Sinister Sands (Whispers of Atlantis Book 4) by Jay Penner

Author:Jay Penner [Penner, Jay]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2020-06-20T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 29

HOROSIS

DEON

The Priest gave me much. In a strange, presumably honest change of attitude, he seemed to realize the great injustice he had heaped on us. He pleaded with us not to reveal that he had talked to us and gave us detailed information on what the men had talked amongst themselves.

I had a name: Egander. Greek. Greeks were benefiting from and expanding the slave trade in Egypt, often trading natives and non-Greek foreigners. Public slave trade was not yet prevalent, and many high-profile exchanges, especially those involving women and children, were done in private. Once completed, the buyers and their slaves vanished. Official sanctions and rules around slave trading were easily flouted by bribing local officials.

Hermias and his men were well equipped with coin. We procured camels, and I obtained some fine blades. Equipped, we made our way to Farrasis through a narrow, but traveled path, presumably the same that the abductors may have taken. While my mind was consumed with saving Eurydice, and guilt that I even suspected her, I could not but think why the Persian army may have avoided this path. It was much harder to go this way. The land was rocky, often creating many ambush opportunities, and would have made it difficult for the baggage train. So one could ostensibly imagine the leaders deciding to take a shorter route through the sand sea and avoiding ambush points.

We made it to Farrasis, a much larger town and more prosperous than Aostris or Horosis, on the outskirts of which we had begun our journey in Babak’s town. The men with me knew the town exceptionally well, and we had agreed not to go to the local garrison or make any attempt to connect with Ptolemy or his men. Everything was murky and suspicious, and I had convinced them that a conspiracy was afoot against the Satrap, and we had no idea who was behind it.

Auscetas?

Berenice?

Antiki?

Pharnabazus himself in some way, and his plans went wrong?

Neferu and someone else?

Or maybe Ptolemy trying some elaborate ruse?

No one here would recognize us, and we had not encountered any checkpoints. With days of travel between Memphis, Thebes, and the oasis towns, news often traveled very slowly before any action took place.

Egander was a low-level middleman and a minor smuggler, with slavery being one of his less obvious business activities. With the difficulties in Egypt’s borders and the naval blockades, slavery was a more profitable venture. His house was in a dense quarter of the town, near the south-western side, amidst little temples, brothels, and a few noble homes. His compound was painted with comically bad images of gods and animals. Perhaps he thought he could buy the gods’ favor by this garish display.

Just two years ago, in Alexandria, I had paid a visit to a slimy trader called Thefeni on a very different matter. I was looking forward to a similar “friendly” conversation with Egander.

It was easy to scale his compound late during the night. He had no guards in sight, or perhaps they had left after a short shift.

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