Rae jerked away and rubbed her shoulder. Again, she was struck by how much her friend’s behavior had changed since they’d left Sakesh. He’d always been passionate about their cause but never violent. And never toward her.
“They found the note,” she said. “The head guard brought it and me before the king. There was a priest in the throne roomwhen we arrived, and he claimed the young priestess and Prince Bakenamun were conspiring together against the king. As I had suspected!”
Omari’s eyebrows rose. “I see.”
“Meryamun didn’t believe it, though. In fact, he killed the priest right in front of me.”
Buto nearly dropped his fish in the fire. “Hekilleda priest?”
Rae nodded. “The king has total faith in Nefermaat and will do whatever it takes to get her back.”
“That’s good news, then,” Omari said, folding his arms.
“No, it isn’t!” Rae exclaimed. “Because Meryamun’s idea of doing ‘whatever it takes’ involves his men killing a hundred civilians in Sakesh for every day the girl isn’t returned!”
The two rebels at the fire jumped to their feet in chagrin.
“What?” Buto exclaimed.
Omari’s face turned scarlet. Then he turned back to the men. “Buto, finish cooking those fish. Kay, come with me. We need to send a pigeon to Sakesh to warn them. I’ll write the message, and you make sure the bird is ready. If he flies fast enough, he might make it there in time.”
Omari moved to leave, but Rae caught his arm.
“We should free the girl now!” she said. “If she shows up at the palace unharmed, no one has to die. We can come up with another plan to free the prisoners.”
Omari chuckled humorlessly. “Ay, have you learned nothing about war? Someonealwayshas to die.” He glanced back at the tent. “The girl knows our faces. Our names. If we let her go now, we’ll be dead before sunset. The girl could still be useful. Guard her until I get back, will you?”
Nodding vaguely, Rae watched the men go about their business. To Buto, she asked, “Has the girl gotten any food or water?”
Buto shook his head. “Omari didn’t think it was safe to removeher gag. He said she’d probably put a curse on us. Make us smell bad or never get it up again.”
Rae rolled her eyes. “Give me that, you fool,” she said, snatching the bread from Buto’s hand. “A curse would be wasted on you. You already smell bad.” Then she grabbed an empty clay cup, dipped it into the river, and carried both items into the tent.
She found Nefermaat slumped in the corner, her eyes closed.
Rae hurried over to her, worried that the priestess might have fainted from the heat. It was stifling and airless inside the little tent.
“Neff,” she whispered, sliding a hand behind the girl’s bald head and lifting it gently. When she didn’t stir, Rae loosened the gag and pulled it out of her mouth.
Let her curse me if she wants, Rae thought.My luck couldn’t get much worse.
“Neff,” Rae said again. “Wake up. I have some food and water for you.” She lifted the cup to the girl’s lips and poured a few drops into her mouth.
The girl’s throat bobbed as she swallowed, and then she was leaning toward the cup and drinking greedily.
“Not so fast,” Rae cautioned. “You’ll get sick.”
Neff nodded and licked her lips, taking deep, labored breaths. Then she looked at Rae with those dark, haunting eyes and—inexplicably—smiled.
“Now I understand,” she said.
Rae blinked. “Understand what?”
“Why he didn’t warn me about you. Why he didn’t try to protect me.”
“Who?”
“Medjed.”
