by Overton, Max
Jesua appeared as soon as the legion was well away. "Smartly done. How long before they find they are chasing a hundred men and a herd of goats?"
"Time enough for the main column to get clear. Now we have to get back to Horemheb before he decides to turn this way and complicate matters."
"What is your plan?"
"I'm not sure. I just have a feeling we should go west until we meet the Great Sea."
"Your gods have not spoken to you?"
"No, but they guide me west."
"Then let is go and taunt another king."
The nearly three hundred men of the Pillar set off at a run to find the Geb legion, and came across it not far from where they had left it two days before. The Kemetu scouts had been unable to find the Shechites and were casting about in ever-increasing circles. Now they came upon them again and Horemheb ordered the legion out. Scarab considered her options and ordered Jesua to take the men slowly toward the sea and reach the shore at the lower end of the Sena lagoon. She impressed on him the importance of travelling at a speed whereby the legion could stay in sight of the fugitives.
"Why there? And what will you be doing?"
"I have to see Horemheb once more to try and persuade him to give up this folly. If he does not then..." Scarab shook her head, "...the Sena lagoon is where the gods want him."
Scarab walked into the king's camp alone at dusk and asked to be taken to Horemheb. The old king was in a field tent suffering the attentions of a physician when she was shown in, but he rose to his feet in a show of courtesy.
"Scarab, I did not think to see you here."
"I did not look to be, but you went back on your word, Horemheb. I and the whole Khabiru nation should be safe in Midian by now. Instead, you have me and my men scrambling to fight your legions. Why have you gone back on your word?"
"Midian? You were going to Midian? Why then did you go north?"
"There are tribes on the border that would be overwhelmed by so many people passing through their lands. I promised to bring the Khabiru round them. They will be there by now, led by Khu."
"They are still within reach."
"Perhaps."
"Why are you here?"
"To appeal to you once more. Honour your promise to let the Khabiru go, and we shall leave without further bloodshed."
Horemheb shook his head. "I cannot do that. Your god..."
"Not my god. I follow the Nine of Iunu."
"Your brother's god then. He always did have this obsession that one god was better than all the others. Anyway, this god went too far and stripped us of honour. Now we have to conquer his people or face ridicule."
"You cannot be persuaded?"
"No. Even if I could, there is still Ramesses. He is out there with another legion, you know. You won't escape both of us."
Scarab smiled. "I spoke with...Ramesses two days ago. He proved just as intractable as you."
"You spoke with him? Where? What happened?"
"We stopped him dead in his tracks, and now he pursues what he thinks are the Khabiru people away from Midian."
Scarab could almost see Horemheb's mind working, wondering how he could get a message to Ramesses. He struggled with the thought and then gave it up.
"Why are you here trying to make me give up the chase if the Khabiru are already in Midian? If they are truly there, I cannot possibly bring them back with one or even two legions. I would have to mobilise an army. You have another purpose."
"That is true. You are an experienced commander, Horemheb."
"Cease your flattery, it does not become you."
"Very well then. The gods of Iunu tell me that I and the other leaders and my men must go to Sena and pray at the temple of Amun there, if the Khabiru are to settle successfully in their chosen land. I ask you--beg you--to let us accomplish that in peace, Horemheb."
"The leaders of the exodus are going to Sena?"
"I cannot disobey the Nine. I will go to Sena to fulfil the gods' purpose. I ask only that you do not follow us and allow us to secure the safety of my adopted people."
"Have I not just said that I cannot just let the Khabiru go? And even if I were so inclined, Ramesses certainly would not. They must return to Ta Mehu. Have them turn about and come back to Kemet and I will let them live."
"As slaves?"
"Yes, but well treated."
Scarab paused as if considering the offer. "I think not. We shall pray at Sena as the gods require and that will ensure the Khabiru's safety. We will have no need of the worthless word of kings."
"You made a mistake telling me that, Scarab. I may not be able to kill you, but the same does not apply to the other leaders. I shall pursue you and capture everyone at Sena, putting them all to death. Thus will the pride of Kemet be restored."
"You will not catch us. We have too great a lead."
Horemheb laughed. "I have already caught you. The others will fall into my hands too."
Scarab stared. "I have not been caught by you; I walked into your camp freely and I can walk out again any time I please. Have you forgotten the powers the Nine have given me?"
"I have not forgotten, but the powers are protective--you told me so yourself. Nobody here will attack you, but you will not be allowed to leave until all the other leaders are in custody."
"Time I was going," Scarab said. She walked out of the tent and was met by a dozen unarmed men. They linked arms and surrounded her, not pushing or shoving, not trying to make her go anywhere, just standing in her way. She stopped and frowned, turning this way and that, before walking forward. The men in front of her stepped back, and those behind her moved up, and she found her position unchanged.
"You see?" Horemheb said. "No threat is offered or even restraint, yet you are hampered in your movements. I don't know why I did not think of this before."
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Chapter Forty-Six
The great column of Khabiru men, women and children, with attendant herds, threaded the line of Kemetu forts at night, moving slowly and as quietly as possible. Khu and his tiny force of fifty Shechite warriors led the way. They could not hope to slow the inexorable advance of the column so if a problem was encountered, Khu knew they would have to solve it on the spot or risk jeopardising the whole enterprise.
Khu's force found three small patrols and eliminated them all; swarming over them almost before they were aware there was anyone there. When the front of the column had advanced deep into Kanaan, Khu sent a runner back to Abrim in the rear, anxious that the far end of the column would be seen in the light of the approaching day. The runner returned as the sun topped the low hills to the east, saying that Abrim and his men had disappeared.
"What do you mean? They can't just have gone."
The runner shrugged. "They are not there. Some of the Khabiru said they just ran off."
Khu swore. His work load had just doubled. He dismissed the runner and sent for one of the Shechite sub-leaders.
"Caleb, I want you to take twenty men and bring up the rear of the column. It seems Abrim and his men have gone." The man did not ask questions, but just ran off to select his men.
Khu pushed the column on into the foothills before calling a halt, letting the nearly three thousand souls spread out through three or four adjacent valleys and set up camp. They had travelled almost without a break since leaving Zarw in an effort to get clear of Kemet, but now, in the relative safety of the Kanaan hills, they could perhaps afford to relax.
Khu had learned his fighting skills alongside Scarab and within her brother Smenkhkare's army, so he took some basic precautions. He set a perimeter of young Khabiru men with rams' horns to sound an alarm, and sent others, under the leadership of a Shechite warrior, into the hills to scout the way ahead. Then he sought out the company of Elder Jeheshua, Miriam and her husband Chemosh.
The Khabiru had cooked a young lamb with bitter herbs and unleavened bread and were just about to partake of their meal when Khu arr
ived. They invited him to stay for the meal and he did, needing some company, though Chemosh scowled at having to break bread with an unbeliever.
Jeheshua gave thanks to Yahweh and Miriam served up a platter of meat and bread for everyone. Miriam's four children, aged from twelve to one, took their food and ate separately, allowing the adults to talk in peace.
"Where to from here?" Jeheshua asked.
"I don't know," Khu admitted. "I did not expect to do more than just be a front runner with my Shechites. I thought Scarab would be here telling us what to do."
"Well, I think you are doing a fine job," Miriam said.
"A Khabiru should be leading us," Chemosh declared. "This is all about our God leading his people out of slavery in Kemet. We should not have a Kemetu leading us. I'm sorry if that offends you, Khu."
"It doesn't. I agree with you. My job is just to be a soldier, but as everybody else has gone, I'm left to do everything."
"And where exactly is Scarab?" Jeheshua asked.
"I don't know. She disappeared back toward Zarw looking for a legion under Horemheb. Jesua went northwest looking for a legion under Ramesses, and Abrim just took off into the night without telling anyone."
"The Khabiru Elders should take charge," Chemosh said. "Jeheshua, you are a man everyone listens to--assume command."
"The Lord God speaks openly to Mose, not to me," the Elder replied. "I am willing to consult with Mose, but I will not go against his commands."
"And what are his commands?" Chemosh asked.
"He does not issue any. I walked with him for a time and he spoke only of everyday, mundane things. I asked him where we were going and he replied, 'To the land God gives us'. I asked, 'How will we know when we get there' and he replied, 'God will tell me'. He says very little of any importance."
Chemosh snorted. "Perhaps he does not know anything. He is a Kemetu after all."
"Half Khabiru," Miriam corrected her husband gently. "Like Scarab."
"That's right," Khu said. "Mose and Scarab are full brother and sister, both born of Queen Tiye, who was full Khabiru."
"Alright, so Mose and Scarab are part Khabiru, but Mose refuses to command us and Scarab has disappeared." Chemosh scowled but turned to Khu. "Looks like you will have to do it, unless we are to sit here until the Kemetu find us."
Khu grimaced but agreed. "I'm going to need more than fifty men though. Chemosh, can you find me fifty young Khabiru who know a bit about fighting?"
"Yes. What do you want them to do?"
"I want them in groups of say, five, moving throughout the column, ready to act on any threat from any quarter. Their job is to guide and help the people and prevent panic. My Shechites are members of Scarab's Pillar and trained to fight. We can take care of any small external threat but I need Khabiru men to police the migration."
Chemosh stood up. "I'll get right onto it." He left, and Jeheshua also excused himself, saying he had to talk with the other elders. Miriam's children went off to play.
"Why are they called Scarab's Pillar?" Miriam asked when she and Khu were alone.
"When Scarab first came to the Shechites with the hands of the god fresh upon her, they flocked to her side, eager to serve her. They became her main support--her pillar, so to speak. Also, when they travel in the desert, the dust of their passing is like the whirlwind that is the sign of Set."
Miriam shivered and made the sign against the Evil One. "I hate that name. I cannot think why she named her son after that...that demon of the desert waste."
"S...that god is one of the Nine of Iunu," Khu reminded her. "I can't say I much like him myself but I have seen the power of the god working through Scarab many times."
"In what way?"
"You know the nine gods gave her gifts?" Khu asked. Miriam nodded. "Well, Se...that god's gift was to turn back evil on the evil-doer."
"What does that mean?"
Khu thought for a moment. "It is like Scarab does not have to defend herself. When she calls on that god, a man's actions are turned back on him. The more violent he gets, the worse it is for him."
"The god fights him?"
"Well, in a way, maybe. For instance, when the Amorites captured her, a man threw a punch at her but it never landed. Instead, his arm cramped. Another man tried to stab her and stabbed himself instead. I've seen an archer, a trained marksman, loose a dozen arrows at her and only succeed in killing her captors. A swordsman slashes at her and cuts his own leg off, a spearman stabs at her and kills another soldier." Khu laughed wryly. "It is amazing to see...and horrifying. I hope that the god would see my mind's intent should I ever stumble against her."
"She...she cannot be hurt, then?"
"I don't think so. Not while the power of the god is upon her."
"Then I suppose I should thank this god...no, I cannot call him that. I'm sorry, Khu, but I cannot think of any of your gods as being anything but demons."
"It is all right. I'm used to it among you Khabiru. Mose believes our gods do your god's will...or rather, that the will of the Nine matches the will of Yahweh in this thing."
"That still does not make them good."
"Um...Yahweh wants the Khabiru to go north to find a good land to live in, right?" Miriam nodded. "So we have to go through the land of...oh, I don't know...the Moabites, say, to get there. The Moabite king could say 'No', and oppose Yahweh, or he could say 'Come through, I welcome you', in which case he is doing Yahweh's will. That would make the Moabite king a good man because he does God's will. Well, are not the Nine Gods also doing Yahweh's will? Does not that make them good also?"
"I hear what you are saying; Khu," Miriam said slowly, "But I cannot accept false gods."
"Nobody is asking you to worship them or do as they command, Miriam. Just...let Yahweh do with them as he wishes."
Miriam sat in thought for several minutes. "I am not trained in priestly matters. I am only a wife and mother...and I hope still a friend to you and Scarab. I will accept what you say until I am told otherwise by the priests of Yahweh."
"He has priests?" Khu asked. "I knew Mose was his prophet, but...who are these priests?"
Miriam smiled. "Maybe I am giving them too high a status, but they are men who hang on Mose's every word and seek to come between Yahweh and his people. Is this not what priests do?"
"Too often, yes."
"And what of you and Scarab?" Miriam asked.
Khu frowned. "In what way?"
Miriam's eyes twinkled. "In the way of a man and a woman, how else?"
Khu blushed and looked away. "She does not think of me that way. She is...she is Scarab."
"And a woman. Believe me, she thinks of you that way." When Khu said nothing, Miriam probed a little deeper. "Does her appearance repel you? Her eye can be almost frightening."
"Gods, no! I do not care what she looks like. She is...I have..." Khu shook his head and stared at the ground. "I love her, Miriam. I have done since she was a twelve year old girl fleeing from her uncle's wrath. I have loved her through everything. I will love her until the day I die."
"Have you told her?"
"Of course not." Khu laughed roughly. "She is Scarab. She is daughter of a king, a sister of three kings, has even been the wife of one, and when young Seti succeeds his father on Kemet's throne, will be the mother of one. A farm lad may love a princess but a princess does not love a farm lad, no matter what the fireside stories say."
"She loves you, Khu."
"No." Khu shrugged and smiled sadly. "She is fond of me, I know, but do not confuse that with love."
"I think you are wrong."
Conversation languished and after a little while Khu took his leave of Miriam and sought out his Shechite tribesmen. He checked each man for injuries, binding wounds and prescribing suitable herbal remedies as needed, and then sat with them awhile, bolstering their spirits.
"Where do we go next?" his lieutenant Caleb asked. "The longer we sit here, the more likely it is that the Kemetu legions will find us."
"I know, but this region is a mystery to me. Has anyone been here before? Does anyone know the tribes?"
"I have," Ednan said. "We are in Edomite territory, but they don't like the Kemetu, so we should be safe enough. There are Amorites farther north--or used to be before Horemheb threw them back. The Sea People are along the coast of the Great Sea, and that's about the lot this side of the Salt Lake."
"Salt Lake? What's that?"
"A terrible place out there somewhere," Ednan said, gesturing off to the northeast. "A long lake surrounded by desert and mountains that is completely undrinkable. It is even saltier than the Great Sea. At least fish live in the sea but nothing lives in the lake. A river runs into it in the north and there is good land up there, I've been told, but none near the lake."
"If it's that salty, I suppose no-one lives there?" Khu asked.
"Very few people, but they are Moabites and rather nasty."
"Is that where Moabites live?" Khu said in surprise. "I had heard the name but did not even know where they lived. Nasty, you say?"
Ednan nodded. "They sacrifice humans to their god."
"Just as well they are well out of our way," Caleb commented.
Khu considered Ednan's words. What was it that made me use the Moabites as my example to Miriam? The Moabite king could say 'Welcome' and be seen to be doing Yahweh's will. Is it a sign ? "We will go through Moabite lands. Yahweh spoke to me, showing me the way, but I did not recognise it until Ednan spoke."
"Sir, are you sure?" Caleb asked.
Jeheshua and the other elders asked similar questions, refusing to believe that their god could have spoken to a Kemetu, even a Kemetu assigned to lead them by Scarab herself.
"Yahweh only speaks to Mose," Elder Nathanel said. "Why should he start anything different now?"
Khu could only shrug his shoulders as he had not actually heard Yahweh and was interpreting his wishes through a coincidence of speech.
