Текст книги "The Quest"

Автор книги: Wilbur Smith

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Текущая страница: 40 (всего у книги 41 страниц)

Tragically he perished in the wilderness. Although he will never return to our very Egypt, his memory and our gratitude to him, like this granite stela, will abide for ten thousand years.

It is I, Nara Tok, governor of the nome of Qebui in the name of Pharaoh Nefer Seti, the Great One beloved of the gods, who have written these words to his praise.

Gathered around the granite monument in the early-morning sunlight, they sang praises to Horus and Hathor, and beseeched them to take the spirit-soul of Taita into their safe-keeping. Then Meren and That led the company to the waiting boats. They embarked and set off again in

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convoy on the last long leg of the return, another two thousand leagues through the six great cataracts and into the fertile lands of Egypt.

With the Nile running so high, the cataracts were long white chutes of tumultuous water. However, the Jarrian boats were designed for precisely these conditions, and Meren was a skilled river pilot. Unseen, Taita stood at his elbow to guide him when he faltered. Between them they brought the flotilla through without loss or serious damage.

Between the fifth and second cataracts the river meandered out into the western desert in a huge loop that added almost a thousand leagues to the journey. The relay riders that Governor Nara had sent ahead of them had a lead of five days, and were able to cut across the bight of the river, taking the direct overland caravan route. The despatches they carried were read by the governor of the nome of Assoun many days before the flotilla descended the first cataract into the valley of Egypt.

From that point on the voyage became a triumphal progress.

On both sides the land was inundated with the life-bringing water.

The peasants had returned to their villages to work the fields and already their crops were green and flourishing. The population rushed to the banks as the boats sailed past, waving palm fronds. They threw jasmine blossoms into the current to float down with the flotilla. They wept with joy, shouting praise and adulation to the heroes returning from the dark, mysterious southern reaches of the earth.

At each city they came to the travellers were welcomed ashore by the governor, the nobles and the priests and led in joyous procession to the temple. They were feasted, feted and showered with flower petals.

Taita and Fenn went ashore with them. Fenn was seeing the land she had once ruled for the first time in her present life. No one in Egypt would have recognized either her or Taita in their present form, so Taita dispensed with the spell of concealment behind which they had hidden for so long. Nevertheless they covered their faces with their head cloths, so that only their eyes showed, and mingled freely with the crowds.

Fenn's eyes shone with wonder and joy as she listened to Taita describing and explaining all that she saw about her. Until then her memories of her other life had been hazy and fragmentary, and even they had been restored to her by Taita. However, now that she stood at last upon the soil of her native land, everything rushed back to her. Faces, words and deeds from a century before were as clear in her mind as though only a few short years had intervened.

At Kom Ombo they beached the boats below the massive walls of the

temple complex. Gigantic images of the gods and goddesses were chiselled into the sandstone blocks. While the high priestess and her entourage came down to the riverbank to welcome the travellers, Taita led Fenn through the deserted corridors of the temple of Hathor to the dim, cool inner sanctuary.

'This is where I first looked upon the image of your spirit-soul in your present form,' he told her.

'Yes! I remember it well,' she whispered. 'I remember this place so clearly. I remember swimming down to you through the sacred pool. I remember the words we exchanged.' She paused as though rehearsing them in her mind before she spoke again: Tie on you that you do not know me, for I am Fenn,' she repeated, in a sweet childlike treble that wrung his heart.

'That was exactly the tone you used,' he told her.

'Do you recall how you replied to me?' He shook his head. He remembered clearly but he wanted to hear her say it.

'You said .. .' She changed her voice to mimick his. 'I knew you all abng. You are exactly as you were when first I met you. I could never forget your eyes. They were then, and still are, the greenest and prettiest in all Egypt: Taita laughed softly. 'How like a woman! You never forget a compliment.'

'Certainly not such a handsome one,' she agreed. 'I brought you a gift.

Do you recall what it was?'

'A handful of lime,' he answered at once. 'A gift beyond price.'

'You can pay me now. My price is a kiss,' she said. 'Or as many kisses as you deem fair.'

'Ten thousand is the figure that springs to my mind.'

'I accept your offer, my lord. I will take the first hundred at once. The rest you may pay me in increments.'

The closer they drew to Karnak, the slower their progress became, impeded by the joyous population. Finally, royal messengers arrived, riding hard upriver from Pharaoh's palace. They carried orders to the commander of the flotilla to make all haste and present himself at the court of Karnak forthwith.

'Nefer Seti, your grandson, was never a patient boy,' Taita told Fenn, who laughed excitedly.

'How I long to see him! I am delighted that he has ordered Meren to hasten. How old will Nefer Seti be now?'

'Perhaps fifty-four years, and Mintaka, his queen and principal wife, is not much younger. It will be interesting to see what you make of her, for in character she is much like you, wild and headstrong. When aroused, she is almost as ferocious as you are.'

'I am not sure if you mean that as a compliment to us or an insult,'

Fenn responded, 'but of one thing I am certain. I shall like her, this mother of my great-grandchildren.'

'I divine that she is in turmoil. She is still held in the coils of Eos and her false prophet, Soe. Although Eos is destroyed and her powers dissipated, Soe still has her in his clutches. To set her free will be our last sacred duty. After that you and I will pursue our own dreams.'

So they came to Karnak, that city of a hundred gates and countless splendours, all of which had been restored by the returning waters. The crowds there were denser and more boisterous than any they had met so far. They poured through the city gates, and the sound of drums, horns and shouting made the air throb.

On the royal wharf stood a welcoming committee of priests, nobles and army generals, clad in their robes of office and accompanied by entourages who were almost as splendidly attired.

As soon as Meren and That stepped ashore, the horns blew a ringing fanfare, and a great shout of acclaim went up from the multitudes. The grand vizier led them to the pair of splendid chariots that stood ready for them. Both vehicles were covered with gold leaf and precious stones so that they sparkled and shone in the bright sunlight. They were drawn by perfectly matched teams of horses from Pharaoh's own stables, one milky white, the other ebony black.

Meren and That sprang up on to the footplates and whipped up the teams. They drove wheel to wheel in the royal way, between the ranks of stone sphinxes, two heroic figures in their warlike armour and accoutrements. An escort of mounted cavalry preceded them, and a company of the Royal Guard ran behind. The voice of the crowd burst over them like a tempest.

Far behind, Taita and Fenn followed in their disguise, making their way on foot through the surging, shifting throng until they reached the palace gates. Here they paused, joined hands and shrouded themselves in the spell of concealment to pass between the palace guards into the great royal audience hall. They stood aloof from the dense press of courtiers and dignitaries that filled the space.

On the raised dais at the far end, Pharaoh Nefer Seti and his queen sat side by side on their ivory thrones. Pharaoh wore the blue war crown, Khepresh: it was a tall headdress with flanged sidepieces adorned with discs of pure gold and, on the brow of the helmet, the uraeus, the entwined heads of the cobra and the vulture, the symbols of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms. Pharaoh wore no cosmetics and his torso was bare, showing the scars of fifty battles, but the muscles of his chest and arms were still sleek and hard. Taita examined his aura and saw that it was brave in endeavour and steadfast in duty. Beside him, Queen Mintaka also wore the uraeus, but her hair was streaked with silver, and her features were etched with the marks of mourning and sorrow for her children. Her aura was confused and forlorn, riven by doubt and guilt. Her misery was deep and desolate.

Before the royal thrones Colonel Meren Cambyses and Colonel That Ankut were spreadeagled face down in loyal obeisance. Pharaoh rose to his feet and lifted one hand. A deep hush fell over the assembly. When he spoke, his voice echoed among the tall sandstone pillars that rose from their plinths to the high, painted ceiling.

'Be it known through both of my kingdoms and throughout all my foreign dominions that Meren Cambyses and That Ankut have found great favour in my eyes.' He paused and his grand vizier, Tentek, knelt before him and offered a silver tray on which lay a scroll of papyrus.

Pharaoh took and unrolled it. He read from the parchment, in a ringing voice, 'By these presents, let all men know that I have elevated Lord That Ankut to the nobility, and donated to his dignity one river unit of fertile land along the banks of the Nile below Esna.' A river unit comprised ten square leagues, an enormous extent of arable land. In one stroke That had become a wealthy man, but there was more. Nefer Seti went on, 'From henceforth Lord That Ankut shall be ranked a field general in my army of the Upper Kingdom. He shall have command of the Phat Legion. All this by my grace and magnanimity.'

'Pharaoh is merciful!' shouted the congregation in one voice.

'Arise, Lord That Ankut, and embrace me.' That stood to kiss Pharaoh's bare right shoulder, and Nefer Seti placed the deeds to his new estate in his right hand.

Then he turned to Meren, who still lay prostrate before him. Tentek offered him a second silver tray. Pharaoh took from it another scroll and displayed it to the gathering. 'By these presents, let all men know that I have elevated Lord Meren Cambyses to the nobility, and donated to his dignity three river units of fertile land along the banks of the Nile above

Assuit. From henceforth Lord Meren shall be ranked marshal general of the army of the Lower Kingdom. Furthermore I bestow upon him as a mark of my special favour the Gold of Praise and the Gold of Valour.

Arise, Lord Meren.'

When Meren stood before him, Pharaoh placed the heavy gold chains of Praise and Valour over his shoulders. 'Embrace me, Lord Marshal Meren Cambyses!' he said, and kissed Meren's cheek.

With his lips close to Pharaoh's ear, Meren whispered urgently, 'I have news of Taita, which is for your ears only.'

Pharaoh's grip on Meren's shoulder tightened momentarily, and he replied softly, 'Tentek will bring you to my presence directly.'

While the entire assembly prostrated themselves, Pharaoh took his queen by the hand and led her from the hall. They passed only a few paces from where Taita and Fenn stood unseen. Meren waited until Tentek reappeared and spoke quietly to him. 'Pharaoh bids you to his presence. Follow me, my lord marshal.' As Meren passed, Taita took Fenn's hand and they fell in behind him.

Tentek ushered Meren into the royal presence, but when Meren would have made another obeisance Nefer Seti came to him and embraced him warmly. 'My dear friend and companion of the Red Road, it is so good to have you back. I only wish you had brought with you the magus. His death has struck me to the heart.' Then he held Meren at arm's length and gazed into his face. 'You were never good at concealing your emotions. What is it that disturbs you now? Tell me.'

'Your eyes are as sharp as ever. They miss nothing. I have tidings that I shall relate to you,' Meren replied, 'but before I do I must caution you to prepare yourself for a great shock. What I have to tell you is so strange and wonderful that when I was first presented with it my mind could not encompass it.'

'Come now, my lord.' Nefer Seti smote him a blow between the shoulder-blades that made him stagger. 'Speak!'

Meren drew a deep breath and blurted out, 'Taita lives.'

Nefer Seti stopped laughing and stared at him in astonishment. Then his features darkened in a scowl. 'Jest with me at your peril, my lord marshal,' he said coldly.

'I speak the truth, mighty King of Kings.' In this mood Nefer Seti struck terror into the bravest heart.

'If this is the truth, and for the good of your soul, Meren Cambyses, it had better be, then tell me where Taita is now.'

'One more thing I must tell you, O majestic and magnanimous one.

Taita is much altered in appearance. You may not recognize him at first.'

'Enough!' Nefer Seti's voice rose. 'Tell me where he is.'

'In this very chamber.' Meren's voice cracked. 'Standing close to us.'

Then, under his breath, he added, 'At least, I hope he is.'

Nefer Seti placed his right hand on the hilt of his dagger. 'You trespass on my good nature, Meren Cambyses.'

Meren looked wildly around the empty chamber and his voice was pitiful as he spoke to the empty air: 'Magus, O mighty Magus! Reveal yourself, I beseech you! I stand in peril of Pharaoh's wrath!' Then he let out a cry of relief. 'Behold, Majesty!' He pointed across the room to a tall statue carved from black granite.

'That is the statue of Taita, carved by the master sculptor Osh,' Nefer Seti said, in fury. 'I keep it here to remind me of the magus, but it is only stone, not my beloved Taita in the flesh.'

'Nay, Pharaoh. Look not at the statue but to its right-hand side.'

Where Meren pointed a shimmering and transparent cloud appeared, like a desert mirage. Pharaoh blinked as he stared at it. 'There is aught there. It is light as air. Is it a djinni? A ghost?'

The mirage became denser, and slowly took solid shape. 'It is a man!'

Nefer Seti exclaimed. 'A veritable man!' He stared in astonishment.

'But it is not Taita. This is a youth, a comely youth, not my Taita. Surely he must be a magician that he is able to mask himself in a spell of concealment.'

'It is magic,' Meren agreed, 'but of the whitest and noblest kind. A magic wrought by Taita himself. This is Taita.'

'Nay!' Nefer Seti shook his head. 'I know not this person, if he is indeed a living person.'

'Your Grace, this is the magus made young and whole again.'

Even Nefer Seti was speechless. All he could do was shake his head.

Taita stood quietly, smiling at him, a warm, loving smile.

'Look to the statue,' Meren pleaded. 'Osh carved it when the magus was already an old man, but even now that he is young again the resemblance is unmistakable. Look to the depth and width of the brow, the shape of the nose and the ears, but above all look to the eyes.'

'Yes… perhaps I can see some resemblance,' Nefer Seti murmured dubiously. Then his tone became firm and challenging: 'Ho, phantom! If you are indeed Taita, you must be able to tell me something known only to the two of us.'

'That is so, Pharaoh,' Taita agreed. 'I could tell you many such things, but one comes instantly to my mind. Do you remember when you were still Prince Nefer Memnon and not Pharaoh of the Two Kingdoms, when you were my student and ward and my pet name for you was Mem?'

Pharaoh nodded. 'I remember well.' His voice had dropped to a husky whisper and his gaze softened. 'But many others could have known such a thing.'

'I can tell you more, Mem. I can tell you how when you were a boy we set pigeon decoys beside the pool of Gebel Nagara in the wilderness and waited twenty days for the royal falcon, your godbird, to come to them.'

'My godbird never came to the decoys,' said Nefer Seti, and Taita saw by the flickering of his aura that he was laying a trap to test him.

'Your falcon came,' Taita contradicted him. 'The lovely falcon that was proof of your royal right to the double crown of Egypt.'

'We captured him,' Nefer Seti said triumphantly.

'Nay, Mem. The falcon refused the decoy and flew away.'

'We abandoned the hunt.'

'Nay again, Mem. Your memory fails you. We followed the bird deeper into the wilderness.'

'Ah, yes! To the bitter Lake Natron.'

'Nay yet again. You and I went to the mountain of Bir Umm Masara.

While I held you on the rope, you climbed to the falcon's eyrie high in the eastern face of the mountain to take down the chicks.' By now Nefer Seti was staring at him with bright eyes. 'When you reached the nest you found that the cobra had been there before you. The birds were dead, killed by the venomous bite of the serpent.'

'Oh, Magus, none but you could have known these things. Forgive me for not acknowledging you. All my life you were my guide and mentor, and now I have denied you.' Nefer Seti was stricken with remorse. He strode across the room and enfolded Taita in his powerful arms. When at last they drew apart, he could not take his eyes off Taita's face. 'The transformation in you defies my powers of comprehension. Tell me how this came about.'

'There is much to tell,' Taita agreed. 'But before that there are other matters we needs must deal with. First, there is somebody I would present to you.' Taita held out his hand and, once again, the air shimmered, then solidified into the shape of a young woman. She also smiled at Nefer Seti.

'As you have done so often before, you confound me with your

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magic,' Nefer Seti said. 'Who is this creature? Why have you brought her to me?'

'Her name is Fenn and she is an adept of the right-hand path.'

'She is too young for that.'

'She has lived other lives.'

'She is surpassing beautiful.' He looked at her with the eye of a lusty man. 'Yet there is something hauntingly familiar about her. Her eyes . ..

I know those eyes.' He searched for the memory. 'They remind me of someone I once knew well.'

'Pharaoh, Fenn is my consort.'

'Your consort? How can that be? You are a—' He checked his tongue.

'Forgive me, Magus. I intended no slight nor injury to your dignity.'

'It is true, Pharaoh, that I was once a eunuch, but now I am a man, whole and complete. Fenn is my woman.'

'So much has changed,' Nefer Seti protested. 'No sooner do I solve one riddle than you present me with another—' He broke off, still staring at Fenn. 'Those eyes. Those green eyes. My father! Those are the eyes of my father. Is it possible that Fenn is of my own royal blood?'

'Come, Mem!' Taita chided him gently. 'First, you complain of the mysteries I lay before you, and then you demand I heap more upon you.

Let me tell you simply that Fenn stands in your direct line. Your blood is her blood, but far back in time.'

'You said that she has lived other lives. Was it in one of those other lives?'

'Even so,' Taita agreed.

'Explain it to me!' Pharaoh commanded.

'Later we will have time for that. However, you and Egypt are still under threat. You already know of the witch, Eos, who stopped the waters of Mother Nile.'

'Is it true that you destroyed her in her lair?'

'The witch is no more, but one of her minions is still at large. His name is Soe. He is a dangerous man.'

'Soe! I know of a man by that name. Mintaka spoke of him. He is a preacher, the apostle of a new goddess.'

'Spelt backwards his name is Eos. His goddess was the sorceress. His purpose was to destroy you and your bloodline, and to usurp the double throne of Egypt for the witch.'

Nefer Seti's expression was horror-struck. 'This Soe had the ear of Mintaka, my principal wife. She believes in him. He converted her to his new religion.'

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'Why did you not intervene?'

'I humoured her. Mintaka was demented with grief for our dead babies.

Soe gave her comfort. I saw no harm in it.”

'There was great harm in it,' Taita said. 'Harm to you and to Egypt.

Soe is still a terrible threat. He is the last adherent of the witch, the last remaining vestige of her presence on this earth. He is part of the Great Lie.'

'What must I do, Taita? As soon as the Nile began to flow again, Soe disappeared. We do not know what has become of him.'

'Before anything else, I must capture him and bring him to you. Queen Mintaka is so deeply in his thrall that she believes all he tells her. She would have given you over to him. She will not believe evil of him, unless the confession of that evil comes from the mouth of Soe himself.'

'What do you need from me, Taita?' Nefer Seti asked.

'You must take Queen Mintaka away. I need to have the freedom of the Palace of Memnon on the west bank. Take her to Assuit to make sacrifice at the temple of Hathor. Tell her that the goddess appeared to you in a vision and demanded this of you both for the sake of your dear babes, Prince Khaba and his little sister Unas, who are now in the underworld.'

'It is true that I have felt the need to make sacrifice to Hathor. The queen and I will leave by royal barge in five days' time, on the night of the new moon. What else do you require of me?'

“I need Lord Meren and a hundred of your best fighting men. Meren must carry your Hawk Seal, which gives him your unbridled authority.'

'He shall have these things.'

No sooner had the royal couple embarked on their barge and sailed away than Meren and Taita, with the escort of guardsmen, crossed the Nile to the west bank. They rode up the hills to Mintaka's abode, the Palace of Memnon, and arrived with the dawn.

The household was taken by surprise. The palace vizier, with a detachment of the household guards at his back, tried ineffectually to oppose their entry. The palace guards, though, were soft from a life of good eating and high living. Nervously they eyed the hundred hard warriors that faced them.

Meren held up the Hawk Seal: 'We are carrying out the orders of Pharaoh Nefer Seti. Stand aside and let us pass!'

'He bears the Hawk Seal.' The vizier capitulated and turned to the captain of the palace guards. 'Take your men back to their barracks and keep them there until I send you word.'

Meren and Taita marched into the entrance portico of the palace, their nailed sandals ringing on the marble slabs. Taita was no longer covered by the spell of concealment. Instead he wore a breastplate of crocodile skin and a matching helmet, the visor drawn down to cover his features. He cut a formidable and menacing figure. The palace servants and Mintaka's maids fled before him.

'Where do we begin the search, Magus?' Meren asked. 'Is the creature still hiding here?'

'Soe is here.'

'You are so certain.'

'The foul reek of Eos is heavy in the air,' Taita told him.

Meren sniffed loudly.

'I can smell nothing.'

'Keep ten of your men with us. Place the rest to cover all the doors and gates. Soe has the ability to change his physical shape and form so nobody must leave this palace, neither man, nor woman, nor animal,' Taita told him. Meren relayed his orders and the men marched away to their posts.

Purposefully Taita moved through the huge, magnificently appointed rooms, Meren and his detachment following closely, swords drawn. At intervals Taita stopped and seemed to test the air, like a hunting hound following the scent of his quarry.

They came at last to the queen's inner garden, a spacious atrium surrounded by high sandstone walls and open to the cloudless blue sky.

It was laid out around avenues of flowering trees with a central fountain, surrounded by marble benches strewn with silken cushions. Lutes and other musical instruments lay where they had been abandoned by Mintaka's hand-maidens at the approach of the soldiers, and the lingering perfume of nubile young women mingled with that of orange blossom.

At the far end of the atrium stood a small arbour of trellised vines.

Without hesitation, Taita crossed to it, his step quick and sure. On a tall pink marble plinth in the centre stood a statue carved from the same material. Someone had laid bouquets of sun lilies at its foot, and their scent was cloying on the air. It dulled the senses, like some powerful opiate.

'The flowers of the witch,' Taita whispered. 'I remember the odour so clearly.' Then he studied the statue on the plinth. Life-sized, it was in

the shape of a veiled woman, the folds of her mantle enveloping her from the top of her head to her ankles. The dainty feet below the hem were carved with such skill that they seemed made of warm flesh rather than cold, lifeless stone.

'The feet of the witch,' Taita said. 'This is the shrine at which Queen Mintaka worships her.' In Taita's nostrils the odour of evil was more pungent now than the heavy scent of the lilies. 'Lord Meren, have your men cast down this statue,' Taita said quietly.

Even the indomitable Meren was awed by the ghastly influence of the witch that filled her shrine. He gave the order in a subdued tone.

The soldiers sheathed their swords and put their shoulders to the statue. They were brawny men and strong, but it resisted their efforts to topple it.

'Tashkalon!' cried Taita, once again turning Eos's word of power against her. The statue moved, marble squealing on marble, like the cry of a lost soul. It startled the soldiers, who jumped back in alarm.

'Ascartow!' Taita pointed his sword at the figure of Eos, which began slowly to topple forward.

'Silondela!' he shouted, and the statue fell full length to the paving stones and shattered into fragments. Only the dainty feet remained intact. Taita stepped forward and touched each one with the point of his sword. Slowly they cracked and crumbled to piles of pink dust. The bunches of sun lilies on the plinth withered until they were black and dry.

Slowly Taita circled the base of the plinth. Every few paces he tapped the marble. The sound was firm and solid until he reached the back wall.

Here the marble emitted a dull, hollow echo. Taita stepped back and studied it. Then he moved forward and placed the heel of his hand in the top right corner and applied a steady pressure. There was the sharp sound of some internal lever moving and the entire panel swung open like a trapdoor.

In the silence that followed they all stared into the dark square opening that was revealed in the back of the plinth. It was just large enough for a man to pass through.

'The hiding place of the false priest of Eos,' Taita said. 'Bring the torches from the brackets in the audience hall.' The soldiers hurried to obey. When they returned, Taita took one and held it into the opening.

By the torchlight he saw that a flight of stone steps descended into the darkness. Without hesitation he stooped through the opening and started down them. There were thirteen and at the bottom they levelled out

into a tunnel that was wide and high enough for a tall man to walk along without stooping. The floor was of plain sandstone tiles. The walls were unadorned with paintings or engravings.

'Keep close behind me,' Taita told Meren, as he strode down the tunnel. The air was stale and old, heavy with the odour of damp earth and long-buried dead things. Twice Taita came to forks in the tunnel, but each time he made an instinctive choice without pausing to consider.

At last a glimmer of light appeared ahead of him. He went on resolutely.

He passed through a kitchen which contained large amphorae of oil, water and wine. There were wooden bins of dhurra bread and baskets of fruit and vegetables. Legs of smoked meat hung from hooks in the roof.

In the centre of the room a thin spiral of smoke twisted up from the ashes on the hearth and disappeared into a ventilation hole in the roof.

A half-eaten meal lay with a jug and bowl of red wine on the low wooden table. A small oil lamp threw shadows into the corners. Taita crossed the kitchen to the doorway in the opposite wall. He looked through it into a cell, which was dimly lit by a single lamp.

Some articles of clothing, a tunic, a cloak and a pair of sandals, were thrown carelessly into a corner. A sleeping mat was spread in the middle of the floor, with a kaross made of jackal pelts on top. Taita took a corner of the kaross and jerked it aside. A small child lay under it, of no more than two, an appealing little boy whose eyes were large and inquisitive as he stared up at Taita.

Taita reached down and placed his hand on the child's bald head.

There was a sizzling sound and the sharp reek of scorched flesh. The brat screamed and twisted away from Taita's touch. Imprinted on his pate was a raw red brand, not the outline of Taita's hand but the cat's paw of Eos.

'You have wounded the little fellow,' blurted Meren, his voice softening with pity.

'It is no infant,' Taita answered. 'It is the last evil branch and twig of the sorceress. This is her spirit sign emblazoned on its head.' He reached out to touch the creature again, but it shrieked and cowered away from hm. He seized it by the ankles and held it upside down, struggling and twisting in his grip. 'Unmask yourself, Soe. The witch, your mistress, has been consumed in the subterranean flames of the earth. None of her powers will avail you any longer.' He hurled the child on to the sleeping mat, where it lay whimpering.

Taita made a pass over it with his right hand, stripping away Soe's deception. The infant changed size and shape slowly until it was revealed as the witch's emissary, Soe, his eyes blazing and features contorted with malevolence and hatred.

'Do you recognize him now?' Taita asked Meren.

'By Seth's foul breath, it is Soe who set the toads upon Demeter. I last saw this devil's spawn riding off into the night on the back of the hyena, his familiar.'

'Bind him!' Taita ordered. 'He goes to Karnak to face the justice of Pharaoh.'

The morning after the royal return to Karnak from Assuit, Queen Mintaka sat beside Pharaoh in the private audience chamber of the palace. The bright sun was streaming in through the high windows. It was not flattering to her: she looked drawn and exhausted.