'What volcanoes fall into that area?'
'There are no volcanoes or large lakes within the borders of this very Egypt. The Nile runs into the Middle Sea. That is the nearest water to the north. Etna is no more than ten days' sail. Are you certain still that Eos is not there?'
'I am.' Demeter nodded.
'Very well. What of the other great volcano in that direction, Vesuvius, on the mainland across the channel from Etna?' Taita suggested.
Demeter sucked his lower lip dubiously. 'That dog will not hunt either,' he said, with conviction. 'After I escaped from her clutches, I hid for many years with the priests in the temple that lies fewer than thirty leagues to the north of Vesuvius. I am sure that I would have sensed her presence if she had been so close at hand, or she would have sensed mine. No, Taita, we must look elsewhere.'
'For the time being let us be guided by your instinct,' Taita said. 'On our eastern border is the Red Sea. I do not know of volcanoes in Arabia or any other land close to its shores. Do you?'
'No, I have travelled there, but I never saw or heard of any.'
'I saw two volcanoes in the land beyond the Zagreb mountains, but they are surrounded by vast plains and mountain ranges. They do not fit the description of the one we seek.'
'To the south and west of Egypt there are more vast expanses of land,' Demeter said, 'but let us consider another possibility. Might there be great rivers and lakes in the interior of Africa, and a volcano close to one?'
'I have not heard of any — but, then, no man has ventured further south than Ethiopia.'
'I have heard it told, Taita, that during the exodus from Egypt you guided Queen Lostris as far south as Qebui, the Place of the North Wind, where the Nile divides into two mighty streams.'
'That is true. From Qebui we followed the left fork of the river into the mountains of Ethiopia. The right-hand stream emerges from an endless swamp that bars further progress. No man has ever reached its southern extremity. Or if any has he has not returned to tell of it. Some say there is no limit to the swamp but that it continues, vast and forbidding, to the end of the earth.'
'Then we must rely on the priests in the temple of Hathor to supply us with further possibilities to ponder. When will they have information for us of their findings?'
'The priestess told me to return in ten days' time,' Taita reminded him.
Demeter drew aside the curtain of his palanquin and looked back towards the hills. 'We are close to the temple now. We should go there, ask the priestess for hospitality and a sleeping mat for the night. We can spend time on the morrow with her cartographers and geographers.'
'If Pharaoh summons me to his presence, his minions will not be able to find me,' Taita demurred. 'Let me see him before we leave the palace again.'i 'Stop the column here,' Demeter called to Habari. 'Stop at once, I tell you.' Then he turned back to Taita. 'I do not wish to alarm you but I know now that my time with you is drawing to a close. I am haunted by dreams and dark presentiments. Despite the protection that you and Meren have given me, the witch will soon succeed in her efforts to destroy me. My remaining days are dwindling.'
Taita stared at him. Since that morning, when he had been made aware of Soe's menacing aura, he had been harried by the same premonition.
He drew close to the palanquin and studied the worn old face.
With a pang he saw that Demeter was right: death was close upon him.
His eyes had become almost colourless and transparent, but in their depths he made out moving shadows, like the shapes of feeding sharks.
'You see it also,' Demeter said, in a flat, dull tone.
No reply was necessary. Instead Taita turned away and called to Habari, 'Turn the column. We will go to the temple of Hathor.' It was only a little more than a league distant.
They rode in silence for a while, until Demeter spoke again: 'You will travel faster without my ancient, enfeebled body to impede you.'
'You are too harsh with yourself,' Taita chided him. 'Without your help and counsel I would never have come this far.'
'I wish I could have stayed with you to the end of the hunt and been present at the kill. But it is not to be.' He was silent for a while.
Then he went on, 'How to deal with Soe? One course is open to you. If Pharaoh was made aware that Soe is bewitching Mintaka, and of the traitorous thoughts he is planting in her mind, he would send his guards to seize him and you would have the chance to interrogate him under duress. I hear that the gaolers in Thebes are highly skilled in their trade.
You do not shrink from the idea of torture?'
'I would not hesitate if I thought there was the smallest chance of Soe yielding to mere bodily pain. But you have seen him. The man would die willingly to protect the witch. He is so much in tune with her that she would sense his agony and its cause. She would understand that Pharaoh and Mintaka had become aware of the web she is spinning round them, which would be mortally dangerous for the royal couple.'
'That is so.' Demeter nodded.
'Furthermore, Mintaka would rush to Soe's defence and Nefer Seti
would realize that she was indeed guilty of plotting against him. It would destroy their love and trust in each other. I could not do this to them.'
'Then we must hope to find the answer at the temple.'
The priests saw them from afar and sent two novices to welcome them and lead them up the ramp to the main entrance of the temple while the high priestess waited on the steps.
