Simon rose to his feet quickly, reached for one of them, wanting to feel it under his fingertips, imagining its worth could he bring it back home … As his hand approached, his fingers inches away from it, the cobra's jewelled eyes seemed to flicker, glinting like those of a wakening reptile, but he couldn't see it, mesmerized by their beauty –

  A shrill scream tore through the campsite.

  “Where is he?” boomed the voice of Set, highly audible throughout the riverside and alive with vicious fury.

  Simon's brain reeled: His hand jerked to a halt inches before the cobra. Quickly, he reached for the Infinity Key in the middle instead, closed his fist around it, and tugged on the chain to take it off the harness. At once, the serpents on either side came alive – or so it seemed. They shot forward with lightning speed, their fangs open, and their bodies slung themselves around his wrists like ornate iron bracelets.

  “AARGH!” Simon yelled, aghast, then clamped his mouth shut tight, as he remembered how close to discovery he was already. He tried to pull out of the serpents' iron grip, straining against the shackles silently, but they didn't budge. He was trapped for good. Why hadn't he seen this coming? Of course it was a trap, what else could it have been? Of course Set wouldn't have left the pendant lying around without protection, surely guessing – even though he didn't realize its real value, which was far from emotional – what it meant to Simon … How could he have been so stupid?

  Calm down, he told himself, but it was as always difficult to follow his own advice.

  Outside, voices were shouting commands, and there were sounds of a whip cracking, the revolting noise of leather impacting on skin … He had to hurry, but how? He couldn't move an inch...

  The sound of rustling fabric erupted on his right before he had even finished the thought. He whipped his head around in terror, staring through the half-darkness of the surroundings at the spot. There, at the same place he had entered the tent, the canvas was flapping as though it had been touched by a fierce gust of wind. He tugged at his bindings harder than ever, watching, terrified, as a dark shape appeared at the spot, the fabric was pulled upward...

  A blur of dark bronze and glittering white rolled inside –

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  “YOU?!” yelped Simon, as the flash straightened up, dusted off her tunic, and came strolling over to him at a leisurely pace.

  “Were you being greedy again? Got yourself trapped?” Nefertari grinned, pointing at the serpentine cuffs holding him in place

  “How very astute of you,” snarled Simon dryly, then remembered where they were and what was protruding just over his clenched fist; it didn't seem as though she had seen the Infinity Key yet, though.

  Nefertari raised her hand, in which glimmered her dull gold khopesh, at that moment. For a wild moment, Simon thought she had come to end him, but then she brought it down on the two entwined serpents instead, and they broke apart as though she had hit them with a sledgehammer.

  “What are you doing here?” Simon hissed, rubbing his sore wrists; as if being dragged through the desert behind the chariot the day before hadn't been enough, his skin was red from a sort of carpet burn now too.

  “Rescuing you, what else?” Nefertari said casually. Then she shrugged and skipped toward the entrance.

  “But,” said Simon, barely able to believe that she had come to save him, and grabbed her arm tightly as she made all appearances of opening the canvas. “I don't – you're risking your life for me.”

  “Lives,” Nefertari's nonchalant smile was unsettling, as she beckoned him closer.

  “Don't you realize what I've done?“ argued Simon, now feeling a hint of panic again.

  “Yeah, of course I do,” Nefertari said seriously, “but we haven't been very fair to you either. I'd even say we're –“ – A genuine smile lit up her face – “– even. Now let's get moving.”

  Simon lined up next to her hesitantly – arguing wouldn't really help, would it? – as she opened the flap, and peered outside over her shoulder.

  The campsite was deserted in front of them, but through the canvas he could see shadows flit across the sides of the tent.

  And then, before either of them could react, the flap was torn wide open in front of them, with a loud ripping noise.

  “So – so,” said Set, leering with indecent excitement at the sight of them, and his lips curved into another twisted smile. “Do I see this correctly? The descendant giving herself up for the witless boy?”

  “Not exactly,” Nefertari said, shrugging, as though this – trapped by a savage god – was the most normal situation in the world.

  Not a moment later, a flash lit up the firmament beyond the open flap. A radiant light fell from the sky like a glowing ball of fire. When it hit the ground it warped, forming the white-hot silhouette of a young boy with a long, beaky nose...

  “Leave them alone, Set,” said the cold, snarling voice of Horus.