Safiya got to her feet and shook her head. "Not really. But I did get some more honey water down his throat."
"Good." Still afraid of what I would see in her expression, I busied myself with straightening the monkey's bedding.
"What happened to your major?" Safiya asked.
"He lingered behind to speak with Khalfani. I think they might be comparing tattoos," I muttered.
"Tattoos?" she repeated.
Interesting that bit of news hadn't reached her yet. "Major Grindle—all the men in his organization—wear the same wedjat-eye tattoo that the warriors of Horus do."
"How is this possible?"
"Well, that is what everyone is dying to find out."
She frowned. "Does it mean that he, too, is a warrior of Horus?"
"I'm not certain." During the trial I had claimed that it did, but I didn't know that for a fact. It was a bit of a bluff, actually.
Between talking of Major Grindle and tending to Sefu, things had grown easy between Safiya and me once more. "Safiya, what exactly does being a Rekhet mean? No one's told me anything."
She glanced up at me shyly. "It is a great honor the gods have bestowed upon you, miss. They have given you the power to see the heka that lurks in our world, heka both good and evil. This makes you very valuable in our fight against Set."
I sat back on my heels. So that was it. That was why I was able to detect curses and lingering mut so easily. "Are there many Rekhet among you?"
Safiya shook her head.
"Why me?" I wondered, then nearly jumped out of my skin when a voice behind me answered.
"Why not you, child?"
I whipped my head around and saw the Hathor standing just inside our tent. I heard a faint thunk as Safiya dropped her forehead onto the ground in a deep bow. I wondered if I was supposed to bow, too.
"The gods select what tools they may, child," the old woman continued. "It is not for us to question them. May I sit down, please? I have traveled far these past few days."
"Yes, yes. Of course." I jumped to my feet at the same time Safiya did and we bumped into each other in our eagerness to see to the old woman's comfort.
Once we'd gotten her settled, Safiya brought her some water, which she drank gratefully. When she was done, she turned her attention back to me. "When my sisters and I attended you on the seventh day after your birth, we sensed this great power in you, and because of that, a great destiny was foretold. We briefly considered taking you with us so we could train you in the full use of your gifts. In the end, we decided that the gods surely knew best in giving such power to a foreign babe, so we did not meddle."
"Did my mother know of your visit to me?" I tried—without success—to picture my mother letting seven women who looked as if they'd stepped right off a temple frieze into her house, let alone into her newborn's room.
The Hathor shook her head and snorted. "No. It was the housekeeper who let us in while your mother slept. She never knew we were there.
"If you had grown up with us, we would have begun your training at five years of age. We Hathors would have had a hand in such training, and the sem priests as well. Even so, you seem to have done quite well on your own. A thirsting mind seeks knowledge like a withered vine seeks water."
The old woman leaned forward then. "And Awi Bubu was right. You do have a role to play in our fight against Set. You are, I think, to lead us to wholeness. So, how does young Awi Bubu fare?"
I blinked rapidly, trying to keep up with the lightning-quick change in her manner from prophetess to village gossip. "He is well enough, but he could be better."
"Tell me how you came to know him?"
Honestly! I should just publish the story in the local paper and be done with it! I repeated the story, the entire story this time, leaving nothing out. When I was done, the Hathor cackled. "You see? Even his fall from grace has a role to play, for without him in your country, how would you have learned of us?" She fell silent as the import of her own words struck her. "Hmm. I must go point that out to the council. Surely they will see the gods' hands in this and revoke the order of exile they placed upon Awi Bubu's head."
At last! "Oh, thank you! That would be wonderful. He's wanted nothing more than to be forgiven by his people and allowed to come home. If," I said sadly, "he ever makes a full recovery and is well enough to travel."
The old Hathor took her leave and Safiya had other duties she had to attend to. I was actually grateful for the solitude and laid my spinning head down onto the pillow next to Sefu. I carefully placed my hand so that it touched his furry little body, wanting him to know he wasn't alone. Or perhaps I was the one who didn't want to be alone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Monkey Business
THE NEXT MORNING WHEN I WOKE UP, I checked on Sefu first thing. There wasn't any change and I wondered at the nature of his illness. Was he sick? Was he weakened by lack of food and water? Had he been struck with some powerful heka or horrible curse?
However, the good news was that sometime during the night, my mind had formed a plan all on its own. Even better, the plan held up when examined in the harsh light of day.
If I was a Rekhet, then it seemed time to use those skills to my own advantage. All my life, whatever abilities I possessed had given me mostly grief. And while it was true that they had allowed me to keep my friends and family (relatively) safe, those abilities had also made my life wretchedly difficult. They had forced me to lie to my family, created discord between me and my brother, and caused my grandmother to disapprove of me, not to mention all the untold terrifying moments and haunting nightmares.
But what if that was because of my inability to understand the true nature of my gift? So far, I had seen only the dangerous aspect of magic in the world. What if my abilities could also tap into the good heka? If I was stuck being peculiar, I'd prefer to be peculiar on my own terms, thank you very much.
I looked down at the unconscious little monkey. Who was more deserving than the pharaoh's loyal pet?
I got up out of my blankets and saw that Major Grindle had left the tent already. I wasn't particularly worried, as he and Khalfani had been talking almost nonstop ever since learning of their matching marks. Probably exchanging war stories or battle tips, I thought.
Using the last of the water in the pitcher, I washed, ate a cold piece of flatbread, then went to collect Sefu. I wrapped the monkey in a blanket, tucked him close to my chest, then went to the tent flap and peeked out.
There were a number of people about, all of them busy with their morning chores. Hopefully they wouldn't notice me. Or if they did, they'd be too in awe of a Rekhet to stop me.
As I headed for the temple, I kept my eyes down and ignored the occasional curious glance that came my way. I entered the vestibule and wound a path among the columns of Hypostyle Hall until I came to a small door on the right that led to the sanitarium—the ancient room of healing. I paused at the door. "Hello?" I called out, but there was no reply. There didn't seem to be any doctors about, nor sem priests, nor attendants of any kind. Still, the door had been opened and unlocked. Cautiously, I stepped over the threshold.
It felt as if I had passed through a shower of minuscule sparks, their burn cool and clean rather than fierce like the heat of fire.
The room held a small healing bath filled with water, which sat in the middle of the room. On either side of that was a row of three beds, all empty. On the far wall was a long table, above which stood shelves and cupboards. The wall closest to me had an alcove with three statues. The first was Sekhmet, the goddess of fire and destruction. It had always seemed odd to me that she was the goddess who had brought the plague and general destruction but was also in charge of healing. The next two statues were of Thoth and Horus. Thoth had taught the healing arts to mankind and Horus was the god Thoth had so spectacularly healed that it had inspired one of the most powerful amulets ever—the wedjat eye. Along the foot of the statues ran rows of hieroglyphs.