Hearts in Zenith (Four Husbands and a Lover)

53. The Secret of the Lost Pyramid

To leave the ancient palace we had to clear the pile of sand that the storm left in its wake. It blocked the doorway to about waist height. As we were taking turns digging out, Taffiz called me aside.

"There was more potion than I thought, by about half-a-doze. I took my chance, so that's six survivors besides you and me. Why the other two women woke up, I don't know." His shoulders lifted and dropped expressively.

I understood. All of us were subjects to the Divines' will, including the seven women who didn't wake up and the eight women who did.

"Thank you for trying," I said. The half-a-dose of antidote and the Divine's will kept odds in my favor. I had ten women against Peleth's seven.

But we hadn't yet entered the lost pyramid.

There was nothing surprising in the pyramid's shape and color. The black menace increased in size before us with every stride of the dromedary's knobbly legs. First, I could see the black triangle. Then I had to lean back to see its uttermost tip. Finally, the pyramid became a wall of black stone blocking my pass. It preoccupied me so much that I would have missed the fresh body of a woman in gray. Taffiz wouldn't let me. He rode up to my side.

"Look," he said.

My head jerked in the direction he was pointing. I slowed down the dromedary to make sure that my imagination didn't conjure a nightmare out of this alien landscape and fears.

Alas, it didn't. Scoured of flesh by the sand jet, gray cloak of the Deadhead Company hanging in tatters down her shoulders, a woman hung from a purple obelisk. I could make out ropes the Scorpias used to tie her to it. It was thick and the winds sucked the ancient needle smoother than a lump of sugar, but she must have found a still sharp edge to rub the rope against. She freed her wrists before the storm put an end to her.

In the eyes of the Deadhead Company, she was a traitor. Taffiz, however, used another word to describe her--a sacrifice.

"Get her tag," I commanded one of my women. Dying in this place wouldn't purify her soul of sin, if I had anything to say about it. "I want Mythra to remember the name of a woman who let the assassins turn my infirmary into a slaughterhouse."

Taffiz slanted a look at me. "What if they kidnapped her?"

"Mythra would know."

He said no more. Strangely, I missed his voice.

***

The pyramid's black stones gave up waves of heat so powerful I could feel it from ten feet away. Maybe, once I break in, I would find my opponents roasted inside. Such an outcome would put a grim smile on my lips, if it weren't for Parneres. The unfortunate man had suffered enough. 'Just hold on for a little longer, my love,' I thought.

"Where is the door?" I asked Taffiz.

"It's complicated," he murmured.

"What isn't?" I speared him with my eyes, and he hurried to explain.

"The priestesses of Tashaya sealed the pyramid against the robbers. Then, the Scorpia Guild sealed it yet again. The Scorpia and the Sun have always been allies... I'll inscribe a password to open the door, but the wards might still repel some intruders."

"Do it," I commanded.

He didn't move.

"What are you waiting for?"

"First, we must climb over there." Taffiz pointed upward. Once I squinted against the morning sun, I saw a stone block sunk into the structure about a third way up the side of the pyramid.