     
    Ahmose took the spindles and distaffs from Aiya’s arms and helped her sit in the shade of the olive tree. The girl was Ahmose’s dearest friend, a pretty, shy, golden young thing. Aiya was the daughter of a foreign king far to the north; she had been given to the Pharaoh as a peace offering three years ago, along with casks of wine, animal skins, horses, and chests of copper and gold. Aiya seldom spoke of life in the savage north. It must have been a terrible place, and her father a beast of a man. What kind of people sent their daughters to distant lands as gifts ?
     
    Surely life in the Pharaoh’s harem was better than life in her savage homeland. Aiya seemed happy enough. She was chatty –