Page 20 of A Thousand Nights Before Dawn
Namir walked through, and Zahra scurried after him, keeping her head low. The walls of the Pharaohs’ library were tall and grand. Statues of the ibis-headednetjerstood in various places. Wooden shelves lined the walls, holding thousands of papyrus scrolls. Farther in the library stood more shelves, which occupied much of the floor space.
Between some of the shelves sat wooden tables with small crowds of priests and scholars standing around them. There were no Ionians among them. She envied the freedom of the men and women that stood around her. Her father would have loved to work in such a place and have a job dedicated to learning.
Namir climbed two sets of stairs before he allowed Zahra a moment to breathe. He paused before several stone shelves of old papyrus scrolls and began to sort through them.
“What do you hope to find here?” Zahra asked, coming to his side.
“A scroll,” Namir deadpanned.
Zahra rolled her eyes. She plucked a scroll from the shelf. “I found one.” She unrolled it and searched its contents. The scroll held a combination of paintings and Aur’s script, Hieratic, detailing the beginnings of farming colonies in Aur.
“You will not find anything of interest.”
Zahra eyed him before returning the scroll to the shelf. “Then how am I supposed to help?”
Namir threw over a few scrolls. She outstretched her arms with surprise, barely catching the scrolls in her arms. Namir tossed a few more scrolls onto the pile and ran his hand along the back of the shelf. Zahra balanced the scrolls carefully and watched Namir. What was he doing?
Zahra sighed and turned around. Surely, he did not only want her help so that she could hold scrolls. For a King, his actions were confusing and lacked thoughtful planning. There had to be something she could do besides substitute for a cart.
Her gaze drifted to a window that sat five feet above their heads. The sun was high in the sky. It was almost four Khepri. Their ride to Inebu-hedj had taken much of the morning, and she had less than two hours before her opportunity to stop her father slipped away.
Zahra turned her head. “My King?—”
A pair of stunning brown eyes met Zahra’s, and she stumbled backward, taken aback by the woman before her. Her elbow collided with the bookcase, sending more than a dozen scrolls—including the ones in her arms—crashing to the floor.
Zahra fell to her knees, stuttering as she spoke and grasping for the fallen scrolls. “I—I apologize.”
To her surprise, the woman also bent down. “There is no need for that. Here, let me help.”
Zahra froze, astonished, as the beautiful young woman dressed in fine orange linen and decorated with gold and jewels knelt with her. The woman was clearly a high-ranking noble, and yet her eyes were kind as she carefully picked up the scrolls. There was something familiar about her black eyes and strong jawline.
“Nubia?” Namir looked down at the two girls with a furrowed brow. “What are you doing here?”
Nubia grinned. “Greetings to you as well, brother.”
Brother?Zahra stood clumsily, dropping a scroll or two as she bowed. “My Princess, I apologize.”
“Vizier,” Namir corrected.
Nubia stood. “It is alright. Not everyone knows that I am related to the Pharaoh Queen.” She raised an eyebrow at Namir. “You are unhappy to see me.”
“I am never unhappy to see you.” Namir took the scrolls from Nubia’s arms. “I simply thought you would be elsewhere.”
“I had time in between tasks to relax.”
Namir chuckled. “Then I would have expected you to be in the gardens.”
“The gardens are your place, not mine.” She elbowed Namir teasingly and turned to Zahra, who was still awkwardly doubled over. She tapped Zahra’s shoulder. “Who might this be?”
Zahra straightened and opened her mouth to speak. Namir answered for her. “A servant I have borrowed for the day.”
“Oh?” Nubia asked curiously. “For what purpose?”
“To carry my scrolls.” He nudged one of the scrolls on the floor with his foot. “Servant, you dropped one.”
Zahra bit back a retort. It had not even been a day, and her fuse with the King was already running short. She kept a practiced smile on her face as she squatted to retrieve the lost scroll.
“Oh, Menes, do not torture the poor girl.”
