Anubis Nights (30 page)

“I believe this is yours,” Winslow said and dropped the pack on the floor. “Perhaps it will be useful in the afterlife.”

Horemheb motioned to the soldiers, and they moved over to pull me to my feet. They held me still while the general got in my face. His breath could have killed a rhino at twenty paces.

“I don’t think you’ll have much use for your possessions as Ammit will eat your heart.”

It took me a moment to realize what he meant. Kelly had explained to me that in the Egyptian view of the afterlife, Anubis would weigh a heart against the feather of Maat, and if the heart weighed more, a monster named Ammit would devour said heart. As the Egyptians believed the mind and soul resided in the heart, Horemheb was telling me that I would be judged unworthy and would not be granted eternal life.

I didn’t have a snappy comeback, so I just grinned at him. The truth was that I was afraid. I couldn’t kill Winslow while I was separated from Kelly, or I’d be trapped in ancient Egypt. And I knew I wouldn’t be able to get close to her before they locked us in Tut’s tomb. While I didn’t remember Howard Carter finding extra skeletons in the tomb in any of the accounts I’d read about the discovery of Tut’s treasures, it was entirely possible that by failing here, time would be changed. Maybe the ripple effect wouldn’t be terrible, but maybe it would.

A butterfly flaps its wings in Africa,
I thought. Of course, I was in Africa, so maybe it should be “A modern man dies in ancient Egypt, and civilizations never rise.”

Horemheb looked as if he wanted to punch me, but instead he simply stepped back and allowed Winslow to approach.

“How are you feeling, Jonathan?” Winslow asked.

“Like I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I’ve been asking myself that exact question for the past thirty minutes. So why haven’t you killed me yet?” I asked.

“Because unlike you, I’m not a murderer.”

“Unlike me?”

“I can see into your soul, Jonathan. I translated the Emerald Tablets. The power there is truly incredible. In any case, I can look in your eyes, and I can tell you’ve taken lives. You’ve considered yourself judge, jury, and executioner on more than one occasion. If I were you, I wouldn’t want Anubis to perform the weighing of the heart ritual. All that guilt against a single feather? Surely the scales will tip.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Where’s Curly?” I asked.

“Curly?”

“If Horemheb is Larry, you’re Moe, then Aye has to be Curly.”

He looked at me as if I were insane. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“The Three Stooges. I guess they weren’t around in your time, but I thought you Underworld people kept up a bit more with the changing times. Charon sure did.”

“Perhaps in some areas, the people were afforded such luxuries.”

“But not in Tartarus,” I said.

He laughed. “You really think I was destined for Tartarus? In that vernacular, I was in the Asphodel Meadows. Unlike many, I didn’t drink from the Lethe, so I never forgot my former life. That’s how I was able to sneak away and find the Stacks so I could access the Forbidden Texts. In my view, I simply held fast to my True Will. Reality, my dear Jonathan, is a blend of belief systems that flow into the Truth.”

“Sounds like bullshit to me. Where is Aye?”

“Ankhesenamun’s husband is preparing for the burial ceremony.”

“Tut was her husband.”

“Yes, and Aye is her husband now. Did you not notice that he wears a crown with a cobra on it?”

“Not really.”

He shrugged. “Oh well. I suppose not all detectives are as quick on the uptake as Sherlock Holmes. It’s a shame, really, because that crown should have been a bright shiny clue to the situation you were walking into. Are you prepared to meet your fate?”

“Not especially, but I am bored with your small talk. Go ahead and tell me to kiss my ass good-bye and I’ll see you at the ceremony.”

KELLY CHAN

I hate wizards.

My wrists were bound by light, and while I could focus and pull my hands about six inches apart, they snapped back after that and the spell grew stronger for a time.

My ankles were also bound by light, but I had more leeway there, so I could walk. Before several servants led me out of the Great Hall, I tried to kick one of them, but I couldn’t pull my leg up to chamber it in preparation for a side kick. Without the coil, there wouldn’t be any power in the kick, and as I couldn’t raise my leg high enough for a roundhouse, I would be stuck kicking someone in the shins. It was a situation unfit for a Sekutar warrior.

Here I was, nearly back to full strength, but that goddamn Winslow had to go and mess it all up. I made a mental to-do list, and killing him was right at the top.

I started counting off the body parts I could tear away from him one by one, but before I’d reached the knees, Ankhesenamun entered the room where I was being detained. She had a handful of servants with her.

“I hope you’re proud of yourself,” I said and spit on the floor. She was lucky I didn’t spit in her face.

She glanced down at the spittle then met my gaze. “You understand nothing of our ways.”

“You were afraid and you asked us for help. We agreed to help you, and you repaid us by betraying us. What’s to understand?”

“Our king must be Egyptian.”

“And that’s a reason to execute a foreign prince, alienate the entire Hittite nation, and try to have your emissaries killed?”

“As I said, you don’t understand. The Hittites are our sworn enemies. Aye and Horemheb both explained to me how they would send a worthless son to slay me while I slept. Then we would be ruled by a Hittite.”

“Aye and Horemheb crave power.”

“You met the prince, Kelly. Do you believe he would have made a good king?”

“I believe you could have controlled him and run Egypt yourself, using him as a figurehead.”

“Yes, I considered that as a possibility, but I learned from Winslow that Suppiluliumas selected Zannanza.”

“You learned that from Winslow?”

She nodded. “He has powerful magic. He created a vision in the air before me that allowed me to see what was happening as it occurred. You met Zannanza and I know you did not like him. I could see your expression when you turned away from him. But did you know he’s an expert with a dagger? Did you know he’s slain many men and women while they slept?”

“You sent the army to kill us.”

“And yet you and Jonathan are both alive. My orders were to slay the Hittite prince and his entourage but not to harm you, Jonathan, or Hani.”

“Horemheb tried to kill Jonathan.”

“Only because you both killed many Egyptian soldiers.”

“So you want me to believe you’re a good person.”

“I am trying to do what’s best for Egypt.”

“Then set us free.”

“You are now enemies of Egypt. I cannot change that. You killed too many men.”

I shook my head. “We didn’t have a choice.”

“You could have broken away from the battle sooner.”

“You sent us to protect the prince.”

“I must do what is right for Egypt,” she said again. “Toward that end, I have married Aye.”

“You married that dried-up old man?”

“Egypt needs a king.”

“You don’t even like Aye.”

“Egypt needs a king, and the king must be Egyptian. However, I am doing you a great honor by allowing you to serve Tutankhamun in the afterlife. You should appreciate the gesture.”

“I don’t.”

Ankhesenamun shrugged. “History will remember you as friends of Egypt because of my actions.”

“I don’t care how history remembers me,” I said. “My purpose is to live and to protect the man I love.”

“Your husband. His magic is strong too. But he has many weaknesses.”

“Everyone has weaknesses. What do you plan to do after you’ve sent us to the afterlife with your husband?”

Ankhesenamun took a deep breath. “I will do what I must for Egypt. I will do my duty as a Great Royal Wife with Aye and conceive a son.”

I shook my head. “You disappoint me.”

“What you think of me is less important than what the people of Egypt think.”

With that, she turned and left.

JONATHAN SHADE

Prelude to a showdown.

There have been times in my life when I witnessed great magic. The wizards at Dragon Gate Industries wielded some powerful magic, but those guys and gals were amateurs. I’ve seen powerful sorcerers, and I’ve seen the destruction they’ve wrought, destroying entire city blocks. I’ve seen dragons. Hell, I rode a dragon named Clara, and my semigirlfriend Rayna is from another dimension and is not quite human.

I’ve also met gods. Persephone is an obvious example here, though some claim she wasn’t really a god. Sorry, if you can take over the Underworld and keep Hades pussy-whipped for millennia, you can consider yourself a god. I’ve certainly met demigods of various types and magical beings such as Charon, even though that’s more of a job than a real demigod situation. The magic bleeds into the worker over the centuries.

Chronos probably qualifies to some extent too, and like most gods, demigods, and powerful beings I’ve met, he was a dick. That old saying about absolute power might need a slight amendment. The more power someone has, the more likely they are to be a complete asshat. Your mileage may vary.

I should probably talk a bit about ghosts here too. I never had a weekly ghost-hunting TV show, but that’s because I don’t like to advertise that I can see spirits. Besides, you don’t normally find ghosts in dark houses as those stupid shows want you to believe. Ghosts like to be around people because it reminds them of life. Ghosts stick around for a few reasons. Sometimes they have unfinished business, and once they feel they’ve completed that business, they go away. Most fall into that category, but it has to involve some powerful emotion if they keep hanging around. Most of the time, when someone dies, they don’t feel the need to stay. They just move on to whatever it is that comes after.

Some ghosts will stick because of magic, of course. A magical slaying combined with a spell to keep the ghost on the earthly plane isn’t that strange, and sometimes a ghost will remain because of the power of love. Sorry if that gets a Huey Lewis song stuck in your head. Most of the ghosts wandering the world are suicides. If someone hates their life so much that they violently kill themselves, there’s a good chance the ghost will stick. There are ways to get them unstuck, of course.

In any case, up to this point, I had not encountered any ghosts in Egypt. That’s not strange. Other than Esther, I rarely see ghosts in Denver. Every now and then when someone dies in front of me, I can see the spirit, but that often means there’s magic involved.

When Tutankhamun died, I didn’t see his spirit rise up or anything. He was just dead.

So that’s a late chat about magic, gods, and ghosts to clarify a few things before I move forward. The reasons will be clear soon enough.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

JONATHAN SHADE

The sun began its descent as ten guards escorted me to a long procession of people. My wrists were still bound, but my ankles were free, so I could walk. They had me wear white sandals and a white headband, but otherwise I remained in my blue jeans and button-down shirt. I had my pack strapped to my back.

People lined the banks of the Nile, and we crossed the river in a barge. As we stepped from the barge on the west side of the river, I pulled for the thousandth time on the straps that held me. I couldn’t see Kelly anywhere, nor did I see anyone else I knew. The guards were all burly men with white kilts, broad collars, and bald heads. Their makeup was identical with the black eyeliner being the most prominent.

On the west side of the Nile, we followed a procession along a path to the Valley of the Kings.

The procession consisted of a group of musicians playing somber music. Behind them, several oxen pulled a sledge through the sand, and atop the bier was Tut’s mummy encased in three separate coffins—the first was made of gold, the others of wood with the embellished likeness of the boy king painted on the sides.

A group of a dozen men, whom I recognized as palace officials, clad in white kilts and, like me, white headbands and sandals, marched behind the oxen.

Just ahead of us were Ankhesenamun, General Horemheb, and other people I guessed were important to the royal family and some priests who wore animal masks, including one with a jackal head representing Anubis. There were also some wailing women who cried and yes, wailed.

I looked around for Kelly but still couldn’t spot her. Most of my guards moved off to station themselves in other areas. Two remained close at hand in case they were needed. For all they knew, I might race to Tut’s body and try something stupid. But what could I try?

The truth was that I didn’t have any magic. I was immune to direct magic, but I didn’t see how that would matter. They were going to say a few words, perform some rituals, and a small contingent of Egyptians would bury Tut’s body in a sarcophagus in his tiny tomb, where it would remain undisturbed until 1922, when Howard Carter would discover it. If they closed me and Kelly in there, we’d die eventually.

If Winslow’s aspect died here, we’d be pulled forward in time, provided Kelly had hold of me, so maybe our skeletons wouldn’t be waiting when Carter entered the tomb. But would we still be alive when Winslow moved on? I’d rather be in charge of that decision. As I stood there, watching the people milling about as if waiting for a Rolling Stones concert to begin, I realized Winslow would make sure to keep his distance from me and from Kelly for the duration.

“Are they treating you well under the circumstances?” a voice said behind my left shoulder.

I turned and saw Winslow walking behind me.

“Aren’t you the brave one?” I said. So much for keeping his distance.

Winslow sped up to walk beside me and surveyed the crowd. “Do you think they realize they’re about to watch history here? They’re going to see King Tutankhamun buried in a tomb where he’ll stay for more than three thousand years. It’s mind boggling to say the least.”