Death in Luxor

by Graham Warren

  Cairo was jumping up and down whilst clapping frantically. He could not have been more excited, even if there had been a trolley fully laden with sandwiches right in front of him. His excitement, however, was short lived, as nothing at all happened.

  Kate looked at Alex, Alex looked at Cairo, and Cairo looked at Kate. They all felt, as well as looked, dejected.

  Quite suddenly Alex’s face changed as he said, “There are two fish in this picture and the saying goes, ‘I will only believe it when I see the tears of fishes’, not the tear of a fish!”

  Kate quite quickly found and inserted another golden tear. As it was pushed home, they heard, almost instantly, what they thought was the sound of running sand. The gold laden room shuddered, causing them to lose balance, as it started to slide sideways. Their exit quickly becoming blocked by a solid wall.

  “It’s only the walls that are moving,” shouted Alex over the creaking and groaning sounds. His feet were unmoving, yet the wall in front of him was becoming closer whilst the wall behind went further away.

  “But the whole room shook,” shouted back Kate.

  “Both of you stand still … STAND STILL!”

  They did and immediately realised that it was only the walls which were moving. Now moving freely, though slowly, silence returned. They had no option except to move with the room.

  A small hole started to appear in the floor. It was Kate who first saw the steps, and she was down them quickly. Alex immediately stopped Cairo from following her, by barring his way with his arm.

  “Come on, you wimps,” called Kate.

  Alex stood his ground. “If this is a trap, Cairo, I do not want to lose both of you.”

  On hearing Alex’s words, Kate immediately turned around and ran back up the stairs. Poking her head out, she was just about to shout at him, when he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her very quickly back into the room. A room which was picking up momentum, as all too quickly the floor became solid again. It had indeed been a trap. Alex had been correct, though nobody said anything.

  The solid floor did not last for long, as they could all now see that it was starting to disappear. A gaping hole appeared which reached from one side of the room to the other. Second by second the floor disappeared, causing them each to push themselves to the back wall. Cairo was actually trying to climb the wall, though there was nothing that would give him grip. It was then that the room stopped moving, leaving nothing more than a narrow ledge, though a ledge which they each managed to stand on. Any movement would cause them to fall into the gaping black hole that was before them.

  “What do we do now?” said Kate with real fear in her voice.

  “How the heck do I know,” replied Alex, just as the walls moved the few centimetres needed for their foothold to disappear altogether.

  “We die!” screamed Cairo as they fell. Followed by, “I too young to die,” as they now all screamed as they fell.

  “I really like the way you designed the room to stop, in order to give tomb robbers a few seconds of hope, and then so totally remove that hope. It is a truly wonderful design, Aryamani, a stroke of genius.”

  “Thank you, Alexander, but it was the design of Nastasen, as he started your collection.”

  “Just listen to him, Ramses. Will he ever take credit for anything? Such truth, such honesty, I drink to you, Aryamani, my dear friend.” Alexander the Great raised his glass, as did Ramses. They each took a large gulp of red wine before Alexander continued. “It reminds me of the time when I gave my word that I would preserve the lives of everyone in some small insignificant village, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, if they gave up without a fight. Only I knew that they had the only clean drinking water anywhere in the area, and at the time I was being faced by an army twenty times the size of my own.”

  “Check your previous notes, Thoth,” Ramses whispered. “I am sure that three centuries ago, when we last had this conversation, it was an army twice the size of his.”

  “Nobody else knew what I was up to because I could not trust anyone. I had already been obligated to put three of my generals to death. It was a real shame as only one of them was possibly a traitor. I found out later that none of them was, but time was of the essence, and anyway, they would have all betrayed me given the chance.”

  “It was six centuries ago, my Pharaoh,” said Thoth as quietly as he could into Ramses’ ear, “and yes, it was double the size. Just in case you wish to be reminded, the paranoia has always been there, as has the ego.”

  “Thoth, are you not interested in learning from the great Alexander the Great?” There had already been far too much red wine drunk today. Alexander failed to get his tongue around several words, including his own name.

  “Bother yourself not, Alexander, as Thoth was just asking if he could open another bottle of my twelve hundred and ninety BC red wine. It was a present to my father, Seti I, on the day I was born.”

  Thoth nodded as Ramses informed him that he owed him. Thoth continued nodding.

  “Stop nodding, bird, you are making me dizzy. Go and get the wine, can’t you see that my glass is empty?”

  Thoth thought that Alexander’s glass was far from empty, though by the time he had thought this, Alexander had indeed emptied it.

  “As I said, I was the only person who knew that this village had the only clean drinking water in the whole area. As I was being faced by an army thirty times the size of my own, I had no option except to take the village quietly. At the first sign of trouble all would have been lost, as then the enemy would have known where we were and attacked.” Alexander leaned back in his chair, clasped his hands together and looked off into an unseen distance. “The villagers all came out and thanked me personally for preserving their lives. Oh, how I loved their adoration.

  “I told all my troops to fill everything that would hold water, after which I had each and every villager killed and thrown down their only well.” Alexander slammed his fist down on the table as he said, “This is why I am Alexander the Great! I stopped the attacking army from being able to get clean drinking water for their troops. I won the battle as I drank red wine, much like here today, whilst I watched an entire army die of thirst. They were the good old days!”

  “You promised that you would preserve their lives. You are a rotter, a liar. You are not so great.” The three youngsters had been listening to the conversation as they recovered from their fall, which had been more of a short fall followed by a long bumpy slide. This had left each of them somewhat battered and bruised. It was Kate, despite Alex’s best efforts to keep her calm, who had lost control and stormed over to Alexander upon hearing his story.

  Alex had followed, though he could not resist getting down onto all fours the moment Alexander looked at him.

  It was Cairo who saved Kate’s life, because Alexander had his sword raised. He darted around in front of Kate, and as he did, he pulled her to the ground. “She not know what she saying, as you are truly Alexander the Great. You always keep promises and you preserved each and every one of the villagers.” Cairo did not know if Alexander had kept his promise or not, it certainly did not sound as though he did, but he thought it best not to antagonise someone who was waving a sword around, especially as this someone also knew how to use it to maximum effect.

  “Yes, quite correct, youngster, I did keep my promise, as I preserved each and every one of them in my memory. I can still see them, every face, as they screamed as they died.” Alexander paused before rather collapsing back onto his chair. He then bellowed, “Where is my wine, Thoth?”

  Thoth was unsure as to what he should do, simply because Alexander already had a full glass of Ramses’ red wine right in front of him.

  This time it was Ramses who saved the moment. “I propose a toast to Kate, Alex and Cairo, as they are the first people to discover Alexander the Great’s secret gold chamber.”

  Alexander looked somewhat uncertain as to whether he wanted his plunder to be discovered, though he did disc
over his glass of red wine. As doubts went through his drunken mind, he went to place his now empty glass of wine back on the table.

  Ramses knew that once the glass was out of his hand it would be replaced, yet again, by his sword. “By discovering Alexander’s gold and showing it to the world, it will make the name of Alexander even more famous, my friend.” Ramses leant over and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Even greater than you are now.”

  This Alexander did like. He brought the newly filled glass to his lips, emptied it in one and quite gracefully, almost as in slow motion, fell backwards to the floor, taking the chair with him.

  “Oh, thank the ancient gods for that,” said Ramses. “Last time he drank four whole bottles of my red wine, my wine, before he passed out.” Waving his arms for them to come close, he said in an overly exaggerated voice, “Let there be light.”

  Light there was, and gold and precious stones shone back at them from every direction, causing Kate, Alex and Cairo each to close their eyes slightly. Surrounded by all this ancient treasure, it was the sight of Nakhtifi and Bast emerging from what had been the shadows, which pleased them most. As Nakhtifi came close, Kate went down on one knee, bowed her head, held out the back of one hand and said, “Greetings, Victorious Father.”

  “Greetings, Princess Kate,” replied Nakhtifi as he brushed the back of her hand with his lips.

  “And she talks about me when I go down on all fours!” said Alex to nobody in particular.

  “Victorious Father is his name, it is what Nakhtifi means when translated into modern day English. Kate understands much more than we could ever have hoped for, as do you, young Alex.”

  “Thank you, Bast. I do feel as though I have, how do you put it?”

  “Seen is the word that I would use, and yes, you have most certainly ‘seen’. Hasn’t he?” Bast said, directing her question to Aryamani.

  “Oh yes, he has seen, otherwise they would not have made it into this chamber. It took all three of them to work it out. Individually, none of them could have broken in here. It was designed that way.”

  “Yes, but what would have happened if I had not come up from those steps?” said Kate with extreme attitude.

  “Most probably you would have starved to death,” replied Nakhtifi.

  “No, no, my son, she would have died of thirst long before she starved,” said Ramses.

  “Yes, you are quite correct, my father, she would, however, still be dead”

  “Deceased.”

  “Departed.”

  “Croaked.”

  “Croaked is what I was going to say,” moaned Nakhtifi. “I shall go for perished.”

  “Expired!”

  “Look, the two of you, there are much more important things than your silly word games.”

  “You are so correct, Bast, but the important things are … nowhere near as much fun!” Ramses gave a boyish grin. “Anyway, tonight we can relax as we have just immortalised Nakhtifi as a pharaoh, and that is what we have wanted, what we have needed, for so many years. He is now safe from the magician.”

  “How have we immortalised Nakhtifi and how is he safe from the warlock?” asked Alex in the certain knowledge that Nakhtifi was not yet safe.

  “Details, you bother yourself with far too many details!”

  “And anyway, how are you all in here, as this chamber is of Alexander the Great’s time?

  “Natural chamber,” said Ramses as he pointed to the curved and jagged ceiling.

  Kate returned to the conversation having walked completely around the room. She had looked at the many individual piles of gold and gem encrusted artefacts. “More importantly, how do we get out of here?”

  “Oh, bugger, why is there always a flaw in every great plan?” replied Ramses with a smile.

  Chapter 23

  -

  Fame and Failure

  Kate, Alex and Cairo sat with Ramses, Nakhtifi, Bast and Aryamani, though it was the passed out, yet now snoring, Alexander the Great, who still managed to make his presence felt.

  “Oh, do deal with him, Aryamani,” said Ramses.

  Without putting his glass of red wine down, Aryamani stuck out a foot and un-ceremonially kicked Alexander. He rolled off the fallen chair and onto his side.

  Kate and Alex noticed that it was a real kick, a kick that had a fair degree of hatred in it.

  Alex also noticed that the force of the kick caused the bottom button of Aryamani’s coat to break off. This was a button with the head of Cleopatra on it, the button that was below the one that his father had discovered. It landed very close to him, allowing him to quickly extend his arm and put it in his pocket without anyone noticing.

  “Well, well, congratulations to you all,” said Ramses to the youngsters, to which the other ancients nodded as they made sounds of general agreement. “We have been so close so often over the centuries, yet we have failed time and time again. This is a most fantastic day.”

  “Yes Dad, fantastic,” said the very excited though much older looking Nakhtifi.

  There could not be a wider difference between him and his father. Ramses II was the most famous pharaoh of all time. His name, monuments and statues were known all around the world, so his position in the afterlife was secure. His son, Nakhtifi, was totally unknown. His position in the afterlife was precarious, to say the least. With the discovery of Alexander the Great’s plunder, this should now change.

  Nakhtifi extended a hand to Kate. As she put her hand in his, he took her with him as he moved quickly around the room. Kate thought that he was acting like an overly excited schoolboy as he pointed out so many wonderful gold items that were made in his time. More importantly, Kate could see that so many also had Nakhtifi’s cartouche clearly worked into them.

  “Once the world sees these,” Kate thought, “everybody will know of Nakhtifi. Then he will never need to be afraid of the warlock ever again.”

  There was a very small golden statue which Kate really liked. It looked to her to be Nakhtifi on one side, with a lady, possibly naked, on the other. In-between the two of them stood a square column with the double cartouche of Nakhtifi clearly visible. Both the family name and the royal name were there. There was a small upright figure on top of the column, though what it was, Kate could not make out. She asked Nakhtifi to pass the piece to her.

  “Oh, I cannot.”

  “Why not, don’t you trust me? I will not steal it!” Immediately upon saying this, Kate realised that she had rather overreacted, and was just about to apologise when Nakhtifi turned to look at her. Their eyes met. She saw that all signs of his boyish enthusiasm had faded. She was lost for what to say as she could see that she had hurt him deeply. There was a second or two of uneasy silence before he spoke.

  “I thought that you were much brighter than this, young Kate. Because if I could pick that up, then do you not think that I would have walked out of this chamber with it centuries ago? I can assure you that I would have. I would have dropped it along with many other items bearing my name at the feet of any archaeologist who I saw, so that my name would be known throughout the real world. There would be no need for you to discover this gold chamber. No need for you or me to be constantly in danger.” Nakhtifi spread his arms wide, and turning his whole body, he swung them around in a motion that gestured at everything. “I can never touch any of this. Not even one piece, ever again. That pleasure has been denied to me ever since it was moved here.”

  Kate could see tears starting to well up in his eyes, as they fixed on the lady sculpted so intricately on the small golden statue. She was not immediately able to understand why he could not touch items of his own time, or earlier times, and then it came to her. As this was a natural chamber they were all using it as they did, long before all this gold was moved here. Though it still perplexed her as to why Nakhtifi could only touch his treasures if they were still in his tomb, though that tomb was now home to the warlock, as Nakhtifi had been buried outside of the Valley of the Kings. Kate started to sa
y something, but stopped when she realised that she was rather confused as to which his tomb really was.

  “Yes, Kate, confusing isn’t it,” said Nakhtifi on seeing the look on her face. “The warlock wanted to come back as a pharaoh, though I did not see it at the time. I treated him as a friend. On his advice I agreed to be buried outside of the Valley of the Kings so that my tomb would never be robbed. As it turned out I was the only pharaoh in history to be robbed of his tomb before ever being in it! I never, not for a moment, thought that the warlock wanted my tomb in the Valley of the Kings for himself.

  “So much of what was made for my tomb ended up in the warlock’s tomb. That is now lost to us all, but thankfully, as you can see here, there is still more than enough to prove of my existence. All you need to know is that once my name is out there, out in the real world, I can live in the afterlife without fear. What is more important to me, far more important, is that everyone associated with me, my friends, my workers, my family, will also be able to live in the afterlife, for the very first time ever, without fear.”

  Kate put her arms around Nakhtifi and they hugged. Like a father to a daughter, they hugged. It was whilst they hugged that they both felt a very small tremor. Nothing much, but it was a tremor. “Did you feel that?” asked a slightly alarmed Kate.

  “We are in an earthquake zone. Though major earthquakes are infrequent, usually many hundreds of years apart, small tremors are fairly frequent. Most go unnoticed. It is nothing at all to worry about.” Nakhtifi stepped back from Kate as he explained that all the pieces which bore his cartouche were from his tomb outside of the Valley of the Kings, though putting them back there would make no difference to him being able to touch them, because once they had been moved, they had been taken from his time and therefore from him.