Anubis Nights (29 page)

Either Horemheb left his men behind or the entire Egyptian army was a lot faster than I thought. It made sense to travel ahead and let the army march back at their own pace. We should have moved faster.

A short time later, Horemheb and Aye exited the palace gate along with twenty large men armed with blades. Horemheb had a smug look on his face. “You show great courage and great stupidity to return here,” he said.

“We were emissaries of the queen,” I said. “We’re here to make a report to her.”

“Ankhesenamun is grieving,” Aye said. He wore a crown with a cobra on the front of it. “She does not wish to speak with you.”

“You’re an adviser and nothing more,” I said. “You can’t speak for her. We were tasked with a mission, and we will report to her.”

Horemheb stepped closer. He had the confidence of a man who’d already won the war and was simply deciding whether or not to kill or enslave the losers. “She—”

His mistake was a combination of getting too close and being overconfident.

Kelly slammed into him like a Mack truck. She drove him against the wall, pinched off his carotid artery, and held it for a few seconds. The general went limp. By that point, the soldiers sprang into action. The closest stabbed her in the back with a sword. Another swung a blade, but I was fast enough to jump in and knock him off balance. Kelly let Horemheb drop to the sand and spun around. She whipped out her own sword and, in a flurry of action, sliced off a soldier’s arm, another soldier’s head, and clanged steel with several others before jumping back. She still had a sword protruding from her back.

“Mind if I use that?” I asked, pointing to the offending weapon.

“Be my guest,” she said and turned so I could pull the blade from her body.

I smiled as blood dripped from the steel to stain the sand. The soldiers backed up a few steps, not sure what to do. Aye hid behind one of the larger men.

The man swallowed hard when I brandished the blade in his direction. “You may want to step aside, son,” I said.

“I will not back down from my duty to the king,” he said and tried to attack.

Before he could raise his weapon, I stabbed him in the shoulder.

“Don’t make me kill you,” I said.

Aye gathered his courage and pulled the soldier back. The soldier clutched at his wound. It wasn’t deep, but it bled more than I expected. Aye faced me. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He knew he couldn’t affect me with magic, so he didn’t try. He looked tired.

“We are burying Tutankhamun today. Ankhesenamun still has preparations to handle, but I will bring her to meet you in the audience hall.”

“Now you see how easy that was? Why didn’t you just agree to that in the first place?”

“Because you failed her.”

That hurt, but I glanced at Horemheb, who was beginning to stir. “Only because you sent the general here to kill the prince.”

“I didn’t send anybody.”

“Then who did?” I asked.

Horemheb pulled himself to his feet, looking a bit groggy. “The queen.”

“Not a chance,” I said.

“Who else could issue an order for the army?”

“You.”

He shook his head. “I follow orders. The queen is the regent. She gave the order.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

JONATHAN SHADE

Aye led us to the Great Hall while Kelly kept hold of Horemheb. The vizier sent a servant to bring the queen.

Once the servant was gone, Aye approached me. He looked around at the soldiers and lowered his voice to a whisper. “I believe the queen killed her husband.”

“What?”

“Do not make me repeat it. My magic is strong, but the queen rules Egypt. You weren’t supposed to make it back here.”

“I know. You and your buddy Horemheb tried to have us killed.”

“We were following orders,” he whispered.

“I don’t believe you.”

“I understand but when the queen returns with Henry Winslow, you will thank me for alerting you. Provided she doesn’t have you killed on the spot.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. You’re lying.”

Aye shrugged. “Am I? Ankhesenamun was older than Tutankhamun, and she felt the throne was hers by right. She is the one with royal blood. She is the daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Tutankhamun was born of a foreign princess, Kiya, a mere second wife. Nefertiti was the Great Royal Wife. Ankhesenamun was able to control Tutankhamun for a time, but recently he started making decisions without her. He was disappointed that she could not bear him children. He was ready to take a second wife—one who could provide him a son.”

“Tutankhamun loved Ankhesenamun. I could see it in his eyes.”

“Yes, he did, but he had to think of Egypt. She knew she was losing her control.”

“I’ve also seen the way you look at her, Aye.”

“She came to me in the night, asking if I could give her a son. I will not deny that I looked forward to those nights.”

I shook my head. “You had the look of someone who wanted her but hadn’t had her yet.”

He nodded. “She has not come to my bed. Not yet. I have been hopeful, and my Great Wife has given her consent. I knew Ankhesenamun would claim any child belonged to Tutankhamun. And yes, I wanted her. She is lovely. Alas, that is not to be. While you were gone, she has been consorting with your foreign friend.”

“Impossible,” I said. “He can’t speak Egyptian.”

“One day his words were unknowable; the next, he spoke fluent Egyptian. He claims to be the living son of Thoth. His magic is strong.”

Damn. I knew we shouldn’t have left him alone. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t want to believe Horemheb and Aye, but I had to consider the possibility. Could Ankhesenamun have had second thoughts about marrying a Hittite? Could she have ordered our deaths too?

Kelly shoved Horemheb into a chair. “Ankhesenamun would not have betrayed us,” she said.

“You don’t have to believe anything we say,” Horemheb said. “She will be here soon, and then you’ll know our words are true.”

We didn’t have to wait long.

Ankhesenamun entered the audience hall with Winslow at her side. They were flanked by a group of scribes and servants. Ankhesenamun looked as radiant as ever in a simple sheath dress. Winslow was dressed like an Egyptian with the wide collar, arm- and wristbands, a kilt, and sandals. He also wore a white linen wrap. His eyes were surrounded by dark makeup that swished off toward his temples, and his head had been shaved. Amulets dangled around his neck.

They moved to the front of the hall, stepped onto the dais, and sat in the large chairs. The scribes knelt and unrolled blank papyrus, and their servants placed ink pots and brushes before them.

Ankhesenamun whispered something to Winslow and he nodded.

She raised a hand for a moment, and everyone fell silent.

“Welcome back, Jonathan and Kelly,” she said.

“Thank you,” I said.

“You did not bring a Hittite prince with you.”

I didn’t say anything.

She looked at me for a moment then turned her gaze to Kelly. She frowned and returned her gaze my way. “Where is Hani?”

“I haven’t seen him since the battle,” I said. “If he hasn’t returned, I assume he’s dead.”

Ankhesenamun looked past me. “Are you dead, Hani?”

“No, my queen,” a voice said behind me.

I turned to see Hani in the entrance. He didn’t have any road dust on him, and he wore a colored kilt. He looked well rested and slightly amused.

Ankhesenamun nodded to him then gave me an impassive stare. “You were tasked with protecting the prince.”

Again I remained silent.

“Do you admit failure?” she asked.

“Did you send an army to kill the prince?” I asked.

She hesitated. “After careful consideration, I determined that the Egyptian people would not wish to have an enemy as king.”

“So I guess it didn’t occur to you that if you hadn’t had him murdered, he wouldn’t have been an enemy? Marriage is a common way to bring kingdoms together. It has always been that way, and I suspect it will be for thousands of years.”

Winslow leaned over and whispered in her ear. She nodded and her eyes narrowed as she spoke to me. “Do you presume to lecture me?”

Based on her tone of voice, I knew I was already driving a tractor trailer on thin ice. “No,” I said. “I was simply thinking out loud to make sure I understood that you have a different perspective on how things work. My apologies.”

“Evidently you have a great deal for which to apologize.”

“I do?”

“Hani,” she said.

“Yes, my queen,” Hani said.

“Please tell me again what you saw during the battle.”

This ought to be good,
I thought.

“This one,” he said, pointing at Kelly, “was protecting Zannanza but decided to abandon him to protect this one.” He pointed at me. “Then these two ran like cowards and disappeared into the hills, leaving everyone else to die.”

Or maybe not so good.

“Is this true?” Ankhesenamun asked.

Kelly nudged me. “Let me take this one,” she said.

“Be my guest,” I said.

Kelly stepped forward. “It is true to a point. We were outnumbered by thousands, and I had to make a choice. I could protect Zannanza, a man you would have despised, or I could protect my friend. General Horemheb was preparing to kill Jonathan, so I did what I felt was appropriate and I got Jonathan out of there. Once I had Jonathan safe, I looked over the battlefield and felt it was better to let Zannanza die rather than kill your entire army.”

Horemheb laughed. “You think you could kill an army all by yourself?”

Kelly calmly turned to look at him. “Yes,” she said.

He stared into her eyes, and I know he saw nothing but confidence. His smile vanished and he didn’t try to argue.

Winslow clapped his hands. “Bravo,” he said. “I believe she probably could.”

“As long as she didn’t have to protect anyone, she definitely could,” I said.

“So in essence, you’re saying you did the queen a favor,” Winslow said with a grin.

“We failed in our mission to protect the prince,” I said. “But to be fair, we weren’t expecting to face the Egyptian army.”

“Always expect the unexpected,” Winslow said.

Ankhesenamun placed a hand on Winslow’s shoulder. “Thoth speaks truth and wisdom,” she said.

I glanced at Kelly and mouthed the words, Thoth speaks?

She shrugged.

What the hell happened in our absence?

Aye rose and approached the dais. “I grow weary of this meeting, and there are still preparations to make for the burial. Shall we execute them or send them to work the mines?”

Again, Winslow leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. She grinned and nodded. Then she faced Aye. “Is my husband’s tomb prepared?”

“It is.”

“We shall lay my former husband to rest, and when we seal the tomb, Jonathan and Kelly will be with him to be his servants in the west.”

The vizier smiled and nodded. He shared a look with Horemheb.

The general turned to me. “It would seem your days in this world are few.”

“They always were,” I said.

“You realize you’ll be dead within a week once we seal you into the tomb. The gods will suffocate you.”

“At least I won’t have to look at your ugly face anymore,” I said.

Kelly stepped close to me. “I think it’s time to end this,” she said and pulled a dagger from her belt. “Grab hold of me.”

I took hold of her left hand. She whipped the dagger up and let it fly at Winslow.

The dagger flew straight and true.

Until it slowed and stopped five inches from Winslow’s heart.

“Good aim,” he said. He reached out, plucked the dagger from the air, and tucked it into his own belt. He held out his hands with his palms together, thumbs toward the ceiling as if he were in prayer. He let his hands drift downward until they aimed at me and Kelly.

Kelly stiffened.

“Are you all right?” I whispered.

“He’s using magic,” she said.

“I’m not ready to go yet, so I think you two should have separate rooms for the time being,” he said. He spread his hands.

Kelly flew to the side, and the motion was so sudden, it pulled her from my grasp. She crashed into a group of servants then fell to the floor.

Winslow looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “How odd. You’re still standing.”

“His magic is strong,” Ankhesenamun said. “Our best wizards could do nothing to him.”

I walked toward the dais.

“Winslow, Winslow, Winslow,” I said. “Your magic sucks.”

Winslow switched to English. I could tell because the words were clear. “If you kill me now, you’ll be stuck here in Egypt.”

Ankhesenamun pointed at me. “Guards, seize him!”

My plan was to grab him, drag him over to Kelly, then break his neck. I could have killed him before the guards reached me, but he was right that I’d be stuck here while Kelly would disappear. The guards grabbed me. I could tell they were nervous, but I didn’t try to fight them. I just gazed into Winslow’s eyes.

“I’m going to kill you,” I said with a smile.

The guards started to pull me away. I struggled to hold myself in place a moment longer so I could turn to Ankhesenamun. “Kelly trusted you.”

The guards started to pull me away, but Ankhesenamun held up a hand. They kept hold of me but allowed me to stay where I was.

“I really do like her,” Ankhesenamun said.

I shook my head. “You’re missing the point, Ankhesenamun. You upset her.”

“That’s not important.” She motioned for the guards to take me away.

I held my place long enough to say one more thing before the guards dragged me away from the dais. “Oh, it’s important,” I said, “because before the day is out, she’s going to kill you.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

JONATHAN SHADE

Winslow and Horemheb came to see me in the room where I’d been detained. They had an entourage of soldiers and servants with them. My hands were tied with leather thongs. I clenched and unclenched my fists over and over, but the thongs had zero give to them. Winslow carried my backpack, which held my cell phone and some extra magazines for the Beretta as well as a few for the Glock.