Tira sat at a low table in the rear of a dimly lit beer house. The aroma of cooked and raw onions permeated the air. For a moment she allowed herself to dream of deep-fried onion rings. Alas, catsup was unknown here. No tomatoes, potatoes or corn on the cob existed in this place. Her memories of other missing treats were triggered as she sipped warm beer. She yearned for the bite of icy cola, the bitterness of black coffee or the soothing flavor of iced tea. Here there was water, warm milk, beer and wine made from dates, pomegranates or grapes. Was there alcoholism in her future?
She heard a stir outside and tensed. Was there a back exit that allowed for her escape? Kashe planned to meet her here once he traded the horse and chariot for camels. Another difference from the ancient Egypt she had studied. In that land camels hadn’t appeared for more than a thousand years after the time period she believed she had landed in.
The noises from outside changed to a dull buzz. She yawned. Two restless nights spent listening to Kashe’s snores had left her muddled. Her eagerness to share the room they had rented in one of the houses hadn’t produced the results she had envisioned. He had slept on the floor leaving the bed for her. She had tossed and turned while fighting memories of heated kisses and the smooth feel of his muscular body. She had tried seduction and caught the scent of his arousal but he had rejected her overtures.
“We can’t,” he’d said. “There is a prophecy. ‘There will come from afar.’ Those words are carved in my thoughts and so is the admonishment. ‘During the time they work to fulfill their destinies they may not join flesh to flesh. Chaste they must remain until their quest ends lest disaster strike the Two Lands.’ Thus we cannot indulge our lusts.”
His reasoning made sense if there had really been such a prophecy. He said there was a scroll but he’d given the papyrus to his younger brother. Tira groaned. Her need for Kashe had become an itch impossible to scratch.
She looked up and gulped. A man stepped into the room. He wore a white robe and on his chest lay a gold-rayed disc. She shrank into the shadows. Was this priest of Aken Re searching for Kashe and her? She needed to leave the beer house and warn him. Could she find him before their presence was discovered? Maybe she should go to the room they had rented. All their provisions were there. If they had to flee how would they survive?
For what seemed like an eternity the priest studied the occupants of the room. His glance moved past her and she fought the panic rising in her gut. Finally he left. Tira’s shoulders slumped. The release of tension kept her seated. She gulped deep breaths until she was in danger of passing out. Think. Plan.
She rose and edged to the door. Before stepping outside she scanned the area for the priest. When she didn’t see him she slipped around the corner into an alley. The stench made her gag.
With caution she crept to the end of the alley and peered into the market square. Women with baskets moved from stall to stall. Vendors shouted their wares. A wave of homesickness engulfed her. Images of store fronts where fruit, vegetables and clothes spilled onto the sidewalks flashed in her thoughts. She could almost smell the spices wafting from restaurants and open apartment windows.
Her hands tightened into fists. How long would images of a lost world haunt her? She had chosen to come here. She had selected life over imprisonment or death. The world she’d left, like this one, had been full of danger but they were dangers she knew.
Tira leaned against a wall. Luci, why? Grief for her dead sister battled with anger over the betrayal. Luci had been weak. Had she really believed turning her sister over to the drug dealer would spare her life? That idea had been foolish.
She pushed away from the wall. Tension built like a forming storm. The priest stopped at every stall. Two men wearing warrior’s kilts flanked him. Fear gathered in the air. These priests of Aken Re sowed terror instead of awe colored by joy.
Tira edged away from the alley and scurried down the lane between two clusters of houses. She ducked around the corner of the house where she and Kashe rented a room. She glanced back and sat the priest and his guards enter the lane. Tira ran to the rear entrance of the house. She slipped past the family quarters and reached the room she and Kashe shared.
Would the house owner betray them? She shoved bundles and packs beneath the bed’s platform. Bast Ka rose and stretched. “I must warn Kashe but I don’t know where the animal market is,” she said. “Maybe I should stay here and spy.”
The feline nipped Tira’s hand and bounded to the window. Tira wondered what had caused the cat to run. She saw Bast Ka speed down the lane. Was the feline seeking Kashe?
Tira shoved the last bundle beneath the bed. She crept from the room and slid into a dark alcove where she could see the front door. The priest stood outside and spoke to the house owner.
“It is known you rent rooms in your house. I seek a man and a boy who was stolen from his family. An enemy beat the youth. The evil child stealer took the boy before he could obey his father and enter the ranks of the priests of Aken Re. Have you seen such a pair?”
The owner shook his head. “My room was taken by a young couple. If this boy is ill, you should seek the physician’s house. He lives in the next cluster.”
Tira’s tension ebbed. He wasn’t seeking Kashe and her. Then she straightened. Would the priest ask about the couple?
“I will seek the physician.” The priest turned back. “I will remain in town for several days. Should you see the pair I seek send word to the compound of the nomarch of Sebili.”
Good, Tira thought. He wasn’t staying in town. She heard the cat’s meow and returned to the room. Horu Ka perched on the window ledge. Bast Ka tugged on one of the sacks.
Tira shook her head. “What do you want?”
“Pass the bundles to me.”
Tira yelped. “Where did you come from?”
“I heard a priest was in town. Then Bast Ka arrived at the animal sellers. She nipped my foot until I followed. We need to leave.”
“The priest was here. He doesn’t seek us. Are you sure we must rush away?”
Kashe leaned on the sill. “He’ll hear about the pair of warriors, one a woman. He’ll hunt us down. We’ll take our things to the animal sellers’, load the camels and head into the desert.”
Though she wasn’t ready for a camel ride or to venture into the desert Kashe knew more about these priests and their ways than she did. To be captured would end the quest and bring death or imprisonment for them. This time there would be no escape into another world.
The hawk perched on the end of the bed. Bast Ka paused on the window ledge and jumped to the ground. Tira pulled bundles and sacks from beneath the bed and passed them to Kashe. After handing him the last one she turned toward the door. “I’ll let the house owner know we’re leaving.”
“No need. Come this way.”
“Must we depart like thieves?”
“We’ve paid for two more nights. We come and go without seeing the owner. If we leave without speaking no one will know we’re gone until he comes for more money. By then no enemy will be able to follow us.”
She made a face. “Unless the priest seeks us.”
“There is that.” He held his hands to help her through the window. “We’ll have the rest of today and tomorrow to travel. Though the animal seller might note our direction, once we’re out of sight our route will change.”
Tira groaned. “I’ve never ridden a camel.”
He grinned. “We won’t travel beyond sunset.”
Tira climbed over the sill. Kashe caught her around the waist. She curled her arms around his neck. As she slid to the ground she felt him quicken. She pressed her lips to his. He made no move to release her.
His scent intoxicated. His tongue flicked her mouth. She tasted his lips and he moaned. Desire built with an intensity she felt would turn them into flames.
Kashe groaned. “We can’t. The prophecy. He loosened his clasp on her waist.
“I wish I could see this mysterious scroll.”
“What I’ve told you is true. If you could ask Namose he would tell you.”
“He isn’t here.”
Kashe lifted one of the sacks. “You know I want you but this isn’t the time.”
Tira frowned. She wished she could believe him but she feared his rejection belonged to her role as a warrior of Bast. She’d seen his mother and talked to his sisters. To them she’d been an oddity. Maybe he felt the same. Maybe he wanted a woman like those he’d seen every day.”
Reluctantly she stepped aside. For now she would accept his reasons but one day they needed to talk. Maybe then there would be a time for them. She slipped her bundle on her back and hoisted several sacks. Bast Ka walked beside her.
Kashe carried the remainder of their supplies. He led the way along streets and through alleys. The pungent aroma of manure told her of their nearness to their destination. She grimaced and breathed through her mouth.
Kashe lowered his burdens to the ground. He led three camels to where she waited. The shades of their brown coats varied from pale to dark. He tapped the darkest of the three with some kind of prod. The camel knelt. With Tira’s help the sacks and bags were loaded on the camel’s back.
He lifted two rolls of cloth she hadn’t seen before. “What are those?”
“Tents.” He added bundles of wood to the load. With this done he hoisted a pair of leather sacks and strode toward a cluster of palm trees. “Wait here. I’ll bring some food so we can eat before we leave.”
Tira sat with her back against one of the trees. Bast Ka perched on the pack camel’s back. The hawk landed on a post where the three beasts were tied.
Before long Kashe returned with meat on skewers, bread, onions, melon and cheese. He filled two cheap pottery mugs with beer from a leather flask. Tira wondered how much time would pass before she stopped hoping for the aroma of coffee or the taste of an ice cold beverage.
Kashe slid his meat and onions onto the bread and rolled it. “Tell me the whole story of the priest and how you sent Bast Ka to find me.”
Tira looked up. “I didn’t send her. I spoke aloud about him and how I needed to find you. She ran off.”
“How odd.”
Tira swallowed the last of her rolled bread. She began to talk of how the priest had arrived in the doorway of the beer house. She continued and related his conversation with the house owner. “He seeks a man and a boy. Do you think the daughter travels disguised as a boy?”
He frowned. “I can’t believe any girl of the Two Lands would do that. Why would she come here? She would seek the temples of the Three in Tebes.”
“I don’t know any answers.” Tira leaned back. She reached for a piece of melon. She was still learning the customs of this land.
“I wonder –” He shook his head. “A stray thought that makes little sense.”
Tira chewed the sweet melon. “The boy was sick or injured. I wish we could help him. Anyone the priests choose to harm could be a friend.”
“We can’t abandon our quest to champion a new one.” Kashe concentrated on finishing his share of the meal. He rose.
“Do we have to leave this instant?”
“Soon. I’ve an uneasy feeling that if we linger we’ll find trouble.” We need to fill the water sacks.”
Tira walked to the well and used water to wash her hands and face. She was uneasy, too but she believed the sensation was caused by her worries about riding a camel. Even so she had to face this new experience.
Kashe dropped the leather sacks beside her. He lowered a bucket into the well.
“Why must we bring so much water? Aren’t camels able to travel without needing any?”
“They can but we must carry enough to last until we reach a small oasis I know.” He lifted the bucket and poured water into the container.
Tira found a second bucket and worked beside him. Once the bags bulged Kashe added them to the pack camel’s load. He led the three animals to a trough and allowed them to drink. Then he used a prod to tap the riding pair behind the knees.
He pointed to the one with fur almost as pale as the sand. “This is yours.”
Tira stared at the camel. “Do I have to ride alone?” The saddle atop the hump looked hard. She moved closer and lifted the woolen cloth. Beneath the tapestry she saw hardened leather and wood.
Kashe nodded. “If you want to reach the Valley before the next moon ends you will. Don’t worry. You’ll soon become used to the gait. I’ve even slept while on a camel’s back.”
“If you say so.” Tira gulped a breath. She thought of the kinds of vehicles she had used. Subway, taxis, buses. Even a bicycle would be preferable to a long legged beast with a strange shape. But she wasn’t in the world of mass trans. She had to accept this creature. “Might as well get this over with. Help me up.”
Kashe assisted her onto the saddle. “Grasp the front handle and hold tight.” He handed her a slender hard leather baton. “This prod is used to control the camel. For now trust the beast to follow mine.”
Tira nodded. She clutched the bar. Kashe waved the stick. The camel’s rear legs straightened. Tira pitched forward and feared being catapulted over the animal’s head. She gasped and was too scared to scream as the front legs straightened. The movement jerked her back. A seatbelt would be nice.
Do not look down. She opened her eyes a slit and disobeyed the silent order. She gripped the front of the saddle until her knuckles blanched. The ground seemed miles beneath her perch.
What was wrong with her? The fifth floor walk-up had been further from the ground than this. So was the Empire State Building where she’d ventured once. Except in those places her feet had been firmly planted on a solid surface.
Kashe mounted and made the process seem easy. He led the way. The pack animal followed. Hers became the caboose of the small procession.
As she grew accustomed to the swaying gait of the animal her death grip loosened. Once again her thoughts drifted to her lost world. She drew in a deep breath. Today was not the moment for dreams of what might have been. If she hadn’t responded to the flyer she would be on the run, in jail accused of a murder she hadn’t committed or dead.
Tira sighed. Being in this new land was in some ways better. She enjoyed the challenge of the situation. Here she had a companion and a friend. She hoped he would become more.
She locked the past away and concentrated on the present. They had left the grass and scrub behind. Heat shimmered from the sands turning them into a glittering sea of gold. In the distance she saw rolling dunes. Outcroppings of stone, some tall and others flat dark spots broke through the sand. They formed a pattern reminding her of a crazy quilt. Far to the left she saw a dark outline against the sky. Were they cliffs like the ones they had passed along the river road? Did they surround the Valley?
Her thoughts turned to the quest. Finding the three symbols of the rule was a vital step in establishing the unity of the Two Lands. She needed the keys. Without them the search could take years. The scroll given to her by the chief priestess of the Bast temple gave no clue to where the keys were hidden. She had the map of the Valley Bast Ka had pulled from the nomarch’s shelves. The cat had also chosen a plan of the temple once dedicated to Toth. Must she and Kashe go to the place now the center of worship for Aken Re?
They rode until sunset. As the heat of the day bled away Tira shivered. Kashe halted his camel near a cluster of rocks. The beast knelt. So did the pack animal. Hers remained standing. There must be some signal. She pulled the prod free and tapped the camel. Nothing happened. Kashe approached. Slowly the beast folded its legs. What had he done?
Though her steed was kneeling Tira couldn’t move. Her shoulders hurt. Her legs were numb not to mention other parts of her body.
Kashe grasped her waist. “Swing your leg over.”
“I can’t.”
“You must.”
“The beast wouldn’t kneel.”
“In time you’ll learn the signals.”
“Right.” Slowly she raised her leg. She slid into his arms. When he released her she sank on the ground. Numbness stormed to life. A moan escaped. She forced herself to stand. Though tears lurked she refused to allow them to fall. Curses rose in her thoughts but those she wanted to shout refused to emerge. She removed the camel’s saddle and joined Kashe.
Once her tent had been pitched she crawled inside and collapsed on the blanket. In the morning she would eat and practice. Her bones and muscles ached too much to allow her to move.