CHAPTER 13
THE DOUBLE CROWNHoremheb and the country accept for the time being that Nefertiti is monarch, but watch her closely. Merytaten becomes my wife at last, but there is not a night in which she lies peacefully in my bed. We are surrounded by spies, and there is no such thing as privacy, even in the inmost chambers of the palace.
I try to challenge the mortuary priests about the disappearance of Akhenaten’s body, but am lied to so plausibly that I am made to look a fool for doubting that the carefully-fashioned set of coffins contains his remains. I am even shown a bandaged figure with each costly royal amulet in place, but by this time, of course, the corpse is unrecognizable.
The funeral goes ahead with the usual elaborate ritual, the final feast taking place inside the tomb as
