“Of course.” She’d already decided to wait until the servants began the kitchen work at dawn and slip in among them. Tam would vouch for her rising early to complete her duties in case anyone asked after her, not that they would. The maidservants were all but invisible.
Femi bowed his head. “You are a brave woman, Raetawy. May Amun be with you in the coming days.”
“And Ra with you,” Rae replied.
Femi looked at her askance as the full understanding of her allegiance became clear to him. “Why did you save me not knowing if I’d have done the same for you?” he asked quietly.
Rae shrugged. “Because I’m a fool.”
Femi smiled. “A fool I won’t soon forget.”
With that, he turned and ran out of sight.
Sighing, Rae smoothed back her hair and hurried down the riverbank. Moonlight glimmered on the rippling surface of the Iteru. The night air was heavy with jasmine, which bloomed along the river like constellations of stars.
After a few minutes, Rae ducked into a dense thicket of papyrus and pushed her way through, the ground growing marshy beneath her feet. She was almost to the other side when an armlike a tree trunk burst through the reeds, grabbed hold of her tunic, and yanked her out into the open. An enormous man loomed over her, his fist pulled back, ready to strike.
“It’s me!” she exclaimed, raising her hands in surrender. “It’s Raetawy!”
Omari dropped his fist. “It’s late,” he said by way of greeting, and released his grip on her tunic. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
Rae peered around him at Kay and Buto, who slept huddled under blankets near the smoldering remains of a campfire. The fishing skiff was tied up nearby, bobbing gently in the water.It must be Omari’s turn to keep watch.She glanced at him uncertainly, surprised that she hadn’t received a warmer welcome. “You must really miss me,” she said. “You look terrible.”
Rae thought the jab might wrest a smile from her old friend, but Omari only grimaced. “I hope you come with good news. If I have to piss away another day sitting here doing nothing, I swear I’ll go mad.”
“I have news, but I’m afraid very little of it is good.” For the next few minutes, Rae told Omari everything that she and Tam had learned about the king’s political plans, the location of the Sakeshi prisoners, and the threat of their imminent demise at the cursing ritual. She repeated what she’d discussed with Femi, though she neglected to mention its source. Somehow, Rae imagined that Omari wouldn’t be pleased to know she’d helped a High Khetaran guard escape from the palace, no matter what information the act had won her.
“There must be something more we can do besides wait until the final hour,” Rae said when she’d finished. “But I can’t think how to improve our situation.”
Omari looked west across the river before answering. “What we need is leverage. Something to stay the king’s hand.”
“Like what?”
“Tell me more about this priestess you look after,” he said. “You said the king is quite taken with her?”
Rae hesitated, uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. “Yes, she’s one of Meryamun’s closest advisers. From what Tam told me, she had a premonition that saved his life and has been at his side ever since.” She paused. “But she’s just a girl, Omari. Barely more than a child. We can’t—”
“Do you want your father back or not?” Omari retorted.
Rae felt a flush of indignation. “Of course I do! What kind of question is that?”
Omari scoffed. “The kind you must ask yourself when you decide what you can or can’t do in order to stop these High Khetaran scum from slaughtering us where we stand. Or have you forgotten, during your cozy respite in the palace, why we came here? Have you gotten too comfortable eating their good food, sleeping on their plush beds?”
“No!”
“Then for the love of Ra, do what needs to be done!” He stepped so close that she could smell the beer on his breath. “This is no time to be squeamish. This is war.”
Rae stared at him, unnerved by her friend’s uncharacteristic aggression. Was prolonged inaction putting him on edge? “What’s wrong with you, Omari?” she asked.
“Me? I’m thinking clearly. It’s you who has your head in the sand. This Nefermaat could be the very thing we need to turn the tide. Can’t you see that?”
“It’s not that simple,” Rae argued. “There’s a chance that she and the prince might be plotting against the king as well. If she’s on our side—”
Omari barked a laugh. “Onourside? Now I know you’ve been in the palace too long. Do you seriously believe she would goagainst the very man who placed her at the seat of power? Who showered her with luxuries? She’s manipulating you, Rae. That’s what High Khetarans do.”
Rae spun the gold bead on her swivel ring. Her mind turned to the friendly young girl who’d spared her from the guard’s blade in the courtyard, who’d shared her breakfast that day in her chambers. Except now, Rae began to see those events in a different light. What if Nefermaat’s actions hadn’t been kind, but calculated? What if her vision had revealed Rae’s true identity, and the priestess really had been deceiving her from the start?
Perhaps Raehadunderestimated her.
