Piay looked out across the scene of celebration. He had never dreamed he would see this day. There was still work to do, of course, hunting down the remnants of the Hyksos horde and driving them back through the Sinai so they would know never to attack Egypt again. But for now, after half a century of hardship, bloodshed and death, the Great Liberation had finally arrived.

Turning to the river, Piay looked along the masts stretching into the night. The Spartan navy was moored as far as the eye could see. Piay moved along the quayside, questioning the groups of sailors huddled around their fires until he found the information he wanted.

Climbing the gangplank of the warship as he had done once before, far beyond the Great Green, Piay glanced along the deck to where a lamp flickered. Admiral Hui perched on a stool, sipping from a cup of wine. When he saw Piay, he raised a hand and beckoned to his visitor. Hui looked much as he had the last time Piay had seen him, his grey hair tumbling from his bald pate, his weather-beaten face like old leather, the crinkles of humour spreading around the eyes and mouth.

‘Do I have you to thank for answering the prayers of all good Egyptians?’ Piay asked.

‘You should thank yourself,’ Hui replied, his eyes twinkling in the lamplight. He poured Piay a cup of wine. ‘If you had not pleaded the case, the call would not have been answered.’

‘But Hurotas was adamant that no aid could be offered. He feared retribution from the Hyksos – the damage to trade, even war.’

Hui shrugged. ‘Perhaps I had some small part to play. And General Mennias. And the beautiful Serrena.’ He winked at Piay. ‘You seem to have caught her attention. That rarely happens.’

‘You all persuaded the king to change his mind?’

Hui held out a hand. ‘It took a good two years. He is not an easy man to convince. But Mennias and I made the strategic case for helping the Egyptians, and Serrena tugged on her father’s heartstrings, as only daughters can.’

‘Then you have my thanks, all of you. If you had not arrived this day, with such fortuitous timing, Egypt would now be lost and all of us would be buried beneath the shifting sands.’