The Bloody Frontier (Pistols and Pyramids Omnibus Book 1)

by Jim Johnson

  She waved her spoon toward the senet house. "Need an example? Just look at Teteri herself. She spent four years on her back and knees in a wide range of places from the south to the north, even across the border in Hesso-held territories, and for every deben she made fucking and sucking, she managed to set aside half and keep it safe. Then she bought the land this place is built on from the provincial governor, and I bet there's a tale or two in there. Or just some tail...," she cackled to herself.

  "Anyways, she built this place, and here we are."

  "And here we are." The quiet voice slithered into the air between Ruia and the cook from the direction of the senet house.

  Ruia turned to see Teteri in the doorway, wearing a simple sheath printed with exotic Kesh designs. She was barefoot, and had a simple silver chain around one ankle. Her hands were glittering with three rings per hand, mostly silver and emeralds, though one ring had a bright red ruby on it that sparkled in the sunlight.

  Teteri's face was carefully rouged and kohled, and she had stained her lips red with a thin black lining all around. She had on a magnificent curled wig, dyed a dark wine-red. She had somehow adjusted the color of her eyebrows to match the wig.

  Ruia found her voice, and before thinking too closely to what she was saying, asked, "Was it worth it?"

  Teteri pursed her lips and padded barefoot out toward her. She leaned down and with a graceful move scooped a small loaf of bread off the cooling bricks and stopped in front of Ruia, and pulled a piece off the loaf and popped it into her mouth. She chewed slowly, and then turned her gaze toward the senet house, encouraging her to do likewise.

  "Look at this building, Ruia. This building has stood for just over four months. Parts of it are still being finished. I have some wood paneling and limestone pillars to install." She gestured toward the empty back area. "And I have an enclosed tile pool I'd like to have built along with some expensive trees from the south. I’ll plant them to see if they'll survive in this more northern climate."

  She focused on Ruia. "None of this would be possible if I hadn't worked hard for several years."

  Ruia frowned. “That’s nice, Teteri, but I don’t think this is a life I want…” She couldn’t stop her voice from trembling.

  She nudged Ruia's chin up to meet her face. "Now, don't be frightened. I'm not mandating that you enter my service. You are, after all, a guest here."

  Teteri nibbled on her loaf of bread. "But consider this, Ruia, because I don't think you've had a chance to think through what has happened to you."

  Ruia bit the inside of her lip. Teteri was right. She had so far managed to avoid thinking about much of what had happened lately.

  "Here's how I see it, my dear. You are one of the few survivors of an attack on your fishing village. Some of you managed to make it all the way to this fort, and now you're resting and recovering thanks to the kindness of a Ranger, a priest, and some other friends you didn't know you had." She rested a hand on her own chest.

  "But your village is gone, destroyed, never to be used again. By now the carrion birds and the hippos from the river have helped themselves, and frontier bandits have had their way with the remains of the village. I don't expect you'll ever see it again."

  Ruia choked back a sob, uncertain if she should feel angry or grateful. Teteri rested a hand on her shoulder. "You could head for the capital with the Ranger, but what would you do there? With no family, no home, and presumably no education, you'll find it hard to get work as anything other than a cook, a maid, or a slattern."

  Ruia stared at Teteri, not sure what to say. She was right, and yet…

  Teteri smiled, and then shook her head. "We can talk more later. For now…" She indicated the bread loaves cooling on the bricks. "Fill a basket with some bread and take it to your people. I'm sure they'd appreciate it after all they've been through."

  Ruia palmed the tears from her eyes, frustrated with herself and her struggle to pull coherent thoughts together. "Thank you, Teteri. We'll find a way to pay you back for your kindness."

  She picked up an empty basket from a stack set to one side of the doorway leading back into the senet house and filled it with warm loaves of seedy bread, not daring to look at the cook or Teteri as she did so. Once the basket was filled, she tucked it under one arm.

  She focused on Teteri as she dug for some strength within her hekau. "We'll pay you back, somehow."

  Teteri smiled. "Of course you will, my dear."

  Ruia spared one last glance to Merow, who had found a warm spot on the bricks where he could curl up and sleep. Ruia walked out of the kitchen gate and into the town, wondering what Teteri would accept in payment for her kindness, and not liking the answers that crept into her mind.

  CHAPTER 5

  ZEZAGO SURFACED OUT OF HIS HEKAU-induced trance and blinked his eyes several times to get his bearings. It had been some time since he had extended his sight and his will over another. The sensation was as disorienting as it was thrilling.

  The new thrall was breaking in nicely, though he still had some vestiges of his old, independent self. The medallion and the compulsions Zezago had set on the man would settle in due time, but for now, he needed a little nudging, a little guidance, as he headed back home to the fort.

  Zezago had seen through the man's eyes as he worked his way along the forest trails around the sun temple ruins and the fort. He was impressed at the man's memory for the terrain around them.

  That information was an unexpected bonus to using him as a thrall. He had simply gone after the closest, most likely-looking target to convert. He hadn't expected the luck to get one of the fort's scouts, and one of the better ones, if the man's opinion of himself wasn't overblown.

  Zezago stood up from the stone floor, where he had cleared a space in the stone and had drawn out a scrying circle in chalk. The inner circle was filled with sigils and symbols, while the outer circle consisted of a simple rendition of the endless snake devouring itself. The people across the Northern Sea called it an orobos, and if it had another name he didn't know it. He knew it simply as 'the snake that ate itself'.

  He carefully stepped out of the circle, his bare feet cold against the stone floor. The fire had died down and that stupid construct of his hadn't thought to stoke it up.

  He checked himself. That hadn't been an order he had given to the construct. Perhaps that was something he could add at a later point, but the more he thought about it, the more he knew that he didn't need to add more commands to the already-overwhelmed constructs and thralls. He was expecting them to do too much, and the quality of the limestone in the quarry just didn't have the inner matrix to hold more than a few simple commands. He wished there was a granite quarry somewhere nearby, or even a source of quality stone or gemstones, but no such luck. He realized in retrospect that he hadn't picked the ideal location to contribute to the destruction of Kekhmet, but it'd have to do.

  Zezago padded into his little kitchen and put a pot of water on for some coffee. He'd spend the rest of the day and the night monitoring the soldier's whereabouts and goings-on, and reinforce the triggers he had set as needed. The man was his, and only a focused effort by someone skilled with hekau was going to free him. He was confident there was no one in the town or fort capable of such a feat.

  He broke his fast with a quick cup of coffee hot enough to burn his mouth and a cold biscuit, and then padded back to the chamber with the sacred circle. He threw a few more logs onto the fire and stoked it up to a merry blaze. His construct was on guard, though he doubted that anyone in the fort had any idea that this temple was occupied.

  He'd spend a little more time monitoring the soldier, then set his last commands and leave some supplies for the soldier’s later use. Then, it’d be time to head back to the quarry. He'd been gone long enough, though he was confident Qebsenuf had things well in hand. The man might be Hesso, but he knew how to follow orders, and, more importantly, knew how to get men to do his bidding.

  Once settled into the ce
nter of the circle, Zezago used a tendril of hekau to trigger the protective wards woven into the circle. Once secure, he cast his ba-form out, seeking for and finding the arcane beacon of light that was the medallion he'd forced upon the soldier.

  He flew his ba-form directly toward the man and slid into his body, making some room for himself inside his broken mind.

  He closed his eyes to the interior of the sun temple and the sacred circle that glowed around him in a soft yellow light, and opened his eyes to see the fort just ahead and a soldier standing at the open gate waving at him as he approached.

  Time to get to work.

  CHAPTER 6

  RUIA HOISTED THE BASKET OF FRESHLY-baked bread onto her left shoulder and walked out of the cooking area, careful not to trip on the uneven stone steps leading down into the main street. The last thing she wanted to do was to drop the wonderful-smelling loaves into the dirt.

  She glanced in each direction. Large tents and a handful of stores with wooden fronts lined the road to her left, and to the right were a couple of small stalls and tents, and beyond, the open clearing leading to the large wooden gates of the fort.

  The gates were closed. There were several guards patrolling the top of the walls, and a pair in each tower that she could see. She guessed that the fort and the troops were on high alert given the battle that had taken place the night before.

  She hurried along the road toward the soldier's tents and bunk houses. She passed a couple of people she guessed were from the town, as they were dressed in neither temple garb nor soldier kilts. The people she passed by were mostly Hesso in dress, though she knew that didn't mean much out here on the frontier. People wore whatever they could find, buy, or steal, and most of the clothing out here was Hesso-made, with the occasional flash of a Kekhmetic clan headcloth or shawl. She found it interesting that the people dressed as Hesso and the people dressed as Kekhmeti weren't battling with each other. Some haggled over prices or argued about one thing or another, but the animosity between the two peoples didn't seem to carry forward in such a small town as this one. She wondered if the frontier was more relaxed or if something else kept the two peoples from warring. Perhaps the presence of the soldiers?

  She moved the basket to her other shoulder, the exertions of carrying it making her sweat in the morning sun. She saw the long tent that had been erected for her villagers and headed toward it. As she neared, one of the villagers, Setesk, stepped out of the tent. He opened the two door flaps and tied them off, and then adjusted the bandages wrapped around his head and left eye. As he did, he glanced toward her and, in spite of their differences, smiled.

  "Ruia? Is that you?"

  She nodded, and stepped over to him and dropped the basket of bread onto the ground. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her.

  She pulled back. "I'm glad to see you." She was surprised to say those words to him but it was true.

  He nodded and looked her over. "Good to see you as well, Ruia, though…I have to admit I'm confused." He gestured at her and at the basket of bread. "That's a lovely dress you have on, and an impressive bounty of bread." His tone was more curious than jealous or suspicious.

  "I woke up in the town's senet house." She scratched at the bare spot below her sidelock. "I think someone took me there last night to rest. I woke up and met a nice lady who gave me some clean clothes and food to share with everyone."

  He smiled, though the smile didn't reach his tired eyes. "I'll tell the others. Will you help me pass it out to everyone?"

  She nodded her assent and picked up the basket and followed him into the tent.

  Inside the tent, fifteen army cots had been set up in two rows, and each cot was either occupied by one of her people or by clothes and towels that were just starting to be distributed by a pair of young soldiers.

  Setesk called out. "Look, everyone! Ruia has returned, and she's brought bread!"

  Most of the villagers looked their way and exclaimed in pleasant surprise. Some dropped what they were doing to come over and thank Ruia with a nod or a hug or a kiss on the forehead.

  One of the crone sisters, Matti, palmed a tear out of her eye and accepted a still-warm loaf of seedy bread with a nod. "So grateful to you, Ruia, for getting us here. You and that Ranger."

  More of the villagers thanked her in a similar fashion and accepted the bread she and Setesk passed around. They all dug into the bread and made appreciative noises as they ate. The soldiers stepped outside the tent and soon returned with carafes of water and weak beer.

  Ruia enjoyed a simple meal with her people, and then stood up from the cot she had used as a chair. She glanced in the basket. About a dozen loaves of bread remained. She picked up the basket. "I'm going to go check on Tjety and on our wounded family and friends. Stay here and get some rest."

  She glanced at the two soldiers standing near the tent flaps. "Would it be an imposition to ask for baths to be drawn for anyone who wanted one?"

  The guards glanced at each other. The woman guard said, "We don't have the means to give everyone a bath, but I'll ask Sergeant Bennu if we can spare some soap and water."

  Ruia bit her lip, realizing that her people probably had very few deben to offer to the town. She nodded anyway. "We'd be grateful for any help you or Sergeant Bennu can provide."

  She left the tent with the basket of bread, and saw one of the two guards glance at the villagers and then hurry off toward the soldier barracks. She headed back into town and passed the senet house and the other shops and buildings, then made straight for the small town temple, which stood alone several dozen feet from the other buildings, surrounded by a low adobe wall with a small iron gate set into it. The gate was unlatched, so she walked up and nudged it open with her hip. It swung faster than she expected it to and banged against the back side of the adobe wall. She guessed that the hinges had been recently oiled.

  She passed through the gate and walked through a double row of limestone column bases, which were plain stone standing almost to her waist. She guessed that someday more stones would be stacked upon them, turning them into tall pillars to support a roof overhead.

  Her heart started banging in her chest as she approached the main building. Not out of fear of the priests or the building itself, but from being in the presence of the mighty Amun-Re, Kekhmet's primary god and the lord over all. She paused at the entrance and dropped to both knees, careful not to unbalance the basket of bread.

  "Oh great and powerful Amun-Re, look kindly upon your humble servant Ruia and…and allow me entrance to your house and your presence."

  She stood up, retrieved the basket, and then took a tentative step into the open archway. She paused, wondering if maybe she should have removed her pistol, but no voices stopped her, no lightning bolt from the sky smashed her where she stood. She felt something like a welcoming pulse deep within her hekau, which settled her nerves and renewed her courage.

  She walked through the archway and into the main chamber, which was a large open room with plain limestone walls and a flat roof supported by wooden beams. Parts of two walls were covered in images of gods outlined in blue chalk over a red chalk grid, though some of the chalk was weathered and smudged, suggesting the work had been abandoned some time ago.

  Lining one long wall of the room were six cots, similar to the ones the soldiers had loaned her villagers. On these six cots were villagers who had suffered one injury or another.

  A young woman, shorn of any hair, not even a sidelock, and wearing a simple yet elegant pleated dress moved from one villager to another with a basin, offering a cup of water or a wet towel. She glanced up as she heard Ruia's sandals on the stone floor. "Can I help you?"

  Ruia nodded. "I'm a fellow villager. I've brought bread from the senet house for them."

  The young woman placed her pail and cup and handful of towels on the floor next to one of the cots. "Do you think we priests of Amun-Re cannot feed our own patients?"

  Ruia frowned. "No. I fed the others and had
some left over, and thought I'd…"

  The woman approached Ruia. "We'll accept them as donations to the god, of course, and dispense of them as we see fit." She reached out for the basket of bread.

  Ruia locked eyes with her, then resettled the basket in her hands and sidestepped the woman and moved toward her friends. "If it's all the same to you, I don't mean for this bread to be a donation. I'd prefer to give it to my friends directly."

  The woman made a disapproving sound. "How dare you presume to come into this house of worship and dictate to an anointed priest how to…"

  "Now, now, Usemi, that's enough." The deep voice of an older man echoed off the stone walls, and Ruia couldn't help but pause and turn.

  A tall man, dressed in a long white pleated kilt with a simple white tunic tucked into it, leather sandals dyed white, and a big bushy brown mustache salted with gray, moved to stand in one of the room's open doorways. He was wiping his hands on a white towel, leaving behind pinkish marks.

  The woman, Usemi, stared at the priest. "Priest Herikhet, this…this girl presumes to tell me what to do with her offering of bread. The god's afternoon meal approaches and he would benefit from such a bounty as she brings!" Ruia had rarely heard such haughtiness from someone, and her village had its share of pushy girls. Or used to, she corrected herself.

  The male priest, Herikhet, offered Usemi a wan smile and raised his hand. "Now, don't get your skirt all ruffled. I've already seen to the god's meal. It's cooling on the oven outside."

  He glanced at Ruia and then focused on Usemi again. "Why don't you go on and fetch the god a plate or two and then see to your other duties? I'll take care of this."

  Usemi stared at him for a moment, then stabbed a glare toward Ruia before she turned and stomped out of the large hall.

  Ruia nodded her thanks to Herikhet. She placed a loaf on the small tables next to each villager who was asleep or unconscious. She walked over to the bemused priest, who had simply stood there in the doorway and watched as she handed out the bread and checked on her people.