Pyramid of Secrets by Tracy Higley

Author:Tracy Higley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2013-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

I became aware of myself again and found my head resting on Neferet’s shoulder, her warm hand against my cheek. Cursing, I reached for her leg again.

“I am well, Hemi. Don’t look at it. Get me back up this path, and I will wrap it in rags. Do not worry.”

It was as close as we had ever been, sitting there together, and I felt the danger of disorder once more.

She would not let me carry her and whispered that she had already drawn more attention than she desired. “Tell me about the problem here,” she said as we climbed, my arm bracing her. “Distract me.”

“Cornerstones,” I said. “They require precision and a structural integrity not required of the rest of the stones. Ako believes our current design is faulty and will not stand.”

She slowed and looked to me. “You must call my brother,” she said and pointed below us. “He is a mason, not a cutter, you know. He works at the removal site, not at the top yet. But he was just telling me this very thing. That the cornerstones will not hold. He has a better design, he says.” She gripped my arm. “Call him, Hemi. Promise me you will bring him up.”

“We will bring him up, Neferet. But first we must get you out of this pit.”

I had her settled at the top within minutes. The physician who treated the men was summoned and he tended to her leg. Meanwhile, I had Ako send for Neferet’s brother.

His anxious face appeared above the edge of the quarry faster than I would have thought possible.

“What has happened?” he said, running for Neferet.

“Just a scratch, brother,” she said. “Nothing more.”

“I should have brought you up myself,” he said, then looked at me. “I should have brought her up. My foreman would not allow it. I should have done it anyway.”

I held out an arm. “I am Hemiunu.”

He dipped his head. “Grand Vizier. Thank you for seeing to my sister.”

Neferet called to us from her place on the ground. “You two must like each other,” she said. To her brother she said, “Hemi is a good friend.” Her brother’s eyes widened a bit, and he brought his attention back to me.

“Neferet tells me you may have a solution to our cornerstone problem.”

The man’s face brightened like a boy just handed a new spear. “I can see it exactly in my mind,” he said and began to explain.

I held up a hand. “Follow me.”

We crossed to the masons, and I motioned for Ako to join us. Neferet’s brother grabbed a copper chisel and began to scratch in the sand, explaining his new design. I nodded, slowly at first, then with a widening smile. “Yes,” I whispered. “Yes.”

He pushed the lines of the cornerstone’s notched core closer to its edge. “Here,” he said, pointing to the bedding joint and digging a new angle, “here we increase by ten seqeds, and then here.” His chisel jabbed the notch. “Here we decrease. The weight of

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