“How?” she mumbled into his chest.

“I will explain all. But your father’s in great danger.”

She straightened and stared up at him, distraught. “Then you heard. He’s fallen again into his great slumber. I only got to speak to him for a few breaths … and even then he was still half in dream, making no sense.” Her fingers tightened on Shaduf’s arms. “He showed great agitation, crying out whenever one of the Blood of Ka priests drew near to his bed. I knew something was wrong.”

Shaduf turned to Jake. “The snwn must have already given my brother the first draught of nightshadow.”

It took Jake a moment to understand. Snwn was the ancient Egyptian word for “doctor.” He pictured the painted man in the royal clothes. He wasn’t a servant but the royal physician.

“He will not wait long to give the second,” Shaduf warned.

Bach’uuk repeated the words they’d heard earlier. “Two draughts. Two will fall.”

“What are you talking about?” Nefertiti asked.

“Come. I will explain as we go.”

Nefertiti grabbed her sword from a tabletop as they headed out. Shaduf quickly explained everything as they rushed down the hall. As the plot became clear, fury sped her feet.

At the end of the hall stood a larger door banded in gold. Without knocking, Nefertiti shoved it open.

The pharaoh’s bed had been set up in the main room, facing the open balcony. Even with the warm breeze, the place smelled of unguents and acrid oils. A thin, pale-skinned man lay under a thin sheet. His body was skeletally thin, wasted to bone.

A young woman shot to her feet as they all barged inside. She had been kneeling at the bedside. She looked about frantically until she recognized Nefertiti.

“Sister, what is this commotion? You gave me a deathly fright.”

Though a few years older, the resemblance was unmistakable, even down to the same swollen red eyes. But she carried herself with more grace. Her hands and face were meticulously powdered white, her eyes thickly lined in black.

Jake searched the room. There was no sign of the doctor.

“Layla,” Nefertiti demanded, “where is Thutmose?”

Her sister shook her head, not understanding. “Gone. He said he had another elixir he believed would help Father. He would come back after the sun set.”

Jake turned to Nefertiti. “That must be when he plans on giving the second draught.”

“Who are these people?” Layla asked, her voice soft with worry. She definitely didn’t have the constitution of her younger sister.

Nefertiti looked at them, plainly unsure how to answer.

Pindor stepped in. Ever since seeing Nefertiti again, his spirits had brightened. “We’re friends,” he stammered out. “Right?”

He clearly wanted to be more than a friend.

“And we’re family,” Shaduf added, hobbling forward.

Once again the revelation unfolded, and Layla went from shock, to horror, to delight. And like her sister, she ended up in a warm embrace, leaning on her uncle as if a burden she’d been carrying could be shared.