The township of Zawte stretched out endlessly before them. It had taken them another two hours to reach the front gates, and now that they were there, Simon found himself awed. Of course, it was nothing to the city Asyut of his time, but the magnitude of the settlement was intimidating nonetheless.

  On this side of the Nile river, Zawte spread out on the riverbed for a least half a mile; sandy roads and aisles led through simple mudbrick huts and thatched cottages in narrow rows; plain fences provided shelter for the homes' still sleeping owners; the cooking stations behind the main structures were empty. Simon could see the Nile, glimmering lazily in the morning sun, wind past languidly behind them.

  Horus changed visibly as they approached the township; the closer they came to the town and its temple, situated in its center, the higher the god held his chin and shoulders. It wasn't in vain either. People stopped to gaze at his showcased body, their eyes wandered from his muscular torso to his lean arms and legs and back.

  But while Horus seemed to bask in the glowing looks of his many admirers, Nefertari became more and more irritable the more faces appeared in the crowd to stare. Simon thought he knew why: For laying low, they were attracting quite a bit of attention.

  “Will you stop it?” hissed Nefertari, as though she had read Simon's mind.

  “Stop what?” Horus grinned innocently at her through fluttering eyelashes, then flashed his perfectly white teeth at the simpering audience. Nefertari elbowed him hard in the ribs, making his smile peel rapidly off his lips.

  “Prancing,” bit Nefertari at that moment.

  “I can't help it, it's in my nature … Stop grinning like that, human,” Horus shot at Simon moodily, for Simon hadn't been able to resist a satisfied smirk. It was about time the god received his retaliation for the days he had spent taunting him. Maybe travelling with the insane pair wasn't so bad after all.

  Simon grimaced at Horus, then turned to Nefertari and said reprovingly, “I thought we were supposed to lay low – shouldn't we avoid towns?” He ignored Horus' derisive snort.

  “I just want to check something out,” Nefertari said airily, though Simon couldn't help noticing the way Horus' eyebrows contracted at her words.

  “Is – Is it wise to just walk in there? Shouldn't we go around instead?” Simon persisted as they passed the township's gates. Perhaps the burning heat of the day had caused both of them lose their heads, perhaps they were just feeling suicidal. Simon, however, did not. From all he had learned in the past few hours about Set, nothing of which was very good, and all of which was rather terrifying, Zawte was perhaps the worst possible place for them to be.

  Nefertari raised an eyebrow at him, “Why not?”

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  “Well, with Set in close proximity, I should think you want to avoid –”

  Nefertari laughed a pearly laugh, and it sounded like the cawing of a crow, yet strangely musical to Simon's ears. She shook her head so that her golden jewellery jiggled against each other in song.

  “He's not here yet,” she said.

  Horus opened his mouth as though to say something, but decided against it. For the tiniest moment, Simon wondered if Horus agreed with him.

  “How could you possibly know that?” replied Simon instead.

  To his surprise, however, it wasn't Nefertari who replied but Horus, “My uncle likes to be the center of attention. He'd want to make an entrance,” the god said (As if you can talk, thought Simon), “not sneak in while everyone's sleeping.”

  “Set doesn't need to sneak. Remember, this is official business,” said Nefertari. “He wants his allegiance known. He wants everyone to know where he stands now, took him long enough.”

  “Oh,” said Simon lamely.

  A remarkable variety of pets and livestock bumbled around them. Geese, ducks, dogs were bumbling through the streets, and the occasional goat or cattle could be seen in front of the homes of wealthier owners, also recognizable by the elaborate decoration on their cottages. Cats prowled the streets, black, ginger, white and brown, lazily lounged across the roofs of houses, and dashed through alleyways, often chased by dogs or children, or both.

  A man attempting to pull a small donkey, which was loaded with goods, after himself passed them on their way toward the center of the township, where a temple like a mosque rose against the pale blue morning sky. It was quite apparent, however, that the stubborn animal would rather linger: It dug its hooves into the ground adamantly and wouldn't be moved, not even when the man tried to lure it with a carrot.

  As he watched the struggle, Simon's left arm burned white-hot again, as it had the other day, and it was all he could do to suppress an outcry of pain. He looked around quickly, making sure both of his companions were occupied; Nefertari was walking in front of him, her face set with grim determination, oblivious to everything but the way ahead; and behind him, Horus was strolling along, idly examining his own fingernails.

  Slowly, Simon pulled his sleeve back from his forearm. The rash had spread from his wrist to his elbow, coating his skin in large pustules and angry blisters. A scaly, black crust, which looked rather like the residue of burnt coals, had began to form where the spots were densest. It was as hard as rock underneath his touch. Feeling somewhat nervous about this curious new development, Simon replaced his sleeve back over the area. At some point, he would have to try and do something about the rash, though he couldn't fathom a possible remedy for this illness he had never seen before.

  Simon, Nefertari, and Horus reached the middle of the township shortly after. There was a large communal well on what appeared to be the main square, on the edges of which the first merchants and salesmen were already busy setting up their stalls under a large, woven canopy. On the other side of this marketplace, a wide space opened to the gates of a large temple. The building was flanked by statues of the god Anubis, recognizable by his jackal's head, holding a sceptre curving into a scythe, decorated with an ankh – the symbol of life – at its tip.

  Nefertari draped a hood over her head as soon as the first customers ventured into the square to go about their business. Horus, too, had wrapped a sort of shawl around his head to stay incognito. Even Simon, who was in the least danger of being recognized in this era, took out his blue-striped bush-hat and put it on his head. If not much for disguise, at least it shielded his eye from the burning sun.