"Wilbur Smith - Egyptian 01 - Warlock" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Wilbur)

'You know the story well enough, for I have told it to you a hundred times.' Taita feigned modest
reluctance to extol his own deeds.



'Tell me again!' Nefer ordered.



Taita sat down on a stone block while Nefer settled at his feet in happy anticipation and listened avidly,
until the rams' horns of the squadron sounded the recall with a blast that shattered into diminishing echoes
along the black cliffs. 'Pharaoh summons us,' Taita said, and stood up to lead the way back through the
gate.



There was a great bustle and scurry outside the walls, as the squadron made ready to go on into the
dune lands. The waterskins were bulging again and the troopers were checking and tightening the harness
of their teams before mounting up.



Pharaoh Tamose looked over the heads of his staff as the pair came through the gateway, and
summoned Taita to his side with an inclination of his head. Together they walked out of earshot of the
squadron officers. Lord Naja made as if to join them. Taita whispered a word to Pharaoh, then Tamose
turned and sent Naja back with a curt word. The injured lord, flushed with mortification, shot a look at
Taita that was fierce and sharp as a war arrow.



'You have offended Naja. Some day I might not be at hand to protect you,' Pharaoh warned.



'We dare trust no man,' Taita demurred. 'Not until we crush the head of the serpent of treachery that
tightens its coils around the pillars of your palace. Until you return from this campaign in the north only the
two of us must know where I am taking the Prince.'



'But Naja!' Pharaoh laughed dismissively. Naja was like a brother. They had run the Red Road together.
'Even Naja.' Taita said no more. His suspicions were at last hardening into certainty, but he had not yet
gathered all the evidence he would need to convince Pharaoh.



'Does the Prince know why you are going into the fastness of the desert?' Pharaoh asked.