Pharaoh. Уилбур Смит

directly at Hurotas and me for the first time since he had entered the hall. ‘Greetings, good Taita. I hope you are in excellent health as always?’ Then he switched his gaze towards my companion. ‘And who is this you have with you? I don’t think I know him, do I?’

      ‘May I present King Hurotas, monarch of the Kingdom of Lacedaemon? Without his assistance we could never have overcome the forces of the Hyksos who were slavering at the very gates of your mighty city of Luxor.’ I spread my arms to indicate the man at my side. ‘We owe him a deep debt of gratitude for the continued survival of our nation …’

      Pharaoh held up his right hand, effectively cutting short my impassioned speech, and he stared at Hurotas thoughtfully for what seemed to me an unnecessary length of time. ‘King Hurotas, you say? But he reminds me of somebody else.’

      I was taken off balance and could think of nothing to say to contradict him, which was uncharacteristic of me. But before my eyes this feeble and apathetic sprig of the House of Tamose was being transformed into an angry and formidable monster. His countenance darkened and his eyes blazed. His shoulders began to tremble with fury as he pointed to my companion.

      ‘Does he not resemble someone named Captain Zaras, a common soldier in the army of my glorious father, Pharaoh Tamose? Surely you remember that rogue, do you not, Taita? Even though I was a very young child at the time I certainly remember this Zaras person. I remember his evil leering countenance and his insolent manner.’ Pharaoh Utteric’s voice rose to a shriek; spittle flew from his lips. ‘My father, the Great and Glorious Pharaoh Tamose, sent this Zaras creature on a mission to Knossos, the capital city of the Supreme Minos on the island of Crete. He was charged with the safe conduct of my two aunts, Princess Tehuti and Princess Bekatha, to Crete. They were to be married to the Supreme Minos in order to consolidate the treaty of friendship between our two great empires. In the event this Zaras creature abducted my royal relatives, and spirited them away to some barbaric and desolate place at the very edge of the world. They have never been heard of again since then. I loved both my aunties, they were so beautiful …’

      Pharaoh was forced to break off his string of accusations. He panted wildly in an effort to calm his breathing and regain his composure, but he continued to point his shaking forefinger at Hurotas.

      ‘Your Majesty …’ I stepped forward and spread both my hands in an attempt to divert his wild and irrational anger, but he rounded on me just as furiously.

      ‘You, you treacherous scoundrel! You may have duped my father and all his court, but I never trusted you. I always saw through your wiles and machinations. I have always known you for what you are. You are a forked-tongued liar, a scheming black-hearted villain …’ Pharaoh shrieked wildly, and looked around for his guards. ‘Arrest these men. I will have them executed for treachery …’

      Pharaoh’s voice sank and dried up. A profound silence filled the royal audience chamber.

      ‘Where are my bodyguards?’ Pharaoh enquired querulously. His young companions huddled behind him, pale-faced and terrified. Finally the one he called Anent spoke up.

      ‘You dismissed your guards, darling. And I am not going to arrest anyone; especially not those two thugs. They look like blatant killers to me.’ He turned and trotted back through the curtained doorway, followed immediately by the rest of Pharaoh’s pretty boys.

      ‘Where are my royal guards? Where is everybody?’ Pharaoh’s voice sank to an uncertain, almost apologetic pitch. ‘I ordered them to wait in readiness to make the arrests. Where are they now?’ But silence answered him. He looked back at the two of us suited in our armour, gauntleted hands gripping the pommels of our swords and our faces scowling. He backed away towards the curtained exit in the rear wall. I strode after him and now his expression became one of unmitigated terror. He sank to his knees facing me, arms outstretched towards me as though to fend off the blows of my sword.

      ‘Taita, my dear Taita. It was just a little joke. It was all in good-natured fun. I meant no harm. You are my friend, and the dear protector of my family. Don’t hurt me. I’ll do anything …’ And then an extraordinary thing happened. Pharaoh shat himself. He did it so loudly and malodorously that for a stunned moment he stopped me like a statue, with my one foot in the air, suspended in mid-stride.

      Behind me Hurotas exploded in a burst of delighted laughter. ‘The royal salute, Taita! The ruler of mighty Egypt greets you with the highest honour in the land.’

      I don’t know how I stopped myself from laughing along with Hurotas, but I managed to keep my expression serious and, stepping forward, I reached down and took a firm grip of Pharaoh’s hands with which he was trying to fend off my putative attack. I lifted him to his feet and told him gently, ‘My poor Utteric Turo; I have upset you. The great god Horus knows I never meant to do so. Go up to your royal suite now and bathe yourself. Put on fresh robes. However, before you do so please give me and King Hurotas your permission to take your glorious armies north into the delta and fall upon that rogue Khamudi, the self-styled King of the Hyksos. It is our sworn duty to wipe clean forever the curse and the bloody stains of the Hyksos occupation of our homeland.’

      Utteric pulled his hands free of mine and backed away from me, his expression still terrified. He nodded his head frantically, and between his sobs he blurted out, ‘Yes! Yes! Go at once! You have my permission. Take everything and everybody that you need and go! Just go!’ Then he turned and fled from the royal audience chamber, with his sandals squelching at each stride.

      King Hurotas and I left the great hall of audience alone and went back through the empty streets of the city. Although I was anxious to begin the next phase of our campaign I did not want Pharaoh to receive reports of our hasty departure from Luxor from his spies and agents. Of course there would be many of them hiding in the buildings and alleyways, keeping us under surveillance. When we finally emerged through the Heroes’ Gate of the city, our combined armies were still awaiting our return.

      I heard later that their ranks had been tormented by rumours that had grown more alarming the longer we remained locked away behind the gates of the city. There were even suggestions we two generals had been arrested on trumped-up charges and hustled away to the dungeons and thence to the torture chambers. The reaction of our battle-hardened men to our return was moving and deeply touched the hearts of both King Hurotas and me. Old veterans and young recruits wept, and cheered us until their voices cracked. The front ranks surged forward and some of them went down on their knees to kiss our mailed feet.

      Then they hoisted us on to their shoulders and carried us down to the banks of the Nile where the Lacedaemon armada was anchored, singing the songs of glory at the top of their voices until both Hurotas and I were well-nigh deafened by the cacophony. I must admit I thought little more of the childish antics of the new Pharaoh – there was too much of real import to occupy my mind. I thought that Hurotas and I had put him firmly in his place, and that we would not hear much more from him.

      We went aboard the Lacedaemon flagship, where we were greeted by Admiral Hui. Although by then the tumultuous day had fled, and it was almost dark, we went immediately into planning the final chapter of our campaign against Khamudi, the leader of what remained of the Hyksos rabble in the northern delta of Mother Nile.

      Khamudi had made his capital at Memphis, downriver from where we were now. My information on the state of Khamudi’s forces was extensive and up to date. My agents were well established in the Hyksos-occupied and -dominated territories of our very Egypt.

      According to these agents, Khamudi had stripped his territory in northern Egypt almost bare of warriors and chariots and sent them all south to participate in what he had hoped would be the final drive to shatter the remnants of our Egyptian forces there. But, as I have already related, the timely arrival of King Hurotas had put an end to Khamudi’s grandiose aspirations. The great majority of the Hyksos forces now lay dead at the head of the pass below Luxor, a feast for the scavengers. There would never be another equally fortuitous opportunity to put an end to the Hyksos presence in our very Egypt than was ours for the taking right now.

      What remained of the Hyksos army, foot and cavalry, were now with Khamudi in his capital city of Memphis in the northern delta of the