She finally concluded, “What a strange creature. He’ll be quite the amusement at the palace.”
“He’s not a creature!” Marika piped up. “He’s just as much a person as you or me.”
This earned an arched eyebrow from Nefertiti. “Perhaps as much a person as you, but certainly not me.”
Jake realized that these people must not have met a member of the Neanderthal tribe; but from the princess’s total lack of surprise at seeing Jake’s party, he figured that other foreigners must have crossed through occasionally or been dropped into this harsh land. Clearly those lost newcomers were never accepted as equals.
Nefertiti confirmed this. “I will find what village you slaves escaped from and make sure your masters are punished for letting you go.”
“We’re not escaped slaves,” Marika said. “We’re not slaves at all.”
Pindor tried to wave her to be quiet by clinking his chains. He clearly did not want to upset their captors. Or maybe it was something else. Jake’s Roman friend had not taken his eyes off Nefertiti since first seeing her. He didn’t even seem to mind being shackled, going all moon-eyed.
Marika looked to Jake for help.
Jake spoke firmly, knowing the princess’s arrogance could only be met with strength. “My friend speaks the truth. We’re not from any village here, but from another land. Far from here.”
“From Calypsos,” Marika added.
The name caused Nefertiti to trip a step. She swung to face them, stopping the entire party with a wave of her arm. “Did you say Calypsos?”
Marika seemed taken aback by the vehemence of her response. Under the steely-eyed gaze of the princess, she merely nodded and nudged Pindor, who also bobbed his head.
Jake didn’t bother explaining where he and Kady had come from.
Nefertiti stalked back over to them. “You say you’re from beyond our borders. No one has come through the Great Wind since before my great-great grandmother’s time. When we were still living in the great city of Ankh Tawy.” She pointed toward the strange, blurry horizon. “Those outlanders came to my ancestors and claimed that they, too, were from a cursed place named Calypsos.”
Marika found her voice again. “We are from Calypsos. And it’s not cursed.”
“Not cursed.” This earned a harsh laugh. Nefertiti’s face darkened. “It was those same outlanders who disturbed the sleeping Sphinx of Ankh Tawy. The monster woke and howled to the skies, casting the Great Wind down upon us. It blew us like pebbles into these blasted lands, exiling us forever from our true home.”
Jake didn’t understand what she was talking about, but it didn’t sound good for them. He was right.
“If you are from Calypsos, then you are evil. And such evil must be destroyed.” Nefertiti turned on a heel and strode away.
Jake and the others were prodded with spears at their backs. They were driven faster, harder. He stared around at the other Egyptians. Before, there had been mostly amusement on their faces. Now fear glinted, and outright hostility.
“Great,” Kady said, noting the same. “You all couldn’t just keep your mouths shut.”
By the time they reached the rocky pinnacle, the blistering sun had climbed directly overhead. Exhausted and worn-out, Jake swore that the temperature dropped fifty degrees as he stepped into the thin shadow of the peak. He glanced back the way they’d come. Sunlight scorched the desert. He imagined that hell was probably cooler.
The hike had taken over an hour. They’d been given water, and Jake was allowed to share his sunblock spray—until Princess Nefertiti snatched it away, sniffing at it with suspicion.
Despite the sunblock, he still felt like a burned French fry.
At the rock, an unusual sight greeted them. Two muscular black men, both wearing bronze slave collars, flanked a winding staircase that climbed the peak. Each held a leash attached to a calf-sized dinosaur. The four-legged beasts with tall, spiny fins sprouting from their backs like Chinese fans looked like Komodo dragons.
Dimetrodons, Jake realized, the carnivorous sail-backed dinosaurs from the Permian period.
Their handlers tugged the leashes as the pair hissed and slashed with their claws at the approaching group.
Nefertiti strode between the beasts as if they weren’t there. One of the slaves cast her a withering glance as she passed, but this was also missed.
Probably just as well.
A spindly limbed man came running down the steps to meet the princess at the lower landing. He wore a white, ankle-length tunic and had bangles of gold on his wrists.
“The Glory of the Dawn has returned to us!” he squeaked in a fawning voice. He bowed deeply, then straightened. “I saw your majestic approach from the sentry roost and ran all the way down to greet you.”
She swept him aside with an arm and set about climbing the stairs. “See to the prisoners, Ammon.”
Prisoners, Jake thought dourly. At least we’re no longer slaves.
Ammon stared over at them. His eyes, framed by black eyeliner, grew wider with shock at the sight of the newcomers. Apparently he’d not counted the number of people returning. He waved for the group to follow him, then scurried after Nefertiti.
“I also come with a message from the skymaster!” he called after the princess. “He received a message from the royal palace at Ka-Tor. Your father has woken from his great slumber. He calls for his daughters.”
Shocked, Nefertiti tripped and sprawled across the steps. Ammon rushed forward to help her. She would have none of it and shoved him away. Jake caught a glimpse of her face. For a moment, all haughtiness had vanished. She looked like any girl—both scared and hopeful—then her expression hardened again.
“Father awakes! After two years! And you don’t tell me this from the start! Why didn’t you send a runner to me with the news?”
“Forgive me,” Ammon pleaded, bowing his head to the steps. “We just received word from the city. Only moments ago. Then I saw you coming and ran as fast as I could to bring you these glad tidings. Already the skymaster prepares his ships to sail back to Ka-Tor.”
Nefertiti turned away, her face starting to crumble again. She fled up the steps, her cloak billowing out like the wings of a hawk.
Ammon followed with a grumble under his breath now that he was out of earshot of the princess.
With spears still at their backs, Jake’s group was led up the steps. The stairs wound around and around the peak. The climb offered Jake a good view of the desert in all directions. It stretched endlessly, interrupted by more of the steeplelike pinnacles and ending at that hazy line at the horizon.