Chapter Seven

The Crystal Air

The great candles hissed and spat, casting off acrid fumes that were masked by the sweet incense rising from the copper burners, made to an ancient formula which spoke of purple flowers in the night. Their light was bright, and cast flickering shadows off the sacred objects in the temple which became dancing forms that flowed across the walls like the mental ghosts of the shadow, the enemy within that the young priests had been trained to see.

The silence in the temple of Isis was so profound that the slightest variation of breathing on the part of any of the temple officers could be heard. Anzety turned to face the eastern wall of the temple. In his mind, Neferaset came forward from the darkness of that inner east and stepped up to meet him, taking his hands and her usual position as the head…