It had been ten days since Cynddylan had killed the two men who had tried to rob Philo. The fat Greek had underestimated their remaining journey and he now swore loudly as he returned from a lodging post that informed him they were still two days out of Athens. Cynddylan sat waiting for his return in the cart. Philo motioned for him to come forward to speak with him and the Lodger. Cynddylan gracefully jumped to the ground and hurried over to them. Philo was speaking Greek to them man who was scraping gunk out of goat hooves.

"Listen I have a one ton block of granite that needs to be in Athens's tomorrow, is there no way you know of we might achieve this?"

"Not unless you can throw it there!" The man spat as he laughed, his three remaining teeth bared like brown sprouts. Philo put a hand on Cynddylan shoulder and spoke to him in his native language.

"This old bastard informs me we will be late, so let us at least be rested, he says there is a town a mile down the way, we shall have good food and a dry roof, what do you think?" Cynddylan concentrated on his new grammar lesson's and spoke.

"I think we should go!" He smiled satisfied at his "th" noise. Philo nodded well done and nodded and said something nasty to the lodger. By night fall they'd reached the next city. It was small and made of wood. Hardly any stone was used in anything. The people looked dirty but happy and more modern than the town Cynddylan had lived in. Philo pulled the cart to the side infront of a place where people were eating. Philo ordered them found in Greek and told Cynddylan it was a surprise. When he first tasted it he thought it must have been the food of the gods.

"Philo what is tis?"

"Mind your this, it's chiken do you like it?"

"It's delicious, what is it made of?" Philo laughed and smiled at the boy.

" Chiken is a bird! It's quite common, they don't have many of these wear you come from eh?" Cynddylan shook his head.

"Na, we have lamb, and beats, and cow sometimes but this is the best!" Philo smiled.

"Well get used to it, it's pretty cheap so you'll be eating allot of it." Cynddylan noticed Philo's concern on the topic of price.

"I'm sorry Philo, I didn't know that money was bad. You have my chicken, you paid for it I do not want gifts." Philo shook his head furiously and threw his hands up.

"No absolutely not, I bought that chicken for you and you like it so eat it, you have saved my life, I'd by you chicken until I'd sold my sold if I had to!" Cynddylan smiled at his gestured. He chuckled briefly then let the subject go. "Besides," Philo continued "I am not a poor man, I only spend like one." Cynddylan gulped down his bite.

"What is that big rock in the cart for?"

"Ah an excellent question! I am a stone dealer, I buy rocks for art and then I deliver them back to Grease or wherever. It's a lucrative business, marble is very expensive, and hard to work with so sculptors need a lot. I do other things to, I also deal clay and fur and just about anything else that needs to be imported or exported. I'm a merchant but a small one."

"There is nothing small about you Philo!" Philo roared with laughter and the two of them drank whine and commented on the beautiful women they saw who's looks seemed to improve with the whine.

Morganna hadn't talked much since her visit to the old witch. She was always chatty but not now. Her full pouty lips never seemed to smile. Most of the time she sat looking at her hair or her hands or starring into space. Her sisters were jealous of her new found composure. They thought she'd some how managed to grow up faster than them and they wanted to know her secret. When they asked her what she'd done Morganna would shoot them down with a glare that silenced them. When had their little sister become so powerful?

Morganna wasn't the only one who changed, their surroundings moved as soon as they'd settled. Shabaka had brought them to one of the various buildings that made up the Nubian palace complex. Shabaka and his brother were not Egyptian at all, they had only conquered Egypt farley recently, their residence still bore the feeling of new grandeur rather than the fine antique ways of the Egyptians who lived north of them. Esmeralda thought them nothing but insignificant boys playing in a sand box. But she kept that between her family. Lilith had noticed Shabaka taking a strong liking to her mother. Esmeralda assured her she was totally uninterested in anything except his possessions and his money. Still she now slept in his chambers instead of with the girls. Apparently he had enough money for that at least.

Esmeralda worked all day going through her inventory looking for what ingredients she had and what she needed to do the spell she was picturing. It was an old spell but not as complicated as some of Esmeralda's specialties. The plan was to make Phiye commit suicide and to let loose a plague on Egypt so it would be easy to take control of. She could call it off if she wanted so all the cards were in her deck. The suicide bit would be easy, she could do that without magic, the plague would be a challenge though. She had thought about asking a demon for assistance, but she didn't want to share the pay out. Finally she came up with what she needed.

That night the girls had gathered around a fire pit on the banks of the white Nile. Morganna and her sisters laid out colored sand in circles and patterns around the fire. They had done this before and they worked quickly. Morganna's job was to write, " and may the darkness except this offering." In theban, the ancient language of witches. Her other sisters worked around her letters. Lilith drew a huge snake around Morganna's letters. Once she got to the head she drew the neck severed and wrote another spell around it's head. Morganna smiled at Lilith and the two carefully walked out of the circle, the other girls soon followed. Esmeralda sat at the apparent base of the circle. There was a large stone in front of the fire place that she would use as an alter. Seeing that the girls were finished she approached it. Before her lay her mix of ingredients laid out in the order she would need them. Esmeralda nodded and the six girls removed their dresses revealing painted naked skin. Each of them had drawings and writings all over their bodies, painted to look like the circle. Each of them took up their place around the circle. Esmeralda smiled at her girls. She too disrobed. After a moments pause the six girls began to scream and rock from side to side as their mother uttered incantations into the fire that now roared before her to the girls voices. The six began to dance and whirle around their circles kicking up sand and screaming to the heavens. Esmerelda threw her ingredients into the fire and threw her hands up shaking wildly. The girls returned to their places and became silent as there mother drew a knife a crossed her belly. With one hand she smoothed the blood off her body, uncut despite the blood. With one fluid movement she thrust her hand into the fire and it soared into the sky feeding on her blood and singing in time to her words. Her hand remained unburned as the flames liked her flesh she grinned wildly and laughed at her power as she finished her curse. The girls fell to their knees as the fire took off into the air. The flames spun like a pinwheel for a moment then came the buzzing and a hole seemed to rip in the universe and out from the sky descended a million locus swarming furiously away from the Sabbath and heading toward Egypt. Esmeralda smiled and watched the plague go. The girls stood and watched. Morganna went to her mother and took her hand. Esmeralda frowned and bent down to speak to her.

"Mommy, when will you go to the fire?" Esmeralda blinked a few moments trying to figure out what she was talking about. Esmeralda smiled and hugged her child to her breast.

"Not until I want to. And so long as you live I will never want to."