“I thought you said, ‘as little blood as possible!’” Elyas hissed at him.
Karim shrugged. “I’mnot bleeding.”
Elyas rolled his eyes.
Karim looked back down and stabbed the blade into the ground beside Babu’s head. “There,” he said. “Leave me and my family alone, and we’ll call it a truce.” Feeling that he’d made hispoint, he stood up and brushed the dust from his bloodstained hands.
Babu scuttled away, his lip curled in loathing. Hager darted forward to try and help him to his feet, but Babu swatted at him. He refused to take his eyes off Karim. “W-what are you?” he stammered.
“He is a messenger from God!” Elyas announced. “And you should treat him with the respect he deserves, lest you feel his wrath upon you!”
Karim winced. He would have preferred a less ostentatious defense, but he couldn’t blame Elyas for trying to be supportive.
Karim glanced around the assembled tribes. More members of the Anen had come to see what all the fuss was about and watched him warily. He knew they’d been told he was a traitor and a murderer, and now he’d proved to be capable of even more extraordinary violence. The Hudjefa, on the other hand, beheld him with a kind of reverence.
Karim wasn’t sure which of the two opinions disturbed him more.
“How do you know he’s not a demon? They, too, have powers,” Babu countered.
“A demon would not have fought the accursed monsters that slaughtered half of my tribe. I saw him slain! Saw him sustain wounds that would kill any man! Yet Karim-sen survived. And he was strong enough to lead us across the desert, over the great river, and here, to you.”
Babu struggled to his feet, and Karim was satisfied to see that the Jackal still limped a little from the leg wound he’d given him. “Monsters, eh?” Babu said with mockery. “Would that be the same kind of beast as the one that supposedly killed Djet?”
Karim advanced once more, his anger rising. “The creature that killed Djet escaped the tomb, as I said it would. And afterfollowing me across the kingdom and trying to kill me, it came to the city where the Hudjefa were living and raised an army of stone men to fight on his behalf.”
At this, the Anen erupted into alarmed chatter. Babu snorted. “You speak in riddles, sen. Stone men?”
“I mean exactly what I say. The kingdom now faces a foe that cannot be killed with blades nor arrows. These creatures are powered by magic—what the Khetarans call ‘heka.’ And until we discover how to defeat them, they will spread across this land like a pestilence and destroy everything in their path.”
The crowd fell silent.
“Since when do you know so much about Khetaran sorcery?” Babu asked.
Karim thought of Nefermaat, the little priestess with the haunting eyes, and of Sitamun. Beautiful, brilliant, intoxicating Sitamun. “Since I made some interesting new friends.”
Babu crossed his arms. “Really, sen? You’re the last person I’d expect to break bread with the Khetarans. Why should I care if this stone army slaughters them in their plush little beds? It serves them right.”
“Do you really think those unholy creatures will be satisfied when they’ve conquered Thonis? I’ve seen them with my own eyes—most of the Hudjefa have too. They won’t stop until we are all dead or under their thrall. If we fail to fight evil when it threatens our neighbor, then we will have no allies left when it comes for us.”
Karim caught sight of his mother in the corner of his vision. She and his siblings had come down to join the group, and she stood listening, her lips parted, one hand pressed to her chest. Unlike the others, there was neither fear nor reverence in her eyes. Her earlier disapproval had vanished too. There was only pride, as if she were seeing her eldest son for the first time.
Karim’s heart warmed.
Has this strength always been within me?he wondered.Or is it simply what happens when you no longer fear death?
Perhaps it didn’t matter.
“Hear me,” Karim said to Babu. “If you can’t promise to leave our quarrel behind, you and Hager must leave and never return.”
Babu wiped the blood from his face and growled in frustration. “Have it your way,” he said. “But I’m still the leader here, understand? While you’ve been fooling around with Khetarans, I’ve been keeping the Anen alive. That includes your family as well as my own.”
“Fine,” Karim said. As much as he hated to admit it, Babu was right. The Jackal was a cruel, vicious swine, but he had managed to keep the tribe safe, and that counted for something.
Babu went on. “Not that we have enough food for all the extra mouths you’ve brought us. First, they’re too good to roam the Red Lands, and now that they’re kicked out of their paradise, suddenly we owe them refuge?”
Elyas’s expression darkened.
Karim was quick to interject. “You don’t have to worry about the Hudjefa. They’ve brought some of their animals, along with skilled artisans, laborers, and warriors too. Isn’t that right, Elyas?”
