Guardian of the Horizon - Elizabeth Peters [79]
Emerson let out an exclamation. “By Gad, you may be right. It’s high time we had a talk with Har. Here, you—” He caught one of the unfortunate servants by the arm. I feared for a moment that the fellow was going to faint, but he rallied long enough to listen to Emerson’s order. Emerson had enough Meroitic to say, “Fetch Har to me.” He was particularly familiar with the imperative form of verbs.
When Har appeared he was not alone. Two of his men were with him; struggling in their grip, teeth bared, was Newbold.
“We found him hiding behind one of the houses, listening to you speak,” said Har, without so much as a preliminary bow. “If he is a friend, why was he not with you?”
“He is no friend,” Nefret exclaimed indignantly. Har glanced obliquely at her and averted his eyes. It occurred to me then that he had never looked directly at her. The women of the Holy Mountain were not required to seclude themselves, or go about veiled—except for certain priestesses, the handmaidens of the goddess Isis, who were swaddled from head to foot when they appeared in public. Har’s attitude toward Nefret must be a token of respect.
“Hold on a minute, Nefret,” said Ramses. He proceeded to translate what Har had said. He didn’t have to translate Nefret’s response. Emerson gave her a stern look.
“Contain yourself, Nefret. Ramses, tell them to release him. He is no friend, but he is our responsibility. If there is such a concept in Meroitic,” he added. “Newbold, what the devil were you doing?”
Newbold shook himself free. He had not bothered to freshen up, and he looked like a wild man with his unkempt beard and long dirty hair. “Sparing you my unwelcome company,” he said with a sneer. “I wanted to see what this place is like, since you intend to leave us here at the mercy of these savages.”
Daria, who was, as usual, close to Nefret, murmured something to her, and Nefret burst out again. “Professor, you can’t mean to—”
“You can trust me, I believe,” said Emerson, “to do what is right without advice from you. Let me remind you—all of you—that we have a certain dignity to maintain. Squabbling and disagreement do not help.”
Nefret’s eyes fell. “I’m sorry, sir.”
“Hmph,” said Emerson. “Newbold, sit down over there and keep your mouth closed. Ramses, ask Har to share his thoughts with us.”
It was as Ramses had surmised. We were to move on at once, under military escort, for the king’s heart ached to see us.
“We” being our four selves only.
“That won’t do,” said Emerson, who had lit his pipe—a procedure that made the imperturbable captain stare in wonder. “I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense to leave our fellows here; they will be comfortable, and we will be amply escorted. We intended to leave Newbold behind anyhow. But Selim and Daoud must come with us. And, of course, Daria.”
“See here,” Newbold exclaimed. “You can’t—”
“I fail to see how you can prevent me,” said Emerson with excessive politeness. “Good Gad, man, there are no women here. At least I haven’t seen any. Do you claim you could keep Daria safe from these savages, as you have been pleased to call them? Even if she wanted to stay?”
“May I speak, sir?” Nefret inquired with equally excessive sweetness. “Daria has already told me—”
“Let her speak for herself,” said Emerson. “Well, Daria?”
“Please don’t leave me here.” Her expressive dark eyes moved from Emerson to Ramses, and, after a long moment, to me. “Please.”
“Certainly not,” I said.
“That settles that,” said Emerson. “Ramses, you may inform Har of our decision. Don’t ask him,” he added. “Tell him.”
“Using the imperative form of the verb?” Ramses inquired.
“As often as possible,” said Emerson, returning his smile.
The people of the Holy Mountain are a courteous lot. Har had listened to the discussion in silence, with no sign of impatience and without attempting to break into it—which would have been a waste of time, since he had not the least idea what we were talking about. He listened with equally attentive silence to Ramses’s speech, and then nodded. “It shall be as the