Sitamon smiled at Bak. She had interwoven a fall into her hair and added beads that made a tinkling sound when she moved her head. “I must thank you, Lieutenant, for finding the man who slew my brother. I thought Userhet my friend, one I could trust with all I possess. If you’d not been so persistent, I’d have placed him in charge of my affairs.”
Bak waved off her gratitude. “To seek out a man like Userhet is more satisfying by far than any other task I can think of.”
“So Imsiba has told me.” She laid her hand on the Medjay’s arm, smiled up at him. “I’ve tried to convince him he has the wit to become a man of business, but he refuses to listen, preferring instead to pay homage to the lady Maat.”
“Have you decided to remain in Buhen?” Or will you persuade him to go with you to Kemet? he wondered.
“I’ve a house here, and the harbor is as good a place as any from which to sail a cargo ship.” She glanced at Imsiba, smiled tenderly. “And my son and I have found new friends.
Yes, I’ll stay.”
“I’m delighted,” Bak said with a passion borne of relief.
Imsiba smiled. “No more than I, my friend.”
The vizier, Bak noticed, had settled down in the armchair and a servant had placed a small table at his elbow. Another hovered close, offering food and wine. A third waited nearby with a garland of flowers and a fresh cone of perfume. Aides milled around, making sure his every wish was anticipated.
The viceroy had escaped the great man’s proximity to draw the commander of Iken into a corner to discuss some matter of import-or maybe the upcoming marriage of the commander’s daughter. Thuty, with three local princes in tow, each garbed as a man of Kemet to prove his devotion to that rich and powerful land, had been forced to remain to make introductions and offer praise of such staunch allies.
“A wonderful party.” Captain Ramose’s voice. “Excellent food, fine wine, superb company. What more could a man ask for?”
Bak glanced around, saw Ramose speaking with the stout admiral in charge of the vizier’s flotilla. Both men were be-wigged and bejeweled, bright birds of passage dripping sweat. They walked on, the admiral’s hand on Ramose’s shoulder. Bak had to laugh. For a man who, only four days earlier, had claimed to have no affinity for the nobility, the captain was doing quite well.
Imsiba touched Sitamon’s arm, turning her toward the room in which the women sat. “Come, my sister, I’ll deliver you to Tiya and the ladies.”
“When you return, bring Mery with you,” Bak told him.
“He’s playing with the other children in the columned court at the back of the building, and he’ll probably need a wash before the vizier lays eyes on him.”
286 / Lauren Haney
“I’ll bring him.” Imsiba made as if to go, but a fresh thought stopped him. “I know no one but our sovereign hands out the gold of valor, my friend, but surely the vizier will vow to see you get a golden fly.”
Bak could do nothing but laugh. He had twice earned the coveted prize, both times laying hands on men whose foul deeds had been an affront to the lady Maat, greatly upsetting the balance of justice. Neither time had he been awarded the prize.
Acknowledgments
I wish to thank the members of my San Francisco writers group for their astute critiques of this novel in its format-ive stage: Karen Southwick, Jane Goldsmith, Cara Black, and Tavo Serina. I miss our Saturday morning meetings, both the critiques and the “book talk.”
When my personal library fails me, Dennis Forbes, editorial director of KMT, A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, can always be counted on to provide invaluable information about ancient Egypt, as he did frequently while I was writing this novel.
And last but certainly not least, I wish to thank all those men and women who have excavated, studied, and-most important of all-published their findings about dynastic Egypt, making it possible for me to bring to life that glorious and intriguing civilization.
