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  Kheti’s hands were balled in fists upon his knees as he stared back at the captain.

  “It is well, brother?” asked Rahotep softly.

  Kheti appeared to have some difficulty in answering, and when he did, it was in a small voice.

  “It is very well! Stand for the pride of the Land of the Bow before the Son of Re, that he may know we breed men in the south!”

  Kamose was holding court in what must have once been the justice hall of Neferusi. The walls were blackened with smoke, the roof had been burned away so that they stood under the open sky, and there was the smell of burning and death warring with the incense given off from the line of braziers someone had assembled between the rows of pillars that now supported nothing.

  The Pharaoh still wore the blue helmet, thus signifying that he gave audience as the leader of the army and not as the Son of Re, so his officers did not “kiss earth,” but saluted as they approached upon summons. Rahotep, at the head of his small force, waited for orders.

  “The Lord Rahotep, Captain of Desert Scouts, together with his command.”

  His heard Prince Ahmose’s call and marched forward, though by custom he did not raise his eyes to the man on the improvised throne.

  “The Lord Rahotep, Commander of a Thousand!” That correction came in the usual hurried speech of the Pharaoh. He spoke as if he were harried by the passing of time, that there was so much to be done that he grudged each moment’s delay.

  Rahotep went down on his knees. “Life! Health! Prosperity! May the Son of Re live forever! I am one unworthy of his notice! Let the Son of Re know that this one is less than the dust on his sandals, unused to the leading of a Thousand--”

  “The Thousand shall be of your own raising and training, Commander! Six bowmen stand behind you now. We would see a full regiment of their like. We are told that countrymen of theirs have been enslaved within this city, men who threw off their bonds and fought with our army. Do you seek them out and make of them a weapon for our hand. This duty do we lay upon you here and now. Giving also this ‘gold of valor’ that all men shall know how well you have served Egypt this day--”

  Someone had come up beside the captain, and he realized that he was to have the great honor of being handed his award by the Royal Son. He dared to glance up as the Prince Ahmose slid from his own upper arm a broad gold band supporting a dagger after the new fashion. At the same time one of the officers at the foot of the throne tossed an ornament to each of the archers.

  The silver bracer clicked against the dagger as Rahotep advanced to put his lips to the Pharaoh’s sandal strap. To be whirled from a simple Scout captain to Commander of a Thousand was a dizzying experience--even if it still lay before him to bring those thousand men into line before lie had a regiment.

  He came out of the hall to face the city eagerly. Had Huy, Icar, and Menon survived the battle? Perhaps they would aid him in seeking out the men he must have.

  An officer saluted him--Methen!

  “Lord--” the older man began, but Rahotep shook his head.

  “Not ‘lord,’ Methen!” He dropped his hands on the other’s shoulders in a kinsman’s greeting. “Praise be to Re you, too, have seen the end of this fighting unmarked!” Then he stood back, planting his fists on his hips as he surveyed the city. “I do not know if I shall make a commander worthy of Pharaoh’s notice, but he has set me a task and I must be about it. I need archers for bows and bows for archers! Shall we go questing for them both?”

  He went on into the murk of the city, Methen walking beside him, the Nubians at their parade tread trailing him as they had out of Kah-hi months earlier. Bis trotted soft-footed and unleashed to his right. Shadow Hawk he might be, he thought with some secret pride, but a shadow warrior he was not!

  The End

  Table of Contents

  Shadow Hawk

  PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

  Chapter 1: BORDER PATROL

  Chapter 2: PHARAOH SUMMONS

  Chapter 3: INTO THE JACKAL’S JAWS

  Chapter 4: WHAT IS THEBES TO US?

  Chapter 5: KAMOSE, COMMANDER OF CHARIOTS

  Chapter 6: EYES AND EARS FOR PHARAOH

  Chapter 7: “LION” HUNT

  Chapter 8: PHARAOH’S GUARDSMEN

  Chapter 9: THE JACKAL BARKS

  Chapter 10: SLAVES OF ANUBIS

  Chapter 11: PHARAOH DEPARTS TO THE HORIZON

  Chapter 12: RE STRONG IN JUDGMENT

  Chapter 13: UP THE FLAIL

  Chapter 14: ICAR, THE SEAFARER

  Chapter 15: NEBET OF NEFERUSI

  Chapter 16: OVER THE WALLS

  Chapter 17: A MATTER OF TRIBUTE

  Chapter 18: BEAUTIFUL IN VICTORY