The Quest

As he ran to where she lay, she sat up groggily and gave an uncertain laugh. 'The ground is harder than it looks.' Gingerly she felt her temples.

'And my head is softer than I thought.'

Neither Taita nor Fenn had seen her fall and raced on after the giraffe.

'Our arrows are not penetrating deep enough to kill him,' Taita shouted across at her. 'I must bring him down with the sword.'

'Don't risk your neck,' Fenn shouted anxiously, but he ignored the warning and kicked his feet free of the stirrups.

'Take Windsmoke's head,' he told her, and tossed the reins to her.

Then he drew the sword from the scabbard that hung between his shoulder-blades and vaulted to the ground. He used the momentum of the mare's gallop to throw himself forward so that for a brief space he was able to match the speed of the giraffe. With each pace its huge rear hoof swung higher than his head and he ducked under it. But as the giraffe planted its nearest hoof and placed its weight upon it, the tendon stood out proud beneath the dappled skin as it came under pressure. It was as thick as Taita's wrist.

On the run he took a double-handed grip on the sword hilt and swung the blade hard, aiming to severe the tendon just above the hock. He

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caught it, and it parted with a rubbery snapping sound. The leg collapsed, and the giraffe went down, sliding on its haunches. It tried to heave itself upright again but the leg was crippled. Instead it overbalanced and rolled on to its side. For a moment its neck was stretched out along the ground and within his reach. Taita sprang forward and stabbed the point into the back, neatly parting the joint in the vertebrae. Then he jumped back as the giraffe kicked again convulsively. Then all four of its legs stiffened and were still. Its eyelids quivered and the lashes meshed shut over the huge eyes.

As Taita stood over the carcass, Fenn rode up to him, leading Windsmoke. 'You were so quick.' Her voice was filled with awe. 'Like a peregrine on a pigeon.' She jumped down and ran to him, her hair in a wind tangle, her lovely face flushed with the thrill of the chase.

'And you are so lovely you astonish my eyes each time I look at you.'

He held her at arm's length to study her face. 'How could you believe for a moment that I would ever leave you?'

'We will speak more of this later, but here come Meren and Sidudu.'

Meren had recaptured Sidudu's horse, and she was mounted again. As she came nearer they saw that her bodice was ripped so that her breasts bounced free. She was coated with dust and there were twigs in her hair.

One cheek was grazed but she was smiling. 'Ho, Fenn,' she shouted. 'Was that not rich sport?'

The four rode to the nearest clump of acacia trees and dismounted in the shade to rest the horses. They passed the waterskin round, and when they had slaked their thirst, Sidudu slipped her tunic over her shoulders and stood naked to allow Taita to assess her injuries. It did not take long.

'Put on your tunic again, Sidudu. You have broken no bones,' he assured her. 'All you need is a bathe in the river. Your bruises will fade in a few days. Now Fenn and I have something of great moment to discuss with you and Meren.' This was the true reason that Taita had taken the pair out hunting. He wanted them alone so that he could inform them of his plans.

The sun had passed its noon before he allowed Meren and Sidudu to return to the river where the flotilla waited for them. By then their mood had changed: they were worried and unhappy.

'Promise that you will not go away for all time.' Sidudu embraced Fenn fervently. 'To me, you are dearer than any sister could ever be. I could not bear to lose you.'

'Although you will not see us, Taita and I will be with you. It is just a small magic. You have seen it done many times before,' Fenn assured her.

Then Meren spoke out: 'I trust your good sense, Magus, although it seems that there is a great deal less of that than there once was. I remember a time when it was you who always cautioned me to prudence.

Now it is I who must play nursemaid to you. It is strange how reckless a man becomes when something dangles between his legs.'

Taita laughed. 'A wise observation, good Meren. But do not worry yourself unduly. Fenn and I know what we are about. Go back to the boats and play your part.'

Meren and Sidudu rode off towards the river, but kept turning in their saddles to look back anxiously. They waved farewell a dozen times before they were out of sight.

'Now we must set the scene for our disappearance,' Taita told Fenn, and they went to fetch their rolled sleeping mats which were tied behind the saddles. In the bedrolls they had brought with them fresh clothing.

They stripped off their dusty, sweat-stained tunics and stood for a moment to enjoy the breeze upon their naked bodies. Taita stooped to pick up his clean tunic, but Fenn stopped him. 'There is no great hurry, my lord. It will be some time before the others return to search for us.

We should take advantage of this moment, and that we are unencumbered by our clothing.'

'When Meren reports our demise to That, the whole company will race here to find our remains. They might arrive to find us very much alive.'

Fenn reached down between his legs. 'Do you recall what Meren said about this? How it makes a man reckless? Well, I propose that we be reckless together.'

'When you hold me like that, you could lead me anywhere, and I would make no protest.'

She smiled slyly and sank down on her knees before him.

'What are you doing now?' he demanded. 'This is something you never learnt from me.'

'Imbali gave me precise instructions. But hush now, my lord, I will not be able to reply to any more questions. My mouth will be otherwise engaged.'

They cut the matter fine, and were only just able to complete setting the stage for their subterfuge before they saw the dust of galloping horses

approaching from the direction of the river. They moved back into the grove of acacias and sat quietly together at the base of a tree. They held each other's hands and wove round themselves a spell of concealment.

The hammering of hoofs grew louder until That and Meren appeared out of the dustcloud, riding hard at the head of a large band of armed men. As soon as they saw Windsmoke and Whirlwind grazing at the edge of the grove, they swerved towards them and came up only twenty paces from where Taita and Fenn were sitting.

'Oh, by the guts and liver of Seth!' Meren cried. 'See the blood upon the saddles! It is even as I told you. The djinni have seized them and carried them away.'

The dark stains were giraffe blood, but That was not to know that.

'By the coupling of Isis and Osiris, this is a tragic business.' He swung down from the saddle. 'Search the area for any sign of the magus and his consort.'

Within a short time they had discovered Taita's ripped, bloodstained tunic. Meren held it in both hands and buried his face in it. 'Taita has been taken from us. I am a son without a father,' he sobbed.

'I fear that good Meren is overplaying his part,' Taita whispered to Fenn.

'I never suspected such talent in him,' she agreed. 'He would be superb as Horus in the temple pageant.'

'How can we go back to Pharaoh and tell him that we allowed Taita to be taken?' That lamented. 'We must at least find his body.'

'I told you, Colonel That. I saw them both taken up into the sky by the djinni,' Meren tried to dissuade him.

That, though, was dogged and determined: 'Nonetheless we must continue our search. We must comb every inch of the grove,' he insisted.

Once again, the men spread out in an extended line and advanced through the trees.

Meren and That were in the lead and Meren walked within arm's length of where they sat. His face was set in a formidable frown and he muttered to himself under his breath: 'Come now, That, don't be so pigheaded. Let us go back to the boats and leave the magus to his tricks.'

At that moment there was a shout as a searcher found Fenn's bloodstained tunic. Meren hurried to him and they heard him arguing with That, trying to persuade him to abandon the search. Presented with the evidence of the bloody garments That at last gave in. They took Windsmoke and Whirlwind and rode back to the carcass of the

giraffe to butcher it and carry away the meat to the boats. Taita and Fenn stood up, picked up their weapons and wandered away towards the north, angling back to meet the Nile again far downstream.

'I do so love being alone with you,' Fenn said dreamily. 'Shall we stop and rest again under the shade of that tree?'

'It seems I have awakened in you the sleeping dragon.'

'I have discovered that my little dragon never sleeps,' she assured him.

'She is always wide awake and ready to play. I hope she does not weary you, my lord?'

Taita led her to the trees. 'It will be pleasantly diverting to see who will first weary whom,' said he.

The entire company were plunged into mourning when they heard the dire tidings of Taita's disappearance. The next day when they had reloaded the horses and set off again downstream, they went like a procession of funeral barges. Not only had they lost the magus, but Fenn, too, was gone. Her beauty and winsome ways had been talismans of good fortune to all the company. The younger women like Sidudu, especially those she had set free from the breeding farms, worshipped her.

'Though I know it is not true, even I feel bereft without her,' Sidudu whispered to Meren. 'Why is Taita playing this cruel trick?'

'He must make a new life for himself and for Fenn. Few of those who knew him when he was ancient and silver-haired will understand his magical transformation. They will see in his rebirth some malevolent act of black witchcraft. He and Fenn will become objects of fear and loathing.'

'So they will go to some place where we will not be able to follow them.'

'I cannot comfort you for I fear that it will be so.' He placed his arm round her shoulders. 'From here on, you and I must make our own way.

We must find strength and purpose in each other.'

'But what will happen to them? Where will they go?' Sidudu persisted.

'Taita seeks a wisdom that you and I cannot understand. All his life has been a quest. Now that his life has become eternal, so the quest also.' He thought about what he had said, then went on, in what was for him a rare flash of insight: 'That could be either a great blessing or a great burden.'

'Will we never set eyes upon them again? Please tell me that it will not be so.'

'We will see them again before they go. Of that we can be certain.

They would never treat us so cruelly. But one day soon they will be gone.'

While Meren was speaking he was watching the near bank as it slid by, looking out for the sign that Taita had promised he would leave. At last he saw a bright prick of light from the bank, a reflection of sunlight off polished metal. He shaded his eyes and peered ahead. There it is!'

He steered in towards the bank. The rowers shipped their oars. Meren jumped the gap between the deck and dry land and ran to the sword that stood on end, its point buried in the earth. He drew it out and brandished it over his head. 'Taita's sword!' he called to That in the following galley. 'This is an omen!'

That sent a shore party across to him, and they searched the bank for half a league in either direction, but found no further sign of human presence.

Taita is a crafty old fox, Meren thought. He has played this charade to such perfection that even I find myself almost taken in by it. He smiled to himself, but kept a solemn mien as he told the men, 'It is futile to continue the search. These affairs are beyond our understanding. If Taita, the magus, has succumbed, what chance do we stand? We must go back to the flotilla before we ourselves are overwhelmed.' They obeyed with alacrity, consumed by superstitious dread, and eager to take refuge in the galleys. As soon as all were safely embarked, Meren gave the order to continue the voyage. The rowers took their seats on the benches and pulled for a league in silence.

Hilto was at the stroke oar in the bows. Suddenly he lifted his head and began to sing. His voice was rough but powerful, the voice that had commanded men over the din of battle. It rang out across the silent river:

'Hail, thou dread goddess, Hag-en-Sa, whose years stretch into eternity.

Hail, thou who art the keeper of the first pylon.

Thou abidest in the uttermost parts of the earth. Thou diest each day at the setting of the sun.

In the dawn thou art renewed. Each day thou arisest with thy youth renewed as the bloom of the Lotus.

Taita possesses the words of power.

Let him pass the first pylon!'

I

480 I

It was a chapter from the Book of the Dead, a lament for a king. At once the company took up the chant and sang the refrain:

'Let him go where we may not follow.

Let him know the mysteries of the dark places.

He hath become the wise serpent of the mighty God Horus.'

Hilto sang the next verse:

'Hail, Seth, the destroyer of worlds.

Hail, Mighty One of Souls, thou divine soul who inspireth great dread.

Let the spirit-soul of Taita pass the second pylon.

He possesses words of power.

Let Taita make his way to the Lotus Throne of Osiris, behind which stand Isis and Hathor.'

The others came in together with some of the women singing a descant:

'Let him go where we may not follow.

Let him know the mysteries of the dark places.

Let him pass!

Let him pass!'

Standing in the stern of the leading boat, gripping the steering oar, Meren sang with them. Beside him, Sidudu's voice quivered and almost broke under the weight of her emotion as she reached the higher notes.

Meren felt a light touch upon his muscled right arm that rested on the steering oar. He started with surprise and looked about. Nobody was there, yet the touch had been distinct. He had learnt enough while he had been a novice in the service of Taita not to stare directly at the source, so he turned his gaze aside and saw a vague shape appear in the periphery of his vision. When he focused upon it, it disappeared.

'Magus, are you here?' he whispered, so that his lips did not move.

The voice that answered him was just as airy: 'I am with you, and Fenn stands beside Sidudu.'

As they had planned, they had come on board while the galley was moored to the bank at the spot where Taita had planted the sword.

Meren tried not to show his relief and joy in any way that the others might see. He switched his gaze and saw at the opposite edge of his vision another airy shape appear close beside Sidudu.

'Fenn stands at your left hand,' he warned Sidudu, who looked round

in astonishment. 'No, you cannot see her. Ask her to touch you. As Sidudu felt the brush of Fenn's invisible fingers on her cheek her smile became radiant.'

When they moored in the late afternoon to set up the zareeba on the bank, Meren addressed the assembled throng: 'We will set up a shrine on the foredeck of the leading galley in the place they favoured while they were with us. It will be a refuge where the spirit-souls of Taita and Fenn can rest during the ninety days while they are trapped in this plane of existence, the period before they may pass the first pylon on the road to the underworld.'

They rigged a screen of reed matting round the small space, and laid out the sleeping mats and possessions of the missing pair. Each evening Sidudu placed an offering of food, beer and water behind it, and by morning they had been consumed. The company was much encouraged to know that the spirit-soul of the magus still watched over them, and the mood in the flotilla lightened. Men smiled and laughed once more, but they kept well clear of the shrine on the foredeck.

They came again to Qebui, the Place of the North Wind, where the river on which they had travelled such an enormous distance joined the other mighty stream rushing down from the mountains in the east to become the true Nile. Qebui was little changed since they had last seen it, except that the irrigated fields surrounding the town were more extensive, and herds of horses and cattle grazed on the green pastures closer to the mud walls of the town. The sudden appearance of a large fleet of strange ships threw the garrison and the townsfolk into consternation and dismay. Only when Meren showed himself on the prow of the leading vessel and called out his friendly intentions did Governor Nara recognize him.

'It is Colonel Meren Cambyses!' he shouted, to the captain of his archers. 'Do not fire upon them.'

Nara embraced Meren warmly as soon as he stepped ashore. 'We had long given up hope of your return so, in the name of Pharaoh Nefer Seti, we bid you the warmest possible welcome.' Nara had never met That.

The expedition led by General Lotti had passed through Qebui long before he had assumed the position of governor. Of course he knew of the expedition, and accepted Meren's explanation of Tinat's status as its surviving commander. But while they were conversing on the riverbank Nara kept looking to the moored boats as though he was expecting someone else to appear. At last he could contain himself no longer and

burst out, 'Forgive me, good colonels, but I must know what has become of the mighty magus, Taita of Gallala, that extraordinary man.'

'The story I have to tell you is so strange and marvellous as to defy all imagination and belief. But, first, I must bring all my people ashore and see to their needs. They have been in exile for many years and have made a long, difficult and dangerous journey to reach this outpost of the empire. As soon as this duty is done, I will make a full and formal report to you, which you will, of course, relay to Pharaoh's court in Karnak.'

“I beg your forgiveness.' Nara's innate good manners reasserted themselves.

'I have been wanting in my hospitality. You must bring them ashore at once, then refresh and restore yourselves before I press you further on the story of your travels.'

That evening, in the assembly hall of the fort, Nara held a banquet of welcome for Meren, That and their senior captains. It was also attended by his own staff and the notables of the town. When they had eaten and drunk, Nara rose to address them, and made a fulsome speech of welcome.

He ended by begging Meren to relate to the assembled guests the story of their sojourn in the foreign lands to the south. 'You are the first to return from those mysterious uncharted regions. Tell us what you discovered there. Tell us if you reached the place were our Mother Nile is born. Tell us how it happened that her waters dried up, then came to flow again in such sudden abundance. But tell us, above all, what has become of the magus, Taita of Gallala.'

Meren spoke first. He described all that had befallen them since they had last passed that way so long ago. He told them of how they had reached the headwaters of the Nile at Tamafupa and found the Red Stones impeding the flow of the river. He went on to relate how they had been rescued by That and taken by him to the kingdom of Jarri, where they had gone before the Supreme Council of the oligarchs.

'Now I will call upon Colonel That Ankut to relate the fate of the expedition led by General Lord Lotti, how he and his surviving men reached Jarri, and the conditions they found there.' Meren gave the floor to That.

As was his style, Tinat's account was terse and without embellishment.

In blunt soldier's terms, he described the original establishment of the Jarrian government by Lord Aquer in the reign of Queen Lostris.

Then he told of how it had been turned into a ruthless tyranny by the mysterious sorceress Eos. He ended his recitation with the stark statement, 'It was this sorceress, Eos, who used her black magic to erect the

rock barrier across the tributaries of the Nile. Her purpose was to subdue Egypt and bring it under her thrall.' Pandemonium broke out as the listeners expressed their indignation and shouted questions.'

Nara jumped to his feet to intervene but it took him some time to quieten them. 'I call upon Colonel Meren to take up the tale again.

Please hold your questions until he has finished, for I am sure he will provide the answers to many of your concerns.'

Meren was a far more eloquent speaker than That, and they listened in fascination as he described how the magus, Taita of Gallala, had entered the stronghold of Eos to confront her: 'He went alone and unarmed, but for his spiritual powers. No one will ever know of the titanic struggle that must have taken place when those two adepts of the mysteries were locked in supernatural conflict. All we know is that, at the end, Taita triumphed over her. Eos was destroyed and her evil kingdom with her. The barriers she had erected across our Mother Nile were brought down so that now her waters run again. You have only to look out at the river as it flows past this town of Qebui to see how it has been revived by Taita's powers. With the help of Colonel That our people who had been kept captive in Jarri all these years were released.

They sit with you this evening.'

'Let them stand forth!' Governor Nara cried. 'Let us look upon their faces so that we may welcome our brothers and sisters back to our motherland.' One after another the captains and other officers of Tinat's regiment came to their feet, gave name and rank, then ended with the declaration 'I attest to the truth of all you have heard this evening from our revered leaders Colonel Meren Cambyses and Colonel That Ankut.'

When they had finished Nara spoke again: 'We have heard many wonders related this evening, sufficient to fill us with awe. However, I know I speak for all present when I ask one more question that burns in my mind.' He paused dramatically. 'Tell us, Colonel Cambyses, what has become of the magus, Taita? Why is he no longer at the head of your company?'

Meren's expression was solemn. For some time he stood in silence as though at a loss to explain it. Then he sighed heavily. 'It is indeed my most sad and painful duty to have to tell you that the magus is no longer with us. He has disappeared mysteriously. Colonel That and I have searched diligently for him at the site where he vanished, but to no avail.' He paused again, then shook his head. 'Although we were unable to find his body, we discovered his clothing and horse. His tunic was stained with his blood and so was his saddle. We can only attribute his

disappearance to some malevolent supernatural occurrence, and conclude that the magus is dead.'

A groan of despair greeted his words.

Governor Nara sat still, his face pale and sad. At last, when the noise in the hall abated and all looked to him, he came to his feet. He began to speak but his voice failed him. He rallied himself and began again.

'These are tragic tidings. Taita of Gallala was a mighty man and a good one. I will send the news of his demise to Pharaoh Nefer Seti with a heavy heart. In my capacity as governor of the nome of Qebui I shall cause to be erected on the banks of the river a monument to the achievement of Taita of Gallala in restoring the flow of the life-bringing waters of Mother Nile to us.' He was about to say more, but shook his head and turned away. When he left the banquet hall, the guests followed him out in small groups and dispersed into the night.

Five days later the population of the town and the voyagers from the south assembled again on the spit of land that stood at the confluence of the two branches of the Nile. The monument that Governor Nara had erected there was a column hewn from a single block of blue granite.

On it was carved an inscription in beautifully executed hieroglyphics.

The masons had worked day and night to have it ready for this day.

This stone was erected in the name of Pharaoh Nefer Seti in the twenty-sixth year of his reign over the Two Kingdoms, may he be blessed with life eternal!

From this point departed the revered magus, Taita of Gallala, on his historic adventure to reach the headwaters of Mother Nile and to restore the flow of her blessed waters for the benefit of the Egyptian empire and all its citizens.

By virtue of his spiritual power he succeeded in this dangerous enterprise. May he be praised unstintingly!

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

4H5

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.'

49

'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.

It seemed to Meren that she had aged many years since he had last seen her only a few days before.

Pharaoh sat on a higher throne than his queen. Crossed over his chest he held the golden flails, the symbols of justice and punishment. On his head was the tall red and white crown of the Two Kingdoms, known as the Mighty One, Pschent. A pair of scribes sat at either side of the throne to record his deliberations.

Pharaoh Nefer Seti acknowledged Meren. 'Have you succeeded in the task I set you, Lord Marshal?'

'I have, mighty Pharaoh. Your enemy is in my custody.'

'I expected no less of you. Nevertheless, I am well pleased. You may bring him before me to answer my questions.'

Meren banged the butt of his spear three times on the floor. Immediately there was the tramp of nailed sandals and an escort of ten guardsmen filed into the room. Queen Mintaka regarded them with lacklustre gaze until she recognized the prisoner in their midst.

Soe was barefooted and naked, except for a white linen breech clout.

Heavy bronze chains shackled his wrists and ankles. His face was haggard, but his chin was lifted high in defiance. Mintaka gasped and sprang to her feet, staring at him in consternation and dismay. 'Pharaoh, this is a mighty and powerful prophet, a servant of the nameless goddess. He is no enemy! We cannot treat him thus.'

Pharaoh turned his head slowly and stared at her. 'If he is not my enemy, why did you wish to hide him from me?' he asked.

Mintaka faltered and covered her mouth with a hand. She sank down upon her throne, her face ashen and her eyes stricken.

Pharaoh turned back to Soe. 'State your name!' he ordered the captive.

Soe glared at him. 'I acknowledge no authority above that of the nameless goddess,' he declared.

'The one you speak of is no longer nameless. Her name was Eos, and she was never a goddess.'

'Beware!' Soe shouted. 'You blaspheme! The wrath of the goddess is swift and certain.'

Pharaoh ignored this outburst. 'Did you conspire with this sorceress to dam the Mother Nile?'

'I answer only to the goddess,' Soe snarled.

'Did you, in concert with this sorceress, use supernatural powers to inflict the plagues upon this very Egypt? Was your purpose to topple me from the throne?'

'You are no true king!' Soe shouted. 'You are a usurper and an apostate! Eos is the ruler of the earth and of all its nations!'

'Did you strike down my children, prince and princess of the blood royal?'

'They were not of the royal blood,' Soe asserted. 'They were common'ers. The goddess alone is of royal blood.'

'Did you use your evil influence to turn my queen aside from the path of honour? Did you convince her that she should help you to place the sorceress on my throne?'

'It is not your throne. It is the rightful throne of Eos.'

'Did you promise my queen to restore our children to life?' Pharaoh demanded, in a voice as cold and sharp as a sword blade.

'The tomb never yields up its fruit,' Soe replied.

'So you lied. Ten thousand lies! You lied and you murdered and you spread sedition and despair throughout my empire.'

'In the service of Eos, lies are things of beauty, murder is a noble act.

I spread no sedition. I spread the truth.'

'Soe, you are condemned from your own mouth.'

'You cannot harm me. I am protected by my goddess.'

'Eos is destroyed. Your goddess is no more,' Pharaoh intoned gravely.

He turned back to Mintaka. 'My queen, have you heard enough?'

Mintaka was sobbing quietly. She was so overcome that she was unable to speak, but she nodded, then covered her face in shame.

At last Pharaoh looked directly at two figures who were standing

quietly at the back of the hall. The visor of Taita's helmet was closed and Fenn's face was covered with a veil. Only her green eyes showed.

'Tell us how Eos was destroyed,' Pharaoh ordered.'

'Mighty one, she was consumed by fire,' said Taita.

'So it is fitting that her creature should share her fate.'

'It would be a merciful death, better than he deserves, better than the death he dealt out to the innocent.'

Pharaoh nodded thoughtfully, then turned back to Mintaka. 'I am minded to give you an opportunity to redeem yourself in my sight, and in the sight of the gods of Egypt.'

Mintaka threw herself at his feet. 'I did not understand what I was doing. He promised that the Nile would flow again and our children would be restored to us, if only you would acknowledge the goddess. I believed him.'

'All this I understand.' Pharaoh raised Mintaka to her feet. 'The penance I impose upon you is that your own royal hand will set the torch to the execution fire in which Soe and the last trace of the sorceress will be expunged from my domains.'

Mintaka swayed on her feet and her expression was one of utter despair. Then she seemed to rally herself. 'I am Pharaoh's loyal wife and subject. To obey his command is my duty. I shall set the fire under Soe, in whom once I believed.'

'Lord Meren, take this miserable creature down into the courtyard where the stake awaits him. Queen Mintaka will go with you.'

The escort marched Soe down the marble staircase and into the courtyard. Meren followed them down, with Mintaka leaning heavily on his arm.

'Stand by me, Magus,' Pharaoh commanded Taita. 'You will bear witness to the fate of our enemy.' Together they went to the balcony that overlooked the courtyard.

A tall pile, built of logs and bundles of dried papyrus, stood at the centre of the courtyard below them. It had been soaked with lamp oil. A wooden ladder reached up to the scaffold that surmounted the pyre. Two brawny executioners were waiting at the foot. They took Soe from his guards and dragged him up, for his legs could barely support him, then roped him to the stake. They descended the ladder, leaving him alone on the summit. Meren went to the burning brazier beside the doorway into the courtyard. He dipped a tar-soaked torch into the flames, carried it to Mintaka and placed it in her hand. He left her at the foot of the execution pyre.

Mintaka looked up at Pharaoh on the balcony above her. Her expression was pitiful. He nodded to her. She hesitated a moment longer, then hurled the burning torch on to the bundles of oil-soaked papyrus.

She staggered back as a sheet of fire shot up the side of the pyre. The flames and black smoke boiled up higher than the roof of the palace.

In the heart of the flames, Soe shouted to the cloudless sky, 'Hear me, Eos, the only true goddess! Your faithful servant calls to you. Lift me out of the fire. Show your power and holy might to this petty pharaoh and all the world!' Then his voice was drowned by the crackling of the conflagration. Soe sagged forward on his bonds as the smoke and heat enveloped him, and the leaping flames screened him. For an instant they parted to reveal his form, blackened and twisted, no longer human, still hanging from the stake. Then the pyre collapsed in upon itself and he was consumed in the centre of the fire.

Meren drew Mintaka back to the safety of the stairway and led her up to the royal audience hall. She had become a frail old woman, stripped of her dignity and beauty. She went to Pharaoh and knelt before him.

'My lord husband, I beg your forgiveness,' she whispered. 'I was a stupid woman, and there is no excuse for what I did.'

'You are forgiven,' said Nefer Seti, then he seemed at a loss as to what he should do next. He made as if to lift her to her feet, but then stepped back. He knew that such condescension ill-befitted a divine pharaoh and glanced across at Taita, seeking his guidance. Taita touched Fenn's arm.

She nodded and lifted her veil, revealing her golden beauty, then crossed the floor and stooped over Mintaka. 'Come, my queen,' she said, and took Mintaka's arm.

The queen looked up at her. 'Who are you?' she quavered.

'I am one who cares for you deeply,' Fenn replied, and lifted her up.

Mintaka stared into her green eyes, then suddenly she sobbed, 'I sense that you are good and wise beyond your years,' and went into Fenn's embrace. Holding her close, Fenn led her from the chamber.

'Who is that young woman?' Nefer Seti asked Taita. 'I can wait no longer to know. Tell me at once, Magus. That is my royal command.'

'Pharaoh, she is the reincarnation of your grandmother, Queen Lostris,'

Taita replied, 'the woman I once loved and now love again.'

Meren's new estates extended for thirty leagues along the bank of Mother Nile. At the centre stood one of the royal palaces and a magnificent temple dedicated to the falcon god Horus. Both buildings formed part of the royal gift. Three hundred tenant farmers tilled the fertile fields, which were irrigated from the river. They tithed a fifth part of their crops to their new landlord, Lord Marshal Meren Cambyses. A hundred and fifty serfs and two hundred slaves, captives of Pharaoh's wars, worked in the palace or on the private part of the estate.

Meren named the estate Karim Ek-Horus, the Vineyards of Horus. In the spring of that year when the crops were planted, and the earth was bountiful, Pharaoh came downriver from Karnak with all his royal suite to attend the nuptials of Lord Meren and his bride.

Meren and Sidudu came together on the riverbank. Meren was dressed in all the regalia of a marshal of the army, with ostrich plumes in his helmet, the gold chains of Valour and Praise on his bare chest. Sidudu had jasmine blossoms in her hair, and her dress was a cloud of white silk from far Cathay. They broke the jars of Nile water and kissed while all the people shouted with joy and besought the gods' blessing.

The festivities lasted ten days and nights. Meren wanted to fill the palace fountains with wine, but from the moment she became his wife Sidudu forbade such extravagance. Meren was startled by how readily she had assumed the mantle of control over his household, but Taita comforted him: 'She will make you the best possible wife. Her frugality is proof of that. An extravagant wife is a scorpion in her husband's bed.'

Each day Nefer Seti sat with Taita and Meren for hours, listening avidly to the saga of their journey to the Mountains of the Moon. When the tale was told in all its detail, he commanded them to repeat it.

Sidudu, Fenn and Mintaka sat with them. Under Fenn's influence the queen's nature had changed. She had shed the weight of her sorrow and guilt and was once again serene and aglow with happiness. It was clear to all that she had been fully reinstated in her husband's favour.

One part of the story fascinated them, particularly Nefer Seti. He returned to it again and again. 'Tell me once more about the Font,' he demanded of Taita. 'Make certain you leave out no single detail. Begin with the account of how you crossed the bridge of stone over the burning lava lake.'

When Taita reached the end of the tale, he was still not satisfied:

'Describe the taste of the Blueness as you drew it into your mouth'; 'Why did it not suffocate you like water in your lungs when you breathed it?'; 'Was it cold or hot?'; 'How long after you emerged from the Font did you become aware of its marvellous effects?'; 'You say the lava burns upon your legs were healed at once, and your strength returned to all your limbs. Is that truly so?'; 'Now the Font has been destroyed by the eruptions of the volcano, has it been drowned in the burning lava? What a terrible loss that would be. Has it been placed for ever beyond our grasp?'

'The Font, like the life-giving force it bestows, is eternal. As long as life on this earth exists, so also must the Font,' Taita replied.

'Down the years the philosophers, have dreamed of this magical Font, and all my ancestors sought it. Eternal life and eternal youth, what matchless treasures are these?' Pharaoh's eyes were bright with an almost religious fervour. Suddenly he exclaimed, 'Find it for me, Taita. I do not command it but I implore you. I have only twenty or thirty years of my allotted time remaining to me. Go forth, Taita, and find the Font again.'

Taita did not have to look at Fenn. Her voice rang clearly in his head: 'My darling Taita, I add my supplications to those of your king. Take me with you. Let us go out into all the earth until we come to the place where the Font is hidden. Let me bathe in the Blue so that I may stand beside you, in love with you through all eternity.'

'Pharaoh.' Taita looked into his eager eyes. 'As you command, so must I obey.'

'If you succeed, your rewards will be without limit. I will heap upon you all the treasures and honours this world contains.'

'What I have now is sufficient. I have youth and the wisdom of the ages. I have the love of my king and my woman. I do this out of love for you both.'

Taita rode Windsmoke and Fenn was on Whirlwind. Each led a fully laden packhorse. They wore Bedouin garb and carried bow and sword. Meren and Sidudu rode with them as far as the crest of the eastern hills above the estate of Karim Ek-Horus. Here they parted.

Sidudu and Fenn shared a sisterly tear, while Meren embraced Taita and kissed his cheek.

'Poor Magus! What will you do without me to care for you?' His voice

was rough. 'I warrant you will not be a day out of my sight before you are in some pretty piece of trouble.' Then he turned to Fenn. 'Take care of him and bring him back to us one day.'

Taita and Fenn mounted and rode down the backslope of the hills.

They halted half-way and looked back at the two small figures on the heights above them. Meren and Sidudu waved one last time, then turned their horses and vanished over the skyline.

'Where are we going?' Fenn asked.

'First we must cross a sea, great plains and then a high mountain range.'

'After that, whither?'

'Into a deep jungle to the temple of Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom and regeneration.'

'What will we find there?'

'A wise woman who will open your Inner Eye so that you will be able to help me discern the path to the sacred Font more clearly.'

'How long will our journey be?'

'Our journey will be without end, together through all time,' Taita told her.

Fenn laughed with joy. 'Then, my lord, we must begin at once.'

Side by side they spurred the horses and rode out into the unknown.