The Queen of Egypt Read online

  The Queen of Egypt

  The Shifters of Africa - Book 1

  Leigh Anderson

  Alice Wilde

  Red Empress Publishing

  www.RedEmpressPublishing.com

  Copyright © Leigh Anderson

  www.LeighAndersonRomance.com

  Cover by Cherith Vaughan

  shreddedpotato.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recoding, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the author.

  Also by Leigh Anderson

  Urban Fantasy

  Pirate’s Curse

  Sword Kissed

  Gothic Romance

  The Creation of Eve

  Dangerous Passions

  The Sumerian Curse

  The Vampire’s Daughter

  Also by Alice Wilde

  Fantasy Romance

  Her Betrothal

  Her Highlander

  Her Viking

  Short Contemporary Romance

  My Cup of Tea

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Thank You For Reading

  Her Betrothal

  The Creation of Eve

  Dangerous Passions

  About Leigh Anderson

  About Alice Wilde

  About the Publisher

  1

  The world was spinning and I fell to my knees with Baka Mara standing over me, laughing. My beloved Oringo, dead? How? Why? I…I couldn’t go on without him. Even though I still had Saleem and Zakai, Oringo completed me. Completed us. I couldn’t live without any of them. I needed him. I needed all of them. No! This man had to be lying. Or there had to be some way I could bring Oringo back. I had to find him!

  I leapt to my feet and lunged at Baka, my hands outstretched. “You are the one who will be dead!” I screamed.

  He stepped back but underestimated how far I could reach. I kicked him in the stomach and then folded my fingers together to form a large fist, which I swung across his face, sending him reeling to the side. I looked past him, toward the back of the hut. I saw my khopesh leaning against the wall. I ran to it, quickly sliding my makeshift bonds over the blade and snapping the twine used to hold me. I grabbed the khopesh by the hilt and turned just as Baka brought his large hunting knife down at me. The sharp clang of steel on steel knocked him off balance. I swung, aiming for Baka’s belly, but he stepped back just out of the way.

  The kabir whimpered and ran from the hut, as did the villagers who had been tasked with serving Baka.

  “It’s just you and me, Baka,” I said, stalking toward him.

  Baka’s eyes went black and he laughed again. “So it is,” he hissed, and I knew he was possessed by Keket. As much as I wanted to kill her, this made fighting Baka even more difficult. I didn’t want to kill an innocent man. But I had no idea if he was innocent or not. Did he join an alliance with Keket willingly? Or was he compelled to join her? Of course, the lions and I had killed men possessed by Keket before, but this was no nameless soldier. This was Baka Mara, the king of the Zulu. He was a powerful and important man. His death could have consequences that would be felt across southern Africa. If there was any way to spare his life, I had to try.

  Baka was a large man, taller and broader than even Zakai. He raised himself up to his full height, his head almost hitting the ceiling. He lumbered toward me with the awkward gait of a mindless juggernaut, as though he thought that his size would give him such an advantage in battle he needed no skill. I darted between his legs and kicked him from behind, sending him to his knees. He turned to face me as I lifted my khopesh. I brought it down as though to cleave his face in twain.

  “Stop!” Baka screamed.

  I held the sharp edge of my blade just before his eyes. “Do you yield?” I asked.

  Baka frowned. Then his face contorted. I heard a rumbling from deep in his stomach. His face perspired and he grunted, as though he was warring with himself. He opened his mouth and let out a retch as though he was trying to purge everything he had ever eaten from his stomach. Black goo oozed from his mouth and dripped to the floor. Baka doubled over in excruciating pain and shook with convulsions.

  I kneeled by his side and shook his arm. “Baka! Can you hear me? You must fight her! Don’t give up!”

  The black ooze melded together and formed a large black cobra. I raised my khopesh to strike it.

  “Sister,” the snake hissed at me. I dropped my khopesh to my side and my knees went weak.

  “Ramses!” I cried. I dropped to the ground and held my arms open. I nearly embraced the snake. This was the closest I had been to my brother in months. “I am here! I am coming for you! Don’t give up.”

  “You should,” the snake hissed as it reared up, swaying from side to side.

  “What?” I asked, tears filling my eyes. “No! I’ll never give up. I will save you.”

  “I don’t need saving,” the snake said, baring its fangs at me. “I am Pharaoh Ramses. I am the ruler. You are the usurper!”

  “Ramses,” I said, “what are you talking about? I am still your queen. We were supposed to rule together. Keket has poisoned that.”

  “Keket is my queen,” Ramses said. “She would never try to rule in my place!”

  My heart sank into my stomach. Ramses had been behind this? But…how? Why? He was my brother. My dear friend. My betrothed. This didn’t make any sense. My poor simple brother must have been so confused. I shook my head.

  “No, Ramses,” I said. “This is not the way Father wanted it. Keket is trying to control you. I am coming. We will get rid of her together. Don’t worry.”

  “You never believed in me!” the snake said, striking at me. I managed to pull my hand away just in time. “I am the Cobra of Egypt! And soon, I will be the Cobra of Africa. And one day, the world!”

  The snake slithered toward me and lashed out again. I grabbed my khopesh and slashed, removing the snake’s head from its body. The snake returned to its ooze-like state and then dissolved into the sand.

  I sat down in shock, trying to understand what just happened. Ramses…My dear brother. My poor, weak-willed brother. He…wanted me dead? He didn’t want to marry me? Keket was his queen? How? Who was she to him? How did he know her? Why did he trust her? Why was he angry with me? All I had ever done was try to protect him. Look out for him.

  No! This couldn’t be happening the way he said. He was certainly under Keket’s control as well. She was forcing him to say those things. Or she had tricked him into believing her. He was just terribly confused. As soon as I got back to Egypt and deposed Keket, Ramses would see reason again. He would welcome me back. Thank me for saving him. Everything would be right in the world again.

  “Queen Sanura,” Baka said gently, pulling himself back up to his knees. I gripped my khopesh tightly and held it in front of me. But Baka raised his hands in a gesture of peace. “I am not going to fight you. You spared my life when you could have killed me. I owe you a great debt.”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head and wiping the tears from my face as I lowered my sword. “You were possessed. To kill you would have been dishonorable.”

  He shook his head. “No. I was only possessed toward the end. I
willingly entered into an alliance with Keket and Ramses. I sent my army to destroy Nuru and kill you. But that was only a distraction. My true purpose was to capture Oringo and send him to his death.”

  “Oringo!” I said, jumping to my feet and holding my khopesh at Baka’s throat. “Where is he?”

  He held up his hands in surrender. “I don’t know,” he said.

  “What?” I asked.

  “He…I sent him back to Zululand to be publicly executed,” he said, lowering his head in shame. “I do not know if he is alive or dead.”

  “Then there is a chance he is still alive,” I said, rushing out of the hut. “If we hurry, we can save him.” As I exited the hut, I heard the kabir yelp. The few Dakari who were holding him captive ran at me with spears. Baka came out of the hut behind me.

  “Lower your weapons,” Baka said, and the Dakari did so.

  “Where are the rest of the Dakari?” I asked Baka. “Did you send them to be executed as well?”

  “They were going to be slaves,” Baka said. “But I will free them as well if you so wish it.”

  “Of course I wish it,” I said. “We have a lot to talk about, but for now, we just need to hope that Oringo is still alive.”

  The Dakari released the kabir and he ran to my side. “What is happening?” he asked. “I’m so confused.”

  “I spared Baka Mara’s life,” I said. “He owes me a debt. And I mean to collect it now. We are going to Zululand to save Oringo.”

  The kabir nearly fainted at my words. “But Zululand is quite far from here. We will never make it!”

  “We have to hope we will,” I said, heading out of Dakari village. “Oringo’s life depends on it.”

  “But…but…” The kabir ran after me and grabbed my arm. He whispered harshly to me so that Baka could not hear. “How can you trust him?”

  “He has given me his word,” I said, knowing that the word of Baka was worth very little.

  “He gave his word to Nuru at one time as well,” the kabir said. “And then his army showed up at our doorstep. If you had not come to Nuru, we would probably all be dead now.”

  “I know,” I said. “But we have a very short list of allies. If Baka is willing to throw aside his allegiance with Keket for me, I have to hope he will follow through. We need to save Oringo.”

  “Of course I will follow you and do as you say, Queen Sanura,” the kabir said as Baka approached us with the remaining Dakari. “But do not trust that man for a moment.”

  I nodded and turned to the Dakari. “Do you wish to go with us or stay here and protect what little there is of Dakari?”

  They looked wearily at Baka before responding. He nodded that they could answer me.

  “We were trying to rebuild Dakari before the Zulu forces arrived,” one of the men explained. “King Oringo was determined to support you, Queen Sanura, but not everyone can fight. And when this is over, we still need a Dakari homeland to return to.”

  “Then stay,” I said to him. “Prepare what you can of the village for those who are unable to fight to return to. The Zulu will release all of the Dakari when we reach them, isn’t that right, King Baka Mara?”

  Baka laughed. “You take whatever you can grab, don’t you?”

  “I don’t have time for games,” I said, my voice hard.

  “Fine,” he said. “I will release the Dakari and Oringo. But you and I will have a long talk when we reach Zululand.” He pushed past me and the kabir, and we exchanged an annoyed look. The Dakari seemed hesitant to leave me, but I told them the best thing they could do was return to Dakari, so they finally left us. The kabir and I then followed Baka to leave the jungle and head to Zululand.

  “Did you not want to be present for Oringo’s death?” I asked Baka as we walked. I tried to move us quickly, but the kabir was not a swift man.

  Baka laughed. “Oringo is nothing but a young pup. Now, his father, there was a worthy adversary.”

  “You killed his father?” I asked, remembering how Oringo said that he hadn’t known the king was his father until he was dead and he shifted for the first time.

  “I am surprised Oringo didn’t tell you,” Baka said.

  “You overestimate your importance,” I said. “You never came up.”

  Baka grabbed a piece of fruit from a tree we passed by and he ripped it open with his hands, sucking out the sweet juices. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

  “But you, Queen Sanura,” Baka went on. “You have no kingdom. No friends. Nothing. And yet you are quite a prize.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Keket is afraid of you,” he said. I scoffed. “No, it is true. Your name has spread across the continent. The queen who wouldn’t give up. The Lioness of Egypt who will let nothing stop her from regaining what she lost.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “That is what the people are saying about you,” Baka said, tossing the rind of the fruit aside. “Keket is powerful, but she is a madwoman. She has freed all of Egypt’s slaves and enslaved the nobles. The cities are in chaos. I have heard that Nubia, Greece, and Persia are all posing to attack. Keket might be a powerful witch, but she cannot run a kingdom.”

  My heart hitched in my throat. My beloved Egypt. By the time I reached her, she would be in ruins! My people dead or in exile. I had been gone so long. What exactly would I be going back to?

  “And Ramses?” I asked, doing my best not to let Baka know how his words were upsetting me. “What of him?”

  “He has kept the army intact,” Baka said. “He at least knows the importance of being able to defend Egypt and take on its enemies. But he is waging senseless wars within Africa. After every battle, more men are lost. More men are killed and even more desert. It will not take long for Egypt to be defenseless.”

  “We must hurry, then,” I said. “If we can save Oringo, unite the tribes, we can save Egypt and hopefully rebuild it before the other countries try to take it down.”

  “And what about me?” Baka asked, slowing his pace. “What do I get for releasing my prisoners?”

  I swung my khopesh and stopped just at his neck. “I already paid for them with your life.”

  Baka pushed my khopesh away and kept walking. “I think you are getting the better deal. We need to come to a new agreement.”

  “I agree,” I said. “But only if Oringo is still alive when we find him.”

  As the sun was setting, we exited the jungle, but we still had many more miles to go before reaching Zululand. As I watched the sun change from yellow to orange to red, my heart felt heavy. I did not know how we would ever reach Oringo in time.

  “His Majesty!” the kabir exclaimed.

  I raised my head, for some reason expecting to see Oringo heading toward us. But instead, I was greeted by the sight of Saleem riding toward us, his army at his back. I ran toward him. When Saleem reached me, he jumped down from his horse and caught me in his arms, lifting me up and kissing me warmly.

  “Did you miss me, my love?” he asked.

  “More than you can know!” I said as he swung me around. “But what are you doing here?”

  He placed me back down on my feet. “Keket attacked us again,” he said. “Sent a flock of psychotic ravens. They attacked everyone and everything. Even as a lion, I could not fight them off. They just pecked and pecked. They killed so many people and animals. It was horrifying.”

  My hands flew to my mouth. “I am so sorry!”

  “It was then that I knew that launching an attack against her could not wait,” Saleem said. “I knew Oringo would join the alliance. There was no sense in waiting another week or more for your message to join you. We left as soon as possible. But I did not expect to see you here. What is happening?”

  The kabir ran up and bowed to Saleem. “What a relief to see you, Your Majesty.”

  “And you, dear friend,” Saleem said.

  “King Saleem,” Baka said, his face stern. “At last we meet.”

 
“May I present King Baka Mara himself, Your Majesty,” the kabir said, obviously still weary of Baka.

  Saleem’s eyes went wide for a moment, but other than that he showed no sign of concern. “Finally, face to face,” Saleem said, putting his hand to his head, then his heart, and then extending it to Baka. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “Baka sacked Dakari,” I said.

  “What?” Saleem yelled.

  “But I spared his life,” I quickly added. “He owes me a life debt. He has agreed to release Oringo and the Dakari, but only if we can reach Zululand before Oringo is executed.”

  Saleem did not respond, and I could tell that he was weighing the pros and cons of letting the Zulu execute Oringo. In his mind, he probably saw no reason to interfere.

  “Saleem,” I said. “Egypt is weak. Keket is a poor leader. The cities, the whole country is in chaos. We need the strength of the lion kings to stop her now.”

  “Or…we could just go,” Saleem said. “Meet with Zakai and then march on Egypt. It will cause a significant delay to rescue Oringo.”

  I reached up and stroked his face. I knew how he felt. But I could not abandon Oringo. It was probably foolish. Stupid. Something someone who was in love would do. But that was the woman I had become. A stupid woman in love.

  “Saleem,” I said gently. “If it were me, would you not come for me? No matter the cost?”

  “Of course,” Saleem said. “I would do anything for you.”

  “Then you understand why I must go to Oringo,” I said. “I love all three of you equally. I cannot let him die.”