Testament by Mark Chadbourn

Author:Mark Chadbourn [Chadbourn, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838776367
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Akkan’s camp was not far away. Half an hour’s brisk marching brought them within striking distance. The main force was sent off to launch their attack from the west. Khin, his bodyguards, Piay and Hannu would come in from the east – the river side.

The Nile was not far away now, and Piay could smell the water. After a little while, he heard the faint rumble of voices. Light spilled through a wall of acacia bushes.

Khin beckoned Piay to come forward to join him.

Piay dropped to his hands and knees and crawled to the edge of the acacias. He could smell the pitch from the torches and hear the gentle gurgle of the river as it eddied along the banks on its journey to the sea.

The voices, too, were clearer. Two of them were having a debate about diving into the depths. Piay could not make out what depths those might be, but he was sure he could hear an edge of frustration in those voices.

‘I thought you said your woman wasn’t bringing Akkan to the site of the clue,’ Khin whispered.

‘That’s right.’

‘Well, either she lied, or he forced her, because I reckon they’re looking for it right here.’

Piay strained to hear Myssa’s voice, but all those speaking were men. He told himself that was no cause for concern, but still a part of him began to worry.

Khin gave a short jab of his forefinger and they both pushed further into the shrubs to get a better look. Piay pressed down a branch just enough to get a clear view. The torches sizzled at the heart of a small camp. Some tents had been erected on the far side of what looked like a hole in the ground. More Hyksos were gathered in front of the tents, eating, drinking, talking, and occasionally casting glances towards their half-dozen comrades gathered around the hole.

Some of those men stood with hands on hips, peering into its depths. Others were squatting on the ground. Two of the men wore robes, rather than military tunics and breastplates. Piay remembered seeing robes like that at the necropolis. They must be priests of some kind, acolytes of the Cobra.

Piay recognised other faces he had seen that night, but he could not spot Akkan or Myssa, nor hear their voices. He prayed the Shrikes did not attack until he had discovered where his love might be, and taken her to safety.

There was still no sign of the Shrikes, either, though Piay knew that they must be lurking in the fields, ditches and undergrowth, no more than fifty paces – if that – from the camp. As chaotic as they might be in some aspects of soldiering, their capacity for stealth was remarkable.

‘Do we drag him out?’ one of the Hyksos warriors was saying.

He leaned forward and looked into the hole, though it must surely have been too dark to see anything.

Another warrior shrugged. ‘Might as well. What’s the point of waiting?’

The first warrior grunted and said, ‘Give me a hand, then.

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