“I conceded that long ago, my love,” he said. “And I thanked you, if you remember, for saving our lives.”
“I should have let them run their spears through you,” she said, shaking her head and smiling with pursed lips. “Except they would not have done that. The Amahaggar had no tradition of killing except in war. Criminals were exiled, not executed. Not knowing what to do with these two, they brought them to the caverns deep in the Earth where I lived and studied the ancient teachings of Kôr. And then I saw Leo.…”
She looked at him. For a moment, it was as though they were the only two people in that room. It felt so intimate that Catherine wondered if she should turn away.
“He was the image of Kallikrates—as though my beloved had come back to life. I do not know what happens to the spirit after death. I know that the energy of which we are made returns to its source. Can it be embodied again, thousands of years later? Pythagoras thought so. It seemed to me that, just as I was beginning to feel old and tired, just as I was thinking of ending my life upon this Earth, Kallikrates had returned from the dead.”
“What do you think, Mr. Vincey?” asked Clarence. He was looking at them both closely. Well, he had his own complicated romance to figure out—no wonder he was interested in this one! He too was in love with a beautiful, dangerous woman.
“When I saw you,” Leo said to Ayesha, “it was as though I had seen you before, in a dream or another lifetime. I recognized you at once as the woman I loved, and would love until the day I died.”
This was getting… intense. Catherine felt a little uncomfortable. Should they really be listening to this?
“So you came back with him to Budapest?” said Clarence to Ayesha.
“To Vienna, where the Société des Alchimistes was headquartered at the time. The Amahaggar were being driven away from their traditional hunting grounds, into the mountains of the interior. I knew that even if we stood together, we could not prevail against the British—there was little we could do against the guns and explosives of the British East Africa Company. Before I left, I told the chief and his counselors to head north to Ethiopia, where European rule had not yet encroached. I hoped that there the descendants of Kôr could survive the depredations of the European powers. And I was intrigued by Holly’s descriptions of the scientific advances that had been made in the last century. It seemed to me that the age of darkness had passed, and men were once again studying the world empirically. The knowledge of the ancient world was being regained, and discoveries were being made that even the priestesses of Isis had known nothing about. Holly was giving a paper at the annual meeting of the Société des Alchimistes on the ancient sciences of Kôr, so Leo and I accompanied him. The former President of the Alchemical Society was about to end his term. He was old and did not wish to seek reelection. Count Dracula wanted to be the next president. I decided to run against him—and won. And now here I am. The world I knew disappeared a long time ago—my mother, my father, my brother and sisters. The priestesses of Isis, Heduana, and Tera. My city of Meroë, the kingdoms of Nubia and Egypt. Even my gods have passed away from the world. But I have Leo and Holly, and Lady Crowe, and Frau Gottleib, and now Kati to keep my company. I have my work as President of the Société des Alchimistes. It is enough.”
Was it? Catherine wondered. Ayesha’s hair had no gray in it and her face was unlined—she appeared eternally young, like the statue of a woman rather than a living one. But in that moment she seemed as ancient as the Earth itself. Catherine thought, for the first time, that it must be terrible to never grow old and never die.
“And these energic powers,” said Beatrice. “What are they? You have told us that all the things which seem so solid, the table, these chairs, the stones of this building, are made of energy. But how do you draw upon that energy?”
“Watch,” said Ayesha. She raised her hand, and suddenly they were in a garden, with a circular pool where the table used to be. It was filled with lotus flowers, and dragonflies flitted above its surface. They were standing on the paved area around it. On three sides, the garden was surrounded by stone walls over which they could see palm trees. Beneath the walls were long beds filled with a profusion of plants: trees and shrubs and flowers. On the remaining side rose a large stone building, brightly painted in ocher and yellow and blue, with pillars that terminated in lotus blossoms. The sky was blue overhead, with a scattering of white clouds. The sun fell warm on their faces.
“The temple of Isis at Philae,” said Ayesha. “And my home for many years. Reach out—touch something with your hand.”
Beatrice leaned down and tried to lift one of the lotus flowers from the pool. Her gloved hand went right through it.
“Illusion,” said Ayesha. Suddenly, they were back in her office. “Parlor tricks that a circus mesmerist might aspire to.”
“But—how did you do it?” asked Clarence.
“Consciousness is not only in the brain,” said Ayesha. “It is in the body and beyond the body. Each of you is surrounded by the energic waves you generate. I reached out with my own consciousness, and I altered those waves. They transmitted not what your physical eyes saw, but what I directed you to see. However, that is not true power. This is true power.”
She walked over to the table, reached out her hand, and put it on a stack of manuscripts. “These are the ones you’ve rejected, are they not?” she said to Holly.
“Yes, but is this absolutely necessary?” He shoved his chair back several inches. Its legs screeched on the floor.
“You would have discarded them anyway. Why not use them for a demonstration? Watch,” she said to them all. Under her hand, the stack of manuscripts burst into flames. In a moment, all that lay on the table was a pile of gray ash.
“God damn!” exclaimed Clarence, and immediately looked chagrined at the outburst. “Excuse me, ladies. I didn’t mean—”
“Even that,” Ayesha continued, “is not true power. This is true power.” She reached out to Leo, who had not moved his chair back, and touched his cheek where Catherine could see the scratches left by Lucinda’s fingernails. “In another day or two, these scratches will be completely healed, and Leo’s cheek will once again be unblemished. If I had not healed them, he would have borne those scars until the day he died.” She stroked his cheek. He put his hand over hers and held it there. It was strange to see the two of them looking so tender.
“Now,” she said in her usual crisp tones, turning and moving away from the table, “our break is over. Holly, Leo, and I have work to do, and no doubt you do as well. Beatrice, as a member of the Société des Alchimistes, I expect you to report back to me on your progress in locating Lydia Raymond and dealing with her mother. This is yet another experiment of the society let loose upon the world. I believe you and your fellow members of the Athena Club are capable of dealing with it—I have great confidence in your abilities—but if you find that you need the support of the society, call upon me, and I shall do my best to assist you. Dr. Raymond was, and perhaps still is, a dangerous man—your world is not ready for the power he seeks. The priestesses of Philae trained to use the energic powers of the Earth from the time they were children. They did so within an intellectual framework and for a spiritual purpose. Dr. Raymond attempted to produce the same results through surgery, with none of that training or preparation. It is no wonder that his experimental subject went mad. I want to make sure that he and the results of his experiments are stopped. Mr. Jefferson, it was a pleasure to meet you. If you wish to speak again about the ancient world, in which you seem to have a particular interest, come see me. Now Leo, if you could escort our guests out? And if any of you would like more kifli, do take some with you. There is plenty left.”