The Trader´s Pact

by Nathaniel Burns

  “What!” Suten-Anu’s shocked exclamations came from the doorway, causing Neti, Shabaka and Moses to quickly turn and face their visitors.

  “Oh no,” Neti breathed in shock.

  Suten-Anu stalked up to them, his anger evident in every jarring step while his shock remained openly visible. The two youngsters with him remained rooted to the spot, looking about them in obvious alarm.

  Suten-Anu looked at Neti and angrily demanded, “You knew that Dalva has a daughter, and you did not tell me?”

  Shocked, especially since Suten-Anu had never before spoken to her in such a manner, Neti only managed to shake her head, eventually replying, “I only learned about her recently.”

  “Where is she?” Suten-Anu Demanded. “I’m going to go get her.

  “Suten, you cannot.” Neti stated.

  Suten-Anu rambled in quick succession, “Of course I can. There is no way I will allow her to go through the same hell her mother went. She is as good as my own child. She would have had a sister were it not for the plague. She is as welcome in my home as her mother was.”

  “No. You cannot.” Neti insisted.

  “What do you mean I cannot. I can very well. I have the means. You have to tell me where she is. Unless she is also…” Suten-Anu did not compete the sentence but from his expression his thought was obvious.

  Neti released a long heavy sigh, “You cannot go fetch her because she is already here.”

  Suten-Anu visibly enlivened and looked at Neti with obvious expectation, but then looked about the room, only to say, “I do not see her here.”

  “Fae is in her room with Seota.”

  Suten-Anu looked at her in shock as he asked, “Fae? your new servant girl?”

  “I only discovered that she is Dalva’s daughter when they brought here. Well just after actually.”

  “I will barter you for her, “Suten-Anu insisted.

  “I cannot do that.” Said Neti.

  “I will give you whatever you want.” Suten-Anu insisted.

  Neti reached out and touched his arm, “most beloved tutor, I told you before with Dalva that you have nothing that I desire. That has not changed.”

  “But I insist.”

  “No!” Moses firmly said. Causing both Suten-Anu and Neti to look at him in shock. “Fae is Yani’s replacement it is the bride price we agreed on.” Moses said gesturing between Neti and himself. “She is not available for barter, as I have no intention on embarking on another search.”

  “Moses is right,” Neti said, “Fae is not yet mine by right, and even if she were I would not be willing to barter her. She is as well off in my home as she would be in yours.”

  Suten-Anu made to say something but then grew silent and nodded, “Perhaps you are right, I can offer her little more than a position as a servant and it would not be fair of me to expect of her to accept me as a father.”

  “Perhaps if we had known sooner, it would have helped both of you grieve for your loss,” Shabaka said, “but as it was still unknown it is perhaps for the best.” Shabaka then gestured to the two men standing just within the doorway.

  At his indication Suten-Anu looked towards the two men and said, “They have requested permission from me to release them so that they can apply to you to become prefects.”

  Shabaka moved towards the men, effectively halting the conversation as he looked them over.

  Sutan-Anu came to stand next to him and said, “They requested that I put a word of reference in for them.”

  Shabaka looked over the first; he was not very tall and had clear eyes with an expressive face. However, overall, he seemed unremarkable even downright plain looking, causing Shabaka to ask, “What can you do?”

  The man glanced at Suten-Anu who answered for him, “This is Kafi, he is the one who saw the notice but somewhat shy. He is diligent in his duties, even noticing the finest of details. He is one of my most observant scribes, although he has this tendency of blending into the background.”

  Shabaka moved on to the next and looked the man over. The man was somewhere between Moses and Shabaka in high, with clear eyes and a captivating and expressive face. He had a type of keenness about him, causing Shabaka to look at Suten-Anu.

  “This is Juma, he is also a trained scribe but prefers activities and matters outdoors more. He is in most circumstances the opposite of Kafi although both of them have finished training and partaken in the required stick fight training.”

  Shabaka looked at the man and then asked, “Why do you want to become a prefect?”

  “It makes more sense than copying manuscripts for a living.” Juma answered.

  “You like a bit of adventure?” Shabaka asked.

  Juma eagerly nodded.

  “Right then, meet us tomorrow at the palace, outside the gate, and we will see if you have the skills needed to be a prefect.” Said Shabaka.

  Both men looked surprised, with Juma eagerly nodding.

  Suten-Anu however looked at Shabaka with obvious confusion causing Shabaka to ask, “What is it?”

  “I did not think you would allow them to become prefects so easily.”

  “They are not I only promised to give them a chance. There are many dangers and inconveniences to being a prefect. They will come to face them soon enough.” Shabaka said, then “And since we are still in the process of determining their training and solving two deaths, I would have to ask you to leave, since these matters are strictly between prefects.

  Confused Suten-Anu for a moment looked at Shabaka, however reluctantly nodded and then turned to look at Neti. He hesitantly said, “I shall come see you later.”

  “We can talk then.” Said Neti.

  Suten-Anu nodded and left with the others.

  “That is a first.” Said Moses after Suten-Anu had left.

  “What?” Demanded Shabaka

  “That is the first time I’ve seen you pull rank on someone. You as good as threw him out.”

  “To be honest, I only wanted matters to return to normal” The conversation is strained and Neti is also uncomfortable.” Shabaka said gesturing to Neti.

  Neti in turn turned to Uli and said, “Perhaps you should check on Fae.”

  Uli for a moment seemed hesitant but then nodded and left.

  Shabaka for a moment clenched his fists before turning to Neti and saying, “If she was mine I would sell her, for certain I will.”

  Neti shook her head and said, “she is angry and frustrated, possibly as much as are we.”

  “You are far too understanding for your own good.” Moses said.

  “She does however have a point.” Stated Neti.

  “What do you mean?” Demanded Shabaka.

  “We see a lot, but we don’t always see what we should see.”

  “You mean place more meaning behind what we see?” asked Moses

  Neti nodded and said, “I mean take this matter, “We know about the girls, we know that they are being sold. We know there are markets and have even been to them. We know some fathers even sell their daughters as prostitutes if they cannot marry them off. We also know that women would at all costs do whatever it takes not to be associated with prostitutes. We also know that some of these girls have been murdered in order to keep them silent. But what don’t we know?”

  Moses shook his head and said, “I don’t understand what you mean.”

  “We have never looked into who actually facilitates this.” said Neti.

  “I don’t understand where you are heading,” said Shabaka.

  “We know there are those who take the girls and trade them, but it is not often that the girls are reported missing. Why? Even when several girls disappear at almost the same time.”

  “You are going somewhere with this?’ Moses asked.

  “Uli is right, we didn’t see it because we were not looking for a pattern we were dealing these instances as random occurrences.”

  “When they are in fact related,” said Shabaka.

  Neti nodded, “When we l
ook back at the jubilee a series of girls were taken, with some but not all returned.”

  “Yes.” said Moses.

  But the questions we did not ask are: other than the girl who was murdered, which other girl did not return. And if there is more than one where are they?”

  Moses shook his head, We don’t know that, we will have to ask that those we know of.”

  “You see, that is the other problem, “It is too easy to assume they were taken to be sold elsewhere.”

  “Asking questions now will draw too much attention,” Shabaka said causing both to look at him before he continued, “If this is heading to where I think it is heading, letting others know that we are looking for a particular girl could set off all those involved.

  “And as we have seen with others operations, especially the gem traders, any warning gives them enough time to shift their operations elsewhere.” said Neti.

  So get Fae to tell us who it was

  Neti shook her head, she can’t, those who were not chosen were traumatized. We need to work out what the connection is between the girls.”

  “How are we supposed to do that?” asked Moses.

  “We have some idea as to which girls were taken, or at least reported missing, so we may have some idea as to how many may be taken. We can look at how many of those were returned.” Said Shabaka

  “Then once we know which have been returned, we can look for matching things between the girls like eye color, body shape, age, height, anything they may have in common and that could have acted as a pre-selector. The person requesting for these girls must have some criteria, And that would be known.” Reasoned Neti.

  “This person is also someone who either has power or position, possibly both.” Said Shabaka. “So we can expect some objection and resistance if they were to find out.”

  “Which limits out options,” Said Moses.

  “Not really,” said Neti, “We have recruits, and they need something to do, something that although important would not appear to be so if we give them the task.”

  “But if this person is buying these girls, he would already have several and will not need another.” Moses reasoned.

  “Not necessarily,” said Shabaka, causing Moses to look at him, “From the fear we saw on Fae’s face and the fact that these girls can be sold on or discarded, could mean that his actions are escalating.”

  “By discarded, you mean killed?” Moses interrupted.

  Shabaka nodded before continuing, “And if this person holds a position of power, it could also mean that their bodies are removed and the whole thing is covered up.”

  “But if that is so, and if this has been going on for some time,” Moses started, “one could also reason that the brothel owners would know who this man is.”

  “They don’t,” Uli said appearing from the girl’s doorway.

  “Why not?” Demanded Moses, “If he rewards them as well one would think they would make a point of it.”

  “I have told you there are many things even we do not know the answers to.” Uli countered. “While some of the girls are returned and left in peace. Others are later taken again and sold into prostitution.”

  “But Fae was returned which means she was not chosen, and the girl with the broken neck?” Asked Moses.

  She was probably killed for the reason we suspected,” Neti said, adding. “Which means we are looking at three different yet related things.”

  Confused, Moses asked, “Three?”

  In order to establish the cycle, We need to know the number of girls taken, how frequently girls are taken and possibly who is taking them, but, mostly, we need to find out who is requesting the girls and stop him.”

  “If we stop him we stop the whole cycle.” Said Shabaka

  “That is not going to solve who is behind Amena’s murder, or who gave Gera those herbs,” Moses said.

  “It may not, but it may well. Said Neti, adding on noticing Moses’ confusion, “By identifying those involved with this, we could catch them at the same time. It might not be as satisfactory as finding the particular one who did it, but it would make Thebes a great deal safer for other girls.”

  “Very true.” said Shabaka. “And we can use this as training for the recruits.”

  “And one of them has motivation enough.” said Neti.

  “What do you mean?” Asked Moses.

  “Mipi more than anything wants to find out who is behind the Gera’s disappearance and death.” Said Neti.

  “They will also act as an effective decoy, Given their inexperience and likelihood to draw attention to themselves.” Said Shabaka. “They can question the girls and randomly follow people about the city.”

  “I have a feeling that Ramesses is not going to approve of this method of training.” Moses said.

  “They can then report back who comes and goes regularly, like servants of prominent people, they can see where they go and identify the places they are sent to or visit more frequently.” Shabaka said.

  “And if there is any trouble we just explain to whoever that they are in training, and following instructions, effective telling those people not to be overly concerned about their actions.” Said Neti. “Which is actually brilliant.”

  “Especially since those who feel insecure but are innocent will see it as a good thing, while the others will unknowingly identify themselves through their complaints. In turn letting us know who we should be observing.”

  12

  Chapter Twelve

  Neti made her way to the palace later than usual one morning, having first seen to matters at her per-Nefer. She knew that Moses would in charge of the new recruits and that Shabaka would probably be training with the royal guard.

  But as she entered the crowded courtyard at the palace she knew something was amiss. Immediately her thoughts jumped to Shabaka and Ramesses, and why neither of them had sent for her.

  She inclined her head to the guards as she passed them but has to fight her way through the masses gathered. Very few allowed her to simply pass while others appeared visibly angered. The guards at the entrance to the palace first made to stop her before recognizing her and allowing her through.

  She quickly made her way towards the assembly hall, but even before reaching it she could already hear loud objections and shouts being hurled between the people there, almost as if no one was presiding over the meeting.

  Reaching the doorway she could not see over the masses of male bodies gathered. Pushing her elbows out to the side she proceeded to jab anyone who stood in her way. Within moments the men parted to allow her passage.

  Shabaka joined her within moments of reaching the front of the hall. Neti immediately felt a sense of relief wash over her, but asked, “What is going on?”

  Shabaka pointed towards a group of people who stood to the one side but had to shout over the others to be heard, “Meht is up to his usual tricks.”

  Neti’s shoulders drooped, however she asked, “Where is Ramesses?”

  “Last time he said he would not allow Meht to interrupt his morning meal.”

  Neti only nodded before asking, “And Moses?”

  “I decided it was best if the trainees was not here, it might put them off. So I sent them out with Moses. I knew you would be here soon enough.”

  Moments later the volume in the hall started lowering to a murmur as Ramesses made his way to the throne. By the time he reached it the periodic taps of his staff was all that could be heard.

  He turned to face those gathered in the hall and within moment everyone lowered to their knee.

  “Rise!” He called before himself settling on the throne. He glanced towards Neti and Shabaka and for a moment appeared bored.

  The Royal announcer stepped forward and said, “There are several complaints lodged for consideration by the royal court. All of them however relate to the conduct of the prefects.” The royal announcer pointed towards one of the men, “Daham represents the guilds and followings, and will speak for the
ir complaints.” Daham was a physique man, with clear eyes and strong but not overbearing facial features that pointed to his Hittite origin.

  The royal announcer then pointed to the man besides Daham and said, “Inhapi will speaking for the priests and their followings, including the mummifiers’ guild.” Inhapi was dressed in his ceremonial robes, with strong facial features and a mean expression Neti did not like.

  “And then for the people of Thebes and the elders, Meht.”

  “What are the charges?” Ramesses asked, but from his tone Neti could hear the unspoken this time.

  The royal announcer cleared his throat before again starting. “The various guilds have all listed a charge of defiance of the law. The guilds have added a charge of circumnavigating the recommendation system in selecting candidates. The elders and people have lodged a charge for the disregard of the safety of the inhabitants of Thebes.”

  Ramesses looked at the group of men gathered, and then said, “Daham may speak first.”

  Daham stepped forward and made a strange bow to Ramesses before staring, “My lord and Pharaohs of all of Egypt. The guilds have lodged a charge of misconduct against the prefects, as they were not consulted or even allowed to put forward candidates for consideration for the position of a prefect. In doing so, the prefects have acted in a manner that suggests they consider them above the rules that have been established. The guilds also remind the prefects that is was the creation of the halls and these rules that made the progress in our society possible. Halls not only train skilled individuals, they protect the knowledge we have acquired and are the basis that made Egypt the most sophisticated society.”