Ayesha smiled. “Very well, then. Let us go defeat Queen Tera—or convince her to surrender, if we can. I hope this will end peacefully, so there is no need to fight after all. But you should be prepared to do so.”
MARY: Why do you think Ayesha helped us? I mean, I don’t think she even particularly likes us, except for Beatrice.
BEATRICE: That is not true! She has said several times that she respects the Athena Club and its members.
MARY: Respect is not the same as like—it just means she doesn’t blast us to bits when she sees us. But she didn’t have to come all that way to help fight Queen Tera.
CATHERINE: She didn’t come for us. She came for Tera. She came to see her old High Priestess, who was threatening to destroy the world. I wouldn’t say that Ayesha is on our side, but she’s not on the other side either. She’s not our enemy.
MARY: Maybe. I haven’t made up my mind about that yet. I think the evidence is inconclusive.
An hour later, Catherine and the others were standing in front of Kyllion Keep, which towered against the sky. The storm had passed. The sky was no longer a gray expanse. It was filled with clouds in long white furrows, and sunlight fell fitfully over the stones of the keep. The morning air was cold. Catherine, who was always cold in England except on the hottest summer days, shivered.
She looked at Ayesha, standing in the middle of the crescent they made: herself and Justine on one side, Beatrice and Lucinda on the other. Catherine was the only one with a pistol, but she was also prepared to fight with tooth and claw if necessary.
DIANA: You don’t have claws anymore. Moreau made sure of that.
MARY: Now that was entirely uncalled for. You may be mad at Catherine, but there’s no reason to be cruel.
DIANA: Well, maybe we’re even now.
Diana and Laura were somewhere on the other side of the keep. “Even a fortress has more than one door,” Laura had said. “Let’s go look for a back way in. I’m sure we’ll find one if we look carefully.”
Ayesha presented a formidable figure. Today, she was dressed in a long black coat over what appeared to be black bloomers. Her outfit had gold stars on it. It had taken a while for Catherine to realize they represented the constellations. Her black braids hung down her back, past her waist.
They had been standing there for several minutes. During those minutes, Ayesha had not said or done anything. She was just standing there. What was she waiting for?
A figure appeared at the window above the front entrance of the keep. It was Queen Tera, in a white robe like the one she had been wearing yesterday. There was no blood on her shoulder, and she did not appear to be wounded or weakened in any way.
She looked down at them and said something in a language Catherine did not understand.
“Yes, High Priestess,” said Ayesha. “I too have survived into this new era. Let us speak the language of this country so the others may understand.”
“It is an ugly language,” said Tera. Her voice was harsh, her accent strange to Catherine’s ears. “But it is good to see you, my daughter in Isis. I have been lonely among these infants, who have never seen Memphis, or Alexandria, or Rome. They imagine their empire is magnificent—this edifice of a day, this moth that flutters for an hour. It was built only a hundred years ago, but already it begins to crumble and crack. Have you come to join me in remaking the world? I will allow you to be my second in command, as Heduana was before she betrayed me. But you shall not betray me, will you, Princess of Meroë? You see, I remember you well, Ayesha. When I felt your presence outside these walls, I was pleased. And these others, no doubt they are your servants in this new world. How is it you have lived so long? You must have discovered some secret that even the priestesses of Isis did not know. You will share it with me, and I shall give you a portion of this world to rule for your own, as Alexander gave Egypt to Ptolemy. Would you like this wretched island of England? Or perhaps you would prefer a land with better weather?”
“Forgive me, mother in Isis,” said Ayesha, “but I have not come to help you conquer an empire. I want no more empires. In my long life, I have seen for myself the misery they cause. After your death, Rome destroyed Egypt, as this British Empire destroyed my adopted homeland around the Zambesi. Already, as you say, the empires of this world are breaking apart. I look forward to a new day of science, when man may be ruled by rationality rather than fear and brute force. Will you not join me in creating such a world? As Queen, you were the one effective ruler of Egypt for a generation. As High Priestess, you taught us to heal, to harness the energic powers of the Earth. In this new world, you could become a teacher, a scientist, a voice for reason and order. Why do you now want to create an empire?”
Tera looked down at them. Her ruby scarab glowed in the morning light. “Daughter, for two thousand years I lay entombed. All that time, I dreamed, and what I dreamed was that someday, I would create a great empire, greater than that of Octavian, which would accomplish all you desire—under my rule. In that empire, all men would be forced to lay down their arms, to take up productive employment rather than exploiting one another, to become better than themselves. War, poverty, hunger would be at an end. All would be equal—prejudice would be eradicated. Any who oppressed or used violence against another would be struck down by the power of Isis. It would be a world made perfect and peaceful, ruled by the priestesses of Isis—calmly, rationally, and for the greatest good of the greatest number.”
“And what of those who did not wish to obey you?” asked Ayesha.
“They would be persuaded by the use of mesmeric power,” said Tera, as though stating the obvious. “If that proved ineffective, they would of course be eliminated. Why should those who oppose peace, prosperity, and rational rule be allowed to create disorder for others? I shall create a world of order, in which all men will be content and productive.”
“Then they will not be free,” said Ayesha. “Freedom includes the ability to disobey.”
“What is freedom? A breath of air when you say the word. You say the syllables, and like that it is gone. Better than freedom are peace and prosperity. That is what I would bring the world.”
“I cannot allow you to do that,” said Ayesha. “I have seen such peace and prosperity in Africa, have heard of it in India and Asia. It is neither peaceful nor prosperous. Mankind must be taught to be rational, to cast aside centuries of tribalism and even nationalism. I believe such a thing is possible, that with education and time—”
“Beware, daughter. This world is already on the path to war. Your choice will lead to death and destruction. In Margaret’s mind, I have seen the embers of what will become a conflagration among the Germanic tribes and in the lands of Gaul. I would save this world from despair such as you have never known.”
For a moment, Ayesha hesitated. She seemed undecided.
Catherine grabbed her by the arm. Fiercely, she whispered, “Moreau used to say things like that—order, humanity, civilization. It was always supposed to be for the benefit of mankind. But he ended up making monsters.”
Ayesha looked at her, nodded, and turned back to the Egyptian queen.