Chapter One Hundred and Four: Boredom and Bes
The next morning Kiya woke and stared up at the ceiling of her room. It seemed to press down on her and she longed for the open sky of her parent’s roof. She groaned as she remembered her meeting with Dennu the day before. It had not gone well. She had dreamed of seeing him again. In her imagination they had fallen into each other’s arms, their love stronger than ever. How different her dreams had been to reality.
She sighed, rose from her bed, went to the door and clapped her hands. After a few moments, two servants hurried in with a bowl of hot water and a breakfast tray. Kiya thanked them and, when they had gone, she ate honeyed porridge and dates. Life in the harem was certainly going to be easy, but without food to prepare or any work to do what would occupy her day?
She stripped off her shift and washed, then dried herself and surveyed the dresses displayed upon the clothes stands. What should she wear? Kiya chose the silk robe. The material felt cool against her body and clung sensually to her skin. What should she do now? Perhaps Itet might be around. She opened the door and stared out at the deserted courtyard. It was neither as large nor as beautiful as the courtyard of the King’s harem. She looked for singing birds in cages so she might set them free, but there were none.
She found Itet in the reception room. Her fellow wife was sitting on a cushion embroidering a piece of material. Itet looked up with a smile, which turned to a look of consternation.
“You are still in your robe, Kiya!” She laid down the embroidery. “I will summon the servants to help you dress.”
“There is no need,” interrupted Kiya. “I can dress myself. Besides, I like this robe, it feels lovely and soft.”
“We cannot let standards relax,” said Itet. “Who knows when Lord Dennu might choose to enter the harem? We must be prepared at all times.”
Kiya saw that Itet was wearing a pleated shift, golden armlets, and a neck collar. She sighed. “Very well,” she said. “I will dress. But please do not summon servants on my behalf. If I need them I can summon them myself.”
Itet looked hurt. “I am only trying to be helpful.”
Kiya hurried back to her room. Keeping on good terms with Itet was going to be difficult, she thought, but she resolved not to quarrel with her. She took off her robe, put on a pleated shift and outlined her eyes with kohl.
When she got back to the reception room she saw that Itet continued with her embroidery.
“What are you making?” asked Kiya.
“I am embroidering a headpiece for Lord Dennu,” said Itet. She held out her work for Kiya to admire. It was a square of cloth with a finely-worked border of ankhs in stitches so small that it would take months to complete. “Would you like to embroider something? A cushion for his office, perhaps?”
Kiya shook her head. A cushion? Nothing as important as a head piece, she thought, but she managed to smile and say, “No thank you. I do not know how to embroider.”
“I can teach you.”
“No thank you.”
They sat for a while in silence and Kiya wondered if Itet was going to ask her about her meeting with Dennu. Such a topic must be forbidden, for eventually Itet said, “Life in a harem must be very different from life on a farm.”
“Yes, indeed,” said Kiya. More boring for a start, she thought.
“It must be wonderful for you to enjoy such luxury.”
Kiya got to her feet, anxious to escape from the suffocating harem. “I need exercise. I am going to the garden.”
“Do not go too far,” said Itet. “It will soon be time for lunch and Lord Dennu may wish to join us.”
Kiya hesitated before opening the door to the main house, fearing that she might disturb Dennu, but the room with large windows was empty. She crossed it and went out through the veranda onto the terrace. She stood, breathing in the flower-scented air and listening to the happy laughter of children playing ball upon the lawn.
Would Meri play here one day? She wondered and tried to imagine her golden child catching a ball and running with the others. How happy she would be to see him again.
One child stood apart from the rest and she regarded him with pity. Did he want to join the others? Why were they ignoring him? He stood near the terrace and must have sensed her curiosity for he turned and glared at her. With a shock, she smelled the essence of aniseed - the boy was Bes in disguise The two of them locked eyes and the child’s shape shifted. He grew shorter and squatter. His eyes bulged, his skin wrinkled and he was transformed into a dwarf. He stuck out an ugly, fat tongue and fled.
Kiya jumped down from the terrace and ran after him. His legs were short and she was gaining on him, when he dived behind a hedge and out of sight. When she looked for him he had disappeared.
Puzzled, she returned to the terrace. What was Bes doing in the palace? Who was the target of his attentions? His disguise was good enough to fool anyone. If she had not smelt his essence she would have assumed he was a child, as she had done at their first meeting in Wadi el-Nakhla. She lingered, hoping that Vitane would come out into the gardens. A lifetime spent in the sole company of Itet was unthinkable. The thought of her fellow wife reminded her that she must return for lunch and she turned her reluctant footsteps back to Dennu’s house.
Itet was waiting for Kiya in the reception room of the harem. In front of her stood a table with many small dishes of food, three goblets and a flask of wine.
“You are late,” Itet said. “We must wait a little longer in case our Lord wishes to join us.”
Kiya obediently sat beside her and stared at the food. A appetizing aroma tantalised her taste buds. Among the dishes she recognised were tiny hard-boiled eggs, duck breasts, mixed salads, broad beans, bread with poppy seeds and sliced watermelon.
“Would you like some wine?” asked Itet and picked up the flask.
“I would rather have beer,” said Kiya.
Itet put down the flask and clapped her hands. “We need beer for Lady Kiya,” she said to the servant who appeared in the doorway.
She poured herself wine. “You may start if you are hungry,” she said. “I will wait a little longer.”
Kiya ate enthusiastically and, when her beer arrived, she washed it all down and ate some more. “This is delicious,” she said.
Itet sighed. “I think Lord Dennu will not join us. He must be too busy with affairs of state.”
“All the more food for us,” said Kiya happily.
Itet looked at her reproachfully and ate without an appetite.
It occurred to Kiya that Itet’s devotion to Dennu was more than just duty.
“Do you really love him?” she asked.
Itet looked shocked. “It is not permitted to discuss such matters.” But the blush on her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes told Kiya all that she needed to know.
She felt sorry for Itet and more fond of her than she had before. “Would you like to walk in the garden with me?” she asked.
“No thank you. I must protect my skin from the sun. I do not want to look like a peasant.”
Perhaps I’m not so fond of her after all, thought Kiya as she hurried away.