Dancer of the Nile (Gods of Egypt) Read Online Free Page A

Can they be coming after us already? I’d hoped my potion would leave them sleeping till well after the dawn.”
    With one shaking finger she indicated a visible column of dust against the clear night sky behind them. Eyes narrowed, he gestured for her to get into the chariot. “Now it’s going to be a race. Hold on tight.” He jumped into the vehicle on her heels and flicked the reins hard, jolting their team into a gallop.
    The horses flew over the ground as Kamin applied the long whip. Nima kept watch behind them and was dismayed to see the cloud of dust drawing closer, until she could make out the chariots full of soldiers.
    “Three chariots, a total of seven men,” she reported, tugging on Kamin’s arm gently.
    He risked a lightning glance behind them, his face grim. “Can you drive?”
    Panic flared in Nima’s gut, but she forced her voice to frame words, trying to seem confident. “Yes. I’ve driven oxen. Can't be terribly different.”
    He guffawed, a welcome sound in this tense moment. “I must meet these oxen of yours, since they apparently rival the best Hyksos chariot horses. Keep the team galloping in a straight line, unless you have to avoid an obstacle.”
    Swallowing hard, she edged closer to the center front of the chariot. Kamin cracked the whip again, gaining a small spurt of speed from the horses, and handed her the leather straps. Sidling over a step or two in the heaving chariot, he pulled the war bow off its hooks, grabbing an arrow from the leather quiver. He took an archer’s stance next to her, aiming at their pursuers. Muscles flexing, he pulled the bow impossibly taut, wood creaking under the strain, and let the arrow fly.
    “Missed,” he said, selecting his next arrow.
    “How can you even see well enough to aim? Isn’t the chariot an unsteady platform?” She risked a quick sideways glance at him. “Should you waste the arrows?”
    Shaking his head, he grinned at her, his teeth white in the moonlight. “Such doubt for my abilities. Rest assured, I’m used to shooting from a speeding chariot. Now I have the range, and the ranks of our pursuers are about to be diminished.” Drawing the bow again, he let fly. Nima craned her head slightly and saw someone fall out of the pursuing chariot.
    “One down,” he said. “I’ll even the odds for us, I promise.”
    His next arrow was equally deadly. Nima fought with the reins, arms pulled nearly from their sockets trying to keep the horses moving full speed in the direction Kamin wanted to go. His fourth arrow went wild as the chariot took an unexpected bounce over a ridge in the hard-packed ground.
    “Sorry,” Nima yelled. The gait of the horse on the left was becoming less smooth, and he stumbled. She was preparing to warn Kamin of the problem when the animal collapsed in a boneless heap and the chariot slewed, tipping on one wheel. Flying through the air, Nima instinctively tucked into an acrobat’s pose, hitting the ground hard but rolling. Breath knocked out of her, she skidded and lay dazed, mouth open as she tried to suck air into her chest.
    “Are you all right?” Kamin ran to her, kneeling by her side and running his hands over her body rapidly before helping her sit. “No broken bones, thank the gods. Come on, we only have moments before they arrive.”
    Picking her up effortlessly, he sprinted to the overturned chariot.
    She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
    “It’s not your fault. We pushed the poor beast beyond his endurance.” Kamin set her on her feet next to the chariot. The horse was sprawled motionless in the traces, cross tree shattered, the other horse long gone into the night. Taking a step or two, Nima knelt beside the animal’s body and smoothed her palm down its neck. “Thank you,” she whispered.
    Putting his hand under her elbow, Kamin pulled her to her feet, giving her a gentle push toward the chariot. “Quickly, crawl under there and stay put. They won’t be able