Chapter Ninety Six: An Enthusiastic Guest
Vitane recovered quickly. Within a few days her energy was restored and her skin had a healthy glow. Kiya tried to quiz her about her life with Anubis.
“Did he take you beyond the veil?” she asked.
“I don’t think so.” Vitane frowned as if remembering back was an effort. “There was a misty place where he used to leave me. I tried to follow him once, but the mist seemed to go on forever and I became lost. He was angry when he found me and told me I must stay where I was put.”
“That must be the veil,” said Kiya. “Only immortals can pass through.”
“What is on the other side?” asked Vitane.
“I think it is a world like this but without people. I know it is peaceful but Anubis finds it boring.”
Vitane nodded. “We often came to the normal world. Anubis wore a cloak so he would not be recognised. People could not see his face and many thought he was my grandfather.” She sighed. “He was kind to me and bought me food and drink and l felt safe with him.”
“Safe?” Kiya looked at her friend in amazement. “What did it feel like to have your life blood sucked from you?”
“It hurt when he cut my neck but he held me close and told me how much he loved me and so I put up with the pain.”
“And the sucking? Did that hurt?”
“Not really. It felt strange. He did not really suck but nuzzled and licked at my neck and after a while everything would go black.”
“How frightening!”
“Oh no, I was supported within his arms and was not afraid of swooning.”
“Poor Vitane. I can’t bear to think of that brute doing such a thing to you.”
Vitane looked at her with round, hurt eyes. “Don’t call him a brute, Kiya. He is a god. The most wonderful person I have ever met.”
“I know how you feel.” Kiya took her friend in her arms and held her close. She too had succumbed to the charms of Anubis and even now, so long after she had been his High Priestess, she understood his attraction.
Vitane tried to be helpful around the farm but she was unused to physical labour and was clumsy. She tried to milk the cow but pulled on the teats with too much vigour. The cow became restless and kicked over the bucket. Precious milk soaked into the straw that covered the floor of the cowshed.
“It wasn’t my fault,” protested Vitane, as she helped Teos carry out the ruined straw. “It was the cow’s fault.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Teos with a smile. He was as captivated by Vitane’s sweet nature as any of them.
Vitane tried to gather herbs for Ramala but picked the wrong ones.
“I wanted dill, Vitane, and you have brought me mint,” said Ramala.
“I am so sorry. I got in a muddle.”
“You have picked enough for me to make breath freshener for the whole of Thebes!”
“They look so similar.”
Ramala looked at Vitane’s anxious face and she smiled. “Don’t worry dear. The fact they both have green leaves must be confusing to a novice. I am sure the mint will come in useful.”
“Vitane is like a child,” Ramala complained to Kiya when the Princess was outside helping Teos and Khamet harvest the last of the cabbages. “She needs to be constantly occupied and finding her jobs to do is exhausting. She creates more work by getting everything wrong.”
“The sooner I get her back to Thebes the better,” said Kiya. “I hope I will be able to smuggle her back into the King’s harem. She will be safe there and will live a comfortable life.”
“She is certainly incapable of living on her own,” said Ramala.
“I wish Dennu would send for me,” said Kiya. “It has been months since he left to visit Crete. I worry that something might have happened to him.”
“Perhaps he doesn’t want you as a wife,” said Ramala. “He is a man with strong feelings. He might have taken against you because of the baby.”
Kiya felt tears well into her eyes and turned away so her mother would not see her distress. “I hope he would have the decency to let me know if that is the case. We made our sacred vows and only by breaking a jar of Nile water can we be released from them.”
Vitane came into the house. “Can I do some weaving?” she asked.
“What about the cabbages?” asked Ramala.
“Teos said I was to stop before I cut a finger off,” said Vitane with a laugh.
Ramala was reluctant to let Vitane continue with the half-finished length of cloth that was on the loom. “Perhaps you and Kiya can go and check the river level,” she said. “The time of flooding is long overdue.”
Kiya and Vitane walked down the path to the bank of the Nile. A sturdy pole was standing beside the shaduf. It had notches carved into it, which measured the height of the Nile at various stages of the inundation. Kiya frowned. The water level was below the notch that marked the normal level of the river. Instead of being about to flood, the Nile was shrinking. She remembered Seth’s warning that he was going to stop the inundation. She had hoped that it was an empty threat but perhaps he was carrying it out.
“What is this stick?” asked Vitane. She was about to step forwards and touch it but Kiya pulled her back. Even Vitane should be unable to knock over such a well-embedded pole but she was taking no chances.
“It is for measuring the water-level,” she said and showed Vitane the highest notch. “The water can come right up to here.”
“Will we drown?” said Vitane.
Kiya laughed. “The farmhouse is built on higher land, so it becomes an island when the fields are flooded and the path to the upper road is like a causeway.”
“What fun,” said Vitane. “I do hope it will happen soon.”
“So do I,” said Kiya. “But you won’t be on the farm to see it, Vitane. I have to take you back to Akhetaten.”
“Why?”
“The last time we met, you were in a tent on an ox cart being taken to the King’s palace. Do you remember?”
Vitane nodded eagerly. “Yes, you saved me.”
“It was a mistake,” said Kiya. “You would have been safe and happy in the King’s harem. Look what happened to you. You became bankrupt, was sold as a slave and was the victim of a blood-sucking immortal.”
“I am happy now,” said Vitane. “I like it on the farm. Can I not stay here with you?”
Kiya shook her head. “I must go back to Akhetaten. I am hoping that Dennu will send for me but even if he does not I must return. And I will take you with me.”
“Thank you,” said Vitane. “You have always looked after me, Kiya.”
“And now you can do something for me,” said Kiya. “I want you to return to the harem with a willing heart. If you do not I may get into trouble.”
“Really?” Vitane looked anxious. “If it is the only way I can help then I will do it.”
“Bless you, Vitane,” said Kiya. The two of them embraced and arm in arm they walked back towards the house.
A flurry of movement on the upper road caught Kiya’s eye. A litter was being carried on the shoulders of eight slaves. They were dressed in pleated loin clothes and the sun reflected from their bejewelled collars. Soldiers marched to the front and rear of the litter and a group of curious Thebans followed behind. The soldier in the lead held up his hand and the procession stopped beside the track that led to the farmhouse The litter was lowered to the ground and the men waited on guard, while the lead soldier marched down the path towards the house.
There was something familiar about him and Kiya’s heart lifted.
“Come, quickly, Vitane. Dennu has sent for me at last.”