“It’s true!” another man said. “We were some of the last to escape the slaughter, and we saw the stone warriors spear him straight through! Not once, but three times!”
Sita saw Karim draw back. What might the tribe do to someone who was supposed to be dead? She stepped closer to him and reached for his hand.
“I witnessed this man’s resurrection!” Elyas told the Hudjefa. “And now he stands among us—offering to lead us to salvation! Is this not a sign for hope? Is this not the hand of God reaching out to lift us from our tragedy?”
Sita scanned the faces in the crowd and watched in amazement as their expressions turned to wonder. Every eye was upon Karim. His hand trembled in hers.
Sita squeezed it. “It’s going to be all right,” she whispered, though the news of Karim’s plan to take the Hudjefa to the Anen filled her with a mixture of pride and sadness.
“I’m just a thief, sena,” Karim protested amid the people’s exclamations. “I’m no divine messenger.”
Sita held the staff at her side, the weight of its burden one she’d never planned to bear but was glad she now carried. “Aren’t you?”
19Neff
She knew it wasn’t a good idea. It would have been better to send another message with Ahura and arrange a safe time to meet Kenna, but that would have taken too long. With the king’s cursing ritual only days away, Neff felt time slipping through her fingers like grains of sand.
Fortunately, it was supply delivery day at the Great Temple of Amun. So Neff managed to pass through the gate amid the vendors and donkeys and associated rabble unnoticed, as Karim had before her. Neff had learned at an early age that whether a person was a prince, a pauper, or a thief, there was always something to be learned from them.
She went straight to the embalming chamber, and sure enough, Kenna was there with an apprentice Sem priest, going over the proper way to lay out the tools of their trade.
“I cannot stress enough the importance of a sharp edge,” he said, holding up an obsidian shard. “A dull blade may tear the skin and create an imperfect incision…” He trailed off as hecaught sight of Neff at the doorway. Kenna cleared his throat. “I think that’s enough for today,” he said, his voice louder than before.
“But I thought—” the apprentice said.
“We will cover more tomorrow. I’ve just remembered that I’d planned to reorganize the storage room and I must get started.”
“Oh! I can help with—”
“Much appreciated, but I’m afraid I’mquiteparticular about my methods, so it will be best for me to undertake the task alone.”
Thus rebuffed, the apprentice bowed, then trudged out of the embalming chamber, past where Neff hid behind a pillar.
When the apprentice was safely out of sight, Kenna appeared beside her.
“Are you sleeping in honey, Nefermaat?” he muttered. “Do you realize how dangerous it is to show up here like this? If someone saw you—”
“No one saw me,” Neff assured him. “I’m sorry, brother, but it couldn’t wait. I need to speak to you.”
Kenna studied her. “You don’t look well. You haven’t been sleeping.”
Neff touched her face. She thought she’d done a good job masking the dark circles under her eyes with kohl, but Kenna was too observant to be fooled. He’d probably also noticed the subtle drop in her posture and the paleness of her skin. In truth, she hadn’t slept well since she’d concluded her study of the Book of the Red Lady. Its final spell had thrown her mind into turmoil, and she’d been grappling with indecision ever since.
“I’m fine,” she said, not wanting to be distracted from her goal.
Kenna sighed, running a hand through his wild hair. “All right. Let’s go to the storage room. We shouldn’t be disturbed there.”
Neff nodded and pulled the hood of the white robe she wore closer around her face so she wouldn’t be recognized. As theywalked, Neff gave Kenna an appraising look. He wore his standard white tunic, but he had added a small amulet to his costume: an Eye of Horus carved from malachite, strung on black cord.
“Where did that come from?” she asked. Kenna usually spurned any type of adornment.
He quickly tucked the amulet under his tunic. “It was a gift from Sitamun. A long time ago.”
Neff peeked over at him. “You miss her.”
The prince kept his eyes forward and said nothing.
“She’s alive,” Neff said.
