"Why is a lie necessary?"
"You were confused enough. I saw no need to increase the muddle. Tarik and I parted long ago."
"But you still send spies to Sienbara."
"Because we have a joint interest. Not for any personal reason."
"The treasure?"
"Tarik is a dreamer. One cannot always trust dreamers to do what is best. The coffer is too valuable to be left in his hands alone."
"Then it does contain a grail?"
Layla nodded. "There is a grail. But there is no magic connected with it, as Nasim thinks."
"It's the grail of the Last Supper?"
Layla shrugged. "I do not think so. Perhaps. The grail is very old and was in the Holy Land at one time."
"At one time?"
"It came into Tarik's and my hands in Alexandria." She drank deep of the wine in her goblet. "Do you know Alexandria?"
"It's in Egypt. When I was at the House of Nicholas, we had patrons from there come to buy the silk."
"Ah, yes, I remember now." She smiled as she saw Selene stiffen. "You don't like the fact that I know your roots. I told you that I had to know everything about everyone connected to Tarik."
"The connection was not by our will."
"But it exists." She brushed the argument aside. "Besides, you should be proud of rising above that prison where you grew up. It was a battle well fought."
"Kadar got me away from Nicholas's house."
"So I was told. But you would have found a way to free yourself given time." She grimaced. "However, it's true, you were fortunate. I was not able to release myself from my prison until I reached womanhood."
"Your prison?"
"I grew up in the House of Death."
Selene's eyes widened.
"But, of course, you don't know what that is. I was born in a small village north of Alexandria. When I was eight, I was chosen by the priests to be brought to the House of Death at Alexandria. I never saw my parents again."
"House of Death?"
"The house where the dead are taken to be prepared for burial. The place where their bodies are wrapped to preserve them for eternity and their souls are guided by the priests to the land of eternal joy." Layla's tone was laden with irony. "And I was selected by the gods to help them cross over. Don't you think it's a fitting task for a girl of eight years?"
"Gods? There is only one God."
"Here in Christendom. In Egypt many still believe in the old gods. It's such a comforting religion. One need not be good if one is rich or powerful. And it's possible to take all of your most precious worldly goods with you. Providing you can keep the robbers from finding out the location of your tomb. Thieves have been known to strip the linen from the corpse to see if any jewels were left on the body."
Selene shivered. "I've never heard of such a thing."
"Thieves are thieves. Whether they steal from the dead or the living. In my opinion, it's less horrible to steal from the dead. The living need their possessions."
"From what you say, according to your religion, so do the dead."
"It's no longer my religion. Perhaps it never was. I began to doubt from the moment I stepped over the threshold of the House of Death. I could not bear to be used in that fashion."
