Around midday, the marketplace was buzzing with people. There seemed to be no order whatsoever to this haphazardly thrown together market, and yet there was a strange dynamic to the place. Carts had been rolled onto the streets and under canopies, from behind which their wealthy owners bartered various, exotic wares and commodities. Merchants jabbered and chattered from the shade their stalls, their hands flying wildly as they haggled, their voices mingling with the customers' into an incomprehensive drone. A smell of damp riverside air, cured leather, spices, and fresh vegetables and fruit hung in the air.

  Simon could hardly believe his luck. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined he would some day be able to experience life in ancient Egypt first hand. He excused himself from the other two with the promise that he would not try to escape (a proclamation which caused Horus to laugh derisively), feeling that this was much too good an opportunity to pass on. Neither of them stopped him as he wended his way into the market, though he was sure his captors were following him with their eyes.

  Simon skipped through the crowd, taking in everything yet nothing in particular. If only he could take some of those items home … The wonderment and admiration with which he would be received by the archaeologists back home would be better than any treasure...

  There were all sorts of things on display on the battered, old carts and stall of the vendors. Some were selling pottery, beautifully crafted vases, plates, and jugs. Others offered clothing, shoes, sandals, colourful fabrics and intricate jewellery made of bronze and copper and enhanced with precious gems. Again others sold fruit, vegetables, wheat and flax (which could be used to make linen) and powdered dyes. Simon even saw goats, ducks, and, once or twice, pigs being haggled over.

  “Beautiful necklace for your girl? She's very pretty,” one of the vendors, brandishing a piece of jewellery, nodded at something behind Simon as he passed the man's stall, hands in his pockets and sweat pearling on his nose in spite of Morgan's hat.

  Simon glanced back at the well, where he had left his two companions. Nefertari was watching him through half closed eyelids and with the lazy air of a well fed lioness and waved cheerfully when she noticed his gaze. Horus was nowhere to be seen.

  “Oh no, no. She's not –“ Simon said, fighting the impulse to smirk. “Well yes, she is.”

  He moved on at the double after that, determined to yield into the pouring mass of people to escape Nefertari's eyes, which he could feel piercing into the back of his neck. He had no intention to flee (never mind the futility of such an attempt), but he hated the feeling of being observed, not trusted to keep his word … Almost as though he wanted his companions to trust him...

  Toward the back of the marketplace, he found more carts which had previously been covered by those in front, and more merchants and their customers negotiating animatedly over prices and stock. Here, Simon saw a lonely cow, standing in the shade between two stalls, with a rope around her neck and a doleful, sad look.

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  And then, all of a sudden, the prickling feeling in his neck, which he knew came from being watched, observed, intensified. At the same time, the noise from the marketplace behind him subsided, reduced to a low buzz.

  Simon looked around, thinking Nefertari had joined him, but instead noticed that he had walked further than he had intended to, deeper into the complex of randomly thrown-together cottages lining the dingy aisles. Although it was sunny out, the alleyway he found himself in lay completely in shadow. It was strangely cool in the alley, too, and eerily quiet, as though all sound had been swallowed by the sudden darkness.

  Simon stopped dead and turned around, the odd feeling that something was amiss in the back of his head. The marketplace was still there, brightly lit by the sun. Why wouldn't it be? He laughed airily, more to reassure himself than out of genuine amusement. The forced sound sent an icy shiver over his back, and he stopped quickly.

  Outside of his quiet, shadowy aisle, everything was moving in slow motion, and the sunlit, colourful world of the marketplace had an unreal aspect, as though he were viewing everything through some sort of blueish-transparent shimmering fog. A phenomenon not unlike what he had observed inside the time portal.

  But that couldn't be … Nothing had happened to suggest he was travelling again …

  As Simon watched, the edges of people and scenery began to flicker and blur, like the air over a hot road in summer, their outlines appearing to melt in the heat haze. Was he having a sun stroke? Something cold vibrated against his chest like a pulse, thrumming onto his bare skin.

  Simon looked down to see a faint, blueish-glowing halo in the shape of an hourglass through his shirt. When he raised his head again, his gaze fell on the one person who did not flicker: A man had appeared further up the aisle in front of him, blocking the view onto the square beyond.

  The stranger looked vaguely familiar, though Simon was sure he had never seen him before: He was broad shouldered, very tall and very thin, yet there was no doubt of his physical strength, for his muscular arms, shoulders and chest were straining against the bright red and greyish-silver armour he was wearing. His skin was the colour of ivory, with dark eyes over chiselled cheekbones that stuck out sharply from taut cheeks, a pointy chin, and his hair was a mess of charcoal. A rather dark smile played on his lips, pronouncing the man's unearthly, sinister features.

  And then the man's lips formed words that did not reach Simon's ears. And yet it seemed essential to find out what the stranger had to say, the news he carried important enough to elicit a surge of desperation when it remained indistinguishable.

  Just as Simon was about to ask him to repeat his message, however, the sound of hurried footsteps broke the spell. Light and sound broke the shimmering haze around him. Simon blinked in confusion, and the man was gone.