Free The Oasis by Pauline Gedge

even men standing on the walls of Thoth’s temple. Many soldiers fill the paths and groves between the river and the town. I think that the story of Dashlut’s downfall has grown in the telling.”
    “It will not matter,” Kamose said slowly. “Our army has grown also, and if we cannot defeat Teti’s Setiu forces, we should not even be here.”
    “Agreed.” Ahmose sighed. “There was a bevy of ducks just out of range of my throwing stick,” he said wistfully. “They were too close to the town’s watersteps for safety so I had to leave them alone.” He yawned. “The sun has made me sleepy,” he added. “I think I will sleep now before it is time to eat.” As he rose, he met Kamose’s eyes. “It is all right, Kamose, really it is,” he said quietly. “I do not need you for a bodyguard. I have plenty of my own.”
    Night fell at last, but Kamose, lying on his cot and listening to the regular challenges as the sentries changed and the hours wore away, did not want to sleep. He thought of Khemmenu as he remembered it, the dense fig trees everywhere, the bright whiteness of the painted houses glimpsed through the smooth trunks of many palms, the glory of Thoth’s mighty temple where Teti’s wife fulfilled her obligations as one of the god’s servants. He had shared in the feasting at Teti’s sumptuous house, its blue-tiled lake and sycamore groves overshadowed by that other temple, the one Teti’s father had built to Set in order to curry favour with the King. He thought of his brother Si-Amun, subtly corrupted amid those trellised grapevines and sun-drenched lawns, and of Ramose, whom he might or might not have to kill. Finally, before unconsciousness claimed him, his mind turned to Tani. Was she still safe? Did she still yearn for Ramose or had the strength of her emotion been nothing more than a puppy love now turned to indifference? Kamose hoped so. He wished he knew.
    The army arrived in a cloud of dust and commotion two hours after dawn and Kamose called his council at once. He held it on the bank, for his cabin was too cramped to accommodate them all. They had marched through Dashlut not long before and the faces turned to him as he rose to address them were solemn. “Dashlut was a warning to Apepa and a promise of retribution to the north,” he told them. “I do not regret what I did there. I would do it again. But Khemmenu will not be such an easy massacre. Its population is larger and the proportion of soldiers stationed there much higher. They have been alerted. They are waiting for us. But they only know about the infantry by rumour. They will be too confident. I intend to approach the town from the river with the Medjay and attempt to parley with Teti. The soldiers there must be put to the sword, of course, even if Teti surrenders, but I hope to spare the inhabitants.”
    “And what of Teti himself?” The sharp question came from Prince Intef of Qebt. Kamose had not missed his restlessness or the wary glances he had been giving an imperturbable Hor-Aha. He is still not resigned to my policies, Kamose thought with exasperation. He will have to be carefully watched. “Teti is your kinsman,” the Prince was saying. “Moreover, he is a nobleman. Surely you will not harm him!” The atmosphere around the table immediately changed at his words. All heads lifted and turned to Kamose. I know what you are thinking, Kamose said to them silently. If I can murder a nobleman, then none of you are immune. Good. Ponder your own insecurity. It will help to keep you all loyal to me.
    “Teti will be executed,” he said deliberately. “He is completely committed to Apepa. He seduced my brother Si-Amun into betraying my father and took an active although indirect part in the cowardly attack on Seqenenra. These deceits are unworthy of any nobleman, let alone any honest peasant, and Teti is an erpa-ha. But if you still have doubts about his culpability, consider the fact that he was promised possession of