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slightly.
    Narmer shook his head. He could think of nothing else to say.
    This girl had fooled him completely. She had learnt enough about Thinis in one day to answer all his questions. He didn’t wonder that her master kept her with him.
    She had even made him believe that she was beautiful…
    ‘What will you do now?’ he asked at last.
    She shrugged. ‘Go back to the guesthouse.’
    ‘No, I mean when you and your master leave here.’
    ‘We’ll head back the way we came. Across the desert, then across the sea towards my master’s homeland, Sumer. And after that…who knows?’
    Narmer tried to imagine it. Always travelling, never with your own people, not even speaking your own language. ‘Will you ever come back here?’
    Nitho shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. We only came this time because an oracle told my master that he would find great fortune here.’ She smiled briefly. The scar on her face twisted even more. ‘That’s where I got the idea to pretend to be an oracle. But no matter what the Oracle said, I don’t think Thinis will have riches enough to make it worth crossing the desert again.’
    ‘I see,’ said Narmer slowly.
    ‘ Would you have talked to me, Prince Narmer, if I’d met you in the palace?’ Nitho asked suddenly. ‘Tell me honestly.’
    Narmer was silent for a moment. ‘Honestly? I would have been polite to a guest,’ he said at last. ‘But no. We wouldn’t have talked for long.’
    Nitho stood up. ‘Then there is no need for us to talk now. I will see you tonight, Prince Narmer, and tomorrow when we trade, but I’ll be my master’s voice then, not my own. Goodbye. We won’t speak again.’ She began to limp away.
    Bast looked up. She grabbed the remains of the lizard in her jaws and padded after Nitho. She didn’t even look back at Narmer.
    ‘No! Stop!’ cried Narmer. He couldn’t bear to see them go like that.
    But Nitho didn’t hesitate. A few seconds later she and Bast were gone.

CHAPTER 6
    Narmer met his father’s guards as he came along the ridge towards home. For a moment he wondered if scouts from the People of the Sand had been spotted. Then he realised the guards were looking for him .
    The men bowed. ‘Your royal father is angry, o great Prince,’ said the leader.
    ‘I am sorry to have angered him,’ said Narmer shortly. His mind was still filled with what had happened. How could Nitho have tricked him like that? Why hadn’t he realised before? ‘Have you come to escort me on my hunt?’
    ‘No, Prince.’ The guard looked embarrassed. ‘We have come to take you back to the palace.’
    Narmer stared at the man. How dare they take him back, like a child who had been left to feed the fire but had gone out to play! No one had ever treated him like that before.
    But there was no use complaining to the guards. They were only following the King’s orders. And no one questioned the King—not even his son.
    The small group marched back to the palace in silence. Narmer had never felt less like speaking in his life,and out of respect that meant none of the men could speak either.
    ‘Where is the King?’ asked Narmer as they approached the town walls. ‘In the Royal Courtyard? Out inspecting the dykes? I’ll go to him at once.’
    ‘The King said that you were to go to your rooms,’ said the guard awkwardly.
    Narmer flushed. To be sent to his rooms, like a child! But he simply nodded. He walked along the colonnades to his rooms, trying to keep his dignity.
    And there he stayed.
    No one came to him all afternoon. Finally he could hear music and voices, and smell the smoke from roasting meat. The Trader’s second feast must have begun.
    But even old Seknut didn’t appear, to scold him into washing and make sure he wore his best. No one brought him food either.
    He could have called a servant to bring him bread, at least. But he wouldn’t. This was the King’s punishment. He would bear it as befitted a prince, in dignity and silence.
    Finally the