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long it will take. Weeks, months perhaps.”
    “I suppose you
will
soak me in expenses.”
    “My keep; the
usual
bribes…”
    “You will take
this
badge proclaiming you to be my envoy.” Toh gave him a necklace of
jasper beads from which hung the vizier’s insignia. “You may draw from
my treasury all that you need. Travel will be unrestricted. All access
will be granted. Spare nothing and no one in finding the truth. I
expect reports, but only when you’ve something to tell me.” The vizier
snapped his fingers and his scribe handed him a leather sack. He threw
it to Semerket. “This should get you started.”
    Inside were
rings of
gold and silver, and bits of snipped copper. Semerket felt the bag’s
weight. “It’s enough.”
    “If you need
anything
else while I am in the north, you will see Kenamun here. He is my eyes
in the south.” At this he indicated the scribe who sat cross-legged on
the floor next to the throne. The man rose politely and bowed to both
Semerket and Nenry. He had an intelligent, kindly face.
    A sudden scent
of
musky perfume made them cease their conversation, and Toh sniffed
irritably in its direction. At the doorway to his chambers stood five
ladies, each covered from head to toe in gauzy vestments, protection
against the storm. The lady at their center was the only one of them to
pull away her net covering.
    The woman who
emerged
into the dim light was older in years, but her dark-skinned beauty was
very pronounced. She was dressed simply, almost to the point of
severity. Only the asp in her wig caused Semerket to instantly stretch
his hands out at knee level; none but members of the royal family were
allowed the insignia of the sacred cobra. Nenry also dropped face down
on the floor.
    The vizier had
a sour
look on his face. He moved stiffly to genuflect. “My lady,” he said.
    “Forgive me
for
disturbing you, Vizier Toh.”
    Her voice,
thought
Semerket, was one of the most beautiful sounds he had ever heard, light
but resonant with warmth and maternal concern.
    “Queen Tiya’s
presence
is like the sun after a storm,” said the vizier stiffly.
    Strange that
the
vizier’s words of homage sounded so cold on his tongue. Semerket
glanced surreptitiously at the renowned but rarely viewed queen.
    “Please sit
down, old
gentleman,” she said, crossing to Toh and assisting him back to his
small throne. “I will be only a moment. It’s Semerket I’ve come to see.”
    Nenry
hiccoughed in
shock. How had Semerket come to the notice of so high a personage as
Queen Tiya? From his vantage point he could see only her gilded sandals
as she moved to his brother and touched his shoulder.
    “Please,” she
said in
that magical voice, “I dislike ceremony. Come sit beside me, that we
may talk together as people do.”
    Semerket moved
to do
as the queen said. He hesitated before sitting, and she smiled and
patted the seat of the bench beside her. He sat, though only on the
edge, his back rigid.
    The queen held
out a
hand and one of the shrouded figures came forward to place a metal
object in her palm. The queen turned to Semerket, seized his own hand,
and placed the object into it, closing his fingers around it.
    “I came here
today to
give you this. It will protect you, and also assist you in this
terrible… this awful crime that has claimed the life of that lovely old
lady.”
    Incredibly,
Queen Tiya
began to weep. Semerket’s tongue immediately fused to the roof of his
mouth, and he could only stare at her. She still clutched his hand in
hers.
    “I looked on
Hetephras
almost as a mother,” she said after she had taken a moment to gather
herself. “We met as sister priestesses, but became far more than
friends over the years. When I think…” her lip trembled again, but she
firmly composed herself. “When Paser told me you had been chosen to
solve the mystery of her death, I knew I must do everything I could to
assist you.”
    “Thank you,
lady,”
said Semerket, prying his tongue