Eye of the Moon Read Online Free PDF Page A

with.
    The Underworld?
Suddenly I understood. My father was going to be forced to drink
poison
! They were going to
kill
him. All because he was protecting Tuthmosis. My mouth went dry. My knees turned as wobbly as the time I’d climbed too high in the mimosa tree. My head felt light and strange as I clutched the stone shelf against the wall.
    Wosret spoke firmly, as if explaining something to an unruly jackal pup. “Your soul will travel through the Underworld at peace. Anubis will weigh your heart against Maat’s ostrich feather and find your heart light with your good deed. Thoth, the scribe of truth and wisdom, will record you as a man of honor. A man to be trusted. A man who has died for his country.”
    I stuffed my fist into my mouth to prevent myself from crying out.
No! He’s not to die! He’s truthful and honest. My father needs no judging.
    In the light of the oil lamp I could see sweat gleaming on my father’s bare shoulders. He bowed his jackal head so that his snout almost reached his chest. “I have no wish to die.”
    â€œAh, yes . . .” Wosret spoke appreciatively, as if he were about to sip the finest Syrah wine and was holding the glass thoughtfully up to the light before making a judgment. “But I’m the highest of the high priests. Let me be the judge of when you should die. You’ve done your work well as administrator of Sobek’s temple. We’ll be sorry to lose you.”
    Lose him? You’re not
losing
him. You’re
killing
him!
I wanted to shout.
    â€œThen why?” My father’s voice cut abruptly through the silence.
    Wosret shrugged. “It’s quite simple. You’re not in agreement with us. This is an opportunity to die an honorable death. Kill Tuthmosis and then drink the Cup.”
    The silence was broken only by the steady drip of liquid falling from the back of the queen’s skull into the bowl below.
    â€œCome on, Henuka! Be reasonable! Your journey will be pleasant. You’ll accompany the great Queen Tiy, as well as her son Tuthmosis. I can arrange for your burial chamber to be near theirs, right next to King Amenhotep’s chamber. It’s an
honor
to be chosen. Don’t make me use force. Remember, I am the Most Powerful One!”
    My father bowed again. “That fact does not escape me! But as a priest so long in service of the dead king, and now his wife, Queen Tiy, it would be more of an honor to be able to continue with the embalming of Queen Tiy. Afterward, if it’s your wish, I’ll offer myself to the divine crocodile, Sobek, at the temple where I’ve served her.”
    I shuddered. What? Was I, as keeper of the sacred crocodiles, going to have to lead my father into the crocodile pit and watch them devour him? Impossible! I was numb with fright.
    Wosret answered smoothly. “To die for Sobek won’t suit. It’ll take too long.”
    My father glanced at him. “In my experience, death by a crocodile is quick and fatal. It’s
never
long!”
    â€œIt is not the method I object to, but the
time
it’ll take to arrange for your return to the Temple of Sobek. Don’t you see? The less that is known of your dissension, the more honorable your death will appear. We’ll announce that you were so overcome by the death of both Queen Tiy and her son that you took your own life.”
    The thought made me light-headed. I was definitely going to faint.
    â€œGrant me one favor.”
    Wosret sighed. “We’re wasting precious time discussing this, when we should be getting on with it. Well . . . what is it?”
    â€œAllow me to complete the embalming of Queen Tiy. It should not be entrusted to a lesser embalmer.”
    For a moment Wosret seemed to hesitate. He made a delicate vault of his hands, each fingertip touching the opposite one, in a mock gesture of thoughtfulness. The garnet in the massive ring on his right hand was a bubble of blood in