After poisoning the guards, Abbados steals The Shield of the Sun and meets with Teti, the guide sent by Benos, the leader of the Aamu federation.
Abbados adjusted the straps of the pack so that they sat more comfortably on his shoulders, checked his battle-axe and strode out after the guide. The pack contained the fabulous Shield of the Sun. Wrought from a metal sent to earth by the Sun God himself, the shield had the power to avert any blow directed at its bearer and he had poisoned four guards to steal it away from his own brother the Pharaoh Tutimaios. Wearied by his brother’s failure to make good his promise to elevate him to chief priest at the great temple of Amon and knowing that if his brother were killed in battle there was little chance of him becoming Pharaoh, he had sold out to the enemy.In exchange for the shield the Aamu would honour his claim to the throne of the rich lands of Kemet.
There were four of them in the small party Teti, the guide, Abbados himself and Sebek and Khyan, the two bodyguards sent by Benos one of the leaders of Aamu confederation. They were heading northwards away from the opposing armies of Kemet and the Aamu and after two hours Abbados called a halt. He understood that they were to sweep north then to the east to meet up with Benos, But he was distrustful of Teti the rat faced guide and suspicious of the distance they had travelled northwards, ‘Why are we still travelling north, surely we should turned east by now?’
‘No, My Lord Benos, ordered that we continue to travel north until we reach the foothills of Quban.’
This was news to Abbados and only served to increase his suspicions. Why, when there was to be a great battle, wasn’t Benos in a hurry to get his hands on the shield, surely if he carried it into battle tomorrow the very sight of it would devastate the army of Tutimaios, ‘It seems strange that your master is no hurry to receive that which I carry.’
‘You need not be so coy, Lord; we have been made aware of what you carry and have sworn to protect the shield and yourself with our lives. As to the direction we travel, My Lord Benos, decided that we needed to get as far away a possible, in case it is discovered that the shield is missing and your brother tries to get it back before morning.’
‘By the same token, is not your lord denying himself the use of the shield?’
‘No, Lord, we will be with my lord’s riders, two hours before daylight and the shield will be with him in the front line of the army by dawn.’
Abbados snorted, ‘That is impossible, what kind of fool do you think I am? Or can these riders of his fly?’
‘Yes, Lord they can, however I can see from your face you do not believe me and I would beg your indulgence, if you will wait until we reach our destination all will be explained. But now, Lord we must press on or we will be late.’
We shall see if a man can fly, thought Abbados as they set off once more, it was so ridiculous that he would have dismissed the idea, but the fact that Teti seemed to genuinely to believe what he claimed, made him wonder if there might some small grain of truth in there somewhere. Whether these riders of Benos’s could fly or not, one thing that he had learned, was that Teti was far to well educated and far to well connected to be a mere guide, and if so who or what was he in reality.
If Teti wasn’t a guide, why was he pretending to be one? The only answer that he could come up with was that Benos did not intend to abide by their agreement and Teti and the bodyguards were to be his assassins. After all he was on his own and they would assume that the three of them would have no trouble killing one man, especially if that man was unaware of what was to be his fate. Yet there again was he simply jumping at shadows and because of his guilt at betraying his own brother, expecting that others would do the same to him. Besides, either way, he had no choice but to go on, there was no way now that he could return the shield.
Despite a scattering of high cloud that occasional hid the moon there was more than sufficient starlight to see by and the small group made good time through the moonscape of rocky outcrops that littered the route to Quban. It was cold, as all desert nights are. Abbados however, wrapped up in his dark thoughts did not feel the cold. Nor did he take notice of passage of time, or the route they took and was only jerked back to the present when Teti ordered a halt.He looked around they had come to a halt in a clear area almost surrounded by a chest high jumble of rocks. While he had been only dimly aware of the landscape on their march, this place looked no different to a dozen others such places they had passed.
A first he thought they were just taking a break but when Teti ordered the bodyguards to build a fire, he realised they must have reached their destination. If indeed this was their destination he had to grudgingly admire Teti for his navigation skills.
‘If this is our destination, we are early, are we not?’ he asked.
‘Yes, Lord we have made good time and have about an hour to wait until the riders reach us,’ said Teti.
‘Ah, these famous flying riders of yours, you promised to tell me of them.’
‘And I will, Lord,’ said Teti, ‘As soon as we get the fire going, I will tell you while we wait.’
While the others busied themselves with the fire Abbados shrugged out of his pack, laid his axe close to hand and after propping the shield against a rock, sat with his back against it. If they were out to kill him and steal it, they would find that it would be no easy matter. A commander of ten thousand - of royal blood or not - does not get to that command without proving himself as a fine warrior first. And Abbados despite his priestly garb had been trained personally by General Ayi and considered himself to be one of the top three warriors in Kemet - the other two being his brother Tutimaios and his childhood friend Prince Hanno.
