Shabaka turned to Neti, as he spoke, “Neti, this is Captain Kabu; he is the head of the medjay guard.”
Neti inclined her head in acknowledgment and smiled.
Shabaka felt his blood boil when Kabu visibly did a once over of her, before speaking, “If they had warned me that one as beautiful was coming I would have provided better horses,” the captain said, bowing some and smiling warmly at her. “I can see why he would send for you.” Shabaka’s hands clenched into fists, as Kabu continued. “For I too would not let you far from my sight.”
Neti smiled at him and coyly said, “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“Not all the girls around here share your beauty.”
Neti shook her head at that, before turning to Shabaka, reaching out to touch his arm on noticing his stance. “Where to?” she asked, tilting her head some.
“This way,” Shabaka gruffly said, and she fell into step next to him.
Several of the guards followed them into the tomb, and Neti halted to look at the lintel above the passageway bearing the solar disk. She spoke a verse before continuing into the tomb, leaving several looking up at the insignia in confusion.
“What is that for?” one of the guards asked.
“To tell any restless ka that I come in peace and do not wish to disturb their peace.”
“Let them come; I’ll protect you,” one of the other guards spoke up, as they descended the small flight of steps.
Neti frowned at the rock face before her, shaking her head in confusion, replying as they turned left to descend another flight of steps, “And just how do you propose to do that? Especially because you cannot see them.”
“I am one of the elite medjay, protector of the pharaoh’s interests from both vagabond and wraith. I have no fear of such things.”
Neti smiled and shook her head, “That is because you have never met a desert wraith. For I assure you there is nothing more horrifying.”
“Maybe for a lesser man,” the guard confidently said.
“Have you ever fought one?” Neti asked, looking over the mural on the wall.
“No, but it would not be hard, I’m sure.”
“How then do you propose to defeat a wraith, when you have no idea as to what it is?”
The young guard remained silent.
Neti stopped and turned to face him, halting the entire procession, “If you were ever haunted by one cursed by Anubis, you would not speak as lightly of it. Wraths are vengeful; they are also cruel and conceited. They torture you simply for pleasure. They play with your mind until you no longer know what the truth is and what is not—until seeking your own death by any means is the only thing that makes sense. Desert wraiths are even worse, they haunt the areas where they were killed, inflicting harm on anyone who comes close to their bodies or the treasure they have stolen from tombs or travelers.” She then turned and continued deeper into the tomb.
“How do you know this?” one of the others asked, as they moved along the second corridor.
“I am an embalmer. My father told me of the curse and the chants that need to be spoken to prevent such a curse. I have also been in the presence of restless ka before.”
“How would you know?” the first guard hesitantly asked, as they approached the ceremonial shaft.
Crossing the shaft, she replied, “You will feel a sudden cold sensation overcome you.”
A few steps later one of the men exclaimed, “Ra, help me!”
Neti turned to look at the man’s stricken face, “What is the matter?” And then she saw the other’s faces also take on a petrified expression, moments before feeling a cold burst of air move past her. Then she calmly spoke, “That would be one.”
The accompanying group froze in position, and Shabaka looked at Neti and sniggered when he saw her smile, “The spirit is harmless.”
“How do you know?”
“If it wasn’t, it would have made you jump into the shaft.”
“Who are you, and what are you doing in here!” A loud, demanding voice sounded, while a stout man progressed toward them.
“We are making an assessment of the area,” Shabaka replied, gesturing toward Neti.
“You had time enough for that yesterday,” Panep harshly countered, “Now you are purposely keeping my men from their work!” He turned toward Neti and spoke harshly, “And just who do you think you are?” before turning to the guards, “You and your men know that a woman is not allowed here. I should have you all called in for flogging by the pharaoh.”
Neti drew up to her full height, although noticeably shorter than the men accompanying her, and firmly addressed the man, “I have been summoned to see to the details of a murder, and if you choose to oppose me, I will have the guards show you out.”
The man looked her up and down, his disgust clearly written on his face, and then stepped back a step, declaring, “You are one of his people.” And turned to look at Shabaka, and then the captain,” How can you bring her here?”
Shabaka just looked at him, before calmly asking, “What do you mean she is one of his people?”
“She wears the colors of Anubis,” the man hastily claimed, causing the others to mutter among themselves.
Shabaka looked at Neti, already well familiar with such tactics, his brow lifting.
“Actually, I’m a follower of goddess Hator,” Neti corrected Panep.
“It does not matter; as a woman you walk in both worlds and only bode ill.”
This confused Shabaka and even the guards looked at her in suspicion. “You bear both the colors of the pharaoh and Anubis.”
Neti once again felt a cold sensation overtake her, as she looked at the man, which caused her to frown. She again spoke the chant, causing the man to turn and glare at her.
“You are speaking curses?” Panep accused.
At that, the others stopped murmuring and looked at one another in concern. However, Neti calmly turned to him, replying, “No, it is to let the present ka know I intend to help.”
“And I guess you’re here to talk to him, and tell us who killed him,” Panep challenged her.
“That would not surprise me,” Moses murmured.
“It would certainly make our work easier,” Shabaka murmured, and Moses nodded in agreement.
“By all means, waste more of my men’s time with your foolishness,” Panep seethed, “I will tell the pharaoh when he later visits the tombs,” Panep threatened, and then scoffed, “They bring in a priestess to help, fools,” only to suddenly jolt, “Who did that?” he demanded. He then fixed his gaze on Neti, “You did,” he accused.
“Did what?” she calmly asked.
“The sudden coldness,” he accused.
“That would be the restless ka,” one of the guards piped up.
“You called him up,” Panep accused, pointing his finger at Neti.
“I do not talk to ka,” Neti calmly replied, before looking around the room. The workers present had long since halted their work and stood watching. She looked them over, to see if anyone quivered under her gaze.
The walls were well lit, and she could clearly make out the passages of the book of gates, most of it complete, she therefore knew they would know of the curse. And then she turned to Moses, knowing he had spent enough time with her and was astute enough to catch on, “Where did you find him?” she asked.
Moses moved to stand next to one of the pillars and pointed at a dark mark on the floor.
“They have cleaned here since the body was moved,” Neti said looking at the area.
“I will be outside,” Panep said, moving past them, “I have better things to see to, than the ramblings of a woman,” then started wording a chant as he left.
“The chant of protection will not help you, if you are guilty,” Neti challenged him. However, the man continued over the ceremonial shaft.
“You think all the talk of ka has scared him,” the one guard jousted the other.
“You’d think he be used to them by
now,” the other replied.
“I wonder if this one carries the curse of Anubis.” Moses mused.
“If you want the answer to that, we will have to go to the final annexes chamber and read the inscriptions. But it’s highly unlikely that they would have completed it already,” Neti said, while looking at the pillar. “This tells of Anubis waiting for the pharaoh within the gates,” she murmured, “peculiar that it would happen here.” She then turned to Moses, “This ka, if it does belong to Rawler, it is likely to be a wandering ka.”
“Wandering ka?” the captain asked, confused.
“This man’s ka and ba have already separated, or more aptly they were forced apart by his death. There is something the ka feels it needs to do before it can rest. The embalmer preparing his body will perform certain chants to lure him back in time for the opening of the mouth.”
“But that does not mean he will return to it,” Moses added, and Neti smiled inwardly at the young man’s astuteness.
“Yes, he will only return once he is satisfied that he has fulfilled this deed,” Neti elevated her voice just enough for everyone in the chamber to hear. “Wandering ka often seek vengeance against those who killed them,” Neti stated, looking toward Moses, nodding in thanks, especially when those present started looking at one another in concern.
“How did you find him?” she calmly asked.
The group of workers looked at her in astonishment and Shabaka came closer to her, murmuring under his breath, “Are you hoping to scare them into talking, like you did at the palace?”
Neti coyly smiled at him, before whispering, “It would help. However, the curse of Anubis is real, and if that chapter of the book of death has been completed, there is a real chance that the men who did this will be cursed.”
“So, this is not a hoax as the curse at the palace was?”
“I never said that one was a hoax. It was as real as any other.”
“That is not how I understood it last time,” Shabaka countered.
“I said the curse would only affect those who were responsible or knew something about it, which is true of all curses. That is why so many seek the help of practitioners.”
Shabaka just looked at her, “I don’t think I’m ever going to understand all of your work.”
Neti smiled, as she flippantly replied, “It just means I’ll be around for some time still,” and then turned her attention to Moses, “Which way was he facing when you found him?”
Moses pointed toward the ceremonial chamber behind her, which caused her to frown.
Neti looked about her for a moment, her gaze shifting to some of the workers standing nearby, finally pointing to one, “You, you are about the same size as Rawler was,” and indicated for him to approach her.
The man wearily stepped forward, glancing skeptically between Neti and Shabaka.
“Right, I need an attacker, one of average size.”
“Oh, good, we’re doing a demonstration,” Moses said, stepping forward. “These are always fun. I’ll attack.”
Neti shook her head and pointed to one of the other men, replying, “I need you to help me.”
The second man hesitantly stepped forward.
“Moses, see if you can find anything that would serve as a weapon, no more than a shou in width.”
Moses looked around, while Neti placed the man where Rawler had been found. “I want you to look that way toward the ceremonial shaft. The man did as she asked. “Now, you need to come up behind him,” Neti said, putting the second man in position.
“Here!” Moses called, “I found this.”
Neti took the staff from him and guesstimated its weight, “It will do, for now.” She then turned to hand it to the second worker, “I want you to make as if you’re hitting him.”
She had barely finished the sentence before the first man moved out of position, shaking his head, “I’m not letting him hit me.”
Shabaka stopped the man by grabbing his arm, while Neti quickly explained, “He’s not going hit you.”
The man reluctantly moved back in position, and Neti indicated to Moses to help with the other.
“Now, let’s see, everyone had left for the day . . .” Neti started to say.
“Rawler forgot something and returned,” Moses continued, “He must have collected it and was on his way out, when someone came up behind him and . . .” Neti stood next to the first man and instructed, “Bend your knees as you would if falling down and go down to the ground.”
The man first looked at her in question and then finally complied. Neti looked at his position and shook her head. “If he was coming from this side, it is wrong.”
She looked at the pillar, and then asked Moses and the second man to move, again shaking her head. “The pillar would make the strike impossible. Neti looked at Shabaka, a cold sensation once again crawling up her spine, causing her to focus toward the third passage.
She turned to the man on the floor, “Get up.”
Moses having picked up on her urgency asked, “You found something?”
Neti turned the man to face the third passage, and then moved Moses and the second man. Her gaze shifted to the doorway that led to the annex chamber beyond. They lined up almost perfectly, “Let’s try again.”
They repeated the maneuver, with both men understanding their part this time. Shabaka was the one to speak up, “He’s facing the wrong way.”
“No, he’s not,” Neti said, moving to take hold of the man’s hand, once he had fallen.
“How can that be?” Moses asked.
“Because whoever struck him, turned him over,” she said, before instructing the guy to relax and just go with the movement.
“Amazing,” the captain said, as she pulled the man into position.
“They would have wanted to make certain he was dead.”
“They?” the captain asked in confusion.
“He would have been looking or listening to someone coming along the passage, which was why he was looking that way, while the other man came from there.” Neti took the staff from the second man, “This was not the weapon used though.”
She turned around and looked about the chamber, and then took a closer look at the men, several of them holding various tools. “Do both teams use the same equipment?”
“No, each person has his own,” the man with Moses replied.
“Do both teams have the same workers?” she asked.
“Yes, we are left and right teams, we don’t share tools.”
“So, it is safe to say that there is two of each tool?” Neti asked.
The man nodded in reply.
“Where are the other team’s tools?”
“They would have taken them back with them.”
Neti turned to Shabaka, “I want all the tools of matching size confiscated.”
“But most of them will be returning tomorrow.”
“Moses,” Neti said, shifting her attention to him, “Check their tools, and take any that are a shou in width.”
“But we need those to work,” one man countered.
Neti looked at the men and then to Shabaka.
“Those whose tools are confiscated may go to the village,” the captain said.
The men visibly shifted at that, many growing taller, with only one opposing the announcement, “And then the foreman will dock it from our wages.”
“He will not. I will speak with the vizier,” the captain replied. “Now form a line and let the young man have a look at your tools.”
There was shuffling within the chamber and murmurs started among the men, as they lined up, with a few more appearing from the other chambers.
Shabaka recognized Djer and pulled him aside. Neti frowned at his action before turning her attention to where Moses was busy.
A few moments later Shabaka came to stand next to her, “Is there anything else you wanted to see?”
Neti shook her head, but said, “I would like to speak with the foreman.”
&n
bsp; “Panep?”
Neti nodded.
Shabaka indicated for her to precede him, “Moses can finish up here.”
Neti halted halfway through crossing the ceremonial shaft, her action so sudden that Shabaka nearly ran into her, asking, “What’s wrong?”
Neti turned to look at the images, tilting her head. “This is a scene from the book of Amduat.”
Shabaka looked at the inscriptions, before turning to look at Neti in question.
“They are not usually placed in a tomb.”
Shabaka frowned at that, again looking toward the wall, asking, “They possibly made a mistake?”
Neti shook her head, “No, look at the detail. They took meticulous care. These men are highly skilled, exceptional craftsmen. See the rounding on the shapes, and the neatness of the scripture, the precision the symbols are finished with. I cannot make symbols exactly the same—every time, it requires great skill.”
“And that tells you?” Shabaka questioned.
“These men would not kill one of their own. Their livelihood and the next project depends on their combined skills. A newcomer would have been cast aside, but a longstanding worker within the team would not be murdered without good reason.”
“And it is that reason we need to discover,” Shabaka seconded.
Neti nodded, and they continued along the passageway.
They exited the tomb and had barely stepped into the valley when the foreman’s harsh voice assailed their ears, “Are you done? We would like to get back to work.”
“We have confiscated some of the worker’s tools—” Neti stated, only to be interrupted by the foreman.
“And until then, how are my men supposed to do their work without their tools?!”
“We will return them, once I’m done with them,” Neti calmly replied.
“They will be returning to the village for their break,” Shabaka deadpanned.
“I’ll dock their wages.”
“No, you will not, most of them are due their break, and it is close to quitting time,” Shabaka countered, pointing to the sun.
“And your two days of interruptions have delayed them. If anything, they should work one of their free days just to catch up.” Just then, several of the men exited the tomb, causing the foreman to glare at Shabaka, “I will tell the pharaoh of this.”
The Curse of Anubis - A Mystery in Ancient Egypt (The Mummifier's Daughter Series Book 3) Page 6
