Three Novels of Ancient Egypt

Thebes had surrendered its eyelids to sleep under a curtain of darkness that enveloped its temples, obelisks, and palaces, unaware of the weighty events taking place outside its walls. Pepi made his way straight to the royal palace and announced his arrival to the guards. The head chamberlain came quickly, returned his greeting, and asked anxiously, “What news, Commander?”

In accents heavy with sadness, Pepi replied, “You will know everything in due time, Head Chamberlain. Now I seek your permission for an audience with the crown prince.”

The chamberlain left the room ill at ease, returning after a short while to say, “His Highness awaits you in his private wing.” The commander went to the crown prince's wing and entered, finding him in the reception hall. He prostrated himself before the prince, who was astonished at the unexpected visit. When Pepi raised his head and the prince saw his haggard face, tired eyes, and pallid lips, anxiety seized him and he asked, as the chamberlain had done, “What news, Commander Pepi? It must be an important matter that calls you to leave the field at this time.”

The commander replied in a voice heavy with sorrow and gloom, “My lord, the gods — for reasons whose wisdom is hidden from me — are still angry with Egypt and its people!”

The words seized the prince's soul like a stranglehold about his neck and he fathomed what grievous news they indicated. Anxious and fearful, he asked, “Has our army met with a disaster? Is my father asking for aid?”

Pepi hung his head and said in a low voice, “Alas, my lord, Egypt lost its shepherd on the evening of this ill-fated day.”

Prince Kamose leapt up in terror and shouted at him, “Is my father really injured?”

Pepi said in a sad, heavy voice, “Our sovereign Seqenenra fell fighting at the head of his troops like a mighty hero. That noble, undying page in the annals of your mighty family has been turned.”

Raising his head, Kamose said, “Dear God, how could you let your enemy overcome your faithful son? Dear God, what is this catastrophe that falls on Egypt? But what use is it to complain? This is not the time to weep. My father has fallen, so I must take his place. Wait, Commander, till I return to you in my battle dress!”

However, Commander Pepi said quickly, “I did not come here, my lord, to summon you to the fight. That matter, alas, is decided.”

Kamose gave him a sharp hard look and asked, “What do you mean?”

“There is no point in fighting.”

“Has our brave army been destroyed?”

Pepi hung his head and said with extreme sorrow, “We lost the decisive battle by which we had hoped to liberate Egypt, and the main force of our army was destroyed. There is no real advantage to be gained from fighting and we will fight only to provide the family of our martyred sovereign time to escape.”

“You want to fight so that we can flee like cowards, leaving our soldiers and our country prey to the enemy?”

“No. I want you to flee as do the wise who weigh the consequences of their actions and look to the distant future, submitting to defeat should it occur, and withdrawing from the combat for a time, then losing no time in gathering their scattered forces and starting anew. Please, my lord, summon the queens of Egypt and let the matter be decided by counsel.”

Prince Kamose summoned a chamberlain and sent him to look for the queens, while he kept pacing to and fro, alternately seized by sorrow and anger, the commander standing before him uttering not a word. The queens came hurrying, Tetisheri and Ahotep, then Setkimus, and when their eyes fell on Commander Pepi and he had bowed to them in greeting, and they had seen the anguish written on Kamose's face despite his apparent calm, they felt fear and agitation and looked away. Impatiently, Kamose and he asked them to sit and said, “Ladies, I called you to give you sad news.”

He paused a moment so that they would not be taken unawares, but they were alarmed and Tetisheri asked anxiously, “What news, Pepi? How is our lord Seqenenra?”

Kamose replied in a trembling voice, “Grandmother, your heart is perceptive, your intuition speaks true. God strengthen your hearts and help you bear the painful news. My father Seqenenra was killed in the field and we have lost the battle.”

He turned his head from them so that he would not see their grief and said, as though to his own despairing soul, “My father has been killed, our armies defeated, and our people condemned to suffer every woe, from the near south to the distant north.”

Tetisheri, unable to restrain herself, let out a sigh so anguished she seemed to be vomiting up the fragments of her heart, and said, hand on heart, “How sharp a wound for this aged heart to bear!”

Ahotep and Setkimus sat with lowered heads, hot tears oozed from their eyes, and, were it not for the commander's presence, they would have sobbed out loud.