A hand plucked the prince from me and tossed him away like a rag doll. 'All right, Peabody?' Emerson inquired, helping me to my feet.

  The knife he had taken from my belt was not in his hand. I concluded he had managed to slip it into his pocket after cutting Tarek's bonds.

  Nastasen was pounding the floor and screaming, Murtek had taken refuge behind a very tall soldier and was wringing his hands as only he could do. Pesaker was the only one who kept his head. He shouted out an order. It was the one I (or any sensible person) would have given. The soldiers left off waving their spears at me and Emerson and hastened towards the doorway through which Tarek had gone.

  'I believe I feel a trifle faint, Emerson,' I said.

  'That might be an excellent idea, my dear.'

  So I rolled my eyes up as far as they would go and sagged at the knees. Emerson lifted me with a cry of distress; I reclined comfortably in his arms and listened with interest to the ensuing discussion.

  Emerson demanded medical assistance for me. Nastasen, in a voice so choked with fury it was scarcely recognisable, replied that he would do anything possible to ensure my survival since he hoped to have the pleasure of killing me with his own hands. He began describing some of the methods he had in mind. The High Priest of Aminreh broke into this tirade with an accusation Emerson indignantly denied. His poor wife had become hysterical, as women will; hastening to her assistance, he had been attacked by the prisoner, who had struck him down along with several of the soldiers. He had no idea how the prisoner had got his arms free. One of the soldiers must be a traitor.

  Everyone began shouting at once. The first sound to be heard when the tumult died was the timid but high-pitched voice of Murtek. 'To kill these strangers now would be a mistake. First, they are the god's; he will be angry if another drinks their blood. Second while you talked, the traitor has escaped. If the strangers helped him, he will be grateful. He will return to help them.'

  'Huh,' said Nastasen. 'That would be - foolish. I would not take such a risk'

  'No, my prince. But Prince Tarek would. Even as a child he was weak and soft of heart, listening to the stories of Forth.'

  'As did you,' said Pesaker in a grating voice. 'Your own loyalty is doubtful, Murtek. What did you do to prevent Tarek's escape?'

  'I am an old man,' Murtek said pitifully. 'I help as I can - by giving good advice, words of wisdom. The god must not be robbed of his sacrifice.'

  'That at least is true,' said the High Priest of Aminreh. 'And the other, it may be, is also true. We will take the strangers to the darkest cells in the prison - '

  Murtek coughed deprecatingly. 'You wish to set a trap for Prince Tarek? Then leave the strangers here in this place, where Tarek lived as a child, and whose hidden ways are known to him. He cannot reach Prince Nastasen's cells. He will not try.'

  There was a long thoughtful silence. I knew our fate hung in the balance and I decided I would face it standing, as a true Briton should. 'Put me down, Emerson,' I muttered.

  'Good, she wakes,' said Nastasen, as Emerson set me on my feet. 'She will hear her doom from the lips of the king.'

  'You aren't king yet, you young villain,' said Emerson between his teeth. Aloud he said in Meroitic, 'Come, wife. We go to the house of Prince Nastasen.'

  'Wait!' The High Priest of Aminreh raised his hand. 'You are ready to go? You do not ask to remain here?'

  Emerson shrugged. 'One place is as good as another. We are ready.'

  'This is -,' said Pesaker, studying us with narrowed eyes and an expression that made the meaning of the word clear. 'They are too willing. I have a better plan. They will stay. We will take the child.'

  Into the Bowels of the Earth

  I bit my lip to repress an exclamation of dismay. Things had been working so nicely up to that point! In considerable agitation of mind I looked about me in search of inspiration. Ramses was nowhere to be seen, but I did not think he had had a chance to leave the room, and the most cursory of searches would reveal his hiding place behind the wine jars. Then I saw a pale face peering out from the doorway to my sleeping chamber. Had Reggie been there all along, skulking behind the draperies - and a woman's skirts? I felt a slight qualm about throwing him to the wolves but less than I would have felt had he played the man.

  'Reggie!' I cried. 'Save him! Save Ramses!'

  He had no opportunity to withdraw; one of the soldiers saw him and dragged him out of hiding. Perhaps he hoped that presenting this little bird to his master would sweeten his failure, tor, as he was forced to report, the eagle had escaped him.

  Shall we continue to search, great prince?' he asked.

  Yes," snapped Nastasen. 'You will search without food or drink until you find him. If you do not...'

  I have found this one, great prince,' the soldier said, swallowing nervously.

  Nastasen turned to his advisers. 'What shall we do with this vermin? Perhaps he would like to taste the pleasures of my cells.'

  Neither of the reverend gentlemen appeared to have an opinion. Reggie drew himself up. There was mettle in the lad after all; perhaps it had been a paucity, not of courage but of intelligence that had made him hesitate before. 'I will go,' he said. 'Take me instead of the boy. Leave him with his mother.'

  Nastasen nodded. 'One hostage is as good as another,' he said, or words to that effect. He shot a malignant glance at me. 'Later, I may bring this one back and take the boy. Or I may not. Amuse yourself, Lady, in trying to think what I will do.'

  He turned on his heel and marched out. Pesaker made us a mocking bow. 'Until we meet before the god, strangers.'

  Held fast in the grip of his guards, Reggie smiled bravely. 'I don't blame you, Mrs Amelia. Don't give up hope. There is still a chance -' He was dragged away. Murtek followed; he did not speak or look at us.

  Then we were alone - except for a dozen or so soldiers bumbling around and Amenit, who had followed Reggie out of my room and was now staring at the row of wine jars.

  I ran to her and put my arm around her. 'Poor girl! How well you conceal your anxiety for your lover! Is there nothing we can do to help him?'

  Lithely as a snake she slithered out of my grasp. Her anger and frustration - which I had felt in the quivering tension of her body - were so great she could hardly bear for me to touch her. 'What have you done? You let him go free...'

  Recollecting herself, she stopped speaking. I deemed it wiser to pretend I had misunderstood her meaning. 'I am a mother,' I said in her own tongue. 'Could I see my child taken from me? Your lover is a man, strong and brave. And you will hasten to his side and find how best to help him.'

  Goodness, but the girl was slow! I had prevented her from betraying herself and practically spelled out what her next move should be, but it took her forever to think it through.

  'Yes,' she said at last. 'I must hasten to him and find out... Stay here. Do not try to escape. Do nothing until I bring you word.'

  She glided from the room. I waited a moment and then looked behind the wine jars. 'You can come out now, Ramses. It was clever of you to remain hidden; if they had been able to lay hands on you, they might not have accepted Reggie as your substitute.'

  'It was clever of you, Mama, to distract Amenit,' said Ramses, emerging. 'When she said she would consult "him," it was not Mr Forthright she meant, was it?'

  'What the devil did I do with my pipe?' Emerson demanded, rummaging through my notes and papers. 'If ever a man deserved a quiet smoke... Ah, here it is. And here, my dear Peabody, is your little knife. I commend you for keeping it well-sharpened. Tarek's bonds were not rope, they were raw-hide.'

  'I wish I had a dozen pipes and a sack of tobacco for you, my dear Emerson,' I replied. 'They didn't hurt you?'

  'Only a few bruises.' Emerson began filling his pipe. 'I felt certain we risked nothing worse; these polytheists do take their sacrifices, and lingering tortures, and that sort of thing so seriously. The only really ugly moment was when Nastasen threatened to pop us into his dungeon.'

  'That was Pesaker's idea, I believe,' I said.

  'Same thing. The young swine hasn't a brain in his head; Pesaker will find him a perfect tool, which is no doubt the reason he supports Nastasen rather than Tarek. Now we have a reprieve until the moment of the ceremony, and with Tarek on the loose we ought to be able to work something out - if we can keep out of Nastasen's dungeon.'

  We owe our escape from them to Murtek,' I said, taking a date from the bowl on the table. 'Whose side is he on, anyhow?'

  His own, I fancy,' said Emerson cynically. 'Politicians are all the same, in the Halls of Parliament or darkest Africa, and he is a clever man. I would guess that his sympathies lie with us and with Tarek - the triumph of Nastasen means the triumph of Amon and his high priest over Osiris and Murtek - but he is too careful of his wrinkled hide to commit himself until victory is certain.'

  I expelled the seed of the date daintily into my hand and reached for another. 'I'm starved. All that exercise, and the noon meal delayed... Where have the servants gone?'

  'Into hiding, like sensible people.' Emerson cocked his head, listening. From the back regions of the house came distant echoes of thuds, crashes, and exclamations of (I felt certain) a profane nature. Emerson grinned. 'Nastasen's soldiers remind me of the pirates of Messieurs Gilbert and Sullivan. "With catlike tread - thud! - upon our prey we steal. In silence dread - crash - our cautious way we feel..."'

  Smiling, I joined my voice to his. There is nothing like a song, I always say, to lift the spirits. "'No sound at all - "' We brought our fists down on the table and Ramses, joining in the spirit of the thing, shouted, 'Bang!' at the top of his lungs.

  We finished the verse in fine style, and burst into the chorus with Ramses's piping voice providing an unharmonious treble. 'Come, friends, who plough the sea,' and so on to the end.

  Emerson mopped his brow and burst out laughing. 'Every man thinks he is a critic, eh, Peabody? We can't have been that bad.' And he gestured at the doorway, where two of the soldiers stood staring, spears poised.

  'Western music must sound strange to them,' I replied. 'Perhaps they mistook the sound for that of struggle. We were making quite a lot of noise.'

  Looking sheepish, the men lowered their spears. 'I am a trifle peckish myself,' Emerson said. 'Let's see if we can get the servants back.' He clapped his hands sharply.

  It took a while, but eventually the servants reappeared and began serving our luncheon. The presence of the two soldiers, who lingered, looking hungrily at the food, obviously disturbed them, so Emerson dismissed the two with a pointed reminder of Nastasen's orders.

  'They don't seem very enthusiastic, do they?' I said as the men shuffled off, dragging their spears.

  'They are doomed men,' said Emerson placidly. 'If they have not found Tarek by now, he has got clean away.' He set his strong white teeth into a piece of bread and ripped off a chunk. 'And it may be - '

  'Emerson, excuse me, but you are talking with your mouth full. It sets Ramses a bad example.'

  'Sorry,' mumbled Emerson. He swallowed, grimacing. 'No wonder Murtek has lost most of his teeth. They must be grinding grain in the old way, between two stones; there is as much grit in this wretched bread as there is flour. One would have supposed Forth would have introduced them to modern methods of manufacture instead of teaching political theory and romantic twaddle... I was about to say that from the start I detected a certain lack of enthusiasm among the guards. There were more of them stumbling and staggering and falling over one another's feet than we three could have accounted for, and the pursuit of the fugitive was singularly inept.'

  'I thought that myself,' I said. 'The men who attended Nastasen this time all wore leather helmets and carried spears; that must mean (and I ought to have noticed it before) that the archers, who wear the feather, are Tarek's men. He told us not all those who wore his insignia were loyal to him, and it appears the reverse is true. I don't suppose you observed which of the guards was especially clumsy?'

  'No, curse it, I was too busy tripping people up.' Emerson scowled. 'That's the trouble with these conspiracies, they don't give one time for leisurely discussion. If Tarek had taken the trouble to tell us whom we can trust

  He took a savage bite of the bread. I looked at the little woman who was filling my cup. Had there been a murmur, soft as a buzzing bee or purring cat, when Tarek's name was mentioned ? "ad no doubt of her sympathies, but I would not have endangered her by trying to speak to her. No doubt there were spies among the rekkit too. It would be so pitifully easy to bribe the weaker ones to betray their own people. To a starving man, a loaf of bread is riches beyond belief.

  'I am glad we were able to enjoy that refreshing little tussle this morning,' I remarked to Emerson as we strolled arm in arm around the lotus pond. 'For it appears our opportunity for healthful exercise will be very limited hereafter.'

  Amenit had returned, bringing with her a fresh supply of little servants. The latter looked even more miserable and depressed than the first lot; I did not doubt they and their families had been threatened with unspeakable punishments if they attempted to render us aid.

  Emerson had immediately tested the new security system by marching to the front entrance and demanding to be let out. He returned with the not unexpected news that the stratagem had failed, and 'his men' were no longer on duty. 'I only hope they have not been harmed, Peabody. That disgusting young swine is quite capable of slaughtering anyone he believes sympathetic to us.'

  'My dear, you don't understand Nastasen's psychology,' I said. 'He is in - what is the phrase? - the catbird seat now and able to indulge without restraint in his favourite hobby of tormenting people. I expect that as a child he pulled the wings off butterflies. He won't slaughter any of our friends without making sure we are there to watch. And you may be certain we will be the first to know if Tarek is recaptured.'

  'I don't hold with this newfangled fad of psychology,' Emerson grumbled. 'At worst it is fiddle-faddle and at best it is plain old common sense. You haven't had an opportunity to chat with Amenit since she got back, I suppose.'

  'Not yet. The girl is not very intelligent, Emerson; I certainly would not allow her to participate in any conspiracy I was directing. She would have given herself away if I hadn't stopped her. I thought it was best to pretend ignorance of her role.'

  'Quite. It was she who betrayed Tarek, I suppose.'

  'It was she, I feel certain, who discovered we were not in our rooms last night. She was suspiciously alert today for someone who was supposed to have drunk drugged wine. She must have warned Nastasen or Pesaker - probably the latter, since he is the only one who would have sense enough to draw the obvious conclusion - that we were gadding about with some member of the opposition party. If I had been managing the affair I would have set ambushes outside the quarters of all those I suspected of being in league with Tarek, and of course the palace of Tarek himself. The fact that we were not waylaid on our way back here gives me hope that they don't know how we got out of our rooms.'

  'Or where we went?'

  'Heaven grant that it is so.' I wiped away a tear. 'That poor, brave child! What a terrible blow this news will be to her - how lonely and frightened she must be! If we could only communicate - tell her to keep up her courage, have faith in God and in us.'

  'Not necessarily in that order,' said Emerson, with one of his irrepressible smiles. 'Keep a stiff upper lip, Peabody; we may be able to send her a message when Mentarit returns to us.'

  'If she returns. Thank goodness she didn't come back with us last night; it is possible that her part in this is unsuspected. Emerson, I do think it likely that Nastasen doesn't know we saw Nefret. He would have thrown that in our faces too.'

  'A good point, Peabody. How long are the handmaidens' tours of duty?'

  'Five days. I kept careful count. And tonight is Amenit's second day. I don't think I can stand the suspense, but I suppose I must. Unless...'

  Emerson came to a stop. 'Unless,' he repeated.

  A little bird burst into song on a branch above. We gazed at each other - two great minds with but a single thought.

  Can you manage it, Peabody?' Emerson asked.

  'Insofar as the means are concerned - yes, certainly. I have an ample supply of laudanum, but we don't want to put her to sleep, we want to render her unfit to carry out her duties. Ipecacuanha perhaps,' I said musingly. 'Doan's pills - tincture of arsenic...'

  Emerson looked at me uneasily. 'Upon my word, Peabody, there are times when you give me the cold shivers. I am afraid to ask why you are carrying around several deadly poisons.'

 

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