The Trader´s Pact

by Nathaniel Burns

  “And what about me?’

  “You get the most noisy job of them all, you get to accompany them out of the palace and allow the others to identify them. That way they will think that we do not expect anything and that the trainees are back in the palace.”

  “What should I say?” Juma asked.

  “Just tell them we have received the report from the shutties and that they could go.”

  “Just don’t say too much, if they are part of this they will be intelligent enough to pick up on it, while your inexperience would be seen as only that.” said Neti.

  Once they left Neti looked at Shabaka and said, “I really think we will have to spend more time on Juma. His intentions are great, it is his enthusiasm that gets in the way,

  “There are many tasks a prefect performs, and his talkative skill may even come in handy.” Shabaka said.

  “Especially if you need him to talk the ears off someone,” Moses added.

  “I guess if I had to listen to him for long enough, even I would give up my secrets if only to shut him up.” Said Shabaka.

  “Careful, we may use it against you.”

  Some time later, Juma returned causing Shabaka to say, “Now we wait.”

  “You never used to do this kind of stuff?” Juma asked Neti.

  “We usually have the mejay do all the observation work.” Said Neti.

  15

  Chapter Fifteen

  It was the excitement that filled Neti’s home the following morning that woke her, closely followed by the various scents the wafted down from the kitchen. Even without confirmation, Neti knew it to be the wedding day. She got up and moved to select her slip and wig, releasing a pent-up sigh in the process.

  The actual wedding progression had been altered to allow for the fact that Yani was not to be married in her parental home. While the initial ceremony would be performed in Neti’s home, with only those immediately concerned present, Neti had requested Suten-Anu’s presence. However, the couple would not be secluded before making their way to the marital home that Moses set up. There they would celebrate with friends and everyone invited.

  On exiting her chamber, Neti felt as if she had entered another world altogether. Uli and Seota had set about preparing the public room, which was decorated in garlands and wreaths the young children had made. Some of them seemed decidedly odd and misshapen yet strangely seemed fitting. There main area had been cleared with only the grass mats left in place. They were still placing and finalizing some of the wild grass arrangements.

  Neti looked between them and asked, “Do you need any help?”

  Seota answered without even turning to look at her, “It’s all arranged, Yani has breakfast ready for you.”

  Neti made her way up to the kitchen and paused for a moment, never having seen as much food in as many stages of preparation in her life.

  Fae was the first to see her and said, “Morning Neti.” At that Yani turned around and for a moment seemed nervous. “Moses brought…” Yani gestured to the food.

  “I know he did. I think he asked every cook in the palace what would be needed.” Neti said, “but even knowing that this is still somewhat overwhelming, I don’t think he considered the fact that my kitchen is not as large as the one in the palace.”

  Yani nodded and moved to pick up a beaker and said, “I have made you some flatbread with aniseed, there is some cheese and fruit and a juice.”

  “These are for you wedding, I cannot eat them.” countered Neti.

  “And you do not think I know how many times he has eaten here and you never objected.” Countered Yani. “I am no fool, this is nothing in comparison.”

  Neti settled on the grass mat and started her breakfast enjoying it unhurried as she watched Fae and Yani work together, student and master moving together as if choreographed.

  Neti returned to the palace, however only Shabaka was present in the prefects’ hall and seemed in an ominous mood. Which caused Neti to teasingly say, “Don’t tell me you are envious of Moses.”

  He turned to look at her and shook his head and said, however his voice confirmed that his mind was preoccupied, “Moses is welcome to his wedding and his wife.”

  Neti came to sit in front of him and asked, “What is it?”

  Shabaka looked about their room but even then, lowered his voice, “Kafi and Mipi reported back this morning.”

  “And?” Neti asked.

  “They followed the two men who appeared not only to be good friends but also went to the same places. Their first stop was not the elder Gilhk’s home as Juma suspected, it was the house next door. When they left there they went to another home which seems to function as a beerhouse, and since they did not want to be identified they remained outside for some time and noted several people entering and leaving before the men again came out. The one left and dropped something at a place of worship not even I know of and then returned home. The other I am told went to a private home of someone.”

  “So they have identified four places for us, the question now is which are worth investigating?”

  “Well, since I’m not willing to chance anything, I sent the two of them home to rest and I arranged for the captain of the mejay and several of his most experienced trackers to be here this afternoon. I want to put a team on each of the buildings and observe them. I want to identify regular individuals.” Shabaka looked at Neti and said, “That also means I will not be attending Moses’ wedding feast.”

  “That is silly!” Neti stated outright.

  “What do you mean?” asked Shabaka.

  “Our entire reasoning with this has been to appear too distracted. Anyone who has had any contact with Moses in the last two weeks will know that he is getting married, and you missing it for no particular reason will cause suspicion if they are keeping track of us as we suspect they are.”

  “I don’t know what else to do, if they are going to attempt something then it would most likely be tonight.”

  “And how often have we acted on information too soon?” challenged Neti.

  “If we had waited and followed the men to the pits with the children we would have caught all of them instead of losing the one we had. If they do something tonight the Mejay can observe and possibly even learn more about their actions. It means that we will have a better idea of the people involved and their locations. It would be easier to arrest them all than having half of them get away – again.”

  Shabaka thought it over for some time and then said, “It makes sense, I only fear that if we don’t move sooner they will all get away.”

  “How so? None of them know that we know. For all they know we have been too busy with the recent murders and preparing for Moses’ wedding to notice what they have been doing.”

  “You have a point, I will arrange the mejay and instruct them only to observe.”

  That evening a nervous Yani sat waiting with Seota and Neti in the public area of Neti’s home. Yani nervously leapt up and paced about, before again attempting to sit only to leap up again.

  “Calm down,” Seota said, “You are worse than a child walking on a hot road.”

  This caused Yani to become even more anxious and say, “You don’t understand, I never thought I would be married. Slave girls never dream of such things.” She continued to move about the room again, awaiting the arrival of the men.

  Some time later the men arrived and Moses announced himself with Shabaka as the only member of his groomsmen party. Neti allowed them entry and they joined the others on the grass mat.

  Fae then descended the stairs leading from the kitchen and served them each a mug of wine, which was consumed in silence before Suten-Anu arrived and handed Moses his contract. Thereafter they rose with Moses and Yani leading the way towards their new home. Neti and Shabaka followed, with Yani, Fae and Suten-Anu making up the rear.

  On their arrival loud cheering started as they entered. Followed by music and festivities. Everyone ate and drank, joyously.

  Ne
ti watched as Suten-Anu’s gaze remained fixed on Fae.

  “One cannot change things by staring.” Neti said and settled next to her old master.

  “That is very true my child, and I have thought about what you have said, she would be just as well off in your home as she would be in mine. Actually I have come to realize that she might be better off with you.”

  “How so?”

  “She reminds me in so many ways of her mother. There is a manner in her walk and in her smile where I see Dalva all over again. They are the things that caused me to fall in love with her. And as inconsiderate and selfish of me as it was at the time, I do not think it would be proper for her to know that I could not wait until a wedding night before bedding her mother. It is not proper.”

  Neti chuckled, “Suten, she is a child that is not oblivious to the ways of men. She does not have some dream of who her mother was, she knew what Dalva was, and even knowing such it would never change how she saw her.”

  “That is what I fear most.” Suten-Anu said. “For there are a great many of Dalva’s things I ought to give to her, but I know not how.”

  “I think it is most important for her to learn that you loved her mother. It is possibly far more important than anything. It will allow her to trust again. And only then when she is convinced that you are not attempting to flatter her, only then give her her mother’s things.”

  Suten-Anu for a moment looked at Neti and tilted his head, “You said she was not unfamiliar with what her mother did, what does this mean?”

  Neti shook her head and said, “She was far too young, but I do know that she was once taken, so she is not foolish. I simply fear that she may misunderstand your intentions.”

  Suten nodded and asked, “Do you want her to learn as did Seota?”

  “I do not know she has a great number of tasks in the home, but I will ask Seota if she will teach her some of the basic counting and such. If she is keen I will consider it.”

  It was well into the evening when Kafi approached her, “Where is Shabaka?”

  Neti for a moment looked at him in surprise before looking across the public room and pointing. “He is over there with Moses, why?”

  “The Mejay commander is looking for him.”

  Neti made to say something but decided against and instead said, “I will call him, where do they want to meet?”

  “He said that given the circumstances your home would be more appropriate.

  We will meet him there.”

  Kafi nodded and then said, “I’ll walk Seota and Fae home in a short while.”

  Neti nodded and then turned to go collect Shabaka. They said their farewells to the bride and groom. Moses appeared hesitant at their reason until Shabaka explained to him why. And then joyfully saw them off, even chancing a joke or two about Shabaka finally seeing sense.

  Most of the occupants in Thebes had already retired for the evening as Neti and Shabaka made their way back to her home. The streets were lit by the pale glow of the moon, with the chirping of crickets audible from the river’s edge.

  Their journey was made in silence since neither knew whether they were being followed and observed, or how any possible exchange could be interpreted or distorted.

  They entered her home where the lamp’s low wick cast the room in a dim glow. Had Neti not been forewarned of the presence of someone the thickset figure near the short flight of steps leading to the kitchen would have garnered a different response.

  The captain bowed lowly in greeting but stuck out his hand in caution as Neti made to adjust the lamp. “Don’t.” was the only word he said.

  “As you can see we received your message,” Shabaka said.

  The man nodded and made to sit, “It is difficult to see me from the outside if I remain here,” Was given as a reason, “But I will confirm that you are being watched. There is a man on the last house of the street. He can see to your door, which is why I asked you here before Kafi returns with your servants. If you do not accept him as a prefect you should send him to me, he is uncannily good at moving into places unnoticed.”

  “That is not why you called us here.” Shabaka stated.

  “No, it is not.” The captain admitted, “We spent a large part of the evening, well my men still are, observing the various places and individuals you identified. Your two men identified several individuals, who I had followed. But it was the events at two of the places which seemed most alarming. At one house there was a gathering of people, at first we thought it was couples but by the third or forth pair we realized it was men with young girls.”

  Neti felt her blood turn cold. Even Shabaka reached out to take hold of her arm to calm her.

  “How many were there?” Neti asked.

  “We counted six but none left with the men.”

  “Which means we are about to receive another series of missing girl reports.” Said Shabaka. With the location identified either acting as a place to hide them, or…” Shabaka looked at Neti but said nothing more.

  “Came to consult with you on whether or not we should raid the place.”

  Shabaka thought for a moment but then said, “No.” shocking Neti. “We’ve acted too soon on too many occasions now, I want to know exactly where these men live, I want all possible places identified, and then we will plan a simultaneous raid on everybody. Moses will be celebrating his wedding feast for the next seven days so our actions will not draw as much attention and they will not consider the possibility of being discovered. We will not have an opportunity like this again and I intend to capture every one of them.”

  16

  Chapter Sixteen

  For two days the mejay observed and marked various individuals. With Mipi, Kafi and Juma officially assigned to the mejay for combat training and fitness. In the morning they would attend the morning run and fight training, followed by visible guarding of either the market places of the river during the day, while Neti and Shabaka appeared to tend to the recent murder and death of the girl. This while the mejay captain and his elite continued to identify various people and locations.

  The public room in Neti’s home was converted into a second prefect’s room with various rough drawings of maps with marked locations placed together. Every night Shabaka would meticulously go through them before retiring to the bed mat in the one corner. Fae, Uli and Seota were all subdued at his presence and the regular late-night visits from the captain.

  It was on the sixth night that everyone moved into position. The raids were carefully choreographed with the rising of the moon as the members of the mejay first took out the various sentries at their lookouts, before descended upon the first of the homes and those considered as being the most unlikely targets. All occupants were woken and removed before the homes were secured and two members of the mejay stationed there to await any late arrivals of people who managed to escape.

  The moon had risen almost to its full height, with the air quickly cooling, before the mejay descended upon the first of the larger targets, the beerhouse identified by Kafi on the first night. A loud ruckus ensued with both Neti and Shabaka remaining in the background, as member of the mejay utilized their considerable fighting skills to subdue any resistance. The men were marched out one after the other as the raid on the following location ensued. By sunrise the following morning all of the holding cells were full to the brim, with traders, elders and even officials. Even more captives were pushed inside as their numbers began to swell.

  Fighting ensued amongst them but the mejay ignored it, suspecting it in itself to be a divertive tactic.

  By sunrise the following morning, the people of Thebes awoke to the heavy presence of mejay, urging people to pass on and continue with their routines.

  Shabaka requested scribes from Suten-Anu as they carefully noted down the locations and the contents of anything suspicious found there. The tedious work took most of the day as the mejay prepared to draw up the charges for the individuals.

  By late afternoon, one of the
members of the mejay approached Shabaka and said, “The captain requires your presence.

  Shabaka turned to look at Neti, who without needing a word said followed him and the mejay member. They were led to the house situated besides one of the elders’ where the captain awaited their arrival.

  “I want that man Kafi.” The captain said as a manner of greeting.

  Shabaka quickly countered, “He’s ours.”

  “That man notices everything. I have battalion leaders fighting over who gets him next for their search.” The captain said and led them into the home, “Your man noticed the worn floor and the gap along the side of what appeared to be a wall. It opened up into a passage that led to an underground storage area.”

  The captain led the way and about ten paces later stepped aside. The room was lit with several lamps, the reflected off the mound of gems that lay in the one corner.

  Shabaka looked at Neti and said, “Not quite Apisite-Repiste’s replacement but it looks like we got them this time.”

  Neti nodded.

  “Your man is currently checking the other homes for similar passages, I suspect they kept things separated to lessen the impact of another raid.”

  “What about the girls you saw the other night?” Neti asked.

  “We haven’t found any slaves or girls yet. Which is why your man is rechecking the homes we have searched. If they were placed in a place similar to this then there would not be enough air for them.”

  Neti looked about the room and said, “That is what concerns me.”

  “Shabaka instead pointed to the gems and asked, what are you doing with these?”

  “I have already sent word to the place that the royal scribe should come and record these so that they can be removed and taken to the palace.”

  They made their way back up the short passage and Neti asked, “And the house next door, Gilhk’s home?”