'I'll be back,' she promised Doodlebug, kissing him on his cold, wet snout before returning him to his excitable companions. 'Only there's something I have to do that's rather urgent.'
The task entailed a return to Mentu's wing, and when Claudia smiled, it was like a lynx playing with a lizard.
Afternoon prayers were under way, a change in schedule to take account of some extra ceremony which had to be squeezed in before the Festival of Lamps began. Good. Under cover of these observances, Claudia could move freely when and where she chose. She cocked an ear, and caught a couple of 'Beautiful art thou's already being trotted out, followed by a few 'Mine eyes adore thee's. Brilliant.
'What in hell's all this commotion?'
Startled, Claudia spun round, stubbing her toe on the wooden board of the doggy pen. Standing right behind her, his face dark with an emotion she couldn't read, was Geb. The hairy godfather, whose fists were at this moment clenched into hams. Claudia pictured them laying about his battered wife.
'The noise,' he growled. 'What set the dogs off? You?'
She looked at him. Dark eyes, darker in the shadows of the stables. He advanced towards her, breathing heavily. He's enjoying this, she thought. The Keeper of the Store likes to watch his victims squirm. Waiting, while they cower into meek obedience.
Dream on…
'No,' she said, and watched her denial throw him off his balance. 'I saw someone moving around and came to investigate. The dogs were already barking.'
'Liar.' His face twisted in a sneer. 'You came for that damned puppy-dog down there.' Geb's wits were sharper than she thought, it had taken him merely seconds to recover. 'I told you yesterday, no personal possessions in the commune, and- What happened to your face?'
'Heatstroke.'
His lip curled. 'Yeah.' A man who beats his wife would recognise the symptoms on another!
She glanced at his big, broad, hairy knuckles and observed a bruise on his right hand, which she did not recall seeing last night. With a sharp bark of command, Geb quietened the dogs and cast his glance round the stables.
'Who was it you saw snooping about?'
She wondered whether he meant Min, and shrugged. Let him make of that what he wanted!
Too late she realised that what Geb wanted to make was an enemy, and her insolence was all the excuse he needed. 'Spies,' he said, baring his teeth, 'die by Ordeal of the Lakes.'
A bolt of ice shot through her. 'D-drowning?'
'Oh, no, no, no, no.' It was the first time she'd heard him laugh, and hopefully the last. 'First, we burn our spies in the Lake of Fire, then we throw them in the Boiling Lake.'
'Set alight then boiled alive?' Claudia felt the icy terror grip her throat. He was on to her. Geb was on to her! She pictured the torture which lay ahead. The fire which would sizzle up her flesh, the boiling cauldron which would cook it on the bone.
Nausea washed over her. Would Orbilio rescue her in time? Would fire bring her henchmen running? And what of those who came here with her? Would Flea be doomed to the same fate? And suppose Mercy voiced her suspicions about Junius? Sweet Jupiter, he'd have been better off taking his chances in the arena.
'Enemies of Ra must face hell on earth before their Day of Judgement. Fire and oil purifies their soul, and then — ' unbelievably, he tickled her under the chin — 'yes, only then will their hearts weigh light at the balance. Come with me.'
'I-' she couldn't speak, her teeth were chattering. 'Look, I-'
To her astonishment, Geb threw back his head and rocked with laughter. She noticed that several of his back teeth were missing, the rest were brown or yellow.
'Scared you shitless, didn't I? Ho, you should have seen your face, when you thought I was accusing you.' The roaring subsided, and she'd guessed right. By one means or another, The Keeper of the Central Store terrified his victims into submission. 'So now whenever I ask a question, little missy,' he snarled, 'you bloody answer me. Who — did — you — see — here?'
'The light's too dim to tell.'
Thick fingers closed around her earlobe and pinched hard. 'Really?'
'All right, all right. I do know who it was.'
'Who?' Grinning, he let go.
'Min. The Grand Vizier was here, we… spoke for a few minutes.'
'Min?' The news seemed to unsettle him and several seconds ticked past before he said warily, 'No guard? Or someone dressed up like a guard?'
'No!' It came out as a shriek. Jupiter! It's not me Geb's suspicious of, he's on to Marcus. 'No.' She cleared her throat and forced her voice to be level. 'Just me and Min.'
'Very bloody cosy,' he growled, then glanced across the stables to the entrance. 'Well, if you see anyone else snooping around, you come straight to me, you hear? Not Min. To me.' He leaned forward, and his eyes bored into hers. 'Got that?'
She nodded. A meek sister, cowered by the master.
Geb grunted his approval, or at least she presumed it was approval, then said, 'It's time for the test, we'd better hurry.'
Test? 'I — urn.' Think, girl, think. 'I need the latrines,' she said urgently. Dammit, she had to get away from him.
'No time,' he said savagely. 'You'll have to cross your legs, and by the looks of you — ' his eyes raked over the curve of her breasts, then followed the contours of her belly,
– 'you're the stuck-up sort of cow who keeps her knees together quite a lot.'
'For you, I'm prepared to use glue.'
Something growled deep in his throat, but whatever rejoinder he'd planned to make was cut short by the braying of silver trumpets from the temple. He grabbed her by the elbow and propelled her into the yard.
'You and I, missy, have unfinished business, but this is not the time.' He pressed his face close to hers, the commune unguent sticky in her throat. 'Later,' he rasped. 'Later, you'll account to Geb, you mark my words.'
With that, he strode off away and out of nowhere Mercy was at her side. 'Luck of the gods, girl, what did you do to get on the wrong side of him?'
'Oh. Is he cross?'
'Are you serious!' Grey hairs stuck out like a porcupine from Mercy's bun. 'His expression is like thunder, he's in a right old mood!' She linked her arm through Claudia's, and Claudia prayed it was a kindly gesture and not one of imprisonment. 'Steer clear of him, child, he's a bad one, trust me.'
Trust you, Mersyankh? I don't think so.
On the temple platform, the Holy Council was already assembled. Horus, with his falcon head. Hathor, the cow. Bast. Anubis. Thoth, the ibis, from whom no secret may be hid. White-robed priestesses rattled silver sistrums, the negro beat the great bronze tortoiseshell, and the High Priest with his shaven head gleaming with the heat sprinkled sacred water all around. Coils of choking incense rose from braziers set around the Boat of Ra, ablaze with its inset jewels and gold, its oars lifted high into the air as though shipped in some celestial harbour. To a low hum from the assembly on the platform, a set of balances was laid with reverence upon a black table set in front an alabaster sphinx.
Hang on. Claudia ticked off the deities. One of them was missing. The leader himself was absent. A figure rippled up alongside her shoulder and Claudia felt her heart thump with relief. She did not need to turn her head to know that Junius had found her.
'Any luck?' she whispered from the corner of her mouth.
'Flavia's here all right.' He shuffled forward, so no one else could hear. 'Last night, she accidentally caught Geb with a hot pan and scalded him.'
Claudia heard her own sharp intake of breath and passed it off to a curious Mercy as the closeness of being near her beau. Mercy, glancing at the handsome lad beside her, produced another of her famous coarse winks. Dammit, so close to Flavia and I didn't bloody know!
'Unfortunately,' Junius continued under his breath, 'she was that scared of repercussions, she's gone into hiding, and that's not all. One of the laundry girls hasn't been seen, either. It's not that unusual, she's a bit of a loner by all accounts, but in view of what you told me, about six missing girls, I thought it might be relevant.'