The Trader´s Pact

by Nathaniel Burns

  Neti nodded and loudly said, “I did not think it would be this busy.” Even then she was barely audible over the noise of the bartering shutties. They started towards the one side and perused the goods of the shutties as they passed. The three children were apprehensive, keeping close to one another, looking about them in bewilderment as they progressed.

  Periodically Neti placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder, causing the girl to look up at her and nod. Neti periodically asked the girl her opinion on things and even bartered for several lengths of ribbon. Handing it to the girl and saying, “You can use them in your wreath.” Causing the girl to smile and press the ribbons to her chest.

  “They stopped for a long period and watched the young men engage in stick fights, and although Neti could see the girl had little interest, the boys watched intently, at times even betraying their keenness by mimicking a movement.

  The temperature in the market rose steadily, and as they moved on Neti said, “Perhaps we should mention to Ramesses that the boys should get stick training.”

  Shabaka looked at Neti in surprise as he said, “I thought women opposed the sport.”

  Neti pointed to the boys, “Watching them I realized that the training would go a long way to giving them back their confidence.”

  “What do you mean?” Shabaka asked.

  “They will feel able to protect themselves. I know that was why I had Moses train me.”

  Shabaka looked at the boys and said, “You might have a point there. I’ll speak to Ramesses and get one of the mejay train them.”

  A loud crash interrupted their conversation, and was followed by shouting screaming and pointing, with the children visibly recoiling. The man leapt over another stall again sending everything toppling in an attempt to get away. Shabaka hesitated.

  “Go!” Neti said, and within a moment he took off,

  A high-pitched scream pierced the immediate area next to her, causing Neti to turn and look at the girl. Instantly she leapt forward and grabbed the other arm of the girl, shouting, “Shabaka!” the pitch of her voice had the man hesitate.

  Shabaka’s response was immediate as he turned around and in turn set off in their direction. .

  Faced with Shabaka’s raging approach the man immediately appeared hesitant and released the girl’s arm before also taking off. The man shoved a woman with her basked of goods out of the way, sending it all to the ground. He sidestepped several people before casting cast the entire contents of a dray to the ground.

  Neti gathered the children together and started for the one exit, when one of the guards caught up with her. The children clung to her arms, their faces filled with fear, which made it difficult to move them.

  At the far end of the market the mejay having positioned themselves cut off the man, Who appeared to rethink his path. However Shabaka ran full tilt into the man, causing both of them to fall to the ground. Shabaka placed extra pressure on the man’s shoulders pressing him into the ground even more as they hit it with a resounding thud. The man gasped loudly and heaved before coughing.

  Within moment Shabaka had righted himself and grabbed the man by the neck, demanding, “What do you think you are doing?” But before the mejay even reached him, Shabaka hauled the man upright and shoved him towards the mejay. The man stumbled and gasped for air as Shabaka firmly instructed, “Take him to the stockades.”

  Coughing again, the man made to protest, stating, “I haven’t done anything,” before again coughing.

  “You tried, and that is good enough reason for me.”

  The mejay grabbed an arm each and fought against the man's struggles, before dragging him from the market place. Shabaka turned to watch two more guards approach him with the other man restrained between them.

  “What did he take?” Shabaka demanded.

  “We didn’t find anything on him?” The mejay on the man’s right said.

  “Which means he either dropped it, or took nothing.” Shabaka said looking the man over, “I’m inclined to think that he dropped it.”

  “One of our legion members is currently questioning the shutties, he will determine, if anything was taken.” The mejay on the man’s left side said.

  Shabaka turned around and perused the chaos and said, “knowing people, one could safely say a great deal had been taken today.” Shabaka turned back to the men and said, “For that he can join his friend at the stockades.”

  “I took nothing!” The man insisted.

  Shabaka stepped forward and menacingly asked, “Then why run like that?”

  “That man had a big snake, a big black one. The poisonous ones you get in the desert.”

  “The only reason the man would have one of those would be to stop thieves steal from their baskets.” Shabaka countered.

  “I was not stealing!” The man insisted.

  “Even if the man had a snake it is no reason to upset the entire market.” Shabaka said and gestured to the mejay that they were to take the man away.

  “I did not do anything.” The man shouted.

  The man also fought, so much so that the mejay physically dragged him from the market.

  Shabaka turned to look back in the direction he had come, in hope of seeing Neti and the children. His heart thudded in his chest as he continued to scan the market. He breathed a sigh of relief on noticing her with one of the guards.

  He made his way over to them and dismissed the guard before asking, “Is everyone alright?”

  Neti nodded, however the young girl looked at them with something akin to awe, moments before she said, “You kept your promise! You said they would not take us again.”

  The boys seemed to respond to her and instantly calmed, almost as if it were a cue. They also turned and looked at Neti and Shabaka with something akin to awe on their faces.

  Shabaka instantly registered the girl’s words however cautioned his movements as he turned to the boys and asked, “Have you seen that man before?’

  They all shook their heads.

  “We need to get them back, I think the excitement may just have been too much.”

  “My ribbons!” the girl suddenly exclaimed.

  Neti looked and saw that the girl no longer had them. And looked about them, before stating, “I’ll get you others later, but not now.” said Neti.

  “Just then a young woman hesitantly approached them. She held out the ribbons towards the girl and said, “I picked these up, I think they’re yours.”

  The girl hesitantly stepped forward and took them from her, instantly pressing them to her chest.

  “Thank you.” Said Neti.

  The girl only nodded before turning and walking away.

  Later that afternoon Neti and Shabaka returned to the stockades. The two men fought their bonds to little avail as they entered, while a member of the mejay looked on.

  The guard lowered his head in acknowledgement, and then asked, “Should I have Ramesses beckoned?”

  Shabaka shook his head and said, “This matter is not yet to be brought before Ramesses but what they tell us will determine the outcome.”

  “You have no right,” The one man decreed, “I will complain to him about your treatment.”

  Shabaka glared at the man and said, “You were the one who tried to kidnap the child, for that there is no claim or reason he will listen to your whining.” Shabaka then turned to the mejay and asked, “Is the castrator still here, I feel we may be needing his serves. Perhaps the man will feel less inclined to try to kidnap girls if he was an eunuch.”

  The man again made to object but Shabaka firmly commanded, “I was not speaking to you!”

  “He is across the river, currently tending to the requests at Dier-el-Bahari.” The guard said.

  “Pity,” Shabaka said looking towards the man “This man could really have benefited from his services.”

  “You have no right to make such decisions, to pass such a punishment.” The man challenged.

  “It is not for you to come and tell me
what powers I hold. Especially since the recent disappearances of girls and their subsequent return tends to coincide with their being with child. Thus castrating anyone caught attempting to kidnap a girl would to some extent discourage the continued practice. Besides I personally think that once you stop focusing thereon you would be a better of a contribution to society.”

  “I did not take her!” insisted the man.

  “But you certainly tried. So either way you have brought your actions under our attention regardless of your intentions.”

  The man made to respond but Shabaka cut him short, “Enough from you.” He then moved to the other man and looked him over. “Either you wanted to be caught or you acted as a diversion to enable him,” Shabaka pointed to the other man, and continued, “Especially since no man would attempt to steal or disrupt a market where the mejay are on guard.”

  The man firmly denied, “I did no such thing, you are accusing me of something I did not do.”

  Shabaka sarcastically countered. “Well I guess then the wind must have thrown over and disrupted the marketplace yesterday… But then I have dealt with enough like you to know better. So either you tell me why or I will have you lashed for theft.”

  “I am guilty of nothing more than wanting to get away from the snake.”

  Shabaka looked at him in disbelief and said, “Not only could we not find a snake. A snake would not have made you run the way you did. You are part desert bred, the sharpness of your features betray it. Your people are not afraid of snakes. So lying is also punishable by having your tongue cut out.”

  The man visibly recoiled.

  “So this is the scenario I believe you both came up with.” Shabaka pointed to the man as he said, “You created the diversion in order for your friend here to grab the girl.”

  “I did no such thing, I don’t even know this man!”

  “Even if that were true, you are both responsible for upsetting the market yesterday and will thus be held responsible for the damages and any stolen goods the shutties reported.”

  “I took nothing!” both men exclaimed.

  “Perhaps the penalty will act as a sufficient deterrent next time.” Shabaka said, before moving back to the first man. “You on the other hand will receive a lashing,” Shabaka said before turning to the mejay and instructing him to call the whipper, “Tell him to bring the tails.”

  The man again fought his bonds and Shabaka said, “You are wasting your energy. For whipped you shall be, unless…” The man stilled at Shabaka’s words. “I see you would be willing to negotiate.”

  “What do you want?” The Man demanded.

  “I want you to tell me why you tried to take the girl.” Shabaka calmly said, “Your answer will determine your punishment.”

  The man hesitated for a moment, enough to indicate to Shabaka that whatever the man’s response would be it would most likely be a lie.

  “She is the daughter of a friend of mine, or I thought she was.”

  Shabaka looked at the man in disbelief, before asking, “A daughter of a friend, But then she would have recognized you.”

  “She was taken during the festival.” The man countered.

  “If what you said was even remotely true, then your friend along with the other parents would have been punished by Ramesses.”

  “Ramesses has no right to take children from their families, or to judge people so harshly. The child’s grandmother wants her to return to the family.”

  “Then the grandmother only needs to put in a request and the child confirm their relationship,” said Neti. “There would be no need to traumatize the child again.

  “It is complicated,” the man said.

  “Ah I see,” Shabaka started sarcastically, “The grandmother is the one who rewards handsomely for the return of her grandchildren.”

  The man looked obviously confused.

  Shabaka continued far more seriously, “Since it was the girl’s first outing, and you attempted to take her, I can only draw a conclusion that you have been waiting for the children to move out of their protective home. That coupled with the child’s fear leads me to only one conclusion; that she does not know you and that your actions would have been far more sinister had prefect Neti not alerted me to the incident.”

  The man made to speak but Shabaka cut him short, “I am not done. So until you are willing to tell me the truth, you will remain here, perhaps the sun will drive it from you.” Shabaka turned to the mejay as he returned, and said, “We will forgo the whipping for now but strip away all of his clothes and leave him to the sun.

  “You cannot do that! The sun will kill me!”

  “Perhaps you should have thought of the consequences before you attempted to take the girl.” Shabaka then turned to Neti and said, “I’m certain a day in the sun without water would make him more willing to talk.”

  Neti only nodded.

  Neti then gestured to Shabaka and said, “Come we still have a great deal to do, regarding the murder.”

  Neti and Shabaka entered the prefects’ room, but said nothing as Moses with the recruits instantly fell silent and looked at them.

  Neti settled on one of the cushions and said to everyone, “You can continue, no need to fall silent at our arrival.”

  Moses however was the first to speak, “We heard you had some excitement at the market today.”

  “More of a foolish attempt than excitement.” Said Shabaka also settling on a cushion.

  “We were told that you were attacked,” Juma said, “Which is why we returned to the palace.”

  “That is definitely not something you should do when given a task.” Shabaka said, his voice distracted.

  Juma looked suitably confused so Neti said, “When you have been given an instruction, only a royal runner with a message from one of us will relieve you of that instruction. Until then you continue with what you are doing.”

  Shabaka ran his hands over his face and said to no one in particular, “You must have realized by now that the people we come across are masters of deception. They are highly intelligent. Unless we get ahead of them or at least anticipate their next move, The can create all the diversions they like. For all we know this morning’s diversion could have been caused because you have come too close to someone or some…” Shabaka abruptly stopped and looked at Neti. Before exclaiming, “That’s it!”

  “What is?” Mipi asked excited.

  “If they were only creating a diversion, and possibly did not think they would get caught, the they did not disrupt the market with the intent of stealing, but just meant to disrupt our attention. The matters seem unrelated, but what if they are not?”

  “Considering our recruits they must have thought that the murder would keep us occupied and a scene in the market would be allotted to them to investigate.”

  The trainees looked from one to the other, obviously at a loss.

  “You get used to that,” Moses said. “Once they have finished each other thoughts and sentences they will let us in on what’s going on.”

  Shabaka for a moment glared at Moses and then looked at the recruits, asking, “What were you doing this morning.”

  Juma was first to reply, “I was following one of Gilhk’s servants, He went to the one temple and then returned home.”

  “Not really anything to be concerned about,” Shabaka dismissed.

  “I was following up on the trader that was murdered,” Mipi said.

  “Did you discover anything?” Neti asked.

  “No it seems n one knew him or what he traded. Which is odd, but not entirely impossible, If he remained here after the others left that means he would have looked for some sort of work.”

  Neti nodded, and turned to Khafi. “What were you doing.”

  “I was down at the river.”

  His response had Neti frown, asking, “Why?”

  “You asked us to look into all the girls that had gone missing and had been brought back to see how they were doing. The river is a ne
utral place where no one would take offence. We divided the tasks into three. Since it does not help we only look into one matter.”

  Shabaka remained silent for several long moments again before he said, “multiple trainees multiple tasks, meaning the need to give us more to divert our attention. We’ve never had any problems with Gilhk, he has been one of the supportive elders. The trader is another matter, his presence in Thebes is also too easy to explain away. The girls are not reason enough for anyone to want to divert our attention. Meaning that if everyone is connected, the two men we have are part of a larger story.”

  “Meaning,” asked Khafi.

  “Won’t they try to set them free, like last time?” Moses asked.

  “They haven’t done anything yet. And considering their actions they cannot be that important. They also know that unless they are caught with something they will not be punished, also to free them would draw unwanted attention, so they are sacrificial lambs so to speak.”

  “So what do we do?” asked Mipi.

  Shabaka again looked at Neti for a moment then said, “I have a plan but it involves you.” Shabaka said pointing at Khafi, “…and you.” He said pointing at Mipi.

  “What about me?” asked Juma

  “You do not blend in well enough with the others for this task. It is important not to draw any attention to yourself.” Shabaka said, and then turned to the others. “I want you to leave the palace and then wait for the guards. We are going to release those two we captured this morning.”

  “What?” Moses asked shocked.

  “Shabaka ignored him and continued. “You two are to follow them. Make a note of everywhere the go, even if it means right through the night. If they move you move. You are to report back in the morning.”

  “Why do that?”

  “If they are part of the bigger picture, the first thing they would do is return to confirm their freedom. And chances are they will either lead us to the person who created the diversion this morning or whoever wants us to keep a distance from their activities.”

  The two recruits nodded.