Orphan of the Sun by Gill Harvey

Author:Gill Harvey
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2006-10-16T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

There was a hush throughout the room once they had left. Nebnufer said nothing else. He stormed out and went up to the roof with Wab. His sons followed him. Meryt looked around. The servants were beginning to discreetly tidy up, so she joined in, glad of something to do. Dedi had disappeared, no doubt with Neben-Maat, and the last of the guests began to drift away.

Everything was piled into the courtyard to be cleaned in the morning, and the servants disappeared into the night. Meryt found a lamp and, wandering through the house, found that the little back room that she was sharing with Dedi was empty. She took off her borrowed fineries and looked around. To her relief, the linen charm was still where she had hidden it, tucked into a little crack in the mud-brick wall. She found her dress and a linen sheet and settled down in one corner, clutching the charm to her chest.

Meryt lay in the darkness with her eyes open, listening to the murmur of voices on the roof. By the sound of it, Nebnufer and his family were still embroiled in heated discussion. She thought over the events of the evening – the hot, sweaty room, the laughing guests, the drunkenness of Userkaf. And then she thought of the painter Kha, and the cup of water that he had brought for her. She shook her head. Her instincts told her that he was a good man. Nofret’s story made little sense.

When at last sleep overcame her, she began to dream. First, there was a faint image of an object – something glinting in the sunlight. She felt drawn towards it, for it was an object of great beauty, and she wanted to hold it and touch it and own it for herself. Then, as she drew closer, she saw what it was. It was the stolen udjat amulet that she had seen on the hillside path – but it seemed brighter and bigger, the gold pulsating with radiance and the lapis lazuli a brilliant blue. She reached out to pick it up in great excitement. But as she touched it, she yelped and drew back in pain, for the amulet was hot – so hot that the tips of her fingers were burnt and she could only watch as the gold melted before her eyes, leaving the pieces of precious lapis lazuli scattered on the ground. She reached to pick them up one by one, but each one vanished as she touched it, leaving no trace.

It grew dark and she looked up in bewilderment. The moon was shining in the sky and a man was standing on the hilltop above the village, looking down at her. It was Kha, and his face was full of sorrow. All he wore was a ragged loincloth. As she gazed up at him, he opened his palm, and Meryt saw what he was holding. It was his painter’s papyrus brush, but it was worn and tattered, a worthless object.

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