"You mean Shabaka, Neti, and Moses?"
"I said the most obvious, but they are not here, so it would serve no purpose."
Ramesses nodded, "What do you suggest then?"
"Start with your highest-ranking officials and have their homes searched, There might be some within their ranks who was involved with the gems, but was not revealed."
"And if not?" Ramesses asked.
Then we will have to search all the palaces and temples—it has to be somewhere.
"I will send my men to search the Luxor Temple, he could have left it there the night Moses and the guards were there."
"It is a start, my lord. However to be certain, I will consult the records and see who else came to the fore in the dealings, I suggest you also bring in all messengers to your hall in the last moon cycle."
Ramesses turned toward the footman at the door, commanding, "Gather all the messengers."
The footman nodded in response and turned to leave.
Ramesses then looked at Suten-Anu, releasing a pent-up sigh, "Now I only have to find a way to notify the Nubian king of his son's demise."
"You are certain of this?"
"I await conformation from Neti and Moses. If it is so, then they will tell me. Until such time I will have Ma-Nefer shackled to the wall and kept alive. The Nubian king shall decide his fate, should it be true."
Chapter Sixteen
The tensions within the trading square mounted. With every moment more people seemed to descend on the yard, the shutties calling attention to their slaves. Shabaka worked his way through the crowds, seeking out the woman with the Nubian he had noticed that morning. Although he knew it was too far from Thebes for it to be her, there were alarming similarities in the way she moved, although even from a distance her air was obvious, something Neti did not possess. Neti also did not dress as outlandishly, yet there was something about the woman that drew him, possibly the fact that she had a Nubian with her.
The calls and whistles increased as a call was made for the first lot, a young woman barely within her adulthood. Unlike the earlier assessments, the women were dressed this time, which at least made it easier to look on them, although, like any male, he appreciated a naked body. He especially liked that of a nubile woman, and with what he had seen the preceding days, it had challenged his resolve. He looked over the crowd seeking the woman and the Nubian. There were several but the one he sought seemed to have disappeared. The woman had looked at several girls, thus he knew she would be back.
The bartering along with some lively debates and conversations started, with many pressing those involved to up their bids, while the shutties called for participation, playing up those in hope of gaining a still higher price.
There were many men present from lands that Shabaka had not visited, several of them were quick to bid on the girls, with the first couple of lots moving quickly. Shabaka was not certain how the shutties' lots were calculated, or in what order they were to present their wares, however, things ran smoothly.
They were well into the lots when he saw her, her resemblance to Neti striking, although the makeup and different hair was easy to assess. He turned to look at the lot on the block, noticing the young girl, possibly Hittite in origin. The shuttie paid particular attention to the woman, which was possibly why he had noticed her, for even with the clothes and makeup she seemed to blend in with the rest of the crowd.
She nodded her head to indicate her interest, and he quickly noticed that another person countered her offer. He had seen this before, the shutties had arranged for someone to push up the price, which was why most preferred to sell to women like that. He watched as the shuttie again turned toward her, although this time she shook her head. The man was alarmed and started exclaiming the girl's attributes, periodically casting glances in her direction, however he quickly realized that the woman was not new to such sales, and that she would not be jousted into paying more.
Another call came from the crowd lifted the price to four gold debben, the voice sounded vaguely familiar, and the shuttie quickly approached a man dressed in a blue kandura, his face covered in unkempt facial hair. The shuttie once again glanced at the woman, who again shook her head, and then he closed the trade, moving toward the unkempt man to finalize the sale, while another shuttie took to the square, this time with an older woman.
Shabaka kept his gaze fixed on the woman as she turned to move and tried to circumnavigate the crowd in an attempt to cut her off. The Nubian at her side however made it difficult to step up behind her, she had almost left the square by the time he managed to get close enough to her to reach out and grasp her arm.
The woman instinctively pulled against his hold, which tightened and caused her to turn to him. The anger burning within her eyes was the first thing he recognized, preparing himself for a reprimand of some sort, only to be surprised when her expression quickly morphed into one of delight.
"Shabaka! You are alive!" a voice he would recognize anywhere spoke, although he hardly had a chance to prepare himself for the hug he was suddenly enveloped in. His mind needed a few moments to process events. The sudden contact sent a jolt of pain through his body, and also started his heart racing anew. However, the relief that coursed through him and the experience of the moment more than made up for the discomfort,
"My prince," the Nubian with her spoke, lowering his head in acknowledgment.
Shabaka still shocked at the sudden contact, closed his arms around Neti, returning the hug, holding her closer to him as he lowered his head to hers to bask in the comfort, his body registering the smallest of nuances as hers pressed against him. It had been the first spontaneous reaction he had received from her and served to quell any of his previously fostered doubts. For the first time in days he allowed her name to pass his lips, "Neti."
The jostling around them drew them apart. Although he had no desire to let her go, he voiced the first question that came to mind, "What are you doing here?"
"We are looking for you," she quickly, happily, replied.
Shabaka looked at the man with her, not recognizing him, and turned to her, angrily asking, "Where is Moses? He was not to part from you."
"He is also here, somewhere," Neti replied. "Khabo only acts as my escort."
Shabaka moved his hand to her shoulders, drawing in a deep breath, somewhat relieved.
"Remove your hands," a stern, yet familiar, voice said, causing him to laugh inwardly and then turned to face the man, keeping Neti at his side.
"Late as usual, Moses. I could have made off with her," he said, only belatedly noticing the young girl with him, along with his disheveled state.
"Shabaka!" the young man called out in surprise.
Shabaka looked at the girl next to him and jokingly said, "Yani realized what an unkempt lout you are and turned you down?"
Moses quickly looked at the girl, who was clearly traumatized by the events, and then he looked at Neti. "No, this one is hers," Moses said, gesturing toward Neti with his head. "She seems to be collecting them lately."
Shabaka looked at Neti, who quickly replied, "It is a long story."
"I am sure it is," he replied, before turning to Moses, "The pharaoh sent you?"
Moses nodded, "But now that we have found you, we can return to Thebes."
Shabaka felt Neti stiffen next to him, even before she spoke, "We have to look for the heart scarab, and seeing as we are already here, we might as well continue with the search."
"A heart scarab?" Shabaka asked, turning to look at her.
"We believe that the people you came with had it with them," Neti said, frowning suddenly as she continued, "but how did you? That is, we were told you were mistaken for a slave."
"We were separated during a sandstorm," he quickly, almost nonchalantly, stated before turning to Moses, "I haven't been able to find any of them, but they must be here somewhere."
"We found a group of travelers, or at least their bodies, in the desert," Moses said, looking to
ward Neti. "Neti was convinced something was wrong."
Shabaka looked at her, "What do you think?"
"Well it could be possible that the curse took them, which is why their bodies were rotting instead of returning to the earth the way they should. If they had the scarab, then we should return to search the crates."
"If they are still there," Khabo added, causing everyone to look at him.
"If they did have it, it would most probably be in the crate I was forced to carry," Shabaka added.
"Where is it?" Moses quickly asked.
"I buried it at one of the wells. We could retrieve it on our return."
"Then I suggest we barter what we have for any food and start our journey in the morning."
"Trust you to think of food," Neti chuckled at Moses.
"He was difficult?" Shabaka asked, as they turned to leave the trading yard.
"Insufferable," she relied, as they moved off, "You would have thought he'd never see food again."
"That sounds like Moses." Shabaka jousted.
* * *
It was early in the morning, the sun had not even properly risen, as he woke, feeling something was amiss. He looked at those sleeping around him—the young girl not far from him—and then he realized that Neti was missing. With his heart racing he sat up and scanned the area, ready to reprimand Khabo who was responsible to keep guard in the early hours of the morning. On meeting the Nubian's gaze the man pointed toward the well and Shabaka nodded in thanks before getting up to seek her out.
Behind the thicket of oleander bushes was where he found her, although the sight that greeted him knocked his breath from him. She was washing, something he had not even spared a thought to when he had risen, for he would have remained with the others had he known. Even in the low light of the morning the water glistened on her skin, and although he knew he should look away, should leave her to finish, he found he could not move.
He watched the way her muscles played under her skin as she finally lifted the crudely crafted bucket over her head, allowing the water to cascade down her body. He saw the sharp intake of breath, knowing the water would be cold, and he watched as gooseflesh broke out over her skin, as she turned just enough to allow him the view of her tightened nipples, to which his body instantly responded.
Something must have alerted her to his presence, for she turned to look at him, jolting some on recognizing him. He expected her to reprimand him, but it never came. Instead she turned toward him, allowing him full view of her body, an image he was unlikely to ever forget. The Egyptian habit of public bathing, where women had little need to remain covered, meant that many would openly display their bodies for men to see, something he had become used to. However looking on her body, noticing how it curved to form her breasts, hips, and thighs; how they merged to form the woman he had come to care for, brought forward a much stronger urge in him, that of wanting to claim her as his.
Yet he held back, finally tilting his head before speaking, "Excuse me, I did not know."
In return she also tilted her head, however she did not speak. This caused him to wonder if she was waiting for something, the most logical seemed to be his departure, and he shifted on his feet. Their eyes met and he was not certain what to make of what he saw there. It seemed to be a mixture of confusion and uncertainty within her gaze, which resulted in his hesitation.
His hands clenched into fists as he fought to contain his desire to walk up to her to touch her in all the ways he had imagined doing. He finally nodded and then turned from her.
"Shabaka," her voice was hesitant, uncertain even, and for a moment he had not thought that she had even spoken. But he turned back to face her.
He looked at her as she visibly swallowed, her discomfort obvious in the way she moved her hands around as she finally spoke. "Why is it that you are not . . ." she grew quiet, although from the gesture of her hands he could fully understand what she meant. Yet she cleared her throat again before continuing, "It is as if no one sees me." She lowered her head.
Without thought he stepped closer to her, capturing her chin. "No," he said, shaking his head as he looked at her, "I see you."
He felt her resist him and caressed her shoulders, almost letting them go again but her movement had him tighten his hold, as she spoke, "You do not. You keep away from me."
Shabaka drew in a deep breath, as he steadied his thoughts, trying to force them past the fact that she stood before him naked, trying to come up with a viable answer . . . but he found it difficult. Eventually he lowered his head to press his forehead against hers.
"I see you, Neti," he husked. "You are too good a person not to see." He felt her stiffen at the words, however, he continued before she could contradict him. "You deserve to be worshipped like a goddess, on a divan of the finest pillows, not taken in the desert at an opportune moment."
He felt her soften at that, and he lowered his voice, "I will not do that to you." He finally said, "but soon," and his hands brushed down her arms, "I plan to worship you." He moved to kiss her forehead before stepping back. Then he forced himself to step away.
Secret of the 7th Scarab (The Mummifier's Daughter Series Book 4) Page 15
