What now?
A few of the revelers crowded around a small figure lying on the deck.
“Someone come quickly!” one of the women shouted. “She needs help!”
Sita gasped.
Maet had collapsed.
15
Rae
The nomarch’s ship sat low in the water, heavy with the remaining seventy hekats of grain promised for the king’s tax. The nomarch himself sat on the deck in a fine acacia-wood chair, chewing his mastic gum while his men loaded the last of the bundled wheat. Even from where she stood on the riverbank, Rae could see that the hold was bursting with wooden chests and barrels of all shapes and sizes. The collective bounty of Sakesh, bound for Thonis.
The nomarch raised his cup of beer to her. “The king sends his thanks!”
Anger flamed in Rae’s breast, but this time, she held her tongue. Ankhu stood beside her, and despite being exhausted from days of harvesting, Rae saw her father’s self-control crumbling as he glared at the sneering face of the nomarch. This was the man who’d stolen his livelihood, the man who’d stripped his daughter naked in front of half a dozen men and whipped her into a bloody pulp. She could see the unreleased fury burning him up inside.
“Why don’t you go inside and rest, Yati,” Rae said soothingly, putting an arm around her father’s shoulders and steering him away from the riverbank. “Nothing more needs to be done today. I’ll take care of the zebu. Everything else can wait until tomorrow.”
Ankhu raised an eyebrow at her. “‘Yati,’ eh? I know sweet talk when I hear it. Aren’t I usually the one talking you down from a murderous rage? And yet when the accursed dog who beat you comes to collect what is rightfully ours, you just send me to bed and go tend to the zebu?” He glanced back as the nomarch’s boatraised anchor and set off down the river. Then, he leaned in close to Rae, his gaze searching. “You’re up to something.”
Rae started to argue, but her father waved it away. “Don’t bother denying it. You still think you can hide things from me? I know you’ve been sneaking out at all hours. It’s something to do with Omari, isn’t it? And here I thought that boy had a good head on his shoulders—”
“He does!” Rae covered her mouth with one hand. It was as good as an admission.
“So…” Ankhu said, stepping out from under Rae’s arm. “What kind of trouble has Omari gotten you into?”
Rae felt her eyes drawn to the city on the horizon. “The less you know, the better.”
Ankhu frowned. “Raetawy…” he said, his voice a warning.
“It’s not something stupid like street fighting, all right?” Rae said. “It’simportant.Something has to be done.”
“Oh, andyou’rethe one to do it?”
“Not only me.”
She’d already said too much. Her father was no fool, and he knew about Sakesh’s rebellious elements as well as anyone.
Ankhu sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Haven’t I ever told you about what happened during the war?”
“Only a thousand times.”
“Well then, perhaps I need to refresh your memory, because you don’t seem to understand the power you’re dealing with.”
“I do understand. You don’t need to—”
“Yes. Clearly, I do.”
Rae crossed her arms over her chest and looked at the ground.
“You remember how Sematawy’s attack on the palace took everyone by surprise?” Ankhu began. “He distracted King Rahotep’s army with a battle on Sakesh’s northern border, while at the same time, he and an elite force of his best men infiltratedthe palace. Rahotep hid his family away and faced them with the remainder of his guard, but they were unprepared for the brutality of the northern scourge. They slaughtered the king’s guard and whoever else got in their way—attendants, servant girls, palace officials. And when they captured Rahotep, Sematawy had his men hold the king while he ran him through the belly with his blade. A fatal blow, but one that takes a long, long time to kill you.”
“Father—” Rae knew the history well, but apparently her father had always spared her the gory details. She wanted him to stop.
But Ankhu held up a shaking hand. “No, you’ll listen, Raetawy. While our king slowly bled to death on the throne room floor, Sematawy sent his men to root out Rahotep’s wives and children from where they were hiding. The women screamed. Begged. The babies cried. They were all so afraid. And Sematawy killed them, one by one. He killed them right before Rahotep’s eyes as he died on his throne, piling their bodies before him.”
