(eng) Kage Baker - SSC by In the Company of Thieves

Author:In the Company of Thieves [In the Company of Thieves]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“I had no idea you liked chocolates so much,” said Golescu.

“Why should you?” said Amaunet through a full mouth. She lifted the box and inhaled again, then dipped in with her tongue and scooped a nut cluster straight out of its little paper cup.

“Good point,” said Golescu. He edged a little closer on the fallen log that was their mutual seat, and offered her the champagne once more. She didn’t seem to notice, absorbed as she was in crunching nuts. “Come, drink up; this stuff won’t keep. Like youth and dreams, eh?”

To his astonishment, Amaunet threw back her head and laughed. It was not the dry and humorless syllable that had previously expressed her scorn. It was full-throated, rolling, deep, and so frightful a noise that Emil shrieked and put his hands over his head, and even the fire seemed to shrink down and cower. It echoed in the night forest, which suddenly was darker, more full of menace.

Golescu’s heart beat faster. When Amaunet seized the mug from him and gulped down its contents once more, he moistened his lips and ventured to say:

“Just let all those cares wash away in the sparkling tide, eh? Let’s be good to each other, dear lady. You need a man to lessen the burden on those poor frail shoulders. Golescu is here!”

That provoked another burst of laughter from Amaunet, ending in a growl as she threw down the mug, grabbed another handful of chocolates from the box and crammed them into her mouth, paper cups and all.

Scarcely able to believe his luck (one drink and she’s a shameless bacchante!) Golescu edged his bottom a little closer to Amaunet’s. “Come,” he said, breathing heavily, “tell me about yourself, my Nile lily.”

Amaunet just chuckled, looking at him sidelong as she munched chocolates. Her eyes had taken on a queer glow, more reflective of the flames perhaps than they had been. It terrified Golescu, and yet...

At last she swallowed, took the champagne bottle from his hand and had a drink.

“Hah!” She spat into the fire, which blazed up. “You want to hear my story? Listen, then, fat man.”

“A thousand thousand years ago, there was a narrow green land by a river. At our backs was the desert, full of jackals and demons. But the man and the woman always told me that if I stayed inside at night, like a good little girl, nothing could hurt me. And if I was a very good little girl always, I would never die. I’d go down to the river, and a man would come in a reed boat and take me away to the Sun, and I’d live forever.

“One day, the Lean People came out of the desert. They had starved in the desert so long, they thought that was what the gods meant for people to do. So, when they saw our green fields, they said we were Abomination. They rode in and killed as many as they could. We were stronger people and we killed them

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