Fear enclosed Michael in it's icy grip as he flew towards the temple of Isis. Something had gone badly wrong when Sofia had attempted to take her revenge on Ademus. Paul hadn't told him everything, but Michael knew that Sofia had wanted to avenge her mother's death. Paul obviously had not forseen her reaction else he surely would have risked allowing her to be present at the sacrifice. Spying the temple a short distance away, Michael swooped down, calling to John and Marie as he did so. By the time he reached th courtyard, they were waiting for him.
"What brings you here at this time of night, Michael?" John asked. Michael took a couple of seconds to gather his thoughts before replying. "Paul has sent me. He is with Sofia and Kieran at the tribesmen's camp. He would have travelled himself, but Francois and his men are also camped there with some American soldiers, looking for Paul and Kieran so that they may kill them in vengance for the death of Ademus upon the altar of Amun-Ra. Paul requests you to travel to the camp with all haste as Sofia has reacted badly to the sacrifice." He replied. John nodded.
"Paul should have waited to pass that sentence on Ademus." Marie said.
"No. We know what tradition states on that matter. If Paul had hesitated in passing down the judgement of Amun-Ra upon Ademus when he did, Isfet would have come upon the World until such a time as Amun-Ra was once again appeased and Maat restored. Paul had no choice in this." John replied. Michael turned to leave, "I have to go back to the temple of Bast and prepare for the festival." He said, once more taking the shape of a hwak. John turned to Marie, "We have no time to spare, we must leave now if we are to arrive at Saeed's camp before Re-Horakhte rises." He said.
Francois awoke the following morning to hear crying outside the tent. Looking out he saw a large number of people gathered at the entrance to the tent he had been told the old stallion, Osiris, slept in. "What is going on?" He asked Saeed.
"I am vey sorry that we have woken you, but we are consumed with grief. Osiris awaits the arrival of the White stallion to lead him home." Saeed replied.
"Is the White stallion, not Paul?" Francois asked.
"The Highest of High Priests is able to take the shape of a white stallion, but he is not the White stallion. The stallion of which we speak is older even than the Highest of High Priests. Paul rode the White stallion upto the courtyard of Bast's temple the day it was finished. Such a sight had never been seen in all our land. Paul was not Egyptian and there had never been horses in Egypt before that time. The White stallion comes for a horse when they are ready to die, so that he may lead them on their last journey home. Maybe he will also come for Paul when it is time for him to die so they may return to where they came from." Saeed replied. Francois was puzzled by this, he had considered Paul to be Egyptian, just choosing a new name to fit the times. That he had come from a country outside Egypt had never crossed his mind.
Inside the tent, John and Marie were frantically working with Paul to help Sofia recover from her reaction to the sacrifice. "There is nowhere we can take her in Egypt that can be kept secret for long, Paul. Not even the Triaxial Temple itself. At the same time, trying to get her out of Egypt and back home, is going to be even harder. If Francois gets a whiff of what is going on, every route out of the country will be blocked by the French army. We are facing a hopeless situation." John said. Paul looked up at him. "We must try. Even if for a short time, the Triaxial Temple is the only place that both Sofia and Kieran will be safe. I can do nothing until the Festival of Bast is finished. Once the celebrations at my temple are completed, I can appoint them in their rightful positions at Amun-Ra's temple. Francois and his men will not be able to gain access until Amun-Ra, Bast and Isis deem the time is right. Then, it will be too late for him to do anything. By that time, both Kieran and Sofia will be appointed High Priest and Priestess at the temple of Amun-Ra and my period of rest will have finished." Paul replied. "What about the White stallion. Saeed will have told Francois all about that by now. He will be expected by noon. If he does not come, then francois will be suspicious and determined to gain access to this tent." Martin said. Paul nodded. "This is a problem. But, it is easily solved. Marie, you need to be ready to get Sofia out of this tent as soon as there is sufficient distraction. Kieran will help you with this. John, I must ask you to undertake the greatest risk by playing the part of Osiris. You will know what you must do, but for a short time, I must leave the tent." He said. the others nodded, as Paul left the tent from the back, grateful to Saeed that that particular side of the tent had been placed so that it faced onto the bank of the dried riverbed. Quietly making his way along the bottom of the bank, he turned towards the desert, taking the shape of a White stallion as he did so. Still hidden from view of the camp, he worked round the back of it, taking care not to leave a mark by which he could be followed. When he judged himself to be sufficiently far from the camp so that his arrival back could not be pre-empted, he threw caution to the wind and started to gallop across the sand towards the camp. He came to a sudden halt in full view of the entire camp and reared up, screaming with joy.