'Are you Lostris, or some wicked wraith sent to torment me?' he asked

78 J

it. 'Would Lostris be so cruel? Are you offering help and guidance - or laying snares and pitfalls in my path?'

At last he turned away and went down to the fort where the escort waited for him. They mounted and set out on the return journey to Thebes.

It was dark by the time they reached the palace of Pharaoh Nefer Seti.

Taita went first to Ramram.

'Pharaoh is still in conclave. He will not be able to meet you tonight as he planned. You are not to wait up for his summons. He orders you to sup with him tomorrow evening. I press you most earnestly to resort to your sleeping mat. You appear exhausted.'

He left Ramram and hurried to Demeter's chamber, where he found the old man and Meren facing each other over the boo board. Meren jumped to his feet with a theatrical show of relief as Taita entered. The complexities of the game were often beyond him. 'Welcome, Magus. You are just in time to save me from humiliation.'

Taita sat beside Demeter and quickly appraised his state of health and mind. 'You seem to have recovered from the rigours of the journey. Are you being well cared for?'

'I thank you for your concern, and indeed I am,' Demeter told him.

'I am delighted to hear it, for we must be up betimes on the morrow. I am taking you to the Palace of Memnon, where we will listen to one who preaches a new religion. He prophesies the coming of a new goddess who will hold dominion over all the nations of the earth.'

Demeter smiled. 'Do we not already have a plethora of gods? Enough, indeed, to last us to the end of days?'

'Ah, my friend, to us it might seem so. But according to this prophet, the old gods are to be destroyed, their temples cast down and their priests scattered to the ends of the earth.'

'I wonder if he speaks of Ahura Maasda, the one and only? If so, this is not a new religion.'

'It is not Ahura Maasda but another, more dreadful and powerful than him. She will assume human form and descend to live among us. The people will have direct access to her gracious mercy. She has the power to resurrect the dead, and to bestow immortality and perpetual happiness upon those who merit such rewards.'

'Why must we concern ourselves with such manifest nonsense, Taita?'

He sounded irritable. 'We have graver matters to deal with.'¦ 'This prophet is one of many who are moving covertly among the people and, it seems, converting great numbers of them, including Mintaka, the Queen of Egypt and wife of Pharaoh Nefer Seti.'

Demeter leant forward and his expression became grave. 'Surely Queen Mintaka has better sense than to be taken in by such nonsense?'

'When the new goddess comes, her first act will be to rid Egypt of the plagues that afflict her and heal all the suffering they have caused.

Mintaka sees in her the chance to bring back from the tomb her children who died from the plague.'

'I see,' Demeter mused. 'To any mother that would be an irresistible lure. But what are the other reasons you spoke of?'

'The prophet's name is Soe.' Demeter looked mystified. 'Invert the letters of his name. Use the alphabet of the Tenmass,' Taita suggested, and Demeter's perplexity vanished.

'Eos,' he whispered. 'Your hounds have picked up the scent of the witch, Taita.'

'And we must follow it hotly to her lair.' Taita stood up. 'Compose yourself to sleep. I will send Meren to fetch you before sunrise.'

While the dawn was still a faint grey promise in the east, Habari had the horses and Demeter's camel waiting for them in the courtyard. Demeter stretched himself out in his palanquin, with Taita and Meren riding on each side of him. The escort led them down to ford the river, where they saw only one of the monstrous toads.

It avoided them and they crossed to the west bank without hindrance.

They circled the Palace of Memnon and came to the postern gate, where Taita and Demeter left their mounts in the care of Meren and Habari.

As Mintaka had promised, one of her hand-maidens was waiting inside the gate to greet them. She led the magi though a maze of passages and tunnels until at last they stepped into a lavishly appointed room, which smelt strongly of incense and perfume. The floor was covered with silk rugs and piles of fat cushions. Richly embroidered tapestries hung on the walls. The hand-maiden crossed to the far wall and drew back the hanging that concealed a screened zenana window. Taita hurried to it and looked through the ornate tracery into the audience chamber where he had met Mintaka the previous day. It was empty. Satisfied, he went

to take Demeter's arm and lead him to the window. The two settled down on the cushions. They did not have long to wait before a strange man entered the room beyond the screen.

He was of middle age, tall and spare. The heavy locks that hung to his shoulders were streaked with grey, as was his short, pointed beard. He wore the long black robes of priesthood, the skirts embroidered with occult symbols, and at his throat hung a necklace of charms. He began to circle the room, pausing to draw aside the hangings and search behind them. He stopped in front of the zenana window and brought his face close to the screen. His features were handsome and intelligent, but his most striking attribute was his eyes: they were those of a zealot and burned with a fanatical glare.

This is Soe, Taita thought. He was in no doubt. He took Demeter's hand and held it firmly to combine and augment their powers of concealment and protection, for they could not be certain what occult gifts the other man possessed. They stared back at him through the screen, exerting all their powers to hold the cloak of concealment around them. After a while Soe grunted, satisfied, and turned away. He went to wait by the far window, gazing out to the distant hills, which glowed like coals in the orange light of the early sun.

While he was thus distracted, Taita opened his Inner Eye. Soe was not a savant for at once his aura sprang up round him, but it was as none that he had seen before: it was inconstant, at one moment flaring strongly and at the next fading to a faint glow. Its colour shimmered brilliantly in tones of purple and vermilion, then sank away to a dull, leaden hue. Taita recognized a sharp intellect, corrupted with ruthlessness and cruelty. Soe's thoughts were confused and contradictory, but there was no doubt that he had developed considerable psychic powers.

As a group of laughing women burst into the room Soe turned quickly away from the window. They were led by Mintaka, who ran excitedly to him and embraced him with affection. Taita was taken aback: it was extraordinary behaviour for a queen. She embraced Taita only when they were alone, not in front of her maids. He had not realized how deeply she had come under Soe's influence. While she stood with one of his arms round her shoulders, her maids came to kneel before him.

'Bless us, Holy Father,' they pleaded. 'Intercede on our behalf with the one and only goddess.'

He made a gesture of benediction over them, and they wriggled with ecstasy.

Mintaka led Soe to a pile of cushions that raised his head to a level

above her own, then sat down, folding her legs sideways under her in the attitude of a young girl. She turned deliberately towards the zeinana window and smiled prettily at where she knew Taita was watching. She was displaying her latest acquisition for his approval, as though Soe was an exotic bird brought from a distant country, or a precious jewel given to her by a foreign potentate. Taita was alarmed by her indiscretion, but Soe was speaking condescendingly to the maids and had not noticed this exchange. Now he turned back to Mintaka.

'Exalted Majesty, I have given much thought to the concerns you expressed when last we met. I have prayed earnestly to the goddess, and she has responded most graciously.'