10
Center of Attention

At the high table, Pharaoh Neferu rose. The murmur of conversation throughout the room quickly stopped. “If I could have your attention for a moment, please,” he said. “Queen Heta and I would like to thank the governor for this generous welcome and banquet here in Djerty. It’s been our great pleasure to introduce Prince Khufu and his new shadow, Ash, to the people of Egypt. We’d be remiss this evening if I didn’t mention that we’ve brought with us another impressive young person. Iset, please stand.” Iset put one hand to her chest, as if surprised to hear her name. She stood, looking shy and embarrassed, and the pharaoh introduced her, describing her family, her performance at the academy, and her accomplishments. When he was done, he raised a goblet and said, “To Iset, may she bless Egypt with magic for many years to come.”

The entire room raised their glasses and repeated the words. When I didn’t, Gilli nudged me in the ribs. I raised a goblet and mumbled.

The governess of Djerty said she’d love to see Iset demonstrate her skills. “Would that it was earlier,” she said, “with the sun still high in the sky to pull magic from.”

It was mean of me, but I was glad it was evening. That way, Iset shouldn’t have been able to show off her magic. Or so I thought. Khufu, however, had different information. He piped up and said, “I bet she could still do a spell.”

Iset said, “Oh, no, I wouldn’t want to be the center of attention.”

Yeah, right, I thought. I was pretty sure that being the center of attention was exactly what she wanted.

Iset moved nearer to the high table. “During the day is the best time to do magic, of course. It’s most powerful then, but at the academy they’ve been working hard on storing Ra’s magical power in styluses so that they can be used after sunset. It’s new technology. My stylus, for example, can hold a sun charge for several hours. Lord Thoth believes it may eventually be possible for us to store Ra’s energy in lots of ways so that we can use it through the night—the same way the light beetles can glow all night.”

Lord Horus squinted one eye at her. “Lord Thoth approves of this, then?”

“He does. He thinks it will be a great advancement for humanity.”

“Let us hope it’s not too much of an advancement,” Horus said. He was calm and spoke slowly, but his voice boomed as if his beak was right beside my ear. I’d heard his war cry could drive away whole enemy armies in terror. I could believe it. “With new powers it’s easy to find new ways to misuse them. Be sure, Iset, to always use your gifts for good.”

“Of course she will,” the queen said. “Use it for good now. Iset, entertain us with a spell!”

“Oh, yes, please do!” several of the nobles called, clapping their hands. A chorus of others joined them.

For a moment, Iset refused, saying she had no idea how to entertain such royal company. But it was all show. She protested long enough to seem modest, then agreed. “Okay, then. A very small demonstration. What should I do…” Her eyes scanned the room, eventually settling on the bowl of spiced cream in front of her. “Ah, I know! Spiced milk is wonderful after a good meal, but how about a variation on it? A little something I like to whip up on special occasions.”

She unfastened the stylus from her necklace. She lifted the slim sliver of metal, tilted it so that it sprung to life, and began drawing a series of quick glyphs. She moved through the room, between the tables, drawing glyph after glyph. Each one crackled in the air. They didn’t fade as fast as usual, and when there was a glyph hanging over every table, she drew one last glyph and paused.

“And then,” Iset said, “the final touch.” She slashed a closing stroke on the glyph in front of her. An icy blue light glowed at the writing tip of the stylus. Iset twirled it.

As she did so the cream in the bowl right in front of me changed consistency. It thickened and rose into a plump swirl that wasn’t liquid anymore. It didn’t just happen to my bowl, though. People around the room gasped in surprise as the same thing happened to all the bowls of cream.

Iset looked pleased. “I’m afraid you can’t drink the cream in its current state, but if you try it with a spoon…”

She had the room eating out of her hand. Everyone reached for their spoons, dug in, and began exclaiming. I did too. A dollop of the cream stuck to my spoon. It was soft and cold on my tongue and like nothing I’d ever tasted before. The sweetness of the honey and spices lingered in my mouth, even as the coolness of the frozen cream slipped down inside me. I hated to admit it, but it was really good.

Iset strolled back to our table, beaming as people devoured their new dessert. She set her silver eyes on me, smiled, and whispered, “I call it iced cream. I think it’ll catch on.”

That little trick made Iset the star of the evening. The governess even made Iset promise to teach her household magician the spell.

Khufu devoured his bowl and called for more.

I pushed my bowl across the table to him. “Here, have mine,” I said. “I’m full.”