CHAPTER XI
THE DREAM OF ABI
On the night of the drawing-forth of the Ka of Neter-Tua, Kaku thewizard, and Merytra the spy, she who had been Lady of the Footstool toPharaoh, sat together in that high chamber where Merytra had vowed hervow, and received the magic image.
"Why do you look so disturbed?" asked the astrologer of his accomplicewho glanced continually over her shoulder, and seemed very ill at ease."All has gone well. If Set himself had fashioned that image, it couldnot have done its work more thoroughly."
"Thoroughly, indeed," broke in Merytra in an angry voice. "You havetricked me, Wizard, I promised to help you to lame Pharaoh, not tomurder him!"
"Hush! Beloved," said Kaku nervously, "murder is an ugly word, andmurderers come to ugly ends--sometimes. Is it your fault if an accursedfool of a priest chose to burn the mannikin upon an altar, and thusbring this god to his lamented end?"
"No," answered Merytra, "not mine, or the priest's, but yours, and thathog, Abi's; and Set's the master of both of you. But I shall get theblame of it, for the Queen and Asti know the truth, and soon or late itwill come out, and they will burn me as a sorceress, sending me to theUnderworld with the blood of Pharaoh upon my hands. Pharaoh who neverdid me aught but good. And then, what will happen to me?"
Evidently Kaku did not know, for he rose and stood opposite to her,scratching his lean chin and smiling in a sickly, indeterminate fashionthat enraged Merytra.
"Cease grinning at me like an ape of the rocks," she said, "and tell me,what is to be the end of this evil business?"
"Why trouble about ends, Fair One?" he asked. "They are always a longway off; indeed, the best philosophers hold that there is no such thingas an end. You know the sacred symbol of a snake with its tail in itsmouth that surrounds the whole world, but begins where it ends, and endswhere it begins. It may be seen in any tomb----"
"Cease your talk of snakes and tombs," burst in Merytra. "The thought ofthem makes me shudder."
"By all means, Beloved. I have always held that we Egyptians dwell toomuch on tombs, and--whatever it may be that lies beyond them, whichafter all remains a matter of doubt--fortunately. So let us turn fromtombs and corpses to palaces and life. As I said just now, although wegrieve over the accident of Pharaoh's death, and that of all his guard--and I may add, of Abi's four legitimate sons, things have gonewell for us. To-day I have received from the Prince, in writing, myappointment as Vizier, and first King's companion, to come into forcewhen he mounts the throne as he must do, and to-day you have receivedfrom me, with all the usual public rites and ceremonies, the name ofwife, as I promised that you should. Merytra, you are the wife of thegreat Vizier, the pre-eminent lord, the sole Companion of the King ofEgypt, a high position for one who after all during the late reign wasbut Pharaoh's favourite, and Lady of the Footstool."
"A footstool of silk is more comfortable to sit on than a state chairfashioned of blood-stained swords. Hearken you, Kaku! I am afraid. Yousay that you are the greatest of seers, and can read the future. Well,I desire to know the future, so if you are not a charlatan, show it tome."
"A charlatan! How can you suggest it, Merytra, remembering the adventureof the image?"
"That may have been an accident. Pharaoh was sickly for years, and hada stroke before. If you are not a cheat show me the future in that magiccrystal. I would learn the worst, so that I may know how to meet it whenit comes."
"Well, Wife, we will try, though to see such high visions the spiritshould be calm, which I fear yours is not--nay, be not angry. We willtry, we will try. Sit here now, and gaze, and above all be silent whileI say the appropriate spells."
So the ball of crystal having been set upon the table, the pair staredinto it as Kaku muttered his charms and invocations. For a long whileMerytra saw nothing, till suddenly a shadow gathered in the ball, whichslowly cleared away, revealing the image of dead Pharaoh clothed in hismummy wrappings. As she started back to scream the image seemed to looseits hands from the cloths that bound them, and strike outwards, whereonthe crystal suddenly shattered, so that the pieces of it flew aboutthe room, one of which struck her on the mouth, knocking out two of herfront teeth, and gashing her lips.
Merytra uttered a cry, and fell backwards to the floor, while Kakusprang from his chair as though to run away, then thought better of it,and stood still, shivering with fear.
"What was that?" said Merytra, rising from the ground, and wiping theblood from her cut mouth.
"I do not know," answered Kaku, in a quavering voice. "It would seemthat the gods deny to us that knowledge of the future which you sought.Be content with the present, Merytra."
"Content with the present," she screamed, infuriated. "Look at whatthe present has given me--a mouthful of blood and teeth. I, who wasbeautiful, am spoiled for ever; I am become an old hag. Pharaoh burstthe ball with his hand, and threw the pieces at me. I saw him do it, andyou set him there. Wretch, I will pay you back for this evil trick," andspringing at Kaku, she tore of his astrologer's cap, and the wig beneathit, and beat his bald head with them till he cried for mercy.
It was at this moment that the door opened, and through it, breathless,white with terror, half-clothed, appeared none other than the PrinceAbi.
"What passes here?" he gasped, sinking into a chair. "Is this the wayyou conduct your midnight studies, Kaku?"
"Certainly not, most high Lord," replied the astrologer, trying to bowwith his eye fixed on Merytra, who stood by him, the torn wig in herhand, in the act of striking. "Certainly not, exalted Prince. A domesticdifference, that is all. This wild cat of a woman whom I have marriedhaving met with an accident, gave way to her devilish temper."
"Repeat that," exclaimed Merytra, "and I will throw you from thewindow-place to find out whether your sorceries can make paving-stonesas soft as air. See, Lord, what he has done to me by his accursedwizardry," and she exhibited her two front teeth in her shaking hand."I say that he set the spirit of Pharaoh whom he beguiled me to do todeath, in the crystal, for I saw him there wrapped in his mummy clothes,and caused dead Pharaoh to burst the crystal and stone me with itsfragments."
"Be silent, Woman," shouted Abi, "or I will have you beaten with rods,till your feet hurt more than your mouth. What is this about the spiritof Pharaoh, Kaku? Is he everywhere, for know, it is of Pharaoh, thedweller in Osiris, that I came to speak to you."
"Most exalted Ruler of the North, Son of Royal Blood, Hereditary Countwho shall be King----"
"Cease your titles, Knave," exclaimed Abi, "and listen, for I needcounsel, and if you cannot give it I will find one who can. Just now Ilay on my bed asleep, and a dreadful vision came to me. I dreamed that Iwoke up, and feeling a weight on the bed beside me turned to learnwhat it was, and saw there the body of my brother, Pharaoh, in hisdeath-wrappings----"
"As I saw him in the ball," broke in Merytra. "Did he pelt you also, OAbi?"
"Nay, Woman, he did worse, he spoke to me. He said--'You, my brother, towhom I forgave all your sins, you and the woman-snake that I cherishedin my bosom, and your servant, the black-souled magician, heraccomplice, have done me miserably to death, and set the Queen of boththe Lands, Amen's royal child, to starve in yonder tower with the noblelady Asti, until she dies or takes you to be her husband--you, heruncle, who seek her beauty and my throne. Now I have a message foryou from the gods, who write down these things in their eternal booksagainst the day of judgment, when we all shall meet and plead our causebefore them, Osiris the Redeemer standing on the right hand, and theEater-up of Souls standing on the left.
"'This is the message, O Abi--Go to the Temple of Sekhet at the dawn.There you shall find that Royal Loveliness which you desire. Take it tobe your wife as you desire, for it shall not say you nay. Be wedded tothat Loveliness with pomp before all the eyes of Egypt, and reign byright of that Royalty, until you meet one Rames, son of Mermes, whomyou also murdered, and with him a certain Beggar-man who is charged withanother message for you, O Abi. Ascend the Nile to Thebes, and lay thisbod
y of mine in the splendid tomb which I have made ready and sit inmy seat, and do those things which that Royal Loveliness you have wed,commands to you, for It you shall obey. But hasten, hasten, Abi, tohollow for yourself a grave, and let it be near to mine, for when youare dead this my Ka would come to visit you, as it does to-night.'
"Then the Ka or the body of Pharaoh--I know not which it was--ceasedfrom speaking, and lay there a while staring at me with its cold eyes,till at length the spirits of my four sons who are dead entered thechamber and, lifting up the shape, carried it away. I awoke, shakinglike a reed in the wind, and ran hither up a thousand steps to find youbrawling with this low-born slut, dead Pharaoh's worn-out shoe that inbygone years I kicked from off my foot."
Now Merytra would have answered, for she loved not such names, butthe two men looked at her so fiercely that her rage died, and she wassilent.
"Read me this vision, Man, and be swift, for the torment of it hauntsme," went on Abi. "If you cannot I strip you of your offices, and giveyour carcase to the rods until you find wisdom. It was you who set meon this path, and by the gods you shall keep me safe in it or die byinches."
Now, seeing his great danger, Kaku grew cold and cunning.
"It is true, O Prince," he said, "that I set you on this path, this highand splendid path, and it is true also that from the beginning I havekept you safe in it. Had it not been for me and my counsel, long agoyou would have become but a forgotten traitor. Remember that night atThebes, when in your pride you desired to smite at the heart of Pharaoh,and how I held your hand, and remember how, many a time, my wisdom hasbeen your guide, when left to your own rash folly you must have failedor perished. It is true also, Prince, that in the future as in the past,with me and by me you stand or fall. Yet if you think otherwise, findsome wiser man to lead you, and wait the end. All the rods in Egyptcannot be broken on my back, O Abi. Now shall I speak who alone haveknowledge, or will you seek another counsellor?"
"Speak on," answered Abi sullenly, "we are fish in the same net, andshare each other's fortune to the end, whether it be Set's gridiron orfat Egypt's pleasure pond. Fear not, what I have promised you shall havewhile it is mine to give."
"Just now you promised rods," remarked Kaku, making a wry face andreplacing the remains of his wig upon his bald head, "but let that pass.Now as to this dream of yours, I find its meaning good. How did Pharaohcome to you? Not as a living spirit, but in the fashion of a dead man,and who cares for dead men?"
"I do, for one, when they cut my mouth with broken crystals,"interrupted Merytra, who was bathing her wounds in a basin of water.
"Would that they had cut your tongue instead of your lips, Woman,"snarled Abi. "Continue, Kaku, and heed her not."
"And what was his message?" went on the magician. "Why, that you shallmarry the Majesty of Egypt, and rule in her right and sit in the seatof kings. Are not these the very things that you desire, and have workedfor years to win?"
"Yes, Kaku, but you forget all that about one Rames, and the tomb that Imust hollow, and the rest."
"Rames? Merytra here can tell you of him, Prince. He is the madcap youngCount who killed the Prince of Kesh, and was sent by Neter-Tua far tothe South-lands, that the barbarians there might make an end of himwithout scandal. If ever he should come back with the Beggar-man andhis message, which is not likely, you can answer him with the halter hedeserves."
"Aye, Kaku, but how will the Queen answer him? There are storiesafloat----"
"Lies, every one of them, Prince. She would have executed him at oncehad it not been for the influence of Mermes, and her foster-mother,Asti. This Rames has in him the royal blood of the last dynasty, and theStar of Amen is not one who will share her sky with a rival star, unlesshe be her lawful Lord, which is your part. If Rames or the foul Beggarbrings you any message it will be that you are King of Kesh as well asof Egypt, and then you can kill him and take the heritage. A fig forRames and its stalk for the Beggar!"
"Perhaps," replied Abi more cheerfully, "at any rate I do not fear thatrisk; but how about all Pharaoh's talk of tombs?"
"Being dead, Prince, it is natural that the mind of his Ka should runon tombs, and his own royal burial, which as a matter of policy we mustgive to him. Besides there the prophesy was safe, since to these sametombs all must come, especially those of us who have seen the Nile riseover sixty times--as I have," he added hastily. "When we reach the tombit will be time to deal with its affairs; till then let us be contentwith life, and the good things it offers, such as thrones, and find thelove of the most beautiful woman in the world, and the rest. Harvestyour corn when it is ripe, Prince, and do not trouble about next year'scrop or whether in his grave Pharaoh's Double eats white bread or brown.Pharaoh's daughter--or Amen's--is your business, not his ghost."
"Yes, good soothsayer," said Abi, "she is my business. But one morequestion. Why did that accursed mummy speak of her as 'It'--in my dreamI mean--as though she were no woman, but something beyond woman?"
For a moment Kaku hesitated, for the point was hard to answer, then hereplied boldly:
"Because as I believe, Prince, this Queen with whom the gods arerewarding your deserts is in truth more than woman, being Amen's verydaughter, and therefore in those realms whence the dream came, she isknown not as woman, but by her title of Royal Loveliness. Oh!" went onKaku, simulating an enthusiasm that in truth did not glow within hisbreast, "great and glorious is your lot, King of the world, and splendidthe path which I have opened to your triumphant feet. It was I whoshowed you how Pharaoh might be trapped in Memphis, being but a poorfool easy to deceive, and it was I--or rather Merytra yonder--who ridyou of him. And now it is I, the Master whom you threatened with rods,that alone can interpret to you the happy omen of a dream which youthought fearsome. Think of the end of it, Prince, and banish everydoubt. Who bore away the shape of Pharaoh? Why the spirits of your sons,thus symbolising the triumph of your House."
"At least they will have no share in it, Kaku, for they are dead," saidAbi with a groan, for he had loved his sons.
"What of that, Prince? They died bravely, and we mourn them, but hereagain Fortune is with you, for had they lived trouble might have arisenbetween them and those other sons which the Queen of Egypt shall bear toyou."
"Mayhap, mayhap," replied Abi, waving his hand, for the subject waspainful to him, "but this Queen is not yet my wife. She is starving inyonder tower, and what am I to do? If I try to force my presence uponher, she will destroy herself as she swore, and if I leave her there anylonger, being mortal, she must die. Moreover, I dare not, for even thesefolk of Memphis, who love me, begin to murmur. Egypt's Queen is Egypt'sQueen, and they will not suffer that she should perish miserably, beingbeautiful and young, and one who takes all hearts. This night at sunsetthey gathered in tens of thousands round the tower to hear her sing thatevening hymn to Ra, and afterwards marched past my palace, shoutingin the darkness, 'Give food to Her Majesty, and free her, or we will.'Moreover, by now the news must have come to Thebes, and there a greatarmy will gather to liberate or avenge her. What am I to do, Prophet?"
"Do what dead Pharaoh bade you in your dream, Prince. At the hour ofdawn go to the Temple of Sekhet, where you will find the Queen becomeobedient to your wishes, for did not the dream declare that she will notsay you nay? Then lead her to your palace, and marry her in the faceof all men, and rule by right of her Majesty and of your own conqueringarm."
"It can be tried," said Abi, "for then, at least, we shall learn whattruth there is in dreams. But what of this Asti her companion?"
"Asti has been an ill guide to her Majesty, Prince," replied Kaku,rubbing his chin as he always did when there was mischief in his mind."Moreover, she is advanced in years, and must be weak with grief andhunger. If she still lives Merytra here will take her in charge and carefor her. You are old friends, are you not, Merytra?"
"Very," answered that lady with emphasis, "like the cat and the birdwhich were pets of the same master. Well, we shall have much to say toeach other. Only, be
ware, Husband, Asti is no weakling. Your magic maybe strong, but hers is stronger, for she is a great priestess and drawsit from gods--not devils."