Warrior Heroes: The Pharaoh's Charioteer Read online

  EXTRACT FROM WARRIOR HEROES BY FINN BLADE

  THE RIVER NILE

  Egypt was the first real nation in the world, and the first great civilisation, and nearly everything for which Egypt is famous was possible because the largest river in the world flowed through the country.

  In a land that saw virtually no rain, the Nile was the source of all life. Every year, far away near the source of the river, there were heavy rains and melting snow that swelled the Nile and caused it to burst its banks by the time it reached Egypt. The resulting flood spread rich silt all over the land around the river. Once the water subsided, the fields it left behind were perfect for growing crops. So the Nile provided Egypt with nearly all her:

  •food: the main food crop was wheat, used to make much more bread than everyone needed. Of course the river was also a source of fish and water birds.

  •drink: the Egyptians also grew a lot of barley, which they used to make beer.

  •clothes: flax was grown and from it the Egyptians made linen, which they traded and used to make clothes.

  •papyrus: reeds grown in the Nile could be used to make papyrus, the first sort of paper in the world.

  •transport: the river was the perfect way to move people and materials around the kingdom.

  CHAPTER 3

  “We should tell them, sister. They have helped us and we have helped them, and we are bonded by it.”

  Nefi held up her hand and looked intently into Arthur’s eyes, tipping her head to one side, and then repeated the exercise with Finn. They were all in Thami’s boat in the middle of the river, drifting slowly on the lazy current. They could no longer hear the voices from the riverbank and it felt as if they were completely alone. Finally Nefi nodded.

  “I am not a thief,” she said abruptly. “I am Princess Nefru and this is my brother, Prince Thamose.” Arthur and Finn exchanged a relieved glance. Fate had a way of throwing them into the path of whoever they needed to meet when they began a new mission, but in the rush of the action neither of them had been completely certain that Thami was in fact Thamose.

  “So your father is… the pharaoh?” Finn asked, feigning more wide-eyed surprise than he felt. Thami nodded.

  “And our mother is the Nubian queen, which is why we do not look like other princes and princesses of Egypt,” he said, running a hand over his dark-skinned cheek and smiling.

  Arthur and Thami began paddling again, and as they made their leisurely way across the Nile, Nefi and Thami took turns explaining that they felt trapped in the palace and that they often escaped to roam the streets of Thebes on the other side of the river at night.

  “The problem is that my sister likes to make these little excursions alone, keeping them a secret even from me, and then I have to come after her and find her, as I did tonight, to extract her from the trouble she creates!” Thami looked back over his shoulder at Nefi, frowning, but she just laughed and splashed water at him.

  “And what of you two?” Nefi asked. “What has brought you to Thebes?”

  “Our father is a merchant from a country far from here,” said Finn quickly. He’d been preparing his story. “We came with him and he abandoned us here.” He hated lying, but they had to be from somewhere, and the twenty-first century wasn’t much of an answer!

  “Well, for now you shall be our guests at the palace,” said Thami. “You must allow us to thank you for helping us.”

  * * *

  Arthur awoke the next morning to the distant sound of a screeching heron. He and Finn had spent the night in Thami’s rooms. When the prince tried to offer them his bed it turned out that everyone was equally stubborn, and nobody was willing to sleep on a bed while the others slept on rush mats on the floor. So they had all slept on the floor.

  Arthur looked around the cool, dark room and found that he was alone. Laid out at one end of his mat was a pile of new clothes. He noticed his own and Finn’s clothes in a second pile and concluded the new clothes were for him. The light tunic slipped over his head easily enough, but figuring out how to wear the kilt that he had seen worn by all the Egyptian men the night before took more effort. After several attempts he managed to fasten it around his waist and after strapping on some sandals he walked out of Thami’s room, feeling rather self-conscious.

  The next room was brighter, and led out onto a balcony. The heat hit him as if he’d just opened an oven door and he squinted against the bright sunlight, taking a few moments to adjust to his new environment. He found himself looking across a huge public square. Along one side of the square stood what had to be a temple, its vast doorway marked on either side by painted statues as tall as lamp posts. Animal-headed humans, they made for fearsome guards. Arthur suddenly felt very small. He was used to feeling out of his depth during his and Finn’s adventures but here, in ancient Egypt, he was well over three thousand years away from home. Everything felt very, very alien.

  “The palace temple of Amen,” said Thami, appearing at Arthur’s side. “There is a bigger one on the other side of the river. My grandfather built this one. It’s beautiful, no?” Arthur swallowed and nodded.

  “Look!” Thami pointed at two small figures crossing the square towards the temple doors. It took Arthur a few moments to recognise his brother, now in Egyptian dress, accompanying Nefi to the temple. He was slightly annoyed that they had all left him to sleep, and was about to suggest that he and Thami joined them, when there was a cough behind him.

  “The queen wishes to speak with you, my prince.” The man who had appeared on the balcony carried a long spear in one hand, and from his belt hung the same sort of curved, scythe-like sword that Arthur had seen the previous night. But more than anything else Arthur’s eyes were drawn to the bright gold sun emblazoned on the man’s white tunic.

  “He is a temple guard,” said Thami. “Half monk and half soldier. My mother the queen says that these are the most dangerous of men, and we are fortunate to have them guarding us.” The guard’s face was an expressionless mask and Arthur found him deeply unnerving.

  “Come,” said Thami. “Let’s go.” He led Arthur back inside and through the dark inner corridors of the building. Arthur was not sure he wanted to meet the queen, who might well have concerns about her children picking up foreigners in the alleyways of Thebes. But he kept his worries to himself and followed close behind Thami. At one point he looked over his shoulder at the guard who walked behind them. For the briefest moment, Arthur saw something in the man’s face change. Looking straight ahead as he walked, he wore the same emotionless stare as he had on the balcony. But before that the guard’s eyes had been filled with hate. Arthur did not know what to make of it, but one thing he was completely sure of. The temple guard was no friend.

  All such thoughts were expelled from his mind when Thami led him past two more temple guards and into a large, lavish room. The walls and floor were covered with hangings and rugs. The tables glinted with the gold and polished stone trinkets they were littered with. And in the middle of it all there stood the queen, her glittering green robes embroidered with gold. Everything about her was striking, from her clothes to her physical beauty, but most astonishing of all was her gaze, which when directed at Arthur forced him to stare at the floor, dry-mouthed and lost for words.

  Thami laughed and patted him on the back. “He has a very good heart, Mother. Tell the guards to leave and I will tell you how I met him.”

  “Come to me, boy,” said the queen, and Arthur shuffled forward. She cupped his chin in her hand and brought his head up slowly until they were eye to eye. She angled her head slightly as she did this, just as Nefi had in the boat, and held his gaze for a while before smiling and letting him go.

  “Very well,” she said, waving the temple guards out of the room. “Tell me your story.” Thami proceeded to tell his mother everything that had taken place the previous evening. Arthur was stunned. Weren’t these night-time adventures on the streets in Thebes supposed to be secret? From the way Thami spoke it was clear
that the queen was familiar with her children’s habits and watching her reactions to Thami’s story it seemed to Arthur that she approved of what they did.

  “So my son saved your life,” said the queen when Thami had finished. “But you and your brother helped save Nefi’s life. It appears I am in your debt.”

  Arthur’s face betrayed his total confusion, and the queen looked at him very seriously.

  “I encourage Thamose and Nefru to leave the palace as often as possible. They must learn to survive. I am pleased that they have made two friends whom they can trust. The gods know my children have enough enemies…”

  “Mother!” Thami hissed, nodding towards the closed door and placing a finger over his lips. In hushed tones, the queen explained that she was not the main queen; she was one of the pharaoh’s secondary wives. “The palace is full of plotting between the queens, all of whom secretly hope that a son of theirs will be Pharaoh one day. All I want is for Thami and Nefi to make it out of the palace grown up and alive!”

  * * *

  Finn gazed in awe at the painted statues guarding the temple. If they had seemed huge to Arthur from the balcony, then to Finn, standing outside the temple doors, they truly looked like stone gods.

  “Come!” said Nefi, poking him in the ribs. “Let me show you inside!” Finn needed no second bidding. As an aspiring archaeologist, to see inside a vast, immaculate Theban temple would be an experience he would never forget.

  And inside the temple was even more impressive than outside. An inner courtyard was surrounded by halls that were filled with vast stone pillars like huge tree trunks, which were carved with half-human, half-animal figures. The stone walls were brightly painted, the scenes illuminated by flaming torches. Somewhere unseen, a very deep, booming drum was being beaten. From time to time, between the columns, Finn would see shaven-headed, armed men, wearing white tunics emblazoned with the image of a golden sun.

  “Here, follow me.” Nefi took Finn by the hand and ran into one of the halls. They darted between the columns, dodging the occasional scowling temple guard, until they reached the perimeter wall. Nefi grabbed a flaming torch and led Finn along the wall, through a dark doorway and into a narrow passage. It now seemed to Finn that they were between two walls, or between two layers of the same wall.

  “Come on,” Nefi whispered as they jogged along. “This passage runs all around the temple. I can show you everything!” Finn could not remember ever being so excited by one of his and Arthur’s missions. Ancient Egypt! Secret temple passages and flaming torches and princesses and… His train of thought broke off as he bumped into Nefi. He was about to apologise when she turned to him, eyes very serious, and put a hand over his mouth. A few steps ahead Finn could see light on one of the walls, indicating another doorway, and through that doorway came snatches of a murmured conversation.

  “… that it can never, never be traced back to the temple. That is the most important thing...”

  “… will make sure the Nubians can take him easily, you have my word…”

  “… maybe then finally he will see sense and allow us to make war on the Nubians. We have tolerated their presence for too long…”

  Nefi’s eyes grew even rounder, and she pushed Finn gently backwards until he understood what she wanted. He turned and began to creep back along the passage. They continued past the doorway through which they had entered and went on, around a corner, until Finn reckoned they must be inside the front wall of the temple. Sure enough they soon emerged beside the main entrance. Two temple guards cast sour glances at them as they made their way outside, but nobody tried to stop them.

  “What was all that about?” Finn asked breathlessly once they were a safe distance from the temple.

  “That was the high priest,” said Nefi. “He has been trying to persuade the pharaoh to make war with the Nubians for months now. So far the pharaoh has resisted, partly because my mother is Nubian, but it sounds like the priest has devised some sort of plot. And that plot means war...”

  CHAPTER 4

  Ahead, the vultures were circling. The antelope carcasses had been carefully placed near a natural watering hole as bait for lions. A scattering of smaller animals was drinking at the hole, but so far there were no signs of larger prey.

  “I still can’t believe you hunt lions,” said Arthur. He was standing beside Thami in a two-horse chariot.

  “Why not?” Thami frowned. “How better to prove you are a man?”

  Arthur looked over at Finn, who was standing with Nefi in the next chariot. Neither of them was comfortable with the idea of hunting animals for sport, and since Finn and Nefi had relayed what they’d heard in the temple, neither of them was comfortable with the idea of Thami being out in the middle of the desert. Whoever the priest had been speaking to had said he was going to ‘make sure the Nubians can take him easily’. It didn’t seem too much of a leap to imagine that ‘he’ was Thami, given what they knew from their briefing in the Hall of Heroes.

  At first, when Thami had invited Finn and Arthur to come on a lion hunt, they had tried to dissuade him, but when they saw he was determined to go they had agreed to come as his guests. They were all too aware that, away from Thebes, accompanied only by a small group of the high priest’s guards, Thami would be extremely vulnerable. It seemed highly likely that this was how he was destined to fall into Nubian hands, and if they could not stop him from going then they should go with him and try to limit the damage. Since overhearing the high priest’s conversation in the temple, Nefi thought the same.

  “There!” Thami hissed. The smaller animals at the watering hole were scattering with shrieks and grunts. A patch of sand seemed to detach itself from the floor, and a lioness darted towards the watering hole, making sure the other animals were well and truly driven away. She was followed by three other lionesses, and by one huge, dark-maned lion. He strolled boldly towards one of the antelope carcasses and lay down to eat while his pride kept watch and waited for their turn.

  “So how do we kill them?” Arthur wondered out loud.

  “First we try from here with arrows,” said Thami. “Then if they escape, we give chase. They are fast, but cannot run for long. We chase them until they are exhausted, and then we strike.”

  Thami called over to Nefi, who relayed the message along a line of four more chariots, each of them manned by two temple guards. Slowly they began to advance. The lions looked up, alert to every strange sound, but they were not alarmed. They knew they were the kings of the desert.

  Thami came to a halt and reached for one of the bows that were clamped to the side of his chariot, motioning Arthur to do the same. They were still at least fifty metres away, and hitting an animal from that distance seemed unlikely to Arthur, but along the line the hunters strung their bows, nocked their arrows and took aim. The first thing Arthur noticed was how powerful the bow felt, and it took all his strength to pull the string back to his shoulder. Aiming carefully wide of the lions, whom he had no wish to injure, Arthur waited for the instruction to shoot and then let his arrow fly safely to the side of one of the lionesses.

  Despite a shower of arrows from the other hunters, not one lion was hit, but with angry snarls the lionesses darted away. The male, alone now, stood up from behind the antelope and faced the hunters, issuing an ear-splitting roar at the same time. Thami and the others were nocking their second arrows by this time, and the lion seemed suddenly alert to the danger, for he turned quickly and ran in the opposite direction.

  Thami thrust his bow into Arthur’s hands and urged his horses into action. The chariot lurched forward, almost throwing Arthur out of its open back. The other hunters did the same, and the hunt was on. Thami and Arthur led the chase, speeding across the desert as the lion sprinted towards a long line of rocky hills that seemed to sweep up out of the sand like an enormous wave-crest.

  “If he reaches the hills our chariots will be useless!” Thami shouted.

  From time to time the lion would stop to recover his
breath and turn to look at his pursuers. The hunters shot a few arrows at him in those moments, though none found its mark. However each time the lion stopped the hunters were a little closer than the last time, and the arrows fell a little closer to their target. The lion was tiring and the hunters were closing in, but they were now so near to the hills that one more burst would take him onto the higher ground. The lion bounded on but was now clearly near exhaustion, and suddenly Thami and Arthur found themselves gaining on him rapidly.

  Thami tied the reins together and slipped them over his back so that he wore them like a harness. “My bow!” he called, and Arthur handed it over. Steering the horses now with his body, his hands free, Thami nocked an arrow and took aim. The lion stopped once more and turned, roaring with rage, making the horses suddenly veer wildly to the right. Thami’s arrow flew harmlessly away as he dropped his bow and tried to regain control of the horses. But before he could do so, a wheel of the chariot hit a rock, the cart flew up in the air and the boys were hurled to the ground.

  They landed some way apart, skidding to a painful stop in the dust. Both boys were badly winded and rolled around in pain. Blinking away tears, Arthur looked over to see that his friend was trying to stagger to his feet, clutching at a dagger he had withdrawn from his belt. Just a few metres away, the lion crouched, snarling, poised to spring at the prince.

  Behind Thami, two chariots were racing to his aid. Nefi was in the lead, and she swerved with more control than Thami had done, while Finn stood poised to shoot an arrow at the lion. They swept past the scene of the crash and Finn let fly, his arrow fizzing over the lion’s head. The beast roared again but did not flinch. Then came the second chariot. One of the guards held a spear poised and was shouting at the lion. But at the last moment, the lion finally turned and bounded towards safety at the boulder-strewn base of the hill.