by Overton, Max
"It is unimportant, Great King."
"I was winning," the young king said. "I would have won."
Nakhtmin raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Of course, Great King. The victory is yours."
Tutankhamen nodded and turned away. "I rarely lose," he told Aanen. "The queen will confirm that...oh gods, the queen...and my poor little son. I must go to them. I must go at once." He shook free of the priests hands and ran out into the hallway, crying.
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Chapter Twenty-Two
Horemheb's army was halfway back to the escarpment and the baggage train when night fell. After a day of marching through the muddy conditions, the men had to be driven to constructing a secure encampment, the officers applying their whips with more than usual fervor. Food was scarce and only a few smoky fires could be lit from the damp wood available, so the soldiers huddled together, hungry and wet, as the temperature dropped. Horemheb disdained a hard bed on the muddy ground and spent the evening, accompanied by his Lieutenant Penno, making the rounds of the squads and Tens, talking quietly with his men, cheering them up with a joke or a story.
Scarab drew apart from the soldiery as much as she could without it looking suspicious, and talked quietly with Khu and Nebhotep. After a while, Hapu and Sepi sidled up, the overcast night hiding their identity even from the neighboring squads. They shivered, and discussed how they could escape.
"It must be tonight," Scarab insisted. "If we leave it too long, we'll never find my brother. You've seen the state of the ground."
"Horemheb will be expecting us to make the attempt," Khu pointed out. "He'll be on his guard. We should wait a few nights."
"We must be agreed on this," Scarab said unexpectedly. "What do the rest of you say?"
"I believe Lord Horemheb expects us to try, but I also think we should go," Nebhotep murmured. "The obstacles will be so much greater if we wait. As it is we have a job ahead of us just finding the king, but if we have to traverse all this countryside again, in the rain, it will be nearly impossible."
"Escape now, tonight," Hapu said.
"Yes," Sepi agreed. "We'll do whatever you says, Lady Scarab. You just gives us the word."
"An' Huni's willing to go too," Hapu added.
"Huni! I've seen him, of course, but he's always surrounded by his squad. How's he going to get away?"
"I don't know, lady, but I'll go see 'im tonight," Hapu said. "Maybe we can do something."
"If we are going to do it, we should be coordinated," Khu complained. "I mean, if someone escapes and the alarm is raised, it makes it harder for everyone else."
"He's right, lady," Sepi said. "We needs a plan, a time, so wherever we is we can break out together."
Scarab thought for a few moments. "Alright, moonrise."
Khu snorted softly. "How are you going to see moonrise through this lot?" He gestured at the overcast sky.
"What then?"
"Hapu, how long will it take you to find Huni?" Nebhotep asked.
The spearman shrugged. "Not long, I wouldn't think. Why?"
"Look south. Wait...there, you see the lightning? There's another storm on its way. I've been watching it and it has got a lot closer very quickly."
"So...exactly what does that mean?"
"It means, Scarab, that when it hits we have a coordinated signal for the escape and no-one is going to notice people slipping through the lines under cover of the rain."
"That could work," Khu said. "And I don't hear a better idea."
Scarab nodded. "I think it is our only chance, providing the storm hits us, of course..."
"It will," Nebhotep said calmly. "It is getting closer and has not veered to either side."
"Then we go. Hapu, you and Sepi find Huni and stay with him. When the storm strikes, you may have to help him break free of his squad first, then out of camp. It doesn't matter in which direction you go, once out of camp head south and we'll find each other tomorrow. That outcrop of rock half a day south--you remember it? Meet there." Scarab looked over her shoulder as lightning flickered. "Find him now; we may not have much time."
Hapu and Sepi leaped to their feet and disappeared into the darkness as thunder growled far to the south. Khu shivered and moved closer to the others. "I'm scared of lightning and thunder," he muttered. "I've only seen it once or twice in my life until we came down here. Now it's common."
"It is the god Set who brings the storm," Scarab said. "He is the god of the desert and of soldiers. Set is also one of the Nine of Iunu, after whom I named my son. I will put my trust in him."
"I see very little evidence of gods," Nebhotep commented. "From what I hear, these storms rage through the south at certain times of the year. Are we to assume the god Set is busy in heathen lands as well as in Kemet? And if he is in the south, how can he be answering soldiers' prayers in the north?
"I don't think you should mock the gods, Nebhotep," Scarab said in a whisper. "What other explanation can there be for thunder and lightning? Can a man create such a thing?"
"Admittedly, no, but as a physician I have seen sick men curse the gods and others pray to them. With what result do you think?"
Khu laughed uneasily. "You are going to tell us that the ones who cursed the gods got better and the ones who prayed, didn't?"
"No. There was essentially no difference. Of the really sick ones, perhaps one in five survived--one in three if I was looking after them," Nebhotep's teeth gleamed in the darkness as he smiled, "But it did not matter what the patient did, only the physician. It was as if the gods had no interest in who lived and who died."
"How does that relate to storms?" Scarab asked.
"I'm not sure, but thunder and lightning always occur together, never separately..."
"They are both attributes of Set," Scarab said. "Of course they will be found together."
"But we saw lightning earlier, without thunder," Khu objected.
"So we did, but we can see further than we can hear. Perhaps both were happening but we did not hear the thunder. Now that it is closer, we both hear and see the storm. And...and...listen," Nebhotep suddenly went on, "As the storm grows closer, the sound follows the light more closely. Why is that, I wonder?"
"Who can know the ways of a god?" Scarab asked. "Perhaps the lightning is the presence of Set and the thunder his footsteps. I think you are treading in dangerous places, Nebhotep, but I shall pray the gods enlighten you."
The physician grinned again, a flash lighting up his face this time, but the crash of thunder nearly drowned out his words. "...close now." He held his hand out, palm uppermost. "And here is the rain. It is time, Scarab."
With a crash and a roar, the storm descended on the camp, the rain falling in such a deluge that Scarab panicked for a minute, finding she could not breathe. Only after she ducked her head and shielded her face with her hands could she gasp and point the way. She set off, with Khu and Nebhotep on her heels, keeping a sharp lookout for the guards. The soldiers in the camp were in no mood to challenge any passers-by though. They shivered and clung to one another, holding sodden swatches of linen above them in a vain attempt to keep the rain off. The ground became a muddy pond, then a flowing river as the water swept with ever-increasing force to the south.
"Follow the water," Scarab gasped, then coughed as she choked.
The rain became heavier as the storm died away, the lightning flashes and the thunder growing further apart as the god strode northward toward the river. The sound was deafening, the water slashing down like the cataracts at Abu in the season of the flood. Khu tasted grit in his mouth and wondered how that could be until he realised the water fell with such force that the mud was splashed up, covering their bodies momentarily with silt until the rain washed them clean again.
The guards in their outposts did not see the three figures pass. They hunkered down in whatever shelter they could find and tried to shut out the presence of the god. Scarab led her two followers out of the camp and into the
flooded southern plain, hurrying now as the downpour slackened at last.
"Hurry," Scarab said tersely. "We must be far away before they know we have gone."
"Scarab," Nebhotep argued. "No-one can find us in the dark. We need to be sure of our direction." But Scarab had disappeared into the night and only her splashing as she waded and leaped through the water told the physician where she had gone. He pulled Khu along with him and set off in pursuit.
The night was heavy and overcast and although it had stopped raining, it was almost impossible to see anything. They felt their way with their feet, slipping in mud, tripping over rocks and scratching themselves in scrubby thorn bushes. At last, Scarab stopped and sank to the ground, taking advantage of a slight rise that though sodden was not swimming with water.
"How far have we come?" she asked.
Khu shrugged, then realised the gesture could not be seen. "Hard to say."
"Not far," Nebhotep elaborated. "If we stay here, we'll be seen come the dawn."
"Alright, but let me catch my breath a while."
They struggled on, though now that most of the water had run off; it was harder to be sure of their direction. The land tilted slightly and more by guesswork than knowledge, they followed it. After what seemed hours later, the clouds thinned and they caught sight of stray stars in the body of Nut. Nebhotep stopped and peered upward, muttering as the stars danced and hid behind scuds of cloud.
"I think...there...no. Yes, there, see?" He pointed at a star, then at another one and swore colourfully. "Sorry, Scarab, but those are 'Imperishable Ones' and they should lie behind us. Instead they are to our left. We are going in the wrong direction."
"What do you mean by 'Imperishable Ones'?" Khu asked.
"A farm lad and you don't know the stars?" Nebhotep sounded surprised. "Did you never even look up at the night sky?"
"Of course I did, and I know the stars important to the crops--Sopdet, Sah, and the coming of the wanderers, Red Heru, Heru who limits the Lands, the Bull of Heaven--but unless I know them by another name, not the Imperishable Ones."
"They are the stars that never set, lad. They turn in circles in the northern sky."
"Ah, the wheel. We know it as the wheel."
"Well, whatever it's called, it's in the wrong place," Scarab said. "We are far too close to the camp and traveling east." She pointed away from the wheel stars. "We must go there, even if it is not following the slope of the land."
"I wondered about that," Nebhotep said. "I think the land dips down to the river in the east."
They took the change in direction and cut across the slope, finding the land less sodden as they moved south. The physician trailed, glancing back at the small patches of sky as they walked and calling out corrections if he thought they strayed from their chosen path. The moon rose toward dawn, confirming their path, and by the time its pale glow dimmed with the coming of the morning sun, they had worked themselves to a position they judged to be far enough from the camp to be out of sight.
"We should rest here and get our bearings," Nebhotep said. "Seeing as we came out of our way, we must decide where the outcrop of rock lies."
"I wonder if the others escaped," Khu murmured. His teeth chattered from the sodden chill of the night and he wrapped his arms around his near-naked body in an effort to keep warm.
"Sure to have," Scarab replied, shivering too. "Look how easy it was for us."
The day remained overcast but the sun's heat broke through the cloud cover to turn the air hot and steamy. Scarab estimated that the meeting place was still a few hours walk away, so the three set off with the sun at their backs. Gradually, the heat dried their clothing and warmed their bodies and their spirits lifted, and at noon they caught sight of an outcrop of rock jutting above the plain.
"There it is," Scarab cried out. "I told you I'd get us here." She started forward with renewed vigor.
"Yes, after getting us lost so Nebhotep had to read the stars," Khu muttered, a wry smile on his face.
"Easy, lad," Nebhotep murmured. "It doesn't matter how we got here, only that we did."
"Oh, I'm not complaining. I just hope the others remembered to bring some food. I'm starving."
The rocky outcrop was deserted, washed clean by the storm and now baking in the sun. Scarab and Khu climbed the heights to scan the desert in all directions. Nothing moved except lizards on the rocks and a kite wheeling in the clear sky so far above he was only a speck against the intense blue.
"Why is he so high?" Scarab asked, squinting against the glare. "If he's looking for food he should be flying lower."
"Perhaps he's not hungry," Khu mused. "I heard a priest say once that vultures were truly sons of Re and they flew so high because they were trying to get close to him."
Scarab yawned. "I'm tired," she announced. "And as there is nobody in sight, I'm going to have a few minutes sleep. What about you?"
"I think we should take it in turns. You sleep though. I'll get a bit later when you're rested." He watched as Scarab curled up on a level patch of rock and closed her eyes. After a few minutes he sighed and turned away to contemplate the desert below.
The rocky outcrop lifted some fifty cubits above the sand and rock of the desert and from this height the scattered thorn bushes and scraggly vegetation gave the red soil a gray-green tinge. Nothing moved in the desert beyond an occasional small animal or bird and Khu's attention wandered. He thought about the events of the last year or more and how far they'd come. Scarab occupied his thoughts too and he took out the love he had for her and examined it in the bright sunlight. It was a small thing, he decided, and could not possibly match the love of a great man like General Paramessu, but it was his and private. He would never let her know of it. And how does she manage being separated from her baby? I know it tears her up, but never a word . Khu glanced round and saw Scarab still slept, though she now lay sprawled out like a young child--like my sister. That is how I must think of her--as a sister . He felt an intense pang of pain in his heart and drove her from his mind, concentrating again on the heat-rippled sand below, where something moved.
Far to the northwest, a dark spot shimmered and danced, dividing into two and rejoining, slowly growing bigger. Khu rubbed his eyes and stared harder, striving to distinguish some detail. He wondered whether to wake Scarab but decided not to disturb her in case it was merely an animal.
The spot grew larger and became strung out in a line and...and something gleamed, catching the light. Oh gods , Khu thought. That is a spearhead and there are too many--it is Horemheb come to find us . He turned and raced back across the rock slope to Scarab and shook her arm, calling her name urgently.
"What?" Scarab came awake in an instant and scrambled to her feet, staring at the despair in Khu's eyes. "What's happened?"
"Horemheb. He's found us."
"Show me." Scarab pushed Khu away and he led her back across the rock to his vantage point and pointed to the northwest. Already, the men were a lot closer, having resolved into a string of men moving at a steady slow run.
Scarab stared, her lips moving as she counted. "Twelve, and at that rate they'll be here within an hour."
"What do we do?" Khu asked. "Run for it?"
"Well, we can't fight them, can we?" Scarab snapped. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm sorry, Khu, I'm just feeling angry because we were so close...But you're right, we will have to run. Come on, we'd better tell Nebhotep."
The physician lay on his stomach at the base of the outcrop poking a dried stem of grass into a tiny depression in the sand. He looked up as the two young people dropped onto the sand a few paces away. "Come and see what I've found," he said. "See these little inverted cones in the dry sand under the overhang? There's a little creature at the bottom with big jaws and when I stick a grass blade down..."
"Nebhotep, later, please," Scarab interrupted. "Something's happened."
The physician saw the worried expressions, threw aside the grass blade and got up, du
sting himself down. "You'd better tell me about it."
"There's an army patrol heading this way. Horemheb's found us."
"Are you sure it's him?"
"Who else could it be? There are twelve men, armed, and heading straight for this outcrop."
"Then one of our friends must have told them where we'd be."
"They wouldn't do that," Khu exclaimed.
"Not willingly," Nebhotep sighed. "But there is just so much pain a man can stand before he talks. I fear our friends have been tortured."
Scarab paled and looked sick. "What can we do?"
"For them? Nothing. For ourselves, well, do you think we can outrun them?"
"If it was closer to sunset I'd try and lose them in the dark, but it is not yet noon. They'd track us and run us down within an hour or two."
"We can fight," Khu said stoutly.
"Against trained soldiers?" Nebhotep asked gently. "We would not last long. You are our leader, Scarab. It is for you to say. We can run for a while, fight for a few breaths, or surrender. If Horemheb wants you back so badly, he's scarcely likely to harm you."
"Nor you, Nebhotep. You are too valuable as a physician," Scarab said with a gentle smile. "However, I fear dear Khu would not fare so well."
The physician thought for a few moments. "What if Khu ran? We could cover his tracks a bit and tell them he became separated in the storm many miles from here. They might believe us and not look further for him."
Scarab nodded. "That might work. It's worth trying anyway."
"Don't I get a say in my own future?" Khu complained. "And it won't work because I'm not going. I'm not going to run off and leave you to face Horemheb's anger."
"He won't hurt us, Khu," Scarab pleaded. "But he might you. Please go, I'd feel better if you did."
"No. My place is beside you, Scarab. I'd rather die here than live knowing I'd deserted you."
"Can't fault him on loyalty," Nebhotep murmured.
"No, just on stubbornness. Oh, very well then. I suppose we might as well go to meet them."
"Let them come to us," Khu said. "I'm tired and I want a bit of sleep." He yawned and wandered off until he found a bit of shade, sat down with his back to the rock and fell asleep.
