Egyptian Timewave

Chapter 36

Imenand watches the girl go, frowning. His captain claps him on the shoulder, chuckling lightly to himself.

"Why so glum? Did you want to practice your questions on her?"

Imenand laughs. "Perhaps so."

Really, he thinks she should have stayed for the questioning. Who knows if the questions she had been asked whenever she was questioned earlier were the questions that she needed to be asked. Who was even the one to question her? Kheti? He hasn't been part of Prince Amenhotep's guard for much longer than Imenand has, and privately, Imenand doesn't think the other guard does as good of a job as he does.

Huy laughs again. "Well, why don't you practice your questions on these ones, if you're comfortable with your sweep."

Imenand nods sharply. "Yes sir."

Huy drifts away, presumably to interview the staff working at the long tables, currently preparing food for the feast later that evening. Imenand turns to the girl first, the one who had been sitting beside the other. He jerks his head towards the door slightly.

"Who was she?"

The girl blinks in confusion, as if she knows that he is not asking the questions he is supposed to be. Which he isn't, but he has time and these questions are more important than the routine ones.

"She is Princess Anippe's handmaiden, a lesser noble, and a friend. Why do you ask?"

"I have no need to answer that question." She gives him a dark look but doesn't argue. "What else do you know about her?"

The servant frowns. "The princess keeps her busy, so I haven't seen her as often as I would like, but I don't think she is from this region of Kemet."

Well that's an interesting bit of information. "What makes you think that?"

The girl shrugs. "Something in her voice doesn't sound exactly like ours. I would wager that she's from a nearby region, but not this one." Or perhaps she's not from Kemet at all and was instead planted here to work the Snake's influence. The older woman nods in agreement.

"Perhaps she isn't from here and is from somewhere close by, or perhaps she is from somewhere farther away but has spent enough time here that she has gained our tone of speech."

"Has she been doing anything suspicious?"

The girl scowls at him. "Is this because she was arrested earlier today?"

Imenand can feel his eyebrow raise. Huy had said she was questioned, not that she was arrested. "What was she arrested for?"

The servant huffs. "For walking, apparently. All she did was bump into a guard at the temple and then she was getting dragged off for questioning."

"Do you know which guard?"

"Well your captain interrogated her for one."

The older woman adds, "Presumably the young guard standing over there by the doors is the one, though."

Imenand nods. "Hmm." he should ask Kheti about that. "Back to my previous question. Has she been doing anything odd?"

The old woman frowns thoughtfully. "Odd? Not exactly. But when she came in here, she looked like she was surprised to see a kitchen like this."

The kitchen is always like this. Well, he means busy, not full of guards questioning the staff. "Was it her first time in here?"

The younger servant nods. "It was! As I said, the princess keeps her busy and this is the first time she's been able to come and join us here."

'Don't the servants eat here in the kitchens?"

The girl nods. "They do." So she hasn't been eating. Perhaps she isn't even a true person but instead only a spirit. "But I've been adding some extra rolls and things to the princess' tray for her." Oh. Well that theory is a bust.

"You said it was her first time here, do you know when she arrived?"

"I started seeing her when I brought the princess her food a week or so ago?"

If Imenand guessed, he would say that would make her first day here the same day as when he encountered her in the hall with the princess, when she was covering her hair for some strange reason. Perhaps that is another clue to her oddity, along with all he's overheard. Imenand nods to the women.

"Thank you for your time. Now, shall we move on to my questions about you both?"

~~~

When Imenand moves to replace Kheti at the doors, he frowns at the other guard. "So you arrested that handmaiden earlier? Why?"

Kheti frowns. "I had thought she was eavesdropping on our conversation with the high priest. When she walked into me, she got back up and went back the way she came. I found it strange. But Huy seemed to believe that she was only wandering around the temple while the princess was busy with something private."

Imenand nods. "I see."

He does indeed. Something to report to his prince when they're done here. It's certainly something to add to the evidence piling against her. Huy may believe the girl's lies, but Imenand has learned too many strange things about her to believe it himself. Mark his words, that handmaiden is the one who is spreading the Snake's influence in Pharaoh's palace.

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Oh dear. What do you think of Imenand's train of thought? What will he do? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing out