Curse of the Kings

by Виктория Холт

  I shall never forget that day—the jostling crowds of the noisy streets; the smells of mingling dung and perfume; the side glances from veiled dark eyes; the call to prayer and the response of the people.

  "Allah is great, and Mohammed his prophet." How often I was to hear those words and they never failed to thrill me.

  We paused by one of the shops which were like huts open to the street. At the back a man worked cutting and engraving stones and on a stall inside the hut was an array of rings and brooches.

  "You must have a scarab ring," said Tybalt. "It'll bring you luck in Egypt."

  There were several of them on a tray and Tybalt selected one.

  "This is tourmaline," he said. "Look at the carved beetle. He was sacred to the ancient Egyptians."

  The man had risen at the back from his work and came eagerly forward.

  He bowed to me and to Tybalt. His eyes shone at the prospect of a sale and I listened to him and Tybalt as they bargained over the price, while several small children came round to watch. They could not take their eyes from Tybalt and me. I suppose we appeared very strange to them.

  Tybalt took the ring and showed me the beetle. About it were hieroglyphs very delicately carved. Tybalt translated, "Allah be with you."

  "There could not be greater good luck than that," he said.

  "It is what every man should give to the one he loves best when she first comes to this land."

  I slipped the ring on my finger. There were delighted cries of approval from the children. The ring was paid for and we went on our way with the blessings of the stonecutter ringing in our ears.

  "We had to bargain," said Tybalt. "He would have been most disappointed in us if we had not." Then he looked at my ecstatic face and said: "You are happy today, Judith."

  "I'm so happy," I said, "that I'm afraid."

  He pressed my hand with the ring on it. "If you could have a wish what would it be?" he asked.

  "That I could be as happy as this every day of my life."

  "That's asking a lot of life."

  "Why should it be? We are together, we have this great interest. I see no reason why we should not always be in this state of happiness. Aren't our lives what we make them?"

  "There are certain outside factors, I believe."

  "They shan't hurt us."

  "Dear Judith, I do believe you are capable of arranging even that."

  Back to our hotel and the warm scented night with the smells of Egypt and the great moon which made the night almost as light as day.

  These were the happiest days of my life to that time because we were alone together in this exciting land. I wished that we could have stayed there together and not have had to join the others. An absurd wish because it was to join the party that we had come to Egypt.

  The next day we went out to the Pyramids—that last remaining wonder of the ancient world; and to find myself face to face with the Sphinx was an experience which enthralled me completely. Mounted somewhat precariously on my camel, I felt exhilarated and I could see how much Tybalt enjoyed my excitement. One hundred thousand men had toiled for twenty years to achieve this wonder, Tybalt had told me; the stone had been quarried from the nearby Mokattam Hills and dragged across the desert. I felt, as everyone else must on witnessing this fantastic sight, speechless with wonder.

  When we dismounted, I entered the Pyramid of Cheops and bending double followed Tybalt up the steep passage to the burial chamber where the Pharaoh's red granite sarcophagus was displayed.

  Then over the sand perched high on our reluctant beasts of burden. I was in an exalted mood when we returned to our hotel.

  We dined at a small table secluded from the rest of the diners by palms. I had piled my dark hair high on my head and wore a green velvet gown which I had had made by Sarah Sloper before I left home. I kept touching the pink tourmaline ring on my finger remembering that Tybalt had said that it was the gift of a lover that good fortune might preserve in a strange land the one he loved best.

  Sitting opposite Tybalt I marveled afresh at the wonderful thing that had happened to me; and there flashed into my mind then the thought that even if my fortune had been a deciding factor in Tybalt's wishing to marry me, I didn't care. I would make him love me for myself alone. I remembered it was said of our late Prime Minister, Lord Beacons-field, that he had married his Mary Anne for her money but at the end of their lives he would have married her for love. That was how it should be with us. But I was romantic and foolish enough to hope that it was not for my fortune that Tybalt had married me.

  Tybalt leaned forward and took my hand with the scarab ring on it; he studied it intently. "What are you thinking, Judith?" he asked.

  "Just of the wonder of everything."

  "I can see that the Pyramids impressed you."

  "I never thought to see them. So many things are happening that are fresh and exciting. You look suddenly sad, Tybalt. Are you?"

  "Only because I was thinking that you won't go on being excited about everything. You'll become blase. I shouldn't like that."

  "I don't believe I ever would."

  "Familiarity, you know, breeds contempt ... or at least indifference. I feel since we have been together in Cairo that things which I have seen before seem fresh, more interesting, more wonderful. That's because I'm seeing them through your eyes."

  It was indeed an enchanted night.

  The Kebab served by the silent-footed men in their long white robes tasted delicious. I couldn't believe it was simply lamb on skewers which had been grilled over charcoal. I told Tybalt that the Tahenia sauce into which the meat was dipped and which I discovered later was made of sesame seeds, oil, white sauce, and a hint of garlic, tasted like nectar.

  He replied prosaically that it was because I was hungry. "Hunger savors all dishes," he added.

  But I thought it was because I was so happy.

  Afterwards we ate Esh es Seraya which was a delicious mixture of honey, breadcrumbs, and cream. We drank rose water and grenadine with fruit and nuts in it, called Khosaf.

  Yes, that was an evening never to be forgotten. After dinner we sat on the terrace and looked out on the Nile, while we drank Turkish coffee and nibbled Turkish delight.

  The stars seemed to hang low in that indigo sky and before us flowed the Nile down which Cleopatra had once sailed in her royal barge. I wished that I could hold those moments and go on living them again and again.

  Tybalt said: "You have a great capacity for happiness, Judith."

  "Perhaps," I answered. "If so, I am fortunate. It means I can enjoy the happiness that comes my way to the full."

  And I wondered then if just as I felt this intensity of pleasure I could feel sorrow with an equal fervor.

  Perhaps that was a thought which Tybalt shared with me.

  I would not brood on it though—not on this night of nights on the romantic banks of the Nile.

  When we arrived at the Chephro Palace the rest of the party had already settled in and Tabitha had slipped into the role of housekeeper.

  Hakim Pasha was one of the richest men in Egypt, Tybalt told me, and it was our great good fortune that he felt benign towards our cause.

  "He could have hindered us in many ways," he said, "instead of which he has decided to be of immense help to us. Hence this palace which he has put at our disposal for just enough rent to preserve our dignity—a very important facet, I do assure you. You will meet him, I daresay, because when my father was here he was a constant visitor."

  I stood in the entrance hall of the palace and gazed with wonder at the beautiful staircase in white marble. The floor was covered in mosaic tiles of the most beautifully blended colors, and the stained glass in the windows depicted the sea journey of the dead through hideous dangers until they came under the protection of the Sun God, Amen Ra.

  Tybalt was beside me: "I'll tell you the story later. Look, here's Tabitha to welcome you."

  "So you've come!" cried Tabitha. She was looking at Tybalt wit
h shining eyes. "I thought you never would."

  "It's a long journey from Cairo," said Tybalt.

  "I visualized all sorts of disasters."

  "Which is just what she should not do, don't you agree, Judith? But of course you do."

  "Well, now you're here. I'll take you to your room. Then you can explore the rest of the palace and, I daresay, Tybalt will want to look at the site."

  "You're right," said Tybalt.

  "We'll have a meal then. Mustapha and Absalam are working in the kitchens so I am sure they will mingle a little English cooking with the Egyptian which might be more agreeable to our palates. But first to your room."

  Tabitha led the way up that grand and imposing staircase and we went along a gallery, the walls of which were decorated with mosaic patterns similar to those in the floor of the hall. These were figures, always in profile, usually of some Pharaohs giving gifts to a god. I had to pause to examine those figures and the beautiful muted colors of the tiles. On the ceiling was engraved the Sun God, Amen Ra; his symbol was the hawk and the ram. I remembered that Tybalt had told me that the gods of Egypt were said not only to possess all the human virtues, but in addition one from an animal. Amen Ra had two, however, the hawk and the ram. Below him was his son Osiris, God of the Underworld, who judged the dead when they had made their journey along the river. Isis was there—the great goddess beloved of Osiris, and their son Horus . . .

  "The figures are so beautifully done," I said.

  "It would be an insult to the gods if they had not been," added Tybalt.

  He slipped his arm through mine and we went into the room which had been prepared for us. I stared at the enormous bed standing on a platform. Mosquito nets festooned over it from the ceiling like flimsy cobwebs.

  "This is the bedroom used by the Pasha himself when he is in residence," Tabitha explained.

  "Should we use it?" asked Tybalt.

  "You must. The palace is in full use and it is only proper that our leader should have the state bedroom. Your father used it, you remember, when he was here."

  She showed us an antechamber in which we could wash and generally make our toilet. There was a sunken marble bath in the center of which was a statue and three marble steps leading down to the bath; on the walls of this chamber were mosaics depicting nude figures. One side of the wall was composed of mirrors, and there was a dressing table behind gold-colored brocade curtains; a many-sided mirror reflected my image, and the frame of the mirror was studded with chalcedony, rose quartz, amethyst, and lapis lazuli. These stones were, I noticed, in the decorations throughout the bed chamber.

  I laughed, "It is very grand. We shall feel like royalty."

  "The Pasha has given instructions to his servants that any of our complaints will be met with dire punishment. They are trembling in their shoes."

  "Is he very autocratic?"

  "He is the ruler of his lands and he regards his servants as slaves. He expects absolute obedience from them. We are his guests and if we are not treated with respect, that is tantamount to insulting him. He will not accept insults."

  "What happens to offenders?"

  "Their bodies are probably found in the Nile. Or they may be deprived of a hand or an ear."

  I shivered.

  "It's magnificent. It's beautiful," I cried. "But a little frightening. A little sinister."

  "That's Egypt," said Tabitha laying her hand on my arm. "Now perform the necessary ablutions and come down to eat. Then I expect you'll want some sort of conference, eh Tybalt?"

  "Well," said Tybalt when we were alone, "what do you really think of it?"

  "I'm not sure," I replied. "I wish it was not quite so grand and this Pasha does sound rather diabolical."

  "He's quite charming. He and my father became good friends. He's a power in these parts. You will meet him soon."

  "Where does he live then since he has given us his palace?"

  "My dear Judith, this is but one of his palaces. It may well be the most grand, but he would consider it quite ill-mannered not to give it up to us. You have to understand the etiquette. That's very important. Don't look doleful. You will in time. Now let's get cleaned up. I can't wait to hear what's been going on."

  It had changed. That other love, his profession, was in the ascendancy.

  The dining room with its heavy curtains was lighted by a chandelier containing about a hundred candles. It was dark now, for there was no twilight hour as at home. But there were others to greet us and add normality to this strange palace, for which I was glad. I laughed to myself thinking that the verdict of the servants at Giza House would be that it gave them the "creeps."

  We sat at the big table under the chandelier—Hadrian, Evan, Theodosia, Terence Gelding, and others whom I had not previously met but who were all practiced archaeologists deeply interested in the task ahead. Tybalt sat at one end of the table, I at the extreme end; and on my right was Hadrian and Evan was on my left.

  "Well, here you are at last, Judith," said Hadrian. "What do you think of this kuftas? Personally I prefer the roast beef of old England but don't let anyone know I said that. Old Osiris might not grant me admittance to heaven when my time comes."

  "You are very irreverent, Hadrian; and I advise you to keep such thoughts to yourself. Who knows who might overhear?"

  "There speaks our Judith," said Hadrian appealing to Evan. "She has just arrived and immediately is telling us what we should and should not do."

  Evan smiled. "On this occasion she's right. You never know what's heard and misunderstood. These servants are no doubt listening and reporting to the Pasha and your jocularity would most definitely be misconstrued as irreverence."

  "What have you been doing while you were waiting for Tybalt?" I asked.

  "Going over the site, getting the workmen together, arranging for this and that. There's a great deal to do on an occasion like this. You wait until you go down there and see the hive of industry we've created. She'll be surprised, won't she, Evan?"

  "It is a little different from Carter's Meadow."

  "And we do face difficulties," said Hadrian. "You see, many of the diggers remember Sir Edward's death and believe that he died because he went where the gods did not wish him to."

  "There is a certain amount of reluctance?"

  "It's there, don't you think, Evan?"

  Evan nodded gravely.

  I looked along the table where Tybalt was deep in conversation with the men around him. Tabitha was sitting near him. I noticed with a pang of jealousy that occasionally she threw in a remark which was listened to with respect.

  I felt I had lost Tybalt already.

  After the meal Tybalt went out to look at the site and I was permitted to accompany the party. There was a fair amount of work going on in spite of the hour. The full moon and the clear air made it quite bright; it was easier to work at this hour than under the heat of the blazing sun.

  The stark hills rising to the moonlit sky were menacing but rather beautiful. The parallel lines of pegs marking the search area, the little hut which had been set up, the wheelbarrows, the forks of the excavators, and the workmen were far from romantic.

  Tybalt left me with Hadrian, who smiled at me cynically.

  "Not quite what you expected?" he said.

  "Exactly," I said.

  "Of course, you're a veteran of Carter's Meadow."

  "I suppose it is rather similar, although there they were merely looking for Bronze Age relics; and here it's the tombs of the dead."

  "We could be on the verge of one of the really exciting discoveries in archaeology."

  "How thrilling that will be when we find it."

  "But we haven't done that yet, and you have to learn to be cautious in this game. As a matter of fact there are lots of things you have to learn."

  "Such as?"

  "Being a good little archaeological wife."

  "And what does that mean?"

  "Never complaining when your lord and master absents hi
mself for hours at a stretch."

  "I intend to share in his work."

  Hadrian laughed. "Evan and I are in the profession but I can assure you we're not allowed to share in anything but the more menial tasks. And you think that you will be?"

  "I'm Tybalt's wife."

  "In our world, my dear Judith, there are archaeologists . . . wives and husbands are just by the way."

  "Of course I know I'm nothing but an amateur . . . yet."

  "But that is something you won't endure for long, eh? You'll soon be putting us all to shame—even the great Tybalt!"

  "I shall certainly learn all I can and I hope I shall be able to take an intelligent interest . . ."

  He laughed at me. "You'll do that. But in addition to an intelligent interest take equally intelligent heed. That's my sound advice."

  "I don't really need your advice, Hadrian."

  "Oh yes you do. Now! You're looking for Tybalt, I can see. He'll be hours yet. He might have waited until morning and devoted the first night in the Chephro Palace to his bride. Now had I been in his place . . ."