“Careful with her, will you?” Ahura said. “She’s loyal to the king, but she’s still just a girl, Omari. She’s scared.”
Neff cowered under the intense gaze of the men and women. Shewasscared, but she was also angry. Whoever these people were, they’d interrupted her from carrying out her divine mission.
The man called Omari scoffed. “High Khetarans don’t feel emotion the way we do. Not even their children.”
“Omari!”
“Rae, will you stop worrying about the girl and rejoice? You did it! You landed the first strike against the pharaoh. Now that we have leverage, we can finally fight back! We can fight for your father! For Sakesh!”
Neff turned sharply to look at Ahura—no, not Ahura. Her name was Rae.
So I was right!Neff thought.She is the woman Karim met by the river in Sakesh! She is the fourth figure from the Oracle!
As if sensing Neff’s gaze, Rae turned to look at her, and sunlight lanced across her face. Her eyes shone with triumph, but there was another emotion there too.
Doubt.
She and these others must be part of the southern rebellion,Neff thought.She doesn’t know about the oracle.About the four of us. About any of it.
The lamb whispered in Neff’s ear, louder and more insistent than ever before.
Take heed, Thonis, Great House of Amun!
Take heed, Sakesh, Great House of Ra!
Beware! Sorrow and ruin comes to the Children of the Two Lands!
Neff’s body relaxed, despite the dark portents whispering in her mind.
She doesn’t know…
Yet.
Perhaps she hadn’t veered off the path after all. Perhaps once again, she was right where she was supposed to be.
20Rae
“Put her in the tent, Buto. Quickly now.” Omari tipped his chin toward the young priestess. She’d stopped struggling in her bonds and stared at Rae with an intensity that was deeply unsettling.
Rae tried to look away but found that she couldn’t. Had the girl cast some kind of spell on her? She’d never witnessed heka before but knew from her father’s stories that it was real—a magic reserved for the rich and powerful. Still, Neff had been gagged before she could have uttered a curse. They’d made sure of that. Then why did Rae feel like she was falling into the girl’s gaze? Into a deep well where a fearsome power lurked?
Beware…
“Rae?” Tam’s voice sounded far away.
The lamb.
Someone shook her by the shoulder. “Rae!”
The lamb.
Buto slung the girl over his shoulder, and the connection was severed. Rae blinked rapidly, stumbling back as she watched Butocarry Neff into the rebels’ tent.
“Are you all right?” Tam studied her with concern.
She felt chilled, struck by the memory of a blind old soldier on the streets of Sakesh, muttering words that at the time, she’d thought were only ravings.
The lamb, the lamb, the lamb…
