The priests shook the sistrums once, twice, a third time, then set them down. They clapped once, and the shimmering air popped, all the pressure releasing. I looked around the room. Where had it gone?
Baruti said another prayer, then dismissed the wedjadeen. They quickly pulled their clothes together and donned their robes. As they filed past me out of the chapel, every one of their eyes seemed to shine with a fierce light.
Suddenly, I knew exactly where all that heka had gone.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The Exchange
WE SILENTLY MADE OUR WAY DOWN the underground shaft that mirrored the Avenue of the Sphinxes above. Isis let me carry her exactly halfway before becoming restless and wanting down so she could explore on her own. I knew she would be safe enough, what with her being a bau and all, but I could have used the extra dose of reassurance that holding her always provides.
When we emerged near the Temple of Luxor, all but five of the wedjadeen proceeded to the black market to arrange their ambush. Major Grindle and the other Chosen Keepers were in that group due to their knowledge of the streets of Luxor. Also, they had no shadowy hiding skills like the wedjadeen did and would have stuck out like a handful of sore thumbs at the Luxor Temple.
Major Grindle was not happy about this; he didn't like leaving me. But he also recognized that he might be more of a hindrance than a help. When it was time to part ways, I felt as if we should have a solemn goodbye, just in case something went dreadfully wrong and we never saw each other again. But he was having none of that. "See you on the other side, Miss Throckmorton." He gave me a solid pat on the shoulder, then strode away.
Jadwiga and Rumpf were more circumspect. They shook my hand solemnly, and Jadwiga patted me on the head with his big paw of a hand. I'm sure he meant it as a gesture of affection, but he nearly gave me a concussion.
The underground passageway brought us up to the surface on the west side of the temple, just outside the outer wall near Hypostyle Hall, where the old chapel of Khons used to be. It was nothing but ruins now.
The bulk of the party peeled off and dispersed into all directions, making their way to the streets and alleys surrounding the black market. My five wedjadeen escorts and I stepped over the rubble and entered the temple. "Where will the men hide?" I asked Fenuku. I was still not happy that he was the one in charge of our part of the mission. However, he was the second-most powerful Weret Hekau, next to Khalfani, and Khalfani was the leader of the men, so I got stuck with Fenuku. My only consolation was that he was just as unhappy about it as I was. That and he now had the Orb of Ra. Surely that would give us the upper hand with Chaos, no matter what.
"In here," he said shortly, then led me through the ruined chapel and portico into the second antechamber. A tiny annex opened off the west wall. Fenuku poked his head in to examine it. "Here is where you and the tablet will wait.
"The others," he said, indicating the four trailing wedjadeen, "will hide over here." He led us into the next antechamber, which had once been the sanctuary of the barque but had been plastered over and remade into a shrine of Alexander the Great. Pictures of him dressed as pharaoh decorated the walls. Fenuku stopped and pointed to the lintel over the doorway. I looked at him, a faint flutter of panic stirring in my breast. There was no hiding place here! He was trying to sabotage this, wasn't he? "They'll be spotted, sir."
He gave me a disgusted look, then waved at the men. They leaped forward and removed a series of stone panels from the wall, revealing a rather large hidey-hole. "It was built to hold two men, but four can fit in a pinch, if they won't be there too long."
Without a word of complaint, the men found footholds in the wall and shimmied up to the hiding place. "What is the compartment for?" I asked. Did they really have that many occasions to hide hostages or extra soldiers in the ruins?
Fenuku gave a wry grimace. "It was used for our oracles, once upon a time," he confessed. I wondered if they'd had one of these in the Temple of Horus at Qerert Ihy, where we'd just come from. Was that how the Seer of Maat had spoken to all of us?
"Once the followers of Set have confirmed you and the tablet are here, they will send off a messenger to tell the others to proceed. I will move with the remaining follower of Set to wait out in the vestibule. You will then slip out of the annex and take your place up there in the hidden chamber. The men will come down and wait in the annex with the tablet. The followers of Set will have an unpleasant surprise waiting for them, I think. You"—he speared me with a look—"shall remain hidden until you are told to come out. We do not need you making things more complicated."
I wanted to protest that I never made things more complicated, but I was learning that that wasn't as true as I'd once hoped. "How long do we have until the scheduled rendezvous?"
"Their first scouts should be here shortly. It would be wise to get you and the tablet in position, in case they are early."
I tried not to feel claustrophobic in the small room, but it was hard. The walls were thick, crumbling stone and there were no windows. The only light came from the narrow doorway. I felt like a sitting duck with no avenue of escape should things go wrong.
Sensing my distress, Isis returned from exploring parts unknown and came to sit in my lap. Her warm presence calmed me somewhat. As I petted her soft black fur, I told myself that it wasn't that I didn't trust the wedjadeen. It's just that in my experience, things invariably go wrong.
I pushed that thought from my mind and concentrated on petting my cat and praying it would all be over soon.
The verification scouts were indeed early and arrived not ten minutes after we'd all taken our positions. I heard their voices out in the vestibule. "Where is the tablet? And the girl?"
"Right this way," Fenuku said politely.
A moment later, Fenuku ushered two men into the annex. One of them was Carruthers, from the museum. "Hello," I said, trying to look scared and defeated. It wasn't difficult, to be honest.
Carruthers sneered. "You are not so very precious, then, are you?"
"No, sir," I said in a meek voice, wishing I could slap that smile off his face.
He glanced at Isis, curled up on my lap. "Your cat will not be coming with us. Best say your goodbyes while you can." He jerked his head and the second man came forward and knelt by the tablet. He took a small knife from his pocket and scraped the surface of the Emerald Tablet. I winced, both worried that the magic would give way and insulted that he would risk defacing such a priceless artifact.
Apparently satisfied, Carruthers sent the other man back to von Braggenschnott with a message that all was as agreed upon. The idea of coming face-to-face with von Braggenschnott again made me feel ill. I had to remind myself that it was all a ruse. He wouldn't even make it to the temple, not with scores of wedjadeen waiting to ambush him in the streets of Luxor.
Fenuku was able to convince Carruthers to wait out in the vestibule so they could watch for the rest of his men. Carruthers seemed perfectly content with this as he knew as well as we did that there was no way out of the temple except through the vestibule where he'd be waiting.
As soon as their voices receded, I set Isis on the ground, jumped to my feet, and hurried to the doorway.
Silent as shadows, the wedjadeen slipped out of their hidden chamber. Three of them moved noiselessly toward me. One hung back, waiting to assist me into my hiding place.
I hurried over to the wall, and the fourth remaining wedjadeen gave me a boost up. Using the subtle hand- and footholds that had been carved into the wall, I worked my way up to the space over the lintel. I nodded at the man to let him know I was ready, and he quietly replaced the slabs of stone. I was completely hidden from view.