He turned to Kysen and Abu. "Ky, you and Abu stay here. I don't want to alarm Satet and whoever she's visiting."
"Lord, I don't think there's anyone else in the house," Abu said. "It's too quiet."
"They may be in the rear."
"At least allow me to come with you," Kysen said.
"No. This is probably where her sister is staying, and we must go carefully so that we don't frighten off this cursed royal cook."
"I should at least go to the roof," Kysen said.
"Very well."
Meren pushed open the door to reveal a darkened front chamber. Beyond he could see a dim yellow glow. Nodding to Kysen, he slipped inside and shut the door. As he walked toward the light, a goose honked, causing him to start. Then he heard Satet.
"Be quiet, Beauty. I'll be finished soon. I must fold this sheet, or it won't fit in the basket. Look, I found my cosmetics box. I knew Hunero took it with her when she left."
Meren stepped into a kitchen lit by a single lamp. To his left lay a staircase that led to the second floor; to his right, an oven sat against the far wall beneath a ventilation hole in the roof. Jars of fruit, oil, and beer sat on shelves, while baskets lined the walls. Before one of them, near the oven, knelt Satet. She placed a folded linen sheet in a basket and looked up at him.
"You! Go away. I can't instruct your cooks anymore. I have this house now, and I'll be busy selling bread in the market."
"Where is your sister?"
"I don't know. She's terribly lazy. She might be asleep." Satet turned to Beauty, who was pecking at bread crumbs scattered by the oven. "What do you think, Beauty? Tell him what an indolent Hunero is. Was my sister not asleep when we first found her?"
Meren walked over to the stairs that led to the second story and glanced into darkness. He looked over his shoulder at Satet.
"You should have told me you found your sister."
As he spoke, Satet picked up a small cosmetics box, placed it on top of the sheet in the basket, and straightened. She glanced his way and gasped. Her mouth formed a cavern, while her eyes widened to the size of ripe olives. Meren looked at her expression and at the same moment felt a presence behind him. He whirled and dropped to a crouch. Something buzzed by his head, and he heard a snarl.
Meren threw himself backward. A giant shadow chased him, and he caught a glimpse of blank yellow eyes. With the speed of a leopard, claws lashed at him. It was all he could do to scramble out of reach before the ax came at his head again. There was no time to draw his dagger, no time to do anything but dodge, veer, and duck to avoid being slashed or hacked. He jumped aside as the creature sprang at him. Satet whimpered and fell to the floor senseless. Beauty squawked when Meren stepped on her foot, then flapped her wings and hissed.
Eater of Souls swung the ax, but with both hands Meren grabbed the arm that bore the weapon. To his horror, his strength was as a child's against the creature. The arm jerked free. The ax flew up. A clawed hand grabbed his neck, and he felt the blades cut into his flesh. It was then that he remembered his voice.
He shouted an alarm, twisted in that animal grip, and kicked. Eater of Souls roared, but struck again with the ax as Meren tried to pull free. Meren saw the blow coming, stopped struggling, and lunged down, pulling Eater of Souls with him. They hit the floor as he heard the front door crash open. Something hissed by his ear. Meren grabbed blindly and found Beauty. Snagging the goose by her neck, he threw her at Eater of Souls. Beauty landed on the creature's chest, wings flapping, neck stretched. She hissed once, then struck, lunging past the gaping jaws.
Meren heard a scream as he rolled away and jumped to his feet. The ax dropped as Eater of Souls drew both arms up for protection against the pummeling beak. At that moment Kysen raced down the stairs, his dagger drawn. Abu was in the doorway with his own weapon. Both drew back their arms, but Meren cried out.
"No!"
Eater of Souls thrust the goose away, grabbed the ax, and scrambled to a crouch. Grunting, her breath coming in loud rasps, she prepared to throw the weapon.
"Reshep, don't!"
The ax paused high in the air. The crocodile head tilted to the side. Then a high voice with the texture of sand issued from beneath the snout.
"Ammut, the Devouress, Eater of Souls, comes to destroy transgressors. I am sent by the gods to protect the favored one."
The voice sent waves of cold crashing through Meren's body. It wasn't Reshep's. This voice slithered through muddy, sluggish water. It basked motionless in the boiling heat of the sun for hours, then slid beneath the water close to the shore and lunged at unsuspecting and thirsty gazelles. And yet there was an undertone of grit, a rumbling purr that belonged in the deserts and savanna where it stalked prey through the tall grass.
Meren exchanged glances with Kysen and Abu. Neither had moved once they heard that voice. Kysen lifted his brows in a question. Meren shook his head.
"Reshep, I know it's you under that mask. Stop now."
"The gods have sent Eater of Souls."
"Reshep?" Kysen gaped at Eater of Souls. "Are you certain? Reshep has such a vain, lazy heart."
Abu shifted his weight, his arm still cocked to throw his dagger. "He's possessed."
Eater of Souls paid Abu no heed. The dead yellow eyes seemed to stare at Kysen, but then the snout turned and pointed toward Meren. In the shadowed light he could see that the preserved crocodile's head fit over Reshep's. The lower jaw came down to conceal half the man's face, while the lion's mane attached to it covered his neck and shoulders. A hippo hide emerged from the lion's mane in front and back and was attached to Reshep's kilt by leather thongs.
Reshep raised his arm to point at Meren. His hand was covered by a thick leather gauntlet. Finger stalls of polished bronze ended in curved, clawlike razors. One of them pointed at Meren.
"Evil one, source of pain and emptiness. Usurper of glory, worship, and power. You steal what is rightfully the favored one's, and you must be devoured."
The ax lifted, but Meren spoke quickly. "The favored one is Reshep?"
The ax paused.
"All who cause pain to Reshep must be devoured?" Meren asked softly.
Kysen's voice rose. "Father-"
"Be quiet!" Meren whispered sharply.
"The gods are merciless to those who deserve annihilation," Eater of Souls replied. The ax arm lowered. "The father of the chosen one, he caused much pain. His mouth poured forth scorn and reproach, endlessly, destroying the praises of the mother. There was great relief when the father was devoured."
"And the mother?"
"She praised the favored one, but only when he became a mirror by which her own perfections could be reflected. And she was a bottomless well, always needing, always empty, never content. She drained the Favorite of glory and perfection to feed herself."
"The gods decreed that she be devoured," Meren said.
There was no answer.
"And the farmer, he nearly caused your-Reshep's chariot to overturn."
Eater of Souls uttered a rumbling purr of assent. "The cursed simpleton stepped into the street without looking."
"The tavern woman?"
Eater of Souls raised the ax once more. "Judgment must be carried out."
"What about the Hittite?" Meren said loudly.
The Devouress hesitated, then raised her snout as if to test the scent of Abu and Kysen. Turning back to Meren, she lowered her weapon and rested the handle in both hands.
"The foreigner insulted the favored one. As you insult him by your existence."
When a crocodile is hungry, it lurks just beneath the surface of water near the bank, still, with soulless patience. When some small or weak creature ventures into the open to drink, it lunges out of the water and closes its jaws around a leg or neck. In a heartbeat the creature is dragged underwater, to be crushed and drowned under the weight of that slithering body. There is no sign of the attack, no warning snarl or growl. There was no warning when Eater of Souls lunged at Meren and swung
the ax.
Meren threw himself aside, tripping over Satet's prone body. He felt the ax slash the air beside his ear as he tumbled to the floor. Landing on his side, he rolled even as Eater of Souls turned and swung the ax up. At that moment Meren heard a thud. Eater of Souls paused in swinging the ax overhead, two daggers protruding from his chest. Meren jumped up as the demon stumbled and fell. Kysen ran to his side while Abu approached the Devouress.
"He still lives, lord."
Meren and Kysen knelt beside the crocodile head, gripped the snout, and lifted it. Reshep's burning eyes appeared. Meren shoved the mask aside and turned back to Reshep, who was staring at Kysen. Then his gaze fastened on Meren. Sudden recognition flared. Meren heard a low, watery growl. Kysen and Abu shouted. Bronze claws struck, slashing at Meren; but Kysen rammed the battle-ax against Reshep's forearm. Reshep howled as Abu shoved one of the daggers deeper into his chest.
Shaken, Meren rose and stood looking at the body of the man, the crocodile's head, the mane and hide. Abu recited a banishing spell. Meren's lips moved silently as well. Kysen muttered an appeal to Amun for protection, then turned his attention to Satet, who was rousing from her faint. Beauty immediately flapped her wings at him and clacked her beak. Swearing, Abu grabbed the bird by the neck and thrust it into a large cage that sat beside the stairs.
While Kysen helped the old woman to a stool, Meren found a water bottle. He handed Satet a cup and poured her a drink.
"Reshep," Kysen said over Satet's head. "It was Reshep all this time. And he wanted to marry Isis, by the gods. What kind of unspeakable evil lodged in his heart that he could-"
Kysen's half-moon eyes narrowed as he and Meren stared at each other.
"He was possessed," Abu said. "Did you hear that voice? It was the voice of a fiend." He pulled his dagger from Reshep's body and began cleaning it on the hippo hide.
No one spoke. Satet began rocking back and forth while she hugged herself. Kysen stared at Reshep's body with a speculative look.
"A strange possession," Meren murmured.
Kysen turned to him. "What do you mean?"
Meren set the water jar aside, rose, and went to stand over the dead man. "I have been pondering something for a long time. Have you ever heard of one possessed by a demon or evil spirit only by night?"
Kysen shook his head.
"Or a demon who took the part of protector of a man?"
"Then why, lord?"
"I don't know," Meren said. He studied Reshep's unmoving features, now as immobile as those of his crocodile mask. "Perhaps I'm wrong, but I cannot understand why the great gods of Egypt would concern themselves with a petty noble and send the great Ammut, the Devouress and Eater of Souls, to protect him. Perhaps some other fiend made him sick so that Reshep imagined that he was this favored one simply because that is what he wished to believe. From what we've learned about him, his mother certainly told him that often enough."
"Then all this death, all this terror, was about Reshep and the things he wanted," Kysen said.
"I think his heart was crazed, possessed of some evil fiend," Meren said, "but not by Eater of Souls, and I'm almost certain not at the behest of Osiris, Amun, and Ra. The only chosen one of the gods in Egypt is pharaoh, may he have life, health, and prosperity."
"Reshep," Kysen said, shaking his head. "How did you know he was Eater of Souls?"
"Remember what I asked you? Whom had Mugallu and I both offended? I thought of several, but of those, I believed only Reshep truly had the kind of heart that would think small offenses deserving of death."
Meren was looking at Satet. The old woman was still rocking herself.
"Aged one?" Meren asked. She didn't reply.
He tried again. "Satet."
No answer.
"Ky, we should take Satet home. Abu, remain here, and I'll send Reia to you."
"Here, lord? What if our spells haven't banished the demon?" Abu was eyeing the crocodile head and making a sign against evil.
"Post yourself before the front door, and I'll send priests along with Reia," Meren said. He, too, wouldn't want to stay here alone with Reshep, or Eater of Souls.
As they helped Satet out of the house, Kysen paused. Meren heard a sharp intake of breath as his son turned to him, his face barely visible in the dark.
"What do you suppose he did with the hearts?"
Meren had been asking himself the same thing, and the more he asked, the more he wished he hadn't thought of the answer. "What does Eater of Souls do with the hearts of those condemned by the gods?"
He knew Kysen had understood him when his son pressed his lips together and swallowed. Silently they walked away from the house.
Chapter 17
Shortly before dawn Kysen strode down the corridor of the women's quarters and stuck his head in Bener's chamber. Bener was pacing but stopped when he appeared.
"You're back. Why were you so long?"
"Where is Isis? I expected to find her waiting with you."
"She went to bed hours ago. What happened? Didn't you find Satet?"
Kysen muttered under his breath and plunged down the hall. Bener caught up with him as he reached Isis's door and started pounding on it.
"Isis! Isis, you worthless piece of offal, I'm coming in!"
"What's wrong?" Bener demanded. "Where's Father?"
"He's gone to the palace." Kysen shoved the door open and darted into the chamber with Bener close behind.
Isis slept as perfectly as she dressed. Lying on her back, her headrest supporting her head, she rested with a single sheet draped over her body. Her arms lay beneath the linen. Kysen reached out, grabbed a handful of artfully arranged hair, and yanked. Isis howled and shot out of her nest, spitting and clawing. Undaunted, Kysen pulled his sister off the bed and sent her spinning across the room. She bounced against a chest and knocked over a cosmetics table as she landed. Kohl tubes, tweezers, unguent pots, ivory combs, and several mirrors flew in different directions. A blue-and-yellow-striped cosmetics bottle shaped like a fish shattered at Kysen's feet.
Unhurt, Isis launched herself from the floor, snatching a pot as she went. She hurled it at him, screeching invectives. Kysen ducked and heard the pot hit a wall. Bener dodged flying shards. Several maids appeared in the doorway, but they vanished upon seeing Kysen. Isis bent to pick up a jar, but Kysen kicked it out of range and grabbed a handful of hair at the back of her head. He stuck his face close to hers and shouted over her shrieks.
"You spoiled, selfish spawn of a dung pit, you nearly got Father killed!"
Bener thrust herself between them. "Stop this!"
She pulled on Isis's hair and Kysen's fist. Isis was screaming, jumping, and trying to kick Kysen. Rather than have Bener take blows meant for him, Kysen released his hold. Isis backed up, sputtering and breathing hard, but her curses didn't stop until Bener rounded on her.
"You shut your lips or I'll beat you myself."
Isis's mouth snapped closed. She smoothed her hair back from her face while glowering at her brother. Kysen was wishing he'd thought to bring his chariot whip.
Bener faced him. "What has happened?"
"We found Satet, and Father went into the house alone to fetch her. But Eater of Souls was waiting."
Neither of his sisters said anything. Eyes widening, Isis made a little sound that might have been a gasp.
Bener asked quickly, "Was Father hurt?"
"It was mere chance that the old woman warned him," Kysen said, his gaze fixed on Isis with ka-shriveling contempt. "But it couldn't have been chance that Eater of Souls knew where to find us. Isis has been seeing Reshep secretly, and I'll bet my finest thoroughbred it was their plan to use Satet to lure Father there."
"It was not!" Isis shouted.
Kysen stared at her. Bener stared at her.
"It wasn't," Isis said again, less loudly. When neither sibling replied, she burst out again. "How was I to know the demon would be there? Reshep said he wanted to talk to Father, to convince him
that our marriage would be a great alliance. We knew Father would never agree to see Reshep again. He's so stubborn. But I knew that Father was interested in the old woman, and that if she vanished he would chase after her. It's not my fault an evil demon followed him too. Is Reshep safe?"
Kysen shoved Bener out of the way and stuck his face close to Isis's. "You stupid she-goat, Reshep was Eater of Souls. If we hadn't killed him, he would have murdered Father."
He watched color ebb from his sister's face. Her great dark eyes stood out against the pale flesh. Her mouth half open, Isis shook her head.
"He's been killing anyone who got in his way, anyone who caused him the slightest annoyance." Kysen straightened and folded his arms over his chest, still burning Isis's flesh with his stare. "He knew he was the favorite of the gods. He'd convinced himself of it. And because he believed it, he knew that the gods would send help to ease his way in the world. That help was Eater of Souls."
"You're crazed," Isis whispered.
"You think I'd make up such a tale?" Kysen gave a snort of disgust. "Why would you find it difficult to believe that Reshep thought himself chosen by the gods when you believe the same thing about yourself?"
"Oh, Isis," Bener said with a look of disbelief.
Her sister's disapproval seemed to affect Isis as Kysen's had not. She winced, and silent tears began to trickle down her cheeks.
"I only wanted to-"
"Have your own wish!" Kysen bellowed. "Without thinking of anyone else." He poked Isis with a finger as he spoke. "And you almost got Father killed. Had he not been quick, had Abu and I not been there, Reshep would have bashed in his skull, slashed his throat, and carved out his heart!"
Isis gave a shriek and buried her head in her hands. Bener rolled her eyes and shook her head. Kysen watched Isis for a moment, then turned and marched out of the room. Bener came with him, and together they went out of the house to the kitchen building. He found a bottle of wine in a pantry room, and Bener brought cups and a loaf of bread. They took their food to the family garden. Sitting under an old acacia tree, they each downed a cup of wine before they spoke.
Eater of souls lm-4 Page 25
