5 Neff #2
A muffled cry sounded from somewhere nearby.
Neff stopped, listening.
Then she heard a familiar voice, though it was too far away to make out the words. The voice was coming from a hallway that led in the opposite direction from the stairs. Curious, Neff slowly made her way toward it. Luckily, the seldom-used corridor was deserted.
Light flickered from a chamber halfway down the hall. As she approached, she was able to make out what the voice was saying.
“I liked that sound you made, Femi. I liked it very much. Do it again.”
A grunt of pain followed, but no cry.
There was a rumble of amusement. “You still have fight in you, hmm? After all the threats and beatings and starvation, you still resist. That’s beautiful. I mean, look at you!”
Pressing herself against the wall by the doorway, Neff craned her neck and peered inside.
In the middle of the room, a young man with short, dark hair was tied to a tall wooden post, his wrists bound above his head.
He was naked save for a loincloth, and his muscular body was marred by lashes and dark purple bruises.
There were deep cuts along his lower ribs, his groin, his feet, and under his armpit, and thin curtains of blood cascaded from each one.
His face, however, was unmarked.
The king stood in front of Femi, a dagger dangling from one hand.
Perspiration shone on his bare chest, and his face was bright with exhilaration.
As Neff watched, he stepped close and dipped his face into the curve of Femi’s throat.
“I’ll be honest,” he said, lightly tracing a line down Femi’s torso with the point of his knife.
“I didn’t understand what Sitamun saw in you at first. But I see it now. ”
Femi closed his eyes and grimaced.
“I remind you that you can stop this at any time. Say the word and I’ll call the guards to cut you down and bandage your wounds.
You could be in a soft bed, eating meat and drinking wine within the hour—with me.
You’d like that, wouldn’t you? To serve once again at the pleasure of the king?
” He licked his lips. “All you have to do is tell me where she is.”
Neff put a hand over her mouth. Ever since the coronation, Meryamun had behaved as if Sitamun’s absence was inconsequential—as if her departure was due to her grief over their father’s death, and that her return was imminent.
But as the days passed with no sign of her, his explanation became less and less believable.
That morning was the second time in two days that he’d asked her to pray to the gods for a vision about Sitamun.
He’s getting desperate, Neff thought. His guards must have been torturing this man, trying to pry information from him about the princess. So far, it seemed that Femi hadn’t offered any answers, but seeing what they’d done to him, Neff had to wonder how much more suffering the young man could take.
“As I’ve said before, my king,” Femi said, breathless.
“If I knew how to find her, I would tell you.” He cried out as Meryamun pressed his thumb into the gash in his ribs.
“She didn’t tell me where she was going, I swear it!
On Amun, I swear it!” His face contorted with agony as the king pushed harder, forcing a fresh stream of blood to pour from the wound.
Neff had to look away.
When she turned back to them, Femi’s body had gone limp and hung from the bindings around his wrists.
The king cradled the man’s pale face in his palm, tilting Femi’s chin toward him.
“Hm! I was certain that my guards simply didn’t have the stomach for real torture, and that I needed to do the job myself.
Perhaps I was wrong. I’ve carved you up like a bull for a banquet, and still you give me nothing.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were telling the truth. ”
The king frowned at the bloody smear he’d left on the man’s cheek. He took up a clean cloth from a table nearby and blotted the stain with it. “I told them to spare your pretty face, you know. You should thank me.”
Femi’s eyes fluttered, and a pink bubble of spit appeared on his lips as he struggled to breathe.
Neff was so horrified by the scene before her that it took several seconds for her to register the tug pulling her away from the door.
Thinking that she’d been caught, Neff’s heart nearly leaped from her chest. But when she turned to see who had discovered her—again, there was no one there.
What is going on? she thought, her pulse pounding in her ears. She’d felt the pressure of someone gripping her shoulder.
Wait. What was that sound?
Footsteps. Coming down the stairs at the other end of the dark corridor. They were coming her way.
Neff scanned the area in a panic. There was a large, lidded basket by the door. She quickly climbed in, hiding among a bunch of soiled linens that stank of sweat and blood, and sealed herself inside. Holding her breath, she peered through the weave of the basket.
The head guard appeared in view. He stopped inches away from the basket to announce himself at the chamber door.
“My king,” he said.
“What is it?” Meryamun replied.
“You are needed upstairs. Vizier Sabni has completed his initial task and is requesting further orders.”
“Very well. I’m done here. This man knows nothing of my sister—aside from what he learned in her bed.”
Neff’s senses sharpened. If Femi was Princess Sitamun’s lover, then he could be a valuable ally. According to the oracle, she and the princess were meant to work together in some way.
And as my father always said: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
The head guard cleared his throat. “What shall I do with him then?”
“Leave him here for now; I may want to play with him some more later. As far as Sitamun…” There was a pause. “How long did the Tashans stay in Thonis after the banquet that night?”
“I believe they remained in the region for several more days, my king, visiting with physician priests and conducting trade deals at the marketplace.”
“So, it’s possible they were still close the night Sitamun disappeared.”
“It’s possible, my king. The ambassadors did not offer a specific schedule for their departure.”
Meryamun lowered his voice, so that Neff had to strain to hear him. “She was getting cozy with Prince Harsi at the banquet…”
“Do you have additional orders for me, my king?”
“I do. Gather some men, take my fastest ship, and track down the Tashans. If my sister is hidden among them, bring her back.”
“And the rest of the delegation?”
There was a pause. “Kill them.”
“My king?”
“Kidnapping my sister is crime enough to warrant execution, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes, my king. However, if they don’t have the princess…”
“If they don’t, spare one, and bid him return to Tash with a message.
Khetara has a new pharaoh. One who knows full well that many years have passed since Tash has offered fealty to the region’s sovereign kingdom.
They can consider the blood of their ambassadors as payment overdue.
” The guard began to step away when the king stopped him.
“Either way, bring me Prince Harsi. Alive. He may prove useful.”
“Understood, my king. We will do our best to reach the Tashans before they cross their borders.”
Meryamun sucked his teeth. “What have I told you about calling defeat to your door? You are the hand of Pharaoh! Go now, and see that it is done.”
“Yes, my king.”
The guard departed, and Meryamun followed shortly after.
Neff waited until their footsteps had faded to silence before emerging from the basket.
She was about to follow—worried that the king would summon her and find her missing—but stopped in front of the chamber door.
Femi was still. Looking at him hanging like a butchered animal in a slaughterhouse, she felt like crying.
His head lifted at the sound of her approach, and his eyes widened in surprise.
Without a word, Neff picked up a piece of sharpened obsidian, not unlike the kind Kenna used to make incisions during the mummification ritual. She turned to Femi, and his nostrils flared, uncertain of her intentions.
Neff held up a hand to indicate peace, then reached up to place the obsidian in his hand.
He regarded her with interest. “Who are you?” he whispered.
“Someone who could use more friends,” she answered.
Femi’s fingers closed around the blade, hiding it from view. He pressed his lips together and nodded.
Neff gave a small bow and slipped out of the room.
As she climbed the stairs to the main floor, Neff’s thoughts turned once again to the force that grabbed her right before Mery’s guard appeared. Like a warning. It was the same sensation she’d had in the Horus Room, as if someone else had been in there with them.
You’re jumping at shadows, Neff told herself as she made her way through the palace.
Stop being childish and focus on the trip into Thonis to help the king choose the new servants.
Kenna and Femi were valuable allies, but with Meryamun torturing innocent people and stoking a war with Tash, the situation was getting worse by the day.
She needed to gather as many conspirators as she could.
Meryamun took down a king with a combination of cunning, strategy, and a multiplicity of well-placed pawns, each with their own role to play.
If Neff was to have a chance at defeating him, she needed to do the same.
Your brother isn’t the only one teaching me how to beat you, my king, she thought as she reached the throne room. She still couldn’t shake the sensation of something trailing in her wake, but as she pushed through the doors, it was almost a comfort to feel as if she weren’t going alone.