The Quest - Smith Wilbur (читать лучшие читаемые книги TXT) 📗

In the centre of the room a thin spiral of smoke twisted up from the ashes on the hearth and disappeared into a ventilation hole in the roof.

A half-eaten meal lay with a jug and bowl of red wine on the low wooden table. A small oil lamp threw shadows into the corners. Taita crossed the kitchen to the doorway in the opposite wall. He looked through it into a cell, which was dimly lit by a single lamp.

Some articles of clothing, a tunic, a cloak and a pair of sandals, were thrown carelessly into a corner. A sleeping mat was spread in the middle of the floor, with a kaross made of jackal pelts on top. Taita took a corner of the kaross and jerked it aside. A small child lay under it, of no more than two, an appealing little boy whose eyes were large and inquisitive as he stared up at Taita.

Taita reached down and placed his hand on the child's bald head.

There was a sizzling sound and the sharp reek of scorched flesh. The brat screamed and twisted away from Taita's touch. Imprinted on his pate was a raw red brand, not the outline of Taita's hand but the cat's paw of Eos.

'You have wounded the little fellow,' blurted Meren, his voice softening with pity.

'It is no infant,' Taita answered. 'It is the last evil branch and twig of the sorceress. This is her spirit sign emblazoned on its head.' He reached out to touch the creature again, but it shrieked and cowered away from hm. He seized it by the ankles and held it upside down, struggling and twisting in his grip. 'Unmask yourself, Soe. The witch, your mistress, has been consumed in the subterranean flames of the earth. None of her powers will avail you any longer.' He hurled the child on to the sleeping mat, where it lay whimpering.

Taita made a pass over it with his right hand, stripping away Soe's deception. The infant changed size and shape slowly until it was revealed as the witch's emissary, Soe, his eyes blazing and features contorted with malevolence and hatred.

'Do you recognize him now?' Taita asked Meren.

'By Seth's foul breath, it is Soe who set the toads upon Demeter. I last saw this devil's spawn riding off into the night on the back of the hyena, his familiar.'

'Bind him!' Taita ordered. 'He goes to Karnak to face the justice of Pharaoh.'

The morning after the royal return to Karnak from Assuit, Queen Mintaka sat beside Pharaoh in the private audience chamber of the palace. The bright sun was streaming in through the high windows. It was not flattering to her: she looked drawn and exhausted.

It seemed to Meren that she had aged many years since he had last seen her only a few days before.

Pharaoh sat on a higher throne than his queen. Crossed over his chest he held the golden flails, the symbols of justice and punishment. On his head was the tall red and white crown of the Two Kingdoms, known as the Mighty One, Pschent. A pair of scribes sat at either side of the throne to record his deliberations.

Pharaoh Nefer Seti acknowledged Meren. 'Have you succeeded in the task I set you, Lord Marshal?'

'I have, mighty Pharaoh. Your enemy is in my custody.'

'I expected no less of you. Nevertheless, I am well pleased. You may bring him before me to answer my questions.'

Meren banged the butt of his spear three times on the floor. Immediately there was the tramp of nailed sandals and an escort of ten guardsmen filed into the room. Queen Mintaka regarded them with lacklustre gaze until she recognized the prisoner in their midst.

Soe was barefooted and naked, except for a white linen breech clout.

Heavy bronze chains shackled his wrists and ankles. His face was haggard, but his chin was lifted high in defiance. Mintaka gasped and sprang to her feet, staring at him in consternation and dismay. 'Pharaoh, this is a mighty and powerful prophet, a servant of the nameless goddess. He is no enemy! We cannot treat him thus.'

Pharaoh turned his head slowly and stared at her. 'If he is not my enemy, why did you wish to hide him from me?' he asked.

Mintaka faltered and covered her mouth with a hand. She sank down upon her throne, her face ashen and her eyes stricken.

Pharaoh turned back to Soe. 'State your name!' he ordered the captive.

Soe glared at him. 'I acknowledge no authority above that of the nameless goddess,' he declared.

'The one you speak of is no longer nameless. Her name was Eos, and she was never a goddess.'

'Beware!' Soe shouted. 'You blaspheme! The wrath of the goddess is swift and certain.'

Pharaoh ignored this outburst. 'Did you conspire with this sorceress to dam the Mother Nile?'

'I answer only to the goddess,' Soe snarled.

'Did you, in concert with this sorceress, use supernatural powers to inflict the plagues upon this very Egypt? Was your purpose to topple me from the throne?'

'You are no true king!' Soe shouted. 'You are a usurper and an apostate! Eos is the ruler of the earth and of all its nations!'

'Did you strike down my children, prince and princess of the blood royal?'

'They were not of the royal blood,' Soe asserted. 'They were common'ers. The goddess alone is of royal blood.'

'Did you use your evil influence to turn my queen aside from the path of honour? Did you convince her that she should help you to place the sorceress on my throne?'

'It is not your throne. It is the rightful throne of Eos.'

'Did you promise my queen to restore our children to life?' Pharaoh demanded, in a voice as cold and sharp as a sword blade.

'The tomb never yields up its fruit,' Soe replied.

'So you lied. Ten thousand lies! You lied and you murdered and you spread sedition and despair throughout my empire.'

'In the service of Eos, lies are things of beauty, murder is a noble act.

I spread no sedition. I spread the truth.'

'Soe, you are condemned from your own mouth.'

'You cannot harm me. I am protected by my goddess.'

'Eos is destroyed. Your goddess is no more,' Pharaoh intoned gravely.

He turned back to Mintaka. 'My queen, have you heard enough?'

Mintaka was sobbing quietly. She was so overcome that she was unable to speak, but she nodded, then covered her face in shame.

At last Pharaoh looked directly at two figures who were standing

quietly at the back of the hall. The visor of Taita's helmet was closed and Fenn's face was covered with a veil. Only her green eyes showed.

'Tell us how Eos was destroyed,' Pharaoh ordered.'

'Mighty one, she was consumed by fire,' said Taita.

'So it is fitting that her creature should share her fate.'

'It would be a merciful death, better than he deserves, better than the death he dealt out to the innocent.'

Pharaoh nodded thoughtfully, then turned back to Mintaka. 'I am minded to give you an opportunity to redeem yourself in my sight, and in the sight of the gods of Egypt.'

Mintaka threw herself at his feet. 'I did not understand what I was doing. He promised that the Nile would flow again and our children would be restored to us, if only you would acknowledge the goddess. I believed him.'

'All this I understand.' Pharaoh raised Mintaka to her feet. 'The penance I impose upon you is that your own royal hand will set the torch to the execution fire in which Soe and the last trace of the sorceress will be expunged from my domains.'

Mintaka swayed on her feet and her expression was one of utter despair. Then she seemed to rally herself. 'I am Pharaoh's loyal wife and subject. To obey his command is my duty. I shall set the fire under Soe, in whom once I believed.'

'Lord Meren, take this miserable creature down into the courtyard where the stake awaits him. Queen Mintaka will go with you.'

The escort marched Soe down the marble staircase and into the courtyard. Meren followed them down, with Mintaka leaning heavily on his arm.