are no longer a child.' At that the Divine God on Earth,
Pharaoh Nefer Seti, burst into the sickroom. His suite of lords and attendants crowded in after him.
Taita felt his spirits rise and the well of his strength begin to refill. He was not entirely alone. He smiled at Nefer Seti, and struggled up on an elbow.
'Taita, are you not ashamed of yourself? I expected to find you breathing your last. Instead you are lying at your ease, with a foolish grin on your face.'
'Majesty, it is a smile of welcome, for I am truly delighted to see you.'
Nefer Seti pushed him back gently on to the pillows, then turned to his retinue. 'My lords, you may leave me here with the magus, who is my old friend and tutor. I shall summon you when I need you.' They backed out of the chamber and Pharaoh bent to hug Taita. 'By the sweet milk from the breast of Isis, I am glad to see you safe, though I hear that your companion magus was lost. I want to hear all about it, but first let me greet Meren Cambyses.' He turned to Meren, who stood guard at the door. Meren went down on one knee before him, but Pharaoh lifted him to his feet. 'Do not abase yourself to me, companion of the Red Road.'
Nefer Seti seized him in a hearty embrace. As young men they had embarked together on the ultimate test of warriorhood, the Red Road, a trial of skill in handling chariot, sword and bow. The two had been matched as a team against proven and tried veterans, who were free to employ any means, even killing, to prevent them reaching the end of the road. Together they had won through. Companions of the Red Road were brothers of the warrior blood, united for life. Until her death Meren had been betrothed to Nefer Seti's sister, the Princess Merykara, so he and Pharaoh had nearly become brothers-in-law. This reinforced the bond between them. Meren might have held high office in Thebes, but he had chosen instead to enrol himself as an apprentice to Taita.
'Has Taita been able to school you in the Mysteries? Have you become a magus as well as a mighty warrior?' Pharaoh demanded.
'Nay, Majesty. Despite the best efforts of Taita, I lacked the skills.
I have never woven the simplest of spells that succeeded. A few even rebounded on my own head.' Meren made a rueful face.
'A good warrior is better than an inept sorcerer any day, old friend.
Come, sit in conference with us, as was our wont in those long-ago days when we were fighting to free this very Egypt from the tyrant.'
As soon as they were seated at either side of Taita's sleeping mat, Nefer Seti became serious. 'Now, tell me of your encounter with the toads.'
Between them Taita and Meren described the death of Demeter.
When they ended Nefer Seti was silent. Then he growled, 'Those animals grow bolder and more voracious every day. I am certain that it is they who have made impure and sullied what remains of the water in the river pools. I have tried every means I can think of to be rid of them, but for every one we slay two more spring up to take its place.'
'Majesty.' Taita paused for a moment before he went on. 'You must seek out the witch whose creatures they are, and destroy her. The toads and all the other plagues she heaps upon you and your kingdom will disappear with her, for she is their mistress. Then the Nile will flow again, and prosperity will return to this very Egypt.'
Nefer Seti stared at him in alarm. 'Must I infer that the plagues are not of nature?' he demanded. 'That they are created by the sorcery and witchcraft of one woman?'
'That is what I believe,' Taita assured him.
Nefer Seti sprang to his feet and strode up and down, lost in thought.
At last he stopped and stared hard at Taita. 'Who is this witch? Where is she? Can she be destroyed, or is she immortal?'
'I believe she is human, Pharaoh, but her powers are formidable. She protects herself well.'
'What is her name?'
'It is Eos.'
'The goddess of the dawn?' He had been well schooled by the priests in the hierarchy of the gods, for he was a god himself. 'Did you not tell me she was human?'
'She is a human being who has usurped the goddess's name to conceal her true identity.'
'If that is so then she must have an earthly abode. Where is it, Taita?'
'Demeter and I were seeking her out, but she became aware of our intentions. First she sent a giant python to attack him but Meren and I saved him, although he came close to death. Now she has succeeded with the toads where she failed with the serpent.'
'So you do not know where I can find the witch?' Nefer Seti persisted.
'We do not know for certain, but the occult indications suggest that she lives in a volcano.'
'A volcano? Is that possible, even for a witch?' Then he laughed. 'I learnt long ago never to doubt you, Taita. But tell me, which volcano?
There are many.'
'I believe that to find her we must travel to the headwater of the Nile,
beyond the mighty swamps that block the river above Qebui. Her lair is near a volcano beside a great lake. Somewhere at the very end of our earth.'
'I remember you told me when I was a boy how my grandmother, Queen Lostris, sent a legion south under Lord Aquer to find the source of the river. They disappeared into those dread swamps beyond Qebui and never came back. Has that expedition aught to do with Eos?'
