Four against one is not bad odds if they can only come at you one at a time, Khaemwaset thought. The narrowness of the walls worked to his favor, which was fortunate, for the blow to his head had made him weak and dizzy. He was flagging, and it was becoming apparent to Shepses even in the dim light of the passage. Sidestepping a lunge, he jabbed the rough end of the plank into Shepses' face and followed with a thrust at one of the men behind the Third Prophet, who was trying to push past. The thrust drew blood, giving him a chance to retreat another step.
"Come with us," Shepses panted. "You won't be hurt, I swear it!"
"Tell me another lie!" Khay gritted, raising the plank again. "Traitors! Murdering, lying, blaspheming traitor! You killed Neferhor, you killed Ptahnefer, you helped to kill Khai and the jeweler, and you tried to kill me! All for rumors of treasure!"
"Let me at him!" snarled one of the younger men.
"Yes, Shepses," Khay said grimly, "Let him come and be killed!"
"Curse you, stop jostling!" Shepses gasped as the group behind him forced him forward. He strained away from a sweeping stroke of the plank. "Look," he gasped. "The treasure belonged to no one!" He feinted again. The knife grated against rock-hard, dry wood and slid away.
"Whoever it belonged to," Khay panted, "it didn't belong to you!" He whirled the plank over his head and brought it crashing down on the skull of one of his attackers, who had almost succeeded in pushing past Shepses. The man collapsed in a heap on the floor.
"It was a mistake--"
"It's the last you'll ever make!" Khay snarled. He saw Shepses' eyes suddenly dilate with terror as the world caved in about him with a screech and a clatter.
Hard-sided masses crashed and rattled, dust billowed upward, clogging his mouth and throat. A blow between the shoulders sent him stumbling to his knees, his arms thrown up to protect his face. He was seized and hauled backward and pushed to the floor as the din and clangor seemed to rock the pyramid from foundation to capstone.
He closed his eyes. When all was silent, he drew a long, shaking breath and tried to move. It was difficult; a large, flat object held him against the ground, and he felt a hand against his throat and a face hovering close to his.
Idefa?
He opened his eyes to lamplight, and looked up into the face of death itself, glaring out of withered sockets, shriveled lips parted over blackened teeth in a dreadful parody of a smile. The hand against his throat--he looked down, choking--knobbed, yellow bones held together by shreds of brittle wrappings--
A scream of pure horror tore from his throat as he was submerged in a black wave of oblivion.
** ** **
"Amun's bones and breath!" Hori gasped. "What was that?"
"Someone's been killed!" Thutiy said through chattering teeth.
"He had an awful lot of breath for a dying man!" Anpu retorted.
"He was being tortured!" someone cried.
Hori looked over at Renpet.
"He was to be taken here!" said Renpet. "He was unhurt when I last saw him! We--we bound him hand and foot, but he wasn't hurt! Shepses didn't mean to hurt him--"
"Then what was that sound?" Hori demanded.
"Not hurt, I swear it!"
"How would you know?" snarled the Crown Prince. He glared at the doorway ahead of him, snatched up one of the torches, stepped around the fallen stones, and strode into the chamber. The torchlight showed a bare room. "They aren't here, priest," Hori said grimly, his eyes moving back and forth across the floor. He cursed and stepped forward. "There is blood here!" he said.
"Blood?" Renpet said faintly, his hand clenched about his shoulder. His lips were blue, and he was shaking.
"Kill him!" snarled one of the soldiers.
Hori was frowning, but he moved slowly across the room to peer at one of the larger stone blocks near the floor. After a moment he bent and traced the outline with a fingertip. His expression had eased slightly when he straightened and looked over at Renpet.
The Steward of Ptah was still quivering before him; Hori said softly, "You will find, priest, that my appreciation of jokes like this one your friends have just played is conspicuous for its absence. If they don�t produce my brother and the other hostage at once, their deaths will interest all of Memphis over the course of several long, hot days. But as for you--" He nodded to Anpu and said, "Take him outside quickly and make him sit down. He needs air." He watched them leave and then bent over the block again.
"What is it, Highness?" asked Thutiy.
"This mass of stone, that seems so solid and clean, is as riddled with holes as a piece of wormy wood. There�s more than one way into this place--and more than one way out."
Khaemwaset first became aware of a murmur of sound.
"Highness?" The voice was very quiet, but filled with urgency. "Highness?" A pause. "Khay? Wake up! Come on, wake up!"
The words made the darkness thin about Khay. He opened his eyes and saw a young, anxious face hovering over him. Idefa. Soft, dim shadows were hanging over him like a canopy. For a moment he thought himself back at the temple. Had he fainted on the way to the sanctuary? He was so tired... He closed his eyes; they snapped open again as he felt two sharp, stinging blows to his cheeks.
"Highness, you must stay awake! Come on! The path to the outside is just beyond us! We'll be free! I can't carry you--wake up!"
Khay pushed himself to a sitting position, his hand to his head. He took in the coffins and bodies in one glance, understood what he had seen, and slowly, with Idefa's help, climbed to his feet.
Idefa steadied him as he staggered. "Are you all right, Highness?" he asked.
"I'm dizzy," Khay said. "That blow to my head-- No, I'll be fine in a moment... What happened just before I blacked out? I thought the pyramid was collapsing about me. Your doing?"
Idefa's white, strained face eased into a grin. "Oh well," he said. "I hid behind a pile of coffins and such that I think they must have piled up in order to clear the way. I waited for a good moment, then I pushed it over. I didn't mean it to fall on you, but the coffins went every which way. You should have seen the bodies come tumbling out like stiff-jointed acrobats. You opened your eyes before I could move them away. And of course the ugliest of the lot was staring you in the face--there he is over there." He pointed to a wild-haired, leering mummy that had been flung aside. "I'm just sorry you opened your eyes when you did."
"So am I," said Khay.
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