Read Online Anubis Nights by Gary Jonas - Free Book Online

approaching boys, I said, “We come in peace.” I heard my voice, but I also heard a different language overpower the words. It gave my voice a haunting sound that would have been great at a Halloween party.
    “Where did you come from?” one of the boys asked. His words reached me as gibberish, but I heard the English words more clearly, so the magic translator in the earrings was doing its job. I knew that in a matter of a few hours, I’d hear the English without noticing the ancient language.
    Before I could answer, several men pushed through to check on the boys. They wore white kilts, and their skin was so tan, it looked damn near bronze. I backed away from them, and Kelly appeared at my side. We were surrounded by around fifty men armed with spears with the business ends pointed at us.
    “I have good news and bad news,” Kelly said.
    “I think I know what the bad news is,” I said. “What’s the good news?”
    “The arrow struck skin and my shirt is fine.”
    “Follow us,” one of the men said. “Aye is coming.” At first I thought the translator had bad grammar, but then I realized that Aye was a name.
    “No problem,” I said.
    They led us away from the practice area to the middle of a street paved with adobe bricks and plastered over with hardened mud. Men behind us kept their spears trained on our backs. They looked unsure so I trusted Kelly to recognize whether or not we were in danger. I checked out the surroundings. On either side of the street were a few adobe buildings with small walls around them, and down the road were a massive wall with another adobe building jutting above it. A crowd of people gathered in the street.
    The people were shorter than I expected. Most of the women on the sides of the street stood maybe five feet tall, and the men seemed to average five foot five. At six feet, I towered over all of them, and Kelly at five four was taller than the women too.
    A few minutes later, the crowd with the spears parted to admit an older man with a broad multicolored collar that covered most of the top of his chest. He wore a white kilt and sandals like the others, and his eyes held curiosity instead of anger or fear. He gazed up at me and at Kelly. His eyes took in our clothing and our faces.
    “I saw you appear from the winds,” the man finally said. “I am Aye, the royal vizier.”
    “I’m Jonathan, and this”—I gestured to Kelly—“is Kelly.”
    “You were sent by Amun?”
    Kelly leaned close and whispered, “Amun is the name of their main god.”
    “That’s right. We’re here to find a particular man. A stranger to these parts.”
    “And you claim to be gods?”
    “We’re visitors,” I said. “We mean you no harm.”
    The men with the spears dropped to the ground all at once, their heads touching the street. I took a step back because it surprised me. My first thought was, Was it something I said? Then I saw a man approaching with a group of another fifty men. He looked young—maybe eighteen or nineteen. He wore a broad collar, decorated kilt, and sandals as well, but he also wore a blue helmet-type headdress with a cobra on the front. His eyes had dark makeup around them that swished off toward his temples. He used a cane to walk, and as he grew closer, I saw he also had bit of a cleft palate. He had an odd-looking fake blue beard strapped to his chin. A lovely young woman walked alongside him wearing a sheath dress that started just below her breasts. She also wore what looked like a pleated shawl that draped over her shoulders. Her dark hair was heavily oiled and perfumed, and I could smell it from where I stood. It smelled a bit medicinal to me. My guess is that it was myrrh, but I’m not an expert.
    Aye bowed to the man.
    “You may rise,” the man said. He stared at me. “I am King Tutankhamun.”
    “I’m Jonathan Shade,” I said. “You can call me Jonathan. Pleased to meet you.”
    Tut regarded me for a moment; glanced at Kelly, who remained silent;