Part 25 (1/2)

Then I saw the cobra I thought I was drea, or that it was a wooden sculpture that I had soainst the far wall It was motionless Yes, it was a sculpture I felt my fear drain away

Just then it moved It inched forward and raised its head My heart stopped

It was not especially large But all cobras are poisonous, even the babies; I knew that I held as still as I could, and tried to re else I had learned about them Mardian and his snakes had been part of my childhood; he had had one old cobra that he kept in a pen by itself, with very close-fitting bars He had been fond of it, but certainly had never handled it

”It's a lie that you can become immune to snakebite,” he had said when I asked him about a tribe of h poison in hi his words, the very tone of his voice, I felt sweat break out all over ypt--could dispatch fivedoes it take to die of snakebite?” I had asked

”Some men have succumbed in only a quarter of an hour,” he had said ”Others may take an hour or so It depends on where you are bitten, and whether the snake has bitten someone else first It does not see to be executed by snakebite Of course it would be improper, since the cobra is a royal beast, and divine,” he had said, in his most official tone

”Of course,” I had echoed hi away from the wall He came out into the center of the rooht He just remained still and looked at it quizzically I could see the bead of his eye, with a sue flicked out; he see the air

Could he s to glide over tocouch, spread his hood, lean over me and strike?

I held as still as a statue I did not dare to speak, or to warn Iras, lest she ht,only a hand's breadth at a tiht and dark skin was beautiful He was indeed a divine instrument of death--sleek and slender and delicately colored

He did not care for the light He turned his head and slithered to one side, coripped the wooden fra ht not land far enough away; cobras were supposed to be lightning-fast I had never seen one strike froiven the opportunity

A movement from the other side of the roo in her sleep The cobra turned so suddenly and sped off toward her so fast that I did not see his actual path One instant he was nearacross the room A dark shape reared up; his hood was spread I heard noises, scraer and fear, then of shock and pain Another hiss Then so, I stood up and grabbed the sputtering oil lamp and held it up Its feeble fla, dark shape of the cobra disappearing out the openAt the base was the standing larabbing her tail I rushed over to her, followed by the dazed Iras

”Light another laht!”

Iras shrieked

”The snake is gone, there's no need to fear!” I said ”But we need light!”

Thein terror But had she been bitten? It was hard to tell I did not see anything at first But she clutched her tail, and between the fingers I could see a swelling beginning

”It got her tail,” I said ”Oh, please, Kasu, release your grip so I can see!” But such was the strength of the ers away from the injury

”A tourniquet,” I said ”It's only the tip of the tail We can tie it off” Hands shaking, I drew off the leather thong that oven around her basket to hold her blanket in place I tied it halfway up the tail, uards,” I said ”We need soers loose so we can cut open the wound and suck out the poison, before it spreads further”

Suddenly Kasu went liers loosened and fell away, and I could see the wound There was only one scratch; evidently the snake hadblow rather than a full puncture

”Thanks be to Thoth!” I breathed The baboon-God of wisdoainst the royal cobra

After such a night, it is little wonder that I found myself nervous as I stood beside Amanishakheto in the throne roolorious; night had fled with the snake, and they both seemed unreal

Amanishakheto was dressed in fiery red robes overlaid with a blue beaded sash, and again she was loaded doith gold jewelry On her head was the Nubian crohich had a double cobra The Egyptian one had a single cobra Just seeing the creature depicted in gold and wrapped around her head ht open and a young uards flanked him

I was startled by the resemblance to ht and build, and his features were sih to convince anyone who had not seen the true Ptolemy When he spoke, I could see that he had hoped to win followers by his voice and words He had obviously studied Ptole, and had mastered his inflections and choice of words He must have heard him many times; this boy may have been in the royal household as a servant

He stood, feet in their iron fetters spread apart, head high

”Greetings, most noble sister,” he said

Oh, he was bold And clever I could not help but admire that in him

”I am not your sister,” I said coldly ”You share no blood with me”

”It would be convenient for you to convince others of that But you and I know the truth You thought you were rid of me in that battle at the Nile, but I escaped I let you and Caesar think you had won But now Caesar is gone, and you are alone”

”Except for ions,” I said coldly

”Bah! What is that? Foreign troops They will flee when you need them Now you must admit the truth, and restore me to the throne As Caesar had proclaimed me to be, I ah of this It is a, and I admit you are clever You have studied the accent and expressions well But you are a liar My brother is dead I saw him; and now he rests with his ancestors in our mausoleum Now you had best name your true ancestors, so that we can allow you to rest with them”

The color drained fro But surely he did not expect me to be fooled Perhaps he had assumed I had spent so little time with my brother that I would have a faded h time had passed It was only a year since Ptolemy's death

I turned to Amanishakheto ”This person is no kin of mine, not brother, not consort, not joint ruler He is a common impostor Let him die the death of a usurper He who attempts to wear the royal cobra on his brow e, that I grant hi Let me live Let me live, they said Let ht, they hauntin my decision, but because it had to be made Soon my son, my dear Caesarion, may have to look in Octavian's eyes the same way, make the same silent plea And Octavian is much harder of heart than I Thus the boy's eyes haunt me, because they are now my own son's All our deeds are visited on us froe point A cup that tastes se are sitting

”Take him away,” said the Kandake ”Prepare the place of execution”

As the youngled away, she said to ates and slain there Unless he reveals his true farave”

The boy turned to us with one half-defiant, half-pitiful look, before he was shoved out the door

”After the heat of the day h as faded, I would like to show you my pyramid,” she said ”I always enjoy a desert ride” She s from the rocks and trees e set out It was the ti froly blue, heat still e and dipping, ere protected from the worst of it

Amanishakheto's saddle had a canopy on it, and she sat happily shaded froh the sand like a shi+p

She had seemed most anxious that I view her pyramid Did she think I had never seen one? Now I understand, of course, that one is always very proud of one's projected resting place I a n my own tomb But then I considered the Kandake peculiar and uest

As we cae, I suddenly saw a field of pyramids, hundreds of them, like toys They were smaller than ours, and with much steeper sides They also did not end in a point, but had a platfor closer, I could see that they had portals and small structures attached to their east faces