Bast's Warrior Page 12

  “What will we do?” Tira asked.

  “We’ll leave here and move into the rocks,” Kashe said. “We must complete our quest. If they do not find the daughter, the priests have another plan.”

  “What could that be?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Why must we move into the rocks? That means leaving the camels behind.”

  Kashe shook his head. “We’ll keep them there are places they can be hidden.”

  “So we leave in the morning.”

  Kashe shook his head. “Tuten needs to visit one of the clans where he has friends. He’ll bring robes for us.”

  “What if the priests and these searchers arrive?”

  He grinned. “We take no prisoners.”

  She met his gaze. “Like when we found the other priest?”

  “Exactly.”

  Chapter 15

  Tira stepped from the tent she shared with Merin. She thought about what Kashe and Tuten had told her. Though Kashe had spoken of canyons where they could hide the camels and themselves was this really a good idea? She needed to visit the temple. Namose had been sure help would be found there. Then Merin had mentioned keys. The sun had barely moved above the horizon. Surely there was enough time to travel to the temple and search the treasury for the keys and for Merin’s jewelry.

  She paused beside the pool to wash. Why did Kashe want them to remain here? Though the oasis was hidden and could be defended if searchers for Merin found them but if one or more escaped disaster loomed. She felt torn. She wanted to go to the temple and she wanted to flee.

  Abandoning the camels and continuing on foot made sense to her but Kashe said the distance they had to travel was too far. How much time did they have to complete their quest? She felt the need to rush but he had said they couldn’t carry enough food and water to reach the next oasis. Maybe they should forget the desert route and head for the river. Climbing cliffs wasn’t the only way into the Valley.

  Bast Ka crouched beside her and lapped the water. Tira stroked her feline companion and felt the rumble of the cat’s purr against her fingers. With a sigh she rose and walked to the fire.

  She took a piece of flatbread and warmed it over the coals before spreading cheese over the surface. She dipped dates in honey and added them to the bread. With delight she ate her rolled treat. Not as tasty as a bagel with cream cheese and jam but this was what she had. As Tira prepared a second Merin arrived.

  The younger woman watched and then imitated Tira. She tasted the rolled bread. “This is good.”

  “I think so.”

  “When do we leave for the temple?”

  Tira made a face. “Kashe sent Tuten on an errand. We’re to move into the rocks, hide and wait for his return. The priests of Aken Re are sending for searchers to hunt for you.”

  Merin reached for another piece of flatbread. “I must return to the temple. There are things I need to prove I am really the daughter. There are also those keys. I’m sure the priest meant them for you. I may be the only one who can open the treasury.”

  Tira studied the younger woman. Was it too much to hope the keys she needed were in the hidden treasury? She had the scroll showing the keys and a map of the Valley. There was also the plan of the temple where the priests of Aken Re now resided. Bast Ka had selected that scroll, too. Tira hoped they wouldn’t have to enter the place where the enemy resided.

  Her eagerness to visit the Horu temple grew. The three gods, Bast, Horu and Toth, ruled the Two Lands. Help on the quest had come from two. Only Horu’s aid was missing. Tira rose. She would accompany Merin and learn what the priests had left for her.

  Merin stared at the sky. “We should go to the temple immediately.”

  “Why the rush?”

  “I need the jewelry.” Merin strode toward the tent.

  “I’ll talk to Kashe.” Would he agree? Tira strode to the men’s tent. The air seemed unnaturally still. She glanced at the sky. The brilliant light of the sun made her blink. She rattled the tent flap.

  Merin dashed toward her. “There is another reason we must go. There is no wind. The air gathers for a storm. Can’t you feel the heaviness? This oasis provides poor shelter from clouds of sand.”

  “What if we move into the rocks?”

  “We might survive but at the temple there are places to shelter people and animals from such storms.”

  “I’ll tell Kashe.” Tira opened the tent flap. Tuten was gone. Kashe and Namose slept. She called their names.

  Kashe opened one eye. “What now?”

  “Two things that intertwine. Merin says a storm is building and we must go to the temple and shelter there. She needs jewelry to prove she is the daughter. These things are hidden in the treasury. I need some objects a priest told her would help with the quest.”

  Kashe sat up. The cover slid to his waist. Tira choked back an urge to run her hands over his shoulders and chest. She must remember the reason she had entered the tent and Namose’s presence.

  “There is no treasury,” Kashe said. “Only weapons and animals were found.”

  “Merin knows about a hidden place and she can open the door. She was shown the secret by a priest.”

  “Why would he do that?” Namose asked.

  “Because the proof of her status is hidden there.”

  Kashe shook his head. “We’ll break camp and move into the rocks as planned. When Tuten returns we can visit the temple on our way to the Valley. By then the searchers will have come and gone.”

  “The approaching storm might bury the temple,” Tira said. “Will we have time to dig and find what we need?”

  “If there is a storm,” Kashe said. “Let me dress. Then we’ll talk.”

  Tira scowled. “Merin says the rocks offer little protection from the storm. Remember she spent most of her life on the desert.”

  “What Tira says is true.” Namose sat up. “We should listen to Merin.”

  Kashe glared. “I said we will talk. We must be cautious. The searchers the priests sent for may arrive sooner than the two or three days he mentioned. They may even be there now or other men could be searching. Rewards have been offered for the daughter. Once that news spreads I can imagine a hundred men seeking her.”

  Tira fisted her hands on her hips. “More reason for us to be gone from here and have what she and I need in our possession.”

  Kashe reached for his sandals. “If going there makes her a captive of the priests Pian will win and become pharaoh. The priests will force the marriage. War will again be waged in the Two Lands for not all the nomarchs will accept my brother or Aken Re. People will suffer.”

  Tira’s shoulders slumped. “If the keys are at the temple and the priests of Aken Re find them we’ll never complete our quest.”

  Kashe waved her away. “How will they know they’re the keys?”

  “Maybe they won’t but if they’re made of metal the priests will melt them down.” She turned to leave but not before she glimpsed Kashe’s nude body and his erection. She sucked in a breath. She couldn’t allow lust to control her but each day the need grew stronger. “I think you’re wrong.”

  “Maybe so but our plans are set.”

  Tira whirled to face him. “Surely they tortured the Horu priests for information. How else would they know about Merin? You told me how the one you found had been injured. That speaks of a brutal beating.”

  “Priests of Horu would die before they told their secrets to the enemy. The man we found lived long enough to tell me of the daughter and to carry my name to the god. He never mentioned any keys.”

  “Perhaps he didn’t know about them. Maybe he didn’t know you were on a quest. Did you tell him?”

  Kashe shook his head. “There was no time. Maybe this Merin invented a story. She claims to be the daughter but she could be a liar.”

  “Yet the priests of Aken Re returned with your brother to seek her.” Tira turned away. “They know something. If you won’t go with Merin, I will
.”

  “We wait here.”

  Tira stepped outside. “I think we should at least listen to her about the coming storm.”

  “So do I,” Namose said. “She knows the desert and its moods.”

  Tira stalked away. Prolonging the argument was futile. “I’ll bring Merin to you. Maybe you’ll listen.” She hurried to the tent she shared with the young woman.

  She peered inside and gasped. One bundle was gone. Tira gathered her own things and ran to where the camels were hobbled. She saw Merin ride away. Tira reached for her saddle. “Kashe, Namose, Merin is gone. I’ll follow her. Break camp and come to the temple.” She saddled her steed and fastened her bundle and water flask to the saddle. As she mounted Bast Ka leaped in front of her.

  Namose ran from the tent. “Kashe said you were to wait.”

  “I can’t. She could encounter danger and need help.”

  “Wait for me.”

  “Break camp first.”

  Kashe stepped outside. “Where are you going?”

  “After Merin.” Tira tapped the camel with the prod and galloped past the tent. The stillness of the air was broken by a light breeze that brought no relief from the heaviness of the air. The storm builds, Tira thought. She turned her head and stared at the camp. She prayed Namose and Kashe would follow.

  Using the prod she pushed the camel into a loping run. She felt as if her pelvic bones were being pounded into powder. Ahead she saw the camel and rider. With an extra burst of speed she caught up with the younger woman. The steeds ran in unison toward the wall surrounding what must be the temple. In a final dash they shot between the gate posts and rode around the side of the pillared passage to the rear of the temple building.

  As soon as Tira dismounted Merin caught her hand and pulled her toward the stones. “Here.”

  “Where?” The wind skittered sand across the ground.

  Merin pointed to the Horu wings carved into the stone. She placed a hand over the image and pressed one wing and then the other. A click reminded Tira of a gunshot. The parted stones revealed a small room. She followed the younger woman inside.

  “I’ll collect my things,” Merin said. “Then we must find shelter.” She turned and pointed to a low rectangular building.

  “What about Kashe and Namose? I must be sure they’ve followed.”

  “There won’t be time for you to return to the oasis.”

  Just inside the door on a small table Tira saw three collar necklaces. Excitement made her cheer. “Found.” The menat used to balance the weight of the collar was a silver cat. She ran a finger over an image so like the one she recalled from the scroll. The other necklaces bore a hawk and an ankh. “Put these three with your jewelry. Leave the rest of the treasury for the priests of Horu. I’m going for Kashe and Namose. I won’t abandon them. If I succeed we’ll join you in the place you showed me.”

  “Go with haste and good fortune. I’ll keep the door open as long as I can.”

  Tira dashed to her camel. Once the beast was on its feet she signaled for the jolting pace. As the animal sped into the rising wind Tira had to fight to keep her steed on course. She saw a pair of camels racing toward her. “Hurry,” she shouted. She turned her steed. The riders caught up. “There’s a place in the temple grounds where we can shelter.”

  The three camels nearly collided when they dashed through the gate. Tira took the lead. The walls broke most of the punishing wind but clouds of sand flowed over the mud brick. The slithering sound spurred Tira forward. She saw Merin and urged the camel into the opening. Once inside the stone building she made her mount kneel beside Merin’s. Kashe and Namose crowded their animals inside. Tira pulled sacks and saddles from the beasts. Merin grabbed the tents. Namose and Kashe slid the door but it jammed leaving a large gap.

  “We’ll use the tents as a shelter,” Merin said.

  The four with Bast Ka lay among the packs behind the camels. Kashe pulled a piece of the tent over them and weighted it with sacks. The wind howled with the voices of a rioting mob. Sand whispered across stone like the claws of scurrying rodents. Tira pressed her back against Kashe’s. Comforting warmth spread through her body and was enhanced by the purring rumble of Bast Ka.

  She slept and woke to the absence of any sound other than the steady breathing of her companions and the camels. She crawled to the edge of the tent and lifted the cloth. As she emerged she saw the sun had risen on a new day. One by one the others rose and joined her in digging a path through the drift in the doorway.

  Merin opened the linen bag. “Here are the jewels my mother carried away during her escape.”

  Namose drew closer. “They are ones I’ve seen on wall paintings and in scrolls.”

  Kashe bowed. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”

  Tira examined the jewelry. The tiara was a delicate rendition of the double crown. The copper metal gleamed. The necklace was gold and the arm band silver. Did these objects mean the pharaoh’s wife shared the rule with her husband?

  “Where are the necklaces I asked you to hold?”

  Merin handed Tira a second linen pouch. “They’re here.”

  Tira ran back for her bundle and found the small scroll. She knelt on the sand covered stones and spread the papyrus. One by one she removed the necklaces and matched the menats to the pictures. She laughed. “Our coming here was fortunate. Here are the keys.”

  Namose knelt at her side. “Is this the scroll from the Bast temple? The one you hid?”

  She nodded. “A gift from the chief priestess.”

  The boy grinned. “My brother and that priest have no idea you have this.”

  Tira repacked the necklaces in the pound and placed it with the scroll in her bundle. “What now?”

  “We return to the oasis and wait for Tuten,” Kashe said. “With luck he’ll bring the robes and we’ll travel to a place where we can climb the cliffs. The storm was fortunate. All signs of Merin’s escape will be gone.”

  Tira looked around. “What about the ones we’ll leave?”

  “Though they’ll have no idea who left the camels’ tracks they must be hidden. I’ll follow on foot and brush them away.” He loaded sacks on his camel.

  “What will we do while we wait for Tuten?” Merin asked.

  “Rest and restore ourselves,” Namose said.

  “Once he’s with us we’ll travel to the Valley and complete the task given to us by Bast and Horu. We should end the quest in a day or two,” Kashe said.

  Tira shook her head. “I don’t think the quest will be accomplished that easily.”

  Merin frowned. “Where will I go?”

  “With us,” Tira said.

  “Will I be safe?”

  Tira clasped the young woman’s hand. “Safer with us than alone. While we wait for Tuten I’ll teach you how I fight.”

  Chapter 16

  Kashe found a large branch broken from one of the date palms during the storm. Once his companions had left the temple grounds he followed and swept all traces of their passage from the sand. The storm had covered the bodies of the priests and invaders who had died during the raid. He left the area undisturbed.

  Just outside the gates a bit of white cloth caught his attention. He paused to explore the area. A gold rayed disk and a body lay beneath the sand. When he uncovered a second man he realized how fortunate he and his companions had been. The seekers sent by the priests of Aken Re had begun their search during the storm and had been caught without shelter.

  He covered them again and set out to follow the tracks of his friends’ mounts. He watched as the four animals grew smaller. He swept all traces away.

  While he and Tira searched the Valley for the symbols he hoped Namose and Merin would remain calm and patient. His brother might unless the young woman urged him to foolishness. Merin’s years with the desert clans had taught her to embrace independence. The frequent moves from group to group had eroded her ability to form friendships and to learn to trust others. She seemed as distrustful as Tir
a had been.

  When he had walked until his legs ached he paused to rest. He wished he’d remembered to carry his water flask. He glanced toward the west and tensed. A camel loped from the direction his companions had taken. Was there trouble? He rose. The rider came into focus. “Namose, what are you doing here?”

  His brother tapped the camel. He offered Kashe a water flask. “Ride with me. We should be far enough from the temple to be safe.”

  Kashe swallowed several gulps of water. He mounted behind his brother. “I found bodies of two priests who were caught by the storm. They died steps from the temple gate.”

  “Then Merin is safe.”

  “For now. What do you think of her?”

  “She has a streak of independence like Tira. Merin would be a strong helper to a pharaoh but not to our brother. She won’t be content to hide in the women’s court. Like the pharaoh’s wives of generations long past she’ll expect to share the rule.”

  “Is that possible? Much has changed since the early dynasties. You’re right about Pian. In this time the only ones to share his rule will be those priests.”

  “Not Father?”

  “He’ll have no say other than what the priests allow.”

  “Won’t matter.” Namose prodded the camel. “Once Merin meets Pian she won’t have him.”

  Kashe sucked in a breath. “If the priests of Aken Re find her she’ll have no choice.”

  “Then she’ll flee.”

  “And become a warrior of Bast?”

  “I don’t think so. She will fight for the chair and her choice for pharaoh.”

  Kashe barked a laugh. “Why would she want to rule the land? Women of the Two Lands are taught to permit their husbands to see to the nomes.”

  Namose turned his head. “Merin was raised by the nomad clans. Women are often leaders there. She has learned how to read people’s intentions and understand how they act with each other. She keeps her own council but she has observed the ways of the clan leaders.”