Chapter 57

Before the heat of the sun had truly asserted its power over the Egyptian sands, early in the morning, Inanna was ambushed by Izmir, who delivered a sharp slap to the back of her neck with a crisp *thwack*.

Having been far too excited over the past few days, Inanna had only managed to close her eyes for a brief moment as the sky grew pale with dawn. Now, dazed and heavy with sleep, she was about to turn around and protest when she was jolted fully awake by the smear of blood in the palm of Izmir’s hand.

Unless driven by sheer reflex, Izmir would never have used his bare hand to swat a flea. At that exact moment, he was consumed with deep remorse; naturally fastidious, he loathed coming into contact with such disgusting creatures above all else.

He already felt as though his entire hand was crawling with fleas, and his expression was exceedingly grim.

Inanna, too, had been born beneath the crimson flag and raised in the new era of the post-eighties generation. While not necessarily wealthy, she had never laid eyes on a flea in all her years. Stammering, she asked, "Prince... what was that?"

"A flea!" Izmir felt that Inanna was entirely too adept at courting trouble. "Get away from me!"

Had Inanna possessed the courage, she would have leapt onto Izmir at that very second and rubbed vigorously against him so he could share in the experience of the flea's existence.

However, the likely result would have been getting hurled headlong into a nest of cobras in a fit of rage, so Inanna reluctantly abandoned the thought with an itchy heart, scratched the back of her neck with an exaggeratedly dramatic gesture, turned on her heel to leave the bed, and treated the prince to a dashing view of her retreating back.

General Hazzas had already completed a round outside and was preparing to speak with Inanna when he overheard Prince Izmir calling for bathing water.

Was it a full bath this time, rather than just washing his hands? Hazzas looked toward Inanna with a face full of excitement.

Inanna truly had no wish to dash his hopes or to pit this reasonably decent old man into a situation where insects might be crawling through his beard, so she answered honestly, "General, the Prince wants a bath because... because I've contracted little bugs on my body!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the back of Inanna's neck began to itch again. She gave it a scratch, leaving a faint red mark. Hazzas paid it no mind; casting a single glance, he burst into laughter, "Ah, that's just a flea crawling on you. Fortunately, it's nothing serious—Egyptians are quite adept at dealing with these, otherwise the whole street would be overrun with running fleas!"

Over in the other quarters, the prince was already ordering his attendants to burn the very clothes he had worn the previous night, along with the bedding and reed mats he had slept on, carrying himself quite like an expert in disease prevention from a civilized society.

General Hazzas chuckled, "The Prince has always abhorred such little creatures. Years ago, when he was still a child and accompanied me to Egypt, he suffered quite a bit from these little pests."

He turned back to Inanna, adding, "You never apply perfumes, do you? Once I've had someone clear the bugs from you, you should ask the Prince for some and rub it on. This isn't some idle pastime or a woman's trick to entice men; many fragrances actually ward off insects. The Prince is especially particular about this—I've always suspected he detests Egypt simply because he was bitten by fleas here in the past. Hahahaha..."

Hazzas abruptly snapped his mouth shut as he saw Izmir standing in the doorway, looking fresh and clean with slightly damp hair, watching the old man and the young woman. It was impossible to tell how much of their conversation he had overheard.

Maintaining a safe distance, Izmir finally spoke, "General Hazzas, dispatch two men to escort Sukamum to the Egyptian temple to procure some medicinal wash. Do not let her come into contact with anyone else, and do not let her touch anything. Once she is cured, steep her in strong liquor."

With those words, Izmir retreated back into his room, acting as though a single extra glance at Inanna would cause his entire body to break out in itching.

General Hazzas assigned two soldiers to accompany Inanna, having them escort her to the nearest Karnak Temple to seek out the medicine. Whether this was to ensure her safety or to prevent her from escaping remained entirely unknown.

Pushed and jostled amid the crowds in the marketplace along the route to the temple, Inanna was nearly knocked flat a second time by the blistering heat and the stench of sweat. The magnificent temple and millennium-old wisdom before her eyes seemed utterly worthless compared to an automatic vending machine—how she longed for an ice-cold bottle of Coca-Cola!

The two disguised Hittite soldiers dutifully trailed behind her, maintaining a compliant and understanding attitude as the prince's concubine showed a keen interest in browsing the market.

After purchasing a few trinkets like seashell ornaments—partly out of genuine whim and partly as a cover—Inanna finally spotted her target at a stall on the western side.

Setting up a stall to sell expensive fabrics in a district of this caliber was bound to draw considerable attention, yet these dazzling, brilliant purplish-red fabrics—costly as gold—attracted many onlookers but very few buyers. Across the whole of Egypt, only the tiny fraction of people perched at the very pinnacle of the pyramid possessed the qualification and capital to enjoy them. Therefore, rather than conducting business, the proprietors of this stall seemed more inclined to invite a crowd.

Yet, as a rendezvous point, it was undeniably exceptional simply because it was far too easy to locate.

Ever since Hatshepsut had cooperatively agreed to the proposal of an alliance between Egypt and Babylon, Menkheperre’s surveillance of her had not been as tight as before. Coupled with Sinuhe occasionally turning a blind eye, and the fact that the Karnak Temple was a fitting place for Hatshepsut in her capacity as a priestess, her passage out of the palace had proceeded very smoothly.

Hatshepsut wore a black wig, with turquoise-beaded chain pendants dangling from her head. She was dressed as plainly as possible, her entire figure wrapped in linen shrouds, accompanied by her maid Nedith and two guards. Her alluring, dark-rimmed eyes darted continuously across the crowd, scanning their surroundings. Because the two women stood out so starkly from the people around them, they spotted one another instantly.

Without a word, Inanna deliberately exaggerated her tone for the benefit of the two soldiers behind her, saying, "I thought it was going to be something remarkable. It's just a bunch of country bumpkins who have never seen the world. Let's hurry and get on with our business; the main gate of the Karnak Temple isn't far now."

The two soldiers kept their expressions taut, though inwardly they breathed sighs of relief—even three thousand years in the past, accompanying a woman on a shopping trip was a grueling ordeal. The bald priest of the Karnak Temple had already received instructions from a person of high status, blocking the two soldiers outside on the pretext that the physician was extremely busy and no idlers were permitted entry save for the patient.

Being cautious, they dared not come into conflict with these all-powerful bald priests in Egypt. Fortunately, the Karnak Temple had not yet reached the immense, awe-inspiring scale of later generations, which would be expanded and perfected across several dynasties. At this time, the renowned temple possessed only this single main gate. After a brief consultation with Inanna, they retreated to the shade of the city wall beneath the trees, which also allowed them to keep an eye on the entrance and prevent Inanna from slipping away.

Inwardly despising Izmir's suffocating surveillance tactics, Inanna followed the little bald priest to a building situated at the rear of the temple.

In those days, priests, scribes, and physicians were regarded as high-ranking intellectuals under state protection. Aside from those serving directly within the royal palace, the temple also functioned as a vital administrative workplace in an Egypt where religious and royal authority were unified.

Many Egyptians who came to offer prayers to the gods would, after presenting their worldly goods to the temple, routinely seek out a physician if they had health ailments.

However, Queen Hatshepsut—whose political influence in Egypt was second only to Menkheperre's—though outside her home territory of Lower Egypt, still commanded formidable connections within the temple. At the very least, she would not be at a loss for a private, secure location suitable for conversation. When Inanna was guided in by the completely shaved young priest, who lacked even eyebrows, Hatshepsut was holding a pinch of fragrant resin and slowly scattering it into a brazier. Accustomed to such rituals, her movements were both elegant and solemn; simply watching her was a supreme form of aesthetic pleasure.

Yet, from Inanna's perspective, a distinct shift in Hatshepsut's aura was palpable. During their previous encounter, what Inanna had felt from her was madness, a desperate yearning for the gods, and a venomous plotting that made the queen dazzling yet simultaneously racked her with inner torment. Now, however, her detached and leisurely demeanor suggested that burning incense was merely burning incense; her piety toward the gods had become entirely detached from her personal desires.

Hearing footsteps, Hatshepsut turned her gaze toward Inanna. "It has been a while, Sukamum. Word has it that you are already a close companion in Prince Izmir's inner circle." Yet women could always discern subtle undercurrents when looking at other women—noticing Inanna's utter disdain for her remark, Hatshepsut smiled. "Though it seems you hold no great affection for that position."

Having seized a hard-won opportunity to slip away, Inanna lacked the time for idle chatter, lest she arouse suspicion. Furthermore, Hatshepsut's attitude toward her this time was vastly superior to their last meeting. When someone offers courtesies uninvited, there is bound to be treachery or theft afoot: "Queen Hatshepsut, if you don't feel like smiling, then don't."

Hatshepsut was stopped dead in her tracks by that blunt retort. Trapped within the royal palace, she endured relentless suppression and surveillance, forbidden from displaying her love or hatred for Menkheperre, and forbidden from expressing her dissatisfaction with the impending political marriage. She had been forced to endure in silence, biding her time like a dormant viper waiting for a strike. Regrettably, her chips were far too few; every step Hatshepsut plotted was agonizingly difficult, compounded by the baffling, miraculous good fortune of Carol, who managed to escape every major crisis unscathed. Consumed by sleepless nights, Hatshepsut had been subjected to relentless torment.

"You've heard the news of the alliance between Egypt and Babylon?" Hatshepsut dropped her smile, having no desire to exchange pleasantries with Inanna any longer. They would give each other what they wanted—the outcome was as simple as that.

"I have," Inanna nodded. "With Hatti and Assyria renewing their pact, Egypt cannot afford to leave Babylon unwooed. Besides, you and Menkheperre are no longer of one mind; he could never rely on you and Lower Egypt to control the vital artery of the Syrian desert. Marrying you off to Babylon while taking direct control of Lower Egypt yourself, and utilizing the Daughter of the Nile as an idol of a divine child to win over the hearts of the common folk—that move was played brilliantly, and with ruthless cruelty."

Hearing Inanna analyze Menkheperre's stratagems one by one with such casual penetration felt like a needle piercing Hatshepsut's heart. While Menkheperre reveled in the unrestrained exercise of royal power, she had been reduced to a stepping stone by the roadside. This female slave was entirely correct; though she was Menkheperre's sister, she was even more so an obnoxious lion in his triumphant path, an aggressive and ugly crocodile before his charging waves, unwelcome sunlight in the desert, and a fatal trap hidden in the forest.

Yet Hatshepsut had made up her mind: she would be that ambitious lioness, that vicious crocodile, that scorching yet brilliant sunlight, and that concealed yet lethal trap.

She laid her demands upon the table with utter candor. "I want you to help me deal with Carol. Without that puppet—who knows only how to be manipulated and spend her days scheming petty little plots—Menkheperre's prestige will no longer be as blazing as the midday sun. My status as Queen of Egypt is in no way inferior to hers. I will not deny it to you: I despise Carol, and I must be rid of her. She stole what I loved, and she seized my power and status in Egypt. Call me vicious, call me petty-minded, but until I torture her until death seems preferable to living, I shall find no peace by day or night."

Inanna had no inclination to mock Hatshepsut. If a thief were to break into your home, and that very thief promptly seduced your fiancé and added their name to the property deed as co-owner, even a woman from the twenty-first century would find herself sorely tempted to challenge the legal system.

"Agreed!" Inanna accepted without a moment's hesitation. The Red River goddess Kizzil had once mentioned that Carol was a plague brought by the god of discord to afflict Egypt, meaning her and Menkheperre's downfall was merely a matter of time. Riding the coattails of established destiny to secure some personal benefits was entirely justifiable. "However, Queen Hatshepsut, my condition is that you must help me escape from Prince Izmir—ideally right now, immediately!"

Hatshepsut clearly had not anticipated her utter resolve, though that mattered little to her own plans. "Not right now. My movements in Thebes are constrained at every turn. There are people outside watching you, and people watching me as well. Only on the day that I depart Egypt with Lagash will I be in a position to mobilize my forces and make a move. Prove to me that you have the capability to handle Carol, and I have the capability to take you away."

To deal with the freshly minted Egyptian queen was nothing short of an idle fantasy, particularly when any action was attempted in a place like Thebes. How, then, could she be lured out?

Inanna cast an assessing glance at Hatshepsut. Though a trifle pale and thin, she remained an earth-shattering beauty, especially with the subtle sorrow underlying her striking looks, endowing her with a rare and heart-wrenching grace.

An impish smile touched Inanna's lips as she asked with profound implication, "Queen Hatshepsut, if I were to ask you to seduce King Lagash, how confident are you?"

Hatshepsut had always possessed supreme self-confidence, yet why should she lower her standing to seduce that sinister man? "You actually expect me to stoop to such a thing?"

"Hehehe, Queen Hatshepsut, achieving great things requires a certain price," Inanna said, scratching her neck again as the itch flared up. "Go seduce Lagash. Make him invite Carol to Babylon to attend the wedding. Doesn't she love history so much? She will definitely go! Along such a lengthy journey, who can say what unexpected accidents might befall her?"