across the floor and leaped onto the shoulders of a young man. Kysen was working his way toward the stairs behind which lay the door to Ese's garden court when a young woman in sparkling eye paint and a beaded girdle darted out of the crowd and grabbed his arm.
'There you are!' she exclaimed in a trumpeting voice. 'You've kept me waiting, and I've lost two customers because of it. And you've brought a friend. I hope you also brought gold, because you're going to need it.'
Kysen gaped at her, his eyes wide and his lips slightly parted. The young woman shook his arm.
'Come along, both of you.'
Without waiting for his consent, the girl hauled him upstairs. Abu trailed them, and Kysen tossed him a look that disclaimed any acquaintance with her. The second floor consisted of suites of rooms bordering the square landing that overlooked the hall. His escort passed a series of closed doors, hauling him behind her. Kysen heard noises behind several of them, noises of which he could easily imagine the origin.
The girl stopped, knocked on one of the doors, and pushed it open. Silently she pushed Kysen inside an empty room and shut him in before Abu could follow. As he stumbled into the room, he heard her confront Abu.
'Stay here, mountain of muscle.'
Then Kysen heard a squawk and a thud. The door opened to reveal his imperious escort sitting on the floor spewing epithets at Abu. The charioteer stepped inside, slammed the door on the girl, and gave Kysen an inquiring glance.
'I think Ese will be along soon,' Kysen said.
'We wait a few moments,' Abu replied as he searched the room. 'Then we leave.' He walked into the chamber beyond the first room and returned. 'Another door leading to a back stair. We will not remain in this box trap for long.'
'Why have you brought a stranger?'
It was Ese. She stood in the short passage between the two rooms. Her skin appeared gilded and shone in the lamplight. Kysen tried not to stare, but even at court he'd never seen a woman whose body had been rubbed with scented oil into which gold dust had been strewn. Ese had abandoned her Greek garb for the transparent mist of Egyptian linen so fine it must have come from royal workshops.
Kysen forced himself to display only the slightest of reactions, bowed in homage to the woman, and said, 'Ese, this is a friend, Abu.'
'He isn't my friend. Tell him to get out.'
She hadn't stopped staring at the charioteer since she'd appeared. Abu returned her stare and remained where he was. Kysen cleared his throat to draw their attention.
'He won't leave, Ese, and I can't make him.'
Ese gave him a smile that hinted at anticipation. 'I can.'
Abu remained silent and oblivious to the threat. Kysen shook his head.
'Please don't do that. Abu looks upon me as a-a son, and I trust him with my life.'
'This does not interest me,' Ese said.
'But I think you're interested in my assurance that, should you summon your men, this room would soon hold many corpses you would have to explain to the city police.'
Ese adjusted a fold of misty linen that draped across her arm. 'Very well. At least he's not a hippo's ass of a nobleman. What do you want?'
'I've come about the list,' Kysen said.
Ese turned away. 'It's too soon. Come back in a few weeks.'
Sighing, Kysen watched her go, then gestured to Abu. The charioteer walked swiftly to the chamber into which Ese had vanished. Kysen heard a scuffle, a shriek, and a door slam. It wasn't long before Ese swept back into the room, her body quivering, her sweet face disfigured by resentment and rage. She didn't stop when she got inside the room; she reached Kysen, lunged, and struck him across the face. Unprepared, Kysen took the full force of the blow. Abu, who had followed Ese, grabbed her and tossed her to the floor. Ese landed on her side. Instead of screaming, as Kysen had expected, she slipped her hand inside the ties of her robe and withdrew a knife. Kysen tried to warn her.
'Don't draw a weapon!'
Abu was already moving. He ran two steps, then struck with his foot, kicking her hand. Ese cried out as the knife flew across the room to bounce off a wall. While Ese clutched her injured hand, Abu pounced on her. She was wearing several necklaces, and he snagged them and pulled them tight at the back of her neck.
Dragging Ese to her feet, Abu shoved her over to Kysen, pushed her to her knees, and held her while she sputtered and tried to breathe. Her fingers worked between her neck and the jewelry in an attempt to relieve the pressure. Abu simply pulled up on the necklace chains. When her face had turned the color of a ripe melon, Kysen nodded to Abu. Without warning, the charioteer released his grip.
Ese dropped to the floor on her hands and knees. Swaying unsteadily, she gulped in air, coughed, and made gurgling noises. Kysen retrieved the room's single chair and sat down in front of Ese. The red in her face had faded to pink when she jerked herself upright, yanked at her gown to untangle it from her legs, all the while spitting curses at Kysen.
'Please, Ese, you will make me turn as red as you did if you keep up this deluge of soldiers' profanity.'
'Get out!' Ese winced and coughed at the strain on her bruised throat. She went on in a lower tone but with just as much virulence. 'No man rules here, and no man treats Ese like a common slave. I'll see your gut split and your entrails curled about your neck while you still live. I'll have my men cut the skin from your living body. I'll cut out your eyes and-'
'Woman,' Abu said quietly. 'Disavow your threats, or I'm going to kill you at once.'
Both Kysen and Ese lifted their gazes. Abu was standing behind the tavern owner. He had drawn his dagger, a double-edged blade of bronze. Kysen had seen him slit the throat of a Libyan tribesman in less time than it took to blink. But what alarmed him was that Abu had that peculiar air of his, the one that meant he'd made a decision from which there would be no appeal, not even from Kysen.
Drawing in a quick breath, Kysen spoke softly, never looking away from Abu. 'Ese, don't move.'
Something in his voice must have communicated the gravity of her situation, for Ese swallowed hard. 'Make him stop.'
'I can't,' Kysen said. 'If you don't swear by Amun not to harm me, he's going to kill you. Right now. And there's nothing I can do to stop him.'
'Her oath is worthless,' Abu said as he turned the dagger so that the flat of the blade was parallel with the floor.
'Not to me,' Kysen said. 'She didn't understand, Abu. And she didn't mean anything she said.'
Abu lifted his gaze from Ese for the first time and shook his head. 'You're wrong. This woman has done all the things she threatened to do to you. To men. This I have seen for myself.'
'They deserved it!' Some of Ese's hostility had returned, but she darted a look at Abu and softened her tone. 'You know they deserved it, after what they did to me, and to my friend, and to my sister.'
'Your sister?' Kysen asked.
'She's dead.'
It was a blunt answer, and Kysen could see Ese would rather face Abu's dagger than give him more details.
'I'm sorry your sister has gone west. I have three sisters, and if someone killed one of them, I would act as you have.'
Ese studied him in silence. Then she sank back on her heels. 'I don't believe you, at least not entirely, but I'm willing to admit I lost my temper. It's these murders, and the talk of demons. I can taste the fear in the air.' She rubbed her throat. 'I've lost dozens of customers. They're too afraid to walk the streets at night.'
'Murders? Word has spread quickly.'
'What do you expect in Memphis?' Ese lifted her hands, palms up, her voice harsh from maltreatment. 'I give my oath by the king of the gods, Amun. I didn't mean those threats. I was on edge and worried. That's why I lost control.'
Kysen nodded. 'Abu?'
The charioteer scowled at Ese, but sheathed his dagger and stepped back. Kysen released a sigh.
'By the staff of Ptah,' Ese snapped, her anger threatening to erupt again even as she voiced her curiosity.
