Reincarnation by Suzanne Weyn Read Free Book Online Page B

own language. She had no idea what he'd told her, only
    that he'd spoken. Her amazement made him smile. "It returned just today," he explained
    softly, this time speaking in Egyptian.
    She returned his smile. "You are healing."
    He nodded. "Much better these days. Yes."
    They stood together and he felt as though they were enveloped in an invisible web, as
    though the ka life force that surrounded each person had formed one ka now containing both of them.
    She felt it, too. Her face was unmistakably soft as she gazed into his eyes, seeking out some
    part of him that was hidden. Whatever she sought, he longed to reveal it, just as strongly as
    his physical body craved the touch of her golden skin.
    "I long to talk with you," she said softly. "You are so different from me, come from so far away. I want to know everything about you."
    Together they walked into the garden.
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    Tetisheri grew to prize the time she spent with Taharaq in the garden. The mornings were
    particularly good for talking together because she did not perform until the
    evening.
    She would rise early just to spend time with him as he tended the geese. He was careful to
    keep his back to the kitchen window as he spoke to her, careful to always be engaged in
    some chore. For her part, she worked on a silken wall-hanging that depicted cranes in flight.
    It gave her an excuse -- she claimed she liked to sit out in the open air to work. It cleared
    her head, she said.
    With these cautions in place, they spent pleasurable hours together every day. With Ramose
    away at war, she thought little of him and found that whenever her thoughts were not
    engaged on some task, it was Taharaq who came to mind.
    Tetisheri was amazed by the things Taharaq could tell her. She'd never realized the Nubian
    culture was so rich. They had built pyramids before the Egyptians and had many more of
    them. It was the Egyptians who had learned from the Nubians.
    "We call our people Te-Seti," he told her, using the Nubian phrase. He had his back to the kitchen window and was planting small palms in a row by the back wall. "It means land of
    the bow, since our people are proud of their skills as archers."
    "And how did you learn to write so well?" she
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    murmured, looking intently at her wall-hanging, pretending to be focused on the stitches.
    He explained that his father had been a scribe at the royal palace. He was training his son to
    do the same. Taharaq believed language was the most important skill a person could
    possess and had worked hard to learn. But this had been cut short when he'd joined the
    rebels.
    "Nakht could use a scribe," she told him impulsively, putting down her craftwork, excited at the possibility. "It would not be as great as being a royal scribe, but Nakht is a rich and
    powerful man. Write something and I will show him."
    He nodded, still with his back to her.
    The life of a scribe would be infinitely better for him than the life of a slave. She could never
    think of marrying a slave ... but a scribe ...
    One day, she noticed that his eyes were red, irritated. When she asked about it, he told her
    that they had been bothering him lately. Tetisheri took a tin of green eye kohl from
    the small bag at her waist. "Let me line your eyes with this," she offered. "It is the fashion, but it has a use. It contains ground copper, which protects against eye irritation."
    "Is it fitting for a slave to wear?" he asked as he fed the geese in their pen.
    She grunted disdainfully. "What does it matter? Besides, you are not a slave born and you
    will not be a slave long. This will make you look more Egyptian. I will tell Nakht
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    tonight about your skill and training as a scribe. You will soon begin your new life out of
    slavery."
    Ramose seethed as he watched them through the kitchen window. Blind Seth had told him
    this was going on, had been occurring the whole time he was away in Nubia. Blind Seth
    couldn't see, but his other senses more than made up for the lack.
    Blind