when they could dump their garbage on the nearer side of the mound.
Tcha had dug a hole beneath a slumping corner formed by the remnants of two old walls. Pawah had lined the hole with pottery shards and placed a wicker lid over it. The lid was weighted with and concealed by dirt. Tcha had made sure that the spot would be left alone by digging an imitation of a cobra's nest into the mud-brick corner.
Tcha cast a quick glance around, then dropped to his knees and scrabbled through the dirt. He found the wicker lid and pulled it off. His hand reached inside and touched rough sacking. He grunted and pulled out one of the packages. Fingers clumsy, sweating with agitation, he unknotted the twine that bound the package. Out spilled the spoils of last night, the bronze bowl and faience plate, and even the gold ear studs and amethyst scarab bracelet.
'By the gods,' Tcha murmured. If the valuables were here, then Pawah was here. Somewhere.
Tcha hurriedly replaced the package in the shard-lined hold, put the wicker lid back, and shoved dirt on top. Rubbing his hands on his kilt-it was never clean-he turned in his squatting position to examine the side of the great mound. It rose above him like the soaring ramparts of pharaoh's fortress-palace. Tcha wrinkled his nose; the mountain of filth stank like a row of crocodiles on a mud bank when the sky was hot.
He turned back to the hiding place and heard something that caused his flesh to dimple and torn cold-the eerie call of a jackal. More frightening even than the howl of a hyena, it was the scream of a ka burning in a lake of fire in the netherworld. Tcha took a step backward, then went still with fear as he glimpsed movement behind his hiding place.
His mouth popped open to emit a scream that never cleared his throat. Numerous slender, doglike forms crouched over something. One lifted its head to reveal a long nose and upright, pointed ears, then ducked again. Working together, they dragged their prize away from the corner toward the gap in the city wall, ignoring Tcha. The distant call erupted again. This time one of the creatures lifted its head and howled an answer. Jackals.
Afraid to move, Tcha watched them haul something out into the silver light of the moon. It had to be a carcass; that was the only thing for which a jackal would risk approaching the city. One grabbed something long and thin and pulled. Tcha gave a strangled cry as the dim light revealed the gnawed face of Pawah.
Still tethered by his fear, Tcha tried to swallow with a mouth as dry as a desert quarry. His jaws worked, then fell open when another effort by the jackals pulled his friend's torso into view. Tcha sucked in his breath along with a great draft of foul-smelling air. He gagged, then whirled and fled the refuse field at a stumbling run.
This time he ran hard, his sandals flapping. Not caring if he made noise, Tcha hurtled through the streets, seeking the least shadowed, the broadest, the most direct. He didn't stop until he reached the three-story edifice where he worked. Staggering around to the back, he hoisted himself over the wall and into Mistress Ese's domain. He crept into the servants' block and dropped onto his pallet in one of the storage rooms. Drawing his knees up to his chest, Tcha wrapped his arms around them and rocked back and forth, staring into nothing, and whimpering.
With ceremonial graciousness, Meren took his youngest daughter's arm, drew her to his side, and favored Lord Reshep with a smile. His lips curved up, but the smile was fastened onto his face like the gold roundels sewn to pharaoh's robe.
'Lord Reshep, this is the littlest of my children, Isis.' Meren felt her stiffen at being named a little child.
Reshep bowed low, and as he rose, he continued to stare at Isis. 'I am blessed by the gods to be allowed acquaintance with such a handmaiden of Hathor, goddess of love and merriment.'
'Thank you, Lord Reshep.' Isis inclined her head.
When she failed to say anything else, Reshep gave her another compliment. As he listened, Meren tried to understand why he was so furious with Isis. Certainly she had attracted attention before, and the guests had gone back to their eating, music, and conversation quickly after her appearance. But this time Isis was different. She didn't look the same.
Keeping part of his attention on the conversation, Meren pursued this alarming thought. What was different? He studied Isis for a moment before he realized that unlike all the other women, she had worn a simple shift. The dress had narrow shoulder straps and a low, straight neck that cut across her chest at the point where her breasts began. Sewn into the linen were thousands of tiny lapis, turquoise, and gold beads.
The garment was so heavy it clung to her body and moved with even the slightest breath. The current fashion was length upon length of finely pleated and transparent linen beneath which a woman's body was an intriguing blur. Isis revealed nothing except bare, firm arms and a bit of leg, ankle, and her bare feet. And she wore no sandals. Anklets that matched the dress beads drew attention to the muscles in her calves and the perfection of her feet.
Meren scowled at one of the anklets as he realized his little daughter knew more than he'd realized about how to entice and intrigue.
He'd sent her and Bener to his sister to learn the management of a large household. Only three months had they passed in the country, yet each had returned more woman than girl in far too many ways. He was losing control of them.
Isis was speaking now that she had extracted a treasure-load of compliments from Reshep. 'Are others of your family here?'
'Unfortunately, both my parents have gone west, O matchless one. First my father, then my mother, and I am their only son. Father was a great noble, but retiring. He preferred managing our lands to seeking power and fortune at court. He was a master at producing from the land, of course. And Mother, everyone told me she was even more beautiful than the queen she once served, or even the fabled Nefertiti. She was wise and good and loving, and I miss her.' Reshep paused to give Isis an appreciative glance. 'Until tonight, I thought her the most beautiful woman in Egypt. Still, I miss her.'
'Then we must see that you have so much to do that you have no time to miss her.' Isis glanced at her father for the first time since the conversation began, then quickly looked away with a brittle smile at Reshep. 'Am I not right, Father?'
'What? Oh, of course. I believe Kysen wished to suggest an outing of some kind, perhaps a hunt. We will send word to you,' Meren said.
'You honor me, my lord.' Reshep held out his hand, and a fan appeared in it. His slave withdrew again. 'I'm certain Kysen will be an excellent companion. Truthfully, I find it difficult to hunt with most men. My skills overmatch most of them.'
'Have you killed many wild fowl?' Isis asked.
'I stopped counting, O incomparable lily,' Reshep said. 'Although I have kept count of the lions, crocodiles, and hippos. I believe I've killed seven lions, thirteen crocodiles, and eight hippos.'
Isis gave Reshep a wondering look. 'You're skilled indeed.'
'At more than the hunt, my-'
'Reshep,' Meren said sharply. Lord Reshep's mouth closed as swiftly as a fishnet.
'I see my older daughter about to begin an enactment of the Tale of the Five Temple Traders. Yes, she needs her sister's help. You may go, Isis.'
When she was gone, Meren signaled to a slave for wine and led Reshep to the sitting area formed by the awning in front of the deckhouse. Woven cushions surrounded two chairs carved of imported cedar of Byblos and inlaid with ivory and ebony designs that formed the hieroglyphs of Meren's name. Meren took one of the chairs, settling into soft cushions, and offered the other to Reshep. His guest folded himself into the seat gracefully.
Dismissing the slave, Meren watched Reshep sip the imported Syrian wine. 'My daughter has but fourteen years, Reshep. A marriageable age, I'll allow. But she has yet to gain the wisdom or the maturity I would wish for her.'
'I understand, my lord.'
'No,' Meren said as he leaned back in his chair, lazily stretched his legs, and crossed his ankles. He half closed his eyes and impaled his guest with a stare. 'No, I don't think you do. Neither of my daughters has chosen a lover or a husband. Isis is not ready. Of this I am certain. And if she were, I would not wish her to accept someone of whom I know so little.'
Reshep lowered his gaze to the pool of dark crimson in his wine goblet. Meren saw his neck and jaw slowly approach the hue of his wine. From what he'd seen of this man, he expected him to take furious offense. Yet the
