Page 143

Screams. My screams. Echoing through my head. At first, the mindless terror of being trapped and confined. In the dark. In the reek of my own filth.

Then as the days and weeks turned to years, decades, centuries… Terror born from the bitter knowledge that I had been forgotten.

No one knew I lay in wait inside the darkness. Still bleeding.

The sickening taint of my own befouled blood my only company in the darkness.

:I’m here,: Sekh said. :You’re not alone. I feel your pain.:

:Do you?: I retorted, using my words to lash and rend. :I think it unlikely you comprehend the full extent of my suffering.:

:The illness burns in your veins like acid laced with razor blades. Rats and beetles gnaw inside your mind, constantly nibbling and scratching where you can’t reach or touch. They’re not there but you can’t reach up to confirm with your own fingers that they’re not real. The unknown is worse than the possibility they may actually have found a way inside the casket to feast on you like the queens before she put you into the box.:

The ragged, harsh gulps of my breathing steadied somewhat. :Then why can’t I feel you?:

:You’re still shut down. So let’s get you out of the fucking box. Listen to my words as I build a picture in your mind. I am the General of the All Seeing, Never Sleeping Legion of three thousand sphinxes just as ferocious and ravenous as Ini and Isesi. We stand guard on the banks of the Nile, guarding the walkway between Luxor and Karnak. Thousands of years of drought and flood, feast and famine, war after war after war. Never sleeping. Always guarding. Waiting for She Who Dances in Blood to call us forth to battle.

:It’s been so long that many of the sphinxes are buried in mud and silt in the riverbank. Washed into the depths of the Nile as it changed its course over the millennia. Lost and looted, stolen to the British Museum and private collections. Yet I still feel them. Every single one. They’re a part of me, as much as I am now a part of Shara. Picture the Nile in your mind. Did you ever see it?:

Sweat slicked my skin, but I managed to shake my head. :I was part of one of the Crusader waves sent from Jerusalem, but we never made it to Cairo.:

Though I knew enough about the land to imagine the mighty river’s expanse. I’d heard stories of fellow travelers and warriors. In the delta, swampy wetlands with rich, fertile black soil. Reeds and rushes dotted with palm and date trees. Teeming with long-legged birds fishing in the shallows. Mighty crocodiles as long as a boat.

:Yes, that’s it,: Sekh said. :The river itself is vast and long on its journey north. Sometimes seemingly still and quiet, yet when the floodgates open, it fills a network of canals across the delta to water the fields and provide necessary water to the people. Although it can also sweep entire villages off the banks beneath its torrent.:

The winding silvery ribbon flowed through my mind. Sometimes muddy and dark after rains. So lush and green along the banks. I could hear the gurgling water rippling through the reeds. Smell the mud and the scent of green things growing rampant with such a steady water supply. Flowers. Delicate bowl-shaped petals of white and deep blue.

I had never seen such a flower. Yet its image filled my head so clearly that I could smell its fragrance.

:Blue lotus,: he whispered. :One of our queen’s scents she inherited from Isis.:

Ah, yes. I remembered the delicate perfume of her skin against my lips.

:Shara walks along the riverbank in a soft, white, flowing gown. Picture her. Golden sandals on her feet. Wire gold and trinkets binding her hair in a long thick braid that drags behind her. She has no fear of crocodiles or snakes. Nothing would dare touch her. Not here.:

Such an image was easy to build, for she’d worn such a gown in Paris.

:On the bank, she stops to stare out over the river at a rocky island splitting the flowing waters. There’s an ancient temple there, though it’s mostly tumbled stones and broken columns now. Thousands of years ago, it was a grand temple to honor the Great One. Obelisks and statues of Isis wearing Her crown. Sphinxes at either hand. Carved panels of hieroglyphs and bright murals.:

He paused, letting me build the image in my mind.

:Step closer to her. Join her on the edge of the riverbank. She doesn’t turn her head to look at you, but she knows you’re close. She feels you because you carry her blood. She’s inside you. Her blood shines inside you, cutting through the darkness of your memories. It resonates inside you like music you can’t hear with your ears. Feel that hum in your blood. Her energy vibrating your bones. Pumping up your muscles. Your horse is eager to run. Tossing its head, pawing the ground, wishing she had an order to send you galloping away on a mission.:

The shining white of my stallion of storms filled me. The gentle suction of mud on my hooves as I stepped closer to her. Ears pricked forward, then twitching back and forth, listening for any threat of danger. But all I could hear was the music of the river rippling around us.

:She steps into the river,: Sekh said. :Follow her. If you dare.:

The water rose to her knees, the fabric of her gown puddling around her like the flower’s petals. Blossoming on the Nile. Deeper. The water up to her thighs. Yet she moved confidently toward the island temple. Unafraid.

Because I walked behind her. Closer. My neck arched over her shoulder, making sure she didn’t slip as the water pushed and tugged at her legs. Her arm looped around my neck, her hand fisted in my mane. The slight weight of her body against my shoulder, floating now because the water was too deep for her to walk.

:She needs to get to the temple,: Sekh whispered. :Can you carry her there?:

The water deepened, the current rippling around my flanks. The channel dropped beneath my hooves, but I swam confidently toward the island. Pulling my queen with me. She floated alongside me, trusting me to take her to safety. Even across the treacherous Nile.

His voice rumbled with a deep yet gentle purr. :Her bond is the river. She is the Nile. She is with you. Let yourself sink into her, knowing she’s there. With you. Trusting you to carry her. Trusting her to carry you.:

The stallion abandoned me, leaving me flailing for a moment in deep water. Suddenly faster than before. Sweeping me away. Dark and swift and silent. I must have fallen off my mount. Hit my head on a rock. The weight of my armor pulled me under.