Reincarnation by Suzanne Weyn Read Free Book Online Page A

among these harsh people.
    Feeling newly powerful, he grabbed the goose from behind. "I'm sorry," he whispered to it as he slipped a cord muzzle over its beak. "But we are both slaves and I have no choice."
    Taharaq beheaded the goose and was bringing it into the kitchen when he noticed Nerfi
    idling near the chopping table, fingering the dinner linens absently. There was something
    about her he didn't trust. Perhaps it was that strange red wig, but he suspected it was more
    her darting black eyes that put him on guard whenever she was near.
    "I have been waiting here to ask you something," she said in a sensuous, insinuating tone.
    She glanced at old blind Seth who sat by the large baking oven, pounding on a round of
    dough. She nodded for Taharaq to follow her several feet farther away from him. "Do you
    want to go home?" she asked quietly.
    56
    His expression instantly registered interest in what she might propose, and she moved even
    closer to him. "I have met a boatman who will smuggle slaves back down the Nile. It will
    cost you. What have you to offer?"
    Taharaq shook his head.
    "I thought not," Nerfi continued. "This house is full of valuable things. See what you can steal and then signal to me. I will sell it for you and buy your passage home."
    "I could go with you," she said, rubbing up against him. "We could both be free and you would have me by your side."
    He saw what she was up to. She wanted him to risk stealing something valuable enough to
    buy them both passage to Nubia. If he got caught, it would be his hands on the chopping
    block, not hers. Once they were there she would no doubt desert him for a more prosperous
    suitor.
    I am no thief, he thought contemptuously, nor does your shallow allure tempt me. It took all his discipline to keep silent.
    Nerfi read his expression, however. "Or maybe you'd rather be a slave forever," she
    suggested silkily. "It's your decision."
    Tetisheri limped into the kitchen, aided by her cane. Nerfi's eyes darted to the gorgeous
    green jeweled Eye of Horus she wore on a golden cord around her neck and then back to
    Taharaq.
    He looked away.
    "There you are, Nerfi," Tetisheri said pleasantly.
    57
    "Renenutet asks that you bring water to Nakht, who is in the study with his accounts." Nerfi grabbed a water pitcher and began to pump water into it.
    "Your head, how does it feel?" Tetisheri asked.
    Taharaq nodded. He had not had one of his blistering headaches since their trip through the
    desert. He gestured toward her foot.
    "It is getting better each day. Soon I won't need this cane," she answered the silent
    question. "I do not know what the hieroglyphics on it mean. I can read a little but not
    enough to tell what this says."
    He gestured for her to give it to him. Leaning against the nearby chopping table, she
    handed it over. A quick look was all he required to decipher it.
    It was a story about the construction of the pyramids at Giza over a thousand years ago, and
    how the high priests had studied the night sky and arranged for the three pyramids to align
    with certain stars. It was a story that had always fascinated him. He wondered
    why they had done this. Was this some sort of landing guide for gods who descended to
    visit them at some time in the past? It was a mystery lost to antiquity, but one that the
    people still pondered.
    How could he silently convey this to her?
    He checked on Nerfi's whereabouts and found her hovering near the door with her jug,
    waiting to catch his eye. Seeing that she had it, she made a tiny but meaningful nod toward
    Tetisheri's pendant, and then departed.
    58
    When he and Tetisheri were at last free of Nerfi, his mind raced, wondering if he could share
    his secret of new speech with her. He still had not made a decision when his mouth opened
    and words came out. "It tells of the pyramids," he said with a quick glance at Seth, checking that the old man had not heard.
    Mouth agape, Tetisheri stared at him.
    He realized he had spoken in his