‘And this conjurer, Silano.’
‘Do you want to destroy the medallion, then, so the book can’t be found?’
‘No,’ said Ashraf. ‘It has been rediscovered for a reason. Your coming is a sign in itself, Ethan Gage. But these secrets are for Egypt, not for France.’
‘We have our own spies,’ Astiza went on. ‘Word came that an American was arriving with something that could be a key to the past, an artifact that had been lost for centuries and was a clue to powers lost for millennia. They warned it would be best just to kill you. But in Alexandria you killed my master instead, and I saw that Isis had another plan.’
‘Word came from whom?’
She hesitated. ‘Gypsies.’
‘Gypsies!’
‘A band sent warning from France.’
I sat back, rocked by this new revelation. By Jupiter and Jehovah, had I been betrayed by the Rom as well? Had Stefan and Sarylla been distracting me while word was sent ahead of my coming? What kind of string puppet was I? And were these people around me now, these people I liked and trusted, true informants who could lead me to a treasured book – or a nest of lunatics?
‘Who are you?’
‘The last priests of the old gods, who were earthly manifestations of a time and race with far more wisdom than ours,’ Enoch said. ‘Their origins and purpose are lost in the fog of the past. We are our own kind of Masonry, if you will, the heirs of the beginning and the watchmen of the end. We are guardians not entirely certain of what it is we are guarding, but entrusted to keep this book out of the wrong hands. The old religions never completely die; they are simply absorbed into the new. Our task is to discover the door before unprincipled opportunists do – and then shut it again forever.’
‘What door?’
‘That is what we don’t know.’
‘And you want to shut it only after taking a peek.’
‘We cannot decide what best to do with the book until we find it. We should see if it offers hope or peril, redemption or damnation. But until we do find it, we live with the fear that someone else far less scrupulous could find it first.’
I shook my head. ‘Between bungling my assassination in Alexandria and not having much more of a clue than I do, you’re not much of a priesthood,’ I grouched.
‘The goddess does things in her own good time,’ Astiza said serenely.
‘And Silano does his in his.’ I looked grimly at our little gathering. ‘Isis didn’t help poor Talma, and she won’t protect us. I don’t think we’re safe here.’
‘My house is guarded…’ Enoch began.
‘And known. Your address is no longer a secret, that oil jar tells us. You must move, now. You think he won’t come knocking if he’s desperate enough?’
‘Move! I will not run from evil. I will not leave the books and artifacts I’ve spent a lifetime accumulating. My servants can protect me. And besides, trying to move my library would give any new hiding place away. My job is to keep researching, and yours to keep working with the savants, until we learn where this door is and secure it before Silano can enter. We are in a race for rediscovery. Let’s not lose it by fleeing now.’ Enoch was glowering. Trying to send him into hiding would be like budging a barnacle.
‘Then at least we need a safe place for both Astiza and the medallion,’ I argued. ‘It’s madness to keep it here now. And if I’m assaulted or killed, it’s imperative they not find the medallion on me. In fact, if I’m kidnapped, its absence might be the only thing to keep me alive. Astiza could be used as a hostage. Even Napoleon has noticed my, er, interest in her.’ I kept my eyes averted while I said it. ‘Meanwhile, Bonaparte is about to lead a group of savants to the pyramids. Maybe in combination we’ll learn something to head Silano off.’
‘One cannot send a beautiful young woman off by herself,’ said Enoch.
‘So where does one put a woman, in Egypt?’
‘A harem,’ Ashraf suggested.
I’ll confess that some erotic fantasies concerning that mysterious institution flickered through my mind. I had a vision of shallow bathing pools, fanning slaves, and half-draped, sex-starved women. Could I visit? But then, if Astiza went into a harem, could she get back out?
‘I’m not going to be locked in a seraglio,’ Astiza said. ‘I belong to no man.’
Well, you belong to me, I thought, but it didn’t seem the time to push the issue.
‘In a harem, no man except the master can enter, or even learn what goes on,’ insisted Ashraf. ‘I know a nobleman who did not flee the French, Yusuf al-Beni, who has retained possession of his house and his household. He has a harem for his women and could give the priestess refuge. Not as a harem girl, but as a guest.’
‘Can Yusuf be trusted?’
‘He can be bought, I think.’
‘I don’t want to sit blinded from events, sewing with a bunch of silly women,’ Astiza said. Damnation, she was independent. It was one of the things I liked about her.
‘Nor do you want to be dead or worse,’ I replied. ‘Ashraf’s idea is excellent. Hide there as a guest, with the medallion, while I go to the pyramids and Enoch and I solve this thing. Don’t go out. Don’t give the neckpiece any significance, should anyone in the harem see it. Our best hope is that Silano’s scheming may be his undoing. Bonaparte will see through it and realise the count wants these powers for himself, not for France.’
‘It’s just as risky to leave me alone,’ Astiza said.
‘You won’t be alone, you’ll be with a bunch of silly women, as you said. Stay hidden and wait. I’ll find this Book of Thoth and come get you.’
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Napoleon’s visit to the pyramids was a grander excursion than the visit I’d made earlier with Talma and Jomard. More than a hundred officers, escorting soldiers, guides, servants, and scientists crossed the Nile and hiked up to the Giza plateau. It was like a holiday outing, a train of donkeys bearing French wives, mistresses, and a cornucopia of fruits, sweets, meats, and wine. Parasols were held in the sun. Carpets were spread on the sand. We would dine next to eternity.
Conspicuous by his absence was Silano, who I was told was conducting his own investigations in Cairo. I was glad I’d tucked Astiza safely out of the way.
As we trudged up the slope I reported Talma’s hideous death to Bonaparte, to gauge his reaction and plant doubt in his mind about my rival. Unfortunately, my news seemed to annoy our commander more than shock him. ‘The journalist had barely started my biography! He shouldn’t have wandered off before the country is pacified.’
‘My friend disappeared when Silano arrived, General. Is that coincidence? I fear the count may be involved. Or Bin Sadr, that Bedouin marauder.’
‘That marauder is our ally, Monsieur Gage. As is the count, an agent of Talleyrand himself. He assures me he knows nothing about Talma, and in any event he has no motive. Does he?’
‘He said he wanted the medallion.’
‘Which you said you lost. In a nation of a million restive natives, why do you suspect only the people who are on our side?’
‘But are they on our side?’
‘They are on my side! As you will be, when you begin to solve the mysteries we brought you here for! First you lose your medallion and calendar, and now you make accusations against our colleagues! Talma died! Men do in war!’
‘They don’t have their heads delivered in a jar.’
‘I have seen parts worse than that delivered. Listen. You saw the defeat of our fleet. Our success is imperilled. We are cut off from France. Rebel Mamelukes are gathering in the south. The population is not yet resigned to its new situation. Insurgents commit atrocities precisely to sow the kind of terror and confusion you’re exhibiting. Stand fast, Gage! You were brought to solve mysteries, not create them.’
‘General, I’m doing my best, but Talma’s head was clearly a message…’
‘A message that time is of the essence. I cannot afford sympathy, because sympathy is weakness, and any weakness on my part invites our destruction. Gage, I tolerated an American’s presence because I was told you might be useful in investigating the ancient Egyptians. Can you make sense of the pyramids or not?’