by Overton, Max
"You think too little of yourself. I have talked to Nebhotep and he tells me that one day you could surpass him--if you apply yourself. As to the other, well, my brother Smenkhkare thought you wise enough for his Council, and you have bested me in combat many times."
Khu flushed with embarrassment, grateful for the darkness. "That was a long time ago, Scarab. I have watched you fight and I could not prevail against you now."
"I still need you, Khu."
"As an apprentice physician?"
"As a friend."
Khu was silent, fighting back tears. I could be so much more if you would have me, but if a friend is what you need ..."Always."
"Do not cry, dear Khu. I need you strong in the days ahead."
Khu brushed his hand across his face. "I...I was not..."
"I can see you, dear Khu. The Eye of Geb reveals the world to me when even a cat stumbles blindly. It is one of my gifts."
The morning revealed another of her gifts. The sun leapt into a clear sky, its heat sucking the last traces of moisture from the ground and rippling the air so the horizon danced. More desert men arrived, a full dozen under the leadership of Abrim, a lean, humourless man who scowled at everyone, Scarab included.
Jesua welcomed the newcomers in her name and assigned them duties and positions in the column. He took Scarab aside and spoke in a low voice, so none but Khu, who was determined to stay close to her, heard. "We are low on water, Eye of Geb. Abrim's men brought none and we have shared what we have. I fear it will not last to the next well."
"When we have none, I will approach the goddess."
"Not before?"
Scarab said nothing but looked at her protector and companion calmly. Jesua bent his head briefly and strode away, shouting orders to the waiting men.
The column of men, nearly thirty strong, turned west, and with the sun at their backs, began to run. Khu and Nebhotep, despite being unused to desert life, had toughened in the last few days and did not slow the others much. Their guides, Salom and Terrik, nodded their approval and continued to instruct them in the ways of the desert as they ran. They showed them where to tread, how to avoid both the loose sand and the sharp fragments of shattered rock, how to breathe to conserve precious moisture, and how to move their limbs in the most economical fashion.
The sun rose high in the sky, swinging south before west, and the heat increased. Lips dried and cracked and eyes lost moisture, feeling raw and gritty. Jesua, without breaking stride, matched his pace to Scarab's and spoke again.
"It is time. We have no water."
"Find me rock then, Jesua," Scarab answered.
Jesua scanned the horizon and veered to the north. Another few minutes brought them to a low shelf of rock scoured by sand and wind. The faded yellow-brown of the sandstone merged imperceptibly with the sand itself, nudging under the grains in the baking heat.
"This will do," Scarab murmured.
Jesua halted the column and set everyone around the flat rock in a semicircle. "Behold the power of the Eye of Geb."
"Enough, Jesua," Scarab said. "I am but the instrument of the gods." She faced the southwest and gathered her thoughts. Somewhere ahead of her, across trackless wasteland and through the Delta lands of Ta Mehu, lay Iunu, the city sacred to the Nine. She envisioned the gods and goddesses, praising each one of them in turn, thanking them for past bounties and outlining their present plight. "Great Tefnut," she muttered. "Lady of the Waters of Life, I ask that you give of your bounty that I and my companions may sustain ourselves this day." She waited for several minutes, as if waiting for an answer, before walking to the rock and striking it with her staff.
Instantly, the rock darkened, the stain growing, spreading across the stone surface, and beads of moisture sprang up, joined and pooled. Within minutes, a small pond lay on the sandstone surface, already starting to seep away into the surrounding sand.
"Hurry," Jesua said. "Fill your water bottles."
The thirty men hurried forward, though Abrim and his men hung back, eyes wide with amazement, until the other men started laughing and splashing in the water.
Khu filled his bottle and splashed some water over his dry face, cupping some in his hands and drinking deeply. He turned to Nebhotep who was tucking his bottle into his pack. "You still doubt the gods?" he asked. "Or do you have some natural explanation for this?"
The physician considered carefully. "I doubt the efficacy of prayer when healing my patients, and I am doubtful that the gods answer prayers generally, but I think our Scarab is someone special. Either she is a magician or she is beloved of the gods."
"A magician? Are you serious?"
"No, not really. A magician deals in illusions, like the priests at the Heru grape festival where they appear to be turning a bowl of water into wine, or the priest of Wadjet turning his staff into the sacred cobra. It's all sleight of hand and trickery." Nebhotep bent and dabbled his fingers in the small patch of water left on the rock. "This is real water, not an illusion."
"So you believe in the gods after all?"
Nebhotep smiled. "I keep telling you, Khu. I do not necessarily believe in the non-existence of gods, I have just never seen them at work--until now."
"And now you believe?"
"I cannot think of a better explanation for this. There may be one, but I cannot think of it."
They moved on before the water had fully dried on the flat rock. For an hour or so, the land continued flat and featureless, and then it started to crumple and bend itself into folds and hollows. The horizon leapt closer and every turn or twist on the ill-defined track brought some new aspect. Jesua sent scouts ranging out in front of them and to either side, determined that any enemy would not surprise him.
"Is that likely?" Khu asked Salom as their pace was reduced yet again by Jesua's caution.
"Who knows? However, Jesua is experienced in the ways of the desert and of men. No harm will come to the Eye of Geb while he leads us." Salom looked curiously at the young Kemetu man striding alongside him. "Did you really know her in her previous life?"
"If you mean before she became the Eye, then yes."
"Really knew her? Talked to her, ate with her?"
Khu smiled and nodded.
"Tell me."
Khu started, hesitantly, to describe their time in Zarw, and then in the southern lands of Nubia with her brother Smenkhkare's army. However, he was forced to break off too many times to give background information, so he started again, this time from the day he first met the young runaway girl in his village of Akhet-Re.
"It all sounds wondrous," Salom said when Khu paused to catch his breath and take a drink of tepid water. "You make it sound as if our prophet was just...just an ordinary woman. It is hard to believe."
"Well, she wasn't a prophet, chosen by the gods, back then, but neither was she an ordinary woman. She was still a princess, daughter of a king and sister to three kings." Khu laughed. "However, she still had time for a peasant lad. I would follow her anywhere and lay down my life for her willingly."
"As would we all, lad." Salom walked in silence for a time, thinking, before he spoke again. "Stay close to her and guard her well. Dangerous times are coming and the Brethren of the Pillar cannot be everywhere."
"What do you mean?"
"You heard her last night when she spoke of going into Kemet to kill the false king Ay. Did you think that was so much idle chatter?"
"Well, no, but...how can she do that with only thirty or fifty men? Where is she going to get an army?"
"Maybe she does not need an army. A man may die as easily from a single sword thrust as from a thousand."
Khu ruminated a while. "Assassins? Is that honourable?"
Salom shrugged. "Against an honourable foe, maybe not. However, our enemy stole the throne and tried to kill the rightful king. What penalties would you impose for that in Kemet?"
Khu did not have a chance to reply as the column came to an abrupt halt as Jesua frantically motioned everyone to s
ilence.
"Kemetu troops," he hissed. "Coming this way."
"How many?"
"A full troop. Perhaps a hundred. No more than a few dozen breaths away."
"Can we avoid them?" Scarab asked.
"Not in this terrain. Outside this gully, the land is flat. They would see us. And they are coming up the gully."
"Then we fight. Jesua, you will see to the dispositions. I will be the bait, along with Khu and Salom." Jesua opened his mouth to argue but Scarab cut him off. "That is how it will be. Just make sure none escape."
Jesua glowered but bowed perfunctorily. He snapped out instructions quickly and the tribesmen, used to instant obedience and desert warfare, melted into the landscape. Khu stared around in amazement at the patch of sand and rock where thirty men had stood only moments before. Even Nebhotep the physician had disappeared.
"Now we bait the trap," Scarab said. She seated herself on a rock by the track and spread her robe out comfortably.
Khu stared at her, then at Salom. "Is this wise? There is a whole troop of soldiers coming. These are not ignorant tribesmen but trained warriors. We should just hide like the others."
"You said it yourself--they are trained. They could well see us trying to hide. If we are sitting out in full view we will centre their attention until it is too late."
"It's dangerous..."
"Life is dangerous, Khu. I know what I'm doing...ah, here they come."
Two Kemetu soldiers dressed in sandals, military kilt and simple headdress, bearing spears, came trotting along the trail. They stopped when they saw the three figures awaiting them and pointed their spears at them. One man called back to the following soldiers and a few moments later an officer--recognisable by his striped headdress and armband of gold--and a swarm of men appeared.
The officer stared and then started forward. Scarab let him approach to about thirty paces before calling out. "Hold! Identify yourself."
Such was the tone of command in her voice that the man stopped immediately, and then his face flushed angrily. "Who are you to command an officer of the Shu legion?"
"Yet you question me?" Scarab's voice sounded amused. "You have no business here, man of Shu. Your legion belongs in the fat lands by Men-nefer."
"I repeat, who are you to question me?" the officer replied. "I am here at the orders of my superiors, and I demand to know who you are."
"I am the Lady Khepra-Nefer and who might you be, rude man?"
"I am Khuns, Leader of a Hundred of the Shu Legion, under the command of Nakhtmin, Tjaty and Crown Prince." He started forward again, his men pressing behind him.
Scarab rose to her feet. "Stop! I have not given you leave to approach me."
Khuns laughed. "I do not need your permission, Lady Khepra-Nefer." He stopped anyway and looked askance at the three apparently unarmed figures in front of him. "Who are you? Your voice is of Kemetu and cultured. Perhaps a Waset accent?"
"I was raised in Waset, officer Khuns. You said you were under the command of Nakhtmin. Is he here in Sinai too?"
"He commands us, yes. What is that to you?"
"Nakhtmin and I have unfinished business. Where is he? I would journey thence to see him."
Khuns laughed again. "Nothing simpler, lady. I will take you there myself, though I will bind you with ropes first. I think you are the one we seek--the one called Scarab."
Scarab nodded. "I am she, but you will bind neither me nor my followers." She pointed at Khuns and raised her voice. "This one leave alive. I will question him afterward."
"What are you talking about, woman?" Khuns snapped his fingers and pointed. "Take them. The woman is to be unharmed but you may kill the others if they resist."
The Kemetu soldiers flowed forward and the desert erupted around them. On both sides of the Shu legionaries, robed men stabbed and slashed with swords and daggers, racing through the column, leaving men screaming or falling dead in their wake. At the same time, Scarab leapt at the approaching men, her own dagger weaving in the air, and stabbed a man. Without waiting to see if he was dead, she was on to the next one, then another. Khu and Salom followed in her wake, despatching the wounded and killing where they could. The soldiers fought back, but the surprise attack had demoralised them and they did not have the experience to fight back effectively. In a few short minutes, the men of the Shu legion lay dead around them, save for Khuns and perhaps twenty shaken and wounded soldiers. The survivors huddled together, facing outward and trying to look brave in the face of death.
Scarab sheathed her dagger and walked closer to Khuns. Khu and Salom followed and Jesua intercepted her, a frown on his face.
"Have a care, Eye of Geb; a man with nothing to lose is dangerous."
"He will not hurt me, Jesua, but I thank you for your concern." Scarab stepped around the young man and closer to the Kemetu officer. "I give you and your men your lives, Khuns, in return for your surrender. You will lead me to Nakhtmin."
Khuns stared at the red-haired woman, and then at her men. "You expect me to betray my commander?"
"Why not? He sent you out here to die. Did he not warn you what you would be facing?"
"'An enemy of Kemet,' he said. 'A woman who would destroy Ma'at and bring back the bad times when brother fought against brother. To help rid the Two Lands of such a curse I would gladly give my life.'"
"Your wish may be granted, officer Khuns, but I would rather you kept your men alive. Surrender to me and live."
"No."
"You are a loyal man, Khuns, and a brave one. I give you and your men your lives. You may leave in peace and none will hinder you." Scarab turned her back on the soldiers and started back to where the others stood. As she did so, Jesua flung himself forward, dagger in hand, half pushing his leader aside. Scarab felt something tug at her robe as she stumbled and fell to her knees and an instant later Khuns fell beside her, his dagger falling from his hand and Jesua's in his chest.
The Kemetu soldiers yelled with anguish and defiance and ran forward, weapons raised, but the desert men swarmed all over them and they died.
Scarab picked herself up and dusted down her robes. She put a hand on Jesua's shoulder and looked into his eyes, but said nothing. Instead, she squatted by Khuns' body and pulled the dagger from his chest.
"A pity. I did not want him to die. I wanted him to take me to Nakhtmin."
"He was treacherous," Jesua growled. "You cannot trust a man like that."
"Are none of the soldiers alive?" Scarab asked. "I need to know where he is."
The desert men picked over the men carefully, but their attack had been too efficient. The whole troop had been wiped out. Scarab nodded when she was told. "What of our comrades?"
"None dead," Terrik said, "And only a few minor wounds. See, already our physician attends them."
"Scarab, what of you? Are you hurt?" Khu asked. He brushed his hand over her robe. "His dagger has ripped it here."
"I am untouched, thanks to Jesua."
"What should we do with the dead?" Terrik asked. "We cannot bury such a number."
"Leave them unburied. We know the Shu legion is out looking for us, so they will find them sooner or later."
"If they are out looking for us here, we should be elsewhere," Jesua observed.
"Except that I want to find their headquarters, if indeed Nakhtmin is their commander. I thought I would have to enter Kemet to kill him, but if he comes to me, so much the better."
"You mean to look for others of the Shu legion?"
"I want to find Nakhtmin."
"At the cost of how many lives?" Jesua asked. "Over a hundred men lie dead already."
"We cannot enter their headquarters anyway," Khu exclaimed. "We were lucky here. We would not be so there."
"Luck played no part here," Jesua said. "My men are well trained. The men of Shu stood no chance."
Khu shrugged. "Luck or skill, we are dead if we attack their headquarters, even if we knew where it was."
"I have no intention of
attacking it," Scarab said. "I will slip inside unseen, kill Nakhtmin and depart. No one will be in any danger."
"That's not what I meant," Khu replied heatedly. "I will go where you go. I am not afraid."
"The point is moot," Jesua said. "This fornicator..." he kicked the body of Khuns, "...saw fit to die and now lies beyond questioning."
"Maybe not," Scarab murmured.
"What? What do you mean? He is dead." Jesua squatted down and touched the dead man's eyeball with his finger. There was no reaction. "He is dead." He beckoned to Nebhotep. "Physician, you can tell us. Is this man truly dead?"
Nebhotep wandered over, wiping his hands on a piece of linen. "He looks dead. Men often do when they've been stabbed through the heart." He knelt and examined the wound before putting one ear to Khuns' chest. "Nothing." He peered at the man's eyes. "They are glazed. The breath has left his body and the heart is still. His spirit is in the underworld and in this heat his body will soon begin to stink."
"Nevertheless..." Scarab looked nervous, her hands picking at the fabric of her robe. "I...I may have the power...but I do not know if I dare."
"Dare what?" Khu asked.
"Raise him from the dead so I can question him."
Nebhotep smiled. "Forgive me, lady, but that is something no man can do...nor woman either."
"Not of their own power, but if the gods..."
Jesua, Khu and Nebhotep stared at Scarab, varying degrees of disbelief and fear showing in their eyes. The men further off became silent, sensing something was amiss.
"I must know," Scarab said softly. "I must question the dead man."
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Chapter Twenty-Seven
Scarab and the thirty men of the Pillar continued to the west, but now they angled slightly to the south. Nakhtmin's headquarters lay in that direction and Scarab was determined to enter it and kill Nakhtmin while she had the chance. An observer of the Pillar would have noticed a change in the demeanor of the men from before the ambush. Whereas they had previously run with eagerness and anticipation, they now moved more slowly and without their usual fervor. They also traveled in silence. Pillar members often ran in pairs and conversed in low tones about all manner of things, but now each man kept his own counsel, thinking back over the events of the last few hours.