Deceit is the sequel to Wickedness and is released this month (January)
When I wake, I am out on the river Nile and it is dark still. There is a lamp hung at the curved prow of the boat but I can see very little. Only the shape of men bent at their oars… and another man at the stern of the boat who steers it and marks time for the men rowing. I scramble to sit up, but a hand reaches out and holds my wrist so tightly I think it will snap in two.
“Stay calm. We will be at Men Nefer by daybreak.”
I look up into the face of the man who has snatched me away from everything I love… and it is ugly. Everything about it is distorted. His chin is too large and jutting. His eyes are set too deep in their sockets, sunken like those of someone long dead. And his voice makes me shiver… it is dry and whispering like the wind threading through the reeds that line the riverbank.
When daybreak comes, the river has widened out into a great delta and as the boat comes close in to the shore, I can see that buildings of all shapes and sizes are stretched out along it for many khets.
HE, the man who I later learn is Setna, the High Priest at the Temple of Sekhmet, stands up as the oars are shipped and the men make ready to land at the quayside. He pulls me in close to him and when the boat is safely moored we step ashore…
There is a line of men waiting on the quay. They look solemn, official and very afraid as Setna towers above them. He inclines his head – barely moving it at all – and the line breaks apart. A young woman, wearing a heavy black wig and dressed in a fine linen shift, steps forward. She bows down before Setna. Keeps her eyes fixed on the ground.
“This is Asru,” Setna says. I have to lean towards him to catch her name. “She is to be your companion until Thoth has need of you.”
Asru does not move, but she draws in her breath sharp. She stays motionless until Setna has stepped up into his chariot… until she hears the noise of the chariot’s wheels turning and the thud of the horse’s hooves on the hard earth. Even then she raises herself up cautiously. Dusting off her tunic, she allows herself a smile as she looks straight into my eyes. As she steps forward and rests her right hand gently on my shoulder.It is then that I notice she is wearing a ring. A beautiful gold ring set with lapis lazuli carved in the shape of a crocodile’s head resting on the palm of a hand. And she smells sweetly of lotus blossom and her kohl-rimmed eyes are dark and gentle.
To read the 3rd instalment visit Totally Bookalicious (16th January)
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