Karim sighed. Why did that boy have to go and believe in him?
“Curse you, Djet,” he whispered, resuming his trek toward the temple. “If I die today, it’ll be all your fault.”
***
As big as the temple looked from the riverbank, it was nothing compared to the sensation of standing before its impossibly high walls. For a moment, he forgot himself and just stared, awestruck, at the majesty before him.
“Eh! Move it, will you?” a grating voice burst out. “Can’t yousee you’re in the way?”
Startled, Karim turned to see a long-faced man leading an equally long-faced donkey with heavy cloth sacks slung across its back.
“Sorry,” he said, sidestepping to let the man pass.
The long-faced man pulled the donkey along, muttering irritably. Karim followed them up to the temple gates, where twin statues sat on enormous thrones on either side. The statues were of a strange man with a long beard and blue skin, wearing a tall golden crown that resembled two feathers side by side.
Amun, I presume.Karim remembered what Pasenhor had told him about Thonis’s patron—that he was the god of mystery, of all that was hidden and unseen.
Taking care to walk casually behind the long-faced man and his donkey, Karim advanced toward the open gates, where several shiny, hairless officials in white tunics stood inspecting all the goods coming into the temple.
“What’s this?” one of them asked the long-faced man.
“Natron for the embalmers,” he grunted.
The official waved him inside, and Karim quietly moved close to the donkey, laying one hand lightly on a bulging sack, as if to imply ownership. The official, assuming that Karim and the man were together, barely gave him a second glance as he passed through the gates. As soon as he was clear, Karim slipped away, leaving the unwitting natron vendor and his donkey to complete their delivery alone.
Finding himself in a large courtyard, Karim hid in the shadow of one of the painted columns to take stock of his surroundings. Directly ahead, there was an entrance to a grand roofed hall, but on both sides of the courtyard were passageways that led deeper into the temple proper.
I definitely need a guide, he thought.There’s no way I’ll be ableto navigate this place unnoticed.He scanned the crowd, looking for a likely candidate.Someone dressed like a priest, who knows their way around. Someone young and ambitious enough to take a bribe…
His eyes passed over a girl of maybe thirteen years, bald and dressed in a simple white dress. She looked at him curiously.
Too young, Karim decided. He kept searching.
Finally, his gaze landed upon a moon-faced man leaning against a column, paring his nails and looking bored. Despite his youth, he had rough hands, the skin worn and thickened with use.
Probably a laborer of some kind. A low-ranking priest. Perfect.
Karim sidled up to him. “Excuse me,” he said in a low voice. “You couldn’t tell me where I could find the House of Life, could you?”
The young man glanced up at him, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Who wants to know?”
“Just someone who’s come a very long way,” Karim answered, shrugging off his pack. He picked out a shiny gold buckle, studded with obsidian, and flashed it at the priest. “And one who will be happy to make it worth your time,” Karim added. “Trade this, and you’ll never have to do a hard day’s work again.”
Karim placed the buckle in the young man’s palm, who studied it with interest.
“So you’ll tell me where I can find the temple records?” Karim asked hurriedly. He was relieved that the priest seemed amenable, but he needed to move quickly. The long-faced man and his donkey were leaving, and any moment now, the gate official might notice his business partner was missing.
The young man looked up at him and grinned, a twinkle of mischief in his eye.
“No,” he said. “But Iwillalert the gatemen of a trespasser and likely criminal. I’m sure I’ll be commended for my bravery.” He chuckled. “But thanks for the buckle.”
Karim felt the blood drain from his face.
Shit.
The priest turned toward the gate, ready to call out and ruin everything, and there was nothing Karim could do about it.
Go looking for trouble, and you’ll always find it…
