Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Kerma
AYISHA WAS SITTING ON A CRATE up on the weather deck, embroidering a
colorful border onto the neck of the sleeveless linen tunic she had
made for her brother, when a shadow fell across her work. She looked
up to see Shabako himself standing before her. “Good morning,
brother,” she said in their language. She held up her project. “See? I
found embroidery silk in the color of lapis lazuli, and carnelian, and this
bright yellow. You will not have jewelry befitting your station when we
disembark in Zerzura, but you will not be unadorned!”
Her brother did not even glance at the colorful needlework. Ayisha
shaded her eyes with her hand to see his expression. The weather
was mild and clear—but a thundercloud could not have looked darker
or more ominous than the young pharaoh’s expression. She lowered
her hands, setting her work off to the side.
“Walk with me, sister,” he commanded, and turned away. Ayisha
followed him silently. She’d rarely seen her father angry, but just now,
Shabako had resembled Taharka more strongly than he ever had
before.
Shabako led the way, down the ladder to the main deck, then
down again, until they were standing together in the now considerably
emptier cargo hold of the ship. No crewmen were present at the
moment.
Ayisha forced herself to face her brother quietly, her hands at her
sides. He had always been forthright and direct as a boy, and he did
not play games with her now, but came straight to the point. “Last night,
I could not sleep, so I came next door to see if you were still awake and
wanted to go up on deck with me and look at the stars, as we did when
we were children, and our nurse nodded off. We would go up on the
roof of the palace, and watch the heavens.”
“I remember,” Ayisha said, very quietly.