And where there were ancient places—there was probably treasure too.
He recognized one particular valley on the map that was marked with a star. He’d been there. It was the location of Setnakht’s tomb, where Karim had found untold treasures.Who knew what might be hidden in those other secret places?
He felt a thrill of excitement at the thought of undiscovered tombs, but it was quickly followed by shame. When he’d discovered it inside the hidden compartment, he’d convinced himself that the map was essential to his search for more information about Setnakht and the oracle, which was why he needed to take it. But was that really true? Or was he more interested in returning to his old ways to seek out buried treasure?
Well, why shouldn’t I?Karim thought.Why shouldn’t I fund this journey with Khetaran spoils? I may have opened the door to that tomb, but the curse hidden inside was of their making, not mine. Leave it to the Khetarans to force a tribesman from the Red Lands to clean up their mess!
That night, as he and Behkai bedded down on the riverbank outside the city, he made his decision. He’d spend one more day trading and gathering supplies, and then start trying to decipher the different locations on the map. He needed to figure out which one could mark Setnakht’s capital city. Maybe he could copy the symbols from the scroll and find someone who could translate them for him. He was loath to actually show anyone the mapitself, for fear that they couldn’t be trusted. So that was the plan: he’d find the lost city, and perhaps make himself richer along the way.
That night, the little priestess’s haunting eyes appeared to him as he tried to fall asleep, her final, oddly ominous words echoing in his mind.I have a feeling we’ll meet again, Karim of the Red Lands.
I hope not, sena, he thought.For your sake, and mine.
***
The next afternoon, Karim returned to the market to seek out a midday meal. Located along a vast winding corridor that cut through the heart of the city, the marketplace consisted of hundreds of merchants—some displaying wares outside their workshops under vibrant crimson and gold canopies, others huddled inside makeshift tents, and yet more with their goods arrayed on blankets spread along the sides of the street. The air was filled with shouts advertising oils from the north, incense from the south, and everything in between. Once you added in the squawks of ducks and geese for sale, and the braying of goats being led home to new owners, it was quite a racket. All along the corridor, customers packed close together, and as Karim allowed himself to be carried along with them, he caught snippets of their conversations.
“She says demons took King Amunmose because he’d done nothing to settle the unrest in Sakesh…”
“You tradedhow manygeese for that necklace?”
“Something happened at the palace last night, but no one knows exactly what…”
“I heard it’s going to be the biggest coronation in a hundred years…”
“We could use a new wine jar, you know. Look at this one…”
“Prince Meryamun must soon take a queen. I wonder who it’s going to be?”
Karim’s ears perked up. Mention of the prince brought to mind the image of the three royal children he’d seen in the oracle.
Bakenamun was the man I met, and his brother is expected to take the throne.But it was the sister, Sitamun, who was central in the painting. And it was Sitamun who appeared in the little priestess’s vision.
What’s the princess’s role in all this?he wondered.
He dropped out of the flow of the crowd and made his way to a food stall he’d visited the day before. A hunched elderly woman was busy turning skewers of meat over a small fire, while stirring a pot that sat bubbling over the coals. The scents in the air made his mouth water.
The woman looked up as Karim approached and grinned. “Well, hello again! Come back for more, have you?”
“How could I resist?”
“I’ve got duck, green onion, and stewed lentils today,” she said, nodding toward the fire.
“Delicious,” Karim said warmly, then added, “much like the young lady serving it.”
“Oh!” the old woman squealed. “Such a rascal.” Despite the scolding, she served him a double portion of everything.
Karim accepted the hot food, wrapped in layers of fig leaf, and offered a pretty bauble in exchange. The woman took it gratefully, and Karim touched his knuckle to his nose in thanks. A little charm and flattery, he’d learned, went a long way with the female vendors. Although he wore the Khetaran tunic, some of the vendors still eyed him with distrust, so he’d learned quickly where to take his business.
He was about to head back to Behkai when he spied a fruit stand with baskets overflowing with a variety of sensuous-lookingfruit. There were fragrant melons in different shapes and colors, and some other items he’d never seen before. Curious, he flipped the vendor a bit of gold and picked up some deep blue grapes and a round pink fruit with a hard little bloom on one end. He was weighing it in his hand, wondering how he was supposed to eat it, when his gaze was drawn to a young woman shopping at the next stall.
Upon first glance, there was nothing extraordinary about her. She wore unremarkable black robes, her hood pulled over her head to block out the afternoon sun. She looked no different than a hundred others in the bustling crowd, but there was something about her graceful bearing, the liquid way she moved, that caught his eye.
The woman inspected the loaves of bread arranged on the table in front of her, but when the vendor offered a trade, she shook her head and moved on to the fruit stall. Unlike everyone else in the crowd—aside from Karim himself—she seemed to take in everything around her with fresh eyes. Perhaps she, too, was a stranger to this land.
A shout came from somewhere nearby.
The woman startled, and her head snapped toward the sound. In that moment, Karim caught a glimpse of her face. The first feature he noticed was her prominent, aquiline nose. On another woman it might have looked severe, but on her it was regal, elegant. Her full lips were pursed, and her eyes were wide with alarm beneath dark, arched brows.
