Gene of Isis

rais (or captain). In the stern there was a low-ceilinged cabin, in which even I could not stand upright, as it was made for the cross-legged habits of the Eastern people. Still, I was more than grateful for the protection from the elements.

Four days on the Nile furnished us with nothing of particular interest to distract from the heat of the days and the cold nights. On one side of us was the delta, well cultivated and watered, and on the other side was a narrow strip of fertile land and then the Libyan desert beyond. Tiny villages littered the way, with huts so small that the people crawled in through the doorways to enter and exit. There was frightful poverty and disease here; children with heads so bloated and deformed that my stomach turned upon sighting them. The mother in me wanted to help them somehow, but due to my own pregnancy I dared not get close.

Toward evening on the fourth day we came in sight of one of the world’s great wonders. Directly in front of us, the giant pyramids of Giza were standing at the head of a long reach in the river. Against the cloudless sky their lofty summits seemed solitary and majestic as they were lit by the lurid red gleam of the setting sun. The magic moment tugged on my heartstrings unexpectedly and I found myself wishing that my husband was here to see this with me. Despite the awe of the spectacle I felt homesick, not for England, but for Devere. Home is where the heart is. I had forgotten how much it hurt to be separated from him—not so much at first, but as the days passed I craved his company more and more. Obviously my request to my foremothers to banish my husband from my heart and thoughts had been in vain—perhaps the ladies of the Elohim did not feel my wish was essential to my quest.

If you are going to pine for your lover, could you please dismiss me and remove the stone from your person? Albray appealed.

You’re not jealous? I ribbed him in jest, thinking he was trying to make light of my heavy heart.

Of course I am.

I was so startled I dragged my eyes from the view to check if he was serious.

I never experienced what it was like to have a loving relationship. Albray was dead serious. I envy the love you feel in your husband’s company. Perhaps that’s why I find our quest easier when you’re apart from him, then I don’t have to be constantly reminded of what was denied me.

I removed the stone’s chain from around my wrist and put it in my pocket. Is there no such thing as reincarnation?

Not for a soul who is bound in death to the service of the ladies of the Elohim. Even if you succeed in returning the vials, I shall still be compelled to watch over them for all eternity. There will be no next-time-around for me.

Why did you make such a vow, Albray…because of your priestess?

To save her life. He managed to make his confession sound as if it was not the slightest bit heroic and selfless, but rather stupid and pointless. In all honesty, I think that we would both be happier now if I had not. To care for someone more than life is one thing, but to care for someone else more than your eternal soul is something else. Now both our souls exist in a perpetual purgatory, each more constrained by guilt than love.

Is there nothing I can do? I so wanted to be able to help my knight after all he had done for me, out of duty or not. Can I not appeal to the council on your behalf?

No, I will stand by my choice, he stated. I do not regret my vow for myself, but for Lillet. She will not move on in the grand scheme of creation, as it is her right to do. She insists on remaining in the sub-planes with me until I am released from this service, which was my choice and not hers.

I could see now why Albray claimed their tragic relationship was built on guilt, but there was also selflessness and compassion.

I only hope that one day she will be called to move on and forget me, he concluded solemnly. Perhaps you could ask the council for that.

Obviously his honour meant more to the knight than his eternal soul, and despite his wishes to the contrary I decided that I would appeal Albray’s case with my foremothers. It was the very least I could do.

The next morning at seven o’clock we were crossing from the Island of Roda in another small boat to Bulak, the harbour of Cairo. Half an hour and a short donkey ride later, Cingar and I were entering the walls of Grand Cairo— and what a spectacle of multiculturalism it was. There were Turks, some with eight to ten women in tow completely enveloped in dark silk. There were Greeks, Armenians and Jews in turbans and striking costumes, scantily dressed Arabs and swarthy Bedouin of the desert. Crossing the square we jostled against camels, dromedaries, horses and donkeys, trying to hold our breath for fear of plague until we reached the large wooden gate which divided the Frankish quarter from the often hostile local population.

‘Here we shall make provision for our journey to the Suez.’ Cingar assured me that we would be leaving the filthy city before nightfall. ‘Old Cairo is far more pleasant on the senses,’ he assured me. But as the ancient part of the city was situated about four miles from Bulak, my schedule did not permit time for sightseeing. FROM THE HONEYMOON JOURNAL OF LADY SUSAN DEVERE

Our journey down the Nile was well spent, learning as much about our adversary as possible.

Mr Devere had been engrossed in reading the journals of Lord Hamilton for some days now and had been relaying the tale of his adventures in the Sinai over dinner every evening.

‘The journal claims that when Lord Hereford opened the gateway to the Star-Fire Temple, a creature was released from it that had been dwelling within the mount for a long time…at least since the last time it was opened. He estimated, from the body of a crusader knight found therein, that it may have been sealed for about six hundred years!’

My husband had gone rather pale and I guessed that, like me, he was remembering Lord Malory’s assertion that Ashlee’s destiny was to destroy just such a beast. Lord Devere looked to Lord Malory who had raised his brows as if to say, ‘What did I tell you?’

‘If Molier is the creature I saw when I found Earnest, there is nothing human about him,’ Lord Devere posed. ‘How are we expected to kill something that is not of this earth? The creature shattered into a spirit state just like that!’ He clicked his fingers to demonstrate the speed of the transformation.