Suzanne Robinson Read Online Free Page A

it wouldn’t. Hauron’s smile became a fixed, immobile thing. He stared at the food before him without seeing it. He would instruct his scribe to hurry the arrangements for the transfer of responsibility for the estate. He wanted to get away as soon as possible. Already he endured the tortured memory of a desire unfulfilled. If he didn’t leave soon, he would die of this torment.
    Only after Anqet left him did he realize that he was taking the source of his obsession with him.

2
    Anqet stood at the prow of Hauron’s yacht, her back to her uncle and his crew She held her shoulders straight and her head erect and clasped her hands together to still their trembling. With her father’s death she had thought the worst that could befall her had happened. She’d been wrong. Wrong, and stupid.
    Hauron had ruthlessly taken control of her home, her servants, and herself, and there was nothing Anqet could do about it. Rage welled up in her as she remembered Hauron’s words when she defied his orders to leave Nefer to live with him. At first he’d been patient. He attributed her defiance to grief over Rahotep’s death. When she refused to agree with him, Hauron dropped his solicitous facade.
    The scene was etched in her memory as if it were a sacred carving hewn on the wall of a temple. Hauron had sent for her the morning after his arrival as though he were the master of Nefer and she the guest. He received her on the veranda that looked out on the garden.
    “We have nothing to say to each other, Uncle. I’m staying here. I love Nefer, and I have a responsibility to my people.”
    She tried to turn away, but a callused hand caught her bare arm in a grip that bruised. He smelled of beer. His face, an echo of the proud visage of her father, was distorted with rage.
    “I’m tired of arguing with you. No, don’t try to get away. You’ll only hurt yourself.” Hauron smiled when herarm fell limp. “I don’t have the time or the patience to humor your odd whims. I’m your only male relation. That means I stand in your father’s place. You know this to be true. You owe me obedience as you would owe it to him, and your life and your possessions are mine to dispose of until you marry.”
    Anqet spat her words out. “Then I’ll marry.”
    Hauron shook his head.
    “I don’t think so. Not until I give the matter the study it deserves. You’re coming home with me. One of my scribes will remain to administer Nefer in my name.”
    Anqet wrenched free and faced him.
    “You can’t keep me if I don’t want to stay,” she said.
    “Oh?”
    The soft, pitiless monosyllable made her lift wary eyes to her adversary. Hauron moved toward her. His voice was low, but there was no mistaking the danger in it.
    “I will dismiss your precious Nebre and Bastis. I’ll dismiss the household staff, the tenants, the grooms, the cooks. I will sell off the slaves to the nearest overseer. And if you are still not repentant, I’ll sell your lands and destroy this house.”
    If Nefer were destroyed, who would see to her parent’s tomb and provide the necessary prayers and offerings that protected their souls?
    “And if I go?”
    “Everyone may remain, under my control.”
    And so she had left. Anqet closed her eyes and listened to the water lapping against the sides of the boat as the current took her north, into the Delta. Hauron had allowed Bastis to accompany her but no one else.
    This was the evening of the second day of the voyage. During most of the trip, she had stayed as far away from her uncle as possible, speaking to him only when she couldn’t avoid it. She ignored the curious and covertly admiring glances of Hauron’s men and kept to herself, either in the cabin set amidships or at the prow behind the ship’s lookout. Bastis stayed with her, a silent, belligerent chaperone.
    For his part, Hauron watched her constantly during the day. He spent his days prowling about her with a cup of wine in his hand and his nights avoiding her