Curse of the Golden Fly - Chapter one

Prologue

3100 BC

The King will kill me!

Tears ran down his hollow cheeks. His robe clung to his sweat-drenched body as he hurried from the Royal Treasury. His dry throat constricted when he thought what would be worse than death. The King, in his insurmountable fury, would have him cut into a thousand pieces to be devoured by flesh-eating beetles, then he would feed the beetles to a buzzard. The buzzard would be fed to the great crocodile in the Nile, and then the crocodile would be slaughtered. As if that wasn’t enough, the King would use the hide of the crocodile to smother the last breath from those of his blood. The name of his family would be erased for all eternity. His loved ones would be pulverized into dust and mixed into the mortar that would be used to build the next temple to the demon Apep.

The Grand Vizier was not a thief by nature. He was treated very well by the King of Lower Egypt, as his father’s father had been before him. He had grown up playing in the royal gardens, as had his children; his sweet wife idled away peaceful hours in the fragrant gardens laughing with the King’smany wives. But that was before the King started worshiping Apep, god of chaos and darkness, the Eater-up of Souls. That was before the plagues of thunderstorms and earthquakes, before Apep startedswallowing Ra during the day, causing their world to fall into darkness. The only way to stop the corruption of his King was to discover, in advance, what he plotted. What new horrors would his King bring upon his subjects? The defenders of Ra must be alerted; they would stop the madness and drive Apep back into the Underworld.

Hidden within the folds of his robe was an object of solid gold that fit into the palm of his hand.What made the object so valuable was not the two large, flawless rubies embedded within, but the magic it possessed and the ability to betray his King was the greatest power of all.

Chapter 1

2001

“Samir, I’ll miss you!” Lesley cried. “Promise you’ll write to me. Please, I’ll be lost without you. You’ve been my best friend forever.” She threw her arms around Samir, then kissed him on the cheek.

“Geesh, Lesley, everyone is watching!” He blushed, then gently pushed her away. Best friends don’t kiss.

His father said they were going home – to Egypt. It had hit him hard at first. Home was here in Indiana. Here was the only house he had ever lived in. Here were all his friends and his parents’ friends. Egypt was in books, not home. But his grandmother said she was dying and wanted to see the sands of her country again. They still had relatives over . . . there. Most were successful businessmen and women. Theyweren’t going to be goat herders or anything. He wouldn’t be giving up much, just his home – his life. And, of course, Lesley. Boy, he’d miss her. Lesley teased that he came from a line of kings, but he assured her that his family tree grew frommore humble roots. His grandmother said they came from a line of Grand Viziers, whatever that meant. He didn’t feel like an Egyptian. He’d been born and raised in Wabash, Indiana, and he felt like an American. Lesley said they were going to get married after college, but he had just rolled his eyes. He glanced over at his friend and saw that she had Mike, one of their schoolmates, in a head lock. Through the years, school bullies had made comments about his skin color. Lesley’s freckles would disappear under a shade of crimson and she would be on them like a rabid badger.

The moving van had gone and all that was left to do was pack up Grandma and head for the airport. Friends had gathered on Samir’s manicured yard to say their last goodbyes. A grunt broke Samir’s nostalgic thoughts; now Lesley had Mike in a scissors hold and was squeezing the air out of his lungs.

“Lesley, I have something I want to give to you – a going-away gift. Lesley! Do you mind giving your best friend a few minutes? The best friend who you’re not going to see you for e-v-e-r,” he added above the moans and grunts. He nudged her with the toe of his tennis shoe. She jumped to her feet, her braids whipping like Medusa’s snakes, and gave Mike a hand up. His face was returning to its normal color. Samir was used to seeing a lot of red faces at school; someone was always taking Lesley on.