The sudden fall of footsteps in quick succession had Shabaka halt, his hand going out to still Neti’s progress, while he listened intently to the sounds. Neti’s heart started thumping in her chest as she also listened, trying to make out the direction.
“Ma-Nefer?” she whispered.
Shabaka shook his head, before drawing her with him into the shadows, before whispering in reply, “The footfalls are too light and too swift for someone large.”
“Thoth?” she then asked, her heart pounding against her chest, as she glanced about them.
“Possibly. I’m trying to determine where he is.”
Neti remained silent, listening with him, her throat dried, and she swallowed repeatedly at the lump that had formed there. She clasped her hands that had started sweating.
The footsteps echoed again and Neti looked at Shabaka, unable to make out his features fully in the dark. She whispered, “If it is Thoth, he will come if I call.”
“And if it is not, and Ma-Nefer is within these walls, it would forewarn him,” Shabaka firmly replied.
“You could easily outrun Ma-Nefer,” Neti professed, “he knows that.”
“That is also why he would not run, but slink away like a snake in the reeds. We have to determine in which direction the person is moving.”
Neti released a heartfelt sigh and remained silent for a while. She looked up at Shabaka as his hand gently landed on her shoulder.
“I do not know if the man wandering through these pillars is the same person as the one you know as your friend,” Shabaka softly stated, “I cannot risk his madness coming upon him so that he attacks you.”
“Thoth will not harm me,” Neti said confidently.
“How can you be so sure?” Shabaka demanded in a low voice. “He killed your parents!”
Neti stiffened at that, swallowing visibly as she clasped her hands, before stepping away from him and back into the light, saying, “I will just have to find out.” She called, “Thoth! Are you here?” Her voice echoed through the hall causing her to turn around in confusion.
“Neti?” Thoth replied, his confusion evident in his voice, adding, “You should not be here.”
“Thoth, come out, come to me,” Neti called again looking about her when the only response she got was more footsteps sounding. Her heart thudded against her chest as she looked in Shabaka’s direction.
“You have him with you!” Thoth angrily stated, the sound once again bouncing off the walls, making it difficult to determine exactly where he was. “He is in the way, he needs to be taken care of.”
“Thoth, this is not you, come out,” Neti implored, again glancing around, his footsteps no longer audible. She glanced toward Shabaka’s direction, her heart pounding in her chest, as a sense of dread flushed over her. Thoth may not hurt her, but he would hurt Shabaka and she did not want that, had not wanted any of this.
Thoth’s voice was clearer this time, “No! He interferes. He needs to go. I cannot become a god, until I have his heart.”
“Thoth this is nonsense, come on out,” Neti said, turning into the direction the voice appeared to come from, peering into the shadows, Shabaka also looked about.
“He has to go, he cannot have you,” Thoth shouted.
“Thoth, please come out. As your friend, your sister, I’m asking you to come out and talk to me.”
“He has claimed your heart, he cannot have it. You cannot help me if he owns your heart, that is why I must take it.”
Neti could feel the anger rise in her, never having thought anyone would notice her partiality to Shabaka. However, Thoth would have been the most likely to notice, having always been the one closest to her. She turned to look around her. The echoing within the hall made it difficult to discern his whereabouts. At times the footfalls sounded as if there were two moving about. She clenched her fists in an attempt to control her anger, before challengingly replying, “Is that why you killed my parents?”
“They separated us, they took you from me,” he angrily accused, his voice sounding closer, adding, “I have to right it, we have to be together, you will make me a god.”
Neti just shook her head at that, taking deep breaths to calm herself, before replying, “How is killing those I love correcting a mistake?” She felt Shabaka’s eyes bore into her back at that, but chose not to acknowledge it.
“They cannot have you!” Thoth stated. His voice was clearer, with less of an echo this time. Neti felt her heart race as her mouth dried. She glanced at Shabaka, then at the area immediately surrounding her.
Neti cleared her throat, swallowing a few times before suggesting, “Come out Thoth, so that we can talk. You can tell me why you had to kill them,”
She felt her heart drop as his crazed giggle reached her ears, followed by, “You are in the precinct of the temple of Amun-Ra. I too will soon be a god like him. The prefect is nothing to you. He is in the way, and needs to go.”
Neti glanced at Shabaka who had also been looking around, and who whispered in reply, “The guards will be here soon. We only need to keep him here until they arrive.”
Neti nodded her head, and then firmly said, “That does not mean you need to kill him, Thoth.”
“He was chosen by the pharaoh, he holds a position of power, I need that.”
Neti no longer knew what to say, and hoped that the guards would soon arrive, as Thoth had sounded really close. However, she could not make out anything in the shadows as she peered into them. She looked toward Shabaka and was about to open her mouth to pre-warn him, when Thoth struck.
His angle was off, hitting Shabaka on the shoulder instead of over the head. A sickening cracking sound came from Shabaka’s shoulder, moments before he bellowed in pain.
Shabaka turned toward his attacker, barely able to make out his shape in the dark, and ducked the second blow. He moved quickly to swipe Thoth’s feet from under him. The man landed with a resounding thud, scampering back onto his feet as Shabaka reached toward his left shoulder, gasping in pain as the bones within moved against each other.
Thoth collected up the broken staff he had been using, growling, “You will die and I will be a god,” before taking another swing at the prefect.
Shabaka avoided the blows, and tried to close the distance between them, wanting to rid Thoth of the staff, wanting to make the contest more equal, but he found it difficult, especially with the throbbing of his shoulder.
A scream from the side caused him to look towards where Neti had stood, moments before, and he saw her being dragged off by Ma-Nefer, kicking and struggling against the man’s hold. He turned to follow her when Thoth again swung the staff, this time striking Shabaka across his stomach, just below his ribs. Shabaka grunted as he doubled over, coughing.
Neti saw Shabaka doubling over, and shouted at Thoth to stop, doubling her efforts to break loose from Ma-Nefer’s unrelenting grip.
Ma-Nefer smacked her hard, causing her head to snap back from the momentum, resulting in Neti’s vision becoming a sea of spots..
“He’s as good as dead,” Ma-Nefer professed. “Thoth will kill him, so shut up and come with me.”
“No! I will never go with you,” Neti avowed, once again renewing her struggles, “I would rather die.”
Ma-Nefer tossed her down to the ground, and kicked her hard a few times. Her head eventually struck the stone floor, knocking her unconscious, before he tossed her over his shoulder and started for the northern exit of the hall.
Thoth had the staff up against Shabaka’s throat, pushing down against it with all his might, while Shabaka tried to throw the man off him, his injured arm throbbing, impeding his ability to successfully knock the man from him. He grunted and groaned in his effort as Thoth sneered over him, “She is mine, you will never have her. But I will take your heart.”
Shabaka started seeing black spots, gasping for air as his arms and feet started flaying. His vision started blurring while his heart rate increased. Thoth’s crazed giggle, the glee he could hea
r in it, had him renew his efforts, intent on protecting Neti from these men.
His arms and body became slack as he stopped fighting. The sudden change and his stillness caused Thoth to lessen the downward force of the staff against his neck, allowing Shabaka to catch Thoth off-guard. He suddenly kicked up, twisting firmly to one side, grinding his teeth against the pain that shot through his shoulder, and managed to throw the slave off him, rolling clear, gasping for breath.
Thoth landed with a loud thud. The fall alone would have winded most, but Thoth was surprisingly strong for his size, and capable of taking a considerable amount of physical punishment. He simply rolled over and snatched up the staff, before regaining his feet and returning to where Shabaka was kneeling, still gasping for air. Thoth lifted the staff, preparing to strike, and Shabaka barely managed to roll out of the way, the blow striking the ground a few inches from him.
Shabaka again tried to regain his feet but Thoth kept on striking at him. His shoulder was throbbing, and he yelped in pain when he accidentally landed on it. He turned onto his back, intent on easing the weight off it, when he saw Thoth’s crazed expression, which forewarned him that there would be no reasoning with the man. He knew of Neti’s bond with Thoth and would have settled for simply capturing him. However, Thoth held no similar sentiments towards him, and continued his merciless assault. His single blow once again struck Shabaka’s injured shoulder as he struggled to rise, causing him to bellow in pain, his right hand instinctively reaching for it, as it hung limp from his shoulder.
Thoth took the opportunity to knock him to the ground, again strangling him with the staff. This time Shabaka knew there was no way he could fight off his opponent again, his vision once again blurred, his body sore, beaten, yet his heart still sped up in defiance.
The sound of running feet approached not far from them, and Shabaka at first thought it was Ma-Nefer, who had returned to help Thoth, until the voice of a young recruit, through his gasps for breath, commanded, “Let him go!”
Thoth only giggled in response, before pushing the staff down even more.
The recruit then rushed forward, knocking Thoth off Shabaka, causing the slave to tumble a short distance. The recruit righted himself and moved toward Shabaka, not noticing that Thoth had regained his feet and taken up the staff.
Shabaka, through his coughing and gasping, tried to warn the young man, but Thoth was too swift, swinging the staff with practiced ease, hitting the young recruit on his neck. The cracking sound and the way the man lifelessly dropped to the ground was enough indication to Shabaka that the blow had been fatal.
Shabaka knew the rest of the guards would not be far behind, but as he looked at the mad rage on Thoth’s face, he doubted they would be in time. He once again tried to rise from his position, but his body resisted, and Thoth, high on adrenaline, glee and the unnatural strength of insanity, yanked the young recruit’s body out of the way as he approached.
Shabaka knew that Thoth was beyond reason, beyond the point of feeling any pain. He had seen soldiers in a similar trance on the battlefield, and how they displayed almost superhuman strength.
Thoth once again went for his throat, this time with his hands, “I will watch you die,” he grunted as his grip tightened.
Just in time, two more guards arrived, panting for breath, and noticed Shabaka’s predicament. Without any hesitation, they attacked the slave. The first made to grab him, but Thoth caught him at the optimum moment, using the guard’s momentum to toss him against a pillar. The guard dropped to the ground and made no attempt to move. The second managed to pull Thoth off Shabaka. However, Thoth in his crazed state turned on him, going for the man’s face and catching him off guard, forcing him back against a pillar, smacking the back of his head against the stone. The guard slipped to the ground without resistance as Thoth let go of his face.
Thoth turned back toward Shabaka, just as the armed guards arrived. The men took in the scene before them and lifted their spears. Without mercy, they attacked, stabbing the slave several times before he dropped to his knees.
“The gods will strike down all of you. When I join them I will ensure that your families carry the burden of your actions,” Thoth yelled, moments before one of the guards delivered the final blow.
A bulky guard, whom Shabaka knew as Asis, knelt next to him, helping him up, while the others checked on their companions.
Once Shabaka found his voice, he commanded, “I want this place closed off, not a person enters or leaves!”
“But we have captured the man,” the guard replied in confusion.
Just then, one of the others asked, “Where is the woman?”
“Ma-Nefer has her,” Shabaka returned, adding, “I want every palace, every temple, every corner of this place searched. Guards at every gate. We have to find them.”
He then attempted to regain his feet when Asis halted him, placing a hand on his bruised chest, stating, “You need to see a healer.”
Shabaka brushed off the man’s hand, catching his breath when it bumped his left arm, averring, “It can wait until we have found Neti.”
Asis turned toward the arriving guards, commanding, “Guard all the gates. No one enters or leaves. The rest of you pair up and start searching the temples.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Ma-Nefer, huffing and spluttering, dragged Neti’s unconscious body down the darkened passage. The loud scraping sound of stone on stone indicated the closing of the doorway as he progressed down the narrow passageway. He knew it would not be long before the guards would start searching the palace. The discovery of Shabaka’s body would leave them hungry for blood, and they would be after Thoth in full force, and with their attention focused on him, it would give him some time to escape once the sun had risen.
The passageway eventually opened up into a lit chamber, and he gave one more heave, before letting go of Neti’s limp body, leaving it to lie there. He moved toward the bags stacked along the far wall, grabbing the first, undoing the rope before reaching into it, extracting a piece of turquoise and smirking as he ran his fingers over it. It was the most sought after gem. Only the pharaoh and his family wore it. The bag alone was worth a small fortune.
He returned the gem to the bag, and lifted it to estimate its weight, before looking at the other bags. There were fourteen in all, each one containing the gems of two bodies. He returned up the passage, placing his hand on the raised stone that would trigger the release mechanism for the stone door, and waited as the door once again scraped open, looking about once it had done so.
He knew that off to the left was a series of stalls, where he would find a donkey or mule, and made towards it.
It was deadly quiet in the temple precinct of Montu, and he continued to glance about, knowing it would only be a matter of time before the guards made their way there. He walked through the stalls finally loosening the lead ropes of a large mule and a donkey. He would make Neti walk as soon as she had woken. He took a pack harness for the donkey, tossing it over his shoulder as he led the two animals back to the entranceway, chasing the donkey ahead as he tugged the mule along, once again pressing the stone and waiting for the entrance to close.
The mule nearly stepped on Neti as they entered the chamber, swerving to avoid her, and received a hard jerk from Ma-Nefer in return. He checked over the animals. They were well cared for and in his opinion overfed, as all animals belonging to the temples usually were.
He tacked up the donkey, ensuring that the cinch wad was firmly tightened, before starting to load the gems onto the animal’s back, securing the bags into place.
A short while later, a moan from the passage had him leap around, only to release a grunt when he realized that it was Neti, regaining consciousness.
He smiled as she grunted in pain, clasping her head between her hands, thinking to himself,— that will teach her to listen.
Neti-Kerty righted herself. Her body felt tender and ached in objection to her movement, her head pounding as she s
wallowed down the bile rising in her throat. She glanced about the area, unable to remember how she got there, or what she was doing there, and shook her head in an attempt to clear the fuzziness, immediately groaning as the pain in her skull intensified. She looked about the room, and finally identified Ma-Nefer, for a moment watching as he loaded a donkey.
She tried to rise, but the spinning dizziness in her head soon had her sink back down to the ground, clasping her head as the shock on the impact jolted through her. She gasped for breath in order to control the pain.
She had another look around her, needing to identify her surroundings, and then took a deep breath and shouted, hoping someone would hear her. She knew Ma-Nefer would in all likelihood beat her for it, but the guards should have arrived.
“You can scream all you want, no one can hear you,” Ma-Nefer sneered as he secured the last bag.
“Someone will!” Neti remarked, moments before letting rip yet another scream.
“This is the treasure chamber of Amenhotep the third, no one will hear you.”
“That is only a myth. No one has ever discovered it,” Neti quickly countered, panting for breath as the pain once again took hold.
Ma-Nefer just sneered at her, “Foolish woman.” He then commanded, “Come, on your feet,” as he grabbed her by her arm and yanked her upright.
Neti felt her head spin at the sudden change of position, and her stomach also revolted, causing her to double over, heaving harshly as its contents were expelled,
The acid smell filled the musty chamber, causing her to retch again.
Ma-Nefer instantly let go of her arm and she staggered for a few steps before managing to brace herself against the wall.
“You’re pregnant with that bastard’s child!” he professed, looking at her.
Neti lifted her head, for a moment trying to figure out what he meant, when a thought struck her, causing her to reply, “What if I am?”
Ma-Nefer growled at that before shortening the distance between them, slapping her across the face and causing her once again to sink to her knees.
The Mummifier´s Daughter - A Novel in Ancient Egypt Page 16