The Quest

'Is this the secret you were keeping for me?' He smiled up at her.

'Yes, it is.'

'Tell me, then. I am all agog.'

'It's so rude, I have to whisper it.' She cupped both hands round his ear, but her voice was breathless and broken with giggles. 'It isn't possible, is it?' she asked. 'Just look at how big our mannikin is. He could never fit. I am sure Imbali was teasing me.'

Taita considered the question at length, then replied carefully, 'There is only one way to be certain, and that is to put it to the test.'

She stopped laughing and studied his face carefully. 'Now you are teasing me too.'

'No, I am serious. It would be unfair to accuse Imbali of making up stories if we don't have any proof that she is.' He reached down and ran his fingers over her belly and into the clump of soft curls at the base.

She rolled on to her back and craned forward to give his hand her full attention. 'I hadn't thought of it that way. You are right, of course.

Imbali is my dear friend. I don't want to be unfair to her.' She moved her legs slightly apart compliantly. Her eyes opened wider and she asked, 'What are you doing down there?'

'Trying to find out if your flower is large enough.'

'My flower? Is that what you call it? Imbali calls it something else.'

'I am sure she does,' Taita said. 'However, if we think about it, it is shaped just like a flower. Give me your finger and let me show you.

These are the petals and at the top here is the stamen.' As a botanist, she accepted this description without demur.

'And I thought it was just for making water,' she said, and then was silent a little longer. At last she lay back, closed her eyes and gave a gentle sigh. 'I feel wet all over. Am I bleeding again, Taita?'

'No, it is not blood.'

They lapsed back into silence until Fenn suggested timidly, 'Do you think we should try that with your mannikin rather than just your fingers?'

'Would you like to?'

'Yes, I think I would like that very much.' She sat up quickly and gazed at his manroot with fascination. 'It is impossible, but he seems to have doubled in size. I am a bit frightened of him. You may have to perform some of your magic to get him inside me.'

So close was the bond that they had built up between them that he could feel the sensations she was experiencing as though they were his own. By reading her aura as they went along, he could anticipate her needs before she became aware of them. He paced her perfectly, never too fast or too slow. When she realized he would not hurt her she relaxed and followed his lead in total trust. With all the skills he had perfected in the Cloud Gardens, he played her body as though it was a sensitive musical instrument. Time and again he brought her to the very brink, then held her back, until at last he knew the exact moment when she was ready. Together they soared higher and impossibly higher. In the end she screamed as they plummeted back to earth, 'Oh, save me, sweet Isis.

I am dying. Help me, Hathor. Help me!' Taita's own voice blended with hers, his cry as wild and unrestrained.

Meren heard their cries and sprang to his feet, dropping the beer pot he was holding. The contents splashed into the fire, sending up a cloud of steam and ash. He snatched his sword from its scabbard and, his features contorted in a warlike scowl, ran towards Taita's hut. Nakonto was almost as swift: he bounded after Meren with a stabbing spear in each fist. Before they were half-way across the enclosure, Sidudu and Imbali barred their way resolutely.

'Stand aside!' Meren shouted. 'They are in trouble. We must go to them.'

'Get back, Meren Cambyses!' Sidudu pounded on his broad chest with her small fists. 'They do not need your help. You will get no thanks from either of them.'

'Nakonto, you ignorant Shilluk!' Imbali yelled at her man. 'Put up your spears. Have you learnt nothing in all your stupid life? Leave them alone!'

The two warriors stopped in confusion and stared at the women

¦who confronted them. Then they glanced at each other shamefacedly.

'Surely not.. . ?' Meren started. 'Not the Magus and Fenn—' He broke off lamely.

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'Surely yes,' Sidudu answered him. 'That is exactly what they are at.'

She took his arm firmly and led him back to his stool beside the fire. 'I will refill your beer pot for you.”

'Taita and Fenn?' Bemused, he shook his head. 'Who would have thought it?'

'Everybody except you,' she said. 'It seems that you know nothing of women and what they need.' She felt him bridle, and laid a hand on his arm to placate him. 'Oh, you know very well what a man needs. I am sure you are the greatest expert in all of Egypt on that subject.'

He subsided slowly and thought about what she had said. 'I expect you are right, Sidudu,' he admitted at last. 'Certainly I do not know what you need. If only I did I would give it to you with all my heart.'

'I know you would, dear Meren. You have been kind and gentle with me. I understand how dearly your restraint has cost you.'

'I love you, Sidudu. Since the first instant that you ran out of the forest pursued by the trogs, I have loved you.'

'I know that.' She moved closer to him. 'I explained to you. I told you much of what happened to me in Jarri, but there were other things that I could not bring myself to tell you. That monster Onka .. .' She trailed off, then said quietly, 'He left wounds.'

'Will those wounds ever heal?' he asked. 'I will wait for that all my life.'

'It will not be necessary. With your help, they have healed cleanly, without so much as a scar.' She hung her head shyly. 'Perhaps you will allow me to bring my sleeping mat to your hut tonight. ..'

'We do not need two mats.' His face in the firelight was adorned with a wide grin. 'The one I have is large enough. Certainly there is space for a little thing like you.' He stood up and lifted her to her feet. As they left the circle of firelight, Imbali and Nakonto watched them go.

'These children!' Imbali said, in an indulgent and motherly tone. 'It has not been easy to make them see what lies before their eyes, but now my work is done. Both in a single night! I am well pleased with myself.'

'Do not concern yourself with those others so that you neglect what lies closer to hand, woman,' Nakonto told her sternly.

'Ah, I was mistaken. My work is not yet done.' She laughed. 'Come with me, great chief of the Shilluk. I will sharpen your spear for you. You will sleep all the better for it.' She stood up, and laughed again. 'And so will I.'

A road beaten by countless generations of elephant wound down the escarpment of the rift valley, but it was narrow and they were forced to spend much time and labour widening it before they could carry the boats to the lower reaches of the river below the Kabalega falls. At last they relaunched the flotilla and rowed into the centre of the flow. The current was swift and sped them northwards, but it was also treacherous. In as many days they lost five boats on the fangs of the submerged rocks. Three men were drowned and six of the horses with them. Almost all of the other boats were battered and scarred by the time they came out into the open waters of Semliki Nianzu lake. Even in the short time since the Nile had begun to flow again, its waters had been replenished dramatically. They were no longer shallow and muddy and sparkled blue in the sunlight. Across the wide waters to the north the vague blue outline of the far shore was just visible, but to the west there was no glimpse of land.

There were many new villages along the near shore that had not been there when last they passed this way. It was obvious that they had recently been inhabited, for freshly caught catfish were laid out on the smoking racks and hot embers glowed in the fireplaces, but the people had fled at the approach of the flotilla.