Reincarnation by Suzanne Weyn Read Free Book Online

vigorously.
    She drew the sign for sleep and gazed up at him with an inquiring expression.
    Yes! Yes! He nodded and began to draw. He put together the pictures that made the sounds
    for dream.
    He knew!
    They had met in the dreamtime. She was sure of it now. He had experienced it, too.
    He drew a circle between the two stick figures she'd drawn. "Amun-Ra?" she questioned,
    knowing it was the sign for the sun.
    Shaking his head, he began to write in the hieratic script educated people used when not
    writing in formal hieroglyphics. She was able to read it, again because her father had taught
    her to write basic bills of sale.
    He wrote: The green orb.
    She nodded excitedly. "Yes! We both wanted the green, spinning jewel!"
    Thrilled with their growing realization, they had drawn close to each other, their noses
    nearly touching.
    But now they drew away from each other warily.
    Something about the green orb had frightened them both.
    53
    Tetisheri didn't know where to look. She could no longer meet his eyes.
    He also looked away uneasily.
    "Are you well enough to pull the sled now?" she asked, getting to her feet, the old stiffness returning to her voice. "Ramose will be angry if he returns to see that we have not moved."
    Still avoiding her eyes, the slave stood.
    Tetisheri hobbled to the sled, settling back onto it. The throbbing in her foot resumed, white
    hot.
    Silently, the slave re-roped himself to the sled's handles and began to drag his burden
    through the sand.
    Ramose waited and watched at the edge of the courtyard as Tetisheri finished her song.
    Nakht had thirteen other noblemen as guests this evening. They nodded appreciatively. In
    the weeks she'd been at the house, her lovely voice had grown stronger as her confidence
    had increased.
    He was glad that he was stationed outside Luxor for the time being. It made it easy to come
    visit her. Nakht appreciated the service he had performed for him and made him welcome.
    When she was finished, she bowed and limped from the courtyard. Her foot was nearly
    better, but she could not put her full weight on it. Ramose had brought her a cane with
    golden hieroglyphic engraving. She placed her hand on his arm and he guided her out to a
    bench in the garden.
    54
    "Your voice grows more beautiful every day," he complimented. She thanked him and he
    moved closer. "I will have to return to Nubia soon," he told her. "There are still pockets of rebels to be dealt with there. Before I go, I want to ask you to become my wife when I
    return."
    She did not smile in delight as he had hoped.
    "Why not decide this after you return ? " she suggested.
    Her evasiveness angered him and he stood, scowling. "Because I want to know your feelings
    right now," he insisted. He pulled a pouch from his sword belt and presented it her. "I have brought you this as a token of my pledge to you."
    She opened the pouch into her palm. It was an Eye of Horus pendant on a golden cord.
    Within the turquoise eye was set a multifaceted glittering green emerald. "The jewel is from
    the emerald mines of the south," he told her.
    From the admiring way she held the pendant, he could see how much she loved it. "Ramose,
    it is too beautiful," she murmured, clearly awestruck by the gift.
    "It suits you."
    She smiled lovingly down at the piece of green jewelry. But was the smile for him or his gift?
    It had happened while Taharaq was feeding the geese. He had been told to cage one for the
    evening meal, and as he had seized it around the neck, the enraged goose nipped his hand
    hard.
    55
    A Nubian curse flew from his mouth as he pulled his hand back. Sound.
    The wound to his throat had healed.
    Checking that there were no witnesses, he spoke a sentence in his native language. His
    voice was a low rasp -- but it was a voice.
    He closed his eyes to staunch tears of relief. This muteness had humiliated him. Now with a
    voice, he had acquired a secret weapon and he decided to keep it a secret. Better to be
    thought of as mute