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as a mother. His ka suffers great torture knowing that she was murdered and that her killer has gone unpunished for so many
     years. The idea that her majesty’s spirit cries out for vengeance torments him. Anyway, I must go because there’s no one else.
     Kysen must remain here to conduct business with the king and to keep an eye on those who may be involved.”
    “Who?”
    “There are several, but two are Asiatics, so I thought you’d know more about them than anyone here. A dealer in weapons called
     Dilalu, and a merchant named Zulaya.”
    Getting to her feet, Anath dusted off her gown and leaned against the tree trunk. Folding her arms, she cocked her head to
     the side in her characteristic gesture and regarded him solemnly.
    “Dilalu is loyal only to himself and to gold. Riches are his only lust, except for his cat. He’ll cast his own father into
     the Lake of Fire if paid enough, but he’s a coward. That’s why he surrounds himself with mercenaries. I can’t see him ever
     having the courage to carry out such a blasphemy.”
    “And Zulaya?”
    “Zulaya has no interest in the affairs of kings except when they touch his own dealings. I have had business with him often
     in Babylon. If threatened he’s capable of killing, efficiently and without remorse.”
    “Has he ever mentioned Akhenaten or Horizon of the Aten?”
    Anath shook her head. “He comes to Egypt for trade, Meren. He has a house here, but he spends more time abroad than in the
     Two Lands.”
    “Someone ordered the queen’s murder,” Meren snapped in frustration.
    “Isn’t it more likely to have been an Egyptian?” Anath asked with eyebrows raised.
    “That’s what I assumed until I received information that pointed to three men—Zulaya, Dilalu, and Yamen, who is dead.”
    “Yamen? An officer in the army. A corrupt officer, if I’m not mistaken. I’ve heard complaints about him from some of the Canaanite
     vassals.”
    “He was murdered before I could fully question him. He was still alive when I reached him, but what he said made no sense.”
    Anath’s gaze fastened on him, and she raised her eyebrows in inquiry.
    Meren sighed. “He babbled something about the one who killed him. Yamen said his killer would destroy me as he had him, that
     all perish who threaten him. He said no one else knew the killer like he did. A familiar refrain. I’ve heard such claims before
     from the companions of men of great evil. I hope he wasn’t right, or I’ll never find the bastard.”
    Anath shoved away from the tree trunk. Head down, hands clasped behind her back, she walked in a circle without speaking.
     Then she stopped and looked directly at him.
    “Let me think for a while. I might remember something about these men that will help. You’ve looked at the royal records and
     questioned the queen’s former servants, I take it.”
    “Those that are still alive. Some are dead. There is no record of what became of many others. With the passage of time many
     moved around and the royal records don’t show where they went. That’s what happened with the queen’s guard, Sebek.”
    “Of course.”
    Anath resumed her slow walk. Meren got up and brushed himself off.
    “I have it!” Anath exclaimed.
    “What?”
    “On your way to Syene stop at Horizon of the Aten and look at the records there.”
    “Horizon of the Aten is almost completely abandoned. Many of the brick buildings are falling apart.”
    “But outdated records were left behind in places like the overseers’ offices, the royal granaries, and the office of the king’s
     correspondence. I know where a lot of things were kept. I was there often enough. I’ll come with you and help you look in
     the right places.”
    “I can find them myself,” Meren said. “After I see Sebek.”
    “If I go with you, we can stop on the way to Syene because it won’t take as long to search.”
    “I don’t want to take the time.”
    Anath rolled her eyes. “You can’t be certain