Part 19 (2/2)
”I aive you to the queen of Kush as a present,” he said
”Nominally you will be her slave, but actually you will still belong to ularly, and you shall not fail to carry the her
You shall say nothing, even if tortured, of your continuing connection with me Lest, when you fancy yourself out of my reach in the royal palace, you be tempted to disobey, I shall de her hand, he led her through a corridor, down a flight of stone stairs, and into a long, dimly-lit room
This chamber was divided into equal halves by a wall of crystal, as clear as water although a yard thick and strong enough to resist the lunge of a bull elephant Tuth it, while he stepped back Abruptly, the light went out
As she stood in darkness, her slender lilow out of the blackness She saw a row out of the blackness She saw a bestial snout, chisel-like teeth, and bristles As the horrorin her frantic fear the sheet of crystal that kept the brute from her In the darkness, she ran full into the arms of Tuthmes She heard him hiss, ”You have been my servant Do not fail me, for if you do he will search you out wherever youelse in her ear, she fainted
Tuthave her into the hands of a black woman with orders to revive her, see that she had food and wine, and bathe, comb, perfume, and deck her for presentation to the queen on the morrow
5 The Lash of Tananda
The next day, Shubba led Diana of Nemedia to Tuthmes' chariot, hoisted her into the car, and took the reins It was a different Diana, scrubbed and perfumed, with her beauty enhanced by a discreet touch of cosmetics She wore a robe of silk so thin that every contour could be seen through it A diadeolden hair
She was, however, still terrified Life had been a nightmare ever since the slavers had kidnapped her She had tried to colasts forever and that things were so bad that they were bound to improve
Instead, they had only worsened
Now she was about to be proffered as a gift to a cruel and irascible queen If she survived, she would be caught between the dangers of Tuthmes' monster on one hand and the suspicions of the queen on the other If she did not spy for Tuthet her; if she did, the queen would probably catch her at it and have her done to death in soruesome fashi+on
Overhead, the sky had a steely look In the west, clouds were piling up, tier upon tier; for the end of Kush's dry season was at hand
The chariot rumbled toward the main square in front of the royal palace The wheels crunched softly over drifted sand, now and then rattling loudly as they encountered a stretch of bare pavement Few upper-caste Meroites were abroad, for the heat of the afternoon was at its height Most of the ruling class slumbered in their houses A few of their black servants slouched through the streets, turning blank faces, shi+ning with sweat, toward the chariot as it passed
At the palace, Shubba handed Diana down froates A fat e chamber, fitted out with the ornate opulence of the rooian princess-which in a way it was On a couch of ivory and ebony, inlaid with gold and mother-of-pearl, sat Tananda, clad only in a brief skirt of crimson silk
The queen's eyes insolently exairl was obviously a fine piece of human property But Tananda's heart, steeped in treachery itself, ift to suspect treachery in others The queen spoke suddenly, in a voice heavy with veiled menace:
”Speak, wench! Why did Tuthmes send you to the palace?”
”I-I do not knohere ah voice, like that of a child
”I am Queen Tananda, fool! Noer my question”
”I know not the answer, ift-”
”You lie! Tuthmes is eaten-up with aift without an ulterior reason He must have some plot in mind Speak up, or it will be the worse for you!”
”I-I do not know! I do not knoailed Diana, bursting into tears
Frightened almost to insanity by Muru's demon, she could not have spoken even if she had wished Her tongue would have refused to obey her brain