Sita declined the wine. For once, she did not want to dull her senses, did not need drink to keep her mind from descending into darkness.I want to remember this, she thought.I want to remember everything.
They were seated next to Elyas, and as Sita began tucking into the delicious meal, she noticed the silent woman standing at the edge of the firelight.
“Who is she?” Sita asked the old man.
Elyas swallowed the bread he was chewing and replied. “Ah, that’s Dumiya. She kept an eye on you last night, did she not?”
Sita nodded. “Does she ever speak?”
“Not once in all her life,” Elyas replied. “She makes herself understood in her own way. She is a force to be reckoned with, that one. At a young age, Dumiya decided it was her job to protect our people, and no one—not her grandfather, nor her father, nor myself when I became leader of the Hudjefa—could tell her otherwise. She has been watching over this city ever since.” He paused, thoughtful, and took a drink of his wine. “She is the best of us, I think.”
Many came to greet them as they finished their meal, seemingly eager now to know the new faces among them. Even Zev raised his cup to Sita across the firelight. The children capered about with Behkai, who managed to glut himself with so much roast meat that he had to lie down.
Once everyone had finished eating, the dancing began.
The people clapped in time with the drums, and the lute player started up an energetic melody that got everyone on their feet. As Sita and Karim watched, the community made a circle around the bonfire and began to sing.
“As the sun rises, we rise,” they sang, “As the flowers grow, we grow!”
Aya dashed out of the crowd and grabbed Karim’s hand. “Come on, sen!” the little girl cried. “Dance with me!”
Elyas laughed and urged him on, so Karim allowed himself to be dragged into the fray. Sita clapped and watched him move, clumsy at first, until he picked up the basics of the dance. Aya shrieked with delight as he swung her around and around as they circled the fire under the moonlight.
“Tomorrow is not promised,” they sang as the music played on. “Tomorrow is not certain!”
Then Karim was in front of her again, his face aglow, his skin glistening with sweat. “Dance with me,” he said, panting.
Sita’s breath caught in her throat as again, she saw passion in his eyes.
It’s this place, she thought.This moment. No more than that.Being among those people in that long-forgotten city was almost like living another person’s life. It was easy to forget what existed outside that valley, to forget the tragedies that had brought them there, seeking answers.You drowned yourself in oblivion before, she told herself,and you vowed never to do it again. You cannot delay much longer, no matter how good it feels. You must finish what you came here to do.
“There is only tonight!” the people sang.
She looked at Karim’s open hand, reaching out to her.
Perhaps just for one night…
She lay her hand in his.
Karim grinned and pulled her to her feet, into the music, into the crush of joyous movement, into the heat. They moved together in a blur, her fingers laced into his, singing and dancing as sparks flew up from the fire to meet the stars.
“There is only tonight!”
She fell against him, her head light and dizzy despite not having had a drop of wine. He caught her in his arms, and herhand fell upon the scarab-shaped scar on his chest. She felt his heart beating wildly beneath her fingers, the heart she’d impossibly turned from stone to flesh. Close now, so close, her breath mingling with his, mingling with the smoke and the wind, she met Karim’s gaze. His eyes glinted with that otherworldly light, and she was lost. Everything faded away—the pain of the past and the uncertainty of the future—as he threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her toward him.
Their lips met as the song reached its climax, and the fire crackled and burned.
“Only tonight!”
10Rae
Rae’s arm muscles trembled under the heavy burden, threatening to give out. Clouds of hot steam buffeted her face, and a clamor of angry voices assaulted her ears.For the love of Ra,she thought,put me out of my misery.
“More?” she asked as the palace cook ladled soup into a bowl and set it on the already crowded breakfast tray Rae carried.
The shiny-faced cook glared at her. “You are here to work, not to speak,” she said. “You’re lucky I’m trusting you to serve the pharaoh’s favorite. At first I was sure you’d either drop it all or steal it. Now, stay right there. A bit of melon and mint salad should do it…”
She shuffled away, pushing past the bakers toiling at the mouths of clay ovens and cooks stirring fragrant, steaming pots nestled in embers. It was hot and loud and chaotic, but even Rae had to admit the royal kitchens boasted a truly mouthwatering smell.
