Prologue

Bai squinted into the setting sun, trying to get a last look at the small village before it was lost in the darkness of the evening. Giving up in frustration, he turned and eased his way down the rocky slope towards the knot of men gathered at its base. Seeing his descent, the tallest of them stepped forward and leaned upon his spear, waiting for Bai to reach him.

“Anything?”

“The villagers appear to have retired to their huts. I saw no signs of activity—so perhaps our friend here has not lied to us. Nevertheless, Hamharb, I want you to remain at the end of the causeway, ready to respond with your men, should I summon you.”

Bai continued, addressing the group, “The bulk of the Medjay will surround the village….”

The scruffy man at Hamharb’s side broke in nervously, “See Lord, I did not lie to you—all is as I have said it would be! Truly the Great House…”

Bai held up a hand to forestall further speech from the man, “Be silent Kamenwati! If I thought you had betrayed us, you would already be dead. Stay silent unless given leave to speak, if you wish to remain among the living. Be assured, my friend, that the Great House will reward you appropriately upon our victory” He paused before smiling grimly “If this is a trap, you will die have no doubt of that.”

Paling visibly, the man sketched a brief bow and backed off a few paces.

“As I was saying,” continued Bai, “the bulk of the Medjay will surround the village. Menes and his chosen men will go with me to the shrine. When we have subdued the priestesses you will hear the horn sound. You are not to move upon the village until you hear that signal. You must move swiftly, taking advantage of the surprise and confusion. These people are worth nothing dead, but will bring a good price if taken alive. Do I make myself clear?”

The gathered men, already almost invisible in the dying light, nodded or grunted to signify their understanding of the orders.

“Then begin your movement as soon as the sun has fully set, take your position and await the signal. Kamenwati, you will come with me.”

The small man hurried after the commander, stumbling occasionally over the rocks and small scrub, as he moved along the edge of the slope to another small group of men.

“Kamenwati, tell us again what we are to expect at the shrine.”

“Yes, Lord!” The man peered about him in the deepening darkness before he continued. “There will be two attendants at the outer door. They are priests, not warriors, so your men should have no trouble with them.”

“Beyond the outer door is a pillared courtyard… it will be empty because of the ritual. Beyond that is the inner shrine—only the priestesses will be there. You must be careful Lord, for the goddess…” The little man cringed and hurriedly corrected himself “the false goddess… has given them the power to confuse the minds of others. You must strike them down quickly or we will be lost!”

“I understand.” Bai turned to two of the men in the small group. “Can you fell them with your slings without killing them? My Lord Akhenaton has commanded me that the women be taken alive.”

“Yes, Lord,” both men turned to look at Kamenwati, “so long as the distance is not too great.”

“It is perhaps 20 cubits from the inner door to where the priestesses will be seated in their meditation,” replied Kamenwati.

“It will pose no problem, Lord.”

“I have been assured by the Great House that we are under the protection of the Aten and that we will be safe…” The commander managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes and revealing his true feelings on the new orthodoxy, opting to continue “but I prefer to be as sure and as safe as possible. Once the women are down, they are to be securely bound and gagged—and they are to be kept separate from the other prisoners. Is this understood? ” Bai paused for a moment to be sure that the men understood.

“The sun has set and the other Medjay are moving to secure the village. We will creep through the marsh along the edge of the causeway until we reach the shrine. We must maintain surprise for as long as possible… I do not desire any unnecessary complications.”

The small band moved over the small ridge that separated them from the shrine and its accompanying village. Crouching in the darkness, they crossed the open ground between the ridge and the edge of the marsh and began wading along towards the shrine, which sat about 500 paces out into the marsh on a hummock of dry ground.

Drawing near to the shrine, Bai motioned the two slingers forward. Silently crawling from the marsh, the slingers took up positions where they could target the two attendants standing a fitful watch at the entrance to the shrine, while remaining hidden. The small braziers which gave warmth to the honor guard on this cold and moonless night also provided just enough illumination to make the men ideal targets. The sound of two soft impacts could be heard as the stones struck with deadly efficiency.

“Kamenwati, you will tarry here with one of the men…  I do not trust your ability to sneak up on these women and you do not have the look of a fighter about you.”

“As you command, Lord.”

Bai , Menes, and the rest of the men swiftly but silently entered the shrine, passing through the doorway into the inner darkness of the pillared courtyard. Creeping from pillar to pillar, they moved through the courtyard like ghosts, until they could see the door to the inner shrine at the far end, dimly illuminated by a small fire beyond the archway. Once again, Bai motioned the slingers forward… once again there was a moment of pregnant silence before two soft thuds sounded.

“They are down, quickly, move quickly!”

With a rush, the small band entered the inner shrine. The Medjay quickly scanned the inner shrine for defenders. Finding no one else inside the shrine, the Medjay gathered around Bai and Menes who stood over the fallen women, one of whom was already beginning to stir, sprawled upon the floor of the shrine in front of a large statue

One of the women was clearly older than the other, who was barely out of childhood. Bai smirked as he remembered the dire warnings of the danger posed by this mother and daughter, little more than two feeble figures in thin linen dresses and a few pieces of gold jewelry. He could sense no great power in them and, while they were attractive, Bai had seen and had other women equally as attractive. Orders were orders, however.

“Bind and gag them,” he ordered, “before they recover their wits. Take them to those slimy Asiatics in wadi and await me there. Menes, go and get our “friend” and bring him here… and give the signal for the attack.”

Menes ambled from the shrine while the soldiers stooped to their task, stripping the valuables from the women as they bound them. In a few moments, the women were securely trussed and four of the Medjay carried them out. As the soldiers departed, the horn signaling the attack on the village sounded from just outside the shrine.

Bai took the opportunity to look around the shrine. The dim firelight did not afford a clear view, but some of the details of the interior of the shrine could be made out. While the statue was fairly ordinary, the paintings on the walls were shockingly graphic for a temple—at least, any temple that Bai had ever been in. Bai perused the wall paintings, he could already hear a clamor rising from the village, punctuated by shrieks of fear, pain and rage, as the Medjay went about their work.

The sound of footfalls caused Bai to drag his attention away from the walls and to the men who had joined him in the inner sanctum “Ah, there you are Menes. These are some… interesting paintings—I have never seen anything like this, even in some of those cesspits the Asiatics call temples. I begin to see why the Great House decided to act.”

Completing his circuit of the wall, Bai passed behind the large statue and came across a small archway. What is in here, Kamenwati?”

Ah! I beg you do not go in there, My Lord,” the scruffy man replied with alarm. The god… er the demon that these people served rests within. If you approach, she may awake!”

A wry grin of disbelief on his face, Bai turned to face Kamenwati. “Really? I sense no power here… whatever or whoever these people served, it is apparently not strong enough to keep them from harm. I think you are hiding something from us… the temple treasury, perhaps?” Bai turned and crouched to pass through the arch.

“You do not understand—She IS real. I have seen and spoken with Her… and felt her contempt. It is only my knowledge of this place and of the Ritual that has allowed us to act in safety. At any other time on any other day, neither you nor your men would have lived to walk from this place, had you dared to confront Her and Her Chosen.”

“Inside there, in a small room, you will find a great stone jar, wrought with strange symbols of copper and a strange black metal. During the Ritual, She rests within. The Ritual is like the Hed-Seb   festival of the Great House… a time of renewal. It is also a time of change, when one High Priestess is succeeded by a new one—it is they who you captured and took from this place. As the sun rises, She would have joined with the new priestess to begin the next cycle. If you so much as touch the jar she will awaken and come forth to slay us all—please Lord, I beg you, do not go within!”

Bai turned in the archway to face the scruffy traitor. Seeing the true and abject fear that gripped the man, Bai relented and backed out of the archway. Watching the man carefully, he replied, “Perhaps you are right. I sense no power here, but so be it.  Menes, you will have the workmen seal this arch when they arrive. It is to be done immediately upon their arrival and they are to be watched so that none go into that place. Once they are done with that, they are to deface the statue and obliterate these paintings, as the Great House has commanded.”

“It shall be done as you command, My Lord.”

“Good. You shall remain here and keep watch. Kamenwati, you will come with me…  I have business with the trader in the wadi and I do not think you wish to remain here.”

“I follow gladly, Lord, this is a detestable place for me.”

Bai pulled an unlit torch from a socket on the wall and lit it at the small fire inside the shrine. Holding it aloft to light the way, the commander and Kamenwati strode through the outer shrine and down the causeway towards the village.

As the pair approached the village, they could see that the inhabitants had already been subdued. Instead of the cries and shrieks of a short time earlier, now there was only the sound of sobbing and the keening of grief as the Medjay gathered the villagers into a coffle. A few limp and blood-spattered bodies lay about the open square at the village end of the causeway, paying mute testimony to the minimal resistance put up by the villagers. Seeing Bai approach, Hamharb strode over to meet him.

“How did it go,” asked Bai.

“It went well, replied Hamharb. “They were completely surprised and put up little resistance. We only had to kill 5, all males and we only had one man hurt. The priest,” and here Hamharb turned and pointed to one of the bodies sprawled loosely in death in the square, “put up a bit of a fight. He fought bravely, if without skill. If he would have had a real weapon I would have a dead soldier rather than someone with a bad headache.”

“It went as well as could be expected then. Get them gathered up and then get them started back to the River. They are to go south and then east to the mines.”

“I will see to it, Lord.”

“Oh, and while you are at it, make sure that our friend here gets his deserved reward. Kamenwati, go with Hamharb.”

“Thank you Lord… may the Great House smile upon you.”

As the renegade bowed in thanks, Hamharb lashed out with a savage blow from his club, knocking the small man to the ground, stunned. Another hard blow smashed his skull and he kicked a few times and died.

“I never liked traitors,” observed Hamharb, “even when their treachery served me.”

“Yes, treachery leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, does it not? My Lord has decreed that this place be forgotten… killing this one is easy enough on my soul—but the workers will be less so. When they are done here, kill them swiftly and mercifully. Bury them and the slain villagers with honor and appropriate rites. This one,“ and he kicked the body at his feet, “this one you can throw into the marsh for the fish to feed on, for all I care. Maybe the spirit or whatever it is of this place will be somewhat appeased by our offering.”

“As you say, so shall it be done.”

“Time to speak to the Hittite traders that we might leave this place.”

Bai climbed back up over the small ridge to the wadi in which the assault force had originally hidden.  Bai walked along the ridge until he saw the small caravan of the Hittite trader below. As he clambered down the slope, Bai could see that the Hittite already had the women secured to the backs of some asses.

The trader, a burly man, with dark hair and beard of oiled ringlets, turned from his preparations to face Bai as he approached. More like an ape in gaudy clothing than a man, thought Bai, well, at least he could speak a civilized tongue.

“Hail, Anittas, it looks as if you are almost ready to depart.”

“Yes, commander, we will be ready to head out in a few minutes. I have taken the precaution of drugging the women to avoid problems with them, you can never be too careful with witches. However, I don’t see why, if they are so dangerous, you don’t simply kill them.”

“The Great House has said that the women are to live and that they are to be placed into servitude outside of the Two Lands, beyond hope of return. My Lord has said that the Aten has commanded it. I simply follow my orders.”

“The will of the gods,” replied Anittas with a resigned shrug, “is often a strange thing, I think you have to be a god to understand it. At least I am being well paid for my task—a full talent of gold and I get to keep the price that the women bring. I have done harder things for less.”

“No doubt.  Just be sure that you get them out of the Two Lands and that they don’t get away from you. I suspect that My Lord will likely have you watched to make sure that his commands are carried out.”

“Hmmph, the task is easy enough—and profitable. No reason to cheat it. It is, after all, on my way home, and a bigger profit for me in the end. This will have been my best trip yet. I can just dump them off on some prince or petty king along the coast on the way home. There are enough of them about that I will have no problem finding a buyer. The women are good looking enough—even the old one—that they will fetch a good price.”

“A good journey to you, then, Anittas—and a profitable one. I have other tasks that require my attention, so I will take my leave of you.” With those words, Bai turned and headed back up the slope towards the village.

Anittas turned to his assistant, “Lubarna, do you have the other gear secured yet?  It is time to be off.”

“Just have to finish loading up and we are ready. It will be only a few moments.”

“Hurry then—being around so many soldiers makes me nervous. I want to be on our way before they decide that it just might be cheaper to kill these bitches than to pay us.”

Back at the village, Bai could see that Hamharb had the villagers lined up and ready to go. The sobbing and wailing had largely subsided, except for the some of the children.

“I have the men getting ready to torch the village,” the soldier reported. I will keep two hands of men behind with me to deal with the workers when they are done and then we will catch up to the rest of you.”

‘Very good. Go and relieve Menes at the shrine. I will have him lead the captives out. I will go ahead with a few men to let My Lord know that his commands have been fulfilled. Be well, Hamharb and a good journey to you, I will see you back at Amarna.”

“A good and swift journey to you, as well, Lord. The quicker we are done with this whole thing, the happier I will be. It does not sit well with me to do things like this. In the old days… “

“The old days are gone, at least for now. Perhaps they will return one day, but until or unless they do, it would be best if you watched your tongue and did what you are told, lest the Great House decide to do something about you, as he has done with these people. The gods are fickle, Hamharb. Best to lie low and simply do your duty.”

‘As you say, My Lord,” Hamharb replied with a slight grimace.

Bai walked to the edge of the marsh to gaze out over the water at the dimly lit shrine. Akhenaton’s vision is as dim in his palace as mine is here staring through the darkness at this shine, mused Bai. He does not see that the people and soldiers do not care about his god—but they do care that balance and justice are not served and that the old ways, the familiar ways, are ignored or held in contempt. In the end, I do not think that this Aten will long outlive My Lord. It seems such a terrible thing to be blinded by one’s god, he thought with a resigned sigh.

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