Ancient World 02 - Raiders of the Nile by Saylor Steven

Author:Saylor, Steven [Saylor, Steven]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2014-02-25T06:00:00+00:00

XXII

“Where have you been?” said Djet when I returned to our hut. The storm had relented a bit, but the world was still dark. “You’ve been gone half the night.”

“Never mind.” I fell onto my bed, utterly exhausted. I fell asleep at once.

* * *

“Wake up!” said Djet.

It seemed to me that only a moment had passed, but now bright sunlight entered around the curtained doorway.

“Wake up,” Djet repeated, poking me in various places with his forefinger in a most irritating way. “Menkhep says you have to come at once.”

My head was so muddled with sleep, for a moment I wondered if the events of the night before had been only a dream.

I sat up. No, it had not been a dream. No dream could have been so strange, so perfect—so dreamlike.

“What are you smiling at?” said Djet. “And where did you disappear to last night?”

“That is none of your business.” I reached out and mussed his hair.

He drew back and frowned. “You’re in a very strange mood.”

“Am I? I’ll tell you what I am: hungry. There’d better be some food out there.”

“You’ll have to hurry if you want any. The rest have already eaten. They’re all busy getting ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“How should I know? That’s why Menkhep says you have to come, and quickly.”

I wiped the sleep from my eyes and stood up. My arms and shoulders were stiff from rowing the previous day, and my back was stiff from certain other exertions, but no amount of physical discomfort could spoil my mood. I dressed myself and followed Djet into the bright sunshine. The cool, moist world around us seemed to have been scrubbed clean by the rain. The beads of water that clung to the tips of a nearby papyrus plant were turned into scintillating crescents by the slanting sunlight. Steam rose from the earth, and a veil of mist hovered above the lagoon.

“There you are!” Menkhep appeared and slapped me on the back. He was in high spirits. “Here, I saved you a bit of flatbread. Eat up! We’ll take some food with us of course, but we won’t break for a meal until—”

“Who are ‘we’ and where are we going?”

“Ah, you weren’t awake to hear Artemon’s announcement. As you know, Metrodora saw the storm coming yesterday…”

“Didn’t we all?” I muttered under my breath.

“… and last night, amid all the thunder and lightning, a vision came to her. It’s what we hoped for. The wreck should be waiting for us when we get there.”

“What wreck? And where?”

He shook his head and laughed. “It’s a good thing you won’t have to do much thinking today—just lots of rowing. Don’t worry, you’ll be in my boat. I’ll look after you.”

Some of the men had already boarded the long, slender boats tied at the pier. Others were pulling more boats from the foliage along the bank of the lagoon.

“Is everyone going?”

“Almost everyone. Artemon will leave sentries, of course, but those men will also be given a share of the booty.”

“Is it a raid?” said Djet.

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