Piay had not seen hardened Egyptian troops so uneasy before. It was the very last thing he would have expected in the aftermath of such a triumph. He turned his eyes towards the three members of the unit who had taken up a position in the centre of the chamber. They were guarding the two captives, whose hands were tied behind their backs with strips of hide.

  Piay saw that he had been right. One of the two bound men was indeed a Hyksos – an emaciated individual with skinny arms and thighs. But there was a shrewdness in his dark eyes as he studied the new arrivals.

  He’s sizing us up, Piay thought. He’s not as feeble as he wants us to believe.

  The other captive was tall and slim, the black tattoos on his torso a mass of circles, stars and symbols that Piay had never seen before. In the centre of his chest a bull had been etched, its hindquarters raised and the head lowered in a posture that suggested it was about to attack.

  He did not move, not a tremor, and if he had been lying on the flags Piay would have thought him dead. The hide hood had been pulled down so tightly that the man must surely have had trouble breathing, yet he showed no sign of distress. His head was tilted slightly back and to one side, as if he were listening intently.

  ‘Put down your weapons,’ Piay called. ‘We are safe here.’

  The captain of the soldiers eyed him with something close to disdain. ‘Believe me, no one is safe.’

  The captain turned his attention to Taita and bowed. ‘Greetings, my lord, I knew we would find you here, preparing the way for Pharaoh.’

  Taita clearly knew the man, for he replied, ‘Captain Gatas.’

  ‘We thought you would wish to see what we have discovered as soon as possible.’

  ‘Tell me your story, from the beginning, Captain.’

  Gatas seemed relieved to unburden himself. He described how he and his men had been tracking the fleeing Hyksos army when he saw smoke rising from a strange quarter of the desert.

  ‘I don’t know why, but I just had a sense, almost like someone was whispering in my ear, that I ought to go and find out what was happening, even though it meant losing touch with the main army.’

  Taita nodded thoughtfully. Hannu, however, felt the need to come to a fellow warrior’s aid.

  ‘That’s just an old soldier’s instinct, brother,’ he said. ‘You spend enough time at war, there’s things you just know, even if you can’t say why.’

  ‘Of course,’ Gatas said, though Piay got the feeling that he wasn’t entirely convinced by Hannu’s argument.

  Gatas led his audience to the burning farmhouse, to where the Hyksos troops were waiting for them.

  ‘The rest of their army were running away, it was a rout, but not these ones. They drew their swords and stood their ground.’

  ‘But you and your men defeated these brave Hyksos,’ Taita said, breaking his silence.

  Gatas drew himself up as straight as a Blue Crocodile guardsman on parade and said, ‘Yes, sir, every last one of them. Only these two survived and neither of them is a soldier.’

  ‘So why did you ride back to Thebes as though the worst demons of the underworld were after you?’

  ‘Because they were,’ Gatas replied bluntly. ‘You see, we prepared the chariots to bring them back to the army . . .’

  Piay nodded to himself. The Hyksos had introduced chariots to Egypt. Even now, many years later, their wheeled war-machines were still greatly prized, and Gatas could expect praise and even a handsome reward for capturing so many of them intact. But he neither looked nor sounded like a man who was about to have his pockets filled with gold. And now Piay found out why.

  ‘Then just as we were leaving, we were attacked—’

  ‘By more Hyksos?’ Taita asked.

  ‘No, my lord . . . by ghosts, or demons. I can’t say what they were, but we never heard or saw a thing. Just . . .’ Gatas searched for the right words. ‘Just shadows in the darkness.’

  ‘I have seen those ghosts, too,’ Piay said. ‘Not long ago, here in the city. And they left a dead man behind them.’

  ‘They took four of my men,’ Gatas said. ‘They’d have killed us all, if we hadn’t got out of there as fast as we could. And we didn’t let up, either. Didn’t want them catching up.’

  ‘I see,’ Taita said, apparently untroubled by all this talk of ghosts attacking the living. ‘But tell me . . . These Hyksos troops at the farm – do you have any idea of why they were fighting so fiercely?’

  ‘I could not guess,’ Gatas said, then jabbed a finger at the tattooed captive and added, ‘Until I saw this one.’ He nodded to one of his men, who wrenched the hood from the man’s head.

  ‘Holy Ra!’ Piay gasped as he saw the skull tattoo. There were yet more tattoos on the man’s cheeks, his forehead and his shaven scalp.

  Myssa put a hand to her face and stared, her sharp wits and strong will giving way to primal, atavistic horror at the sight of the demonic creature in front of her. No wonder Gatas and his men had ridden so hard for fear of what might be following them.

  Piay took her hand. The demon stared at Taita without blinking, and Piay thought that such cool aloofness suggested a man used to commanding all who stood before him.

  ‘Did you discover why the Hyksos thought him worth fighting for?’ Taita asked, stepping forward to examine the tattoos on the man’s head and body.

  ‘He hasn’t said a word,’ Gatas replied. ‘But we did find this on him.’

  Gatas dipped into a hide pouch hanging at his side and held out an object of such exquisite craftsmanship that Piay was gripped by the sight of it. He had never seen anything so remarkable before.

  It comprised an oval piece of polished translucent rock – quartz, perhaps – so improbably thin it was almost possible to see through it. The stone was held in a gold frame with a golden arm reaching out from one side and another gold band curling from the lower edge. The craftsman had shaped the stone into the form of an eye, but not just any eye. Piay recognised the design instantly, as did every Egyptian there.

  It was the Eye of Horus, the symbol of healing and protection, which had its origin in the battle between Horus, the god of kingship and the sky and his uncle, Seth, who ruled over storms, violence and disorder. Seth had torn out Horus’ eye, but the orb was magically healed and offered to Osiris, the father of Horus and god of fertility and resurrection, so that its power might sustain him in the afterlife.

  Amulets of the Eye of Horus were commonplace, but Piay had not seen one that came close to such exquisite beauty. Taita took the artefact and turned it around so that the lamplight shimmered across its surface.

  ‘Well, well, well . . . It really exists,’ he murmured softly, as if he were alone in the vast chamber.

  Piay looked around to see the others’ reactions. The tattooed man remained impassive, but the Hyksos captive was entranced by what he saw before him. Now it was desire that burned in those dark eyes. The man was even breathing a little more quickly.

  He knows exactly what that is! Piay thought.

  Taita must have also seen the Hyksos’ reaction, too. He looked at him and said, ‘Your comrades were fighting for this, weren’t they?’

  ‘They were not my comrades, master,’ the Hyksos replied. ‘Just look at me, I am no soldier. And as for that object you are holding, it is the first time I have seen it.’

  ‘Well, that’s a lie for a start,’ Gatas said. ‘We had no trouble finding it.’ He looked at the Hyksos. ‘Or are you telling me that you were too scared to search a man with a skull on his face?’

  ‘As far as I know, he was searched. But certainly, that amulet was not found, for if it had been, he would not have been allowed to keep it.’

  ‘And yet we found what you could not,’ Taita said, ‘and you know what it is, don’t you?’

  ‘You flatter me, master. You are Taita the magus. Even in Avaris people speak of your wisdom. How could I, lowly as I am, possibly tell you anything that you do not already know?’

  ‘He knows nothing, my lord,’ Gatas said. ‘Just give the word and I’ll finish him.’

  ‘I’m tempted, I won’t deny it,’ Taita said. ‘But if this “lowly” man were to talk to me, perhaps he might surprise us, and even himself, with the depth of his knowledge.’ He looked at the Hyksos. ‘What do you think?’

  The man shrugged. ‘I can try . . .’ He grimaced, as if in pain. ‘Perhaps if my hands were free, and my wrists and arms were not ablaze with unspeakable agony, I might be able to think more clearly.’

  ‘Or perhaps if you felt my knife on your throat, that might loosen your tongue.’

  ‘If you scare me out of my wits, how then can I reason?’

  It was all Piay could do not to laugh. He might be an enemy, but the Hyksos had a way about him that was hard to dislike.

  ‘I will trade whatever I know for my life, Lord Taita,’ the Hyksos said. ‘And I swear by all the gods that I will tell the truth, for I know you will catch me out if I lie. Please, I implore you, cut me loose.’

  Taita nodded and a soldier stepped forward and sawed through the man’s bonds.

  ‘Now talk,’ Taita said.

  ‘My name is Shamshi of Kadesh. I serve in the Temple of Seth in Avaris, under the command of his holiness, the high priest Mut-Bisir.’

  Seth, the god of the desert, of war, of chaos. How many times had his malign and poisonous influence infected Piay’s life? How many had died in Seth’s name?

  ‘His holiness sent me to be his personal representative and observer on . . . ah . . . an expedition ordered by His Majesty the King, all glory be upon him. He also commanded me to offer any religious guidance that might be required to Akkan, son of Abisha, the leader of our party.’

  ‘And what was this expedition, exactly?’

  ‘Word has reached Avaris of a great mystery,’ Shamshi continued. ‘I have heard it called the Riddle of the Stars. It is said that whosoever can answer this riddle will gain treasure beyond man’s dreams . . .’

  Shamshi paused and then, in a voice like a rug trader tempting a passer-by with the quality of the wares inside his shop, said, ‘And more than treasure, there will be power . . . power like no human has ever possessed, that only the gods can imagine. Power that can shake the earth . . . that can bring the pyramids crumbling to the ground . . . that could destroy the Egyptian people, every last man and woman, indeed Egypt itself, so that all memory of it sinks beneath the shifting sands, to be lost for all time.’

  An awestruck silence fell on the chamber, for it was plain that Shamshi’s words were sincere. He truly believed in what he was saying.

  Piay could see the intensity in Taita’s eyes. Even now, for all the day’s success, total victory had not yet been assured. If the Hyksos could somehow find a way to bring new life to their shattered forces, they might yet be able to strike back.

  Taita’s voice, however, did not betray any of his concerns. He did not ask a single question about this mysterious, all-powerful riddle. He simply asked Shamshi, ‘Was this silent man helping you with the search? Are the symbols on his body some kind of treasure map?’

  ‘Please believe me when I tell you, master, that I do not know. No one has been able to find the meaning of the symbols.’

  ‘Nor, apparently, did anyone find the amulet. So, why was he of any significance to your search?’

  ‘Because we had already heard about another man just like him.’

  ‘You are sure that the other man and this one are not in fact the same person?’

  ‘I believe that the other man died.’

  ‘But you do not know?’

  Shamshi gave an ingratiating smile. ‘As I say, wise one, I am merely a lowly underling. My lord Mut-Bisir only tells me what I need to know.’

  ‘So there are two of these skull-men, and who knows how many more besides. And yet, in all my long years, I have never seen one before. How, then, were you able to acquire one so easily?’

  ‘My lord, I cannot explain it, but the commander of our expedition, Akkan, son of Abisha, felt thirsty as we marched through Memphis, as did we all, for we had been on the road all day. So he allowed us all to enter a tavern, and by chance, this “skull-man”, as you call him, was sitting there.’

  ‘In a tavern?’

  ‘Yes, my lord.’

  ‘That you just happened to enter . . .?’

  ‘I know how improbable my story sounds, Lord Taita, but I swear that it is true. If I were telling you a lie, I would surely have made it more convincing.’

  Piay noticed that even Taita had to suppress a smile at that example of Shamshi’s logic and wit.

  ‘One last question . . .’ Taita said. ‘Why did you not stay in Memphis, if that was where you found the best – indeed, the only new – clue to your puzzle? Why march south to Thebes?’

  ‘Ah, that I can tell you, master. We were ordered to go to Thebes, for that was where our king, our high priests and all the great men of our nation would be’ – he shrugged – ‘once we had captured the city.’

  ‘I apologise for spoiling their plans,’ said Taita. ‘But it seems to me that you should go back to Memphis, accompanied by my most trusted people, to carry out the search that you would have conducted, had you not been sent to Thebes.’

  ‘But, mighty Taita, your underlings are surely Egyptian.’

  ‘Most of them, yes.’

  ‘But Memphis—’

  ‘. . . Is in the hands of the Hyksos?’ Taita smiled. ‘Tonight, maybe. But I assure you, Shamshi of Kadesh, that won’t be the case for much longer.’

  F

  or a brief moment all was calm in the great chamber, then Hannu whistled under his breath to catch Piay’s attention. When Piay looked around, his comrade was signalling with his eyes and his hand had fallen to the hilt of his sword.

  What? Piay mouthed.

  Hannu shrugged and shook his head.

  The old soldier was obviously unsure about exactly what was concerning him. Yet he, like Gatas and his men, sensed a threat; that was clear.

  Piay tried to persuade himself that the soldiers could not be right. The palace was guarded by the Pharoah’s finest, most trusted troops. They would surely spot any danger. Then the thought struck him: Unless there are ways of getting into the palace without being seen.

  Now Piay understood why the nobleman in the alley had been murdered. He must have spent half his life in this building. He would know every nook, cranny, door and window. So, he had not been targeted for his wealth, but for the information he could provide: interrogated first, then killed to ensure his silence.

  Before he could alert Taita, Piay blinked. Was the chamber getting darker? The others had noticed it, too.

  The flames in the lamps flickered lower. Shadows swelled, pushing back the wavering circles of light.

  ‘Sorcery,’ Gatas muttered, his face spectral in the growing gloom.

  In the centre of the chamber, the tattooed man was smiling.

  Piay lunged and grabbed Taita’s arm.

  ‘We’re under attack, my lord. You and Myssa had best get away.’

  As Myssa ushered Taita from the chamber, Piay snatched out his sword, then turned right around, crouching, peering into every corner, ready to spring forward the moment he saw a foe. Now his nostrils wrinkled at a sour scent, like old wine. It had not been there when they had first entered the chamber, but now it had appeared as if from nowhere and seemed to be getting stronger. Was this what Hannu had smelled earlier? Where was it coming from?

  As he glanced round, Piay noticed drifting motes of dust in the yellow lamplight, but more than dust, for they glittered as they hung in the air. He watched the shimmering particles, noting how unusual they were as they gently settled on everyone in the room. Whether those motes were the source of the strange odour, and where they had come from, he could not tell, but unease knotted his stomach.

  Hannu slotted in beside him and together they moved in step, still circling, still trying to see who was lurking in the darkness.

  ‘I don’t like this,’ Hannu said gloomily. ‘Don’t like it at all.’

  Gatas grabbed Shamshi’s tunic in his fist and hauled him to the side of the tattooed man.

  ‘One wrong move and I’ll gut you where you stand,’ the captain snarled. ‘Both of you.’

  The tattooed man continued to smile.

  Piay moistened his lips. His mouth was growing dry and it was not from fear. The dust he was breathing in prickled deep inside him. Could it be poison? He spat.

  ‘Keep your eyes open,’ Gatas barked to his men.

  ‘They are ghosts,’ one of the soldiers cried back.

  ‘Still your tongue,’ the captain commanded. ‘If their leader is a man, so are they.’

  Piay and Hannu circled in step, their eyes never resting. The chamber was as silent as a tomb.

  Then a gurgle erupted near one of the doors and a soldier crumpled to his knees, clutching at his throat. The sound of blood spattering over the stone floor echoed across the chamber.

  ‘Over there!’ Gatas yelled.

  ‘Wait,’ Piay called.

  But it was too late. Confusion erupted as the soldiers scrambled across the hall to where the man had fallen. The lamps guttered lower still. The darkness was almost complete.

  A cry rang out. Another soldier fell, this time on the other side of the chamber.

  And still Piay could not see the assailants.

  ‘Where are they?’

  ‘They are right here,’ Hannu growled. ‘It’s like they can see in the dark . . .’

  Barely had the words left his lips than Piay sensed movement, shapes flashing back and forth like bats flitting among the date palms at dusk. Another cry, another soldier crashing to the flagstones.

  ‘This is impossible!’ Piay exclaimed, shocked at the sound of panic in his voice.

  A breath of air shifted close to him and he lashed out, driven purely by instinct. He felt the edge of his sword carve through a solid form and he heard something fall to the floor. When he looked down, a hand lay there, clutching a knife with a curved blade. In the gloom, blood from the wound showed up as glossy black on the marble floor.