Chapter 25 #2
“It means that Tamerit is predisposed to swallow your nonsense because apparently you’ve been bedding her every night.” Omari spoke with such venom that Rae momentarily forgot about everything else.
Heat rushed to her cheeks. “Is this about you walking in on us that day back in Sakesh? You’re still upset about that?
Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you how I feel about her, and I’m sorry you had to find out the way you did.
But it’s not fair to suggest Tam would blindly follow my orders no matter what.
She’s brilliant, and if she thought it was a bad idea, she would say so. ”
Omari shook his head in disbelief. “You think I’m angry because you didn’t share your gossip about having a lover? Really, Rae? After all these years, you really don’t know?”
Rae blinked. “What are you talking about?” Then, slowly, realization dawned on her, turning her entire world on its head. “Omari, you’re not suggesting… You didn’t think we would…”
Omari’s face was an open wound, bleeding years of pain and frustration and anguish.
“Of course I did! I loved you, Rae!” he exclaimed.
“I’ve loved you since we were children! Since the day your mother died, and we sat by the river and promised everything to each other!
I thought you understood! I thought you felt the same!
Then, when everyone around us spoke as if our union was inevitable, you acted like it was a joke!
And every time it was like a knife in my heart! ”
Rae put a hand to her mouth in dawning horror. “Omari…”
Omari was shaking, his breath coming in short bursts. “I joined the Horizon because I wanted to do something important, to rise in the ranks and become a leader in the community. I’d hoped that if I did, you’d finally see me for the man I am, a man deserving of your love.
“But then you had to drag the truth out of me too early, force yourself into that first meeting, and made such an impression on Asim that it took all the attention off me and put it on you instead. Suddenly you were the leader, you held the sway, and I was simply there to clean up your mess.
“But at least we were working together, I thought. We could connect during this mission to Thonis. There was still time for me to show you who I really am. I hadn’t given up hope. And then I saw you with her.”
Rae had forgotten to breathe. Her gaze flicked to Neff, whose face had gone deathly pale. Throughout his tirade, Omari hadn’t slackened his grip on her wrist.
“If it had been another man, it would have been painful enough. But a woman? It was proof that all those years of my pining and hoping and striving for your love had been a total waste. I never had a chance. You made me into a fool. An utter, complete fool.”
Rae worked to get her thundering heart under control, to slow the whirl of her mind enough to choose her next words. “I am sorry you suffered so long in silence, Omari,” she said. “If you had only told me about your feelings, all of this could have been avoided.”
“So, this is my fault, is it?”
“I’m not saying that.”
Omari was squeezing Neff so hard that Rae could see he was hurting her. She was angry, but she knew that anger would only make things worse. I need to ease the situation. Say whatever is necessary to get Neff away from Omari until he calms down.
“Look, I want things to be right between us, Omari. You’re my best friend, and I never intended to hurt you.
But we don’t have time to settle our differences now.
We must get Neff back to the palace and make a plan to liberate our people before it’s too late.
I promised my father the Horizon would come to their aid. ”
Omari barked a humorless laugh. “Ah yes, your father. I’m sorry to tell you this, Ay, but he was dead the moment he was taken.”
Rae went cold. The ground beneath her trembled.
“Take it back, Omari.”
“It’s true, and you know it. This entire rescue mission was pointless from the start, not that the rest of the Horizon seemed to understand that.
They were so dazzled by your feats of heroism they were willing to look past the fact that a small group of rebels have exactly zero chance of saving prisoners from inside the king’s palace.
I only came to conduct reconnaissance work for when we eventually invade this city—and to ensure you didn’t do anything monumentally stupid.
” He swept an arm before him, encompassing their current predicament. “And it’s a good thing I did.”
“You were the one to suggest abducting Nefermaat in the first place!” Rae retorted. “Why would you do that if you thought the plan would fail?”
Omari shrugged. “There was a chance the king was soft enough on the girl to release one or two of the prisoners in exchange for her safe return. But I wasn’t surprised when he raised the stakes instead. It was the obvious choice.”
“You predicted that he would attack Sakesh? And you said nothing?”
“Do you remember what you told me in Baki’s barn?
The night you killed the brewer? You said we can’t force everyone in Sakesh to join us in this fight.
They have to come to it willingly. ‘Not every mind works as yours does,’ that’s what you said.
And you know what? You were right. Besides dealing with the king’s taxes and the rule of the nomarch and the Medjay, most Low Khetarans are too busy living their lives to dedicate themselves to the cause.
What they needed was to find their fury.
Their passion. They needed an event that would unite the whole city under the Horizon’s banner. ”
“An event like a massacre?” Rae asked. She felt sick.
Omari smiled grimly. “Now our people know the pharaoh’s true nature. When we arrive on their doorsteps and ask them to sail north with us, to take every city and village along the way for Low Khetara, they will come gladly. So, you see, this was really your idea all along.”
“No,” Rae said, her fury rising, brighter and hotter than before. “You’ve taken my words and my intentions and corrupted them. You used me, undermined me, lied to me…”
“Oh, give it up, Ay. I don’t care about your sanctimony. We’ve wasted enough precious time.” He tilted his head toward Neff. “We need to finish our business here and get back to Sakesh to start amassing our forces.”
Rae felt a frisson of dread. “Finish our business?”
Omari yanked Neff toward him and shifted his grip to her shoulder.
Then he lifted the freshly sharpened knife to her throat.
“Yes. We kill the girl and leave her on the riverbank outside the palace for the guards to find in the morning. Like I said, she’s seen our faces, Rae.
She knows our names and our plans.” His lip curled.
“The king wanted to send a message to the Low Khetarans. I intend to send one back.”
Neff gasped as the blade pierced her skin.
“Stop! Stop!” Rae held up both hands as blood pounded in her ears.
She scanned the ground for a weapon and saw the handle of her sekhem scepter sticking out from the tent.
It must have fallen from the pile of their belongings and slipped through.
She snatched it up and hefted the scepter into a two-handed grip. “Let her go,” she commanded.
Omari looked unfazed. “Or what? Her throat will be slit long before you reach me.”
Curse him, he’s right. Not knowing what else to do, Rae raised the scepter over her shoulder. “I’m warning you, Omari,” she said. “Stop this madness now.”
Neff cried out as the knife dug deeper into her flesh.
Omari narrowed his eyes. “I’m done taking orders from you. For all your unchecked rage and recklessness, you’ve never had the courage to do what really needs to be done.”
Rae’s heart was in her throat as Omari’s forearm flexed, ready to deal the fatal wound—when his hand inexplicably stilled. It was as if an invisible force had grabbed hold of the weapon and refused to let go.
“What in the name of Ra?” Omari exclaimed, straining until the knife slipped out of his sweaty palm and skittered across the ground. With a frustrated growl, he clamped both hands onto Nefermaat’s neck. Omari was strong. Strangling the girl would take mere seconds.
Rae thought only to stop him. To deliver a blow that would make him let go, stand down, back off.
But in moments of crisis, finesse often falls by the wayside.
She closed the distance between them and brought the stone head of the sekhem scepter hurtling down. Rae was too frightened, too horrified by Omari’s cruelty to lessen the force of her swing.
Her best friend, whom she’d known all her life, whom she loved—though not in the way he’d wanted her to—was a monster. She didn’t want to believe it, but the truth had its fingers wrapped around a young girl’s throat.
“Let her go!” Rae cried.
The scepter crashed into the side of Omari’s face, crushing it like an egg.
His hands went limp and dropped from Neff’s neck, and his body slumped to the ground.
Neff looked down at him and screamed. Despite the dark, Rae could see there was blood everywhere. Omari didn’t move or make a sound.
The scepter slipped from Rae’s hands as she fell to her knees. “Omari?” she whispered, staring at his body. “Omari?”
Suddenly there was shouting by the riverside, and Buto and Kay appeared, staring at the gruesome tableau in shock.
Buto ran up to her, thinking she too might be hurt. He hauled her to her feet. “Raetawy, what happened? Was there an ambush? Is he dead?”
Rae’s body shook. Kay had gone to Nefermaat. The cut on her throat was bleeding but not dangerously so. Still, the girl looked as if she might faint.
“I hit him,” Rae admitted. There was no point in lying to them. “He tried to kill the girl, and I stopped him.” In as few words as she could, she related the events to the two men—omitting the part about Omari being secretly in love with her.
Buto and Kay were astounded.
Kay said, “Omari wanted the king to attack Sakesh? So our people would agree to open war with High Khetara?”
Rae nodded. “I didn’t intend to hurt him so badly, I swear it. I only wanted him to stop—”
“For the love of Ra, he might still be alive!” Kay exclaimed. “If he still breathes, there’s a chance he could survive.”
The four of them turned back to where Omari lay in the dirt.
He was gone.
The only evidence of what had happened was a pool of dark blood and a small papyrus scroll. Rae picked it up, dumbfounded. “I don’t understand. He was out cold. I thought he was dead! How could he have gotten up and walked away?”
Buto shrugged. “Omari’s a tough fellow. Maybe the injury looked worse than it was.”
“I don’t think so. It was bad.”
Kay said, “Maybe he’s heading back to Sakesh without us.”
“Maybe,” Rae murmured, unconvinced.
She went to check on the little priestess, who was sitting on a rock, catching her breath.
“I’m so sorry for what happened,” Neff said, sniffling, her eyes wet. “I know you two were close, and if it wasn’t for me—”
“If it wasn’t for you,” Rae broke in, “I would not get the chance to save my father. Omari chose his fate, and I’ve chosen mine.”
Rae had a feeling there would come a time when she’d have to reckon with the repercussions of her actions. When the horror of her clash with Omari would come back to haunt her.
She lay a gentle hand on Neff’s shoulder and forced a confident expression onto her face. “Let’s talk about how we get you back to the palace where you belong.”
Neff nodded gratefully and gestured to the tiny scroll in Rae’s hand. “What’s that?”
“I don’t know. It must have fallen out of Omari’s pocket when he collapsed.” She unrolled it. In the dim moonlight, she squinted at the words written in the common script. Her eyebrows lifted. When she was done, she handed it to Neff. “What do you think of this?”
Neff read the note and a little color returned to her face. “I think our chances of success just improved.”