Warrior of the Nile (The Gods of Egypt) (12 page)

Khenet tried to be encouraging. “I’m sure they are.”

Waset left his chair to search for another scroll, which he brought back from the cupboard and plunked on the table. “Well, I know there’s a lot of hope in Viper Nome that the new Pharaoh might take notice of Smenkhotep’s activities. There was a priest of Horus who tried to leave the nome. I heard he might have had a petition to present to Pharaoh about the situation.”

Unrolling the new scroll, which had more detail about the roads, Khenet asked, “What happened?”

“Smenkhotep had him and his relatives executed.” Waset frowned. “Keeps a very tight rein on his people, that nomarch does. Has a large unit of well—fed, well-paid mercenaries for just that purpose. My cousin Narmer and his men would have refused an order like that, against a priest.” Making the sign of the evil eye and then touching the amulet at his neck, Waset shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Smenkhotep provides rations to the nome’s military of course, he’s not stupid. But nothing like what he allocates to his expensive mercenaries. And Narmer must share his with his family.”

“Any Hyksos presence?” Khenet kept his voice mild, but he shot the commander a sharp look.

Waset stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. “My own nomarch Ahotepre has sworn his loyalty to Pharaoh and been reconfirmed, you know.”

Khenet nodded. Loyalty to Nat-re-Ahkte was an absolute requirement for keeping one’s position these days. “I had no doubts. But in the Viper Nome?”

Belching, Waset patted his stomach. “We had some Hyksos presence here in Charging Lion when the Usurper ruled,” he admitted, adding hastily, “but not now. A few of their priests came through here when she was getting ready to hand all of Egypt over to them. After Nat-re-Akhte took the throne, word was most of the Hyksos left the Viper Nome as well. I don’t know what business your little lady has with Smenkhotep, but he’s an odd one. Rumors are he deals in black magic, might even worship the Hyksos god, or so I’m told. He’s certainly not afraid of Horus.” He bent over the map, tracing the route further west with a finger. “Your last couple of days you’ll be traveling through the badlands, into the pass leading to the nome itself. I don’t give much chance of you surviving, for all you’re a seasoned warrior.”

“Bandits?” Khenet scanned the map again, identifying likely places to expect an ambush.

Waset nodded and took another drink. “Good chance. They attack travelers on the caravan route from time to time, take what they can grab and retreat into the foothills. Smenkhotep might even be behind it. His nome surely isn’t getting supplies any other way. Only one road in and out.” He scratched at his scalp, then shoved his wig more securely onto his head. “I send patrols out to the border on occasion, try to keep their numbers in check, but what can you do?”

“Indeed.” Khenet wasn’t here to pass judgment on the local garrison. “And what’s this?” He pointed at an odd notation in the mountain pass area of the first map.

Leaning over the papyrus, Waset blinked his bleary eyes. “Old temple. Falling apart. No one even knows who it’s dedicated to anymore. Can’t read the symbols.”

Struggling to hold back rising exhilaration, Khenet tugged at his sleeve, adjusting the simple white linen shirt to hide his tattoos. He checked the half-faded scribbles drawn to the east of the temple one more time. “Indeed. Not hieroglyphics, certainly.”
But legible to me nonetheless
,
if not to the Egyptians.
And the markings match the old records in Pharaoh’s library.
This is a blessing I’d hardly dared hope for.

“Lot of those old places in the mountains and scattered throughout the Viper Nome. Stay away from this one.” The commander moved the anchoring objects and the map rolled up with a snap. “Place is cursed.”

Better and better.
Khenet fingered his two amulets. The beads were smooth and cool against his skin, although the hidden purple disk pulsed hot for a moment. “Cursed?”

“Sometimes there are reports of strange sounds and lights. The superstitious peasants in the area say people who go in never come out. About twenty years ago, a noble of our city took stones from the site to build a fancy mansion. Whole house fell in on his head the first night they slept in it. Killed the entire family and all the servants.” Waset scratched his belly idly. “Ask me, it was nothing more than an earthquake and an unskilled architect.”

“Thanks for the warning. I’ll be sure to steer clear of any old temples we come across.” Khenet sat and finished his wine. It had an interesting fruity note, different than the wines they usually had in Thebes. He was sorry to not to be offered another mug but Waset had capped the wineskin and put it away.

“Well, not much else I can tell you tonight then. Scribes will have copies of the maps ready for you tomorrow before you leave. I’ll make sure they note the location of the abandoned temple, so you can avoid it. I’ve assigned you a servant and a room in the officers’ quarters.” Waset drained his mug and slammed it on the table, apparently relieved to finish the whole discussion. Clapping Khenet on the shoulder, he said, “Come on, let’s head over to the mess and get some dinner. I want to hear more about the battle for Thebes. I’m sure you were in the thick of the action.” He nudged Khenet in the ribs. “And in the action at Court later, when the grateful ladies of the city paid tribute to the successful warriors, eh?” Winking lasciviously, he motioned for Khenet to precede him through the doorway.

Chapter Seven

Much later, close to midnight, Khenet stood concealed in the shadowy barracks courtyard, drawing fresh air into his lungs, taking pleasure in viewing the starry night brought by the goddess Nuit. Sounds of the drunken revelry going on in the officers’ mess carried across the open space to him.
Lax discipline.
I
need to tell Pharaoh about this.
Maybe we should send teams to survey all the nomes for preparedness.
I
can add a note to the message I’m sending in the morning via carrier pigeon.
His gut clenched as he remembered the potentially fatal nature of this mission.
Most likely I’ll never be telling Pharaoh anything else after this.

Walking to the well at the edge of the courtyard, he took a quick drink from the wooden ladle, studying the palace beyond the military compound.
I
wonder how Tiya spent her evening.
Probably with a lot more decorum.
And no dancing girls.

And when have I ever been in the presence of so many willing bed partners and left the room alone
,
to stand thinking about the health of one woman?
A quick flash of amusement left him grinning.
Well
,
not since that inn at Zauimu.
Grin fading, he asked himself for the thousandth time why she’d tricked him, why she’d stolen away from the ship.
I
thought we had a bond of friendship between us at least
,
after the long sail.
What could she have been doing that day that she couldn’t tell me about?
Other than trying to escape her fate.
Again he reached the same dismal conclusion.
But she must realize Nephthys could find her anywhere.
Is that why she was returning?
He dropped the ladle into the bucket and rubbed his aching head, trying to soothe away the throbbing in his temples. None of it made any sense.

It bothered him not to have seen her since the afternoon. He was sure she was safe in the nomarch’s private palace but she was his responsibility. Wasn’t he Pharaoh’s personal representative in this matter? So, who could deny him a late night check on her well-being? Straightening, he headed toward the gate to the palace’s main courtyard.

As the guards passed him through, a sleepy-eyed servant was hurrying in the other direction. The boy stopped, forcing Khenet to halt or fall over him. “Are you the captain from Thebes?”

Khenet nodded. “The same.”

“I’m glad I found you so easily then.” The servant stifled a yawn with a small fist. “You’re summoned to attend the Lady Tiya-ami-kitara at once, sir.”

Adrenalin hit his nervous system, making his question tense. “What’s the matter? Is she ill?”

Nodding, the servant yawned again. “Something about a headache, I believe, sir.”

Spinning the boy to retrace his steps, Khenet gave him a gentle shove. “Lead the way—quickly.”

Lit by torches, the halls of the palace were quiet and empty. Only a few guards stood at attention. The residents of the palace had apparently retired for the night. If the high-ranking guest was ill, no one had made a fuss about it. The two guards stationed at Tiya’s door eyed Khenet curiously as they saluted, moving aside to allow the servant to knock discreetly.

“Enter.”

Bowing, the boy stepped aside and Khenet alone passed through the door, which closed behind him. The room was full of shadows, only a few oil lamps burning. He scanned the space but there was no sign of Tiya.

“Out here—I’m on the balcony.” Her voice was soft, barely a whisper.

Walking across the room, he found his charge leaning over the edge of the small balcony, staring moodily across the gardens to the silvery Nile beyond. She moved aside a step or two to make room for him as he approached. The moonlight shone through the sheer fabric of her nightdress, outlining the lush curves of her body. Her hair was down, falling around her face and shoulders. Khenet swallowed hard.

“Are you all right?”

“Did they treat you well?”

They both laughed as their eager words crossed. “I was told you had the headache again?” Khenet wished he could see her face more clearly in the moonlight.

She brushed her hair away from her cheek. “Maybe a little.” She shrugged. “It was a handy excuse.”

Khenet said, “I had dinner in the barracks with the officers. Quite lively.”

“Drinking games and dancing girls? You reek of their perfume.” Sniffing affectedly, she sneezed. “I suppose they flocked to you.”

His hand clenched on the balcony rail. “I had no interest in what they offered.”
Only one woman stirs my body anymore.
“I was worried about you.” Unable to stop himself, he reached out and tucked her hair behind her shell-like ear, his fingers lingering on her soft cheek. Desire pulsed down his cock. Taking a deep breath, he tried not to think about how touchable her skin was. He gave thanks to Nuit for the shadows across the balcony. Tiya didn’t need to see how she affected him. “I’d just decided to check on you when the servant arrived bearing tales of your headache.”

Toying with the tassels on her sash, she was obviously pleased, tipping her head coyly, a warm smile playing on her lips. “You weren’t angry at being summoned?”

“I wanted to talk to you, see if we couldn’t arrive at a better understanding before we journey onward tomorrow.” He cradled her elbow to steer her inside, out of the chill night air. “I won’t stay long though—you need to rest. Travel by chariot is going to be a lot harder than sailing the Nile. No matter how well constructed the chariot may be, the ride will not be comfortable.”

“Sleep eludes me.” She shivered. Khenet encircled her with his arms, pulling her close. Hugging him, she laid her head on his chest with a contented little murmur. Stroking his back, she said, “Neither sleep nor conversation are what I’m seeking tonight.”

Reflexively Khenet tightened his embrace. The sensuous feel of her soft breasts pressed against his chest made his cock swell iron hard with desire for this woman. He held her close, as if he could shield her with his body from the storm of black magic and death approaching. “I’ll do my utmost to protect you. Even into the Afterlife, if the gods be kind. We’ll do this together, I promise. Battle comrades, every step of the way.”

When she lifted her face to his in the moonlight the most natural thing in the world was to lean over and place a kiss on her lips. But then she stood on tiptoe, holding him close. Tempted beyond caution, Khenet deepened the kiss. Her lips parted and his tongue sought the moist warmth of her mouth. His hand strayed to graze the side of her soft breast. Tiya was eager, her tongue tangling with his. Her hands roamed confidently over his body. He stroked his palm down her side to caress her hip and pull her closer to his throbbing cock. Her soft warmth cushioned his aching manhood, her hips moving in an instinctive rhythm his body answered all too readily. The abundant charms of the dancing girls had made no impact on him tonight, but Tiya’s body aroused him despite his best intentions to keep his caresses light.

And yet...deep as he was in arousal, drunk as he was on the moment, the feel of her body, the intoxicating smell of her perfume—something didn’t seem right. Still kissing him, Tiya drew him farther into the bedroom, one step at a time.

The next moment, she eased her hand down his abdomen, past the waistband of his kilt, pushing aside his loincloth to confidently stroke his aching manhood in a well-practiced move while still working her tongue aggressively against his, and he knew.

Breaking off the kiss, grabbing her wandering hand and lifting it away from his cock, he forced her to step back. “
Nephthys!
”

Easily twisting her hand free of his grasp, her strength inhuman, Nephthys-Tiya laughed. She twined her arms around him, tugging him closer. “And what if I am?”

“Why have you summoned me? Why this pretense that it was Tiya alone who desired my company?” Not wanting to fight her, afraid of harming the human woman whose slender frame now sheltered the Great One, Khenet let his arms fall to his sides, fists clenched in anger.

“Don’t tell me a big virile warrior like you is reluctant to make love to a goddess!” She pressed small kisses, almost bites, along the column of his neck. “Yes, I’ve taken her body for the night because I know you desire her. That should add to the passion while avoiding the laws against humans and Great Ones taking pleasure together.” Nephthys-Tiya smiled, the expression secretive and unsettling. “I did allow her to experience the kiss with me, before I sent her
ka
away.”

Worse and worse—what will Tiya think of me tomorrow?
Wrenching himself out of her arms, he wiped his lips in disgust. The smell of the river lotus was now strong in the room. He cursed himself for not noticing that sure sign of a Great One’s presence earlier. Moving back a step, Khenet could see the subtle differences that marked Nephthys-Tiya, but most telling of all were the ebony eyes of the goddess where Tiya’s soft, luminous brown eyes should be gazing back at him. “I’d never make love to an unwilling woman, much less force Tiya—”

“No one is forcing her to do anything,” the goddess said, swaying closer and dropping her robes to stand naked in the light of the oil lamps. The cartouche birthmark on her breast glowed in the flickering light. “She’s not here this evening.
I
am here to receive your caresses while her
ka
roams in the otherworld. She
is
pledged to my service.”

He adjusted his garments, no longer aroused, so strong was his disgust at what the Great One was proposing. “You want to use Tiya’s body to accomplish your selfish pleasure.”

“And your pleasure,” she said, one hand cupping her full breast as if to offer herself to him. “You were ready to bed me a moment ago.”

Reaching down, he snagged the filmy robe with one hand and threw it at her. “I was ready to make love to the woman I desire, not use her body to satisfy mutual lust with a greedy goddess.”

“Have a care, mortal,” she said, wrapping the garment around herself. “Insulting me more than you’ve already done tonight could have serious consequences, for you and for her. I could summon those two guards right now and invite them to spend the night sampling the pleasures you’re spurning. And make you watch.”

“But you won’t.”

She paused in the act of belting her sash. Raising one eyebrow Nephthys-Tiya sauntered to the bed and sat. “Why not? I could teach you a hard-won lesson, given your strong feelings for her.”

Khenet grabbed at the first logical objection that came to mind. “Word of Tiya’s consorting with common soldiers would reach Smenkhotep before we could arrive in person—such gossip travels like the wind—and he’d refuse to marry her, lest men think him a weakling.”

“He doesn’t marry her for the honor, or for her virtue, you fool. He wants her because of this.” Nephthys-Tiya extended her arm, showing him Tiya’s small rosy birthmark in the shape of a cartouche. “And this,” pointing to the one over her heart. “He knows the markings bring power. Power she has no idea how to harness, but he does, thanks to his research into forbidden matters and ancient books. That’s why he made a treaty with the Usurper Pharaoh, to provide him a bride of my lineage. A treaty your own pharaoh now honors at my command, I remind you.”

Breathing a silent prayer to his personal gods, Khenet said, “I think you’re wrong. I believe a nomarch—even one who wants to work black magic—will think twice about marrying a woman who publicly shames him.”

“Well, I’ve no desire to bed two common soldiers, even to repay you for your discourtesy, so you may stop worrying.” Nephthys-Tiya leaned back against the headboard, which was embossed with colorful lions hunting a herd of gazelles. “She
will
marry Smenkhotep, you know. Her body will be his to command, not just her magic, while she lives.”

Keeping a tight rein on his temper, Khenet nodded. “We’ll deal with that situation when we get there. Her marriage to Smenkhotep is what we both gave oaths to ensure.”
Although I’m going to do everything in my power to prevent it.

Reaching for a cup that stood on the bedside table, allowing the robe to fall open, Nephthys-Tiya said, “Very few men have ever been offered what was in your grasp this night, mortal.”

“It’s not my intention to insult you, Great One.” Averting his eyes, he tried to sound conciliatory.

“Get out.” She sipped the wine.

“As you wish.” He bowed and started toward the door.

“And Khenet?”

Hand on the door, he paused, looking over his shoulder. “Yes, my lady?”

“Rest assured you’ll
never
have the opportunity to make love to this woman. I’ll observe every inch of the remaining journey and step into her body at the slightest hint of seduction on your part.” Her grin was pure evil as she took another sip of the wine. “Such is my revenge.”

Khenet knew he should keep his mouth shut, but couldn’t help himself. “I can live with that, Great One,” he said, hand clenched on the intricate wooden door handle. “What I can’t live with is imposing my desires on a woman unable to freely consent.”

“Get
out!
” She hurled the wine cup at his head.

The door opened itself. He was propelled into the corridor by a great gust of wind and knocked off his feet, falling against the opposite wall with bone-jarring force. The door slammed shut with a sound like thunder.

Gingerly uncurling himself from where the goddess had flung him, Khenet stood, conscious of the stunned gazes from the guards. “The lady has a temper,” he said, straightening his kilt. “I’d give her a wide berth if I were you.” Heart aching, he strode away down the corridor, hoping Nephthys would be content now, after her tantrum, and not trouble Tiya further.

* * *

Dawn found Khenet already hard at work after a sleepless night, inspecting the high-spirited chariot horses he’d been assigned, and going over every inch of the chariot itself. He rejected the first one the grooms rolled out, fearing the axles were too loose. The second one met his approval, and the men began harnessing the horses.