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Was she as good a woman as Pierre Benet had been a good man? She doubted it, and knew in her own
doubt that she understood why Maat would condemn her, why she would fail in any appeal.
There were no more questions. Neferankhotep looked stern and slightly sad. Maat seemed pale and ill.
The Forty-Two Judges muttered to each other, while Thoth took notes and Anubis stood ready. Only
Ammit looked pleased, and Jenny could hardly blame her.
 Step onto the scales, Genevieve Benet, Neferankhotep said,  and be weighed against Maat.
Almost blindly, Jenny turned to obey. Either she d gotten smaller or the scales had gotten larger, because
she had no trouble fitting into the polished bronze pan. Maat fluttered across the room, settling into the
other pan. Jenny rose slightly, but still the level of her side of the scales remained fair heavier than Maat.
 Anubis, Neferankhotep said,  Genevieve Benet has been weighed against Maat and found wanting.
Treat her according to our ancient protocols.
Anubis stepped forward, and Jenny pressed her lips together, determined at least not to scream. The
jackal-headed god laid a cool, almost leathery hand on her shoulder, pulling Jenny to her feet. Ammit
snapped her jaws eagerly, and the Forty-Two Judges crowded forward to better see the execution.
A single mew halted the purposeful progress. Anubis stopped, his hand still resting on Jenny s shoulder.
Mozelle leapt up onto Neferankhotep s lap.
The pharaoh lifted the kitten in his wide green hands, and held her before his face. He appeared to be
listening to whatever it was the kitten told him with tiny mews and lashings of her small, bristly tail. He
listened, and then he set the kitten on the floor where she ran to Jenny and clawed her way into the young
woman s lap.
 Oh, sir, will you watch her for me? Jenny said, finally giving way to tears.  I may be wrong in how I
think about things, but I don t want any harm to come to Mozelle.
Neferankhotep rose from his throne and his dark green lips frowned. Hestood stiffly, and Jenny noticed
that his feet were bound like those of a mummy.
 Maat, he said, turning to address the winged woman,  I have received a plea from this little cat that we
spare her human. Mozelle says that the girl is not murderous by nature only that the challenges
Genevieve faces are such that there is no way one can live in the world she has known and not both
desire the idea of peaceful coexistence and recognize the reality of violence. Can we act in accord with
this appeal?
Maat bent her lovely face into her hands, folding her wings around her as if making a physical curtain for
her thoughts. Jenny held her breath, stroking Mozelle, and taking comfort in the tremendous force of the
tiny kitten s purr. If so little a thing could make so big a rumble . . . If a kitten could also be a lioness who
could carry off the head of a sun-swallowing serpent . . . If all of these things were possible, then maybe .
. .
Maat unfolded her wings, her features serene, and, just possibly, a touch amused. She addressed her
words to the pharaoh.
 I recognize that justice is not unchanging, she said,  nor is truth the same to all peoples. However, and
here she turned her gaze solemnly upon Jenny,  I cannot ignore that this girl is capable of creating great
harm. We might spare her life, but do the world a great favor by keeping her here with us. Failing that,
her death might save others.
Jenny bit back an urge to beg, to promise to be good. Live or die, she wanted to do it with dignity. But
what was this mention of keeping her here? They hadn t said anything like this before. Had they?
Neferankhotep replied to Maat,  I acknowledge that you put yourself in the balance in all cases, oh
Maat. You feel the lightness of right thinking and the weight of wrong action. Gods and men alike can
only try to abide by truth and justice. You are these things. Being so, can you grant this girl her life and
her freedom?
Slowly, as if still not certain she was doing the absolutely correct thing, Maat nodded.
 I will do so, being guided by the wisdom of this small cat who, after all, is an aspect of Sekmet, who is a
goddess of both peace and war, and of Bastet, who both battles demons and guards women in their time
of greatest vulnerability. May she guide Genevieve to right action.
 Then, Jenny asked, poised on her knees in the scale,  I can go?
Neferankhotep raised one arm, parting the air to make a doorway into a light and pleasant room.
 Go, and Mozelle with you. Remember always what you have learned here, even when you have
forgotten all else.
Jenny bowed. Her knees were shaking too hard for her to even attempt a curtsey. It had been close, so [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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