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Authors: R. L. Lafevers
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look at Gadji, then began herding us all toward the exit.
With both my arms empty except for the reticule, I couldn't help but feel as though I was forgetting something. I turned around to be sure I hadn't dropped anything and caught a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye. A black-cloaked figure quickly stepped back behind a column. I sighed. With Mother having unwittingly told the Serpents of Chaos of our every planned move, of course they would be following us already.
That just meant we'd have to come up with some unplanned moves.
***
As I stepped out into the streets of Luxor, I braced myself for the impact of the magic that surely ran rampant in the city's streets. So close to the ancient monuments, it would be nearly overwhelming. Awi Bubu had warned me that this trip would be different from my first. On that first trip, I'd been wearing the powerful Heart of Egypt amulet, which had protected me from the worst of the old, powerful magic that hung over the land. This time, I had nothing but a few measly homemade amulets protecting me.
I needn't have worried. The unseen heka sat like an invisible haze over the city and prickled against my skin with a faint fizz and pop, much like the bubbles off ginger beer, but it wasn't dark or oppressive. Odd, that. I wondered if it was because the ancient monuments themselves were so close by and so steeped with centuries' and centuries' worth of good worshiping-type magic that it canceled out the darker kind?
The house Nabir had secured for us was a large sun-baked bungalow that sat up against a slight hill, looking back down on the village of Luxor. There was a small husk of a stable, and the yard was mostly hard-packed dirt with a lone, valiant vine doing its best to earn its status as a garden.
A figure swathed in black from head to toe—with only her eyes exposed—met us at the front door and bowed low. "This is Habiba," Nabir said byway of introduction. "Your new housekeeper. She is my wife's cousin and is very skilled in the ways of keeping a house." She looked rather like a tall, slender tent with eyes, I thought. She also looked unbearably hot in all those layers of black. Her dark eyes widened when she saw Gadji behind me and she sent a questioning glance at Nabir. His answer in Arabic put a scowl on her face and Gadji's. For one brief moment, I was afraid the donkey boy was going to kick the dragoman, but Habiba bustled us all into the house and the moment passed.
She pointed Gadji and me down a short, narrow hallway, then disappeared in the opposite direction to take Mother to the master suite.
My small room was stark and spare—a narrow bed, a rickety washstand, and a small chest of drawers. There wasn't even a desk.
A low, impatient warble emerged from the basket. Gadji dropped it and leaped back.
"Don't be silly," I said, hurrying over. "It's only my cat." I knelt and unlatched the basket. Isis came up out of its depths with a mad howl, going straight for the monkey who had emerged from Gadji's robe.
Gadji and Sefu both squealed. Gadji ducked, but the monkey leaped away onto the top of the screen that covered my window. Isis prowled over to sit below and emit warning howls from deep in her throat.
"What is being wrong with your cat, miss?" Gadji asked, sounding deeply offended.
"I don't think she likes Sefu."
The monkey, sensing it was out of harm's way, waggled its fingers at Isis and made a series of ugly little faces at her. She abruptly leaped up onto the windowsill, surprising the monkey. It screeched and leaped back onto Gadji's shoulder. Isis glanced at it, then hopped out into the garden, dismissing Sefu with a disdainful flick of her tail.
When she'd left, the little monkey began chattering excitedly. Gadji said a few comforting words to the creature in Arabic, then turned his attention back to me. "I think we will be going now."
"Will you stay here?"
"No, I will look for my peoples. Someone might know where they have gone."
"When
With both my arms empty except for the reticule, I couldn't help but feel as though I was forgetting something. I turned around to be sure I hadn't dropped anything and caught a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye. A black-cloaked figure quickly stepped back behind a column. I sighed. With Mother having unwittingly told the Serpents of Chaos of our every planned move, of course they would be following us already.
That just meant we'd have to come up with some unplanned moves.
***
As I stepped out into the streets of Luxor, I braced myself for the impact of the magic that surely ran rampant in the city's streets. So close to the ancient monuments, it would be nearly overwhelming. Awi Bubu had warned me that this trip would be different from my first. On that first trip, I'd been wearing the powerful Heart of Egypt amulet, which had protected me from the worst of the old, powerful magic that hung over the land. This time, I had nothing but a few measly homemade amulets protecting me.
I needn't have worried. The unseen heka sat like an invisible haze over the city and prickled against my skin with a faint fizz and pop, much like the bubbles off ginger beer, but it wasn't dark or oppressive. Odd, that. I wondered if it was because the ancient monuments themselves were so close by and so steeped with centuries' and centuries' worth of good worshiping-type magic that it canceled out the darker kind?
The house Nabir had secured for us was a large sun-baked bungalow that sat up against a slight hill, looking back down on the village of Luxor. There was a small husk of a stable, and the yard was mostly hard-packed dirt with a lone, valiant vine doing its best to earn its status as a garden.
A figure swathed in black from head to toe—with only her eyes exposed—met us at the front door and bowed low. "This is Habiba," Nabir said byway of introduction. "Your new housekeeper. She is my wife's cousin and is very skilled in the ways of keeping a house." She looked rather like a tall, slender tent with eyes, I thought. She also looked unbearably hot in all those layers of black. Her dark eyes widened when she saw Gadji behind me and she sent a questioning glance at Nabir. His answer in Arabic put a scowl on her face and Gadji's. For one brief moment, I was afraid the donkey boy was going to kick the dragoman, but Habiba bustled us all into the house and the moment passed.
She pointed Gadji and me down a short, narrow hallway, then disappeared in the opposite direction to take Mother to the master suite.
My small room was stark and spare—a narrow bed, a rickety washstand, and a small chest of drawers. There wasn't even a desk.
A low, impatient warble emerged from the basket. Gadji dropped it and leaped back.
"Don't be silly," I said, hurrying over. "It's only my cat." I knelt and unlatched the basket. Isis came up out of its depths with a mad howl, going straight for the monkey who had emerged from Gadji's robe.
Gadji and Sefu both squealed. Gadji ducked, but the monkey leaped away onto the top of the screen that covered my window. Isis prowled over to sit below and emit warning howls from deep in her throat.
"What is being wrong with your cat, miss?" Gadji asked, sounding deeply offended.
"I don't think she likes Sefu."
The monkey, sensing it was out of harm's way, waggled its fingers at Isis and made a series of ugly little faces at her. She abruptly leaped up onto the windowsill, surprising the monkey. It screeched and leaped back onto Gadji's shoulder. Isis glanced at it, then hopped out into the garden, dismissing Sefu with a disdainful flick of her tail.
When she'd left, the little monkey began chattering excitedly. Gadji said a few comforting words to the creature in Arabic, then turned his attention back to me. "I think we will be going now."
"Will you stay here?"
"No, I will look for my peoples. Someone might know where they have gone."
"When
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