72 CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD Thou knowest nothing of my heart, Sebekhetep. Indeed, how couldst thou know? I do not dare myself to look into the depth of it—for fear my misery becomes unbearable. SEBEKHETEP Thy misery? Why “thy misery”? What secret full of awe oppresses thee? Open thy heart to me. I swear I shall not speak if it be dangerous to thee in any way. CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD I love her. SEBEKHETEP Who? CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD The woman—the dedicated one, who is now in a prison-pit awaiting death, and was committed to my guard until her doom. SEBEKHETEP The last one of the “heretic’s” disciples? CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD The only one He ever had. SEBEKHETEP O gods! This baffles me. CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD It baffles me also. And yet, I cannot help it. Wherever I rest my eyes it is she I see, as beautiful,

73 as loving and as bold as she appeared an hour ago, alone against us all, defending Him Whom I had come to persecute. Whatever I do, she is in my mind. I cannot chase her away. SEBEKHETEP Love is a sickness. CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD That may be. But there is no remedy—but death, perhaps, provided that there be no awakening, or that, if one awakes, there be no memory of this world in the next. SEBEKHETEP Time is the remedy. Trust me; a day will come when thou shalt smile at thine own folly. There are ten thousand women young and fair. CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD There is but one Zetut. SEBEKHETEP Thou thinkest so. All lovers think the same. CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD They think; they imagine . . . But I know. I know there is but she so bold and beautiful. And I must have her. SEBEKHETEP Is that not easy enough? She is a prisoner within thy reach.

74 CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD I do not want her as my slave, nor as a thing of pleasure to be discarded in a day. I want to win her heart, and save her from her doom, and make her mine for life. I cannot live without her. When I recall in mind that she must die to-day, this sunlit world appears to me as an abode of horror. I hate it. And I hate my life. If only I could flee, alone with her, across the sands, far, far away, to a new land unheard of. But she would not consent. She fears not death or pain. Oh, if I could but speak to her once more! SEBEKHETEP Well, if thou must—if, without her, thy life is such a burden—shall I fetch her for thee just now, before it is too late? A slave could be put in her place. Once dead and disfigured, no one would recognise it was not she. And thou couldst win her heart at ease and—if thou didst succeed—couldst take her to thy house without Neferhetep or any other man suspecting anything. CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD Can I rely on thee, Sebekhetep, in such a risky task as this? Oh, if I could, I would reward thee a hundredfold! SEBEKHETEP Are we not friends? And do I not know also how generous thou art for any service rendered? I promise I shall do my best to bring her here out of the pit. To bribe the guards is the most easy thing. No one will speak. No one will know.

75 Nobody will suspect thee, for thou shalt not be seen within the prison gates. CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD Run, and do what thou sayest. Do anything thy wits dictate to thee on the spot. And bring her here. This place, after the curse, is a safe one. Who will suspect my presence here? Run! Upon thee my happiness depends. (SEBEKHETEP runs out) SCENE II. (CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD—alone) CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD I shall see her again—O gods! What shall I say to her? I know she does not love me. She never will. It is He she loves—He Whom I came to persecute. Although He has been dead for nearly thirty years; although she never saw Him, it is He she loves. I fail to understand, but I know it is true. She will never love another man as she loves Him. I know most men would not admit it. But I do. It is useless being blind to facts. And yet . . . who knows? If a man could restore Akhnaton’s cult; rebuild all that His enemies have purposely, destroyed; in one word, do for Him all that she longs to do herself but cannot . . . could she not love that man enough to share his bed and share his destiny? . . . And what if I became that man? I never hated Akhnaton as others do. I did not loathe His creed, although I stuck to our good old

76 traditions; I loathe no creed in fact. And now I see how far this one can indeed carry the mind to freedom and the heart to love, and all one’s being to a happy balanced beauty, resting in plenitude and strength; now I see what a woman has become priestess of the forbidden cult, I cannot, help admiring it. It is not our fathers’ way of life, but as she said, it is the way of Truth without disguise—of Truth in full sunshine; the joyous, youthful creed of those who are happy—and who are strong. But would I feel thus about it if I were fully sure that she would never love me? I do not know. Why think of it? The question, let us hope, will never arise. But here she comes! O gods! How shall I win a heart already full of love for such a Man Whom both genius and power magnify, and Whom an early death preserves for ever young? SCENE III. (CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD; SEBEKHETEP; ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON) SEBEKHETEP (To the CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD) I have done all that I could for thee. I leave thee now. May all the gods grant thee thy heart’s desire. CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD (To SEBEKHETEP) I thank thee, and I shall remember thee. (SEBEKHETEP goes out, leaving ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON)

77 SCENE IV. (CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD, ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON) CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD Zetut, dost thou not wish to live? ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON No—not unless I could, away from this priest-ridden land, glorify Him I love. CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD And what if this priest-ridden land, awakening to truth, hailed Him Whom it now curses? What if His City were rebuilt, more splendid than before and, under a new king devoted to His Teaching, became the capital of the Two Lands once more? ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON Why dost thou unfold before me that glorious dream, thou who but an hour ago wast standing here amongst His enemies? Have they asked thee to speak to me a language of deceit? Hast thou consented to become a spy of theirs? CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD Zetut, believe me: I am not a vile deceiver. All that I said has come straight from my heart. ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON Which liar says to those he will deceive: “I am a liar”? Thou art our enemy. And now thou speakest as a friend. How am I to believe thee?

78 CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD Believe me, for I love thee! I have told thee so already. But listen to me now, and then decide of thine own fate—and of the fate of Egypt. For it is time. Thou wast down in a prison-pit, committed to my care. I brought thee out, and thou art free, if thou decidest so. Before thee was a cruel death at the hands of those men who hate thy King the most. But now stretch before thee glorious years of power, in which thy dreams come true. On thine own choice it all depends ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON O warrior, how can this be true? For, with an iron hand Horemheb rules this country. And behind him, mightier still, stand the ministers of Amon. CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD No king is ever sure to hold his throne for ever. And Horemheb, as we all know, only holds his because of our weakness. When he usurped the supreme rank, there was no man who dared oppose his plans—there was no one who cared, in such uncertain times as these, to wear the Double Crown. But, now I have seen thee, I dare! A word from thy fair lips, a single word of hope that thou wilt be my queen, and I, forsaking loyalty to the old faith and to the king I served—adoring what an hour ago they bade me persecute—I seize the throne by my own might—worthier of it, indeed, by the lineage of which I boast than Horemheb can be—I seize the throne by own might and that of the few warriors who put their confidence in

79 me—and then . . . think of it, O Zetut! . . . and then thy dream shall become true! From the high waterfalls by which the blessed Nile rushes, no man knows whence, down into the Two Lands; from distant Kush, from holy Punt where incense grows . . . up to the shores of the Great Sea, up to the Keftian Isles; up to the, kingdom of Assur, the limit of the world, I will cause both North and South to hail Akhnaton’s name. Out of its ruins I will cause His City to be raised, and all the temples He had built, and all His likenesses to be restored. Over all countries far and near I will cause His divine reign to be and flourish for all times to come! ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON Thou really meanest all thou sayest? CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD I tell thee I do! Believe me! I mean it all, with all my heart. I swear I do not lie. And I will do it all! Only a word from thee, a word of hope for me, and thou shalt see with thine own eyes what thou hast wished in vain for years and years, and darest not to hope: Akhnaton’s reign restored, and thou, His priestess and His Lover . . . thou, His Vice-reine on earth! ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON I, His Vice-reine on earth! Thou readest in my heart the secret lofty dream, the one I never dared to bring into full consciousness—let alone to believe it could ever come true; the one which, all my life, was like a distant radiant vision, never

80 to be attained: I, His Vice-reine on earth! Wouldst thou hand over power to me? CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD I swear I shall, by all the gods! Only a single word from thee, a word of hope for me that thou wilt consent to become my queen, and thou shalt be what thou hast not, even in thy most hidden thoughts, dared to regard as possible: Akhnaton’s own Vice-reine, ruling the world according to His will, exerting domination for Him and Him alone, from Kush to Carchemish and further still . . . For I will reconquer all the lands which He forsook for His sublime ideals, and force them to accept the Energy within the Sun as the One God, and Akhnaton, Son of the Sun, as their One King, like unto Him—thyself thou hast admitted that strength of arms alone could restore to Him the world, even now all seems lost to Him. And thou shalt hear His praise, from South and North, in many tongues . . . Zetut, accept! Why dost thou hesitate? Why lowerest thou thine eyes? Thou hast, only just now, told me that this is what thou hast always desired in thy heart. ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON Yes, it is so. The distant radiant vision has not become less beautiful to me. But . . . to attain the unreachable goal, I would have to consent to be thy queen—with all the meaning of that word. How could I? It is He I love. CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD Zetut, I know. Although I do not understand, I know thou lovest Akhnaton alone. There is no

81 need to repeat it. But couldst thou not, then, for His sake—for the sake of His reign on earth—consent to what I say? The land, from Kush to the Great Sea, and from Assur to Punt, given to Him; Akhetaton, the Seat of Truth, rebuilt by me to hold its sway over all tribes—that is the prize I offer thee, just for a word of hope, a word binding thy life to mine, thy beauty to my love. Wilt thou not speak that word, and rule, in thy King’s name? ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON Betray Him . . . . CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD Why dost thou say “Betray Him” now? Hast thou not said thyself that thou art ready to betray the spirit of His Teaching and use the force of arms, which He disdained, provided thou couldst give Him back the lordship of the earth? My spies have heard thee speak. ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON The task would he an easy one; love is unscrupulous—my humble human love, at least. But to lie in thy arms, or in the arms of any man, to yield to a man’s love, when in my heart, when in my blood, burns love for Him alone; day after day to buy His sway with more shame and disgust to be, in the eyes of the world, His Vice-reine, as thou sayest, but to allow another man to play upon that sacred lute out of which He alone, in a mysterious way, has brought, up to this day, waves of adoring music; to feel the lute break in the hands of the usurper, and to know its harmony is lost for ever

82 more; to be no longer His, as I am now, as I have always been . . . No! That I cannot do. CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD So thou refusest me . . . and power? ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON Couldst thou not revive His cult, without my being thine?—without my being anything, in the world’s eyes, but one who worships Him? How I would love thee then! Above all mortal men how I would exalt thee! CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD I do not want such praise; I do not want such love as thou wouldst give me then. ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON Thou canst not understand its price. It is the highest love which I could give a living man. CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD I cannot understand it, I admit. I am too human, I suppose. For the sole sake of human love, for the gift of thy beauty, I would do all I said. But not for mere esteem. Already my blood boils at the thought of what love thou hast bestowed on a dead man. I hate Him, when I realise that, were it not for Him—for the mere thought of Him—thou couldst be mine! Listen: I leave thee to thyself a moment. Think, and weigh all that thou canst obtain, through me, for thy sake and for His. His powerful supporter I become—with thee. But without thee—if thou

83 refusest—I shall be His bitterest enemy—bitterer than Horemheb, or than Neferhetep, His greatest foes up till this day. Think, and choose for thyself, which of the two dost thou want me to be: the restorer of His cult, or else His ruthless persecutor, and thine also. Thy fate and mine-indeed, the fate of Egypt—depends upon thy choice! (He walks out) SCENE V. (ZETUT-NEFERU-ATON, alone) The fate of Egypt . . . and—who knows?—perhaps much more. For, far beyond the sea, and far beyond the sands of our burning deserts, a world is waiting for my word, ready, if I accept the offer of this man, to hail the One I love for centuries to come. I know. Alone the almighty sword can win Him domination, and force His cult and thrust His stamp upon unwilling races. The gods of powerful nations are revered by the whole world. And every god’s success is just the sign that his followers were strong and masterful in cunning, and knew well the arts of threat and bribery. He disdained drawing to Himself the foolish and the weak, and all the discontented herd that thrives upon illusions. He disdained keeping by the sword an Empire that could have become the stronghold of His creed, with time. And of all that He built, to-day, after a mere score of years, nothing is left. But lo, I can rebuild it all! For I do not disdain the power of the sword. I love Him even more than the great truths for which He stood.

84 I shuddered at the price I would have to pay for it. And yet, can I dismiss this dream of power for His sake? If I so wish, the world, to-day, tomorrow, in all times, will bear His mark and praise His name. On a thousand foreign shores, on islands in storm-beaten seas of which no one yet knows, men will call Him their King and God, and build Him monuments of glory. If I so wish, the Disk, with rays ending in hands, will dominate the earth. His sign—for endless time to come. And future ages shall call me His Vice-reine upon earth, and in the temples built to Him will sculpture my fair figure offering Him the earthly sphere, as He, lifting His hands, offers His worship to the Sun. O glory of all times! O triumph of the King I love! Is not all that well worth the trifling sacrifice which fills me with such dire disgust? All women, after all, submit to this—often without the love that renders touch divine. What holds me back? O my Loved One, Thou Whom I never saw, but Who for years hast filled my nights with untold ecstasy; Thou for Whom such a love as no woman has lived bums in my depth—my King, my gentle, living God, Whose flesh I know, as though the barrier of time and death did not exist, tell me what must I do? Shall I for ever break that holy instrument of superhuman pleasure that quivers in my depth at Thy mysterious touch—and buy Thy success at that cost? Or, dispossessed of name and fame, and of the clamant praise of generations of unworthy men, dost Thou prefer to lie . . . alone with me? Shall I, Thy dedicated One, become a life-long

85 liar a thing of, ugliness and shame, in order to rebuild Thy City, Seat of Truth, and have the slavish herd call me Thy Vice-reine upon earth? Thou hast not sought success, but truth—perfection. Shall I not follow Thee, now, in my supreme choice? My love for Thee is also true, and nothing can efface that perfect fact, in unchanged light, receding in the past. The earth will pass away one day. In time’s fathomless depth, its mighty centuries will not weigh more, indeed, than the fair years of my brief youth, full of the love of Thee. My King, my God, give me the courage to refuse to buy Thy domination at the cost of an ugly life Show me the vanity of that success for which I crave, and which Thou hast disdained! End of Act IV.