Doctor Who_ Set Piece - Kate Orman [21]
‘Who was there?’
‘What’s a doorbell?’
‘Never mind,’ sighed Ace. ‘It was the little girl, the one the demons had given magical powers to. She struck Mike down with a bolt of lightning.’
‘Oh!’
‘That’s a shame, I rather liked him.’
‘Served him right for serving the demons, didn’t it.’ They were like children, lapping up the tale.
‘I like these stories.’ Sedjet held his kill by the neck. ‘Lots of action.’
‘We like them with a bit of sex and violence!’ hooted someone else.
‘You might not have liked it so much if you were there,’ growled Ace, looking Sedjet in the eye. ‘Men I like have the bad habit of dying.’
Someone passed her a bowl of beer, and she splashed it in her face. ‘It’s so hot!’
‘It’s always hot, here,’ someone snorted. ‘Did you hear about that letter from what’s-his-name, you know, that prince? “Let Pharaoh perish in the sun if he wants, but let my ambassadors stand in the shade!”’
Someone hissed for them to be quiet, while others tittered. ‘I like Akhetaten.
Thebes was mouldy and full of beggars. I like living in new buildings.’
‘If they didn’t lean over at funny angles!’
More giggling. Thankfully, they had forgotten about the story.
‘You want to go hunting?’ asked Sedjet.
‘You’re too drunk,’ said Ace. ‘You’ll fall out of the chariot again.’
They both laughed. ‘She,’ Sedjet was trying to tell the assembled company,
‘she is the best hunter I’ve ever seen. Besides myself, of course.’
‘I’m a better hunter than you,’ she scolded, ‘and a better senet player.’
‘I always win!’
‘Only because I let you.’
42
‘She shot a jackal running at full speed,’ Sedjet boasted to his friends. ‘I mean, the jackal was running, no, wait a moment, she was running as well.
But what I mean is –’
‘Shut up, Sedjet,’ muttered someone. ‘I’d like to meet this Sinu of yours. My own physician’s magic is pitiful. He couldn’t cure a stubbed toe.’
‘Maybe you can meet him when he comes to get me,’ she said.
Sedjet’s mouth pulled into a line, and he rolled over, rummaging in the remains of the feast for a chunk of mutton.
‘What happened next?’ said the blind flautist.
‘Yes, tell us more about the places you’ve travelled to!’
Ace closed her eyes. How many more parties was she going to have to attend? How much longer?
The sun banged down on Akhetaten, bashing against the white walls of the closely packed houses, making the sandy streets hot enough that you had to wear sandals.
Even at night it was still hot. It had been dusk when she took a horse and chariot from Lord Sedjet’s estate, leaving the wide plain of the city behind and travelling over the rocky desert until she came to this place. Now she sat with her legs dangling down over the cliff edge, the warmth of the stone soaking through her sheath dress. Two months and she still wasn’t used to the heat.
Her torch had long gone out; there were spares in the chariot. Her bow and quiver were slung over her back. Sometimes she looked up at the sky. It was more stars than black. She’d seen skies like that in Sumer, travelling through the countryside after dark, the Industrial Revolution five millennia away. The air was pure, you could taste it, taste the desert, hot dust and hot rocks. If there were animals, Ace was sure she’d be able to smell them. Assuming, of course, Lawrence of Arabia hadn’t already shot them all.
Suddenly the Doctor did not walk up and say hello.
Chief Scribe Sesehaten had helped her with the library. She’d peer at the hieroglyphs over his shoulder, tidy rows of writing on long papyri. She was illiterate. All those years of school for nothing. A tiny frown crossed her face again, but she put it out of her mind.
They had searched histories, business records, religious writings. There had been no sign of the Doctor.
She didn’t believe it. He’d been everywhere, man. He must have visited Egypt. There must be something. The whole country ran on written records, ledgers, receipts, letters. Everything counted; everything recorded.
There was one fragmentary