“Eighty-two external, tasked with searching out threats. Eighteen assigned to guarding Ka.”
My breath catches. I try not to show too much excitement. “Guarding Ka,” I repeat slowly. “Where are those ones?”
“They are stored along the tunnel from the temple to the pyramid. Dormant, unless activated by an intruder.”
Vek. My heart leaps. I don’t know how she knows all this, but if she’s right, then Caeror was too. Ka is in there. “Do you know if there’s any other way into the pyramid?”
She frowns and backs away. Uneasy, as if suddenly remembering she’s not meant to be talking to me. Hair swaying over her face as she points to the jar. “Do not consume more than you need.”
She turns and hurries upstairs, gait unsettlingly stiff.
I frown after her. Not sure about any of the conversation we just had, if it could even be called that. She doesn’t have the untouched personality of someone like Ahmose, but not the mindlessness of a Gleaner or Overseer, either.
It’s less than a minute before there’s motion on the stairs again and Netiqret is descending, Kiya trailing her. The old woman’s eyes are sharp as she glares down at me. “What did you say to her?”
“Nothing!” I hold up my hands. “She spoke to me. Unprovoked.”
“What did she say?”
“That I lied to you about being from outside. Which I did not,” I add firmly. “Whatisshe, Netiqret? She seems to know a lot of things.”
“She is aiunctus.” The emphasis cold, and though it’s a patently obvious attempt to ignore the real questions I have, Netiqret doesn’t seem to care enough to disguise it. “Do not talk to her again. Even if she initiates it.”
“Why not?”
“Because it is part of our agreement.” The older woman ushers Kiya toward the door. “I will be gone for an hour or so. Continue working with Ahmose. Listen to him.” She starts walking off.
“Netiqret?”
She pauses. Glances back.
“You said something, when we first met in the tunnels. That they were so low and narrow because they weren’t made for the likes of us.” It’s sat at the back of my mind for a while, now. But after my conversation with Kiya …
“Children.” She confirms it with grim, impatient certainty. “They were made for children.”
“How do you know?”
She glances at Kiya. “Some of the iunctii remember.” Even harder. Even colder.
They vanish out the door.
I find Ahmose upstairs; as soon as I appear, he tosses me some clothing. I frown, holding it up to get a better view. A small strip of white cloth, and a robe of linen so sheer and light it is almost invisible. “What’s this?”
“What the dancers wear. Netiqret got it. Better to become accustomed to it now than later.”
I examine the attire in silence. Hold up the strip of white. “This is for?”
“Your hips.”
I let it dangle, indicating its length.
“It is not meant to be modest.”
I sigh, nodding with heavy acceptance. Strip off and secure the uncomfortably short belt around my body, then slip on the sheer robe.
“Well?” I ask, spreading my arms and turning around.
He shrugs. “It won’t hide the dancing.”
