Thebes, Egypt
Z aphenath-paneah, Father to Pharaoh and acting ruler of all Egypt, caught his breath as Queen Tuya lifted his hand and pressed it to her cheek. The hot, dry wind of the famine’s second year blew over the palace garden as the lovely woman struggled to frame an answer to his proposal of marriage.
“Asenath is a lovely woman, and you have two fine sons,” she finally whispered, her eyes glinting with warmth. “You will not be happy loving one wife and offering kindness to the other.”
A wave of relief flooded his soul. She was wise, his Tuya, but she had always been perceptive beyond her years. More than once in Potiphar’s house she had guided him away from foolish mistakes, helping him remember that he was no longer Yosef, the pampered son of Yaakov, but Paneah, a slave to an Egyptian. And even though he now ruled all Egypt at the young Pharaoh’s side, Tuya’s insight and love still sought the best for all.
Curving his hand around her cheek, he pressed his lips together, not allowing himself to protest. The queen lowered her thick black lashes and from the corner of his eye, Yosef saw a servant enter the garden. He dropped his hand and turned, composing his face into dignified lines as the dark-haired slave hurried past the reflecting pools where lotus blossoms bloomed in abundance.
The attendant fell at Yosef’s feet. “Life, health and prosperity to you, most noble and excellent vizier!”
“Yes?”
The man lifted his head a few inches from the pathway. “The steward of your house begs your indulgence and your pardon for this interruption. He waits outside Pharaoh’s gate to give you a message.”
“A message?” Yosef asked, aware that Tuya had moved away. “What is of such importance that I must be interrupted when I am with the queen?”
“Ten men from Canaan wait at your house to buy food,” the servant said, a note of apology in his voice. “Your steward says you would want to be told of them at once.”
Yosef took a quick, sharp breath. “Ten Canaanites?”
“From Hebron, my lord.”
A thrill of frightened anticipation touched Yosef’s spine. “You were right to disturb me. Tell my steward I will join him in a moment.”
As the servant leaped up and retreated, Yosef turned to say farewell to Tuya. But like the early part of his life, she had vanished amid the breathless beauty of a royal Egyptian garden.