It avoided them and they crossed to the west bank without hindrance.
They circled the Palace of Memnon and came to the postern gate, where Taita and Demeter left their mounts in the care of Meren and Habari.
As Mintaka had promised, one of her hand-maidens was waiting inside the gate to greet them. She led the magi though a maze of passages and tunnels until at last they stepped into a lavishly appointed room, which smelt strongly of incense and perfume. The floor was covered with silk rugs and piles of fat cushions. Richly embroidered tapestries hung on the walls. The hand-maiden crossed to the far wall and drew back the hanging that concealed a screened zenana window. Taita hurried to it and looked through the ornate tracery into the audience chamber where he had met Mintaka the previous day. It was empty. Satisfied, he went
to take Demeter's arm and lead him to the window. The two settled down on the cushions. They did not have long to wait before a strange man entered the room beyond the screen.
He was of middle age, tall and spare. The heavy locks that hung to his shoulders were streaked with grey, as was his short, pointed beard. He wore the long black robes of priesthood, the skirts embroidered with occult symbols, and at his throat hung a necklace of charms. He began to circle the room, pausing to draw aside the hangings and search behind them. He stopped in front of the zenana window and brought his face close to the screen. His features were handsome and intelligent, but his most striking attribute was his eyes: they were those of a zealot and burned with a fanatical glare.
This is Soe, Taita thought. He was in no doubt. He took Demeter's hand and held it firmly to combine and augment their powers of concealment and protection, for they could not be certain what occult gifts the other man possessed. They stared back at him through the screen, exerting all their powers to hold the cloak of concealment around them. After a while Soe grunted, satisfied, and turned away. He went to wait by the far window, gazing out to the distant hills, which glowed like coals in the orange light of the early sun.
While he was thus distracted, Taita opened his Inner Eye. Soe was not a savant for at once his aura sprang up round him, but it was as none that he had seen before: it was inconstant, at one moment flaring strongly and at the next fading to a faint glow. Its colour shimmered brilliantly in tones of purple and vermilion, then sank away to a dull, leaden hue. Taita recognized a sharp intellect, corrupted with ruthlessness and cruelty. Soe's thoughts were confused and contradictory, but there was no doubt that he had developed considerable psychic powers.
As a group of laughing women burst into the room Soe turned quickly away from the window. They were led by Mintaka, who ran excitedly to him and embraced him with affection. Taita was taken aback: it was extraordinary behaviour for a queen. She embraced Taita only when they were alone, not in front of her maids. He had not realized how deeply she had come under Soe's influence. While she stood with one of his arms round her shoulders, her maids came to kneel before him.
'Bless us, Holy Father,' they pleaded. 'Intercede on our behalf with the one and only goddess.'
He made a gesture of benediction over them, and they wriggled with ecstasy.
Mintaka led Soe to a pile of cushions that raised his head to a level
above her own, then sat down, folding her legs sideways under her in the attitude of a young girl. She turned deliberately towards the zeinana window and smiled prettily at where she knew Taita was watching. She was displaying her latest acquisition for his approval, as though Soe was an exotic bird brought from a distant country, or a precious jewel given to her by a foreign potentate. Taita was alarmed by her indiscretion, but Soe was speaking condescendingly to the maids and had not noticed this exchange. Now he turned back to Mintaka.
'Exalted Majesty, I have given much thought to the concerns you expressed when last we met. I have prayed earnestly to the goddess, and she has responded most graciously.'
Again Taita was surprised. This is no foreigner, he thought. He is an Egyptian. His use of our language is perfect. He has the accents of one who hails from Assoun in the Upper Kingdom.
Soe went on, 'These matters are of such weight and moment that they must be kept for your ears only. Dismiss your maids.' Mintaka clapped her hands. The girls jumped to their feet and scampered from the chamber like frightened mice.
'First, the matter of your husband, the Pharaoh Nefer Seti,' Soe resumed when they were alone. 'She commands me to reply to you thus.'
He paused, then leant towards Mintaka and spoke in a voice that was not his own, a mellifluous feminine voice: 'In the time of my coming I shall welcome Nefer Seti into my loving embrace, and he shall come to me joyously.'
Taita was startled, but beside him Demeter started wildly. Taite reached out to calm him, although he himself was almost as agitated.
Demeter was trembling. He tugged at Taita's hand. Taita turned to him, and the old man mouthed a silent message that Taita read as clearly as if it had been had shouted aloud: 'The witch! It is the voice of Eos!' It was the voice that Taita had drawn from him while he was in his trance.
'But the lord of these is fire,' he mouthed back, and spread his palms upward in full accord.
Soe was still speaking, and they turned back to listen: 'I shall raise him up to be the sovereign of all my corporeal kingdom. All the kings of all nations of earth will become his loyal satraps. In my name he will reign in eternal glory. You, my beloved Mintaka, will sit at his side.'
Mintaka burst into sobs of relief and joy. Soe smiled at her with avuncular indulgence and waited for her to recover her poise. At last she sniffed back the tears and smiled up at him. 'What of my children, my dead babies?'
'We have spoken of them already,' Soe reminded her kindly.
'Yes! But I cannot hear it too often. Please, Holy Prophet, I humbly beg you …'
'The goddess has commanded that they be restored to you, and that they will live out the full span of their natural lives.'
'What else has she commanded? Please tell me again.'
'When they have proved worthy of her love, she will extend to all your children the gift of eternal youth. They will never leave you.'
'I am content, Mighty Prophet of the Almighty Goddess,' Mintaka whispered. 'I submit my body and my soul completely to her will.' On her knees, she crawled to Soe. She let her tears fall on to his feet, then wiped them away with the tresses of her hair.
It was the most repugnant spectacle Taita had ever witnessed. He made a determined effort to stop himself shouting through the screen, 'He is a lackey of the Lie! Do not let him soil you with his filth.'
Mintaka called her hand-maidens, and they sat with Soe for the rest of the morning. Their conversation descended into banality for none of the girls was quick to follow his teachings. He was obliged to repeat himself in simplified language. They soon tired of this and pestered him with chatter.
'Will the goddess find me a good husband?'
'Will she give me pretty things?'
Soe treated them with remarkable forbearance and patience.
Taita realized that although it seemed he and Demeter had learnt all they could, they had no choice but to remain sitting quietly behind the zenana window. If they tried to leave their movements might alert the prophet. A little before noon Soe brought the meeting to a close with a long prayer to the goddess. Then he blessed the women again and turned back to Mintaka. 'Do you wish me to return later, Your Majesty?'
'I need to meditate on these revelations of the goddess. Please return on the morrow when we may discuss them further.' Soe bowed and withdrew.
As soon as he had gone Mintaka dismissed her hand-maidens. 'Taita, are you still there?'
'I am, Your Majesty.'
She threw open the screen and demanded, 'Did I not tell you how learned and wise he is, what wonderful tidings he brings?'