The lamb, the lamb, the lamb…
“Something’s happening,” Sita said in awe.
Air swirled around them, lifting Sita’s hair and Neff’s dress and making them dance. The noise of war seemed to grow distant and muted, and the whispering wind began to shout.
The lamb, the lamb, the lamb!
“We’re all together,” Neff said, her eyes dark and strange, as they’d been when Sita had first seen her in the temple. “The princess—”
Neff pressed a hand to her own chest. “The priestess—”
She turned to Raetawy. “The rebel—”
Karim’s eyes flashed as they met Nefermaat’s. The girl smiled. “And the thief.”
Sita felt a surge of energy as the wind raged, her mind filling with a rapid succession of images and sounds, memories of decisive moments, of choices, of meetings that had seemed incidental at the time. She remembered…
She remembered standing before the goddess Bast:I wish to be free.
Drowning her guilt and shame in wine and passion and delay…
Murder is an exciting game, dear sister, and now you’re playing it with me.
Stepping over the threshold from the pleasure garden into the unknown…
I don’t know who I am away from this place.
Commanding Karim back to life…
When the time comes, remember the word is the deed.
Bringing method and magic to bear to save an injured boy…
I trust that the Lord has put her in our path for a reason.
Dancing with Karim around the campfire…
Tomorrow is not promised! Tomorrow is not certain! There is only tonight!
Finding the serpent staff down in the depths of the necropolis…
I am the Candle in the Darkness, and the Shadow in the Dawn!
She remembered telling Karim that she no longer believed in stories, which was a lie, because she never stopped believing, never stopped seeing meaning in every encounter, the patterns everywhere hinting at a grand design.
The lamb, the lamb, the lamb…
She remembered everything she’d done since she’d prayed forfreedom, and how it had all led her to this moment, this place, and these three people.
She remembered…
34Neff
She remembered a dream of being alone in the desert, listening to the words of a bloody god…
Beware! Sorrow and ruin to the Children of the Two Lands!
She remembered staring at a painting of Isis after the Wabet cut her hair and transformed her into a stranger…
