Anubis Nights (9 page)

I needed to remain focused. I didn’t know nearly as much about Egypt as Kelly did, and even her knowledge was spotty and superficial, but I did know pharaohs often had multiple wives and mistresses on the side. Tut had married his half-sister to have claim to the throne. They shared the same father, Akhenaten, but had different mothers. Ankhesenamun was the daughter of Nefertiti, Akhenaten’s Great Royal Wife. Tut and Ankhesenamun were the last of the royal bloodline.

I wondered about their childhood. In my time, one did not marry one’s sister, even if you lived in rural Arkansas. But that sort of thing was common among pharaohs where the royal bloodline was so important to keep Egypt together. The pharaoh was considered a god. There I go again with the word pharaoh. Too many mummy movies, I guess.

A few servants passed me in the hall as I moved past the kitchen. The scent of bread and spices hung in the air. Some kind of meat was roasting. I wasn’t hungry until I smelled the food. As I wasn’t sure about the etiquette of sneaking a meal, I went outside and crossed another courtyard. Palm trees grew here and there, and the next building housed what looked like offices to me, but I didn’t investigate because the people there seemed to be busy.

The building north of the offices held the festival hall, where the servants bustled about, setting things up for the evening meal. I didn’t want to interrupt them. I was simply getting the lay of the land. To the west, I saw another building with a long ramp leading to a doorway. A few people stood outside the door, so I moved toward them.

A man walked down the ramp toward me. He wore a kilt and nothing else save a few amulets, but his kilt extended outward so while he could walk in it, it certainly wasn’t practical to work in. As with most of the people I’d seen, he wore a lot of makeup.

“Excuse me,” I said.

The man turned toward me, looked me up and down. My jeans, Nikes, and button-down shirt no doubt struck him as alien. He hesitated then started to kneel.

“You don’t have to kneel,” I said. “It’s all right. Can you answer a few questions for me?”

“I shall try.”

I wondered if he heard the English words as well as the Egyptian words or if the spell erased my native tongue and projected only his own language. That didn’t seem like a good thing to ask him, though. “What’s this building?” I asked instead.

“This is the audience hall. The vizier settles the occasional dispute here, or sometimes the king will address people here.”

“What do you do?”

“I am a scribe.”

“Excellent. What’s your name?”

“I am Neferhotep. I was so named because my parents claim direct lineage with the great Neferhotep.”

I’d never heard of the guy. “I’m Jonathan, so named because my father wanted to call me John, but my mother thought that was too boring.”

He looked uncomfortable. “Will that be all?”

I saw Aye and a muscular man staring at me from the entrance of the audience hall.

“Yes,” I said. “Thanks for the information.”

I moved up the ramp, but Aye and the big man met me halfway.

“You should be in your room, resting,” Aye said.

“I’m not tired.” I looked at the bigger man, who struck me as dangerous from the moment I saw him. He carried himself differently. I gave him a nod. “Who are you?” I asked.

He gave me a slight nod. “I am Horemheb, commander of the royal army.”

“I’ve heard of you,” I said.

“I cannot say the same for you.”

“This is my first visit to your impressive country.”

“May your visit be short,” Horemheb said.

That was no way to talk to a god, but I was pretty sure Egyptians chose which gods they wanted to worship. Evidently I was not on Horemheb’s approved god list. “I suspect it will be short. My reason for coming to Egypt isn’t in Thebes, so I’m just passing through.”

While I stood taller than Horemheb by several inches, he looked solid and confident. “See that it is so,” he said.

I didn’t want to mouth off to a general, especially since I suspected Horemheb could kick my ass up and down the compound without breaking a sweat.

“Please return to your residence,” Aye said to me. “I have assigned servants to you for the duration of your visit. They will report to you soon.”

“Thanks, Aye.” I nodded to Horemheb. “Nice to meet you.”

He stared at me with dead eyes. “Perhaps later you can demonstrate your power in battle. You hold yourself as if you are capable.”

Dangerous men tend to recognize one another on sight. “I’m not here for that. I’m just looking for a man named Winslow.”

“That name means nothing to me,” Aye said.

“That doesn’t surprise me. He’s not from around here.”

I gave them each another nod before I turned to head back to the residence. As I walked away, I heard Horemheb say, “Are the preparations complete?”

“Nearly,” Aye said. “It won’t be long now.”

I didn’t hear anything more. It was probably an innocuous exchange about dinner or the transfer of soldiers to different quarters, but it stuck in my head. I returned to the residence and found Kelly sleeping. I didn’t want to wake her, so I went outside and sat down on a wooden stool in the shade of the portico.

I pulled out my cell phone. Needless to say, there wasn’t any reception, but the battery was fully charged. It didn’t display the time as it had no cell towers from which to update. I switched it off to conserve energy.

Later, I checked on Kelly, but she was still sleeping. It seemed like a good idea to let her rest, but I took a chance and placed my hand on her forehead. Normally that would be enough to wake her up and would potentially end up with me on the floor in an arm bar. She didn’t open her eyes. She felt hot to the touch.

In all the years I’d known her, I’d never seen her get sick.

This wasn’t good.

An hour later, two servants dropped by to check on us. Both were young and female and appeared to have led rough lives. When I asked their names, they shook their heads in unison and told me they weren’t important.

“Everyone is important,” I said. “Please tell me what to call you.”

“I am Sadek,” the first girl said. “This is Tuya.”

“That wasn’t so difficult, was it?”

They shook their heads and stared at the ground.

“Is there anything to drink around here?” I asked. “Maybe some water?”

“We will bring some.” They left together and a few minutes later, they brought water for me. Sadek poured some into a ceramic cup and handed it to me.

“Thank you.” I took a sip. The water tasted a bit strange, and as I didn’t want to spend the night in the latrine, I said, “Do you have anything else to drink here?”

“We have beer and wine.”

“Beer sounds good.”

“As you wish.” They left to get me some beer.

I poured the water out into a shrub.

Sadek brought me a cup of beer. I tasted it. Wow, it was kinda nasty. The beer was definitely going to be an acquired taste, but it was still better and safer than the water. It didn’t taste overly strong, but I paced myself with it because I didn’t want to catch a buzz before dinner.

Sadek and Tuya left me alone and went inside to do whatever they were there to do. I figured they were cleaning . . . and keeping an eye on us. It made sense. If I were in Aye’s position, looking after the pharaoh, I’d want to make sure I had spies keeping tabs on any strangers in town. It didn’t bother me. After all, I planned to leave in the morning, as long as Kelly felt up to traveling.

The sun began its slow descent, painting the clouds a brilliant orange. It was beautiful but I kept worrying about Kelly. I must have checked on her fifteen times an hour. I hoped sleep would help her get over the fever.

It occurred to me at that point that if she died, I’d be stuck in ancient Egypt.

She would be all right. She had to be all right.

***

An hour later, Kelly was still sleeping. Sadek showed up to tell me it was time for the evening meal.

“Will you require assistance getting ready?” she asked.

“No thanks. I think we can handle it.”

“I shall wait at the colonnade.”

I entered the bedroom. Kelly looked peaceful. I watched the steady rise and fall of her chest, and I hated to wake her. She clearly needed the extra sleep.

“Kelly,” I said softly.

No response.

That was strange. Normally she’d wake up if someone walked into the room. I’d never spoken to her before without waking her up.

“Kelly,” I said, louder.

Nada.

It could be dangerous to wake her by shaking her. With her reaction time, if she took it as an attack, she could kill me before I could pull my hand away. I took a deep breath and risked life and limb by placing my hand on her shoulder and gently rocking her. “Kelly, it’s dinnertime.”

Her eyes opened and she looked up at me in confusion. “Huh?”

“We need to meet King Tut and Ankhesejetson or whatever her name is for dinner. I suspect Aye and Horemheb will be there too. Can you handle it?”

“Of course I can. And it’s Ankhesenamun.”

“What you said.”

“If you address her, don’t get her name wrong.”

“Can I just call her Queen or Ankh?”

“Do you want to be executed or sent off to work in the mines?”

“Mining isn’t on my list of things to try.”

“Repeat after me,” she said as she sat up. “Ankhesenamun.”

“Ankhesemoron?”

“You’re not funny.”

“Ankhesenamun,” I said. “Better?”

“Insert that name into your long-term memory, Jonathan.”

“Your wish is my command. How are you feeling?”

She glared at me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You look exhausted.”

Kelly stood. “I feel fine.”

She drew a deep breath, held it, then released it. She repeated this several times, and each time, more color returned to her cheeks. Finally she looked almost normal.

“If you get tired, just let me know. I’ll make excuses and we can come back here so you can rest.”

“I’m not tired, Jonathan.”

“You’re not yourself,” I said. “Maybe some food will help.”

“If I can keep it down,” she said under her breath.

I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” she said.

“Kelly, if you’re not up to this, I can handle it alone. It’s just a dinner. I can bring back some bread and water. Well, maybe beer. The water tastes funny. The beer does too, actually. And it’s stronger than the beer back home.”

“I can handle the dinner.”

“There’s no shame in getting sick, Kelly. It happens to everyone.”

She spun toward me. “Not to me it doesn’t.”

I placed my hands on her shoulders. “I need you to be honest with me. You seem to be under the weather. I need you to be well, so if you need more sleep, or if you need me to bring you anything, you just let me know. I’ll do anything I can to help you.”

“I don’t need help,” she said and pulled away.

“We all need help, Kelly.”

“Let’s go.”

“All right. Just know that I’m here for you.”

She started toward the door but looked back at me because I hadn’t moved. “Are you ready?”

“Give me a minute. I need to get rid of some of that beer.”

KELLY CHAN

I couldn’t believe this was happening. Two months ago, I could have died, and that would have been all right because it would have been an honorable death. But I survived. I bounced back as well as I could, and each day, I was a little better than the day before. I figured eventually I’d be one hundred percent. And now I felt as if I’d been smacked back to square one.

Getting sick was not normal for me.

For me it was a sign of weakness. I didn’t feel that way about others because they weren’t Sekutar. I worried that being sick was a sign that the magic they used to engineer me was wearing off as it had for Brand. Or worse, what if the wizards at DGI did this to me? What if they changed me so the magic would fade and I’d be a regular woman again? I wouldn’t put it past them.

I would have no value to Jonathan at that point. He relied on me for my strength. I needed to be strong for him even more than I needed it for myself. He’d given me my purpose in life and made me see that I could be more than just an assassin. I could contribute to the world. But I needed to be a Sekutar to do that. Why else would he need me to be here if not to protect him from danger?

While Jonathan used the restroom, I went to my pack on the floor and pulled out a small dagger. I rolled up my right pant leg and sliced my calf open. It was a small cut, perhaps a quarter of an inch long. Blood welled but it didn’t hurt. I’d done this every day when I woke up since I left the healing room at DGI. I needed the reassurance that I felt no real pain and that I could still heal quickly. I watched the flesh slowly start to knit together.

Jonathan returned from the latrine, and I shook my pant leg down before he could see the cut.

JONATHAN SHADE

When I returned to the bedroom, Kelly had a dagger in her hand.

“Was it something I said?” I asked.

“Usually.” She tossed the dagger onto her pack. She turned and left the room.

I shrugged and followed her.

Sadek bowed to us as we approached.

“Kelly, this is Sadek. She’ll get us whatever we need while we’re here. We also have another servant named Tuya, but I don’t know where she is right now.”

“Tuya is also a servant of the Great Royal Wife,” Sadek said. “She will accompany you back to your residence tonight.”

“Tuya or Ankhesenamun?” I asked.

Kelly sighed. “Tuya. Why would Ankhesenamun accompany us?”

“I am sorry,” Sadek said, her eyes wide and her mouth quivering. “I did not intend to mislead you.” She bowed deeply.

“It’s okay,” I said. “I knew what you meant. I was just joking.”

“If you wish to have me beaten, I will understand.”

“Why would I want you to be beaten?”

“I would prefer a beating to working in the quarries or the mines.”

“Sadek,” I said, “while I’m here, you will never be beaten, and you won’t go to the quarries or the mines. Do you understand?”