A look of profound irritation, verging on fury, crossed Khin’s face, but this time Piay was not its cause.

  ‘You see, my superiors wished to double their chance of success, so they gave another man the exact same task as me . . .’ Khin had to pause to calm himself before he added, ‘And that man was my brother – Akkan.’

  The way Khin had emphasised the name, along with the seriousness of his face, suggested that he was expecting a reaction, but Piay could only reply, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Am I supposed to know who you’re talking about?’

  This time the question was asked without a hint of mockery and Khin knew it.

  ‘You have truly not heard the name of Akkan – the one they call the Child-Killer?’

  ‘No.’

  Khin frowned. ‘So . . . you are obviously lying when you say that you do not know what my quest is about, for if you were truly ignorant you would have asked me to explain. On the other hand, you are plainly telling the truth when you say that you do not know about Akkan. Yet I find it hard to believe that both of those things can be so.’

  ‘Now I really am confused. How does any of this connect to your brother?’

  Khin made a sour face. ‘He and his men were ambushed by your troops in the desert outside Thebes. I had thought that he was captured, but there are no reports of Akkan being taken prisoner. No one can say where he has gone.’

  ‘Maybe he just ran away, like the rest of your army.’

  ‘Ha! Akkan is not like the rest. He has never run away from anyone or anything.’ Khin paused, as if to consider his next move. ‘What do you know about the Eye of Horus?’

  ‘Every peasant in Egypt wears an Eye of Horus,’ Piay said.

  ‘Not like this one, or they would not be a peasant for very long. This one is the key to the entire quest.’

  ‘Did your brother take this Eye of Horus with him, then . . . when he went missing?’

  ‘No. If Akkan had that amulet, the earth would be shaking, the cities would be in flames and the dead would already be stalking our mortal world . . . And yet, I believe that someone must have found it, for I have had news from Thebes of bloodshed in the palace . . . murders in dark alleys . . . strange men like ghosts or demons racing through the streets in pursuit of fleeing Egyptians . . . tombs cracking open. There are many stories, but I believe they all point to the same thing. There is something very powerful at work, and the tattooed men are trying to recover it.’

  Khin paused and looked hard at Piay.

  ‘And in all these stories the same four people appear.’ Khin gave the dry smile of a game-player about to make the winning move and said, ‘The great Lord Taita . . . a young Egyptian man . . . an older Egyptian with a limp . . . and a beautiful woman with skin as dark as the night. So, now I look at you, such a fine young example of Egyptian manhood. And think of the old man my scouts saw painfully making his way back to the river today. And the woman on board a ship, moored at the riverbank, who is probably, even now, begging the Egyptian lord to wait just a little bit longer before he orders the ship they are on to set sail . . .’

  Like the losing opponent who stares silently at the board, seeking an escape where none exists, Piay said nothing.

  ‘A ship whose passengers could not resist the sight of a man hung from a shadoof, and would feel bound to investigate, just in case this might be a sign of something relevant to their mission. You see, I knew you had boarded a ship in Thebes and I wanted to lure you, in the hope of just such a moment as this, when one of my principal rivals for the prize we all seek would be at my mercy . . . and here you are.’

  ‘Why do you call me your rival?’ Piay said. ‘I came here with the sole intention of rescuing that poor girl, which is what I was doing when a woman driven half-mad by the suffering your men inflicted gave us away. That’s it – I’ve got nothing more to say.’

  Khin sighed. ‘Have I entirely wasted my time with you? Are you really so stupid that you don’t understand what is happening here? I am your best option. However bad you may think I am, I am as weak and innocent as that little girl, compared to my brother. Did you not hear me when I said he was called the Child-Killer?’

  ‘Men choose all sorts of names when they want to sound important, or dangerous. Names do not frighten me.’

  ‘You stupid, arrogant, self-satisfied little piece of Egyptian camel dung,’ Khin said, slowly, calmly, relishing every detail of the insult. ‘You should be afraid. In fact, you should be more terrified than you have ever been in your entire life. Because if Akkan ever finds you, believe me, you will get no cups of wine from him . . . and all you will want is to be allowed to die, rather than be forced to endure what he is willing to do to another man.’

  It was obvious Khin was not making threats for effect. He meant every word.

  ‘All right then,’ Piay said. ‘I will ask you humbly, please tell me about Akkan.’

  ‘Ah, so you do have a shred of good sense, after all. Then I will tell you this . . . Akkan is my older brother. We are the sons of Abisha, a spice merchant from the city of Uru-Salim in the land of Canaan. But even though I was not the firstborn, I was always my parents’ favourite. I was born to be a warrior – Akkan was born to be a clerk. He could never make a woman look twice at him. I had my pick of whichever young beauty I wanted.

  ‘When he became a man, Akkan worked as a record-keeper in the king’s treasury, noting all the gold that flowed in and out. He found a wife and she bore him a son, whom they called Qar. So Akkan had a life, but it was dull and drab, while I was entertaining my parents with tales of battles, conquests, journeys to distant, exotic lands.

  ‘Akkan burned with envy and frustration . . . and then, one day, he met a man called Tallus, who liked to be known as “the Cobra”.’

  Khin paused for a moment to finish his cup of wine, then went on. ‘Tallus had been a priest at the Temple of Seth in Avaris, but he had a falling-out with the high priest, Mut-Bisir, so he became a wandering preacher, a mystic and, he claimed, a healer. He told Akkan that he had the answer to all his problems. Of course, it would come at a price, but that was no problem to Akkan. He had the whole treasury at his disposal.’

  Despite himself, Piay found himself being drawn into the story. Somewhere he had heard that name before – Akkan, son of Abisha – but where?

  ‘Tallus began by introducing Akkan to the potions and powders that can be made from the flowers of the blue lotus,’ Khin said. ‘I am sure you have heard of the lotus – it can bring deep slumber to those who cannot sleep, it can numb the pain of a warrior’s wounds, and, if taken in greater quantities, it can provide far headier intoxication than the strongest, sweetest wine. But Tallus and Akkan weren’t interested in the lotus for these reasons. Tallus and Akkan wanted the power to contact the gods. And the lotus can, if you are willing to take enough of it, if you are willing to enter a state of living death, lead you to the door of the afterlife. The god whom Tallus and then Akkan communed with was Seth.’

  For the first time, Piay began to feel a faint, distant tremor of the fear that Khin was trying to instil in him.

  ‘But Akkan wanted more. He wanted Seth to grant him the strength of mind and body that I had always taken for granted. Tallus went away into the wilderness. He took his lotus potions, he communed with the gods, and when he came back he told Akkan that Seth was ready to instruct him. He should go into the wilderness, just as Tallus had done, and he should take his son Qar, so that the boy, who was seven years old, could also see his god and become his devoted follower.’

  Both men had forgotten that they were a captor and his prisoner. They had become a storyteller and his audience, both equally lost in the drama as it unfolded.

  ‘So, my brother, too, went into the wilderness, leading Qar by the hand,’ Khin said. ‘He heard the word of Seth and obeyed the deity’s command and when he came back to the city, he was a changed man. He stood tall and strong, fully a head taller than me. His voice was deep and commanding. His eyes burned with a fire that terrified men and drove women mad with desire. The king rained gold upon Akkan, for fear of what he might do if he were not paid his tribute.’

  ‘But what about Qar? What happened to the little boy?’ Piay asked, though he already suspected, and dreaded the answer.

  ‘When Akkan came out of the wilderness, he was carrying Qar’s body in his arms. Akkan said that they had been attacked by a lion. He even had the beast’s freshly severed paw to show the world, just as a soldier cuts off a dead enemy’s right hand. But the whole of Avaris knew what had really happened. For how could a man get such a gift from his god, without sacrificing something of equal value in return? And a god who had murdered his own brother might easily ask a man to murder his own son.

  ‘My brother did that so that he might become Seth’s right hand in this world. That is why he is called the Child-Killer. And as for me, I did not name myself Akh-Seth out of arrogance, as you imagine. I was given the name, whether I liked it or not, because I am the brother of Seth . . . My brother is the embodiment of violence, the distillation of evil, and the one man who must never, ever be allowed to complete the quest on which we are all embarked.’

  Khin looked Piay in the eye and said, ‘Think about that, why don’t you, before you decide your next move.’

  Then he made a gesture of dismissal. His two Hyksos henchmen pulled Piay to his feet and marched him towards the opening of the tent. Just as one of them was pulling the flap open, Khin called out, ‘Wait! Turn him to face me!’

  The bodyguards did as they were told.

  ‘I have just thought of something that may help to concentrate your mind. You may not have the Eye, but every instinct I have tells me that one of your boat party does. And that beautiful woman . . . What is she – Nubian? Kushite?’

  ‘She’s none of your damn business!’

  Khin smiled. ‘As I thought, you are lovers. Her pleading to your lord indicated as much, and you have just proved it. So, she is doubtless wondering what is happening to you. Let us reassure her that you are in safe hands by sending you back to her . . .’

  Khin waited just long enough for Piay to get his hopes up, and then he added, ‘. . . one piece at a time. Think of that, Egyptian, as you ponder what you should do. Imagine losing an ear . . . a hand . . . your tongue. And with them the same message – all they have to do to stop your mutilation is to hand over the Eye of Horus.

  ‘Ponder all that, and then remember this . . . I’m the nice brother.’

  S

  weat trickled down Piay’s brow as the sun moved up the sky and the dawn chill gave way to stifling heat. His wrists ached where they had been bound to the side of a cart with hide strips. The muscles in his arms and back cried out for relief, and his head still ached from where the stone had clattered against him.

  Still, his captors had not beaten him further. That was some small comfort. Now he only had to wait until they began chopping him into pieces.

  The two Hyksos guards had dragged him from Khin’s tent and strung him up here while the festivities in the camp were dying down. Now the camp was waking.

  Piay watched the Shrikes claw their way out of their tattered tents. Many of them still looked drunk. Some cast murderous looks in his direction before their attention skittered away to filling their bellies or emptying their bowels.

  The two guards stepped out of Khin’s tent and began barking orders. They moved steadily across the camp, their voices ringing out. Piay strained to hear what they were saying, but only snatches of words reached his ears above the chatter and braying laughter of the Shrikes.

  ‘They’re breaking the camp and moving on.’

  Piay jerked his head around at the sound of the voice. It was the woman with the split lip and missing patch of hair who had heeded his pleas for help the previous night. Still naked, she was crouching at the end of the cart, glancing around to ensure no one could see her there.

  ‘We’re leaving for Memphis,’ she added. When she looked back at him, her eyes were filled with pity. ‘I fear for you,’ she breathed.

  ‘Khin has plans to reduce me in stature, that is true.’ Piay forced a grin to show his lack of fear. ‘But as long as I’m still breathing there’s still hope of escape.’

  The woman did not look convinced.

  ‘What is your name?’ he asked.

  ‘Maye.’ Her face creased in surprise, as if the name sounded strange on her lips. ‘The Shrikes took me from Lahun.’

  Piay had heard of that city. It had been largely abandoned when the Hyksos first invaded, but some Egyptians had crept back to shelter behind the city walls.

  ‘I am Piay,’ he said. ‘I am grateful for the aid you gave last night. That could not have been easy.’

  ‘The girl escaped?’ Maye asked.

  He nodded.

  ‘Good.’

  ‘She is young and strong. She should be home with her mother by now.’

  Maye smiled – a little sadly, Piay thought, and he realised it was because her own hopes of escape had been dashed.

  ‘If I free myself, I will not forget you or the other women—’

  ‘There’s no need,’ she said. ‘I’ve made my peace with my lot in life. I will endure this suffering as best I can before my time in this world is over.’ She glanced around and saw one of the guards walking close by. ‘I must go.’ She slipped away among the tents.

  As the Shrikes pulled down their tents and stored them with their plunder in mule carts like the one to which Piay was bound, Khin strode over.

  ‘Your ship sailed without you this morning,’ he said.

  Piay couldn’t help but let his disappointment show. It was only an instant before he regained his self-control, but that was enough for Khin’s sharp eyes.

  ‘Aaaahhhh . . .’ he mocked. ‘Your friends don’t care about you after all. Still, this is good for you in one respect. There is no purpose in cutting pieces off you just yet.’

  ‘Is this where you tell me that your brother would have chopped me up anyway, just for sport?’

  ‘No, he would have tortured and then killed you last night. But I like to play a longer game. You see, that ship is sailing downriver, towards Memphis, the city of Imhotep. We both know the significance of that, even if you pretend not to. And I have just received word that Memphis has fallen to Lord Taita and his Greek allies.’

  ‘That’s bad news for you. Hyksos warriors aren’t going to be welcome there.’

  ‘Really?’ Khin’s voice was heavy with irony. ‘You mean I might have to adopt some kind of disguise?’

  Then, as was his way, he reverted to absolute seriousness.

  ‘Everything is converging on Memphis, I can feel it. All the competitors are assembling. They feel the same pull that I do. So, that is where we will go. You will find it a long, hard, thirsty journey. You will receive just enough food and water to keep you alive. And when we reach the city, you will be dismantled, piece by piece, until Lord Taita or your other friends give me the Eye.’

  ‘That won’t happen. Lord Taita never gives in to threats or blackmail of any kind.’

  ‘Then we will find another way. Tell me, how well do you know Memphis?’

  ‘Not at all.’

  ‘Well then, let me tell you. For years now, Memphis has not been the city that it was in the days of its glory. And it will be even worse now, after a long siege, after the deprivations of war, after starvation and disease. My Shrikes can move with ease through a city like that, a city of shadows, where there is a blade around every corner and always a hungry mouth to feed.

  ‘Sooner or later your master, or your friends, will make an error. They will walk unguarded along a narrow street as dusk falls. Or they will look up and notice those soldiers that are paid to keep them safe are no longer at their posts, because they have been paid even more not to be there. Or they will swallow a mouthful of wine that has not been tested by the food-taster. And in that moment the Eye of Horus will be mine.

  ‘So, I have work to do before we leave.’ As Khin walked away, he called back, ‘Prepare yourself. We have a long march ahead. Enjoy it, while you still have feet upon which to walk.’

  T

  he column of Shrikes trudged through the parched wasteland, a cloud of dust billowing in its wake. The men bowed their heads into the wind blasting from the north, scarves pulled tight across their mouths and noses. Khin was carried on a chair by six of the stronger Shrikes, the filthy canopy that covered it protecting him from the heat of the sun, but not the sand lashed by the air currents. Near the rear of the column, donkeys hauled the laden carts, and beyond them Piay tramped with the nine remaining women behind him, all of them with their wrists bound behind their backs and tied together so that it would be impossible to flee.

  The Shrikes were following one of the age-old trails that the desert wanderers used, trekking from oasis to oasis while avoiding the major settlements spread along the Nile.

  How far away was Memphis? Piay couldn’t tell, but each step brought him closer to the moment when the first blade cut into his body. He had begun to pray that the Sons of Apis would fall upon them, but why would they? Those tattooed fiends wanted, above all else, to recover the Eye of Horus. Since the Shrikes did not possess it, they were – for now – an irrelevance.

  That was absolutely not the case, however, for Myssa and Hannu. And so, as Piay trudged on, he offered silent prayers to Khonsu. He asked his god to ensure that his friends could survive whatever the Sons were prepared to do to get their hands on the sacred object.

  ‘And get me a drink of water – even a drop . . . Anything to slake this terrible thirst.’

  ‘Do you regret coming to rescue that girl now?’ the hard-faced woman shouted from further down the line. ‘How much of a hero are you now?’