Theodosia and the Last Pharaoh

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE More Warriors of Horus

AS WE FILED OUT OF THE INNER RECESSES of the temple, a great commotion reached our ears. "The additional warriors of Horus must have arrived," Khalfani said.

"Who are they?" I asked, trying to keep up with his and the major's longer strides.

"I have no idea." He sounded faintly aggrieved.

We stepped out of the temple courtyard into the camp, a handful of riders heading our way. Three were garbed in the traditional robes of the wedjadeen, but two were distinctly European.

"Kazimerz! Gunter!" Major Grindle yelled, waving his arm. He gave a short bark of laughter. "But of course."

Unable to help myself, I reached up and rubbed my eyes, but my vision didn't waver. There, indeed, rode Jadwiga and Rumpf into camp, accompanied by three wedjadeen scouts.

The sight of them produced a giant lump of homesickness in the middle of my throat. I'd been trying so hard not to think of Mother or Father or Isis. A small hiccup of a sob escaped before I clamped my mouth shut. Wait a moment. "What do you mean 'of course,' Major?"

"What?" he said distractedly.

"When you saw Mother's assistants, you said, 'of course,' as if it made perfect sense that they were here."

Khalfani sent the major a sidelong glance. "They are two of yours, are they not, Major?"

"In a manner of speaking," he said. With a sheepish look, Major Grindle turned to me. "They belong to the Brotherhood," he said.

I gaped at him. I couldn't help it. Then I turned to look at Jadwiga and Rumpf with new eyes. They were Chosen Keepers? Descendants of the Alexandrian librarians?

"What ... how ... do you mean—"

"I should clarify that," the major said. "They are members of the International Brotherhood of the Chosen Keepers, rather than the British branch. Does that help clear things up?"

"Best go explain it to them," I said, pointing at the wedjadeen who had collected around the men's horses, swords drawn.

Major Grindle hurried forward. "No, no! They're with us."

Khalfani joined him, explaining to the wedjadeen that the Brotherhood was indeed an ally, if not an actual part, of the wedjadeen organization. His poor men looked as confused as I felt.

When I finally reached the small group gathered around the newcomers, I was struck by shyness and hung back a bit.

"How did you find us?" the major asked the two archaeologists.

Rumpf threw a quick glance at me, and then I had my sixth or seventh shock of the day. "We followed the girl's cat."

"Her cat?"

"Isis?" All my fear and longing and utter homesickness crowded in my throat so that I ended up squealing her name.

"Ja, your little black cat." Jadwiga reached into his coat and the wedjadeen scout closest to him raised his spear.

"Lower your weapon," Khalfani bellowed at the scout.

"But, sir!"

"Lower it. These men are now our allies."

The scout scowled but retracted his spear so that Jadwiga could reach into his coat and pull Isis from the depths of his jacket. "She got tired of walking. It is a long way for such little paws."

Dear Jadwiga! His voice sounded as if every one of those steps had bruised his heart.

As I reached for her, she twisted gracefully and launched herself from Jadwiga's lap into my arms. I caught her and hugged her close, reveling in the soft silkiness of her fur, the fierce rumble of her purr. She was as happy to see me as I was to see her.

"Is that true, sir?" Rumpf glanced sideways at the scouts. "Are we working with these men now?"

"Yes, it's all true, and have I got a whopper of a story to tell you." Major Grindle rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"Yes, well, before you do, I need to let you know that we've found where the Serpents of Chaos are hiding."

A slow smile spread across Major Grindle's face, and he turned to Khalfani. "Which means they have also found the boy."

The men dismounted and Jadwiga clucked and removed his coat, placing it around my shoulders. "Why do they have you running around in your petticoat?"

If I hadn't had my arms full of purring cat, I would have hugged him. "It's not a petticoat—it's a ceremonial shift. I'll explain later. How is Mother?" I was worried for her and how she was taking my disappearance.

He tried to protect me from her misery, but it simply wasn't in his nature to be cheerful. "She is doing all right. She visits the police station and the consulate offices twice a day, haranguing that they should do more to find you."

"She notified your father right away," Rumpf said. "I believe he left the next morning. He should arrive in Luxor soon."

Before I could ask for more details, we were all pulled into the great swirling commotion that surrounded the newcomers' arrival and the announcement of the wedjadeen's newfound alliance with the Brotherhood.

Jadwiga looked down at me. "Are you ever going to let go of your cat?" he asked. I couldn't be certain, but I think his mouth held the faintest hint of a smile.

"No," I said, looking down to where Isis was purring contentedly and kneading in my lap. Her tiny claws pricked at my stomach through the thin material of my dress, but I didn't mind—I was too happy just to have her back. The truth was, I refused to let go of Isis the entire time, even when Sefu came to see what was going on. I decided that if the wedjadeen and the Chosen Keepers could learn to get along, so could the monkey and my cat.

Once all the wedjadeen had been told of the new developments, they were dismissed and Major Grindle, Jadwiga, Rumpf, and I were summoned to the mudir's tent with the soldiers and Weret Hekau. Khalfani and the mudir were already poring over a map. Khalfani looked up as we entered the tent. "Can you show us on this map where the followers of Set are?"

"Ja," Jadwiga said, stepping around me and going to the table. The rest of us followed, eager to see the exact location. Jadwiga peered at the map a moment, then plunked a thick finger down on an intersection of streets in Luxor. "Right here."

Major Grindle looked at him. "Right in the middle of the black market. It makes sense, as most of those men either have worked for Chaos in the past or benefit greatly from their traffic in stolen antiquities."

"How do you know this?" Khalfani asked.

"That is part of our work in the Brotherhood, keeping an eye on cursed artifacts and preventing the dangerous ones from falling into the hands of Chaos," Major Grindle explained. "Many of the black-market men are your people. Do you have any idea how many are sympathetic to Chaos?"

"Most likely all of them," Khalfani said. "There are not many occupations here that pay what selling antikahs to tourists pays. You cannot blame them. They have families to feed. It makes no difference to them who takes the treasure from their land."

Major Grindle met Khalfani's accusing gaze steadily. "No, I do not blame them."

"But don't they fear the Eyes of Horus?" I asked. "Aren't they afraid of what you'll do to them for siding with others?"

"Not if they think the others will win," the mudir said.

Honestly, you'd think the leader of an organization would show a little more confidence than that!

"So how many are there?" Major Grindle asked.

Rumpf shrugged. "It was hard to get an exact count because there was so much coming and going," he explained to the others.

"And the boy? Did you see a young boy?" Khalfani asked.

Rumpf shook his head. "There is something else you should know. The British officials are blaming the locals for the girl's disappearance. They are rounding up your people and questioning them, rather roughly. This has stirred up quite a bit of resentment."

Fenuku slammed his hand down on the table. "I say we storm the area," he said. "Bring destruction down on their heads." I wasn't sure if he meant the heads of the Serpents of Chaos or the British officials.

Khalfani threw him a wry glance. "I fear they will slit the boy's throat at the first signs of attack. Even if they do not, there is too great a chance he could be harmed in the fighting."

Major Grindle studied the map. "We need to be more subtle than that."

Khalfani looked up. "What are you thinking?"

"We need to eliminate their home-field advantage."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Fenuku challenged.

The major looked up and met his gaze. "By luring them out." He turned to the mudir. "They have no doubt learned that the tablet we gave them was a fake. Its magic only lasted until the moon set that night. Send them a message saying that the girl and I were not the ones they needed to deal with in order to retrieve the tablet. That you are the ones who hold it in your possession and that they must deal with you. You offer them a second chance at the tablet, in exchange for the boy."

Khalfani nodded slowly as the plan took shape in his mind. "Yes, that would draw them out. And the best time to strike would be when they are transporting the hostage to the exchange point. That is when we will strike."

"Exactly," Major Grindle said.

"Very well. We move out tonight, under cover of darkness. We will take ourselves to the stronghold at Karnak and plan the rest of the operation there, where we will have greater access to their comings and goings."