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"On the other hand, when the mummy was in London--do you recall?--and caused half the city to coister any sensations at all This is almost as mild It was only when I was in the same room as that awfulthe sa for two preternaturals in the same place"

Alexia looked out over the low mud brick houses of Alexandria’s poorest residents to the wide low black of nothingness beyond "Is that the desert?"

"No Desert has more sand I believe that used to be a lake, all dried up now It’s wasteland"

"So there once ater and now there is none Is it possible that the God-Breaker Plague has moved close to the city only since then? After all, we know preternatural touch is affected by water"

"That is a thought Hard to know Of course, it is also possible that the city has expanded toward it But if it has moved closer, you can bet the local vampires would not be happy about it"

"Matakara’s real reason for su is possible with vampires"

CHAPTER ELEVEN

In Which Prudence Discovers Sentences

The Maccons e andtaken to Queen Matakara and the Alexandria Hive Chancellor Neshi aiting for them expectantly in the lobby

The Tunstells and their troupe were soon to follow, trotting down the stairs lugging set pieces and already dressed in their costuentle top hats for the journey If their arrival at the hotel had been remarked upon with interest by the natives, their departure was even more noteworthy Mrs Tunstell’s dress was silver satin with an enormous quantity of fake pearl jewelry Mr Tunstell was attired as any fine gentleman about town except that his suit was of criold cape buttoned over one shoulder like a musketeer Mr Tumtrinkle, villainous from spats to cravat, wore black velvet with dialoves, and a cloak of ht blue satin that he swooped and swirled about like wings as he moved

This time there was no need of donkeys The hive queen had sent them a steam locomotive, a massive contraption worthy of even Madame Lefoux’s interest The inventor, however, was nowhere to be found, having disappeared about her own business more hastily than Alexia had ever expected Alexia felt, it must be admitted, rather abandoned and unimportant After all, she had surypt to spy on her, and here she found herself the least of the Frenchwo beast, a little like a stagecoach in shape but open topped The flat back end was piled high with rushes, presumably for the co runed with donkeys in ood Never before had Alexia experienced such a buh into a dark evening sky out of two tall smokestacks and was so loud that polite conversation was iement She bounced up and down excitedly with each bu horribly afraid that her bluestocking tendencies had transferred to her daughter, in spades The infant was taken with anything reibles and other for

The Alexandria Hive house was situated off of the Rue Ibrahiht of Port Vieux on the eastern side of the city The facade of the building was Greek in style It o levels high, the first level sporting widely spaced, largea colonnade of s balcony Inside, however, it was ined one of the fas There were doorways leading off of a vestibule, without doors, and woven reed mats spread on the floor Basalt statues of ancient aniods stood all about like sentries at a ing in brightly colored and beautifully articulated myths There was sinuously carved wood furniture here and there, but it was all quite primitive in shape and without adornment The very starkness and lack of opulence was al as the overabundance of riches that so characterized the vampires of Alexia’s homeland Here was a hive that knew its wealth was purely and simply in the world it had created, not in the objects it had ed to accumulate

The Tunstells and troupe trailed in behind Lord and Lady Maccon and stood in reverent silence, the at even them for a short time

Chancellor Neshi clapped loudly--Ivy started and emitted a little "Oh, my!" of surprise--and near on twenty servants appeared frowhite loincloths for the sake ofelse Each crouched expectantly at the foot of a visitor Alexia glanced at Chancellor Neshi and realized, with a good deal of shock, that these youngto reentle his outside topper, replaced the hat hurriedly and looked wide-eyed at one another Realizing they would take their cue fro man’s knee and per boots Following Lady Maccon’s lead, the party allowed themselves to be divested of footwear Alexia shuddered to see that her husband wore no socks and that Tunstell’s were hted to have her shoes rein with

Chancellor Neshi bustled off, presumably to herald their arrival, at which juncture Mrs Tunstell broke the hush with a startled, "My goodness gracious, would you look at that god creature there? Its head is nothing but a single feather"

"Ma’at," explained Alexia, who had a particular interest in ancient oddess of justice"

"One would perhaps call her feather-head?" suggested Tunstell to eneral hilarity The spell of the ancient world around them was broken

Chancellor Neshi returned "She is ready to see you now"

He led them up a set of cold stone stairs to the second level of the house, full of more cool, dark, less stone rooms, tomblike and torch-lit Fro hallway that ended in a small open doorway that let onto an enorh to stage a play Against the wall directly opposite the hallway door and halfway down on each side stood a series of loooden divans with red cushions The floor was spread with ain painted These were done in a sies below but depicted a wide range of current events, from the Turkish invasion to the incorporation of Western technology, fro Rebellion to the antiquities trade and tourisures of bustled and trussed Europeans, British uniforms and army ships, all in the aard childish style of papyrus paintings

On the divans against either wall sat a string of striking and so persons who could only be the drones of the hive They wore native dress but, Alexia noted with interest, both the men and women, in defiance of all she had observed so far, had their heads uncovered She supposed this ion in favor of worshipful loyalty to queen and hive