Meren's expression was solemn. For some time he stood in silence as though at a loss to explain it. Then he sighed heavily. 'It is indeed my most sad and painful duty to have to tell you that the magus is no longer with us. He has disappeared mysteriously. Colonel That and I have searched diligently for him at the site where he vanished, but to no avail.' He paused again, then shook his head. 'Although we were unable to find his body, we discovered his clothing and horse. His tunic was stained with his blood and so was his saddle. We can only attribute his
disappearance to some malevolent supernatural occurrence, and conclude that the magus is dead.'
A groan of despair greeted his words.
Governor Nara sat still, his face pale and sad. At last, when the noise in the hall abated and all looked to him, he came to his feet. He began to speak but his voice failed him. He rallied himself and began again.
'These are tragic tidings. Taita of Gallala was a mighty man and a good one. I will send the news of his demise to Pharaoh Nefer Seti with a heavy heart. In my capacity as governor of the nome of Qebui I shall cause to be erected on the banks of the river a monument to the achievement of Taita of Gallala in restoring the flow of the life-bringing waters of Mother Nile to us.' He was about to say more, but shook his head and turned away. When he left the banquet hall, the guests followed him out in small groups and dispersed into the night.
Five days later the population of the town and the voyagers from the south assembled again on the spit of land that stood at the confluence of the two branches of the Nile. The monument that Governor Nara had erected there was a column hewn from a single block of blue granite.
On it was carved an inscription in beautifully executed hieroglyphics.
The masons had worked day and night to have it ready for this day.
This stone was erected in the name of Pharaoh Nefer Seti in the twenty-sixth year of his reign over the Two Kingdoms, may he be blessed with life eternal!
From this point departed the revered magus, Taita of Gallala, on his historic adventure to reach the headwaters of Mother Nile and to restore the flow of her blessed waters for the benefit of the Egyptian empire and all its citizens.
By virtue of his spiritual power he succeeded in this dangerous enterprise. May he be praised unstintingly!
Tragically he perished in the wilderness. Although he will never return to our very Egypt, his memory and our gratitude to him, like this granite stela, will abide for ten thousand years.
It is I, Nara Tok, governor of the nome of Qebui in the name of Pharaoh Nefer Seti, the Great One beloved of the gods, who have written these words to his praise.
Gathered around the granite monument in the early-morning sunlight, they sang praises to Horus and Hathor, and beseeched them to take the spirit-soul of Taita into their safe-keeping. Then Meren and That led the company to the waiting boats. They embarked and set off again in
4H5
convoy on the last long leg of the return, another two thousand leagues through the six great cataracts and into the fertile lands of Egypt.
With the Nile running so high, the cataracts were long white chutes of tumultuous water. However, the Jarrian boats were designed for precisely these conditions, and Meren was a skilled river pilot. Unseen, Taita stood at his elbow to guide him when he faltered. Between them they brought the flotilla through without loss or serious damage.
Between the fifth and second cataracts the river meandered out into the western desert in a huge loop that added almost a thousand leagues to the journey. The relay riders that Governor Nara had sent ahead of them had a lead of five days, and were able to cut across the bight of the river, taking the direct overland caravan route. The despatches they carried were read by the governor of the nome of Assoun many days before the flotilla descended the first cataract into the valley of Egypt.
From that point on the voyage became a triumphal progress.
On both sides the land was inundated with the life-bringing water.
The peasants had returned to their villages to work the fields and already their crops were green and flourishing. The population rushed to the banks as the boats sailed past, waving palm fronds. They threw jasmine blossoms into the current to float down with the flotilla. They wept with joy, shouting praise and adulation to the heroes returning from the dark, mysterious southern reaches of the earth.
At each city they came to the travellers were welcomed ashore by the governor, the nobles and the priests and led in joyous procession to the temple. They were feasted, feted and showered with flower petals.
Taita and Fenn went ashore with them. Fenn was seeing the land she had once ruled for the first time in her present life. No one in Egypt would have recognized either her or Taita in their present form, so Taita dispensed with the spell of concealment behind which they had hidden for so long. Nevertheless they covered their faces with their head cloths, so that only their eyes showed, and mingled freely with the crowds.
Fenn's eyes shone with wonder and joy as she listened to Taita describing and explaining all that she saw about her. Until then her memories of her other life had been hazy and fragmentary, and even they had been restored to her by Taita. However, now that she stood at last upon the soil of her native land, everything rushed back to her. Faces, words and deeds from a century before were as clear in her mind as though only a few short years had intervened.
At Kom Ombo they beached the boats below the massive walls of the
temple complex. Gigantic images of the gods and goddesses were chiselled into the sandstone blocks. While the high priestess and her entourage came down to the riverbank to welcome the travellers, Taita led Fenn through the deserted corridors of the temple of Hathor to the dim, cool inner sanctuary.
'This is where I first looked upon the image of your spirit-soul in your present form,' he told her.
'Yes! I remember it well,' she whispered. 'I remember this place so clearly. I remember swimming down to you through the sacred pool. I remember the words we exchanged.' She paused as though rehearsing them in her mind before she spoke again: Tie on you that you do not know me, for I am Fenn,' she repeated, in a sweet childlike treble that wrung his heart.
'That was exactly the tone you used,' he told her.
'Do you recall how you replied to me?' He shook his head. He remembered clearly but he wanted to hear her say it.
'You said .. .' She changed her voice to mimick his. 'I knew you all abng. You are exactly as you were when first I met you. I could never forget your eyes. They were then, and still are, the greenest and prettiest in all Egypt: Taita laughed softly. 'How like a woman! You never forget a compliment.'
'Certainly not such a handsome one,' she agreed. 'I brought you a gift.
Do you recall what it was?'
'A handful of lime,' he answered at once. 'A gift beyond price.'
'You can pay me now. My price is a kiss,' she said. 'Or as many kisses as you deem fair.'
'Ten thousand is the figure that springs to my mind.'
'I accept your offer, my lord. I will take the first hundred at once. The rest you may pay me in increments.'
The closer they drew to Karnak, the slower their progress became, impeded by the joyous population. Finally, royal messengers arrived, riding hard upriver from Pharaoh's palace. They carried orders to the commander of the flotilla to make all haste and present himself at the court of Karnak forthwith.
'Nefer Seti, your grandson, was never a patient boy,' Taita told Fenn, who laughed excitedly.