Gold of the Ancients

by Graham Warren

  “Enjoy your coffee while it is hot,” Ramses said before enjoying his wine: Tara had refilled Ramses’ glass at the same time as she had delivered Alex’s coffee.

  Alex was happy to have a few moments to think. Tara had thanked Alex as she left, which at the time he had thought was strange, but he realised that she had to be party to this for everything to happen so quickly. Alex held the coffee under his nose and took in the wonderful aroma. He closed his eyes and pictured Kate, the Kate he had seen earlier, the much thinner and also suntanned Kate. He thought of Emmy, and the picture in his mind stayed the same. It was only the colour of the skin that changed.

  Chapter 24

  -

  I Am Involved!

  Emmy and Cairo stood panting with their backs against a wall.

  “That not go well!”

  “No, Cairo, it most certainly didn’t,” Emmy said, before she cautiously peeked out to look back at the market. The two stall owners were still arguing, though with Emmy and Cairo out of sight the heat had somewhat left their dispute. The crowd which had immediately surrounded them was no more.

  “Thought this peaceful place. When I see David I tell him it not!”

  “A simple misunderstanding, nothing more.”

  “Simple! Why people keep trying to kill us?”

  “Oh, Cairo, they weren’t.” Emmy smiled at him in a kind way. “You made a mistake, that’s all.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, an easy mistake. The man you tried to pay was not the owner of the stall you picked the statue from.”

  “No?”

  “No! They were both selling statues of the gods and they both wanted your silver.” Emmy cautiously looked back to the market again. All was now calm. She looked back to Cairo. “No damage done. Let’s go back to Alex and David. They must have finished their chat by now. Can’t wait to hear what Alex has found out.”

  And that is what they did, only they arrived to find Kate sitting alone in the room full of pots. A large jug of water was on the table, though Kate had an empty mug in front of her which she was rolling between her hands. Initially she was more than a little offhand, though she quickly mellowed. It was soon established that nobody knew where Alex or David had gone. They all sat and drank water; the silence was deafening.

  Ramses placed his empty wine glass down at almost exactly the same time as Alex finished his second cup of coffee.

  “So, do tell me how you cannot get involved, yet be involved?”

  “Simple really. I died before the whole Greek thing happened to Egypt.” Ramses paused in order to give Alex time to think.

  “So you did not appear in the afterlife until after the period of Greek rule had finished?”

  “Well after, a long time after. Do you honestly think that if I had been around, even if it was only in the afterlife, that I would have ever let a bunch of Greeks take over my beloved Egypt … NEVER, not in a million dynasties!”

  Alex could see this, but with Ramses’ obvious disdain for ancient Greeks he just had to ask about his friendship with Alexander the Great: arguably the greatest Greek of all time.

  “We met in the afterlife, it’s as simple as that. We hit it off because he cannot stand all this Greek frilliness any more than I can. It sickens him. I was also proud that he had taken one of my quotes as his own.”

  “What quote was that?”

  “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.”

  “That’s really clever. And you didn’t mind him ‘stealing’ that from you?”

  “Not at all, it shows respect, and anyway, I stole it from Gadeem!”

  Alex considered that Ramses’ and Alexander’s mutual love of red wine was also a major factor, not to mention egos!

  “Whatever possessed those Greeks to cram every cartouche with so many hieroglyphs I will never know, and neither does Alexander. Have you ever tried to read their hieroglyphs?”

  Alex nodded, because he had, so he could not disagree with Ramses. The ancient Greeks used so many symbols that often the message was in danger of getting lost; sometimes it did get lost altogether.

  “Those Greeks never tell you what you want to know in a few symbols. They write it as though it was poetry, and I hate poetry! After you have read it you need an interpreter in order to understand it! For the sake of the ancient gods someone should have told them to keep it simple!”

  “I think the way they used hieroglyphic symbols was more to do with decoration than the actual message. ‘Aesthetic appeal’ my father would say.”

  “Frilly, that is what they are, frilly. That is why Alexander and I are such good friends, we are not frilly, not in the slightest. We think alike!”

  “And drink alike,” Alex thought. “So you were not around at all while the Greeks were in charge. What about the Romans?” he asked

  “Neither of them … and though I now have much knowledge of what the Greeks and the Romans did to my country, I cannot help you. I am unable to visit their temples and palaces, since they are not of my time. The only reason I am involved now is because that Greek whore Cleopatra is stealing MY gold!”

  Ramses did not just look agitated; he was now agitated. Alex gestured to Thoth with discrete pouring motions, though with no success. Thankfully Tara appeared and freshened Ramses’ glass. She also brought Alex more coffee. He put this to one side.

  “Tell me your thoughts.” Ramses said. In this instance the wine was calming him.

  Alex told him of recent events. As he was talking to the great Ramses II he thought it best not to leave anything out, so he started with the attack on him and Emmy and the death of his mother. The conversation side-tracked for a while as Alex opened up to Ramses about his feeling of being emotionally distant upon hearing of her death. Ramses explained that his feeling was quite natural when somebody had ‘seen’. Having interacted with ancients, and having ancient memories flood his mind, death was no longer seen as final. It was no longer a trauma, it was an adjustment. They decided to talk more on this complicated subject at a later date.

  Even if it did cause him more than a little embarrassment Alex told Ramses exactly how he had arrived at his theory. He did, however, keep to the facts, rather than express any of their emotions upon seeing Bast, though he did change his thoughts on the papyrus note – the one his attacker at the British Museum had dropped – as he now considered this to be genuinely from Lower Egypt. He had been reminded to do so as Thoth had passed a papyrus note to Ramses which he had read as Alex talked.

  “So you will be heading to Alexandria then?”

  “Probably.”

  “Only probably?”

  “Well, if Cleopatra is here then we–”

  “She is not!” snapped Ramses as he cut across Alex.

  Alex immediately realised that Cleopatra was indeed the problem. No doubt about it, but why? Both Ramses and David had confirmed that she was not here, so who was? Despite his minor outburst Ramses appeared quite comfortable. He looked as though he had no intention of leaving Tanis today. Alex, on the other hand, had the urge to re-join Emmy and Cairo. He was not so sure he wanted to face Kate, but perhaps it was better to get it over with quickly, so he could put it behind him. She had to know about David sooner or later and he was the one who had to tell her. “Perhaps I should tell her when I am close to a hospital.” The thought caused him to supress a smile. “So who was the queen we could not see?”

  “I can tell you one thing for certain, Cleopatra would never be seen here in Tanis. This is one place in the whole of Egypt that you would never find her. Do you know your history of this Cleopatra?”

  “Cleopatra VII?”

  “Who else?”

  “Well, as she was the seventh Cleopatra, there were six others.”

  “The others don’t matter. They never mattered. So, to my original question; do you know your history of Cleopatra?”

  “Possibly not as well as I should when you consider who my dad is.
But I do know quite a bit.”

  “Well, I am going to give you a word, then I will enjoy my wine whilst you think … Sister!”

  In a millisecond Alex saw the bigger picture and he could not resist sharing it with Ramses, even though he obviously already knew. Alex wanted, he needed to go and tell Emmy and Cairo.

  Ramses stopped Alex from leaving by stating that he had just two other things which needed to be said. It actually turned out to be many more than two things, though nobody was counting except Ramses, and his counting was well off.

  “Firstly, do not get yourself killed. Not you, not Cairo, not Emmy and, despite any anger you may presently have towards her, not Kate. Also, firstly, never, and I mean NEVER, believe Bast is anything except on our side.”

  Alex had said nothing negative about Bast, yet Ramses knew something that he did not. He felt the need to explain. “The only reason I told you what we saw Bast do is because I thought you should know. I don’t want to feel badly of her.”

  “Then don’t! Whatever you saw is far from the full picture.”

  “But–”

  “No ‘but’ needed, Alex. We are well aware Bast has gone missing. She is a free spirit, but she is also a million percent loyal. Never … never … NEVER … doubt her loyalty.”

  Alex wondered if Ramses was angry because he doubted her loyalty and felt really let down, or, possibly more likely, because he did not doubt her loyalty and felt really let down that others in the family had.

  “Go on, Alex, say it, say what is really on your mind, just this once.” Alex was unsure because Ramses had stood and he did not look as though he would take what Alex was thinking very well at all. This was Ramses’ typical behaviour after too much wine. Relaxed, angry, sad, happy … his mood would change in an instant. Alex found himself looking to see if Ramses had his sword with him. He could not see one.

  “Oh, for goodness sake, Alex. I don’t need a sword to kill somebody, especially you, but you know that whatever you said to me I would never hurt you. I get angry. You know that.” He sat, and Thoth handed him a refilled glass of wine.

  “I do know that you would never hurt me,” Alex said as he leaned closer to enforce his point, “but you are really scary at times.” Ramses at first looked pleased, then he looked disappointed. Thoth turned his papyrus towards Alex. Words written large in English were on it. Without hesitation Alex read them out. “‘You are the mightiest leader the world has ever known. You demand the respect of your people and this respect comes with fear’ … no it doesn’t, Thoth.” Ramses turned and ripped the papyrus from the hand of Thoth. There was a silence which was only broken by the knocking knees of Thoth, then Ramses laughed. “Yes, of course I can be intimidating, scary if you like, but never would I rule by fear. You have nothing to worry, Alex, but Thoth there does!”

  “No, Ramses, please,” Alex pleaded.

  “Oh, alright. I forgive you, Thoth. Now let me clear this up about Bast. She would never betray the family … us, Alex, … never, not in a million years, not for all the gold in Egypt.”

  In reality Alex was not family to Ramses, but he realised that Ramses was using ‘family’ in the wider sense of the word. He felt privileged to be included as family. Alex indicated that, though confused by what he had seen, he did accept Bast’s loyalty as a given.

  Ramses nodded contentedly as he looked down into his wine. His head came back up. “Secondly, it would not be good for any of our ancient family, and I include myself and Nakhtifi when I say this, to travel any further north than this. Thoth and I are here alone, but we are already too far north.”

  “What! No guards, no royal soldiers? How on earth are you safe here?”

  “Far too risky to bring my soldiers this far north. You should have heard them protest when I told them I was leaving them behind.”

  “And with justification,” Alex thought as he looked shocked. “I presume it is risky for you to be here because Tanis is now, for whatever reason, Greek.”

  “It was a long, long time ago and after quite a period of unrest that Gadeem came up with the idea of giving Tanis to the Greeks. They have ruled there longer than any Egyptian and I have always preferred life in my Pi-Ramesses.”

  “Pi-Ramesses?”

  “A city I built on the banks of the Nile, which is actually not that far from here. It was lovely there until the Nile silted up. That, of course was after my time. Once the water had gone the people left and, you guessed it, they built Tanis. There was nothing here, apart from this little temple dedicated to me, but these little temples were everywhere. I think that you could have a reasonable guess at how hostile it was here with not only Egyptian and Greek ancients constantly fighting, but also their gods.” Alex could. “There were years of negotiations. The sticking point was Cleopatra. She wanted the city for herself, we wanted the city to be for all Greeks.”

  “Let me guess how that was sorted out. You managed to ban Cleopatra from here by putting her sister in charge.”

  “Good, good.”

  “She was the person who we could not see.”

  “I quite expect so.”

  “That is why you should not be here. Not you, not any Egyptian gods.”

  “Don’t worry, Alex, Thoth and I can be here, no problem. We are just two visitors who blend in unnoticed. The mighty Ramses,” he puffed out his chest as he said this, “would never be seen without his devoted followers, without his elite soldiers, or in front of a Greek, Alexander excepted, without his royal attire. The two of us are safe enough, no problem.”

  “It would be a pretty major problem if you were caught here, and how on earth does Thoth’s beak allow him to blend in?” Alex was, however, keeping his thoughts to himself.

  “We are sitting in a small temple that was dedicated to me. This temple was knocked down when the city was built by Psusennes, well after my time.” In order to prove his point Ramses stood and walked in and out of the ancient room without using any door. “That,” he said pointing to his seat, “was where my priest sat.”

  Alex considered the location of Tanis. They were high up in the delta, almost directly to the east of Alexandria and well to the north of either Cairo or Memphis. “For your own safety you should not be here.”

  “I know, I know, but I am here, so I will be spending the rest of the day here before heading back to Luxor this evening. Do not worry about me.” Ramses sat. “Secondly, my army and that of Nakhtifi’s is ready to fight at a moment’s notice.”

  Alex considered that it would be a very long moment. Days, possibly weeks before they could help. If the combined armies were able to march fifty kilometres a day, and that was unlikely in Alex’s opinion, that alone would be a fourteen-day march as it was 700 kilometres from Luxor to Cairo, and they were already much further north than that.

  “Just one thing, if you do need help, you will have to get Cleopatra’s army to ancient ground that we can all stand on.”

  “Do you really think it will come to that?”

  “I don’t know what her plans are, that is what is so frustrating. You know me, I need to know what is going on. I am just saying that we are there to support you should you need us.”

  “Thanks!” Alex had received the message loud and clear, from here they were on their own.

  “And secondly, Kate, Emmy and Cairo have already left Tanis and are on their way to Alexandria.”

  “What! Without me?”

  “It would appear so from the note Thoth handed me a while ago. It would also appear that Emmy and Cairo were not given much of a choice.”

  “Kate, it’s Kate! I know that she can be …” Alex stuttered, “well … oh why Kate, why couldn’t you have waited? Just this once! I must go and catch up with them.” He stood to leave.

  “Not yet, as I have something we must discuss alone. Thoth?”

  “Yes, my Pharaoh?”

  “Who sent the note?”

  “P1.”

  “Is he any good?”

  Thoth flicked
through papyrus after papyrus at lightning speed. “He appears to be trustworthy.”

  “Appears?” Ramses bellowed. “Am I expected to trust the life of Alex on an ‘appears’?”

  “No, my Pharaoh. P1 is our most loyal snitch and has been so for well over a thousand years.” The word ‘snitch’ failed to evoke a feeling of trust in Alex, though it did in Ramses.

  “Good! Then he will take Alex on the short route to Alexandria. Go and sort it out, Thoth. Two camels, minimum loading. They will need to travel quickly. Now go!”

  “Yes, my Pharaoh.” Thoth disappeared though his quill and papyrus remained.

  “Goodbye, Thoth!” There was a grumble, and then the quill and papyrus also disappeared. “He thinks he should note everything down. The permanently visible quill and papyrus is a little magic that Gadeem came up with, so that I would know that he was still listening.”

  “How is Gadeem?”

  Ramses ignored Alex’s question. “Now we know that we are alone.” Alex remained standing. Ramses also stood and moved in close. “I do not want to say this very loudly.” He leant in close to Alex. “Kate has temper issues.”

  Alex thought, “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “You care for her, Alex, I know you do. You can see something within Kate that others cannot see. You feel for Kate. Please do not give up on her.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t.” Alex had said this automatically, without thinking. He thought that this must be how he really felt, how he felt in his heart, because if he had thought about an answer, after being shouted at today and suffering the indignity of being kicked, he would have said something entirely to the contrary.

  “I know you won’t. Actually … I feared that you might. I, after all these years, had almost forgotten what it was like to deal with somebody such as her. She has brought memories back of black days. One day, Alex, she will open up to you, because if she opens up to anybody it will be you, of that I am sure. When she does, help her, help her with all of your heart.”