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On her ship, the chamber was outfitted specifically for the Regent.
A comfortable bed was laid upon the wooden planks, piled with pillows and furs. Food stock, wine and water jugs lined one wall, while a small basin and covered toilet that deposited waste directly into the sea below occupied a corner. Her one trunk of clothes and accessories took up another.
If the weather was fine, the men could just as comfortably sleep upon the ship at night instead of camping on land. And this way, they could travel farther and reduce the time for the expedition by stopping less.
Not that Heba wanted to save time.
She would be perfectly happy if this journey was indefinitely extended, impractical as the wish might be. It would mean that she’d have more time to enjoy her hard-won freedom.
And to revel in Shai’s company.
“He is merely someone I have known most of my life,” Heba deflected.
But at a sideways glance at Senenmut, she knew that she didn’t fool him one bit.
“He is someone you have desired all of your adult life,” he stated.
Heba sighed.
“Am I that obvious?”
The steward lifted his brows in answer.
Yes. She was that obvious.
“I know you are careful in how you conduct yourself, my Queen. Your reticence is widely renowned. We put it out that you are extremely modest and pious, the perfect woman, the perfect mother. The perfect Regent. When, in fact, you simply have no interest in anyone else, do you?”
Again, even though it was a question, Senenmut made it sound like a statement of fact.
And, yes, it was indeed fact. There was no use for Heba to deny it.
“I was not aware that my personal desires took up space in your thoughts, Senen,” she lightly admonished the steward.
“Only because I wish to see youhappy, my Queen. As your father would have wanted you to be. Your position is a difficult one to fill. Only the wisest, strongest rulers can fill it well. But that does not mean it requires loneliness and solitude. You are allowed tofeeltoo.”
“And you think having Shai would make me happy?” she needled.
“I suppose it depends on what you mean by ‘having’ him,” Senenmut returned.
In a softer voice, he said, “You cannot marry him, child.”
“I know.”
“But why not take him as your lover? I would do everything in my power to guarantee secrecy. Many Pharoahs and Queens of the past did much more than this in the pursuit of wants.”
“I do not believe he would accept such a proposal,” she said, a sad twist turning her mouth down at the corners.
“I have thought about making it to him countless times.”
“But how do you know if you do not ask?” her old friend pointed out rather exasperatedly.
She merely lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug.
She knew that Senenmut and Sitre In might guess at Ehab’s real sire, but they didn’tknow. Thankfully, her son possessed mostly her features.
But his eyes were his father’s. A brilliant light gold that deepened into liquid amber depending on his mood and the reflection of light.
She wondered if Thutmose would be as tall as Shai one day. Probably not, if he took more after her. But he was already so strong and tall, head and shoulders above other boys his age.
