General Ayi, General Utmas and their staff were to the left of Tutimaios. Behind the Pharaoh stood the hand picked men of his body guard and his standard bearer holding aloft the staff of Ra. Down below his army now swollen to thirty thousand men, stood ready, facing across the wide valley waiting for the enemy to appear at the far side. Already they could hear the sound of horns and the air above the low ridge, beyond the plain, was thick with dust as the massed forces of the Aamu, began to advance.
There was a commotion to his left and the staff officers parted to reveal the dust-covered figure of the captain of the camp guards. The man walked with the heavy tread of a condemned man and flung himself to the ground at the feet of Tutimaios. The Pharaoh looked down at the mans baldhead and said quietly, ‘Your report captain.’
‘My Lord,’ the man said, his voice muted as he faced the ground, ‘we have searched the whole of the encampment and the surrounding area and there is no trace of the shield.’
‘And the guards charged with protecting the shield,’ he demanded.
‘All dead, My Lord, poisoned at their posts,’ the captain replied a tremor in his voice.
‘What of the priest?’ He asked, a hard glitter in his eye the only outward sign of the anger he felt.
‘He’s gone, My Lord.’
‘What do you mean gone! Has he been taken along with the shield?’
‘No, My lord,’ and he paused, he knew of the ties of blood between his lord and the priest and he trembled with fear for the consequences of what he was about to say. But being a blunt and honest man he continued. ‘It looks as if it was the priest who poisoned the guards and stole the shield.’
Tutimaios was stunned; he couldn’t believe that his half brother would betray him in this way. True he was ambitious and longed for the post of chief priest to the temple of Amon, a post that held a power that was second only to his own. If Abados had betrayed him maybe it was his own fault. He had always intended to have him elected to the post. But not yet, maybe when he had settled with the Aamu. Beside it would better when Abbados was olderand had more experience. Meanwhile – and here he knew he had been selfish – he’d kept him close at hand as his own personal priest and advisor.
He looked down feeling the fear emanating from the captain. ‘Have, you proof of this?’ he demanded.
‘No, My Lord I have not, but all the signs point to it being the priest,’ the captain said and tensed as if he expected a blow.
‘In that case, Captain, don’t you think you should go and find the proof? If it exists?’ Asked Tutimaios, the query an order.
It took a while for the order to register. Then the relieved captain rose to his feet, bowed low and backing away the required number of paces, hurried from the hill.
‘What do you propose we do now, My Lord?’ Hanno asked.
‘We fight! What else can we do?’
‘But, My Lord, without the protection of shield you could be killed!’
‘Would you have me run away like the cowardly jackal?’ Tutimaios asked.Already the rumour of the shield’s loss had spread to the men, causing fear and dissent. ‘I hope that by leading from the front as normal, I can allay the men’s fears and give us the chance of this final victory.’
They were fine words to encourage others, but he thought of the shield, of how it had protected him as he had fought and defeated the enemy in the preceding battles and wondered if he had the strength to win through.Now that the shield was missing, he was about to face his greatest battle without its power to protect him and he knew that if he fell, his already weary troopswould break and run. What would happen to his beloved black lands then?
