"Merytra has gone, O Queen," she said in an ominous voice, "leaving this
behind hidden beneath her bed," and she placed the object on a table.
"What is it? The mummy of a child?" asked Tua, shrinking back.
"Nay, Queen, the image of a man."
Then throwing aside the cloth Asti revealed the waxen figure shaped to
the exact likeness of Pharaoh, or rather what remained of it, for the
legs were molten and twisted, and in them could be seen the bones of
ivory and the sinews of thin wire, about which they had been moulded.
Also beneath the chin where the tongue would be, sharp thorns had
been thrust up to the root of the mouth. The thing was life-like and
horrible, and as it was, so was the dumb and stricken Pharaoh on his
bed.
Neter-Tua hid her eyes for a while, and leaned against the wall, then
she drew herself up and said:
"Call the physicians and the members of the Council, and those who can
be spared of the officers of the guard, that everyone of them may see
and bear witness to the hideous crime which has been worked against
Pharaoh by his brother, the Prince Abi, and the wizard Kaku, and their
accomplice, the woman Merytra.
Pages:
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220