Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx (20 page)

From inside, a harsh call swept out. “I do not wish to be disturbed.”

Shaduf patted the child on the head and pulled the door wider. “Hurry in,” he ordered.

Happy to escape the open hall, Jake led his friends inside. The main room was lavishly decorated with fine cloths and heavily cushioned furniture, all done in royal purples with splashes of gold. A peek through a side door revealed a bedroom.

Ahead, framed before an open balcony facing the setting sun, stood a familiar figure dressed in a white-pleated dress with a red sash. Nefertiti had her back to them, twisting the end of her sash as she stared at the bird's-eye view of the city far below. Sensing their presence, she swung around.

“I told you I don't want—”

Her words cut off as she recognized the invaders. Her face struggled to understand, but she showed no fear. Her eyes were puffy and red, her cheeks damp from tears. With her face scrubbed of paint, she looked fragile and real—but she still had a princess's temper.

“Outlanders! How dare you trespass here?” She waved to her handmaiden. “Summon the guards!”

The child jumped to obey and collided with Shaduf's legs. He caught her and held her gently. His eyes remained on Nefertiti. “Is that how you greet your uncle?”

Nefertiti wrinkled her nose in distaste at the sight of the old man. “My uncle is dead.”

He shrugged and stepped forward. “Not from lack of trying by Master Kree.”

She searched his face, ready to scoff again, but then her eyes widened in recognition. For once she showed true fear. A hand rose to her throat. Her eyes flicked to Jake.

“What manner of sorcery is this?”

Shaduf came forward, but Nefertiti backed toward the open balcony as if ready to hurl herself to her death. The old man held up his hand. “It is no sorcery. Believe me. Only the treachery of the Blood of Ka.”

She still looked unconvinced.

The old man sighed, sagging. “Child, I used to bounce you on my knee when your mother was still alive. I sang to you, and she played the flute. I taught you how to sharpen a spear and took you on your first hunt … against your father's orders, as I recall. We both got a tongue-lashing after that.”

The fear slowly changed to a shining hope. “Uncle Shaduf …”

He held open his arms. After a moment's hesitation, she rushed and hugged tightly to him, heavy beard and grime forgotten.

“How?” she mumbled into his chest.

“I will explain all. But your father's in great danger.”

She straightened and stared up at him, distraught. “Then you heard. He's fallen again into his great slumber. I only got to speak to him for a few breaths … and even then he was still half in dream, making no sense.” Her fingers tightened on Shaduf's arms. “He showed great agitation, crying out whenever one of the Blood of Ka priests drew near to his bed. I knew something was wrong.”

Shaduf turned to Jake. “The
snwn
must have already given my brother the first draught of nightshadow.”

It took Jake a moment to understand.
Snwn
was the ancient Egyptian word for “doctor.” He pictured the painted man in the royal clothes. He wasn't a servant but the royal physician.

“He will not wait long to give the second,” Shaduf warned.

Bach'uuk repeated the words they'd heard earlier. “Two draughts. Two will fall.”

“What are you talking about?” Nefertiti asked.

“Come. I will explain as we go.”

Nefertiti grabbed her sword from a tabletop as they headed out. Shaduf quickly explained everything as they rushed down the hall. As the plot became clear, fury sped her feet.

At the end of the hall stood a larger door banded in gold. Without knocking, Nefertiti shoved it open.

The pharaoh's bed had been set up in the main room, facing the open balcony. Even with the warm breeze, the place smelled of unguents and acrid oils. A thin, pale-skinned man lay under a thin sheet. His body was skeletally thin, wasted to bone.

A young woman shot to her feet as they all barged inside. She had been kneeling at the bedside. She looked about frantically until she recognized Nefertiti.

“Sister, what is this commotion? You gave me a deathly fright.”

Though a few years older, the resemblance was unmistakable, even down to the same swollen red eyes. But she carried herself with more grace. Her hands and face were meticulously powdered white, her eyes thickly lined in black.

Jake searched the room. There was no sign of the doctor.

“Layla,” Nefertiti demanded, “where is Thutmose?”

Her sister shook her head, not understanding. “Gone. He said he had another elixir he believed would help Father. He would come back after the sun set.”

Jake turned to Nefertiti. “That must be when he plans on giving the second draught.”

“Who are these people?” Layla asked, her voice soft with worry. She definitely didn't have the constitution of her younger sister.

Nefertiti looked at them, plainly unsure how to answer.

Pindor stepped in. Ever since seeing Nefertiti again, his spirits had brightened. “We're friends,” he stammered out. “Right?”

He clearly wanted to be more than a friend.

“And we're family,” Shaduf added, hobbling forward.

Once again the revelation unfolded, and Layla went from shock, to horror, to delight. And like her sister, she ended up in a warm embrace, leaning on her uncle as if a burden she'd been carrying could be shared.

The reunion was so touching, Marika slipped her hand into Jake's. She squeezed his fingers, sharing in the joy.

But like Nefertiti, Layla was a princess. A slim vein of fury suddenly cracked through her heavy face powder and paint. “We must alert the royal guard. I'll have Thutmose arrested immediately!”

“And Master Kree,” Nefertiti demanded with equal vehemence. “Along with the rest of his priests!”

Layla headed to the door. She pointed to her sister's sword. “Keep Father protected.”

She flew out the door with the determination of a hunting hawk.

Shaduf crossed to the bed and stared sadly down at his brother. They had both suffered at the hands of Kree, but Jake knew the true master behind all of this cruelty.

Kalverum Rex.

The Skull King.

Nefertiti joined her uncle. “Will he ever wake?”

Shaduf put his good arm around her. “He will. If only to scold me for dying on him.” Again there was a mad hiccup, but the old man forced it back down.

Bach'uuk rose from the other side of the bed. He'd been down on his hands and knees. His deep-set eyes glowed at Jake from under his heavy brow. Something was wrong, but Bach'uuk did not want to speak it aloud.

Jake hurried to his side, trailed by Marika and Kady.

Bach'uuk drew them down to the floor and pointed under a bedside table. Resting on its side lay a teardrop-shaped black vial, empty now. Upon its dark glass surface, a powdery white fingerprint stood out.

Jake pictured the physician's face. It had been painted red.

Kady figured it out, too. “Layla wears the same white shade of foundation.”

Jake trusted his sister's assessment. When it came to makeup, she could distinguish the various shades of red lip gloss from a hundred paces.

He shot to his feet.

All eyes turned to him.

He pointed to the exit. “We have to get out of here! Now!”

As if on cue, the door crashed open. A knot of black-robed figures flooded into the room, followed by a wall of armored palace guards. They parted to reveal Master Kree.

Layla stood at his side, and his arm snaked around her waist.

Jake recalled Shaduf's earlier story. For Kree's plan to work, he needed someone with royal blood on his side. Apparently he'd found his someone.

Nefertiti's sister yelled, “The outlanders have come to poison my father! Arrest them!”

Chaos ensued as the mass of men fell upon the group. Shaduf got knocked down immediately. Guards cornered Bach'uuk and Pindor. Jake heard Kady's scream, but it was quickly muffled. Jake dragged Marika toward the bedroom, but one of the guards ripped her from his side.

A second later an ax came crashing toward his head. He dove into the bedroom as the blade smashed at his heels. He sprawled headlong on the floor—only to come nose to nose with Thutmose. The doctor lay there with a surprised expression fixed on his face, likely from the dagger in his back.

Clearly Kree was tying up loose ends.

Jake rolled back to his feet, only to collide into a hellcat with a sword. Nefertiti fought off a pair of guards. A third made a grab for her, but Jake blocked him with a chop to the wrist. He followed it with a rabbit kick to a kneecap. The man fell with a shocked cry, knocking into one of Nefertiti's opponents. She used the advantage to stab the other through the shoulder.

As the two of them backed away, more huge men
pushed into the bedchamber. Nefertiti and Jake were forced back to the private balcony.

“Now what?” Jake asked.

Nefertiti grabbed Jake by his cloak and rolled them both over the balcony railing and into open air. As they plunged, tangled together, Jake had one last thought.

Well
,
death is one way out of this mess
.

Jake had forgotten one important detail. It rudely became apparent when his back struck stone, knocking the wind out of him. He'd just been thrown off the balcony of a
pyramid
, a structure with smoothly sloping sides.

Nefertiti landed on top of him. The sides of the pyramid were steep, too steep for Jake to stop himself. He slid headfirst down the slope as Nefertiti rode on top of him. Only his thick cloak kept his skin from being ripped off by the stone.

But for how long?

“Don't move!” Nefertiti yelled.

She clutched fistfuls of his cloak and squirmed into a seated position on his chest. She began using her heels like brakes to guide their trajectory.

He suddenly realized what she was doing.

She's turned me into a human bobsled
.

He craned around to see where she was taking him.

“Quit squirming or you'll get us both killed!”

Like that wasn't going to happen anyway.

She leaned hard to the left, braking with a heel. Jake felt their course swing farther to the side. Then a frightened yell. “Hang on!”

Suddenly, Jake was flying through the air. Nefertiti became airborne, too. He screamed, not knowing what was happening—then he splashed into a pool of water. Nefertiti cannonballed beside him. He sank deep, then kicked and sputtered back to the surface.

They had landed in a pool built atop a large open balcony. Treading water, he stared up. He spotted faces peering down at them from the royal chambers. An arm pointed. Their escape had not gone unnoticed.

Nefertiti surfaced and waved him toward the steps. Only then did he notice people lounging in the gardens around the pool, fanned by collared servants. Everyone had frozen in place, stunned by their dramatic entrance.

“We must go!” Nefertiti said.

Jake understood. The fast trip down the outside of the pyramid had earned them a good lead. They'd best not waste it. They needed to be gone before word of what transpired in the royal chambers reached the lower levels.

They clambered out of the pool, soaked to the skin. Jake shook like Watson after a bath. Nefertiti merely smoldered,
her black hair plastered to her scalp. One look and Jake knew her anger was hot enough to dry her clothes all by itself.

They rushed off.

“Follow me,” Nefertiti said, managing to snag a lounging patron's abandoned robe. She wrapped herself in it and pulled up the loose hood.

Jake had to run to keep up with her. She moved like a lioness, swift and dangerous. Even without recognizing her, people moved out of her way. Jake followed in her wake.

Minutes later they burst through a side door and out into the open. A warm breeze swept over the stones. The plaza was empty as the sun set, having been cleared by the guards after the prison break. As Nefertiti fled from the pyramid, fear for his friends, for his sister, dragged Jake's feet.

“Get over here!” Nefertiti ducked into the shadows of the nearest alley.

Jake obeyed, but not because she commanded it. He knew he could not rescue everyone on his own. He needed help, and he knew where to find it.

He joined Nefertiti. “Do you know of an inn named the Crooked Nail? It's somewhere by the western gate of the city.”

She frowned. “Yes. Why? That's a den of thieves and other low sorts.”

He waved her on. “Perfect. At the moment, we can't get any lower.”

This earned a small smile from her. Which surprised him. Jake didn't think she could smile. At that moment, Jake understood Pindor's interest in the princess.

She headed off. “Perhaps you're right. Besides, the company of thieves sounds far safer than being near any priest of Ka.”